460
WRITINGS OF SAM ~OUSTON, 18/J,2
exercise their unwarrantable assumptions to such an extent as not only to have become the arbiters of the lives and property of the citizen but materially to injure the character and prosperity of our country: And Whereas, it has become the duty of the Executive to in- terpose in vindication of the violated Constitution and Laws, in these and all similar cases, to prevent the insurrections, vio- lence, outrage, bloodshed and crime which are the never failing consequences of such combinations when suffered to exist or continue: Therefore, Be it known that I, Sam Houston, President of the Republic of Texas, in virtue of the power vested, in me by law, do, in the name and by the authority of said Republic, issue this my Proclamation, requiring the District Attorneys of the several Judicial Districts, to prosecute all offences of the above kind re- ferred to, and to bring the offenders to just punishment, in ac- cordance with law, and I do hereby require all civil officers and request all good citizens to aid and assist in bringing said of- fenders to justice. And I do hereby authorize the said District Attorneys to make requisitions upon Colonels commandants of Regiments and other officers of the Military, whose duty it shall be to render such as- sistance as may be necessary and proper to enable said District Attorneys and other civil authorities to carry into prompt and full effect the duties hereby specially imposed. Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the Republic, at the City of Austin, this 31st day of January, in the year of our Lord, one Thousand eight hundred and forty-two, and of the Independence of the Republic of .Texas, the sixth. By the President [Seal] Sam Houston Anson Jones, Secretary of State. 1 Proclamations of the Presidents, Repllblic of Texas, Texas State Library. Austin City Gazette, February 9, 1842. :?During Houston's second administration as President of Texas, the country was greatly agitated by what has come to be called the War of the Regulators and the Moderators. The first outbreak of this disturbance came in 1842. The county of Shelby was the main scene of this hostile action for the land commissioners in that county found it profitable busi- ness ; 0 issue forged "headright" certificates, and these beca~e th_e b_nsis of counterfeiting and other forms of outlawry in the su~roundmg d1stncts. I 1842 one Charles W. Jackson, a fugitive from justice, came to Shelby Cou:ty fi:om Louisiana and offered himself as a candidate for the Texas C f that district Being defeated, he began to expose the land ongress rom •
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