900
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
in a few years and not a person judicially punished for any of these offenses. But to return. They deprecate the idea of being independent of tlie M eancan Re- 7.n.1,blic. Their sole wish is to .be devendent on it, and to afford it all the support and protection in their power-to protect all its rights and interests, and in return to participate of all its benefits and ad- vantages, and particularly Clf its liberal policy in relation to its lands. Neither do they wish, nor could they consent to become a part of, [or] belong to the states of North. The.system of the land sales in those states has long been a subject about which a feverish sensibility and rather a rude spirit of domi- nation has generally prevailed. If the Government there would in time have radically changed it, and checked the progress of what every one individually pronounced an evil, but which sometimes the executive, and always a majority of both houses of congress, ad- hearecl to with [the] grasp of n clying rnnn~ and refused to consider, we had most of us never seen Texas. Establish a liberal local gov- ernment- Procure the repeal .of the obnoxious prohibitory emigra- tion law. And if it be true what some say, we slrn11 soon see its effects in more than one district, in some of the old states of the North. This united ·with the cold there, will it is said make the elements of depopulation, poverty and weakness too evident to be resisted. And herein are the causes, among others, why enterprising and industri- ous labouring freemen, the life blood of any country, will abandon the places of their nativity,_in greater numbers than we would ordi- narily anticipate. It is true their land system has of late been some- what softened; but the very effort showed it never could be radically changed. Let those there who wish it, adhear to that policy-that foolish pride, which rejects experience, and continually gathers to itself fresh absurdities to feed upon, with that spirit of boasting and blindness to deGay, that was so strongly evinced in the debate on that subject. Texas will profit by their obstainacy. • If a.nother convention is called I think that two delegates from each district or precinct would be quite sufficient. .And, that funds ought to be provided to pay their expenses. Say two dollars per .day. And, that the state be bound to reimburse it. Otherwise few delegates, I think will.g·o from the Red Land. Riches and poverty a.re relative terms; .but we have very few. relatively rich men. A •convention to form a local government ought to be open to the whole population. Strange as it may appear to those that are in the habit of handling money there are in these districts many good citizens-very good livers-men of property-who do not handle five dollars in a year. I do not know how it was with others; but '
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