his family who goes lo Texas will bri11g wilh him a mullilude of industrious a11d useful sclllers. OLhcrwisc, if Texas is sell led enlire- ly by Europeans, or if iL is left unpopulaLcd, it will be necessary Lo mai11Lai11 a large number of troops Lhere, consLm1tly exposed in Lhc firsL case Lo conLi11uous plollings, for after all foreigners, whaLever be Lhcir naLionality, more readily take on the cusLoms and inler- esLs of Lhc ncighbori11g nation Lhan ours, especially when they find themselves such a long disLancc from the govcrnme11L of their new allegia11ce. ln Lhe second place, our troops would find Lhcmsclvcs withouL the necessary food supplies as a result of the want of selllers. ln a11y case, 1 am firmly convinced Lhat we oughl not lo risk allowing either Anglo-American or European colonists to re- main on the frontier, much less along our coasLline. Even if some of those setlled there did noL Lake parL in Lhc prescnL Texas revo- lution, a rare coincidence indeed, prudence warns thaL they be removed to the interior of the republic in order not Lo expose ourselves, as at present, to Lhe sad experiences of our inadvertence, a lesson that is costing us so dearly. It should be added to this Lhat Lhe wars waged by the savage lribes in Lhe fronLier departments are encournged by the colonists who buy Lhc stolen booly from the said Lribes, giving them in exchange arms and munitions. In Lhis manner they carry 011 a lrade at Lhe expense of Lhe Mexicans which though wicked is neverLhclcss very lucraLive to them. These arc consideralions that, in my judgmenL, Lhe supreme governmenl must presenL lo the legislative body when Lhc definite policy in regard to Texas is formulated. All of them could easily be enlarged upon by the numerous deLails of our sad experiences. In Lhe future iL should be kept in mind that all foreigners admilled inLo Lhe terriLory of Texas ought lo be required, in addition to Lheir com- pliance wilh aH other rcquisiles of our laws, lo reside for al least Len years in Lhal territory and hold tille to well-defined properly before they can hold public office. Otherwise, iL will not be pos- sible to avoid the introduction of evil foreigners who will conlami- naLe those already established in the country wilh their revolu- tionary ideas. The execution of the plan proposed will involve but a small porLion of the territory of Texas. What shall be done with Lhe resl of lhc vacanL lands of that vast and beautiful province? Supposing that Lhe territory adjoining the frontier and that along the coast is sclllcd sLrictly by Mexicans as I have indicated, l
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