Telegraph and Texas Register (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 37, Ed. 1, Saturday, September 23, 1837 Page: 1 of 4
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FOIi. II. MO. 37. OTHOIiE WO. 89.
WE LABOR FOR O U 11 COUNTRY
HOUSTON, SATURDAY, SEPT. 23, 1837.
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TEXAS REGISTER
is published weekly, at the city of Houston, by Crugek & Moore,
proprietors.
TERMS: Subscription, five dollars a year, paj-ftble in advance. Adver-
tising, one dollar a square for the first insertion, and fifty cents for each con-
tinuance: seen lines, or less, is considered a square. Marriage and obituary
notices of more than three lines each, cards of passengers, and announcements
of candidates for political offices, will be charged at the common rates ef adter-
tisfng. "
Q7A1I advertisements to bo paid for in advance.
AGENTS FOR THE TELEGRAPH: J. Brcxt Clark, New Orleans,
Bult, Gat & Hoxey, Washington. Col. Geo. W. Pof, Columbia. Bennett
&, Snu, Brazoria. W. W. Shepard, Montgomery, Lake creek. Judge Ush-
er, Texana. E. T. Branch, Liberty. .To. Rovf, San Augustine. D. C.
Cdnningham, Jtfina, or Bastrop.
, From the Washington GloDc.
Commodore Pallas has returned from his late cruise along the coast
of Mexico, and was at Pensacola on the 15th inst. Upon his way out
hs stopped with the fleet under his command oft" the Brazos de Santiago,
for the purpose of demanding the restoration of the captured vessels,
the Champion and Julius Caesar, which had been carried into that river,
and the liberation of their crews. In an interview with general Filiso-
la, the commander-in-chief of the northern dn ision of the Mexican army,
he was informed by that officer that the capture of those vessels hav-
ing been disapproved of by the Mexican government, the crews had
been already released, and that he had received instructions to restore
the vessel also, which he was unable to do, in consequence of their hav-
ing been previously condemned, and the matter referred to a superior
tribunal: but that if they were not then on their return to the United
States, it was-becausc no appeal had been taken by the persons interes-
ted from the decree of condemnation.
From the Brazos de Santiago, the commodore proceeded to Vera
Cruz, where the following correspondence took place between him and
commodore Aldana, the commander of the Mexican naval forces.
United States Frigate Constellation,
Anchorage off Sacrificios, June 28, 1837.
Sir: On the eve of my departure from this port, lam much pleas-
ed at your arrival, as it affords me an opportunity of communicating with
you, and ascertaining your views in relation to the operations of the na-
val force under rour command, as regards the commerce of the United
States with the ports of Mexico and Texas. Being charged with the
protection of our commerce in this quarter, it becomes my duty to pre-
vent, by all means in my power, any acts which may be considered a
violation of the treaty between Mexico and the United States. That
certain articles of that treaty have been infringed by the lato comman-
der of the Mexican squadron, in the capture of certain United States
merchant vessels, cannot admit of a doubt. Having every confidence
that you have no disposition to do anything in contravention of the faith
of treaties and 'law of nations, I would ask of you to give me in writing
an assuance that acts similar to those of which we have just reason to
complain, will not be repeated by the vessels of the squadron which you
have the honor to command. Such an assurance will enable me to give
such instructions to the commanders of the several vessels of the squad-
ron under iy command as may prevent further difficulty, and at the
same time information to my government a? to the pacific intentions of
the authorities of Mexico, as may be gratifying, and lead to the happiest
Tesults.
I am, with much respect, your obedient servant,
(Signed) A. J. DALLAS,
Commanding United States naval forces in the West Indies and Gulf
of Mexico.
To Jose Aldana, Esq.
Commander of the Marine, Vera Cruz. '
Translation.
Commandancy General of the Marine Department of Vera Cruz.
