Texas National Register. (Washington, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 13, Ed. 1, Saturday, March 1, 1845 Page: 3 of 8
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TEXAS NATIONAL REG IBKKR.
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Were we called upon to saggest a dilemma
of all others ttie most absurd it would be that
of a reckless disorganixer affecting a regard
for the laws and a reverence Tor the inilitu-
tions of his countrj while endeavoring: to sap
' and subvert the very foundations of social
order and public justice. Such is the ridicu-
lous and unenviable position of the author-or
' authors of a printed circular entitled "a calm
appeal to the citizens of Fayette county" and
lately circulated among its inhabitants. If it
is really the intention of the instigators of that
combination to resist the constituted authori-
ties referred to in this circular or to trample
under foot those high and acknowledged obli-
gations of natural and moral law which have
for ages been held sacred among all enlight-
ened nations ; let them first cast off their alle-
giance to .civilization aad do their work at
least with the shameless consistency of banded
outlaws and not under the mask of citizen-
ship and under the shallow hypocrisy of
f being friends to good order.
The projectors of this circular first deal in
falsehood in their statement of facts; and
secoudly in their statement of law. In the
latter it may be assumed that they are merely
guilty of ignorance in the former it cannot.
It is not true as this document alleges that
"Lamar and Houston steadily refused all ap-
plications" for the surrender of fugitires from
-justice to the authorities of the foreign coun-
try whose laws such fugitives had violated.
The authority to remit fugitive criminals to
the jurisdiction from whence they have escap-
ed has been exercised by every President of
-Texas not as a mere courtesy but as a sacred
duty which they must not decline. And in
this case the first process for the arrest of
Dawson was issued by Gen. Houston. How
ridiculous now to call in question the lawful
exercise of this authority to talk of resistance
to it "at ouce" to lug in the motto of "Free
trade and sailors rights" and to invoke a ram-
bling and far-fetched reference to the un-
doubted right asserted by the American Gov-
ernment to oppose "press gangs" and arbitra-
ry seizure of American citizens upon the high
seas! How false and ridiculous to convey the
idea that "no enlightened government" in the
absence of treaty obligations acknowledges
the doctrine of surrender or " remitter of crim-
inal?;" and how ridiculous to pretend that the
United States have repudiated this doctrine
-in the face of their solemn recognition of it
as manifested by their delivery of several
'criminals to the officers of this Government
upon the demand of our Executive from the
prisons in New Orleans!
But$ to argue with the authors' of such per-
versions would be like quoting scripture to the
'infidel. It is not to them that we address our-
selves bat to the great body of the citizens of
Fayette county who we are gratified to learn
were not led astray by the sophistry of these
disorganizes. For their benefit and to vin-
dicate the Republic from the stain of affording
a sanctuary to foreign criminals we will refer
to the authorities which establish the doctrine
we advocate upon the broad basis of interna-
tional law viz: r
"It has sometimes been a question how far
one government is bound by" the law of na-
tions AND INDEPENDENT OF TRBATF tO Surren-
der upon demand persons who having com-
mitted crimes of great atrocity or deeply
affecting the public safety in" one country
lee to another for shelter." HSvery state is
xoukd to deny an asylum to criminals ; and
it is the duty of thegovernment where such'
criminal is to deliver him urto punish him;
" and ir it. refuses so to do it becomes bes-
" possible as in some measure an accomplice
in the crime." Ul?M guilty cannot be pun-
'satd in any other jurikdictiorithan the one
.wjiote laws be has violated; and thertfbrelhe
aty of wrrtBdering him applies at well to
the case ofsaijects.of tne rtate surrendering
' taato thexase of sheets itfilie powersle-
4WnsriiagtnefiiitiTe;" 3KVWWof
"aataorkies is clear nd explicit and tlm Jaw
amTtme of & rest apoa dwjlniest
i .!-'. .. st. : ' .i iisr-' .. yv; - m -
miiee;" vVjKW K St'cnr-a.
