Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session of the Thirty-ninth Congress, Part III
Señor Romero to Mr. Seward
Mr. Secretary: In confirmation of the reports I have transmitted to the Department of State of the United States, on divers occasions, relative to the efforts of the French agents in Mexico, to induce citizens of the southern part of the United States to immigrate to that country, animated by a feeling hostile to their government, I have the honor to send you this day an index of original documents containing particulars of plans for that purpose, more minute than any I have yet been able to communicate to your department.
I regret I am not at liberty to say how these documents have fallen into my hands, but I can assure you they are authentic.
I take pleasure in embracing this additional opportunity to renew to you, Mr. Secretary, the assurances of my most distinguished consideration.
Hon. William H. Seward, &c., &c., &c.
Index of documents sent to the Department of State of the United States by the Mexican legation in Washington with the note of this date, in relation to the plan of southern colonization in Mexico.
| No. | Date. | Contents. |
| 1865. | ||
| 1 | Feb. 5 | Letter of Mr. Charles M. Douglas, of Charleston, South Carolina, to the minister of the so-called Mexican empire in Washington, inquiring about the pay of passage for emigrants to Mexico. |
| 2 | Nov. 1 | Letter from Mr. John O. Shelby, at Cordova, to Mr. Frank Lilly, of St. Louis, Missouri giving information for confederate emigrants to Mexico. |
| 3 | Dec. 6 | Communication from Mr. M. F. Maury, called imperial commissioner of colonization, to Mr. E. Farrenne, of New York, in relation to the establishment of a bureau of correspondence in the city of New York. |
| 4 | Dec. 6 | A copy, in English, of the so-called colonization laws issued by the emperor Maximilian. |
| 5 | Dec. 6 | An extract from the Mexican Times, of the 9th of December, 1863, containing a circular signed by Maury, and addressed to persons who wished to. settle in Mexico. |
| 1866. | ||
| 6 | Feb. 9 | Letter from Mr. Benjamin Crowther to Mr. J. C. Littrell, of St. Louis, Missouri, giving information about confederate settlers in Mexico. |
| 7 | Feb. 17 | Letter from Mr. Richard L. Maury, son of M. F. Maury, called imperial sub-commissioner of colonization, and colonel in the late confederate army, to Mr. James M. Payne, of Nashville, State of Tennessee, enclosing the circular on Mexican colonization. |
| 8 | Mar. 3 | Letter from Mr. R. L. Maury to Mr. W. C. S. Ventress, of New Orleans, informing him that his father had gone to England, and would return in October with his family; enclosing a copy of No. 8. |
| 9 | Mar. 14 | Letter from the same to Mr. Reuben Herndon, in Galveston, Texas, telling him of the inducements to emigration held out by the usurper Maximilian, and enclosing a copy of the circular No. 8. |
| 10 | June 6 | The colony founded by certain confederate ex-generals near Cordova, and named Carlotta, under the sanction of Maximilian, is broken up and destroyed by the liberal inhabitants in its vicinity. |
| 11 | Dec. 16 | Letter from General Sterling Price, giving an account of the colony of Carlotta, established by himself and other confederates. Reiterates his adhesion to rebeldom, and is perfectly content with his lot in Mexico. |
No. 1.
[Untitled]
Dear Sir: Several young men, natives of this city, are desirous of emigrating to Mexico, but are without the necessary funds to enable them to do so. A letter is published in a Columbia, South Carolina, paper of the 4th instant, written from the city of Mexico by Colonel Maury, late of the confederate army, in which he states that the imperial government will defray the expenses of emigrants to Mexico. Our object in addressing you is to inquire if this is a fact; and if it is, to whom we are to apply for transportation.
If necessary, all of the party can furnish you with the best testimonials as to character, &c. An early answer will be esteemed by us a great favor.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
The Minister of the Empire of Mexico, Washington, D. C.
No. 2.
[Untitled]
[The envelope containing this letter was marked as follows: “Mr. Frank Lilly, St. Louis, Missouri.”]
