San Felipe Sept. 15. 1825
B W Edwards
Dr Sir On a reexamination of the Colonization law of the 24
March last under which the new Colonies are to be settled I find that
a wrong impression had been made on my mind as to the quantity of
land which the Empresarios are entitled to—I think I told you that
no one could hold as grantee, more than Eleven Leagues, but this
applies to grants to individuals, in speaking of Empresarios the 12th Article of the law says the Empresarios shall receive (5) five
Sitios (Leagues) of pasture land and (5) five Labors of farming
land for each hundred families he introduces and settles in the State,
but this premium can only be recd for Eight hundred families, and
the Empresario who in virtue of the number of families he introduces
receives more than Eleven Leagues is obliged by the 13th Article of
the law to alienate the excess over Eleven Leagues within twelve years
In regard to Mr. Harrisson I will state to you the difficulty that
presents itself to giving his heirs a title to land requesting at the
same time that you would point out any course that in your opinion
will obviate the difficulty—
The authority under which titles in this Colony are granted was
originally given by the Emperor on the 18 Feby 1823 after he
was dethroned this decree or grant of the Emperors was presented by
me to the Sovereign Constituent Congress and it was approved by
them on the 11 of April and passed to the Supreme Executive Power
for their approbation, and approved by them on the 14 of April
1823—The law of Colonization under which this Colony is settled
requires that the land should be cultivated within two years from
the date of the deed—Now the difficulty is this—wheither or not a
grant can be made to the name of Harrison as he was dead before
the date of the authority under which the grants are made—A grant
to his heirs who are not in the Country nor never have been might
be objected to on the ground that they were not Settlers, nor inhabitants of the Country, tho. I think such a grant ought to be good on
the ground that the heirs as the representatives of Harrison would
have been entitled to the land had the grant been made to Harrison
before his death and in equity, his death, before the titles could be
issued, ought not to deprive his heirs of the land he would have recd
had he lived a little longer—-but doubts may arise on the subject—
Another plan that I have thought of is to grant a tract to Some
inhabitant of the Country in trust for the heirs, for instance to you, in
trust for the heirs of Harrison—
Another difficulty in the matter is as regards myself individually—
promises are made for the whole of the 300 families and to admit
more I must necessarily cut out some who have been promised—
this subjects me to abuse from a certain class of the Settlers as you
have seen and heard from personal observation—tho this I
disregard and will arrange it in that way if it is considered satisfactory,
or if no other plan can be adopted I can secure half a League to
his heirs by giving that much out of my own individual property
and rather than his heirs should think that I was unwilling to do
all in my power to let them have the land I will do so—The claims
to land here are rather novel in their nature and are not generally
understood out of this Colony and for this reason I am no doubt
frequently blamed where I would not be if the facts were known—
My task has been a very complicated and difficult one—the Govt
have added to my dificulties by not compelling the Commissioner
to remain here untill the business was completd. and thus throwing the whole burthen and responsibility on me alone unaided by
any support whatever other than such as I could draw from the
slender resources of my own judgement—for I have not been furnished with any code of written laws, any detailed instructions—
My authority it is true was very full and ample, too much so for
it vests me with discretionary powers in regard to the reception
of settlers the Govt of the Colony the distribution of lands which
necessarily subjects me to sencure jealousy or envy from some
quarters, let me act as I would those powers were also under the
control of a superior power, so that I have in many instances been
compelled by the most imperious circumstances to deviate even from
my own judgement—that I have committd errors I readily admit,
indeed I must have been more than human had I not committed any
placed in the situation in which I have been, in some instances I
have yielded up my own judgement in an individual case to what I
considerd the Genl interest of the Settlement, perhaps it was an error
to have done so, but the motive was a good one. Some of these
cases have been taken hold of in the abstract and have drawn on
me sencure and misrepresentations—One great difficulty under which
I have labord is that the Settlers are unacquainted with the language
and nature of this Govt—There are no interpreters but myself and
my secretary and consequently no way for them to know the orders