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nriarialas
. w wm : .j tiv -. -; i . i- tr r. .1 thtjt i-ii t-
grm&fwma3Miom: mMm. fallow: saysait to s
Masa.?.. 'z2!iii:t&aMmz j.nunCc of
India Co. v. Campbell 1 Yes. .Sen. 246.
Mure v. Kaye 4 Taun. It. 34. Wynne's Eu-
nomtis Dia. 3 67 Lundys case 2 VinU
R.314. Rex v. Ball 1 Am. Jurist. 287. Gro-
tius Chap. 21 23 4 5. Burlemaqui Vol.
2. part 4 Ch. 3 23 29. Rutherforth's Inst
b. 2 Ch. 9 12. Heineccius Com. h. t.
Com. wealth v. Deacon 10 Serg. & Rawle
123.
Such are some of the authorities which go
to sustain this doctrine ; the force of which is
acknowledged by the nations of Christendom.
The proclamation issued by the Executive
for the arrest and delivery of Dawson was in
the nature of a warrant emanating from the
Chief Magistrate of the nation who is charged
with the execution of the laws in general;
among which is that requiring the surrender
of criminals. Every subordinate 'ministerial
officer whether civil or military the High
Sheriff of Fayette county not excepted is
bound to execute this precept. Such a pro-
cess does not require publication in a news
paper to give it efficacy as is foolishly con-
tended in the circular. A private citizen
would be liable to indictment and punishment
as a criminal for resisting or obstructing such
authority: to what would a high judicial
functionary be liable for a like offence espe-
cially if acting under color of his office?
GEN. LAMAR ON ANNEXATION.
We have been informed with how much
truth we are at present unable to decide that
Ex-President Lamar during his recent tour
in the United States has come out unequivo-
cally in favor of annexation. We are but
little inclined to place full confidence in the
statement ; for however much we may desire
the consummation of that measure upon pro-
per principles and upon conditions alike
honorable and consistent with our dignity
and interest as a free people we are not so
blinded by our partialities as not to be forcibly
impressed with the purity of patriotic senti-
ment and cogency of argument displayed in
the inaugural address of that distinguished
citizen when he assumed the reins of govern-
ment as Chief Magistrate of this country. We
cannot perceive that they have lost any of
their strength or applicability by the lapse of
time. We are not of those who may despair
of the Republic nor will we hastily believe
that the early attachment and devotion of
Gen. Lamar to the country of his adoption
and to its independence permanent prosperity
and ultimate grandeur have undergone any
change. The following vivid contiast of our
condition as an independent nation with our
"tributary vassalage to remote and unconge-
nial communities" which we take from the
finished stale paper to which we have refer-
red we hope will always remain the best re-
futation of any such charge.
"There is one question of the highest na-
tional concernment on which I feel it a privi-
lege and a duty to address myself to the great
body of the people themselves. I mean the
annexation of our country to the American
union. Notwithstanding the almost undivid-
ed voice of my fellow-citizens at one time in
favor of the measure and notwithstanding the
decision of the national Congress at its last
session inhibiting the chief magistrate from
withdrawing the propositions at the cabinet of
Washington yet still I have never been able
myself to perceive the policy of the desired'
connexion or discover in it any advantage
either civil political or commercial which
could possibly result to- Texas. But on the
contrary a long train of consequences of the
most appalling character and magnitude have
never failed to present themselves whenever 1
have entertained the subject and forced upon
my mind the unwelcome conviction tha( the
step once taken would produce a lasting regretl
and ultimately prove as disastrous to our liberty
and hopes at the triumphant sword of the
enemy. And I say that from no irreverence
to the character and institutions of 'my native
country whose welfare I have ever desired
and dostill desire above my individual happi-
nes8 but a deep and abiding gratitude to te
people of Texas as well as a fervent devotion
to those sacred principles of government
whose defence invited me to this country
compel me to say that however strong may be
my attachment to the parent land the land of
mv adoption mast claim my highest allegiance
and affection; her glory and happiness must
ifeihy1 paramount consideration and f cannot
peaK in any outer man the
freedom aud frankness on all
MPSiy
MTSnc 'cr
matters involving tt safety dignity and
Kdnor s'
When I reflect upon the invaluable rights
