Tehuantepec and its Title. single proprietor a territory equal to the surface of several states of the Union. Appropriation for a grant of public lands, at least equal in extent, is asked for the rail-road from St. Louis to the Pacific; and the states of the South and West have projected a way of communication by the El Paso and the Gila to the same terminus. The Legislature of Texas and the Congress of the United States have made appropriations of land for constructing sections of this grant, and the public lands are relied on to furnish the principal resources for all. Other states have already received land donations of great extent and value for similar pur 19 ters, all bona fide holders. They are the assignees and successors of Garay; such is their actual and legal description. The charge of having been the dupes of their own folly and carelessness is a harsh enforcement of the power of construction. History will show that the title under which the American holders claim, has been acknowledged by six successive Mexican administrations, and that the government of the United States has pronounced it legal. The proprietors have expended much money, and by their survey and developments have rendered the way of poses. communication valuable. Mexico has Indeed, the policy of the United States, confiscated their property and refuses in regard to its public lands, would justify them any compensation. She claims any grant, however liberal, for a way that she is weak, and the United States of communication across Tehuantepec. Within the last three years, nearly forty millions acres of public lands have been granted to the states for the construction of rail-roads; whilst at the last session a bill passed the House of Representatives giving to each settler a settlement bounty of 160 acres. No argument, then, should be drawn against the moral obligations of the Garay grant, from the extent of the land donation, nor from the fact that it was bestowed, as such works generally are, upon an applicant and contractor. But Garay realized nothing. A man of high personal character, preferring rather to rank amongst the benefactors of mankind than to figure in futile revolutions, after all he has given and done for his enterprise, he has been compelled to abandon it to others. 11. That the grant is null and void, and has been so declared by the National Congress, and its renewal refused, and the treaty to that effect overwhelmingly rejected by the Mexican authorities and people. This is but repetition. The Congress of Mexico did not refuse to renew the grant, for the holders never requested it, nor did they admit any right to annul it. The declarations of unwillingness to comply with a covenant, constitutes no proof of its invalidity. 12. That the present assignees, so far as they are bona fide holders, are the dupes of their own folly or carelessness, as all the defects of the grant were open to their detection. The present assignees are, from the terms of the original and amended char powerful. She asks to be allowed to cancel her covenants; and her advocates contend that those citizens of the United States who are aggrieved by her act are not entitled to any redress whatsoever. If it be "folly and carelessness" to have relied upon the moral obligation of Mexico to comply with her engagements, or upon the obligation of their own government to enforce the rights of its own citizens, the owners of the Garay grant must admit the imputation. Not otherwise. We have discussed the first two propositions, which involve the character and value of the Garay grant, and the unjust and mercenary conduct of Mexico towards the American assignees. We have shown that their title is valid, and that the investment and expenditure have been recognized by our own government. We will next show that private right and public interest require that the United States should insist upon the specific execution of the title. When the government of the United States expected to acquire territory on the Pacific, it naturally sought a way of ingress and egress to and from it. Upon the conference of the armistice, Mexico instructed her commissioners to prescribe a northern boundary, twenty leagues in width. This was not to be colonized by either nation, but to remain as a "desert" between them. She also instructed her commissioners to refuse the right of way across Tehuantepec. Her policy was obvious. She knew that if all communication through her dominions could be prevented, the United States would never occupy the Pacific territory acquired by the treaty, if it could only be settled by immigrants across the Plains, or around the Cape. The "desert boundary" was not adopted, and the American demand for a "right of free way across Tehuantepec" was withdrawn, because of title in British subjects. But Mexico succeeded in putting the following singular restrictions upon the American right of way to the Pacific, into the Treaty of Peace, Amity and Limits: "ART. VI.