Telegraph and Texas Register (San Felipe de Austin [i.e. San Felipe], Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 1, Ed. 1, Saturday, October 10, 1835 Page: 3 of 8
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TELEGRAPH.
3
Colonel S. P. Austin left this place on
the 8th inst. for the head- quarters of the
Army of Texas, with the expectation of
returning previous to the 15th inst. so as to
take his seat as a member of the Consulta-
tion, which is to convene on that day.
In the present excited state of the public
mind, it is necessary that every item of in-
formation which can throw the least ray of
light upon the subject of our present difficul-
ties, should be" placed before the public.
Unfortunately for Texas, the real cause of
these difficulties has not been understood ;
and until lately it was not generally believ
ed that a change had taken place in the
general government"; Many reports, calcu-
lated to arouse the people to a sense of their
danger, have been circulated, and the ex-
citement has continued until the people,
seeing no appearances of the predicted storm
have concluded that they have been alarmed
at shadows, and that no real danger has
existed. That some of these reports were
wholly groundless, we readily admit; but
that arrangements were made to bring large
bodies of troops to Texas, much earlier than
this, is proved by information lately receiv-
ed from unquestiflHte sources. Circum-
stances, howeveHfred their attention
for a while from tms quarter, to quell dis-
turbances at home. (Another circumstance
which has prevented the people of Texas
from putting themselves in an attitude of
defence, is the prevalence of the belief that
the whole difficulty has grown' out of cer-
tain acts of the legislature of this state. It
is not our intention to justify the sale of
400 leagues of Texas land, or any other act
of that body which has given offence to the
people ; but to show that these acts had no-
thing to do with the subject now in question.
Was it any act of our legislature that
brought about the change in the Mexican
government? Was it any act of our legis-
lature that induced the Congress of the
Mexican republic to confer upon Santa
Ana the powers of a dictator, declaring
that the orders and decrees emanating from
him should be respected and complied with,
however opposite they might be to the pre-
vious acts of that body? No, the fact is
this, that a project of changing the govern-
ment had been in agitation a long time. In
February last, symptoms of a revolution ap-
peared in the state of Vera Cruz. At the cas-
tleof San JuandeUIua,anumber of Serjeants
at the head of the garrison at that place,
pronounced in favour of centralism; but
the favorable moment .for effecting the con-
templated change had not yet arrived, and
means were adopted to silence for a time
this unseasonable declaration in its favor.
In the meanwhile it was thought necessary
to remove every obstacle in the way of the
change. The destruction of the state go-
vernments and the reduction of the civic
militia were the first objects of attention.
Finding the legislature of this state divided
and quarrelling among themselves, the. com-
mandant general of the eastern states
thought the moment auspicious, anH taking
the part of the minority, interfereHn the
most scandalous and illegal manner in the
civil affairs of the state, issuing orders that
certain acts of that body should not be com-
plied with, and threatening, to take the
capital by force of arms, disperse the le
gislature, depose the governor, &c. This
produced the decree of the legislature, au-
thorising the governor to establish 'the seat
of government, provisionally, at any-point
where the public business might be tians-
acted with security. An attempt to remove
it to Texas was made,xand the public are
well aware of the sequel. During this time
a law was passed by the general Congress,
reducing, or rather, destroying the civic mi-
litia. To this the state of Zacatecas would
not submit, the consequence of which was
the inHLon and reduction of that state bv
thetyjKof the general government, (the
officiaraccount of which will be published in
our.next number.) (The plan of Tolucanext
drew the public attention, the principles of
which form the basis of the present govern-
ment of Mexico. This plan spread with
the rapidity of lightning throughout the re-
public, declarations in its favor were made
in most of the principal towns, and the lo-
cal authorities here were called upon for
their co-operation in bringing about the
change. While the new system was matur-
ing, and the government was undergoing a
metamorphosis from the federal to the pre-
sent central form, communications were re-
gularly received by the local civil authori-
ties of Texas, from the commandant gene-
ral of the eastern states, and from the prin-
cipal commandancy of Texas, assuring the
people that, although troops were destined
to the colonies, they were coming with no
hostile intentions, but for the purpose of
defending us against the hostile Indians, en-
forcing, the custom-house regulations, &c.
That they should wish to enforce the laws
is reasonable and natural, and no reasona-
ble man would object to it; but the former
of these pretences is so flimsy, that the
least discerning will at once see its fallacy.
Is it1 not notorious that Texas was permit-
ted to be settled by Americans, to afford
them security from the very Indians against
whose incursions they now offer to protect
us ? Is it not also well known that their own
frontiers are now suffering, and, have ever
suffered more fronnthe predatory incursions'
of the savages, than the colonies of Texas ?)
Witness the state of Chihuahua, a grea't
part of whose territory'is already laid waste
by the marauding inroads of the neighbor-
ing savages. One Would naturallynsupposeT
then, if the tender mercies of the Mexican
nation were excited Tafavor of her subjects,
'her first attention would be turned towards
that most afflicted part of her territory, and
that her "bowels of mercy" would yearn
over her own legitimate offspring, gather
than over an exotic, transplanted to her wil-
derness from a foreign soil, and suffered to
grow up thus far without her fostering care.-1 -
fpBut another artifice 'has been used to in-
troduce troops into the country, and at the
same time to cause divisions among our-
selves. The military commandant at Be-
jar, having been informed that certain in-
dividuals had rendered themselves obnoxious
to the colonists by some public acts, con-
ceived that an order ibr their arrest woidd
create a division among us, and afford vfi
plausible pretext for carrying into effect
their plan of introducing troops into the colonies,)'
I Whether these men had committed a
crime or not, is not now the question. GranW ,
for a moment that they had, and what right-
had the military to order their arrest? Ac-
knowledge to them the right of controlling
the civil authorities, and of arresting at
pleasure any individual for an offence r
pretended offence, and we at once put the
fate of every citizen into their hands, .and,
place ourselves at the mercy of every un-
principled demagogue who may chance $p
hold a commission in the Mexican service.
These are the pretexts under which they are
acting in sending troops to these colonies;
and they hav,e pleased themselves with the
idea that, by smooth words, and solemn pro-
testations of friendly feeling towards the
country, they should be able to effect then-
grand object, without exciting the suspicions
or alarm of the colonists, until it should be
too late to prevent the evils intended towards
them. But, fortunately, the people have
aroused to a sense of their danger, and will
arise in their might to oppose any attempt
to impose on them a government to which
they, as freemen cannot give their assent.
If proof is wanting of their hostile inten-
tions towards us, we have but to advert to
some late publications which have issued
from the Mexican presses. We shall at
present refer our readers to only one. This
is an article which originally appeared in
the Nivel, a paper published in Monterrey,
the capital of the. state of Nuevo Leon, and
was subsequently copied into the Mercurio,
of Matamoros. The writer of this article
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Baker & Bordens. Telegraph and Texas Register (San Felipe de Austin [i.e. San Felipe], Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 1, Ed. 1, Saturday, October 10, 1835, newspaper, October 10, 1835; San Felipe de Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth47872/m1/3/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.