Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session of the Thirty-ninth Congress, Part III
Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward
Mr. Secretary: I have the honor to enclose to you a printed pamphlet containing forty-nine acts of the principal official corporations, and particularly of the councils of the most important towns in the State of Chiapas, in the Mexican republic, acknowledging the legality and expediency of the decrees issued on the 8th of November last by the government of Mexico, in one of which the duration of the term of office of the President of the republic was extended till a popular election could take place, which was impossible at that time (and is yet) on account of the foreign invasion.
With this opportunity I am pleased to repeat to you, Mr. Secretary, the assurances of my most distinguished consideration.
Hon. William H. Seward, &c., &c., &c.
The State of Chiapas to citizen Benito Juarez, expressing the popular sentiment by approval of his decrees of the 8th of November last.
The people of Chiapas, reposing quietly in the sincerity of their preference for citizen Benito Juarez as President of the republic, have accepted without hesitation, and even with pleasure, the supreme decree of the 8th of November of last year, prolonging the presidential period during the time the hazardous circumstances of the present foreign war may last, and till, when the war is over, he who receives the popular suffrage may take charge of the government.
It was never once presumed that the termination of the constitutional period of the presidency of Juarez would be the signal of alarm to the low, mean, miserable passions of certain statesmen, who, coveting the exalted position, forget their honored antecedents, their dignity of free citizens, and even the critical circumstances in which the republic is now struggling. The protest of Manuel Ruiz, ex-minister of the supreme court of justice of the nation, and reports of other protests, only serve to increase the dislike to personalities, and the esteem and affection for the intelligent and virtuous Juarez, who has no other aspiration, no other wish, no other desire, than the safety and happiness of his country. The people of Chiapas, following the inclinations of their conscience and their heart, and in conformity with the wishes at headquarters of the eastern line, hastened to express their will by means of acts indicating their adhesion, trust, and confidence in the present worthy chief of the republic, in whom the country has placed its hopes, with just cause; for to suspect a man who, during the last revolution of three years, led the people in triumph to the glorious conquest of the sacred principle of legality, would be to commit a crime.
To show that the people of Chiapas are grateful, and know how to appreciate the virtues of the well-beloved citizen; to prove to the enemies of the country that the heroic example set by the chief of the republic will always be seconded with enthusiasm by the simple but [Page 377] brave people, who will defend their rights and liberties at the cost of every sacrifice; to demonstrate to the ambitious, who think themselves necessary to the government, that the people are not now what they were in common revolutionary times, when common persons, such as Santa Anna, contended for power, we will let them know, once for all, that the people think, judge, reward, and punish; that, taught by the experience of the long civil war to distinguish sincerity from hypocrisy, they have learned what is true patriotism, and have determined to estimate it properly by suitable rewards, and have learned the false machinations of ambition, to despise them and punish them.
The following documents show the truth of all this, as our readers will be pleased to find:
Office of the Governor and Military Commander of the State of Chiapas, Comitan, March 6, 1866.
The commander of the eastern line wrote to the governor and military commander of the State, on the 1st of February, as follows: “A serious question has arisen in the country and beyond it. Citizen Benito Juarez, as constitutional President of the republic, on the 8th of November last continued his duties as such, as you will see by the enclosed decree in the official bulletin, No. 29. It is said that General Jesus Gonzalez Ortega protested against the decree while in the United States, as president of the supreme court of justice, which capacity is not accorded to him by citizen Juarez, as you will see in the decree of the 8th of November, which is also published in the bulletin. The exceptional circumstances in which the present foreign war has placed the nation prevent the election of a supreme magistrate to rule the destinies of the country according to the constitution, and though the opinion is already formed at headquarters in favor of the existing order of things, because it believes that citizen Benito Juarez has a right to the presidency by virtue of his first election, in accordance with our actual laws, yet it wishes to know the opinion of the eastern line in the affair; and therefore I address myself to you, to have the vote taken, in the manner you think most proper, of all good Mexicans found in the jurisdiction of your worthy command, and report to me if it conforms to my opinion, for my information and consequent action.” I communicate this to you by supreme command, for your information and that of authorities under you, to whom you will make it known, that they may act as their conscience dictates for the true interests and general good of the country.
Country and liberty!
The Civil Chief and Military Commander of the Department of ———.
[The rest of the pamphlet contains the resolutions of corporations, learned societies, and popular meetings in nine different departments of the State of Chiapas, approving the decree of the 8th of November extending the presidential term of office. The form of these resolutions has been frequently translated in former communications to this department.]
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The acts are from the following corporations:
No. 1. Supreme court of the State of Chiapas, San Cristobal las Casas, March 18, 1866.
No. 2. Literary University of the same State, San Cristobal las Casas, March 10, 1866.
Department of Comitan.
No. 3. Political and military command of the department of Comitan, Comitan, March 10, 1866.
No. 4. Military command of the department of Comitan, Comitan, March 6, 1866.
No. 5. Ayuntamiento of the department of San Bartolomé de los Llanos, March 13, 1866.
No. 6. Political command of the same department, March 31. 1866.
No. 7. Ayuntamiento of Zapaluta, March 19, 1866.
No. 8. Ayuntamiento of Zocoltenango, March 15, 1866.
No. 9. Political command of Zocoltenango, March 15, 1866.
No. 10. Court of the department of Comitan, April 7, 1866.
Dapartment of San Cristobal.
No. 11. Ayuntamiento of San Cristobal las Casas, March 14, 1866.
No. 12. First battalion of Chiapas, San Cristobal las Casas, March 14, 1866.
