Texas National Register. (Washington, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 37, Ed. 1, Thursday, August 21, 1845 Page: 2 of 8
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TEXAS NATIONAL REGISTER.
August 21
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TEXAS NATIONAL REGISTER.
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THURSDAY AUGUST 21 1845.
THE CONVENTION.
Our dates from Austin are as late as the
14th iust. The Convention had then under
consideration'the constitutional provision pre-
scribing the qualifications of voters at the first
election. The report of the committee on the
Legislative Department contemplates twelve
months residence hefore the franchise of suff-
rage can be conferred. It was argued how-
ever that the last section of that report author-
ises all citizens to vote at the first election
under the new government. The prospect
favored the conclusion that at the first clec
lion the right to vote would be enjoyed by all
persons resident in the country at the time
of the adoption of the constitution.
The number of the members of the lesisla-
tare has been fixed at eighty seven twenty
one senators and sixty-six representatives.
This number is too large on account of the
heavy expense it will entail upon the State;
but it is said that it was impossible to make it
less ; inasmuch as each county could not at
present he denied a representative and the
populous counties would not be satisfied with-
out population having its just influence in the
legislative couucils. After the first session
the senators are to be chosen on the basis of
qualified electors and the house on that of
free population.
The county of Washington under this ap-
portionment will be entitled to tliree repre-
sentatives ; and in conjunction with Milam
to oue senator.
By a provision adopted on the 12th inst.
the sessions of the legislature under all cir-
cumstances must be held with open doors.
As a general rule this is right; but we can
imagine many occasions where secresy may
be absolutely necessary JLo the welfare per-
haps to the safety of the State. Such might
be the casein the event of military operations
of the enemy in the vicinity of the capitoi ; or
in case of insurrection among the slaves ; and
in many emergencies of the civil affairs of
the State.
The seat of government has been located
at Austin until the year 1850 by a vote we
-believe of forty to twenty. Various places
were nominated in committee of the whole
but utterly failed One of the delegates from
"Washington county finally proposed the town
-of Independence ; but with no belter success.
There has been some smart skirmishing on
the subject of representation.
It was said that the adjournment would
take place on Saturday next the 23d ; but
.tliis doubtful.
Collar) picking in this neighborhood is fairly under
vay. Some planters t.funr acquaintance have ga-
thered as much as three hundred pounds lo the hand
iu one day.
7fe have no curiam information as to the result o
the late election for Jrigad:eis General. Col. Caz
jjcau in the first and Col. Slegginson in ihe second
brigade arc supposed to be clecled.
JFe understand that the celebrated band of Ethiopi.
Jin JJintircb are expected here on Tuetday from
Houston u hare they have been stopping Tor a.fow d.iy
on ashorl engagement. Their representation of ne
grocharac'.cr is uiiKirpasscd; whichuddcd to theirpo.v-
ersofsong makes the entertainment ihey offer exece-
dingly attractive to ali lovers of fun. Thov have per-
formed with great appLusc throughout thn United
Stales; and we do not doubt that they will make a
profitable visit lo our town.
The President reached .tfuMin on the 4lh inst.
The barque Jr.hn Kerr cleared from Boston on the
1 tlh ulland the brig Rodney on the 12lii for Galveston.
The "Patriot heretofore published at Mont
joinery has been removed to the flourishing
village of Iluutsviilc. in the s.une countv.
A funeral oration was dclived at San Au-
gustine on the 2isi ult. by Mnj. Qm j.
wards iu commemoration of the virtues and
public services of the late Vice President K.
I. Anderson.
-
-.Tub mercury fetbud yesterday at noon in
1 e shadi at 90. i
COLONIZATION CONTRACTS.
We have heretofore adverted to the policy
of the last administration and that which pre-
ceded it in reference to the various contracts
for colonizing or settling the public domain.
We propose now to add a few more observa-
tions on the same subject suggested by the
attempts subsequently made to invade and
invalidate those contracts and by the recent
misrepresentations and calumnies emanating
from the enemies of the late Executive and
circulated by them in the United States. The
policy had its origin under the administration
of Gen. Lamar was sanctioned and extended
by every Congress including the last ; and
was carried out by Gen. Houston as Presi-
dent in obedience to law and from a convic-
tion of its wisdom and necessity under the
circumstances then existing. We do not de-
ny that those circumstances have- now in a
measure changed under the prospect of an-
nexation to the United Slates. But it should
be remembered that this event could not be
relied upon at the date of the contracts in
question by either the President Congress or
people of Texas.