which Texas will have to yield up with the
surrender of her independence the right of
making either war or peace; the right of con-
troling the Indian tribes within her borders ;
the right of appropriating her public domain
to purposes of education and internal improve
ment; of levying her own taxes; regulating
her own commerce and forming her own alli-
ances and treaties when 1 view her divested
of the most essential attributes ofgree govern-
ment; reduced to the level of an unfelt frac-
tion of a giant power or perad venture divided
into Territorial districts with Governors and
judges and excise men appointed from abroad
to administer laws which she had no adequate
voice in enacting and to gather imposts for
the benefit of those who levy them when I
look upon her as she soon will be the cornu-
copia of the world pouring her abundant treas-
ures into the lap of another people than her
own; a tributary vassal to remote and uncon
genial communities ; communities as widely
separated from her in pursuits as in distance
who are known to he opposed to her peculiur
and essential interests and who are daily
sending forth their denunciations against her
from the fiie-side the pulpit aud the council
chamber; and when I bear in mind that all
tllis sacrifice of rights and dignity and charac-
ter is to be made for what ! for the privilege
of going into a union in which she carries
wealth without proportional influence for
the glory of identifying her fortunes with a
government in which a large portion of the
inhabitants are alarmed for the safety of the
very institutions upon which her own hopes of
happiness are based; a government embracing
conflicting interests and irreconcilable preju-
dices with lasting causes of domestic quarrel
where Texas can hope for nothing but a par-
ticipation in the strife that distracts the public
councils and after passing through many
throes and convulsions be the means perhaps
of producing or accelerating an awful catas-
Ltrophe which none could be more ready to
avert or sincerely deplore than herself when
1 reflect upon these the inevitable and fatal
consequences of the proposed connection and
then turn from the dark and dreary picture to
the contemplation of the high destiny that
awaits our country; the great prosperity which
lies within her attainment if she will but ap-
preciate her natural advantages aud not part
with the right of developing and controlling
her incalculable resources: when I view her
vast extent of territory sketching from the
Sabine to the Pacific and away to the South
West as far as the obstinacy of the enemy may
render it necessary for the sword to make the
boundary; embracing the most delightful cli-
mate and I he richest soil in the world and
behold it all in a state of high cultivation and
improvement her mountains of minerals
yielding their vast treasures to the touch of
industry; her luxuriant pastures alive with
flocks and herds and her wide fields whiten-
ing with a staple commodity in the production
of which she can have no rival; with the whole
world for her market: and then consider the
noble purpose? to which this immense and
exhaustless wealth may be applied in adorning
and beautifying the countryv providing for its
safety and defence endowing institutions for
the spread of virtue knowledge and the arts
and carrying to the door of every citizen of
the Republic peace plenty aud protection
and when in addition to these glorious and
grand results I look still farther to the impor-
tant improvements which she will be able to
devise in government and to the entire revo-
lution which her example in free trude will
effect in. the commerce of other nations
emancipating it from the thraldom of tariff
restrictions and placing it upon the high
grounds of equitable reciprocity all of which
will as certainly flow from the maintenance
of her present independent position as the sun
courses the "heavens. When I reflect upon
these vast and momentous consequences so
fatal to liberty on the one hand and so fraught
with happiness and glory on the other 1 can-
not regard the annexation of Texas to the
American Union in any other light than as
the grave of nil her hopes of happiness and
greatness ; and if contrary to the present
aspect of affairs the amalgamation shall ever
hereafter lake place 1 shall feel that the blood
of our martyred heroes had been shed in vain;
that we had riven the chains of Mexican des-
potism only to fetter our country with more
indissoluble bonds and that u young Repub-
lic just rising into high distinction among the
nations of the earth had been swallowed up
and lost like a proud bark in a devouring vortex.