My satisfaction has not been less than your Excellency's in conse-
quence of the lucky accident of having been able to arrive in time, to
show 3"ou personally, as well as in this way, the pocific intentions enter-
tained by me in rcgaid to the commerce of the United States, in confor-
mitywith the instructions given me by the Supreme Government of my
nation. By them I am directed to declare some of the ports of Texas
in a state of actual blockade, giving a sufficient time for the commerce
of the United States to speculate with a knowledge of that fact; and
that, meanwhile, the treaties between the two countries are to be observ-
ed in all their parts: all of which I will do, becouse it seems to me right,
if not also for the purpose of complying with the views of my govern-
ment; which, as the said instructions show, are most peaceable and just.
My predecesbor may have committed some faults, but if those com-
mitted by the commander of the Natchez have not exceeded, they have,
without doubt, equalled them; wherefore I deem myself obliged to state
to you that, on falling in with the subaltern officers of the forces under
my command, I shall give them more strict orders not to deviate a tittle
from the expressed intentions of my government; and I shall further
warn them to avoid every cause of collision; tut that, whenever an oc-
casion shall arise for a fight, which I neither hope nor fear, to place the
.national honor in an advantageous light
I repeat that I have the best disposition and positive orders from my
government to do nothing contrary to good faith, to trpaties, and the law
.of nations; and that I consequently declare that acts "similar to the past
shall not again occur;and I hope that your excellency's orders to tke
-commanders of the vessels of the squadron under your command may
be such as you promise in the last paragraph of your esteemed: commu-
nication, not doubting that the results predicted by your excellency will
be as fortunate as you may hope, provided that in our conduct we strive
for a frank and faithful character, and considering that we have been
acquainted, and have held intercourse with one another for many vears
as intimate friends.
I have the honor, Mr. Commodore, to express to your excellency
on this.occasion the consideratioins of .my esteem and perfect frierdship
, God and Liberty! Vera Cruz, June 28, 1837.
" ' JOSE DE ALDANA.
To the Comjiodobe of the United Siatcs squadron on the Pensacola station.
the cry of the papers against the atrocity. But how much worse is this,
when a Texian has taken the life of a Tcxian, and without a provoca-
tion; where no other motive could have prompted than a malignant feel-
ing, which developes more the attributes of a devil, than a man. He
who, sheds the blood of an enemv unnecessarily , offends against ci iliza-
tion, nature and Heaven. But he who takes the blood the life ot a
brother wantonly and cruelly, as in this case, makes the offence a hun-
dred fold more damnatory. J rely upon die press of my country to vin-
dicate the cla'ms of humanity, f-o much outraged in this case, and the
demands of justice so urgent! called for by it.
I am. most respecfully,
Your obedient servant,
RICHARD POLLARD. ""
To the publishers of the Globe.
Santiago, de Chili, April 21, 1S37.
Dear Sik: Adverting to the letter which I addressed you, of date
tiie 5th of last February, I now congratulate you upon your clc ation to
the presidency of the republic of Texas.
I have been in error with regard to the fate of my son. I received
a letter on yesterday from captain Vickerv, of the Texian Army, in
forming me that my son rv'as cruelly murdered by lieutenant Iloath, of
the lexian army. Ihe account of captain Vickery is as follows: that
mv son was sergeant of his company; that a dispute arose between him
and a lieutenant Joseph H. Rhoads, of the same company; that a duel
was fought between them, and that my son was shot in the head, a, little
below the temple; the ball glanced alongupon the skull about two inches;
it was cut out by a Dr. Wallis, who reported that the skull was not frac
tured. Captain Vickery savs that the wound was healing; that my son,
though feeble, was doing well; that he received an order from Mr.
W harton, agent general, to join that portion of the army then under your
immediate command; that my son was unable to go, he remained with
him, sending all his men but three, whom he detained to assist in mov-
ing my son so soon as his condition would allow of his removal. In the
mean time lieutenant Hoath, with an armed force, violently seized my
son, in defiance ot the entreaties of captain Vickery, and his assurance
that he was too ieeble to be earned away; and, if he was forced away,
it would cause Ins death. In despite of his debilitated and suffering state
which was presented by his person, and which, together withjiis youth,
(having just the month preceding arrived to the age of nineteen years,)
claimed from all sympathy and tenderness, he cruelly placed him on the
top of a cart, exposed to a hot sun, to be conveyed to some point, where
is not said by captain Vickery. He had not from the lime he was woun
ded until then, left his tent.