-The vessels and citizens of the United States shall in all time have a free and uninterrupted passage by the Gulf of California, and by the River Colorado, below its confluence with the Gila, to and from their possessions, situated north of the boundary line defined in the preceding article; it being understood that this passage is to be by navigating the Gulf of California and the River Colorado, and not by land, without the express consent of the Government of Mexico. "If, by the examinations which may be made, it should be ascertained to be practicable and advantageous to construct a road, canal, or railway, which should, in whole or in part, run upon the River Gila, or upon its right or its left bank, within the space of one marine league from either margin of the river, the government of both governments will form an agreement respecting its construction in order that it may serve equally for the use and advantage of both countries." When it is considered that the passage of the Gila lies through a country presenting more physical difficulties than any perhaps on the continent, and that Mexico has reserved the right of "agreement" to any way along its banks, even on the American side, the obstacles to an intercourse with the Pacific, upon this route, may be appreciated. They would be greatly increased by the initial point of the boundary, fixed by Mr. Bartlett, if it should be adopted by the government. From this, it is evident that there will be important obstacles to overcome before a right of way can be obtained by way of the Gila. It is not probable that Mexico will consent to open that way of communication, because it will compete with that which she desires to construct and control by way of Tehuantepec. Nor is there evidence wanting to prove that Mexico meditates the establishment of an exclusive way, to be constructed and worked for her own benefit. No sooner had the Mexican Congress repudiated the title of the American holders, and rejected the Tehuantepec treaty, than it published a decree expressive of the terms upon which it was intended to open the Tehuantepec route. This decree affirmed: 1. That Mexico possessed full and unqualified sovereignty upon the isthmus. 2. That the government should be the controlling partner in the way of communication. 3. That the route should be open and free for all nations in amity with Mexico. 4. That all nations should be invited to guaranty the neutrality of the isthmus in case of war. The contract for constructing a way of communication, not having been perfected by the government, it proceeded on the 15th August, 1852, to invite proposals upon the following terms: 1. The contractor to construct the work for an agreed sum. 2. The contractor to advance the money necessary to construct the work without regard to cost. The contractor to be reimbursed under the first proposition, by an annual payment of six and a half per cent.; under the second, by an assignment of ninety per cent. of the revenues of the work itself. The government to be constituted a stockholder to the extent of one third of the work, with power to take the work at any time upon accounting to the contractor for cost and interest. The government reserves free transportation of troops and persons in its employment, and of arms, munitions and property, at one-fourth tariff rates. It reserves the right to fix "any additional impost upon merchandise or passengers," and prescribes that "it will not be lawful to transport, without the express order of the government, any foreign troops or munitions of war." The object then of annulling the rights of American citizens is sufficiently plain. It was to gain a large bonus, and make revenue of the intercourse between the Atlantic and Pacific states. The charter of Garay contains the following provisions: "Under no excuse whatsoever will the government lay any tax or impost duty upon any of the articles passing through the isthmus during the period in which the proprietors shall have the exclusive enjoyment of its proceeds, and in no case shall these (the Custom House officers) Tehuantepec and its Title. 21 interfere in the collection of freights, She would receive an annual revenue lighterage, or tonnage, or any other class upon the transit of one hundred millions of dues, for none shall be payable for of gold, one hundred and fifty thousand vessels loading or unloading for the trans- passengers, a large amount of merchanport of effects, so long as the communi- dise, the California mail, besides troops cation shall belong to the negotiation." and munitions of war. This would be the contribution of the United States alone. This gives the American people as free a passage across the isthmus as they would have through any state of the Union. If, however, this be repealed, all persons and property coming into that portion of the Mexican dominion, will be subject to the general law of transit, import or export. The taxes of Mexico are very onerous. Her police in regard to passports and bearing arms is very strict. It is then evidently the interest of Mexico to repeal the obligations of the Garay grant, and impose revenue taxes upon the national commerce passing over the isthmus. It is equally evident, on the other hand, that the United States and other nations in amity are interested in enforcing her covenant with Garay. Having again resumed the sovereignty The American holders have been alwhich is qualified by the grant to Garay, ways willing to permit their own govMexico would have the undoubted right ernment to regulate their charges upon to impose any taxes upon the intercourse the isthmus, and prescribe any regulations through her dominions, that foreign na- necessary for the comfort and safety of tions would endure, or she would have the public. The American people need the right to discriminate and exclude not, therefore, fear that in preventing the them from passing through her dominions at all. Being in undisputed possession of the right of way, Mexico might cede it to some foreign power, or as announced by a leading English journal, France and England may interfere actively in the affairs of Mexico; they may establish "a firm and solid government," and invite the United States, Spain, Holland and Belgium to