THE AUSTIN PAPERS 265 to explain to you, somewhat in detail the nature of the colonization law, the authority given to the "Empresarios," and also the nature of the authority under which I have acted, This subject is not understood in the United States, and the consequence has been, that some persons have been greatly deceived, and even this Government has been most unjustly slandered and abused for exercising the powers nnd doing what it is by law compelled to do. You are no doubt informed that the person who contracts with the Government to introduce families, or as it is commonly termed, settle a colony, is called in the law Empresario. By explaining to you what an Em- presario is, you will understand this matter, and see that such proj- ects, as published by Dennis A. Smith of Baltimore are totally incompatible with the authority given to Ecitor [Exter] and Wilson & Co.,1 for they are nothing more than Empresarios [The empre- sario] is an agent who is hired by the Government to introduce a specific number of families of a certain description within a certain time, who are to be settled within certain designated limits.- Should the Empresario introduce the families, and they should be received by the Government Commissioners as being of the descrip- tion required, tlien, and not before, he is entitled to receive his pay, which is five leagues of land for each hundred families so introduced by him.-The titles for land are all issued by the Government Com- missioner, who is especially appointed for that purpose, and he alone has the power to survey or appoint surveyors to survey the land, and to put settlers in possession and no one, under any circumstances, can hold land unless he first removes to the country and becomes an actual and permanent settler: neither can a foreigner hold real estate at all; and should a person who has lived hard all his life, ~nd who has a good title, sell his land to a foreigner, the whole of the property thus sold becomes public by escheating to the Government the moment such sale is made. The Empresario has no power nor shadow of power of any kmd or description whatsoever, except to bring in the families. He is nothing but an agent for that express purpose; and like all other agents, he is liable to be dismissed by his employer for malpractices or neglect of duty. He is not entitled to one foot of land until he has complied with the conditions on which he was to get it; he has no claim to nor no right to dispose of one foot of land in any manner whatsoever, (except his premium land [and] that only after he has received his title ns above stated,) and all the land that remains vacant within the limits assigned to the new Colony or settlement, after the specified number of families are settled, is public -land and 1 E'J:ter lllld Wllson had been gr!lllted n contract Feb. 23, 1828, to trottle 100 fa.mllles. Smith's advertisement, a palpable fraud, appeared In the Dally National Intelligencer (and no doubt in other papers) July 8-17, 1820. 88370-28--18
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