Captain Vickery, who accompanied him, represents that such were
the sufferingsof my wounded, feeble son, from travelling in this situa-
tion; such was the agony of his feelings produced by the jostling of th'e
cart, together with the power of the sun to which he was ex-posed, that
he declared he could not possibly stand it. Gaptam Vickery then re-
quested that in) son should have a horse to ride: but 'the wietch Hoath
denied this to him, saying that my son was able to ride on the cart, and
should ride on the cart. Here my dear son suffered and languished un-
til night set in. The road which thev'were then travelling was found to
be too bad to advance further with the cart; and my son by this time
being unable to walk, trom his cruel exposure by this monster, captain
Vickery took him on his back and carried him about three quarters of a
mile, lie could not reach a house, and my son had to lie out the whole
night in a rain; and the consequence was, from this cruel usage, from
this more than savage barbarity, he died the next morning mailing in his
last moments the request of captain Vickery, that he would inform me
how he had been treated by lieutenant Hoath. Was there ever cru-
eltylike this? Gould there be a case displaying more malignity of heart?
Could there be an instance of a more deliberate unprovoked, cold blood-
ed murder? We look in vain, for its parallel. "Even the Spanish In
quisition cannot afford a case marked with eaual malignity. Captain
Vickery says: "I charge lieutenant Hoatli with the death of your dear
beloved son."
We have seen the most fiend-like cruelty practiced by the Mexi
cans upon the Texians in prosecution of the war, but this conduct of
lieutenant Hoath to my son surpasses any deed of these vindictive, bloo-
dy people, in black enormity, heartless despotism, brutal tyranny,
demoniac cruelty, and murderous character. In the name of a father,
in the name of a man, in the name of outraged humanity, in the name
of the laws of a civilized community, I call for the punishment of this
murderer of my son. He has wantonly, basely, inhumanly and cruel1
ly, sacrificed the life of my son, and his" life soould be the forfeiture. I
ampursuaded that your regard for the honor of the Texian service;
your regard for the dignity of the republic; -your regard for the life of a
chivalrous young soldier, volunteering boldly and fearlessly in the Tex-
ian cause, devoting himself enthusiastically to the cause of liberty, to
me opposition ot oppression, to the rights of man: vour abhorrence ot
tyranny, your detestation of inhumanity; above all, your love of justice,
win cause you 10 nave mis murderer brought o condign punishment.
Have the goodness, my dear sir, to communicate to me. or cause
communication to be made to me on this subject, through the secretary
of state of the United Stales, who will promptly forward to me any thing
mat may reacn ins nanus lor me trom you, or by vour order.
I have the honor to be,
With sentiments of high regard,
Your obedient servant.
RICHARD POLLARD. "
Charge d:Affairs of the U. S. to the republic of Chili.
To genera! Samuel Houston, president of the republic of Texas.
Washington Globe.
cover to the "state department," ab you request, and will, I trusl, reach
ou insufety. ' I am yours resj.cctfully, '
B RNARD E. BEE. Sec'rv. of VVar.
To the honorable R. Pollard.
In addition to the aboe, justice requires Us to'state that Mr. Vick
ery (he is not a captain,) has been long personally hostile to Lieutenant
Houth. on account of his having be en arrested by the latter as a desert
er. Vickery 's statement was evidently tiric ured with personal hatred
COMMUNICATIONS.
For the Telegraph..
Me. Editor: There is a subject which isbeginningto excite some,
interest among the people, and to which the early attention of our next
congress should be called. that is our tariff system, as it now stands.
. There certainly could not have been a more unwise or injudicious
plan adopted, or one more calculated to bear upon the people, than this;
direct taxation would hae been even preferable! to the same amount.