maintain it. It is moreover proposed, "that as the Tehuantepec route will inevitably form one of the principal channels of communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans," a Commissioner should be appointed to receive the reports of eminent native and foreign engineers as to the best means of constructing this line of communication, "and the powers shall guarantee a loan sufficient to carry it out on the understanding that the transit duty levied shall be applied to the interest and redemption of the debt." The United States are more interested than any other nation in this route, because it is the best way of communication between the states of the Union, whereas other countries are only interest ed, as one of several ways of general commerce. Here then is a plan for paying for the work by a transit duty, which must fall principally upon the people and property passing from one state to another. Such a disposition of the right of way would be highly profitable to Mexico. establishment of one monopoly, they are encouraging the organization of another. But the political importance of a rapid, safe and healthful communication with our states and "orphan territories" on the Pacific, exceeds any question of pecuniary calculation. We may anticipate within a few years a system of states resting upon the Pacific Ocean, and extending to the slopes, valleys, and into the great Basin of the Rocky Mountains. With greater inducements than any colonial settlement has ever presented, we may anticipate more rapid and perfect or ganization. States will know no interval between embryo and maturity; they will step from the parent brain ready armed for the field or council. They will not be settled by outcasts, convict for heterodox opinion or for social crime. They will comprise the selected energies of a free people; they will organize their relations according to their interests. With a full appreciation of the blessings of the Union, they will hold the "pursuit of happiness" as a paramount object. If the political connection with the Atlantic states be advantageous, it will be preserved; if it be replete with disadvantages, it will be terminated. chief advantage of the Union to California at present is that it constructs dry docks and custom-houses, establishes branch mints and post routes, and furnishes office holders. The appropriations at present exceed the revenues derived from the Pacific ports. But this will The An allegorical epitome of that great journey which all must travel, it terminates in an unmarked grave, or in weariness and vexation without ultimate advantage. cease, and be reversed. The revenues the traveler is pursued by privations and derived from the states of the Pacific waylaid by death. It is marked with will in time exceed the appropriation impaired health and disappointed hopes. from the federal government. This mo- It is strewed with abandoned values, tive for the connection will then terminate. richer, perhaps, than the mines to which The federal government extends an the wanderers go. apparent protection to the Pacific States. But suppose, in the present state of intercourse between the two sections, that a maritime nation should declare war against the United States. A descent upon the coast of California, and the capture of her treasure galleons, will be simultaneous with the declaration. The United States will dispatch its volunteers by the isthmian routes, or by the plains, but they will find cities sacked, and all the consequences of successful invasion, whilst the enemy, having slain and ravaged to their satisfaction, will have withdrawn. These will constitute to the Pacific states the responsibilities of belonging to the Union to pay more than they receive, and to be the defenceless victims of its foreign wars. The journey across the plains is not like that of a protected people whose "raiment did not wax old upon them." But it is like that disastrous return from a blazing city, in which the foe, the elements, the wild beasts, preyed upon the retreating host, and the richest objects of human desire were abandoned, or torn from the grasp of the dying fugitive. That this description may not be considered as imaginative, we add some extracts from the report of Capt. Stansbury, U.S.A., (Journey from Leavenworth to the Great Salt Lake,) showing the difficulties encountered by emigrants upon that portion of the route to California. In The trade of the Indies constituted the prize of centuries; no state has enjoyed it without prosperity, or lost it without decline. The merchants of our Pacific "June 1, 1849.-Passed a traveling states may not be content with a mere train consisting of about twenty-five ox factorage of this trade for others; they may teams. They had been on the spot prefer to constitute the medium of distri- several days detained by sickness. bution, making others tributary to them. the morning we had met four men from To these tendencies to separate, the the same camp returning on foot with want of communication will powerfully their effects on their backs, frightened at contribute. Practically, France, Eng- the danger and disgusted already with land or Ireland would constitute more the trip. accessible members of the confederacy "June 4.-Meet Sauk Indians, who than California or Oregon. Practically, demand compensation for passing through the expense and time of intercourse with their country. those nations would be less by one half than with the Pacific coast or its interior. It is therefore the identity of origin and institutions that preserves the bond of connection with the Pacific states. But let us consider the existing obstacles to intercourse in detail. The ways of communication are "June 5.