USA > Texas > The history of the republic of Texas, from the discovery of the country to the present time; and the cause of her separation from the republic of Mexico > Part 34
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ART. 16. Families, or unmarried men, who, entirely of their own accord, have emigrated, and may wish to unite themselves to any new towns, can at all times do so, and the same quantity of land shall be assigned them which is mentioned in the two last articles ; but if they do so within the first six years from the establishment of the settlement, one labor more shall be given to families, and single men in place of the quarter designated in the 15th Article, shall have the third part.
ART. 17. It appertains to the government to augment the quan- fity indicated in the 11th, 15th, and 16th Articles, in proportion to the family industry, and activity of the colonists, agreeably to the information given on those subjects by the ayuntamientos and commissioners ; the said government always observing the pro- visions of the 12th Article, of the degree of the general congress on the subject.
ART. 18. The families who emigrate in conformity with the 16th Article, shall immediately present themselves to the politi- cal authority of the place which they may have chosen for their re- sidence, who, finding in them the requisites, prescribed by this law for new settlers, shall admit them, and put them in possession of the corresponding lands, and shall immediately give an account thereof to the government, who of themselves, or by means of a person commissioned to that effect, will issue them a title.
ART. 19. The Indians of all nations, bordering on the state, as well as wandering tribes that may be within its limits, shall be received in the markets, without paying any duties whatever for commerce, in the products of the country ; and if attracted by the moderation and confidence, with which they shall be treated, any of them, after having first declared themselves in favor of our religion and institutions, wish to establish themselves in any settlements that are forming, they shall be admitted, and the same quantity of land given them, as to the settlers spoken
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of in the 1 4th and 15th Articles, always preferring native Indians to strangers.
ART. 20. In order that there may be no vacancies between tracts, of which great care shall be taken in the distribution of lands, it shall be laid off in squares, or other forms, although irregular, if the local situation requires it ; and in said distribution, as well as the assignation of lands for new towns, previous notice shall be given to the adjoining proprietors, if any, in order to prevent dissensions and law suits.
ART. 21. If by error in the concession, any land shall be granted belonging to another, on proof being made of that fact, an equal quantity shall be granted elsewhere to the person who may have thus obtained it through error, and he shall be indemni- fied by the owner of such land for any improvements he may have made ; the just value of which improvements shall be as- certained by appraisers.
ART. 22. The new settlers, as an acknowledgment, shall pay to the state for each sitio of pasture land, thirty dollars; two dollars and a half for each labor without the facility of irrigation, and three dollars and a half for each one that can be irrigated, and so on proportionally, according to the quantity or quality of the land distributed ; but the said payments need not be made until six years after the settlement, and by thirds : the first within four years, the second within five years, and the last within six years, under the penalty of losing the land for failure in any of said payments ; there are excepted from this payment, the contractors and military, spoken of in the 10th article ; the former, with respect to lands given them as a premium, and the latter, for those which they obtained in conformity with their diplomas.
ART. 23. The ayuntamientos of each municipality (Comarca) shall collect the above mentioned funds, gratis, by means of a committee, appointed either within or without their body ; and shall remit them as they are collected to the treasurer of their fund, who will give the corresponding receipt, and without any other compensation than two and a half per cent., all that shall be allowed him; he shall hold them at the disposition of the govern- ment, rendering an account of every month of the ingress and egress, and of any remissness or fraud which he may observe in their collection; for the correct management of all which, the person employed, and the committee, and the individuals of the ayuntamientos who appoint them, shall be individually respon- sible, and that this responsibility may be at all times effectual, the said appointments shall be made viva voce, and information shall be given thereof immediately to the government.
ART. 21. The government will sell to Mexicans, and to them only, sucht La.ds as they may wish to parchase, taking care there
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shall not be accumulated in the same hands, more than eleven sitios, and under the condition that the purchaser must cultivate what he acquires by this title within six years from its acquisition, under the penalty of losing them ; the price of each sitio, subject to the foregoing condition, shall be 100 dollars, if it be pasture Jand ; 150 dollars if it be farming land, without the facility of irrigation ; and 250 dollars if it can be irrigated.
ART. 25. Until six years after the publication of this law, the legislature of this state cannot alter it as regards the ac- knowledgment and price to be paid for land, or as regards the quantity and quality, to be distributed to the new settlers, or sold to Mexicans.
ART. 26. The new settlers, who within six years from the date of the possession have not cultivated or occupied the lands granted them, according to its quality, shall be considered to have renounced them, and the respective political authority, shall immediately proceed to take possession of them, and recall the titles.
ART. 27. The contractors and military, heretofore spoken of, and those who by purchase have acquired lands, can alienate them at any time, but the successor is obliged to cultivate them in the same time that the original proprietor was bound to do ; the other settlers can alienate theirs when they have totally cultivated them, and not before.