As the tariff now stands, a check is giveii 'to all importation of
goods, except by "a very few heavy capitalists; who can import such
goods as they please, and soli at such prices as wil!.,suit themselves;
making it worse even, than any otln-r kind of tax, besides nearly check-
ing our commerce, which should rather be fostered with the greatest care
by our government., It should be taken into consideration, that we are
not yet a manufacturing nation, nor yet able to imp6rt our goods direct
fiom Europe, and that nearly all the European goods we consume, first
pay a heavy duty in the United States; add to this our own duties and
the very heavy expenses attendant upon importing goods, and it will he
found that we pay more for our goods now, than any other commercial
nation in the world. The list of articles on which duties are to be paid,
is very imperfect; many articles of great importance, and some on which
there ought to be no duties charged, arc not mentioned, therefore they
pay twenty-five per cent.
The ad valorem system is very bad also; it gives no encouragement
for importing good articles ; a man under this system must buy'the cheap-
est, -and of course poorest goods he can find : this you will say, is of little
consequence, but I think it is; I think it helps the credit ro'f the country
to see the people well dressed; if the duties were specific it, would not
make so much difference whether a man wore a fine or a cparse coat, for
the duties would be the same, all the difference w.oula'beih the first cost.
The ad valorem svstem gives encouragement to fraud'also, "and without
a chance for,detecting it; for it is very easy for aman to give false in-
vuiuufc, giviug n irue list 01 ms gooas. dui pulling me prices zu or zd
per cent, below actual cosi. There have been smuggleis in all parts of
the world, and our government should guard against encouraging'them.
In regard to our payments, our laws are rather two severe on us:
we aire obliged to sell to our customers' who are plantors, or persons-dependant
upon them, and we cannot collect our money more than once a
year; how then can we pay a heavy amount of duties in three or six
months: we cannot do it without banking facilities, which we are not
likely to get soon, from present appearances. I see no reason why gov-
ernment cannot wait, as well as the merchants. A Maw should also be
passed making it the duty of the custom house officers to.receive the pa-
per of the government for duties, or at least that part of it given to the
merchant for goods actually sold to the government. There is scarcely
a merchant in the country who has not sold goods to the government,
and in payment has received paper which, he anbuy in the streets for
tvu cvius uii uiu uunur. rnne mis siaie oi anairs exisis, me government
certainly cannot expect the merchants to assist them, and the war is
not yet over; how then without money oi-credit can the government
expect to sustain itself through a campaign? the revenue arising from
the tariff will not do it: ,lhe only way then will be to'sacrifice the public
domain,, (which wont Iast'forevcr,) or get the merchants jfo assist them;
lliey will not do it unless the government will take their own paper for
public dues. r '
Let a proper tariff system, at least one half lower than the present
'be adopted, the government take its own paper for duties and all other
public dues, (unless expressly stipulated otherwise,) and 1 will venture
to predict that its credit would increase' a thousand fold, and our com
merce woiilc extend to every part of the world. Let the present sys
tem remain, and we remain what we.now are; our country's credit gone
and our merchants, or.our products, unknown beyond the U. States.
A MERCHANT.
SAVAGE CONDUCT.
Saistiago' Dr. Chili1, April 25,1837.
, Gentlemen,: ,1 have had a son murUered in Texas, by a JTexian offi-
cer, with a cruelty unparalleled. I have called upon president Houston
for the punishment of the murderer of my son. As every thin"- rela-
ting to Texas seems to be.intercsting to the people of the United States,
and as public justice is the concern of all, I send you herewith a copy
of my letter to presidentHouston, and ask the favor of you to give it an
insertion in your paper.
Is it not strange, that so great an outrage has passed so long unno--tfcscfby
those in Texas authorized to take cognizance of ii?
'iMr$J such a murder had been committed by a Mexican upon a Tcxian,
iowgreat woukf have been its publicity, and how loud would have been
The duel was fought on the 24th of March, and my son died on
the 31st of the same month.
We were shown the above articles a few days since, and immedi-
ately after perusing them we made inquiries upon the subject at the
war department, and were pleased to find from Col. Bee that an investi-
gation had already been made by the executive, and a communication
had been directed to this afflicted parent, of which the following is a
copy.