We have observed with pain a manifest
disposition as we have thought to repudiate
or set aside a portion of the contracts of colo-
nization heretofore made and now iu the
course of faithful and rapid fulfilment. We
have not permitted ourselves to look behind
the psof ess ions mid ostensible reasons assigned
by those who have been the most forward in
their opposition. We do not pretend to sit
iu judgment upon thj motives which may or
may not have influenced any particular course
of legislation. It is enough to say thai some
things have appeared to us difficult of com-
prehension. One of the various objections urged Jojlhis
lions seem as little acquainted with the history
of their own country as with the situation and
boundaries of the lands comprised in those
contracts. The latest of the grants to the
successors of Peters and others extends one
hundred and thirty miles east of the Cross
Timbers over a' favorite hunting ground
which the Indians refused to surrender in their
last negotiation for peace though an act of
Congress passed in IS43 positively requires a
boundary to be established between Cumanche
Peak and Red River by a line which would
have thrown within the Indian territory one
third a: least of that entire grant computed
atsixteen thousand four hundred square miles!
The last contract and that which appears to
have excited the most discontent calls for
that boundary (established by Congress) and
for the meanders of the Brazos above Aguila
Creek for more than oue hundred miles un-
til it shall reach the southern boundary of
the grant of Peters and others or that con-
templated. Indian boundary. Iu truth the
Wacoes the tribe which has proved most re-
fractory and least inclined to peace roam ai
large through a part of this grant.
But the Congress in their wisdom discrimi
ed in favor of the grants to Messrs. Fisher and
Miller and Castro nud Jaussaud allowing
them at their last regular session further
lime and other indigencies to fulfil their con-
tracts of 1842 and 1S43 ; while their indig-
nant zeal in behalf of the head-right proprie-
tor and the poor soldier is all reserved for the
contracts on the Trinity some antecedently
others cotempo aneouslyand one subsequent-
ly made with citizens of the United States
who have brought three families into Texas
for every one which the others have introduc-
ed and settled ! Flashy reports of commit-
tees and thundering denunciations of stump
... . l ftf . uinu'li. iiuiu IIML ICIUIIICU IIIU UAH-11311.111
system and perhaps the most populnr--as it . - '
.. j- .. i . I t certain contracts by the same Congress which
is wielded with some effect bv a certain class ...
c .. . . . .. . " ! did not hesitate on sundry occasions to pns
of politicians is this that the contractors and ' J ' '
c i i. .i :. i.i- i joint resolutions by three readings in a dav
l..U .......... U ...J ...... v.. . ... -w-JJ
had but recently entered Texas and had nei
ther fought her battles nor spilt their blood in
her service. They go further and insist that
by disposing of a part of the public lands lo
new settlers those who have had land boun-
ties granted them as a reward for military ser-
vices are ousted of their rigfits. It does not
suffice in the opinion of this class of candi-
dates for popular favor that the Ministers of
the Republic who negotiated the late treaty
of annexation apprised the American Govern-
ment that Texas contained more than one
hundred millions of acres of unappropriated
lands a quantity sufficient it might be sup-
posed to provide for all outstanding laud
claims of every description. Nor does it suf-
fice lo show that this argument or rather this
declamation militates as much against any
sale of the public land as against the existing
I....:.....!.... .... Put i? if rnutltr trim
'be riven lor the reason that the formation
I. 1. ..... ... ... T.'wit- lif2 Kunn Mt 1 "
i I of a contract is but the juljupient ot those
w
i Inwa If. inwevpr. notice lie
true on t!.e other hand that those rights have
been bought up by a body of speculators who
urge on the popular deciaimers to induce the i
congress to violate me coumhuuou ; as .u t lhus sanc.0ned bv the Confess ?
alleged tne last House ot Representatives uiu
in repeated instances or prompt the Conven-
tion to nullify existing obligations in order to
reach denounce and destroy a certain con-
tract At what price it may be asked did
in express violation of the obligation of other
existing contracts ; over which the constitu-
tion casts the shield of protection fortified it
sheuld be imagined by the official oaths of the
very gentlemen who thus violated one of its
wisest provisions a provision copied literally
from that of the United States where ii has
often received a judicial construction that sets
such legislation at defiance.
t The contracts to which we allude expressly
provide after describing the boundaries of
the land set apart for colonization that no lo-
cation shall be valid if made within those
boundaries subsequent to the date of the con-
tract. The Cougiess nevertheless decreed
that all such locations shall be valid if made
prior to official notice of these contracts ! The
laws authorizing such contracts lo be made
are official ats officially published and circu-
lated. They do not require such notice to
. I .fLI. !.. I... .! .-..nfo 7 T- if ii. it
eu oi ma riguui y iou3o unium . o ... ilftWivpr. .; I1P irL hnll
those who notoriously proceeded with full
knowledge of the existence of a contract be
permitted to violate its provisions under the
Actual notice is always better than construct
ive.
these humaue and patriotic purchasers of sol-
diers' claims buy them up ? How many have
been purchased of late loo at from five to ten
dollars? How many have been hawked
about at twenty dollars eech ? Look into the
public advertisements appearing almost daily
iu ihe orjizettes of the country and see not
sections or single leagues of land but tracts
excecdiug entire townships offered for sale !