Dear Lilly: How often have I written to you since I crossed the Rio Grande? Too often; and I would not tax you further, save I have just learned you have married my favorite of Waverly, May Hall. God knows my heart beats with joy; and why? Because [Page 204] I love you both, and I am made happy by knowing she has united with a man who will protect and guard her, and who numbered not among those who persecuted the South I am here as an exile; defeated by the acts of the southern people themselves. And why? Because they loved their “niggers,” their estates, more than principle. They won, didn’t they? Let them reap what they deserved—eternal disgrace. D—n ’em, they were foolish enough to think by laying down their arms they would enjoy all the rights they once had. How is it? Your United States papers tell us their condition. Who can sympathize with them? I can’t, for I know them too well. Our independence was in our own hands. We lost from the fact our people were unwilling to sacrifice money—not blood. Of the women of the South no man dare complain, and may a just God always guard over them. They labored hard, but even their influence failed to nerve the southern army to its duty. They sacrificed all save their honor. They urged a further continuance when the cowardly southern had cast aside his gun and only awaited the coming of the northern abolition fanatic to do his bidding. And to think that was the people we border-State men were fighting for! Yes, that was the people we were fighting for. Were we not deceived? Still we were right! However, take away the women and children of the South, the balance might sink in a chasm of eternal damnation where there could be no relief. My heart is heavy at the idea of being separated from you all forever; but I am not one of those to ask forgiveness for that which I believe to-day is right. The party in power has manifested no leniency. Though not among the politicians, I am not ready to play the sycophant.
Frank, say to old George I have written to him several times; would like to hear from him. Bud, I know, will write to me. Tell Charley Cowan to write to me, and say further to him, in ease I succeed in this country he shall, not suffer. I will divide always with him. Please inform him where I am, and say to him to write to me and I will answer immediately. I would like George Hall to send Bud to me. I will have him taught Spanish, and he can return in two years a good Spanish scholar, Say to my Waverly friends to look for me when Napoleon jumps Uncle Sam.
There are about two hundred confederates here. We are settling on the railroad, in the finest agricultural country in the world, seventy miles from Vera Cruz. I will await to hear from you. Send this letter to George Hall. My love to May and your family.
Ever your friend,
J. O. SHELBY.
Do you know where Mr. William Shelby is? When you go to Waverly tell my old friends it would console me much to hear from them. Say to Brock Fletcher I was in hopes of meeting him last fall, and he must write to me. To old man Rudd and John Hall I would say, my prayers would be offered freely if I thought the prayers of a rebel would avail the good. And where is poor Can. Kertley? Old Spencer Brown, I know the blessings of a righteous God will always rest on him. A better man, a better heart, was never created. May happiness attend him and his. Let me hear all.
Tell Paschal to send me the Weekly Republican. I will pay.
Yours,
No. 3.
[Untitled]
Sir: Your letter by Mr. Arroyo was received too late to reply by the steamer of to-day.
Your suggestion as to a bureau of correspondence in New York is good, and seems to be well worthy of his majesty’s consideration.
There is in the United States a lamentable state of ignorance concerning Mexico and the Mexicans, and any one who can dispel that ignorance may well be considered as having done a good work.
I enclose some decrees and other documents which you may find interesting.
Respectfully, and your obedient servant,
E. Farrenne. New York.
No. 4.
Decree for the establishment of civil and military colonies on the imperial Mexican railroad between Vera Cruz and the City of Mexico.
MAXIMILIAN, EMPEROR OF MEXICO.
Considering that the establishment of lines of railroad is necessarily followed by the creation of new centres of population;
Considering that in the present state of the empire it is important that these centres of population should not be very far from each other;
[Page 205]Considering that all commerce and industry require complete security along their lines of communication—
We have decided to decree, and do decree as follows:
Article 1. There shall be established on both sides of the railroad from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico, and at the most suitable points, which points will be designated by our minister of fomento, civil and military settlements at a distance from each other of not more than four or five leagues.
Art. 2. Each settlement shall have an extent of at least One square league, taking care that its centre half be as near as possible to the railroad station.
Art. 3. The survey, measurement, and division of these settlements shall be made by the colonial company of engineers of Guadalupe.
Art. 4. In case the lands selected as most suitable for these settlements should not be national property, but should belong to private individuals, they shall be ex-appropriated for the public use, on such condition as our minister of fomento may decide.
Art. 5. The first settlement to be established shall be between La Soledad and Puebla, and steps therefor shall be taken immediately. Then those which are to be established between La Puebla and the city of Mexico will be formed.
Art. 6. There shall be established a line of small forts or blockhouses at the most suitable points along the road, and so situated that they can communicate with each other by means of signals day and night. These forts shall be sufficiently large to contain the necessary supplies and munitions.
