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222 to increase its population. A decree to that end was issued in 1824. The only limitation was that lands 20 leagues from the frontier or 10 leagues from the coast could not be colonized by foreigners except with the permission of the central government.

By 1831 at least two colonization projects had been launched. The legislature of the state of Vera Cruz gave the valley of the Goazacualco (Coatzacoalcos) River to a French company which sent out various expeditions. These enterprises met disaster. The colonists gradually drifted away to regions better developed or back to the home land.

The other venture was the only one of the early colonization contracts that was successful. It was from the Mexican point of view also the most disastrous, for it ultimately brought with it the dismemberment of the republic. This was the colony of "Texas, in the State of Coahuila and Texas." Under the colonization contracts of April 11, 1823, 6,391 families had entered from the northeast by January 2, 1830. Others "entered without contract and without the knowledge of the authorities," establishing themselves "at their will, especially near the frontier." Already the northern colony was displaying some features that were the cause of anxiety, for in some of the settlements "in view of the lack of adequate legislation, the customs and laws of the country from which the colonists have come have been observed." No advance "worthy of notice" had at this time been made "in the territories of Mexico and California."