THE AUSTIN PAPERS 389 owed mother, a brother or sister, an old and affectionate friend or neighbor of other days and of other countries, because they did not emigrate on this or on that particular day i . Could they have supposed that the·general invitation of the colonization laws were mere time serving and temporary expedients y:hich were to be changed without any apparent reason and without any violation of duty on the part of the first emigrants, is it reasonable to suppose that they would have labo1;ed as they have done, suffered what they have suffered, to bring forward this country, and give value char- acter, and credit to it? No-they built their hopes on the perma- nency of the colonizing system, on the faith of the government pledged in their colonization laws, on the broad basis of philan- thropy and republican freedom which they supposed had been adopted as the foundation on which the social institutions of Mexico lVere erected- Those hopes were certainly not entertained with- out a sufficient cause, and :µeither are they now destroyed notwith- standing the restrictions which are imposed by the law of 6 April 1830 which totally interdicts the emigration of North Americans for it is confidently believed that those restrictions grew out of peculiar circumstances, party excitements and hasty jealoucies which no longer exist- It seems to have been received as a correct opinion that the inhab- itants of Texas wished to separate from Mexico and unite with the U. S. of the North- . It seems that the virulence of party feelings even went so far as to suspect that a friendly and republican govt whose territory is already too great for its population, wished to sieze upon Texas- such opinions and suspicions are evidently d variance with the conduct and avowed wishes of those emigrants, and with the true and substantial interests of Texas, on the one hand; and with the good faith and established policy and principles of the Govt of the U. S., on the other- Texas could gain nothing by a separation from Mexico, except a removal of the ruinous restrictions that now impede its progress in population and wealth, and if those restrictions were taken off, there is not a rational man in the country who would not oppose a separation- The true interests of Texas are to become a State of the Mexican confederation, and this is the desire of its inhabitants-- By the law of 7 of May 1824, forming the State of Coahuila and Texas, the latter was only provisionally an- nexed to the former, untill it possessed the necessary elements to form a state of itself and this very law was another inducement to 1 the emigrants to preserve, for it ·held out the inducement amounting even to certainty, that Texas would be a State so soon as its popula- tion and resources were sufficient; Moral obligation, and interests are the two great cords that bind communities, states and nations together- In no instance can the principle of interest be stronger
Powered by FlippingBook