Art. 7. Our ministers of fomento, of war, and of hacienda are each charged with the execution of so much of this decree as relates to his department.
By the emperor:
The Minister of Fomento,
Manuel Orozco y Berra, Sub-secretary, (in the absence of the Minister of Femento.)
Regulations from the Ministry of Fomento for carrying out the foregoing decree.
Article 1. The settlements to which the preceding decree relates shall be established near those places which this ministry will designate, having regard to the points where the railroad stations are to be, and taking into consideration those circumstances that are indispensably connected with the welfare of the settlements.
Art. 2. The engineers of Guadalupe, being divided into parties, shall proceed, as soon as the places shall be designated, thoroughly to examine, in every particular, the land as to its fitness for the said settlement, and, the selection being made, they will survey and measure a square league, or 4,338 acres, which they will divide into one hundred lots of forty acres each, numbering each one in regular order. The 338 remaining acres shall be divided into lots of 25 metres front by 50 deep, (82 by 164 feet,) upon which the settlers may build their houses, arranged in streets of sufficient breadth for free and commodious passage.
Art. 3. As soon as the engineers shall have selected the land suitable for the settlement they shall make it known to the public functionary in whose jurisdiction the land may lie, to the end that he may immediately notify the owner thereof that said land is about to be occupied for the public good, and that he may at once apply to the ministry of fomento for proper indemnification.
ART, 4. The engineers, in making the measurement referred to in article 2, shall value the land according to its quality and with regard to the prices which rule in the neighborhood in which said land may be situated, a copy of which valuation they will deliver to the proprietor of the land, so that he may ask for the proper indemnification.
Art. 5. Should the proprietor not be satisfied with the valuation made by said engineers, he shall name an expert, in whom he may have confidence, who shall value the land; and should his valuation not agree with that of said engineers, the highest political authority of the place in which said land may be situated shall name a third party, who shall decide the question.
Art. 6. The provisions of the preceding article shall be carried out in case the proprietor cannot agree with the department of fomento in regard to price and terms of the indemnification, which may be made either in specie, at the times which the said department may designate, or in securities on the land itself, for which the colonists, according to the number of acres allotted to each one, may be bound in five-year bonds, bearing an annual interest of six per cent.
Art. 7. In order to carry out the provisions of the preceding article, the price of each acre shall be fixed at one dollar, and it shall be optional with the settlers either to pay for their land immediately or to hold it on the above-mentioned terms.
Art. 8. The issues which may arise as to indemnification shall in nowise interfere with [Page 206] the settlement of the lands, which shall commence as soon as they are examined and the notice due be given to their owners.
Art. 9. The engineers shall plat each settlement, designating the hundred lots designed for cultivation, as well as those intended for building, taking care to leave in each one the necessary amount of land for streets, churches, a school, a paseo, and other public works. These plats (or maps) shall be transmitted to the ministry of fomento, so that by means of them it may make the grants that may be solicited, and issue the proper titles.
Art. 10. To the French soldiers, and also to those of the foreign regiment whose term of service may have expired, and who may wish to remain in the empire, there will be given, gratis, in said settlements, a lot for cultivation, and also one for building, provided they render that service which, for the safety of the settlements themselves, may be required by the minister of war.
Art. 11. One-half of the lots designed for cultivation, as well as those for building, shall be reserved for those Mexicans and foreigners who may desire to establish themselves upon them.
Art. 12. The ministry of war will request his excellency Marshal Bazaine to assign the engineers of Guadalupe to the execution of those labors which in these regulations are recommended to them, and it will arrange with him as to what compensation should be given them.
Art. 13. The same department will issue the necessary regulations in regard to the military service which shall be required from the settlers, as well as those relative to the construction of the blockhouses.
The Minister of Fomento:
In his absence, the sub-secretary MANUEL OROZCO Y BERRA.
Decree to encourage immigration.
We, Maximilian, emperor of Mexico, in consideration of the sparseness of population in the Mexican territory in proportion to its extent, desiring to give to immigrants all possible security for property and liberty, in order that they may become good Mexicans, sincerely attached to their new country, and having heard the opinion of our board of colonization, do decree as follows:
Article 1. Mexico is open to immigration from all nations.