How long has it been since those very persons
who make the loudest outcry against particu-
lar contracts for colonization petitioned the
proper authorities for the same thing !
The chief clamor now afloat is directed
against certain grants on the Trinity ; of
which it is said that they ars not like the
vrants further to the West calculated to pro-
tect the counties in which they lie from lndi.
I nn hostilities The authors of these ohj.-c-
II' . . ...-r-t.r ... .in-is-ii-.! f at? lin noil..
es wlti-ch shall induce its forfeiture within the $
intent ant.' meaning of the law; and saves all
rights antecedently acquired either by the eon-
traclor or the colonists; can the Congress
enact without saving the rights of any body
a new cause of forfeiture 1 Certainly not ac-!
cordinf to the constitution. The contractors
however will rejoide that thi'.y have between
them and injury the wisdom and power of the
Supreme court of the United States.
1843 by juint resolution reduced the price of
the reserved sections to twelve dollar each
and allowed the contractors tn purchase them
at that reduced price he obviated the disas-
trous effects of this profligate legislation by
stipulating in the contracts he subsequently
signed that the alternate sections should h
paid 'or at tli;ce hundred and twenty instead
of twelve dollars each if bought within the
last two years of the term of five from July
1843 the term allowed the eoutractors by
the joint resolution above mentioned. The
last contract (that with Gen. Charles F. Mer-
cer) made by the same President requiresyor
every reserved section the payment of twclv
dollars demanded by act of Congress toeth-
r with the further sum of siz hundred and
forty dollars in the audited liabilities of the
Government: and also that one family shall
be inlrodued and settled on each of ihe reserv-
ed sections so purchased. This provides not
only for settling all the vacant territory within.
its limits but for taking up a large fraction
of the public debt of Ti-xns. We cannot see
how or why it should be condemned by any
who are not directly interested in its violation
and final overthrow.
The error committed by the Spanish Gov-
ernment of granting a square league and a
labor of land to a single family created land
holders of many thousands of acres without
adding to the efficient labor on which'ihe cul-
tivation of the soil every where depends
And it is a notorious fact that after the re-
duction of thequantity given from a square
league to a square mile orji half or a quarter
section immigration atK ik sensibly in-
creased demonstrating that it is not to the'
wenlthy proprietor but to the hardy cultivator
of the soil that new countries owe their growth
and improvement.
Colonization contracts by requiring the
land embraced within them to be previously
surveyed and sectionized supplied iu a great
degree the place of the more perfect system
of the United States where ali the surveys are
made at the cost of the government. They
enabled the immigrant to sit down immedi-
ately on his introduction to the country upon
the lauds that he was to till ; confident that ht
would not be dispossessed by a better ti'le
and without having to hunt for vacant lands
and spend perhaps his slender substance in
awaiting the leisure of the surveyor.
The Hon. R. D Johnson Postmaster at the
city of Galveston is the agent iu this country
for the Washington City Union. He will re-
ceive subscriptions from any part of the Re-
puJic aid have the paper promptly forward-
ed. The high character and almost universal
popularity of the Union as the leading politi-
cal journal of the democratic party of the U-
Stat'es renders it unnecessary for us to add
even a word in us behalf. The well earned
and long established fame of Mr. Ritchie as
the honest and able editor of the Richmond
Enquirer affords the best possible guarantee
of the honest and able management of the
Union now u"dcr his control. The subscrip-
tion price for the weekly is oul? two dollars
per annum in advance.
Gal. O. M. Roberts has been chosen Presi
dent of the Board of Trustees of the Universi-
Ifv of San Augustine made vacant by the re-
tinuatiou of Dr. Joseph Rowe occasioned hy l
There is one feature infill President Hous-
ton's contracts (we say President Houston's
because he first incorporated it in all the con-
tracts he sulscribed) which deserves especial
notice. It is that while all granted land is
required in all such contracts to be surveyed
as needed nt the cost of the contractors be
doubled this expense to the contractor by re-
serving to the Republic the alternate sections:
Moreover when the Congress in January
his change of residence. A belter selection
could not have been made. Col. Roberts is
a graduate of the University of Alabama rind
during his collegiate course maintained the
most honorable standing in his classes. lie
was conspicuous among his fellows for his be-
coming deportment intense application and
thorough scholarship. We do not doubt that
under his supervision the condition of tliv
University will be prosperous and its affairs
(judiciously administered.
We learn from the Red Lander that Judg
Wheeler of the fifth judicial district will alter-
nate for the nextterm of the Courts with
Judre Norton of the sixth district.
k s
We are informed that Col. Twiggs of tbt
U.S. 2d dragoons met at Lagrange orders
from Gen. Taylor to join him at Corpus Chris-
ti. with his whole command.
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Texas National Register. (Washington, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 37, Ed. 1, Thursday, August 21, 1845, newspaper, August 21, 1845; Washington, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth80131/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.