The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918 Page: 207
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Southwestern Historical Quarterly and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas State Historical Association.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
British Correspondence Concerning Te-as
of Texas by Great Britain was simply and singly the admission
of what was solemnly declared by Texas to be a fact, and which
it was believed upon the faith of that declaration would remain a
fact; namely, that Texas had, and would preserve a Sovereign,
separate, and independent existence. The limits of Texas were
not a matter of question, and the acknowledgment of independ-
ence had no connexion with, or bearing upon the public debt of
Mexico to British Subjects, and the inherent liability of all the
territory constituting Mexico at the period of the contract of those
debts, to a fair share of the responsibility for them. If every
State in Mexico, one after the other, had declared their independ-
ence, the public debt of Mexico would still remain to be adjusted,
and with the debt, the justice and necessity that each Member
should assume it's proportion of the charge.
It is altogether shadowy to hint that when Texas agreed to
hold herself responsible for a certain amount of the Mexican debt,
if Mexico consented to acknowledge her independence within a
specified period, that Great Britain by being a. party to that ar-
rangement consented to forego all claim upon the territory
claimed by Texas (four fifths of which have never been in her
possession) if Mexico did not acknowledge the independence within
that period. As I understand that subject, that was a specific
agreement in the event of the occurrence of a, given state of
things, a definite settlement of the proposition for which Texas
w~as to be responsible, in that state of things. If it did not ob-
tain matters reverted to their former attitude.
That agreement too was necessarily made with reference to the
territory in the actual occupation of the Texians, for I am of
course perfectly aware that Her Majesty's Government never at-
tached any weight to the extravagant territorial pretensions of
the Republic of Texas. The legislative branches of that Govern-
ment involved, as Your Lordship knows, the whole territory to
the line of the Pacific, between the parallels of the Mouth of the
Rio Grande and the 42 of North Latitude. It can hardly be
pretended in any quarter that the approval of their President
would have completed a title to those limits, yet in point of fact
there is no better title to the immense regions now claimed, than
one word more, and another signature. Texas might as justly207
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918, periodical, 1918; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101073/m1/213/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.