Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1873-09-20
Texas
HoI-STnN Sent .

c~b W your Tcsiucfsy III tit uStiti Siiiifl-
hels of business. there is always food
FOR the imagination, out of which 10
build future "casties in the air. Nv
''airy castles shall, in the present
assume for their foun-
iations "Mexico and matters Mexican -
and my crude specnlations are offered
to vonr readers, merely at their intrin-
sic valne. first promising that / shall
.'naught exaggerafe, nor anght SET down
In malice"
No doubt your readers, more especi-
ally in this locality, have in years gone
by laid many plausible schemes of what
they would have done if Mexico were
opened up to general emigration. Well,
that country has of late, been open
enough; but like many other similar
openings it was found desirable to keep
far away from them. And whilst ma
NY have been secretly wishing that some
cause of quarrel would arise between the
two governments, to afford them an eX-
euse TO 'Sgo over and occu-
py the land," there has qniet-
ly1 going on between the Rail-
Railroad Magnates a great strife to he
SOtlatS the lMeAlctn government Otti vi
its lands and railroad routes. -.
Two powerful railroad interests have
kept on Out-bidding and out manGryer-
ing each other, till the descendants of
the Montezumas appear TO have willing
ly yielded mp their entire country TO
these railroad combinations, and at the
same time seem delighted at the oppor-
tunity Afforded them Of paying right
rOyally for the privilege. - s..-.z....-
Many may have lately seen the state
ment that Mr.. Plum, representing the
"Houst0n & Great Northern q Interna-
tional OF Texas the ''Missouri. Kan
sas & Texas the ''Cairo & Fulton" and
the s'Iron Mountain II. r. Companies,
had made Il contract With the Mexican
government to builu Gt is estimated)
some 1929 miles of railroad. 1t now ap-
pears that this was only i preliminary
agreement with the government, and
really no contract unless sanctioned by
the Mexican Congress. which meets in
September next. .. ...t...s.- ....-
The proposed road is to run from the
city of Mexico, northwest to Lagos, 292
miles, thence to San Bias, or elsewhere,
on the Pacific, 81 miles. from Lagos to
Rio Grande, 604 miles, and various
other branches, 415 miles. If the con-.
tract is completed inside of six years
the Company get $40, 900 per mile, and a
certain per centage of the customs of
the Republic is pledged to pay the in
terest. + f..., -, ..-.... .-.. e.;
1t does not yet appear public what
General ROsecrans, who has been oper-
ating for another powerful ring. has
done, or proposes to do, but it is likely
that the Pesos which will change hands
in that Mongrel Congress would do
Tr,r,,, clo
ture, which made IA similar generous
subsidy to the same company. But ev-
cry one along the border Will rejoice if
some agency has been found, potent
enough to lift the veil of lethargy from
this ,benighted land, and cause it sooner
or later to become as essentially Ameri-
can as though annexation were already
accom- mplished. at.t. 49, r..5.. j.... ,f,.
A United States Gunboat has been
lately sounding in Mexican wateis off
TuXpan, and she would not allow u
Mexican pilot to come on board. If
Mexico would only .'treai OH the tail of
Uncle Sans coat" there would be some
excuse to take her in sout OF the cold. !"
But unless she does there never will be,
and murder, stealing and disorder
| along the entire border Will he of daily
occurrance, while the present bOunda-
L
continues. This question is of far more
Importance than. anything connected
| with the Indian Territory. That will
| keep. But for a great nation TO be ut
teriy incompetent to protect the, Hnfor-
tllnate settlers on its borders, and let
| the matter go on so for years, with all
Tits boasted generals to command and
| with no foreign question of Importance
| that requires Immediate attention, is the
greatest shame of the nineteenth centu-
ry. ,s.igt-..,,.t,, .tt+..l,-s-. .-4t.ti4
| To be, a commander of a department
| now, is to be a prince with an army OF
| retainers some thousands of miles away
| from where there is anything to do.
There are so many Indians now, on the
war-path in Western Texas, and fight
ING the Indians has Of late gone so much
out of vogue, that the most the Post
Commanders feel obliged to do is to send
a courier to warn the people that In
dians may be expected "their way" and
| they must therefore 'look OUT for
| themselves Once in q while some Ell
| tcrprising commander, like, Mckensie,
makes .(without authority dash across
1.-THE line after marauders, which is OF
verv doubtful service, to our people,
who, being utterly defenseless, have to
furnish short time thereafter, two
scalps for every one the Indians lose.
Nothing less than this proportion in ex-
change is satisfactory to the "noble red
man. If the government wOnld only
acknowledgetits inability to do, what il
has always, failed to do and Withdraw
| from the field, there would be less un-
certainty how to act amongst those eS-
Ored troops haven't lost any Sealps and
| flaov re not crniOu In run tho rick of in
juring property that was once valuable
(but is at present only i'll politics) in
hunting for the Indians. Still it must in
their excuse be said that the common
soldier, though ever so efficient. has moi
now much to do in prescribing how the
Indian question is to be solved. That
we suppose is laid down in the Tactics
latest parlor edition. ttr .st.t...
+ While we. boasted Americans have
been looking over the border, which is
4 a mere strip of sand, the sharper Ger.
man and Englishman have been, of late
years, getting hold of the best mines
assuming control of the most of the
trace, and living, generally, con tho
fat of the land," and all with very lit
tie trouble to themselves. ,. .....a g..
i When MaXimiiian went to Mexico
Napoleon told him that the country h.
was going to govern was zone lump o.
silver . and though a lump of lead was
his last sad portion, it was not the pow
er of the Mexican people that. shatteret
his Empire, but the, moral power O
sour Country" centred in the terribl,
magnetic. finger of the deceased Secreta
ny Seward, and all the most intelligen
of the Mexican people knew this to b.
the fact. Then was our national oppor
tunity to have gone over and occupied
the land. Then 1t was thought we, as /;
tpeople, We're 'tEsta bueano ADsericana. ,
But, instead, only q few disgusted Con
federates went, forth to conolize. To
tally unfit for the undertaking. ,ant
4 without resources of any kind, they
soon became still further impoverished
and finally disgustetl, returned to thei
former homes as soon as. the necessar,
funds were procured to defray the eX
penses of the journey. | believe TIN
proper time has now arrived to take pos
session of all that tract of country
north of an east and west line from thu
: mouth Of the Tuxpan river to the Pa
, cific Ocean. All south of that lin
seems to include as many inhabitant
and as large an amount of territory a
the Mexican government is capable o
controlling. And what nation on th
the earth could possibly protest or com
plain? II is n national necessity an,