The Semi-Weekly Star. (Washington, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 39, Ed. 1 Monday, September 9, 1850 Page: 1 of 4
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The Semi- Weekly Ntar.
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VOL- 1.
WASHINGTON, MONDAY, SEPPBER 9,46eár IS 5 0 ■
NO. 39.
SEMI-WEEKLY S'IMR.
Published every Monday ¿f Thursday by
G W ORAWrORD.
TERMS.
Subscriptions for one year, or fifty-two rtnm-
hern. three Dollar* in advance, or four Dollars
•t the end of (he ve*r.
Advertising, one dollar persqnare, for the firs,
iiwertien, aii.1 áfty eenta for each continuance.
Ten linea or leas, to constitute a square.
To Merchants and others advertising by the
year, a reasonable deduction from the above
rates will be made.
—a—————sm
THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGfc.
Such a communication aa this, emanating from
the President of the United States, augurs un-
propitiously for the future tranquility of our
•"State. We desire to apeak in respectful terms
■of the President's arguments upon this grave
and momentous question ; but this document is
essentially unfair to Texas, so inconsistent with
historical truth, and so contradictory in itself,
'that we feel justified in treating it with Hie ut-
most severity. We were of that number who
loftked to Mr. Fillmore and his Cabinet with
some degree of hope for that Justice to be ex-
tended to Texas which had been withheld by
previous administrations. It seem , however,
wc have been disappointed; and we fervently
hope that the United States may experience
nothing worse than disappointment as the result
of ihe President's policy. But speculations as
to what might have been the happy consequences
of a different course on the part of ~Mr, Fill*
more are now unavailing; and, while we deeply
regret that the present policy has been adopted,
it is our duly to deal-candidly with things as they
are, Mr. Fillmore, in the first part of his mes
«age, states at some length what, under a given
state of facts, he conceives to be the duty ol the
President. No one who can read will deny (hat
-this is done correctly. It is, in substance, that
if any opposition be offered (too strong for the
- civil authority to repress) to the execution ol a
law -or treaty of the United States, in a
State or Territory of the-United States, the
-President is authorized to Eummra a -military
' or naval force sufficient to enforce the laws and
eepress fucti opposition. Now this imposing ex-
hibition of Executive power could not have been
intended for the instruction of members of Con-
gress; far-the President could not have supposed
that they were so ignorant of the the duties and
. powers assigned by law to the National Eiecu*
•lire.
This grand rehearsal of Executive powers and
ihltie* must, then, have been intended to intimi-
• date Texas, and to drive her from the mainten-
ance of those rights which she has had the pre-
sumption to assert-so boldly !
If the President entertains any disposition to
adjust the controversy with Texas amicably and
equitably, it is a great departure from-good sense
and good taste to preface that iutention with
such an ostentatious display of 'threats and men*
act*'. The nuplied boast of mere physical and
• numerical superiority, when directed to men
rwbo are alike brave and mletiigent, is most like-
ly to have an etiect directly the opposite ol lltai
' which was intended. Such a rourse of policy
•betraysa -gross ignorance of human nature.—
That which Texans might accept, ¡represented
respectfully, and recommended to their patriot-
ism as an honorable compromise between equals
for the restoration of mutual good feeling, may
aliare a very different fate when a traitor's baker
is exhibited as the only alternative.
