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AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
arises in executing this Order- We are from 40 to 50 leagues from Bexar, and have no jail, no Troops to guard Prisoners, and a Con- demnation to hard labour without an adequate guard to enforce the Decree is only to exasperate a Criminal, make him laugh at the laws and civil Authorities and turn him loose on Society to Commit new depredations, for nothing has a more disorganizing effect than a weak and inefficient administration of the laws, as it discourages and disgusts the Good and well disposed and Emboldens evil men and renders them arrogant and audacious- I Have there- fore in some cases been driven to the painfnl alternative of either permitting n Criminal to escape unpunished or of taking upon myself the responsibility of inflicting corporal punishment If those difficulties could be removed by vesting authority in some tribunal here to punish by Corporal punishment, and in case of foreigners, banishment from the Province I think it would greatly tend to the harmony and good order of this part of the Province I Have made it a rule not to admit any settler who does not produce the most unequivocal evidence of good moral character and industrious habits, and I will vouch for those received by me that they will not prove undutiful nor ungrateful Citizens and Subjects of the Nation which has so kindly received them- As a proof of our readiness to aid so far as we are able towards the support of the Government we have notwithstanding the Infant state of Our Settlement impoverished as it is by the difficulties we have had to encounter voluntarily contributed upwards of 500 .11'anegas of Corn towards paying the Expences o:f the Deputy in Congress and other necessities o:f this Province. Before I left Mexico I presented a Petition to Congress praying to be admitted to the rights of Citizenship o:f this Nation, but I never heard whether it was acted on or not-- I expect to spend my Life in this Nation, and if the new Constitution does not declare all persons actually established in the Nation at the time of its adoption, Citizens~ (as I presume it will) or if the Grant made to my Father to settle in this Province, previous to the Independence, and my own removal in the first year thereof will not entitle me to the rights of Citizenship. I shoulcl wish if deemed worthy of that honor to procure Letters of Citizenship I hope that Your Excellency will pardon me for troubling you with so long a Letter, but as I before observed the future fate of myself and followers must depend on the good opinion and pro- tection which the Government of our adoption may be pleased to extend to us, And as settlers of the Colony look to me as their organ of Communication with the Governor I have deemed it my duty to explain our Situation and progress up to this time- It is also
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