Art. 2. Immigration agents shall be appointed, who will be paid by the government, and whose duty it will be to protect the arrival of immigrants, and instal them on the lands assigned them, and assist them in every possible manner in establishing themselves. These agents will receive the orders of an imperial commissioner of immigration, specially appointed by us, and to whom, through our minister of improvement, (fomento,) all communications relating to immigration shall be addressed.
Art. 3. Each immigrant shall receive a duly executed title, incommutable, of his landed estate, and a certificate that it is free of mortgage.
Art. 4. Such property shall be free from taxes for the first year, and also from duties on transfers of property, but only on the first sale.
Art. 5. The immigrants may be naturalized as soon as they shall have established themselves as settlers.
Art. 6. Immigrants who may desire to bring laborers with them, or induce them to come in considerable numbers, of any race whatever, are authorized to do so, but those laborers will be subject to special protective regulations.
Art. 7. The effects of immigrants, their working and brood animals, seeds, agricultural implements, machines and working tools, shall enter free of custom-house and transit duties.
ART. 8. Immigrants are exempted from military service for five years, but they will form a stationary militia, for the purpose of protecting their property and neighborhoods.
Art. 9. Liberty in the exercise of their respective forms of religious worship is secured to immigrants by the organic law of the empire.
Art. 10. Each of our ministers is charged with carrying out such parts of this decree as relate to his department.
Given at Chapultepec on the 5th day of September, 1865.
By the emperor:
The Minister of Improvement, (Fomento,)
Manuel Orozco y Berra, Sub-secretary, (in the absence of the Minister of Improvement.)
Regulations.
Under article 6 of the foregoing decree we ordain as follows:
1. Under the laws of the empire all persons of color are free by the mere act of touching Mexican soil.
[Page 207]2. They may make contracts with the employer who has engaged, or may engage them, by which such employer shall bind himself to feed, clothe, and lodge them, and give them medical attendance, and also pay them a sum of money according to whatever agreements they may enter into with him; moreover, he shall deposit in the savings bank hereinafter mentioned, for the benefit of the laborer, a sum equivalent to one-fourth of his wages. The laborer shall, on his part, obligate himself to his employer to perform the labor for which he was employed, for a term of not less than five, nor more than ten years.
3. The employer shall bind himself to support the children of his laborers. In the event of the father’s death, the employer will be regarded as the guardian of the children, and they will remain in his service until they become of age, on the same terms as those agreed to by their father.
4. Each laborer shall receive a book certified by the local authority, in which book a description of his person, the statement of his place of labor, and a certificate of his life and habits will be entered. In case of a change of employer, the consent of the former employer shall be entered in this book.
5. In case of the death of the employer, his heirs, or whoever may acquire his estate, shall be bound to the laborer in the same manner in which such employer was; and the laborer, on his part, shall be bound towards such new proprietor on the same terms as in his former contract.
6. In case of desertion, the laborer, when arrested, shall be placed, without pay, upon the public works, until his employer presents himself to claim him.
7. In case of any injustice of the employer towards the laborers, he shall be brought before a magistrate.
8. Special police commissioners will see to the enforcement of these regulations, and officially prosecute all violators thereof.
9. A savings bank will be established by the government for the following objects:
10. The employers shall deposit in said bank, every month, for the benefit of the laborers, a sum equivalent to one-fourth of the wages which each is entitled to under his contract of employment.
11. The laborers can deposit, in addition, in the savings bank, in money, such sums as they may desire.
12. These deposits will bear interest at the rate of five per cent, per annum.
13. At the end of his engagement, and on presentation of his book, the laborer shall receive the entire amount of his savings.
14. If at the end of his engagement the laborer wishes to leave his money in the savings bank, he can then receive the interest accrued; or, if he wishes to leave this also, it will be added to his capital and also draw interest.
15. In case a laborer should die intestate or without heirs, his property shall pass to the treasury of the government.
Given at Chapultepec on the 5th day of September, 1865.
By the emperor:
The Minister of Improvement, (Fomento,)
Manuel Orozco y Berra, Sub-secretary, (in the absence of the Minister of Improvement.)
Regulations and instructions in furtherance of the “Decree to encourage immigration.”
Article 1. The lands offered for colonization are divided into three classes:
Art. 2. First. Those that are of the public domain and have never been reduced to cultivation.