The President makes liberal extracts from the
'treaty ol Guadalupe Hidalgo, and showa very
clearly what are the obligations imposed by the
'treaty upon the United State* aa regards the
Mexicans included-within the limits ceded to the
-United States. To this we have no objection, so
long as he doea not trespass upon the territory
nf Texas. There is no authority in that treaty
or elsewLere, authorising him to do so. The
-President derives hie authority to expel Texas
frem Santa Fe chiefly from the fact that Santa
-Wm ie included within the limita of the territory
ceded by Mexico to the United Slates, i. e. it
•cast of the boundary line between thoee two
«•Mtrwr. If there ia any force in tbie position
<fce can «a well march hi* regimenta inte the
coairtry between Ihe Trinity and Sabine rivera,
««d expel the autboritiea of Texas from there.—
*Tho United Stetea ^Government baa aa much
-fight to-tbat country as it baa to Santa-Fe. There
tea been najMrtinl recognition of our boundary
Mexico* It was either recogaiaed Iron the
•month of the Rio Grande to ita source, or it was
not-recognized at all. It iea great mistake to aup-
:peee that there everwss a controversy bet wee
Tesas and Mexico about boundaries. The nal
ter In issue was ttot whether the boundary or
Texas «bouId be twenty leagues east or west of
«given I'm, but whether Texaa should have u
independent political rxidwfg. So far, then, ss
the action of Mexico in the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo can be quoted, as affecting the rights of
Texas, she eiiher ceded to U>e United States all
of the territory between the Rio Grande and the
Sabine, or none of it. Great stress is laid upon
this treaty by the President; he very properly
classes it with other laws of the Untied States,
and enlarges upon the sanctity of the rights it
guaranties to Mexicans. Not one word, liow-
ever,;is said of the Annexation Resolutions un-
der which Texas was admitted into the Union- -
nothing is mentioned of the solemn guaranties
and stipulations by which the rights of Texes
are so strongly fortfied. The moment that Tex-
as becomes a party, nstion?l faith seems to be
forgotten, and tho President studiously avoids
giving any consideration to the title of Texas ;
like a paid attorney, he argues only his own side
of the case. It is unfair, and unworthy of the
-Chief Magistrate of a great nation, in prosecu-
ting a controversy with Ihe weakest membvr of
his Government, thus to suppress the truth, and
to lend the mighty influence ol his high station to
mislead others to ihe perpetuation of a foul
wrong. The argument of the President is pal-
pably absurd, because it is based upon a fact
which he acknowledges that he has not the pow-
er to decide ; that is. the question of title. He
admits that the people of Santa Fe have no
right to the territory in dispute, and says that
i: belongs eitheir to Texas or the United States ;
but to which, it is not his province to determine.
Yet, if Texas dares to exercise jurisdiction over
this territory, which even he cannot sav does
not belong to her, be, Millard Fillmore, Mill at
once, in his capacity of commander-in-chief of
the army and navy of the United States, order
out a sufficient military force to expel ell intru-
ders form Texas-! Here, then, is a most au-
thoritative decision of the question nf title in fa.
vor of the United States, and against Texas, not-
withstanding the repeated disclamers of himself
and Mr. Webster, that the Executive has no
surh power. This would be not only a decision
of the question of title, but a following up of
thit decision in a rematkable manner, by em
ploying the military force of the United j States
to sustain it against Texas.
Now, the line of action that Mr. Fillmore has
chalked out for himself, necessarily involves a
decision of the question of title. 'If the territory
in jiapuia dearly belongs to the the United
States, then Mr. ^Fillmore is clearly right as
his duties. But if this territory belong to Texas
Mr. Fillmore has no more right to send there U,
S. troons to massacre Texans than he has to
commit any other murder. He must decide for
himself'whether the United States has any title,
before he is authorized to defend that title by
arms. He may refine as he pleases about the
statu in quo; he may refuse to look behind the
treaty of Hidalgo for the evidences of title, al-
though he and Mr. Webster have both gone be-
yond that to assail our title yet he cannot es
cape a practical decisión of this question, if he
adheres to the threats of his message.
The last and most glaring inconsistency in the
message, is the recommendation to Congress to
give Texas a fair and equitable indemnity for
this territory, which he has before labored to
ehow belonged so clearly to the United States,
iliat for Texas to enter upon it, would be a
cause of war ! With this reluctant admission in
a vor of Texas the message closes, and we wil]
do the same only premising that if the doc*
rmes whichthe sentiments of Mr. Fillmors's
message tend are to be quietly received as the
legitimate construction of cur constitution, the
State Governments are useless pieces of machín
ery. If under the American Union, "State rights
are so freely recognized, that no extremity of op-
pression will jnstify a resort to force for the de
fence of thoee rights against Federal encroach
menta, then the experiment of a free govern
ment, under the theory of harmonious national
and State sovereignty, has failed. The least evil
to be anticipated from such failure, is the estab-
lishment of a central and consolidated govern
ment, at enmity with individual rights, and
which all history has shown to be an unsafe pro
tector of popular liberty.— GaL Journal.
Our Post's Corner.—Aspirants lor poetic
fame are daily pouring in upon us their lucu-
brations which we are grieved in being compel}*
ed to consign to our barrel. The following we
bnve selected as a gem fiom the pile, and the
idease if not the words, are plagiarisms at (hat.