-Meet a small party of emigrants returning, having sold out their meat and flour at one cent a pound. "June 6.-Passed a melancholy memento of disappointed hopes and blasted enterprise-four freshly made graves of emigrants. "June 7.-Passed a fresh grave. "June 8.-Met a small party returning to St. Louis. "June 9.-Passed six graves. Meet returning emigrants, discouraged by death and loss of cattle. "June 10.-Three horses stolen during the night. 1. By way of the frontier, across the Rocky Mountains and the plains. This is a terrible journey. The time occupied by immigrants is five months. This covers every vicissitude of season and every degree of endurance. Superadded to the casualties of a march so extended, are, "June 11.-Violent storm of rain, the dangers of inundation, fire, disease, prostrates the tents and wets the bagwant of food, the heartless exactions of gage. Passed six graves within 174 those who make a prey of the traveler, miles. and the perpetual depredations of unruly "June 12-Pass an emigrant family, and rapacious savages. The course of who subsequently saw their wagon in Tehuantepec and its Title. 23 two to make carts, and dispose of every- and the carcasses of 27 oxen have been thing they can sell or give away to lighten the load. "June 13.-Violent storm. There is no shade in the naked prairie during the long fatiguing day. Observe Indians lurking along the road for a chance to steal horses. "June 14.-Fight reported between emigrants and Indians. "June 18.-Party complaining of cutaneous irritation from use of salt meat without vegetables. seen. "July 28.-Wind so hot and dry as to make respiration difficult. Thirtyone dead cattle and nine oxen passed today. "August 1.-Passed about one dozen burnt wagons and nineteen dead oxen." We ask whether there can be any intercourse adequate to the relations which ought to unite the states of this confederacy carried on under such appalling obstacles? Will there be any return current from such a journey as we have "June 19.-Emigrants selling meat at one cent, or using it for fuel; pack described? Will the people who have animals in a horrible condition. Storms and violent rain. "July 2 and 3.-Difficulties and dangers of crossing Plains described. Ravages of cholera amongst savages. "July 9.-An excellent double wagon purchased for seventy-five cents. "July 19.-Passed to-day the nearly consumed fragments of about one dozen wagons that had been broken up and burned by their owners; near them was piled from 600 to 800 pounds of bacon. Boxes, bonnets, trunks, wagon wheels, whole wagon bodies, cooking utensils, in fact, almost every article of household furniture were found from place to place along the prairie, abandoned for want of means of transportation. "July 21-The road, as usual, was strewn with fragments of broken and burnt wagons, trunks, and immense quantities of white beans thrown away by the sackful, from fatigue or fear of cholera. Stoves, gridirons, moulding planes and carpenters' tools of all sorts were to be had at every step for the mere trouble of picking them up. "July 25.-Property of every description was strewn about in every direction, and in much greater quantities than we had yet seen. Twenty-eight persons drowned during the year in crossing the Platte. July 27. Passed eleven wagons broken up. Road strewn with abandoned property. Bar iron and steel anvils and bellows, crowbars, drills, augers, gold washers, chisels, axes, lead trunks, spades, plows, grindstones, ovens, cooking stoves, kegs, barrels, harness, clothing, bacon and beans, were found strewed along the road. The carcasses of eight oxen lying on the road side in one heap explained a part of the trouble. excellent rifle was found. In the course of this one day the relics of 17 wagons emigrated to California revisit the land of their nativity by this route, or will they relate to their children the terrors of their exodus, and warn them never to cross again a region so replete with dangers? 2. Upon the crossings of the lower isthmus the dangers are as formidable. The line passes for nearly six thousand miles along a coast much of which is dreaded for its rocks, reefs and tornadoes. The passenger is exposed to all the dangers of fire, explosion, shipwreck, to epidemic and infectious disease, and to all the discomforts of a voyage prolonged to nearly twice the time and distance of the transatlantic passage. Under these circumstances, it is plain that the intercourse by these routes must be limited to those who travel upon the compulsion of duty, or are stimulated by the appetite for gain. We intend no disparagement, however, to the lower crossings; they are from the nature of things temporary, as far as the intercourse with the Pacific States of the Union are concerned, but they will always be invaluable for the general purposes of Pacific commerce, and for the particular trade of the coast of South and Central America. Tehuantepec itself, offering greater facilities for the inter-state intercourse, will in its turn be superseded by rail-roads crossing the continent in the latitudes of California and Oregon. Until that period, however, it will evidently constitute the shortest and most favorable route. It will reduce the time between NewYork and San Francisco to fifteen days, between New-Orleans and San Francisco to about eleven. It will, in effect, form a section of the following rail-roads, whilst it will incidentally benefit many others. An 1. The New-Orleans and Nashville Rail-road. 2. The Opelousas Rail-road. |