Art. 3. Second. Those that have been more or less improved as haciendas, the right to dispose of which the government has acquired either by purchase or otherwise.
Art. 4. Third. Private lands and haciendas, the owners of which are disposed to offer them to immigrants on liberal terms for colonization. Many haciendas that are or have been under cultivation may be bought on easy terms, and for less than one dollar per acre.
Art. 5. These private haciendas or plantations sometimes embrace several hundred square miles. Smaller sizes often afford lands and room for a settlement of a dozen or more families.
Art. 6. Immigrants are advised to establish themselves at first in settlements or communities, as well for mutual protection and assistance as for the benefit of churches and schools, the convenience of mills, blacksmith shops, &c., &c.
Art. 7. It is the policy of the government to encourage settlement upon private as well as public lands; and the same rights, privileges, and exemptions are offered to immigrants who may settle upon the former as are granted to those who settle upon the latter.
Art. 8. Lands of class first are offered in alternate sections, as donations to actual settlers, and in quantities varying from 160 acres for a single man, to 640 for the heads of families, according to circumstances to be explained hereafter.
[Page 208]Immigation.
Art. 9. The government not only invites all well-disposed persons to come and assist in the occupation of its vacant places, but his majesty the emperor, touched by the spectacle of good men struggling with adversity in other lands, tenders hospitality and homes especially to these Moved by the generous impulses of his nature, he offers them material assistance to enable them to reach this bountiful and beautiful land. To those of them who wish to change their skies, make Mexico their home, and identify themselves with the country, a free passage by sea for their families and effects is offered.
Art. 10. Immigrants are therefore divided into two classes, A and B. The former being of those just alluded to, who by misfortune have lost all their substance; and the latter, those who are less straitened in their means.
Art. 11. Not only a free passage by sea is offered to class A, but when they arrive in the country, a travelling allowance of ten cents the league thence to their new homes will be made for each member of their families, counting as members, also, their apprentices.
Art. 12. Lands of class first will be donated to those immigrants by alternate sections, viz: 160 acres to a single man, and 320 to a man with a family, with a pre emption right to as much more in each case.
Art. 13. Immigrants of class A, who, after arriving in the country, may prefer to settle upon haciendas or other lands, are at liberty to do so; but in that case they may be required to refund, with interest, the money that may have been advanced in assisting them to reach their new domiciles.
Art. 14. Immigrants of class B, who are those that can afford to pay their own expenses, have the whole country before them. They may establish themselves wherever they can find suitable and available lands. If they prefer the unimproved lands of the public domain, they also can have them free, in alternate sections, but only for actual settlement, at the rate of 320 acres for a single man, and 640 to a man with a family, with a pre-emption right to as much more in each case.
Art. 15. These donations of land to persons, whether of class A or B, are made on condition and with the understanding that they shall, in good faith, proceed forthwith to occupy, subdue, and cultivate the land so donated.
Art. 16. The lands of the public haciendas will be offered at government prices, and pro rata according to the actual cost of purchase by the government.
Art. 17. As it regards private lands and haciendas, the field of selection is much larger. Immigrants are free to make their own bargains with proprietors, the government waiving its fees on such transactions, as per article four of the decree.
Art. 18. As it regards the public haciendas, a reservation of improved lands will be made from each to serve during the first years as a common, for the free use of the colonists. The size of this common will be determined by the number of families the lands of the hacienda may be sufficient to accommodate. It will be large enough to give them breadstuffs and vegetables at once, and until they can bring their own lands into cultivation. It will be large enough also to afford space for a village, in case the immigrants should find it desirable, as probably at first they will, to establish themselves in villages. No rent will be charged for the first years for the use of this common.
Art. 19. This reserve or common is ultimately intended for educational purposes, and, after the first years, a ground rent of ten per cent. upon the value of the land, but not of the improvements, will be required.
Agencies.
Art. 20. Agents for immigration will be stationed at convenient points abroad, for the purpose of affording information to the emigrant there, as to this country, its lands, the best way of reaching them, and upon all other subjects pertaining thereto.
Art. 21. Persons wishing to emigrate will first apply to the most convenient agent. The applicant must state his occupation, whether agricultural, mercantile, mechanical, or professional. He must also give his age, with the name, sex, and age of each member of his family, including apprentices. If he requires assistance for the journey, he must state his circumstances, and give satisfactory references as to his character and standing in the community.
