Gentlemen of the convention,
The central committee of safety and correspondence which was
established by the late convention, and by whose request the present
convention has assembled, beg leave to offer their sincere
congratulations on your arrival at the theatre where you are to exercise the
high and important duties which devolve upon you as the
representatives of the people of your several districts.
Believing that your deliberations will be fraught with important
results to the interests of our common country, the committee deem
it a duty they owe you, as the delegates of the people to make a
brief exposition of the reasons which have operated on them in
calling this convention, and in doing this, they wish it to be understood,
not as attempting to dictate to this convention the course it should
pursue in the least degree, nor to prescribed limits to its action, but
to give a satisfactory explanation to you, and through you to the
great body of the people of Texas, of the causes which have impelled
them to the exercise of this responsible duty.
The situation of Texas, is such as to give rise to great anxiety and
even alarm in the heart of every person who inhabits it, or feels
any interest for its prosperity or welfare.
The whole of this country, with the exception of the small towns
of Bexar and Goliad, has been settled and redeemed from the
wilderness within a few years by the enterprise of immigrants who removed
to it in consequence of the express and earnest invitation of the
Government, contained in the national and state colonization laws.
Those immigrants have uniformly evinced their gratitude to the
government and nation of their adoption for all the acts of
kindness and liberality that have been extended towards them, and they
have faithfully performed their duty as Mexican citizens, and
fulfilled the intention and spirit of the colonization laws, by settling
the country, defending it from hostile indians, or other enemies, and
developing its resources, thus giving value and character to a large
section of the Mexican territory which was before wild and almost
unknown. They have introduced agriculture and the usefull arts
and commerce, and if as has been said by a celebrated author " that
man deserves well of his country who makes a blade of grass grow
where none grew before ", how much more do the people of Texas
deserve from their country who have so materially added to the
national grandeur, phisical force and resources. The people of Texas
ought therefore to rely with confidence on the government for
protection, and to expect that an adequate remedy will be applied to
the many evils that are afflicting them.
The invitations in virtue of which they came here, and the
guarantees of the constitution and laws, evidently contain a pledge on
the part of the government, that they should be governed in
accordance with the spirit of the free political institutions of the Mexican
republic, and in the manner best adapted to the local situation and
necessities of Texas. The right of the people of Texas to represent
their wants to the government, and to explain in a respectfull man-
ner the remedies that will relieve them cannot therefore be doubted
or questioned. It is not merely a right, it is also a sacred and
bounden duty which they owe to themselves and to the whole
Mexican nation, for should evils of great and desolating magnitude fall
upon Texas for the want of competent remedies, the people here
would have cause to accuse themselves of neglect for not making an
effort to procure such remedies, and the government would also have
cause to complain, that a full and frank and timely representation
had not been made and a remedy solicited.
It is very evident that these considerations have influenced the
people of Texas in all they have done up to the present time. They
have been governed by the desire to do their duty faithfully to the
Mexican nation and to themselves. In the discharge of this duty
the people and civil authorities of Austins Colony made a
respectfull and humble petition to the General and State governments on
the 18 day of Feby 1832 setting forth the evils that were afflicting
this country. The inhabitants and civil authorities of Bexar, the
ancient and present capital of Texas, also made a very able and
energetic represention on the same subject on the 19th of December
last,2 Numerous other representatives have been made at various
times by all the Ayuntamientos of Texas, and on the first of October
last delegates of the people of Texas met in convention at this Town
and unanimously resolved that it was expedient that the political
union between Coahuila and Texas should be dissolved and that
Texas should be organised as a separate State of the Mexican
confederation as soon as the approbation of the General government
to that effect could be obtained. That convention accordingly
memorialised congress on the subject, and elected an agent to go to
Mexico in order to forward the views of the people of Texas in
obtaining the sanction of the general government. But the
continuation of the intestine commotions which have raged within the bosom
of the Mexican republic for more than twelve months past, and which
threaten'd a total overthrow of the established institutions of the
country, prevented the memorial from being presented in accordance
with the intentions of the October convention.
That convention adopted many other memorials and resolutions,
amongst the most important of which was the provisional
organization of the militia, as a precaution against contemplated attacks upon
our exposed frontier by the many tribes of hostile indians who
inhabit the northern and western parts of Texas; and the
establishment of the central and sub-committees of safety and
correspondence throughout the country all of which were rendered inoperative
by the decree of the governor of the state of Coahuila and Texas,
who declared the proceedings of the convention null and void, and
ordered the several committees to dissolve.
At the time when this committee determined to convoke the present
convention, they took an impartial survey of our federal relations
and of our local affairs.
They beheld the Mexican confederation torn and broken asunder
by political parties each of which sustained its pretentions to the
supreme executive power of the nation by force of arms. Civil war
raged in every part of the Mexican territory and in looking upon
the face of the nation nothing was to be seen but confusion and
bloody discord—Brother contending with brother in deadly strife
for mastery in political power. They saw that the constitution of
the republic, that instrument which they had been taught to look
upon as the sacred charter of their liberties was alternately
violated and set aside by all parties, and that all the constitutional
guarantees were merged for the time being in military power. They saw
the constitutional period for the election of President and vice
President of the nation and of members of Congress, pass by, and at
least one third of the states refuse or neglect to hold the elections.
The future presented the gloomy prospect that the days of
constitutional freedom had been numbered to the Mexicans, and that we
should ere long see the waves of anarchy and confusion close forever
over the wreck of that Mexican republic. The disorganization of the
government was so extreem, that even the leaders of the liberal party
who have been contending for the restoration of constitutional
liberty, and whose cause was espoused by the people of Texas, and
generously defended with their blood and treasure, found themselves
conpelled to lay aside all the established forms, and to renovate the
constitution by violent and unconstitutional means.
