Numerous parties of Mexican traders have long been accustomed to come to
San Antonio from the Rio Grande. They were generally very honest in
their payments, and showed a very friendly spirit. Had this trade been
protected, as it should have been, by putting down the bands of robbers,
who rendered the roads unsafe by their depredations and atrocities, it
would have become of more value than any trade to Santa Fe. Recognized
or unrecognized, Texas could have carried on the trade; merchants would
have settled in the West, to participate in it; emigrants would have
collected in the district, where the soil is rich and the climate
healthy. It is true, the trade would have been illicit; but such is ever
the inevitable consequence of a high and ill-regulated tariff. It would,
nevertheless, have been very profitable, and would have conciliated the
population of Rio Grande towards the Texans, and in all probability have
forced upon the Mexican government the establishment of friendly
relations between the two countries.
But this trade has been totally destroyed; the Indians now seize and
plunder every caravan, either to or from San Antonio; the Texan robbers
lie in wait for them, if they escape the Indians; and should the Mexican
trader escape with his goods from both, he has still to undergo the
chance of being swindled by the _soi-disant_ Texan merchant.
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