ART. 28. By testamentary will, made in conformity with the existing laws, or those which may govern in future any new colonist, from the day of his settlement, may dispose of his land, although he may not have cultivated it ; and if he dies intestate. his property shall be inherited by the person or persons entitled by the laws to it, the heirs being subject to the same obligation and condition imposed on the original grantee.
ART. 29. Lands acquired by virtue of this law, shall not by any title whatever pass into morbonain.
ART. 30. The new settler, who, wishing to establish himself in a foreign country, resolves to leave the territory of the state can do so freely, with all his property; but after leaving the state, he shall not any longer hold his land, and if he had not previously sold it, or the sale should not be in conformity with: the 27th Article, it shall become entirely vacant.
ART. 31. Foreigners, who, in conformity with this law, have obtained lands, and established themselves in any new settle- ment, shall be considered from that moment, naturalized in the country ; and by marrying a Mexican, they acquire a particular merit to obtain letters of citizenship of the state, subject, however, to the provisions which may be made relative to both particulars, in the constitution of the state.
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ART. 32. During the first ten years, counting from the day on which the new settlements may have been established, they shall be free from all contributions of whatever denomination, with the exception of those which in case of invasion by an enemy, or to prevent it, are generally imposed, and all the pro- duce of agriculture or industry of the new settlers, shall be free from excise duty, alcabala, or other duties, throughout every part of the state, with the exception of the duties referred to in the next article ; after the termination of that time, the new settle- ments shall be on the same footing as to taxes with the old ones, and the colonists shall also, in this particular, be ou the same footing with the other inhabitants of the state.
ART. 33. From the day of their settlement, the new colonists shall be at liberty to follow any branch of industry, and can also work mines of every description, communicating with the supreme government of the confederation, relative to the general revenue appertaining to it, and subjecting themselves in all other parti- culars, to the ordinances or taxes established, or which may be established on this branch.
ART. 34. Towns shall be founded on the sites deemed most suitable by the government, or the person commissioned for this effect, and for each one there shall be designated four square leagues, whose area may be in a regular or irregular form, agrecably to the situation.
ART. 35. If any of the said sites should be the property of an individual, and the establishment of new towns on them should notoriously be of general utility, they can, notwithstanding, be appropriated to this object, previously indemnifying the owner for its just valne, to be determined by appraisers.
ART. 36. Building lots in the new towns shall be given gratis to the contractors of them, and also to artists of every class, as many as are necessary for the establishment of their trade ; and to the other settlers they shall be sold at public auction, after having been previously valued, under the obligation to pay the purchase money by justalments of one-third each, the first in six months, the second in twelve months, and the third in eighteen months ; but all owners of lois, including contractors and artists, shall annually pay one dollar for cach lot, which, together with the produce of the sales, shall be collected by the ayunta- mientos, and applied to the building of churches in said towns.
ART. 37. So far as is practicable, the towns shall be composed of natives and foreigners, and in their delineations, great care shall be taken to lay off the streets straight, giving them a direc- tion from north to south, and from east to west, when the site will permit it.
ART. 38. For the better location of the said new towns, their
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regular formation and exact partition of their lands and lots, the government, on account of having admitted any project, and agreed with the contractor or contractors, who may have pre- sented it, shall commission a person of intelligence and conti -. dence, giving him such particular instructions as may be deemed necessary and expedient, and authorizing him under his own responsibility, to appoint one or more surveyors, to lay off the town scientifically, and do whatever else may be re- quired.
ART. 39. The governor, in conformity with the last fee bill, arancel, of notary publics of the ancient audience of Mexico, shall designate the fees of the commissioner, who, in conjunction with the colonists, shall fix the surveyor's fees ; but both shall be paid by the colonists, and in the manner which all parties among themselves may agree upon.
ART. 40. As soon as at least forty families are united in one place, they shall proceed to the formal establishment of the new towns, and all of them shall take an oath to support the general and state constitutions ; which oath will be admini- stered by the commissioner ; they shall then, in his presence, proceed, for the first time, to the election of their municipal authority.
ART. 41. A new town, whose inhabitants shall not be less than two hundred, shall elect an ayuntamiento, provided there is not another one established within cight leagues, in which case it shall be added to it. The number of individuals which are to compose the ayuntamiento, shall be regulated by the existing laws.
ART. 42. Foreigners are eligible, subject to the provisions which the constitution of the state may prescribe, to cleet the mem- bers of their municipal authorities, and to be elected to the sunc.
ART. 43. The municipal expenses, and all others which may be considered necessary, or of common utility to the new towns, shall be proposed to the governor, by the ayunta- mientos through the political chief, accompanied with a plan of the taxes, arbitrios, which in their opinion may be just and best calculated to raise them, and should the proposed plan be ap- proved of by the governor, he shall order it to be executed, sub - ject however to the resolutions of the legislature, to whom it shall be immediately passed with his report, and that of the political chief, who will say whatever occurs to him on the subject.