The committee turned from this view of our national affairs to
that of the local internal situation of Texas which has not materially
changed since the last convention. The political system under which
Texas has heretofore been governed, tends to check the growth of
the country, and to produce confusion and insecurity, rather than
to extend protection to lives liberty and property. The unnatural
annexation of what was formerly the province of Texas to Coahuila
by the constituent congress of the Mexican nation, has forced upon
the people of Texas a system of laws which they do not understand
and which cannot be administered so as to suit their condition or
to supply their wants.
The Alcaldes who are the highest judicial officers in Texas and
have unlimited jurisdiction in all cases, are elected annually by the
people, and those who are ignorant and corrupt and without re-
sponsibiliiy are as liable to be chosen as the wise, the virtuous and
the responsible. This remark is justified by the fact that the office
is without emolument and is extreemly burdensome, and will
therefore seldom be sought by those who are best qualified to fill it. In
all civil cases there is an appeal to the supreme tribunal of the
state at Saltillo a distance of near seven hundred miles from the
inhabited parts of Texas. There are but few men in Texas who are
qualified to prepare cases for the supreme court and when appeals
have been taken they have generally been sent back several times to
be reformed so that decissions in such cases are seldom had. It has
become proverbial in Texas, that an appeal to Saltillo is a payment
of the debt. It amounts to a total denial of justice especially to the
poor, and this is the frail tenure by which the most important rights
of the people of Texas are suspended.
The manner of trying culprits for high criminal offences is such
that it amounts to no tryal at all. The tryal by jury is not sanctioned
by law, and the rights of the accused are committed to an alcalde
who is ignorant of the formulas of the laws, and of the language in
which they are written who prepares the cause for the judgment
of the supreme tribunal in Saltillo, thus the lives, liberty and honor
of the accused are suspended upon the tardy decission of a distant
tribunal which knows not nor cares not for his suffering, and the
rights of the community to bring offenders to speedy and exemplary
punishment are sacrificed to forms equally uncertain and unknown.
The formula required by law in the prosecution of criminals is so
difficult to be pursued that most of the courts in Texas have long
since ceased to attempt its execution. The tryal by jury has been
attempted in some of the municipalities, but being unsupported by the
sanction of law it also has failed of success. A total interegnum in
the administration of justice in criminal cases may be said to exist.
A total disregard of the laws has become so prevalent, both amongst
the officers of justice, and the people at large, that reverence for laws
or for those who administer them has almost intirely disappeared
and contempt is fast assuming its place, so that the protection of
our property- our persons and lives is circumscribed almost
exclusively to the moral honesty or virtue of our neighbor.
The people and authorities of Bexar in their representation in
December last speaking of the judiciary system in Texas use the
following strong and conclusive language.
"In the judiciary department there never has been any adequate
organization and it may be said with just cause that in this
department there is not and never has been any government in Texas."
Besides the evils which menace Texas for the want of a judiciary
there are others of no less appalling effects. This country is in
danger of being inundated by bands of northern Indians who are
removing from the east side of the Mississippi to Arkansas on our
borders. Also the Comanche, Tahuacana and other tribes of native
Texas indians have recently become hostile and are committing
depredations on the frontiers. But [it] is unnecessary to enter into
details—enough is said in the representation of Bexar by the
declaration that there is not and never has been any adequate govt in
Texas.
Judging from the past, it must be considered a vain hope to look
to the State government of Coahuila and Texas for a redress of
grievances, or a remedy of wrongs. We have twice beheld the
mortifying spectacle of the corrupt mob of the Capital driving the
legislature by force to adopt measures, unconstitutional in themselves,
insulting to the inhabitants of Texas, and disregardful of their
rights, The general neglect of the state Legislature of all the
important interests and rights of Texas and their repeated violations
of the constitution are very clearly and energetically set forth in
the Bexar remonstrance of last December. There seems to be no
cause to expect any favourable change towards Texas in the
politics of Coahuila. But even supposing there were the legislature
that would suit Coahuila would be pernicious in Texas. No
organization can be devised under the constitution of the State of Coahuila
and Texas that would suit the two extremes, separated as they are
more than 400 leagues, a great part through a wilderness that cannot
be passed without imminent danger from hostile indians, The
dissimilarity of habits occupation and language also present still greater
difficulties than the distance. These difficulties are hard to
reconcile for the reason that the state constitution requires that all
general laws shall be the same throughout the whole state, There cannot
therefore be any organization of the judiciary for Texas materially
different from that of Coahuila.
In this state of things the committee considered themselves bound
by a solemn duty to call on the people of Texas through their
representatives to meet in general convention with full powers to
deliberate on the present distracted situation of our infant country and to
adopt such constitutional measures as in their wisdom they may
deem necessary In exercising this highly responsible duty the
committee did not act unadvisedly or without the most mature
deliberation, and they did not call this convention untill they were satisfied
that a large majority of the people of Texas were in favor of
applying for a well organized state Govt as the only remedy for existing
evils.
The law of the constituent Congress of 7 May 1824 evidently
contemplates that Texas should form a separate State The 2d
article of that law is in the following words as translated " Coahuila
and Texas shall also form another state, but so soon as the latter is
in a situation to figure as a separate state, it shall inform congress
thereof for its resolution."
The right which this law confers upon the people of Texas to
inform congress when they are in a situation to figure as a State,
and to apply for admission into the Union is certainly very clear and
unequivocal.
What method may be the best to obtain a remedy for the many
evils which afflict Texas, can only be determined by the wisdom of
the convention. Trusting that your deliberations will be conducted
with that zeal for the public welfare which the common good of our
adopted country requires and that they will tend to that happy issue
which all so confidently anticipate, the central committee take leave
of the convention by depositing the power which they have exercised
for a time in the hands of those who gave it.