The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1885-01-24
THAT claim to the Citv or ool,.s,o,,

III
DALLAS, Jan. % Editor HERALD
The New York Dispatch of the 10th inst.
published in this mornings HERALD,
under the caption of "Langworthy,s
Land" claimants for the Site oftheCitv
Of Galveston" is calculated to create a
ilutter of uneasiness, not only among
the uniformed in Galveston, hut
throughout the state. But it is, from
centre to circumference, the the merest
Posh' III IS claimed that fifty years ago
LahgWorthy SURVEYED and bought from
Inc spanish government a league of
land wbereon the city of Galveston now
stands. That is the whole claim, with
the statement that only recently the
leld notes of the survey have
been found, of course among IN
mUs'y old papers of some pri-
Vate citizen of New York. From the i7lh
OF September, 1871, to the % of March
1886, spain had az much right To sell the
capitol building in Washington as to
sell the lands of Texas. Texas was i'm
that. period no part Of the Spanish do
ninlOn, but an integral part of Mexico.
MeNlco, by her laws and executive act
ions, refused to sell the islands on her
coast, or even TO permit the colonization
OF her lands within ten leagues of the
coast, except by her native citizens, or,
IN some cases, TO foreigners Of tho Cath
ollc (hef nauonai) religion. An eN-
cepuun TO this rule was finally made as
10 Austin's colony, covering the main.
land, but not the islands, between the
san Jacinto and La Naca rivers. If
Langworthy ever obtained such a title
as stated, 1t was in violation Of law, and
must have been by collision and fraud,
and therefore void, or, at the least, void
able. But admit more than
Is claimed, viz, that Lsngworthy
ala iecelYe a concession from the Mex
lean government, or even n stronger
case, that he derived it from the Next
can state of "Cohahuila and Texas. ~
(Which could make no coast grant with
out the prior consent of the supreme
governmenD then the pretended claim
OF his heirs or assigns must prove ut
terly worthless under the fundamental
law OF this state, as distinctly provided
III our constitution TO protect the actual
citizenship of the state against all such
neiarious means Of robblng those who
legitimately reclaimed and built up the
country. BY our statutes IF limitation,
| sanctified by forty-iive years beneticent
existence under the facts stated, this
claim must sleep the sleep that knows
no waxing. But its invocation is wholly
unnecessary. There is still a higher
law which outlaws this bogus claim and
denies it standing or hearing i'm ouI
courts, for which see sections /,
u, 3, 4, and 5, article ~
title, spanish and Mexican Land
litles' Of our state constitution
Among several kindred safeguards, toC
long to quote, it is emphatically declared
that; "No claim Of title or right IA
land, which issued prior to the 18th day
OF November, 1875, which has not Il. O.
before April is, 1876 been duly recorded
/ IN the county where the land was stu.
I ated at the time Of such record, Oh
which has been duly archived i'm the
general land Office, shall ever hereafter
be deposited in tho general Lar d office
or recorded in this state, or delineated
on the maps, or used as evidence i'm any
OF the courts of this state, and the same
are stale claims"
A government that would permit the
$1,000 citizens OF Galveston
after erecting fine city on a treeles.
island, under title granted by special
law (December, 1866 in the wear
OF its birth as nation, to be Disturbed
In their rights by such a trumped-uu
nlacnlnatlon as this, sprung half cen.
fury later, would merit the scorn of all
honorable minds. Neither our breth.
rem of the island nor strangers unac.
| quainted with our land system and
laws, have any occasion to lose a mo.
menps sleep by the sensational dis
patch from New YORK.
Apropos of this claim, | hold as n
souvenir, worthless except as a curl
osity, a certificate of stock, calling for
10000 acres Of land, i'm the Rio Grando
and Texas Land company, issued in
New York, July II, 1891, and based on
the colonial grant of the state of Coha.
hulla ana Texas, TO DIR. John Charles
Beales, of New York, ON the Rio
Grande, Nueces and head of Colorado
rivers. twas sent to me as a mementC
hy my kinsman, Hon. William Joseph
Ward, of Baltimore, twelve years ago
and is worth precisely the quotient OF
the Langworthy claim-nothing.