No. 13. Ayuntamiento of Teopisco, March 13, 1866.
No. 14. Ayuntamiento of San Juan Bautista Chamula, March 13, 1866.
[Page 378]No. 15. Ayuntamiento of San Lorenzo Zinacantan, March 21, 1866.
No. 16. Ayuntamiento of Amatenango, March 16, 1866.
No. 17. Criminal court of San Cristobal las Casas, April 3, 1866.
No. 18. Court of San Pedro Chenalko, March 17, 1866.
No. 19. Court of Huertan, March 6, 1866.
No. 20. Courts of Santa Maria Magdalena, March 30, 1866.
No. 21. Courts of Santa Marta, March 30, 1866.
Department of Chiapas.
No. 22. Ayuntamiento of Chiapas city, March 14, 1866.
No. 23. Court of the department of Chiapas, March 25, 1866.
Department of Tuxtla Gutierrez.
No. 24. Ayuntamiento of Tuxtla Gutierres city, March 14, 1866.
No. 25. Military and political command of the department, March 14, 1866.
No. 26. Court of the county of Tuxtla Gutierres, March 31, 1866.
No. 27. Ayuntamiento of Ocosocuantla, March 24, 1866.
No. 28. Courts of Ocosocuantla, March 24, 1866.
No. 29. Ayuntamiento of Zintalapa, March 27, 1866.
No. 30. Ayuntamiento of Tomala city, March 26, 1866.
No. 31. Court of Tomala county, March 20, 1866.
No. 32. Ayuntamiento of Mapastepec, April 5, 1866.
No. 33. Ayuntamiento of Pigigiappa, March 31, 1866.
Department of Simojovel.
No. 34. Political and military command of department, March 19, 1866.
No. 35. Ayuntamiento of San Juan, March 18, 1866.
No. 36. Court of Simojovel county, March 17, 1866.
No. 37. Ayuntamiento of San Juan Bautista Istobol, March 17, 1866.
No. 38. Ayuntamiento of Simojovel, March 17, 1866.
Department of Pichucalco.
No. 39. Political and military command of the department, March 27, 1866
No. 40. Ayuntamiento of Pichucalco, March 27, 1866.
No. 41. Court of the department, March 28, 1866.
No. 42. Courts of the city of Pichucalco, March 31, 1866.
Department of Soconusco.
No. 43. Ayuntamiento of Zapachula, March 28, 1866.
No. 44. Political and military command of Zapachula, March 28, 1866.
No. 45. Ayuntamiento of Tuxtla Chico city, March 25, 1866.
Department of Chiton.
No. 46. Political and military command of the department, Ocozingo city, March 8, 1866
No. 47. Ayuntamiento of Chilon, April 11, 1866.
Department of Palenque.
No. 48. Ayuntamiento of Palenque, April 13, 1866.
No. 49. Ayuntamiento of San José, Catasapa city, April 14, 1866.
The governor of the State of Chiapas to the citizens of the State
Fellow-citizens: The supreme government of the republic having issued the decree of November 8, by which the powers of the actual President—the citizen Benito Juarez—are continued until a constitutional election of the person who can substitute him can be held, the government of this State has accepted it without any objection; convinced, as I feel, of the legal foundation upon which it is based, of the urgent necessity which authorizes it, and that, in the distressing circumstances through which the nation is now passing, it was not possible to act otherwise without sacrificing the interests of the public cause, to prescribe political forms established for normal times of peace. Far from this, and owing to the [Page 379] iniquitous war made against the republic, we have to act solely inspired by sentiments of patriotism, the only hope left to the nation in the fearful ordeal she has now to undergo.
Nevertheless, if there are any doubts, any distrust as to the legality of the acts of the-first magistrate of the nation, these ought to disappear before the explicit and unanimous manifestation of the people; and the people, free from any compulsion, have proclaimed his permanency in power until the causes which gave occasion to the decree thus sanctioned-have ceased to exist, for they respect more the substance than the form, more the spirit than the letter of our institutions.
You, Chiapanecos, in the midst of the stormy crisis we have traversed, you have been faithful to the cause of our independence and to the illustrious genius who has guided with firmness the destinies of the magnanimous people which will elevate him for his virtues to the highest power, giving thus the best and most unmistakable proof of their fidelity and good sense, for the good of the country—for your own good. Follow, then, that path of honor and glory, and your conduct will always find imitators, and your acts will make a brilliant page in the history of the present war.
Chiapanecos, an admirer of your noble conduct in the bitter days of misfortune and trial of our beloved country, I shall always regard that conduct as a model of virtue—a sublime example worthy of imitation. Live, then, for your country. Let her triumph be the object of your constant efforts and sacrifices. Thus you will fulfil the duties which God has imposed upon you, and thus you will leave to your children a free country worthy of being inherited.
JOSÉ PANTALEON DOMINGUEZ.
Tuxtla. Gutierres, April 12, 1866.
With simplicity have the documents here printed been written, but with sincerity also.
The frank and spontaneous expression of a people who sanction with their will the decree of November 8 is registered in them, asking the permanency of the illustrious citizen Don Benito Juarez in the presidency of the republic for the whole time during the critical situation brought about by the foreign war.
The people of Chiapas have pledged themselves to die defending the flag of the country carried aloft by the firm hand of the President. They will keep to their pledge in spite of all the obstacles that the enemy may oppose, in spite of the miserable ambition of some bad Mexicans, because the people of Chiapas love with faith, with enthusiasm.
Liberty and independence!