Permits.
Art. 22. The permit of the immigration agent is necessary to entitle the immigrant to the privileges of the decree. Unless he bring with him such a permit into the country, he will neither be entitled to lands, to free entry at the custom-house, nor to any other privileges beyond those accorded to mere strangers.
Effects.
Art. 23. Immigrants with such permits may bring in, duty free, all their personal and household effects, their live stock, their implements of husbandry, tools, and instruments of all kinds used by them in the pursuit of their trade, art, profession, or calling. But they [Page 209] may not bring, without the payment of duty, any merchandise, or thing for sale, exchange, or barter.
Art. 24. Before embarking, if coming by sea, or leaving home, if coming by land, the emigrant should furnish the agent for immigration with a complete list of the persons and effects that he proposes to carry with him. These effects must be properly packed, marked, and numbered; and the contents of each package, box, or case must be duly certified, in order that they may the more readily pass the custom-house and toll-gates.
Art 25. Arriving in port, or crossing the boundary, an agent will be there, whose duty it is to give the immigrants such assistance, and afford them such further information, as they may require to speed them on their way.
Office of Colonization, No. 13 Calle San Juan de Letran, Mexico, November 6, 1865.
Mexico, September 27, 1865.
Approved:
No. 5.
To persons wishing to settle in Mexico.
The doors of the empire are wide open, and his majesty the emperor has, in a most libera decree, invited immigration from all quarters and without distinction as to nationality.
Many people, both in the Old World and the New, having heard of this invitation, wish to change their skies, and to avail themselves of its privileges. Gentlemen representing several thousand families in Europe, and hundreds in Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, the Carolinas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, in the United States, are now anxiously seeking information in regard to the country, its condition, and resources, with the view of making it their home.
Considering that almost the only source of information open to them upon this subject is to be found in anonymous contributions, made for the most part to a press by no means friendly to Mexico, I deem it proper to state for the information of all those, whatever be their nationality, who desire to renounce it and come to Mexico, with the intention, in good faith, of making it their home and of planting their posterity here, that they would do wel to come, for it is a land more blessed by nature in its soil and climates than any part of the United States—that great centre at present of human migration.
The earth here yields to the care of husbandry with a profusion that would seem incredible there and fabulous in Europe. In some places it crowns the labor of the husbandman regularly with two. and in others with three, harvests annually; and in each one he gathers one hundred, two hundred, sometimes three hundred, and occasionally four hundred fold, and even more, according to his own skill and the kind of seed used.
Cotton and corn do well in almost all parts of the empire. But the cotton, especially of Tamaulipas, Matahuala, Fresnillo, Durango, Mazatlan, and the States north, is said to be of a better staple—save Sea Island—than any produced in the United States. Indeed, the cotton of Yucatan is called Sea Island.
Under these fine climates, which give a purity and transparency to the atmosphere that make existence itself an enjoyment, and invest the eye with the faculties almost of a new sense, the vegetable kingdom displays its wealth and its powers most gorgeously, and with the most marvellous vigor and concentration.
In chosen spots, and upon a single hacienda, may be seen crowded together—piled up in steppes one above another, in all the glory of the lily, and with the perfection of excellence— fruits, flowers, and productions that, in less favored climes, require for their display as many latitudes, climates, and soils as can be found in the entire breadth of plain that lies between the sources of the Mississippi and the mouths of the Amazon.
Here, besides cotton and corn, the olive and the vine, we have the finest of wheat, with pulse, and all the cereals in great perfection; also, tobacco, coffee, sugar-cane, the cocoa plant, rice, indigo, cochineal, pimento, India-rubber, and henuquin—a peculiar and valuable fibre that answers many of the purposes of both flax and hemp; and last of all, and what, moreover, no other country in the world can produce—Flora’s feat and Bacchus’s boast—the lordly maguey or pulque plant of Anahuac.
I have seen some of the very best planters from Missouri, Tennessee, and the South, and I have conversed with learned men from France and other parts of Europe, all of whom happen to have travelled through the northern and most healthy parts of Mexico. The Europeans report, on the one hand, an agricultural country superior to the best parts of France and Italy, and also of surpassing mineral wealth; while the Americans, on the other, pronounce it a grazing and cattle country to which even the blue grass regions of Kentucky and Tennessee are not to be compared.
