Difficulties of a Mexican revenue officer in Texas Page: 5
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DIFFICULTLBS OF A MxxICAN REVEtNUE OFFICaB. 5
Those who paid began to murmur that the illicit trade of their
less conscientious neighbors should be suppressed, and the latter
probably grew envious of those fortunate individuals whose credit
was good at the custom house and who were thereby enabled to
introduce their merchandise free, without undergoing the inconvenience
of smuggling. The result was that many soon refused
openly to pay duties at all.'
The discontent of the colonists was increased, too, from the fact
that the revenue laws were not enforced consistently in different
parts of the same section. The collector for the "ports of Galveston"-Galveston
and Anahuac-was Don Jose Gonzalez, but
apparently without authority, he stationed himself at Brazoria, a
much more pleasant post, and began the discharge of his office by
collecting only the tonnage duties, saying that he had no instruction
to levy the specific duties of the tariff;2 while at the same
time his deputies, Gil Hernandez and Martin de Alegria took
charge respectively of the custom houses at Galveston and Anahuac
and attempted to enforce the tariff in its fullest extent. The
opposition of the merchants of Anahuac had reached such a point
by the middle of April as to induce the loyal Ayuntamiento of
Liberty to issue a proclamation (April 17) informing "all the
good citizens of this Jurisdiction that a proper obedience to the
Laws is the first duty of a good citizen," and that "the revenue
laws like all other political laws are to be respected by those who
come within the legitimate scope of their action." They were of
the opinion that the tariff was "disproportionate in some particulars
and oppressive in others," and stood in "great need of modification;"
but thought this modification could only be effected by
the national Congress, and in the meantime urged all "good citizens"
to observe, and all military officers to enforce the revenue
laws.'
lUgartechea to Tenorio, April 14, 1835.-Bexar Archives.
sTee. Republican, August 8, 1836.-Austin Papers.
*Manifesto of the Ayuntamiento of Liberty (April 17, 1835), in the
Teoe Republioan, May 30, 1835.-Austin Papers.
Edward (History of TeoA , 235-38) prints this document under the date
of June 1, and all succeeding historians have followed him. Yoakum (Hi9tory
of TecM, , 339) has slipped into a strange anahronism by deelari
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Barker, Eugene Campbell. Difficulties of a Mexican revenue officer in Texas, book, 1901; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29769/m1/6/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Star of the Republic Museum.