Centuries cannot repair
this serious evil, and the Texans have made bitter and implacable foes
of those who would have been their friends. No distinction is made
between an American and a Texan, and the Texans have raised up a foe to
the United States, which may hereafter prove not a little troublesome.
In another point, Texas has been seriously injured by this total want of
probity and principle. Had Western Texas been settled by people of
common honesty, it would, from its topographical situation, have soon
become a very important country, as all the mercantile transactions with
the north central provinces of Mexico would have been secured to it.
From the Presidio del Rio Grande there is an excellent road to San
Antonio de Bejar; to the south of San Antonio lies Chihuahua; so that
the nearest and most accessible route overland, from the United States
to the centre of Mexico, is through San Antonio. And this overland route
can be shortened by discharging vessels at Linville, or La Bacca, and
from thence taking the goods to San Antonio, a distance of about one
hundred and forty miles. The western boundary line of Texas, at the time
of the declaration of its independence, was understood to be the river
Nueces; and if so, nothing could have prevented San Antonio from
becoming an inland depot of much commercial importance.
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