292
TEXAS INDIAN PAPERS, 1860-1916
Lieut. Louis. V. Caziare A.D.C., A.A.A.G., Fifth Military District Austin, Texas Sir,
I have the honor, in behalf of the people of Cam- eron County, to invite the attention of the Commanding General, as the only existing authority in the state having the power to grant the necessary relief, to the unfortunate condition to which our exposure as a frontier county has reduced us. The perma- nent population of this County are intelligent, orderly and law abiding men. In this respect their character will compare fa- vorably not only with any other in this state, but in any of the oldest and wealthiest communities in the Union. Notwith- standing this fact, they are subjected to more lawlessness and violence at the hands of strangers, than any other American community. The constant disorders prevailing in Mexico, and our unhappy juxtaposition to its worst frontier, sufficiently ac- counts for this. Despite the utmost vigilance of the local au- thorities, civil and military, no permanent abatement of crime can be attained. Our jail is constantly full of criminals; no sooner has the District Court at one semi-annual session sent a score of them, strangers to our habits, language and laws, to the penetentiary, than a new batch takes their place. The ex- pense attending the arrest, safe keeping, feeding and trial of this class, joined to the misfortune that befel this locality in the tornado of October 1867, has become so great and overpowering as at present to seriously threaten our existence as an organized Community of Americans. Our people are now taxed to the utmost extent of their ability to pay. They pay cheerfully and in every way bear their burdens and discharge their duties as good citizens should. Within the last three years not a single serious cause of complaint has arisen before the civil or military authorities against one of the permanent American population of this county. Yet our county is constantly forced into debt by the presence of criminal for whose existence we are no more responsible than the people of Austin or Houston. The money and labor expended in this county in bringing to justice such criminals as are caught, affords more protection to the interior counties of the State, than to ourselves. We occupy the posi- tion of sentinels to the tier of counties beyond the Nueces. They reap the benefits of the security for which we work and pay, but are not permitted to enjoy.
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