RELATIVE TO PLANS TO INDUCE THE
IMMIGRATION OF DISSATISFIED CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES INTO
MEXICO, AND ESPECIALLY IN REGARD TO THE PLANS OF DR. WILLIAM M. GWIN
AND M. F. MAURY.
[Translation.]
Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward
Mexican Legation,
Washington,
July 9, 1864.
Mr. Romero presents his respects to Mr. Seward, and has the honor to
enclose to him an extract taken from the New York Tribune, which
contains the address which General Magruder, commander-in-chief of
the insurgent army in Texas, made to Don Santiago Vidaurri, who was
the governor of the states of New Leon and Coahuila, in the republic
of Mexico, on solemnly receiving him at the city of San Antonio on
the 21st May last, which address, no less than the answer of
Vidaurri, demonstrates the existence of a perfect understanding
between the traitors in Mexico and the insurgents in the United
States, because both count on the aid of the French government to
bring to a close, such as they desire, the enterprises in which they
are engaged. This is the address to which Mr. Romero referred at the
interview he had with Mr. Seward at the Department of State on the
20th June last past.
Hon. William H. Seward, &c., &c., &c.
[Enclosure No. 1.]
AN INTERESTING PAIR OF REBELS.—VIDAURRI AND
MAGRUDER COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER IN PUBLIC SPEECHES.
[From the New Orleans
Era.]
The absquatulating ex-governor of the Mexican states of Coahuila
and New Leon, Vidaurri, and the rebel commander-in-chief of
Texas, General J. Bankhead Magruder, had an interesting meeting
at Houston on the 21st May, a full account of which we give
below, taken from the columns of the Houston Telegraph of the 23d. It was a solemn and impressive
spectacle, the meeting of these two noble and devoted patriots,
martyrs in the cause of liberty, who have fought and bled for
their country, and made enormous fortunes by stealing cotton
from defenceless citizens, selling it to meet the requirements
of the public service, and pocketing the proceeds. Here is the
way these disinterested, self-sacrificing men talk to each other
for the benefit of the credulous and humbugged people:
Governor Vidaurri arrived in this city on Saturday, and was
courteously received by General Magruder and his staff and a
military escort. On meeting him at the depot of the Central
railroad, General Magruder addressed him, in substance, as
follows:
General Vidaurri: I bid you welcome to
this military district, not only as one who has been governor of
neighboring and friendly states, those of Coahuila and Nueva
Leon, but as an enlightened chief magistrate, who has
established friendly relations with the confederacy, and has
always appreciated the value of an uninterrupted commercial and
amicable intercourse with the State and citizens of Texas.
I bid you welcome as one of those patriots who have wisdom to
discern and nerve to execute whatever may be for the best
interest of the country. In the wild storms which have swept
over our native land you have exercised control to draw order
out of chaos, and to secure the best interests of the people,
even in spite of themselves.
For your noble efforts to serve the people of Coahuila and Nueva
Leon you are now an -, exile. For your
patriotic exertions to secure for them the blessings of a
well-organized, regular, and just government, and to free them
from any dependence on the most faithless and barbarous of all
people, (those of the United States,) you have offered up
yourself as a sacrifice. But the patriot will be rewarded; your
sacrifices will be but temporary; and all wise and truly
patriotic Mexicans will soon acknowledge the wisdom, as well as
the patriotism, of your course, and, welcoming you back with
open arms, will invite you to such a participation in the
conduct of public affairs as your great ability and high
character fairly demand.
Be assured, general, that we shall look with interest upon your
future career, as we have done upon the past, and that we wish
you health and prosperity as cordially as we bid you
welcome.
[Page 498]
[Enclosure No. 2.]
To this Governor Vidaurri replied, thanking General Magruder for
the unexpected compliment he had paid him. He assured him that
he had always felt the greatest sympathy for the Confederate
States, as they had battled for their rights and for the poor
privilege to be let alone. He was himself now an exile from his
country for contending for the same rights that had been usurped
by unprincipled men. He hoped soon that the Confederate States
might reach the object for which they had so long struggled.
The governor and General Magruder then took carriages, escorted
by the general’s staff. The cortege
proceeded to the Fannin House, where it halted, and the
distinguished stranger was waited upon by the military and civil
authorities, his honor the mayor tendering him a welcome to the
city.
It is a well-known fact that not two-thirds of the enormous sums
of money derived from the seizure and sale of cotton by General
Magruder and his emissaries was ever used for the benefit of the
rebel government, but was invested in sterling bills and foreign
loans, for the benefit of Magruder and the men connected with
him in his swindling transactions. This is well known to
hundreds of refugees from the State of Texas now in this city.
Vidaurri, by levying heavy taxes upon the cotton transported
through the territory over which he ruled, and by occasional
seizure of a lot belonging to private parties, (against which
there was no redress, owing to the lawless state of the country,
and to the fact that the owners generally were rebels, and had
no government that could or would protect them,) managed to
feather his nest quite snugly. It is to be hoped, however, that
when he decamped from Monterey, between the setting and rising
of the sun, that he was compelled to leave behind all, or nearly
all, of his ill-gotten gains.
