Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/176

156 are above all others solid and irrepressible. Only men inexperienced in the ways of human nature, or blinded by their ignorance and pride, could have entertained the idea that a mere government decree could undo what had been done by an aggressive, resolute people such as now held Texas for themselves and future comers. Had the Mexican government been guided by wise and generous counsels, it might have secured for the whole country benefits from this immigration by giving to its guests good laws and guaranties, thereby winning their good will and confidence; instead of which, the retrogressive administration of Bustamante, whose guiding spirit was Lúcas Alaman, attempted to solve the problem with a few lines involving a hostile declaration against a rich and powerful neighbor, whose policy consists in'making practical the principles of the most unrestricted liberty. The law of April 6, 1830, prohibited the colonization by foreigners on lands situate within states or territories of the republic adjoining those of their nationality. It suspended all contracts that had not been carried out, or that were not strictly within the letter of it. The law proposed to form colonies on such lands with convicts from Vera Cruz and elsewhere; foreigners coming into Mexico through the northern frontier were to have passports from agents of the Mexican government; land contracts were to be revised to ascertain how the contractors had carried them out; military posts and garrisons and customhouses were to be established at once. The law did not name Texas, but that was the only state which could have been contemplated by those enactments.