994
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOUIA'I'ION
be admitted as a state; and Texas considers herself in the sawe situation as to the formalities of her admission as was occupied by Nuevo Leon, Durango, an<l Chihun.hua in their time; with the diITerencc that there is a guarantee, a solemn contract between the nation and Texas that she will be formed into a state when she possesses the qualifications to figure as sucll. 4th. The glory of the federal system consists in the fact that no other form of government invented by the wisdom of men, has been able to meet the local necessitiP.s cf each angle of an immense country, and at the sawe time to unite the physical and moral force of all parts in a national center in order to work in mass, in defense of their liberty and independence. '.rhe objects of this system are clearly defined in the paragraph of the dis- course directed by the genernl constituent congress to the l\foxican Ileople, which begins with the words, "The federal republic has been and ought to be the fruit of their discussions," etc. These same principles arc recognize<l in Article 26 of the Constitution of the state of Coahuila and Texas, which says, "the object of t.he government of the state is the happiness of the in• •llviduals who compose it, understanding that the end of all political society ls no other than the welfare of its associates." The petition of Texas is sanctioned and supported by all these fundamental principles, because it is very evident that Texas cannot be governed by Con- huila, and consequently "the ,velfnre of the associates" imperiously demands that she be made a state. 5th. Tile inhabitants of Texas desire to cement and strengthen their union with the Mexican federation, and it is their most important interest and their duty to do it. There is no individual in Texas who is not convinced thnt the greatest mis- fortune that could happen to him would be the separation of that country from Mexico; neither is there any one who does not know very well that her union indirectly by means of Coahuila is in the llighest degree precarious and liable to be broken without great difficulty. It is known by certain things, positive facts, that Ooah1tila cannot govern Tea:a1;•; and the latte,- cannot 1·emain, amcL •win not 1·emain in hannon11 or quietude united with the former. Another truth is, that it is useless to try to subject or 1·egulate Texas uu 111 ilitarv f 01·ce. ~'hat country has to be governed by moral force, and her union with Mexico strengthened and established by the principles of the federal system, and those of the centnry in which we live. In conformity with these principles the object of the government is, tlle ha1,pi1iess a.nd, p1·osperitv of the people, and " the 1velfare of the associates." Jf these objects are fulfilled in Texas, she wlll be united to Mexico by bonds much stronger thrm those which could result from an army of fifty thousand men. Interest is the most powerful bond that operates upon the actions and de- sires of humanity. By the application of this fundamental principle _to Texas, all erroneous ideas vanish in a moment, and also the fnlse rumors that may have existed concerning the danger of the Mexican territory in that country. The interests of Texas are, to cement her •union w-ith Mexico, and to ha-ve G local government as a state of this federation. '.rhese interests are the natural bonds that unlte and always will unite Texas to the Mexican federation. But the last is of so much importance, and so indispensably necessary to the "1celf a r e " and "hapviness" of tbnt people, that it cannot be omitted or delayed. Consequently if there were no way of
Powered by FlippingBook