of the Govt but through one of us—this places me in a truly
unpleasant situation for you know that it is innate in an American
to suspect and abuse a public officer whether he deserves it or not—
I have had a mixed multitude to deal with collected from all quarters strangers to each other, to me, and to the laws and language
of the country, they come here with all the ideas of americans and
expect to see and understand the laws they are governed by, and
many very many of them have all the licentiousness and wild
turbulence of frontiersmen added to this when they arrive here
the worst of the human passions avarice is excited to the highest extent and it directs the vanguard in their attacks on me, jealousy and
envy direct the flanks and maliciousness lurks in the rear to operate as
occasion may require, could I have opposed them by showing a
law defining positively the quantity of land they were to get and
no more and a code of written laws by which they were to be governed I should have had no difficulty—but they saw at once that my
powers were discretionary, and that a very great augmentation to
their grants could be made, and thus the colonization law itself and
the authority vested in me under that law holds me up as a public
Mark to be shot at by every one. If a person gets a League he knows
that more could have been granted and he is therefore dissatisfied
and instead of thanking me for what he gets, abuses me for treating him unjustly because he does not get more—In this State of
things all who approached me as friends and offerd advice, were
interested advisors, precidents were established by the power that
controled me contrary to my wish and judgement, and those precidents were sufficient to involve me in endless difficulty-—for example
in the case of Groce the Political chief of the Province himself whose
orders I [am] bound to obey designated ten leagues as the smallest
quantity that he ought to have, this produced general dissatisfaction,
every man in his own conception was as much entitled to ten leagues
as Groce, and because he did not get it, I was abused—but it was not
my fault, and had I given Groce less and treated the wishes of the
Political Chief with contempt or disrespect and soured his mind
would it have benefitd the genl interests of the Settlement any? I
was in his power and subject to his orders and my fate and that
of the Colony were linked together and could not be separated—had
I managed so as to loose the confidence of the officers of the Govt
embarrassment might have been thrown in the way by them that
could have destroyed the settlement)—Another difficulty that I have
had to contend with is that my temper is naturally rather hasty
and impetuous—the good of the Settlement required that I should
control it and disregard the iddle slander of those who abused me
from malice, from misconception, or from interested views—for one
rash act in a moment of passion in my cituation might have
jeopardised the welfare of many—also my disposition as I have when
too late discovered is confidential unsuspicious and accomodating
to a fault and therefore open to impositions—it is said by philosophers that he is a wise man who knows himself and he who governs
himself is certainly still wiser—few such men appear in this world
I am not one of those and never expect to be.—my temper has met
many tryals and knowing it as I think I do I give myself some
credit for governing it as well as I have, tho my friends have
blamed me for being too mild. I may have errd on that extreme for
fear of falling on the opposite one, but I deemd it the safe side to
err on and I still think so considering the temper and dispositions
of the people with whom I had to deal for among the ignorant part
of the Americans indipendence means resistance and obstinacy
right or wrong—this is particularly the case with frontiersmen—a
violent course with such dispositions might have kindled a flame
that would have destroyed them and the settlement entirely.
for it was with great difficulty that after more than one years unremitting exertions that I obtained the consent of the Govt to progress with this Settlement. One great objection was that they considered the Americans a turbulent people, difficult to govern and
predisposed to resist and abuse their public officers—any commotions
amongst ourselves here would have had a direct tendency to
strengthen this unfavourable opinion and would opperate against
the prosperity of the settlement, and probably [would have] the
effect to prevent any more grants and I knew that a number were
pending—but it has been impossible to avoid some difficulties, a few
turbulent men in a Settlement can make much noise—This little
affair of Kinnys
I have had an unpleasant and unhappy life time of it but I look
forward to better days and a better population and have the consolation to reflect that I have done my duty to the Settlers and to the
Govt so far as my situation would permit and I think in the end
they will all acknowledge it.
[Endorsed:] rough copy of letter to B. W. Edwards 1825