The mountains abound with minerals, the woods with game, and the forest with the finest [Page 210] of timber—with the most exquisite dye and ornamental woods—gums, and spices, drags and medicinal plants of rare virtues.
Generals Price and Shelby of Missouri, Governor Harris of Tennessee, and Judge Perkins of Louisiana, with a number of their friends, have gone to examine the country about Cordova.
They are delighted with it; they intend to make it their home. The railway hence to Vera Cruz passes through it. The land is superb. It is sold by the government to immigrants at one dollar the acre, to be paid for in five equal annual instalments.
Generals Hardeman and Terry, with others from Texas, are equally well pleased with Jalisco. They are negotiating for the purchase of haciendas there sufficiently large to accommodate with land a settlement to be made up of themselves, their old neighbors, and friends.
The Rev. Mr. Mitchell, of Missouri, has already commenced a fine settlement on the Rio Verdi, in San Luis Potosi. He and his comrades have gone into the cultivation of cotton, corn, and tobacco.
The representative of large capital, Mons. Dousdebes, has a grant for establishing a colony from France and Spain on the shores of Matamoras.
Mr. Lloyd, of England, equally well supported, has engaged to establish a number of colonists between Vera Cruz and the capital; and a ship-load of European immigrants have just arrived in Yucatan to form the nucleus of a settlement in that fine peninsula. They have been received with ovations by the good people there.
A disposition equally favorable towards immigration is manifested in various other parts of the country.
Patriotic citizens have stepped forth at the call of his majesty and offered their own private lands, many of them upon the most favorable terms, for colonization.
Mr. Jiminez invites five hundred European families to his estates in Durango, offering them each a house and lot, rent free, a weekly allowance of provisions without charge, and a guarantee of work at fair wages for five years. At the end of that time he further promises a gratuity of $15,000 to the community, and a present to each family of a yoke of oxen.
Mr. Gil, of Guadalajara, invites twenty Belgian families to his highly improved and well stocked hacienda, offering them one-half of it for cultivation on shares, he finding the stock, seed, and cattle, and the colonists the labor. He offers also flocks and herds from which to breed, on halves.
Other enlightened and liberal-minded land owners of the empire have offered their estates for colonization on terms equally liberal.
Many false impressions have taken root abroad about Mexico and the Mexicans. These operate greatly to our disadvantage, inasmuch as they are stumbling blocks in the mind of the stranger, and tend to discourage immigration.
The world knows Mexico as a country that for the last half century has been tossed by revolution. Many, listening to the stories of her troubles, and the tales of her calamities as told by her enemies, have come to regard the whole land as a “ God-forsaken country,” inhabited by a bigoted, illiberal, and inhospitable people; while, in fact, no part of the world can boast of a more refined society or a more elegant hospitality than that which is to be found in certain parts of the empire.
The Mississippi valley, even in its palmiest days, could not boast any plantation that could compare in baronial splendor, lordly magnificence, and princely hospitality with your Mexican hacienda that has escaped the ravages of war. The halls of some of them are large enough to entertain and have entertained several hundred guests for weeks at a time.
On some of these you will find well-appointed schools for the education of the children of the dependents, at the expense of the proprietor; churches built and chapels maintained from the same munificent bounty; hospitals erected for the sick, the old servants pensioned, and all the operations of the estate carried on upon a scale and with expenditures followed by remunerative revenues such as but few farmers in Virginia or France can boast of.
But all parts of the country are not so.
For more than fifty years Mexico has been constantly torn by faction or scourged by war, and she has reaped abundantly of the harvests which always spring from such seeds—forced loans and contributions upon the rich, grievous burdens upon the poor, the spirit of enterprise in many departments of the empire well-nigh crushed out of the people, the industrial energies of entire regions paralyzed, and capital itself frightened off into its hiding places.
Such a state of things long continued, in any country, is sure to be followed by a general absenteeism from their estates of the large land-owners. This is eminently the case in Mexico.
The effect of this absenteeism is expressed upon the landscape, and proclaimed by deserted mansions, neglected plantations, and other signs of ruin and decay, in tones that fall sadly upon many a heart. Many of these fine estates, with the walls of their noble old mansions still standing, are now offered for sale and settlement at prices varying from a few cents to a few dollars per acre. They are in the most choice parts of the country, and would, if restored to cultivation, embellish the land with a beautiful mosaic of the most lovely garden spots that the world ever saw.
