The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-02-24

the dignity and national pride OF Mexico.
% To adopt them would bo at once 10 psralyzs, 70 ds
grace and In short " overthrow the present. sdmlnsus
ton.
That's treaty Nth such provisions would be rejected
by tho Mexican congress lprob,bly) without single as
ntlng yo and therefore oud h OF 20 the United
States whilst at the time 1t would be the ruin OF W.
party IN power
Mr.. Letcher then appears to have tried what
virtue there was in threats. Here they are:
"slnce the aual decision vas had, the President and
every member Of his Cabinet have manifested the deepest
lest you should h. dispeased at Inc result zen
eral Artists ~ho Is the master spirit Of the 1oVernmen y
accordingly uneasy Every 10y .. Two ms.snsS ,sn'
aud hoping am not dissa1rhs The oaiy answer have
made is Mexico has comm tied great crror Aha
at b. proper add during the various dise
sion. which took pso relation To the points Ia dispute
awaited myself IL suitable oocasOn To say IN the event
Mexico refused 10 ter fair treaty for the POte non
Of the enterprise. my 0oyernmont IN Jusce her own
citizens, who bad made Srge investments IA tne ubuI
taking. determined to take the affair n'' h'r o""
hands,
Now. let us hear the answer of this exotic
and wind.shaken branch of the ancient and chiv-
alrous family. which, on its native peninsula,
once gave laws to both hemispheres. Here it
is; and it will remain mperishable, ~ the an
swer of an oppressed but high-miuded and gem
erOus people:
"Your Government Is strong ours Is weak. You have
the power u take the whole portion of territory
you may think IT. have not thu Jleuhy 10 resist We
crafty you personally. We can 10 no more
Whist required of oaunet grant IL Mr. Webster
knew exact condition. If lac knew the precarious ten
by which hold power the violence aud strength If
the opposition the refractory spirit Of tho states, and tn
peculiar prudces Of people surely he would not exact
such terms"
But Mr.. Webster did exact. Castilian pride
gave way Arista and his Ministers succumbed,
and the Tehuantepec treaty with it's odlous re-
citals, was signed And now for the result.
81. ~ / .bar
MEXICO Aprt 8, 1851.
"SR The Tehuantepcc treaty regret 10 say,
ccts night by the Chamber Of Deputies bare quorum
being present in few miautes after c,s snd@'ed by
the GocerrBed FIR conadsraiior BY rOte Of sereofyons
The result far from being matter Of surprise to
or tn one else in this country was most confidently
anticipated. The few Deput who were favorshy dis
posed towards the measure, knowing perfectly well that
they would DO instantly denounced traitors to their eoun
try in they votoi for IT, doomed expeent 10 absent
themselves from tho Chamber whtn the vote was taken
such the intemperste sni uncOmpr'mising hostl-
W to the uaray grant that no Mexican in or out OF tie
Chsmber. those who held direct interest in 1t,
dare 10 whisper sing word In it, support In fact the
Drpay Uso rod fT The ritaelhon dcctTei has jlDyme"t
opposed scery particular, bit fearing as rcetiDS
might occasos Gnoer Jetlon the too eotries, he tM
o0HipiLed 10 vtae Jor IL
at altogether impossible 10 make treaty having the
least connection with the GIray grant
That is Mr.. Letcher's report And now |
ask my honorable friend from Virginia where
it is in these negotiations that he finds that
Mexico recognised the validity of the Garay
grant
have no hostility to the Garay grant, or to
its assgnees or to their enterprise. | therefore
shall hold my own mind in reserve, to form a
favorable judgment upon them in future, in
stead of endeavOring to bring other Senators to
the conclusion that the grant is invalid, or that
the assignment is unavailDg and will now
present the deductions | make from tho case,
Y hay . H. "A
argument, in negative form, to wit First,
that the Committee on Foreign Relations do
not show that the American assignees have an
existing title to the right to open the Isthmus
Of Tehuautepec; and, secondly, that they do
not show that the validity of the grant has
been recognised by Mexico since ts abrogation
by the Mexican Congress.
