Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1850-09-14


BaruH Huueh, 3d. Sept 1850.
Sir--A letter, over your signature, dated
18th August, 1850 is going the rounds Of
newspapers, in which the citizensef the
Union are informed that, you desiring no
concealnent have no objections that ii be
known, that YOU teIieve the title of Texas
to the territory claimed by her on this side
Of tile Rio b rande 10 be indisputable; and
if retessnrv vou are ready to convene the
Legislature Saad recommend an armed
force to aid Texas in maintaining her
title and j'yisdiction in opposition to any
eaim or title of the United States pver
that territory.
In taking tie initiative IN dread con-
aict whieA Amust involve all the horrors and
consequences OF a civil war, and inevitably
result in the dissolution Of the Union, yo,l
should, especially since Texas never exer-
cissd jurisdiction of New Mexico, be
ready to furnish your deluded tountrymen
,rrefYdgibie epidenee Of the taHtsputdbfe
title of Texas--a title paramount TO
two hundred years Of adverse possession.
/ have heei, for ten years iii search of
this tile aud the result OF my investiga-
ton is given IN the following view Of
TEXAS AND THE WESTERN BOUNDARY
or LOUISIANA.
On principles generally admitted as true, when
applied to nations the people who resided he
u een the rivers Saline and Nueces and consti-
tutire an integral Part Of the Republic nf Mexico,
acquired valid right 10 the donnan with an px-
elusive sovereign jurisdiction uy er that territory.
The Government established for the Republic
If Mesrs, with the supposed assent Of the
governed. in the opinion Of the Texans, had been
stibverted br the rest Of the Mexican States or
bv those who usurpeh authority ever them
Therelore. es the Texans were in the actual pos.
session Of the territory, and having legitimate
right 10 resist an inIractun Of her organic laws.
they asserted an authority and jurisdiction over
the territory adverse 10 the pretesions OF Me sito
and were able Ia maintain the satae, by a fufcp
which Mexico could not overcome, hence with
all the in,,nnnitps incident to Revolutions, the
country became theirs,
Apply these principles ie The territory situated
between the rivers Nueees, and the Rio del Notte
apd the people residing therein, and the case will
stand thps:
The Mexicans residing in this territory, wete
in the actual possession OF the dunan they
chose tb submit 10 the new order Of things.
acknowledged the jurisdiction that Mexico eScet
eisa,i ever Them and resisted the pfeiensbns and
revolution Of Iesas. by force which the Texans
could moi overcome hence the imnunities Incl
dent TO Revolutions conferred no right ever that
territory to the Republic Of Eexes.
Now il mere assertion Of the Texans, that
The liie ttrande should be their western boundary
did in fact and right make IL so then ihe nete
assertion of the Nle3itans, that the Sabine, con
tinned 10 be their eastern boundary. would IN fuct
eonier the saihe right
BY The resolution for annexation. the United
States acquired jurisdiction over the territory,
property ineluded within. and iightluily heloBg-
ing 10 the ltepublit u Texas. = The words used
caniiet be sn anal,sed bf sthheized, as 10 force
within their meaning, one inch Of territory over
which tue iurisdi,tion Of Texas had not in .fuef
extended, aud when the United States undertook
to extend the jurisdiction they acquired from
Texas the atf assumed all The features ol a new
conquest, unauthorized ly any thing. either es4
pressed or implied in The resolution ei Anne saion.
But il isSpia. louisiana once extended to the
"lewer RW del Norie, y and thai the Republie Of
Texas. had right to tonsiter az being within her
sovereign jurisdiction, all the territory which
belonged to Louisiana under the maxim ab'
aojpr t,ufs est. tbt est foib,. where the greater
part is, there is The whole.
iii considering the rretefsiehs Urged for Texas
on such hypothesis, will leave out Of view
the the treaty OF 1919, as being void an iNtrio
and will assume. that The western boundary Of
Louisiana, il was acquired from France, 40 being
an open question aud admit that the inhabitants
who resided Id Texas in 1903, and all who went
there subsequent 10 that time, continue at oil
times TO owe allegiance TO The United States, and
the possession OF the territory. was held ior and
on her accounts and by. siitue of the treaty OF
lSo3 and the right therein guaranteed to become
citizens OF the United States, they are now ineor
pefated in the Union, and will proceed 10 es-
anime the claims sf the United States and Texas,
as to the Rio del Norte, being The western
boundary ol Louisiana, as it was acquired from
France.
II is conceded as principle incident 10, and in
fact TO b. The esseneaPl oil titles acquired by
Europeans on this continent that they result from
priority of discovery and settlements combined,
indicating an intention of occupying the domain
subject to an "obse,red rnts,' that when there are
different contiguous settlements made by the
several nations, The unoettpisd srare det"ss"
them, should be equally dgded. y
These principles are recognized and affirmed
az just rule of division, by all who assert that
the western limits Of Louisiana extended TO The
Rio del Ncrte, on this the claim rests, together
with the declaration OF Laussatte to Gov. Clsi-
borne and Gen. Wilkinson, that the "pretensons
of France, went as far west as the Rio Del Norte.
49," But, " says Wilkinson, 1--WE were not informed
that line Of demarCation had ever been traced
to partition these provinces" As The basis Of
this right. st. Brrnard's Bay is claimed as the
western settlement made by France in the year
1855, al which time il is admitted the eastern
settlement in Mexico, was Panuco near Tampice,
and the midway" between these two settles
nerts, would he the Rio del Norte. This in poin; of
fact, is admitted and the only question or solution
is, what COURSE should line be traced from tile
Rio del Norte, to divide equally between these"
settlements the unoccupied space
In Undertaking to- define what would be q just
line of demareation between these provinces, !
shall he controlled entirely by the "pretensions
OF France, applied to the rule and principles
observed by European nations" an seqaal diyi-
slot, OF the unoeeupicd space.
Let us look at what were thea" proensions' y
Of France, when she permitted a formal possession
Of Louisiana to be taken, and what was then
deemed the western boundary.
On the lIth September, l7l2, the King con-
hrmed on Crozat, grant to colouize Louisiana,
for the purpose among other things, ito preserve
the possession, we' lFrance) hadtaken, IN the
year 1859 of all the lands. coasts, and islands,
which are in the Cult OF Mexico between Caro-
lima on the east, and Old aad New Mexico on the
west. ~
AT this period, the provinces Of oldsand New
Mexico extended from the Gulf of Mexi6faand
Atlantic 10 the Pacific Ocean, and st. Antpnio-de
l,exar in Old, and Santa Fe in New Mexico. both
living west and north of Panuco, had been settled
by Spain; the frs, two years. and the second 'one
hundred years, before La Sale visited Louisiana.
The most extravagant "pretensions' sef France
could only have been to unite Louisiana with her
possessions of New France, now the Canadas and
by virtue Of her prior discovery shpd settlement.
Old and New Mexico limiting Mt pretensions'
on the west, and Carolina on the east--to stretch
9u. D.