It is one of twenty mortal stanzas, by an old
maid, eulogizing the virtues of a favorite cow,
run over and killed by the Carroll ton -railroad
car :
Long in her sides, -bright in her eyes ;
Short in her legs, thin in her thighs;
Rig in her ribs, wide iii her pin9;
FuH in her bosom, small in-her shins;
Long in her face, fine in her tail,
And never deficient in filling her pail.
THE MUSQUETO SERENADE.
Air—'Tit my delight qf a shiny night.
In a summei's night I take my flight
To Where the maidens repose,
And while they're slumbering sweet
sound.
1 bites 'em on the nose !
The warm, red blood that lints their cheeks,*
To me is precious dear,
For 'tis my delight to buzz and bite
In the season of the year.
and
*
When I get my fill, I wipe my bill;
And sound my tiny horn';
And off I fly to the mountain high
Ere breaks the golden morn ;
But at eve I sally forth again
To tickle the slcepless.ear;]
For'tis my delight to buzz and bite
At the season of the year.
On the chamber wall about I crawl.
Till the landlord goes to bed ;
Then my bugle I blow, and down-I go
To light upon his head ,-
O, I love to see the fellow slap,
And I laugh to hear him swear;
For 'tis my delight to buzz and bite
At the season of the year.
Dodge, of
ene, líale,
PAS8AGE OF THE CALIFORNIA BILL.
The final vote an the California Bid "was as
follows:
Yeas : Messrs,Baldwin, Bell, Benton, Brad*
bury, Bright, -Cass, Chase, Cooper, Davis of
Ma°Ss., DWkinsón, Dodge, of Wis.,
lowé, Douglas, Ewing, Felch, Grtene
Hamlin, Houston, Jones, Miller, Nofris, Phelps,
Seward, Shields, Smith, fcprufcnce, Sturgeon,
Underwood, Uphsm Wales, Walter, Winthrop,
Whiteomb—34.
Nats : Messrs Atchison, Barnwell, Berrien,
DnthrtChMtt, Davis, of M iss., Dawson, Foote,
Hunter, 'King, Mason, Morton, Pratt, Rusk, 8e*
bastían, 8ouW, Turney, Yutee—1&
Gen. Hosfeton for it, and Can. Rnak against
it. We suppose, however, thai aa, usual on ques-
tions affecting Southern interests, they toe "to*
right" Funny country this! —Journni.
THE TEXAS BOUNDARY BÍLL.
A bill proposing to the State of Txas
the establishment of her northern and
western boundaries, the relinquish-
~ ment by said State of all territory
claimed by her exterior to said bound"
aries, and of all her claims upon the
Uñited Slates
Be itenactcd, tyc., That the follow-
ing propositions shall be and the same
hereby are offered to the Slate of Texas,
which, when agreed to by the said State
in an act passed by the general assembly,
shall be binding and obligatory upon the
United States, and upon the said «Slate
of Texas : Provided, That said agree-
ment by the said general assembly shall
be given on or before the 15th day of
December. 1850.
First. The State of Texas w ilPagree
that the boundary on the north shall
commence at the point at which the
-meridian of 100 degrees west from
Greenwich is intersected by the parallel
of thin j six degrees thirty minutes north
latitude, and shall run fiom said point
due we8tto the meridian of 103 degrees
west from Greenwich; thence her bound-
ary shall run due South to the 32d de*
grees of north latitude : thence on the
said parallel of 32d degrees north lati-
tude to the Rio Bravo del Norte ; and
thence with the -channel of said river to
the Gulf of Mexico.
Second. The Stale of Texas cedes to
the United States all ber territoiy exter*
ior to ber limits and boundaries, which
she agrees to establish by the first article
of ibis agreement.
Third. The State of Texas relin
quisbes all claim upon ihe U. St for
liability of the debts of TeJras and for
compensation or indemnity for the sur
render of the United States of her ship,
forts, arsenals, custom house, custom
house revenue, arms and Munition of
war, & public buildings, with their sites
which became the property of the U.
States at the lime of the annexation.
Fourth. The United States, io con-
sideration of said reduction of bound
aries, cession of territory, relinquish
inenl of claims, will pay.to State of Tex-
as the sum of fifteen millions of dollars
in a stock bearing five per cent interese,
and redeemable at the end of fourteen
years, the interest payable half yearly
at the treasury of the United States.