Here might leave the question but in that
case should leave undone what it is the duty
of some Senator to do, viz; to exhaust the sub
ject, and present fully the grounds of the votes
which must be given against the resolutions
before the Senate.
You will perceive that hitherto | have as
sumed, in this argument two things; First
that the grant to Garay was assignabe and,
secondly, that an assignment was made by Ga
ray, which has come to be vested in the hands
of American citizens. Proceeding upon these
assumptions, ask you to take notice Of another
important point in the case. 1t is indsputable
that whatever conditions Salas attached to his
decree entered into the assignments whom made
Let me show you the conditions imposed by Sa
las:
"Awr IL. II shall he an express condition In all con
tracts with coou. that they shall privileges
Of tbr original domicil long thcy the coun
try suhjscug To ali tho existing colonial reg
a W klo Inv
Akr IL Tho enterprise shall submit for the approval
ofdoyernmen ali ntrats which it shall make for tho in
rodu tioupf families and laborsrs aud II shall keep pub
lie aud authentic roiser Of all its tranastons in respect
sil matters Of so..Yni1aton'
| have translated these conditions from the
record of the Decree which il before me- Let
me show what was the cOntemporaneous expo
sition Of them given by Salas, and which ac-
companied the approval of the assignment.
Here it is
Aceri.nJ u, Ipr Of u. aforesaid lao, DIS
sdtiOn place i. The most positive and oone.sire
manner tho part Of hs slrs, so that whatever cir
sanatces may happ,a and vhaisr these may
remrS aeD,s, TIA setsrs ofrssaid the proprioioTs
ay not any for any cause p'ead siie" re-
granted npay BE- granted 10 them by ue ,Vs Of the
hytO Wh.e both thar prsons ans Their pr'perty must 10
subjected; 0nd vthom ms 'eq~H1 hsy 7'd not 10 al
matted
Here are American citizens claiming the OK
/
was made upon the express and published con-
dition Of an absolute standardization and yet
we arc interposing in their behalf upon the
ground of the very privileges Of alenship, which
they renowned to acquire the rights, and we
are claiming rights for those who, if they have
an assignment, are held by it to have renounced
altogether their citizenship of the United States
We are required to make reprsals or war
against Mexico, for violating their rights under
that very contract Let us see how, in point
of fact the assignees stand in regard to this as
sgnmcnt. You will take notice that no as
Segment was over publicly known, or commu-
nicated to the Mexican Government before the
decree of Salas, extending the grant; but after
the DEGREES Of Salas, Garay made known to the
Mexican Government that before the decree
he had made an assignment to Manning K
Mack ntosh, and Snyder & Co. They have never
produced that previous assignment, to this day.
IL is not among the papers before us. Whether
such one was ever made, and whether it was
fraudulent; whether it contained what they
said of it or not there is no evidence; but the
only evidence they have is a title by an assign
ment subsequent, reciting that they had a
transfer made before the decree. Here is the
notice which Garay gave to the Mexican Gov
eminent Of the assignment which he had made
to those parties
with thev views, those concerning colonzstion.)
succeeded Ia concluding contract with the house Of Mrssr
Msnniug Msckinosh and suyder Co, indep "dcnt q,
h for oonsfruciss~ o. communication beceh Ua
ioo by which eoutrac those soutIemeu
duce sOttlars on Ihs lands
The 9Th article in that very deed of assign
ment recited that Garay did not convey to them,
but actually reserved to himself the right to
open the lsthmus in these words
" Thu bg his haasfer De part Of the corsndnier
Don JOSE Curry. IS not 10 IL HHdsrstA-f tdf he cD.rs
upon A.sTs Mining q NuclinLsL and upon S-vier q
o. 'td o.aterT 10 curry ON NAVIGATION s.,
10 tina oraER;"
Aud then grants them the navigation of the
little river On this side Of the ls,hmus (Coatza-
coaloos) 40 far rs may be necessary to the enjoy
meDt of their lands; and then adds as further