WAR DEPARTMENT, REPUBLIC OF TEXASJ
City of Houston, September 10th, 1837. i
Sir: This department has taken the utmost pains to cutmireinto
the circumstances as referred to in your letter of the 21st April to the J
Presillnnt. Fnrfunnffilv lieutenant Gillon ik nn n viol 4 !,;, nloa mill
I - u... j - w.. ., . loll, i- LlilO IHL.KmJ ..
enables me to give you a simple narrative of facts, which 1 trust will as-
suage your feelings. Lieutenant Gillon states that from the advance of
the Mexicans, it became necessary to order the troops to the main army
that on the Colorado a junction was formed; and it was then found
that your son was suffering from a wound recently rerctved in a duel.
Lieutenant Houth immediately ordered him to be put in the wagon,
where every attention was paid him by Dr. Winston an able surgeon,
Lieutenant Gillon adds, that "Houth was very kind to. him." .-Upon
these facts you may rely. Your son's deatli was th effect of'lhr w.-rmd,
and unavoidable exposure, not from "neglect" as? hasbeerf co'mmumca
ted to you. This letter will lie forwarded to thera'tecf States itndpS
To the Editors' pF the Telegraph.
Gentlemen. I have heard with no less surprise than mortification,
from various sources, that I am charged with writing certain communi
cations, published in the ."Velasco Herald' some time in June last.
oucu is not uie iaci anu i disclaim au participation in mem, or maeeOj
in any newspaper publications in Texas, since my return to the coun
try about the time mentioned. But in giving this unqualified denial ot
the charge of writing, it is not my purpose to impugn the motives, or ar-
raign the principles of, the author. The course I have ever pursued in
a public capacity, especially in Texas, should have exempted me .from
every suspicion of giving to the world opinfons subvershe of social or-
der, or calculated to favor the correction of public evils, except by con-
stitutional remedies. I am therefore mortified in being compelled to of-
fer a public denial to charges, of a nature so Inconsistent witlnny known
sentiments, or submit to be called a disorganize one who favors prin-
ciples, revolutionary in effect, tending to promote violence m the re-
dress of real or fancied grievances, in the official exercise of govern
mental powers. To the public, the charge and .vindication, so far as I
am concerned, may be very indifferent and unimportant; to myself and
friends it is a serious matter. It is true that I anl a mere private citi
zen, unambitious of power, or official distinction, that I have-been long
absent from my country during.amost interesting time of her struggle
ior existence, suiienng unaer me uimcuiues oi a siuooorn disease, and
under medical treatment of a most rigid character ; that Lhave returned
to my home, laboring under the consequent effects x)f disease, and find
my fellow citizens still contending, in the same gloiious cause, with
brightened hopes, against thg samo malignant and murderous foe; nurs-
ing an infant government; but it is untrue, thatj((am qapable of hurl-
ing the firebrand of discord in the midst. I should detest myself) if pos-.
sessed of such a disposition or character; conciliatory and pacific, feel-
ings have ever been the' promptings of ray heart, and manifested in ev--cry.
act of my life.
Ihave said thus much in self vindicatioiLatbest aSiunoracious bu
siness, .because 1 have enemies, wno would gladly lniure mn. ovpn in
rr nril'nfo nnii e?rrrt 1 Kilofimicr trnnfrpihln TrsnaMA. -3T. T " i
,u: KV"1,' ""u " "-'"") " i'"Fi"c, ucuuvsu uunng an ear y pe-
.:... .. ! .S
ger in a commumtv , is tlic consequence of disscminatioir jk)c,trme.s, which
in any degree tenu 10 promote disrespect, tor its constitution and laws-
for thus
trust that my apology and my reasons are sufficient.
troubling my fellow citizens, in.so"Jpubuc1af manner. .'
' Qjiintana, August 2ffth-, 1837. -v"fF 7,
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Cruger & Moore. Telegraph and Texas Register (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 37, Ed. 1, Saturday, September 23, 1837, newspaper, September 23, 1837; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth47950/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.