ART. 44. For the opening and improving of roads, and other public works in Texas, the government will transmit to the chief of that department, the individuals, who in other parts of the state may have been sentenced to public works as vagrants,
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or for other crimes ; these same persons may be employed by individuals for competent wages, and as soon as the time of their condemnation is expired, they can unite themselves as colonists, to any settlement, and obtain the corresponding lands, if their reformation shall have made them worthy of such favour in the opinion of the chief of the department, without whose certificate they shall not be admitted.
ART. 45. The government, in accord with the respective ordi- nary ecclesiastics, will take care to provide the new settlements with the competent number of pastors, and in accord with the same authority, shall propose to the legislature for its approba- tion, the salary which the said pastors are to receive, which shall be paid by the new settlers.
ART. 46. The new settlers, as regards the introduction of slaves, shall subject themselves to the existing laws, and those which may hereafter be established on the subject.
ART. 47. The petitions now pending relative to the subject of this law, shall be despatched in conformity with it, and for this purpose they shall be passed to the governor, and the families who may be established within the limits of the state, without having any land assigned them, shall submit themselves to this law, and to the orders of the supreme government of the Union, with respect to those who are within twenty leagues of the limits of the United States of America, and ten leagues in a straight line of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
ART. 48. This law shall be published in all the villages of the state ; and that it arrive at the notice of all others, throughout the Mexican confederation, it shall be communicated to their respective legislatures by the secretary of this state; and the governor will take particular care to send a certified copy of it, in compliance with the 16th Article of the federal constitution, to the two houses of congress, and the supreme executive power of the nation, with a request to the latter, to give it general circulation through foreign states, by means of our ambas- sadors.
The governor pro tem. of the state will cause it to be published and circulated.
(Signed) RAFAEL RAMOSY VALDEZ, President. JUAN VICENTE CAMPOS, Member and Secretary. JOSSE JOAQUIN ARCE ROSALES, Member and Secretary.
Therefore I command all authorities, as well civil as military and ecclesiastical, to obey, and cause to be obeyed, the present decree in all its parts.
RAFAEL GONZALES, Governor.
Salt:"0, 24th March, 1825.
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INSTRUCTION TO THE COMMISSIONER APPOINTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE.
Executive Department of the State of Coahuila and Texas.
Instructions by which the Commissioner shall be governed, in the partition of lands to the new colonists, who may establish themselves in the State, in conformity with the Colonization Law of the 24th of March, 1825.
ART. 1. It shall be the duty of the commissioner, keeping in view the contract which an empresario may have entered into with the government, and also the colonization law of the 2 1th March, scrupulously to examine the certificates or recommenda- tions which foreign emigrants inust produce from the local autho- rities of the place where they removed from, accrediting their christianity, morality, and steady habits, in conformity with the 5th article of said law, without which requisite they shall not be admitted in the colony.
ART. 2. In order to prevent being imposed on by false re- commendations, the commissioner shall not consider any as suf- ficient, without a previous opinion in writing as to their legiti- macy, from the empresario, for which purpose they shall be passed to him by the commissioner.
ART. 3. The commissioner shall administer to each of the new colonists, the oath in form, to observe the federal constitution of the united Mexican states, the constitution of the state, the general laws of the nation, and those of the state which they have adopted for their country.
ART. 4. He shall issue in the name of the state, the titles for Jand, in conformity with the law, and put the new colonists into possession of their lands, with all legal formalities, and the pre- vions citation of adjoining proprietors, should there be any.
ART. 5. He shall not give to any colonist who may have esta- blished, or who may wish to establish themselves within twenty leagues of the limits of the United States of the north, or within ten leagues of the coast, unless it should appear that the supreme government of the nation had approved thereof.
ART. 6. He shall take care that no vacant lands be left between possessions, and in order that the lines of each one may be clearly designated, he shall compel the colonists within the term of one year to mark their lines, and to establish fixed and permanent corners.
Agr. 7. He shall appoint, under his own responsibility, the Surveyor, who must survey the land scientifically, requiring low
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previously to take an oath truly and faithfully to discharge the duties of his office.
ART. 8. He shall form a manuscript book of paper of threepenny stamp, in which shall be written the titles of the lands distributed to the colonists, specifying the names, the boundaries, and other requisites, and legal circumstances ; and a certified copy of each title shall be taken from said book on paper of the two-penny stamp, which shall be delivered to the interested person as his title.
ART. 9. Each settler shall pay the value of the stamp paper used in issuing his title both for the original and copy.
ART. 10. This book shall be preserved in the archives of the new colony, and an exact form of it shall be transmitted to the government, specifying the number of colonists with their names, and the quantity of land granted to each one, distinguishing that which is farming land, with or without the facilities of irrigation, and that which is granted as grazing land.
