THE AUSTIN PAPERS. 1277 .Bison; De Leon refused to deliver it, claiming 25 Dollars or a cow and a calf for the Expense of keeping the ass, and :furthermor~ declared to Bison that 11e owed nothing to Grey. When De Leon's cart arrived at the Colorado, Grey appeared before the Alcalde, complaining that De Leon owed him the value of the ass and refused to deliver it, although it was claimed by Bison, and claim- ing from the Alcalde, o. writ of attachment on De Leon until the case should be disposed of in law. The Alcalde issued the writ, which was executed; and the cart was attached.for the purpose of securing a ·judicial hearing for the parties. , Agreeably to the pro- visional law existing in this Colony, Sylvester De Leon might have stopped the attachment by giving security for his appearance be- fore the Alcalde to answer Grey's charges, but, instead of doing so he returned to the Guadalupe. The provisional law by which we are governed provides, that, whenever a person who is indebted to another is about to leave the country or to remove his property out of its jurisdiction, then, at the request of the plaintiff, the Alcalde shall issue a writ of attach- ment of said property to prevent its removal from the jurisdiction until the case is lawfully disposed of, the plaintiff being, in all cases responsible to the defendant for the damages accruing frorr said attachment if it should appear that the process was illegal or without foundation; the cle-fendant being nllways at liberty to . stop the attachment by giving security for his appearance before the competent authority. In this case of De Leon, Grey declared upon oath, before the Alcalde, that De Leon owed him the value of an ass, which he refused to pay, that he had property within the jurisdiction which he wns about to remove.· Grey applied to the Alcalde for a writ of attach- ment, agreeably to the regulations on the subject matter, and the Alcalde was in duty bound to issue the writ; in doing so he did not overstep the limit of his power,-nor commit an abuse of authority, as your Lordship -remarks in ·your communication; on the contrary, he did what the law compelled him to do. The only laws we have for our government in this country, are the provisional rules approved by the Political Chief of Texas, and which His Excellency, the Governor, in his communication of Feb- ruary the 12th, 1825, ordered to be observed until the general laws were published. I think that if we have no other laws than these, the fault can be attributed neither to me, nor the Alcalde of the Colorado. I have repeatedly applied for copies of the law of the Country, but I have, as yet, received no instructions from the gov- ernment beyond a recommendation to administer justice and preserve order in the Colony. Owing-to the·total absence of laws and rules, l was comJ?elled by necessity and my feeling of duty, being in charge
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