Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/335

 it, the Executive has no hesitation in recommending that suitable provision be made for a diplomatic agent at that court.

From the commencement of our national existence until within the last spring and summer, no circumstance of an unpleasant character has occurred between the United States and Texas. It is true that the treaty of amity, navigation, and commerce, concluded at Washington in July, 1842, for causes unknown to the Executive, was not ratified by the Government of the former; but it is possible that the action necessary to its ratification will yet be taken. It may, however, admit of a doubt whether the rejection of that treaty may not prove signally advantageous in the end to our citizens; for it will be recollected that, by a comparatively small expenditure, the course of trade may be turned from the Red River into our own ports and commercial towns, through the medium of a turnpike or railroad and the channels of our rivers. Indeed, it is natural always to prefer the least obstructed and most advantageous way to market. And the time may not be far distant when a rich commerce, which has hitherto found its way to the ocean through the rivers and ports of other countries, will be poured into our own, and materially assist in building up and supporting our institutions.

It is with sincere regret that I feel called upon to lay before the honorable Congress the fact of an infraction of our revenue laws by the citizens of the United States, attended with circumstances of a very unpleasant character. It appears that a quantity of goods, ascending Red River, were landed within our territory and there stored, without any communication with, and without the knowledge of, any of our revenue officers, and when discovered and legally seized by the collector of customs, were reclaimed by force, and that officer treated in the most harsh and cruel manner. Having been seized and bound, his life was menaced with drawn weapons if he attempted to make any resistance, and he remained in this situation until the goods were reloaded by the force in attendance for the purpose of violently reclaiming them.

In addition to this, I deem it proper to present to the honorable Congress some notice of the usage received from the United States officers by a battalion of men under the command of Colonel Jacob Snively, who had been out for the purpose of making reclamation for the injuries sustained by the members of the Santa Fe expedition, and for goods taken from traders sent out by order of the President in 1841.

The command of Colonel Snively had all the official sanctions of this Government necessary to protect them from interference or molestation by the troops of the United States, and the Executive entertains not a doubt that they were acting within the limits of Texas. They were, however, disarmed by the troops of the United States, under the command of an officer of the regular army. The alternative presented to them by that officer was, either to march to Missouri or attempt, at imminent hazard, a return to our settlements through a wilderness infested by large bands of Kiaway and other hostile Indians, with only five guns to every hundred men. They were thus exposed to extreme jeopardy, but owing to a combination of fortunate circumstances did not become victims.

The question of how far one friendly nation has the right to invade the territory of another, without the most urgent necessity, and interfere with its officers and troops acting under authority, is a subject proper for discussion at