The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-08-07
Clerks desk for the information Of the House, as

follows;
To the Senate aud House Of Representatives.
| herewith transwith to the two Houses OF Con-
gress, letter from his excellency the Governor
Of Texas, dated on the l4th day Of June last, adj
dressed TO the late President OF the United States,
which, not having been answered by him, came
10 my hands on his death; and also transmit
copy Of the answer which have felt it TO be my
! duty TO cause to be made TO that communication.
| Congress will perceive that the Governor of
Texas officially states, that by authority of the
Legislature Of that State, he despatched special
Commissioner, with full power and Instructions to
extend the civil jurisdiction Of the State the
unorganised counties of Ell Paso, Worth, Preside.
ard Santa Fe, situated on its northwestern limits.
| He proceeds to say, that the Commissioner had
reported to him, in an official form; that the mill
tary officers employed in the service of the United
States, stationed Santa Fe interposed adversely,
with the inhabitants, to thefufment ofhs object,
| in favor Of the establishment OF u separate State
! government, east Of the Rio Grande, and within
the rghtful limits of the State of Texas. These
four counties which Texas proposes to establish
and organize, as being within her own jurisdiction
extend over the whole Of the territory of the
Rio Grande, which has, heretofore, been regarded
as an essential and integral part of the Department
OF New Mexico, and actually governed and pos
sessed by her people, until conquered and severed
from the Republic of Mexico, by the American
arms.
1 The Legislature of Texas has been called to-
gether by the Governor,for the purpose, as is un-
derstood, of maintaining her claim TO the territory
east Of the Rio Grande, and of establishing over
It her own jurisdiction and her own laws, by
force.
These proceedings Of Texas may well ar
rest the attention of all branches of the Govern
ment of the United States, and rejoice that they
occur while the Congress is yet in session. II
is, fear, far from being impossible that, in con-
sequence Of these proceedings Of Texas, a crisis
Il Al
houses of Congressman still more emphati-
caly the Executive Government--to an immedi-
ate readiness for the performance Of their respec-
/ tive duties. aE
BY the Constitution of the United States, the
President is constituted commander-in-chef of the
army and navy; and Of the militia OF the several
| States, when called into the actual service Of the
United States. The Constitution declares, also,
that he shall take care that the laws be faithfully
/ executed, and that he shall, from time to time,
| give to the Congress information Of the state Of
1 the Union.
Congress has power by the Constitution, to
provide for calling forth the militia to execute
the laws of the Unon and suitable and APP
propriate acts Of Congress have been passed,
as well for providing for calling forth the militia,
as for placing other suitable and efficient means
in the hands of the President, to enable him
office.
4 The second section Of the act of the twenty
eighth of February, seventeen hundred and ninety
FIVE, declares, that whenever the laws of the United
States shall be opposed, or their execution OBJ
structed, in any State, by combinations too pow
erful to be surpassed by the ordinary course of
judicial proceedings, or the power vested in the
Marshals, the President may call forth the militia,
80 far as may be necessary, to suppress such COM
binations and to cause the laws to be duly execu-
ted.
BY the act of March 8, 1907, it is provided that
4 all nf oh To bala OF
/ United States or any individual State or Territory,
where it is lawful for the President to call forth
the militia for the purpose of causing the laws to
be duly executed, it shall be lawful for him to
employ, for the same purposes, such part of the
land or naval force of the United States as shall
be Judged necessary.
| These several enactments now in full force !;
so that if the laws of the United States are opposed
or obstructed, in any State or Territory, by COM
binations too powerful to be suppressed by the
judicial or civil authorities, it becomes case in
which it is the duty of the President, either to call
out the militia or to employ the military and naval
force of the United States, or to do both, if in his
Judgment, the exigency of the occasion shall so
quire, for the purpose of suppressing such COM
bination.
The constitutional duty of the President is plain
and peremptory; and the authority vested in HIM
| by law, for its performance, clear and ample.
| Texas is State authorized to maintain her
own laws, so far as they not repugnant to the
| Constitution, laws and treaties Of the United
States, to suppress instructions against her
thority, and to punish those who may commit
treason against the State, according to the forms
provided by her own constitution and her own
laws.
But all this power is local and confined entirely
within the limits of Texas herself. She can pos
sibly confer no authority, which can be lawfully
exercised beyond her own boundaries.
| All this is plain and hardly needs argument or
elucdation. If Texan militia, therefore, march
into any of the other States, or into any terri
tory of the United States, there to execute or en-
| force any law of Texas, they become at that mo-
| ment trespassers they are no longer under the
protection of any lawful authority, and are to be
regarded merely as intruders and if within such
State or territory they obstruct any law of the
United States, either by power Of arms or mere
! power of numbers, constituting such combine
ton as is too powerful to be suppressed by the
civil authority the President Of the United States
solemn injunction Of the Constitution and exercise
the high powers vested in him by that instrument,
| and by the acts Of Congress.
| Or, if any civil posse, armed or unarmed, enter
| into any Territory ofthe United States, under the
| protection of the laws thereof, with intent to
seize individuals to be carried elsewhere for trial
for alleged offences, and this posse be too power
full to be resisted by the local and civil authorities,
such seizure, attempt to seize, is to be pre-
vented, resisted by the authority Of the United
| States. asE .s.5
/ The grave and important question now arises,
| whether there be in the Territory of New Mexico
| any existing law of the United States, opposition
to which, or the obstruction of which, would con-
sttute case, calling for the nterposition of the
authority vested in the President.
4 The Constitution of the United States declares
that ssthis constitution and the laws of the United
States, which shall be made in Pursuance there
Of, and all the treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority Of the United States,
shall be the supreme law Of the land" If there
fore, New Mexico be Territory Of the United
States, and if any treaty stipulation be in force
therein, such treaty stipulation is the supreme
law of the land, and is to be maintained and up
held accordingly.
In the letter to the Governor Of Texas, my rea-
sons are given for believing that New Mexico is
now Territory Of the United States, with the
same extent and the same boundaries which be-
longed to it, while in the actual possession of the
i Republic of Mexico, and before the late In
tho aorlu mart of that war both California and