retain
ed in her defenceless situation with
of the foe and a renewal of tb and calmitiee
of war. Under sueh & state of things so
wonder that the people harrassed and almost
ruined bleeding with present wounds and ap-
prehending a farther accumulation of ill
should be williugto purchase momentary iecu-
rity by a surrender of their national indepen-
dence. Perhaps there was wisdom in the '
choice ; but 1 m free to confess that even
at that time amidst the darkest period of our
country's history I never despaired of the Re-
public but with unshaken confidence in the
strength of our cause and a full knowledge
of what the energies of a free and determined
people were capable of achieving I raised
my feeble voice against the sacrifice which
we were nbout to make' without any reference
to the difficulties of the moment and with an
eye exclusively directed to the future glory of
the nation and permanent prosperity and
happiness of all.
But these imposing considerations which
at one time rendered the proposed connection
seemingly desirable have lost their validity
aud force; indeed they exist no longer. Our
desolated plains have become green meadows
and luxuriant fields. Where the iron car of
war rolled with destroying energy the plough-
share of the husbandman is driven in peace
and safety; and instead of a sparse and suffer-
ing population weighed down with poverty
and blighted hopes we behold a powerful and
prosperous people daily increasing in wealth
and numbers happy in their present possess-
ions and looking forward to still higher and
more glorious results. Invasion too- has lost
its terrors. Conscious of our own strength
we know very well that the enemy has greater
reason to apprehend danger from us than we
from them. A change has come over the
aspect of our affairs. We have risen from
our prostration with redoubled energies. And
shall we now in the midst of glorious hopes
and increasing vigor persevere in a suicidal
policy originally founded in necessity rather
than choice? Would it not be far better for
us since the reasons which influenced our
former verdict can have no further application
to re-consider that yerdict and on good and
valid shewing reverse the judgment!"
We received a letter by last mail from a ci-
tizen of Rusk county which mentions that
immigration continues to flow in with great
rapidity so much so that since the last Sep-
tember elections the number of voters has
nearly doubled.
APPOINTMENTS BY; THE PRESIDENT.
George M. Coliinswortb Collector of Cus-
toms for the district of Aranzaso.
L. IT. Mabbett Collector of Customs for
the district of Soda Lake.
Senator Benton in his speech upon the in-
troduction of his new bill remarked: That it
was his "firm belief if the bill from the House
passed that Texas would never give her con-
sent to the propositions it contained."
.The Illinois legislature have uncondition-
ally repealed the charters granted to the Mor-
mon cities in that state.
The House of Representatives of the legis-
lature of Va. have refused f concur in reso-
lutions favorable to the annexation of Texas
on the ground it is said of doubt as to the
constitutionality of admission by act of Congress.
The Madisonian calls
k;ii h.
That the people of Texas should have been
in favor of annexation at the time their votes
were given on the question is not a matter of
surprise-when we consider the then existing
condition of the country. She was left after
the battle of San Jacinto feeble and exhaust-
ed; withoutttneans and without credit; her
settlements broken up; her villages desolated
by ruthless invasion; and amidst all threaten:
Mr. Benton's new
'a puerile and curtailed bantling."
Two thousand German emigrants lately
arrived in the space of two or three days at
Cincinnati Ohio from New Orleans.
The legislature of Ohio have refused to re-
commend any change in the naturalization
laws of the U. States. Much of the wealth
and importance of that state are attributed to
the influx of the sturdy law-abiding and
thrifty German population.
The legislatures of Virginia aadjflndiana
have postponed the election of United States
Senutors until their next session.
It is said that the Bostonians have funded
$100000 for Mr. Webster during his lifetime
and afterwards to his successors conse-
quence of the sacrifices he makes lifcsgniii
entering the Senate. Mr. Webster's party in
Massachusetts find it important to avail them-
selves of his great talents in arresting the an-
nexation of Texas and in promoting the
cause of abolitionism.
The House measure for annexanoftia en-
tirely dead in thelSeuate. Car. CUirh Csar.
11
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Texas National Register. (Washington, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 13, Ed. 1, Saturday, March 1, 1845, newspaper, March 1, 1845; Washington, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth80107/m1/3/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.