Fifth Immediately after the President
of the United States shall have beeo
furnished wiih an authentic eopy of the
act of general «numbly of Texas, ac-
ceding these prepositions, he shall eause
the stock to be issued in favor of the
State of Texas, as provided for in the
fifth' article of this agreement
Provided, also. That five millions of
said stock shall not be issued until the
ihe creditors of the said State, holding
bonds of Texas, for which duties on im-
ports were specislly pledged, shall have
first filed at tho treasury ofthe United
Slates releases of claims against the U.
States for or oh account of said bonds.
Provided, That nothing herein con-
tained shall be canstrued to impair or
qualify anything contained in the third
article of the 2d section of the ' joint
resolution for annexing Texas to the U..
States.'approved March 1. 1845. either
as regards the number of Ststes that
many hereafter be formed out of tho
State of Texas or otherwise.
Later From California.
The steamship Falcon arrived at N.,
Orleans, on Friday last from Cbagres
via Havana, bringing dates from San
Francisco to the 17 th July. She'had
115 passengers from Cbagres, who were
believed to have with them a large a-
mount of gold.
In California gold is still found in a*
bundance* Business was good and mon-
ey plenty at lower rates than formerly-
The tide of emigration still continues to
pour in. The mining season had com.
menced and there was a great rush for
the "diggins.*' The outlets of the receu-
tly discovered gold lakes are found to
contain a great abundance of purer gold
than any yet obtained. Each man aver*
aged from four to six ounces a day.
San Francisco is improving with as.,
tonishing*rapidity. Buildings & wharves
are being constructed on the most
extensive scale.
The Stockton Times gives numerous
accounts of murders and ro'oeries in the
mines. This state of things is said to be
occasioned by the foreign miners tax
law.
The l?lacer Times, of Sacramento
City, ogives tbe first definite information
as to the "'Gold Lake" discovery on the
Feather River. It is on the authority
of a well known citizen who bad ju6t re-
turned. He says:
Gold is-found in great abundance over
«•a large tiact of qusr'z region, '¿he rich^
est deposits are believed to be at a dis*
ta nee often feet bnlow the surface*
Washing Is performed from the yield of
the earth from five to eight feet beneath.
The gold is coarse and beautifuL
Capt. S. states his convictitin that
these are richer diggins than any yet dis-
covered in the Northern placer. Men
were making from one to five hundred
dollars per day with ease. Marty thous-
ands are congregating there. The cap-
tain says" the mountains are full of
'em." The time of this disetívery appears
to have been in February last.
New placers, eath according to report,
richer than the other, are discovered ev«
ery few days in every section of the gold
region.
The Texas Question in the House.—Wo
take the following from the Baltitn&re American
of Friday, the 16th but on looking over the pro*
ceedingsof the House Tor the preceding day, as
published in the Washington papers of Friday
we do not see any mention of the'passage or the
bill, tbongb it may have been brought to a vote
n the evening session. We sincerely bope it is
so.
< Highly Important fiom Washington —Our
readera will be gratified to learn that the bill re.
gulating tbe boundary between Tezss and New
Mexiéb, introduced into the United States Senate
some days since by tbe Hon Mr Pearce, or Mary-
land, and which was promptly acted on by thst
body, passed the House- of Representatives Isst
evening by a majority of fifty votes. Thus has
been settled one of tbe most exciting questions oí
the day, and we hope that is an evidence that
the Kindred subject recently acted upon by the
Senate will receive prompt attention in the
House* We congratulate ihe conntry on ihe
prospect of the apeedy dissipation of the gloom
bat has so long been over it."—Journal.
Education If IaniAHA.—A vote taken at the
recent election in Indiana, in relation to levy-
ing a tai for the support of Free Sehools through-
out tbe State, resulted in a majority of 14 932, in
ita ftvor—ihb.vote being 75,732 to 61,900.
g-p qb Sunday, a Isdy called to ber little boy.
wfao wsa tossing marbles on the side-walk, to
cao* into the bouse. «'Don't you know you
shpeMn't be out tbere my son ! Go into the
back ysrd, if jou Want to play marbles—it ie
Sunday." "Well, yes; but ain't it Sunday in
the back ysrd, mother." Bit her again my son.
U Tbe Brazos is full snd still arising.
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The Semi-Weekly Star. (Washington, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 39, Ed. 1 Monday, September 9, 1850, newspaper, September 9, 1850; Washington, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth181519/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.