ART. 11. He shall select the site which may be most suitable for the establishment of the town or towns, which are to be founded agreeably to the number of families composing the colony, and keep in view the provisions of the law of colonization on this subject.
ART. 12. After selecting the site destined for the new town, he shall take care that the base lines run north and south, east and west, and he will designate a public square 120 varas on each side, exclusive of the streets, which shall be called the prin- cipal or constitutional square, and this shall be the central point from which the street shall run, for the formation of squares and blocks in conformity with the model hereto annexed.
ART. 13. The block situated on the east side of the principal square, shall be destined for the church, curate's house, and other ecclesiastical buildings. The block on the west side of the said square shall be designated for public buildings of the municipality. In some other suitable situation a block should be designated for a market square, another for a jail and house of correction, another for a school, and other edifices for public instruction, and another beyond the limits of the town for a burial ground.
ART. 14. He shall on his responsibility cause the streets to be laid off' straight, and that they are twenty varas wide, to promote the health of the town.
ART. 15. Mechanics, who at the time of founding a new town, present themselves to settle in it, shall have the right of receiving one lot a piece without any other cost than the necessary stamp paper for issuing the title, and the light tax of one dollar annually for the construction of the church.
ART. 16. The lots spoken of in the preceding article shall be
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distributed by lot, with the exception of the empresario, who shall be entitled to any two lots he may select.
ART. 17. The other lots shall be valued by appraisers, according to their situation, and sold to the other colonists at their appraised valuc. In case there should be a number of applicants for the same lot, owing to its situation or other circumstances, which may excite competition, it shall be decided by lot, as prescribed in the preceding article ; the product of said lots shall be appropriated to the building of a church in said town.
ART. 18. He shall, in unison with the empresario, promote the settlement of each town by the inhabitants belonging to its juris- diction, who take lots in it, and cause them to construct houses on said lots within a limited time, under the penalty of forfeiting them.
ART. 19. He shall form a manuscript book of each town, in which shall be written the titles of the lots which are given as a donation or sold, specifying their boundaries, and other necessary circumstances ; a certified copy of each one of which, on the corre- sponding stamp, shall be delivered to the interested person as his title.
ART. 20. He shall form a topographical plan of each town that may be founded, and transmit it to the government, keeping a copy of it in the said register book of the colony.
ART. 21. He shall see that at the crossing of each of the rivers on the public roads, where a town is founded, a ferry is established at the cost of the inhabitants of said town, a moderate rate of ferriage shall be established to pay the salary of the ferryman and the cost of the necessary boats, and the balance shall be ap- plied to the public funds of the towns.
ART. 22. In places where there are no towns, and where ferries are necessary, the colonists who may be settled there shall be charged with the establishment of the ferry, collecting a moderate ferringe, until such ferries are rented out for the use of the state. Any colonist that wishes to establish a ferry, on the terms above indicated, shall form an exact and certified account of the costs which he may be at for the building of boats, and also an account of the produce of the ferry, in order that when said ferry is rented out for the use of the state, he shall have a right to receive the amount of said expenses which had not already been covered by the produce of the ferry which for the present he collects.
ART. 23. He shall preside at the popular elections, mentioned in the 40th Article of the colonization law for the appointment of the ayuntamiento, and shall put the elected in possession of their offices.
ART. 24. He shall take special care that the portions of land granted to the colonists by Article 11, 15, and 16 shall be med.
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sured by the surveyors with accuracy, and not permit any one to include more land than is designated by law, under the penalty of being personally responsible.
Anr. 25. Should any colonist solicit, in conformity with the 17th Article of the law, augmentation of land beyond that desig- nated in the preceding articles on account of the size of his family, industry, or capital, he shall present his petition in writing to the commissioner, stating all the reasons on which he founds his petition, who shall transmit it to the governor of the state, toge- ther with his opinion, for which opinion he shall be responsible in the most rigid manner, in order that the governor may decide on the subject.
ART. 26. All the public instruments, titles, or other documents issued by the commissioner, shall be written in Spanish; the memorials, decrees, and reports of the colonists or empresarios on any subject whatever, shall be written in the same language, whether they are to be transmitted to the government, or pre- served in the archives of the colony.
ART. 27. All public instruments or titles of possession, and the copies, signed by the commissioner, shall be attested by two as- sistant witnesses.
ART. 28. The commissioner shall be personally responsible for all acts or measures performed by him contrary to the coloni- zation law, or these instructions.
(A copy.) Saltillo, September 4th, 1827. TIJERINA, Secretaries of the Legislature. ARCINIEGA, S
(A copy.) JUAN ANTONIO PADILLA, Secretary of State.
AN ACT AUTHORISING THE ISSUING OF THE PROMIS- SORY NOTES OF THE GOVERNMENT.
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