418
WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1845
shall retain all public funds, debts, taxes, and dues of every kind which may belong to, or be due and owing said republic, and shall also 1·etain all the vacant and unappropriated lands lying within its limits to be applied to the payment of debts and liabilities to the ~aid Republic of Texas; and the residue of said lands, after discharging said debts and liabilities to be disposed of as said State may direct; but in no event are said debts and liabilities to become a charge upon the government of the United States. . "(3) New states of convenient size and having sufficient territory thereof, shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the federal constitution. And said states as may be formed out of that portion of said territory lying south of 36° 30' north latitude, commonly known as the Missouri Compromise line, shall be admitted into the Union with or without slavery, as the people of each State asking permission may desire.'' 'After · Brown's resolutions, there was long and controversial debate. Several other senators offered independent resolutions of annexation, or amendments to Brown's resolutions that practically amounted to annull- ment of them. Then, on January 21, 1845, Brown made the opportunity to whip all these various amendments to his original resolutions for annexation into form acceptable to the House. This amendment as adopted differs little from the original resolutions, except that it definitely states that only four new states, besides the original state of Texas, can be offered out of the Texas territory for annexation, south of the 36° 30' north latitude. This amendment was finally voted on, January 28, 1845.. The Senate amended the House resolutions in two important par- ticulars: first, slavery was to be definitely excluded from the territory north of parallel thirty-Eix, thirty; and second, the President was authorized to propose annexation either according to the terms of the amended House resolution or by a new diplomatic negotiation. The House concurred in the Senate amendments. It was this alternate method of annexation by nego- tiation that Houston favored. The exact form of the Joint Resolution as it was presented to and accepted by the Republic of Texas, is to be found in Gammel, Laws of Texas, II, 1200-1202. The Brown resolutions, and the entire debate concerning the annexation of Texas, are to be found in Con- gressional Globe, 28 Cong., 2nd Sess., 165-194.
1· j.
To HAMILTON STUART 1
Grand Cane, Texas, 22nd April, 1845.
Mr. H. Stuart/ Editor, &c. Dear Sir,- In looking over the J efjersonian· Republican, a New Orleans print, dated 14th March, an extract from the Gal- veston Weekly News met my eye, of which I give one or two sentences: "The Prospect,-We have already furnished incontestible evi- dence that the British policy in opposition to annexation, has
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