1488
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
convenience will arise .in communicating with each Alcalde sep- arately by the Chief of Department in consequence of the want of a knowledge of the Spanish Language and Customary forms of doing business. 1 All deeds or Mortgages for real Estate should be recorded in the office of the Notary in a bound book or should there be no Notary in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court within three months after they were executed or be void. I deem it very important that there should be a clear understand- ing with the Govt as to the fees which the Empresario can ask and receive from the Settlers for he must be at a great expence, for trnns- lators, Clerks, attending in person to the Surveying, locating the Settlers, showing new Emigrants the Country, making presents to Indians, keeping an open house, as he must do for some time for persons who come into explore the Country and many other expences which at first view do not appear important b_ut at the end of a year amt to a large sum. Also the manner of running the division line along the reserve on the Coast should be defined-The law calls for the "Gulf of Mexico" as the base, and to leave the margin of the Gulf and meander round the lakes such as Galveston and Matagorda will entirely be a ]eparture from the law-it appears to me equally as proper to follow 1p a River to its head because it discharges into the Gulf and to begin the measurement there, as to follow round the meanders of a Lake or shallow Bay that has a narrow inlet. The expense of runing this line will be very great if the lakes are to be meandered, and who is to pay it. I think the line ought to be nearly straight and the out side of the Coast, that is the shore of the " Gulf of :Mexico " taken as the base to measure from. Many old claims are said to exist on the Trinity, Neches and in the Nacogdoches district-there ought to be commissioners appointed with full power to decide on them finally so that it may be known what land is vacant and what is not, if this is not done several claims may be set up for the same land and hence will arise endless fawsuits and confusion, and it will also be impossible for the Empresario to know what lands he can settle or what are taken up by previous claims for the records of most of these old claims are said to have been lost in the revolution which renders it difficult to decide from any legal written evidence as to their validity San Felipe de Austin 3 November 1826 STEPHEN F. AusTIN [Rubric] [Endorsed :]--Reflections sent to the member of the Legislature of this state for Texas, the Baron de Bastrop-copy_
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