117
THE AUSTIN PAPERS
inevitable consequence of the revolution that has spread all ov~r Mexico, and of the imprudent and impolitic measures of both the general and state governments, with respect to Texas. The people here are not to blame, and cannot be justly censured. They are farmers, cultivators of the soil, and are pacific from interest, from occupation, and from inclination. They have uniformly endeavored to sustain the constitution and the public peace by pacific means, and have never deviated from their duty as Mexican citi- zens. If any acts of imprudence have been committed by individuals, they evidently resulted from the revolutionary state of the whole nation, the imprudent and censurable conduct of the state authorities, and 'the total want of a local government in Texas. It is, indeed, a source of surprise and creditable congratulation, that so few acts of this description have occurred under the peculiar circumstances of the times. It is, however, to he re- membered that acts of this nature were not the acts of the people, nor is Texas responsible for them. They were, as I before observed, the natural consequences of the revolutionary state of the Mexican nation; and Texas. certainly did not originate the revolution, neither have the ._people, as a people, participated in it. The consciences and hands of the Texians are free from censure, and clean. The revolution in Mexico is drawing to a close. The object is to change the form of government, destroy the federal constitution of 1824, and establish a central or consolidated government. The states are to be con- verted into provinces. Whether the people of Texas ought or ought not to agree to this change, and relinquish all or a part of their constitutional and vested rights under the constitution of 1824-, is a question of the most vital importance; one that calls for the deliberate consideration of the people, and can only he decided by them, fairly convened for the purpose. As a citizen of Texas I have no other right, and pretend to no other. In the report which I consider it my duty to make to my constituents, I intend to give my .views on the present situation of the country, and especially as to the constitu- tional and natural rights of Texas, and will, therefore, at this time, merely touch this subject. Un~er the Spanish government, Texas was a separate and distinct local organization. It was one of the unities that composed the general mass of the nation, and as such participated in the war of the revolution, and was represented in the constituent congress of Mexico, that formed the constitution of 1824,. This constituent congress, so far from destroying this unity, expressly recognized and confirmed it by the law of May 7 th , 1824, which united Texas with Coahuila provisionally, under the especial guarantee of being made a state of the Mexican confederation, as soon as it possessed the necessary elements. That law and the federal constitution gave to Texas a specific political existence, and vested in its inhabitants
Powered by FlippingBook