With the immigrant coming to Mexico it is not as with the emigrant bound to the “far [Page 211] west” in the United States. There he goes to reclaim from the wilderness, Here he comes, for the most part, to reclaim from ruin and the ravages of war. Plantations that were once garden spots invite his coming. He may pitch his tent on the verge of highly cultivated districts, from which he can draw his supplies until the bountiful earth, yielding to his own good husbandry, shall yield him of her increase. And this the soil of Mexico, under climates that have no winter, will do in two or three months.
One of the finest haciendas of the wasted districts is now on sale. It was abandoned some six or eight years ago in consequence of a revolution; the proprietor died, and it has not since been restored to cultivation. It yielded a regular annual profit of not less than $120,000. The dwelling-house alone cost $200,000. This hacienda is large enough to accommodate forty or fifty families with farms of one thousand acres each. It can now be had for less than $5 the acre, and after the first payment, on long time to suit purchasers.
Other haciendas that are open to the choice and selection of the immigrant are much larger.
Two, containing each more than 3,000 square miles, have been offered by the proprietors for colonization.
I know of no country in which the land is held by so few and in such large tracts.
This also has produced marked effects upon the nation; it appears to have deprived Mexico entirely of what other countries consider their “bone and sinew”—their noble, enterprising, energetic, hard-working middle classes.
Some political economists divide society in Mexico into but two classes—the upper and the lower—and out of a population of 8,000,000 of people, more than 7,000,000 are said to belong to the latter.
The statesmen of the country, with the emperor in their lead, desire to heal the breach rapidly. For this purpose foreign labor, capital, and skill have been invited to our shores. Many good men of the country look upon immigration, on a large scale, as the readiest and best means of restoring the equilibrium of the classes, and of giving to this country and its institutions that stability and force which are so essential to the full development of its vast powers, capabilities, and resources.
Hence the encouragement that is now offered to immigrants.
This country is now in a better state to receive immigrants than it has been for many years.
The empire is daily gaining ground, strength, and support, and the armed organization against it is broken up into factions, its head and leader ex-President Juarez having left the country.
But now, with the dawn of a happy era of peace at last before her, Mexico, after half a century of continued change and revolution, finds herself in an exhausted state, and the immigrants who wish to cast their lots with her auspicious future must bring with them something more than brawny arms and stout hearts. They must not forget those appliances of industry, those labor-saving machines and improved modes of husbandry which scientific skill and mechanical ingenuity, under the blessings of stable government and long-continued peace, have, in other parts of the world, brought to such perfection.
There is room, with encouraging prospects, for mechanics and artisans of all sorts, as wel as for agricultural labor and scientific skill. Roads are to be repaired and made, bridges restored, mills—grist and saw—to be erected, dwelling-houses to be repaired or built; machine shops, and all those establishments which are so essential in the agricultural economy of other countries, will also be extensively required.
Immigrants who come to Mexico, from whatever country, will be warmly welcomed in many parts. They will meet with no open hostility anywhere, except from the hands of the lawless.
To resist them, and to have the full benefit of all those conveniences—such as mills and other establishments just alluded to, and which every well-ordered agricultural community requires—it is desirable that the immigrants should come in bodies and form settlements of their own.
Looking to this, the decree of September 5 invests them with a semi-military organization, and they are expected to be able to defend their settlements against robbers, who, however, rarely attack where resistance is expected.
Protestants will be drawn into communities, also, for the sake of schools and churches. Moreover, public interests require that each settlement should be large enough fairly to develop the whole system of domestic, social, and agricultural economy of the country whence the settlers came.
For this purpose, each settlement should be large enough to support saw and grist mills, tanyards, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and the various other artisans and machinists, who, in the pursuit of their calling, contribute to the requirements of modern agriculture, with all its improvements.
There is still another reason why immigrants from all except Spanish countries should form themselves into settlements of their own, and that reason is one of language. A farmer coming to Mexico, ignorant of the language, ignorant of the customs of the country, and of the rate of wages, and. settling down among neighbors all speaking in, to him, an unknown [Page 212] tongue, would find himself surrounded by embarrassments, none of which would exist in a settlement made up of his old neighbors, kinsmen, and friends.
It would be well, therefore, for each colony to bring with it a large portion of its own labor.
The lands of Mexico have never been surveyed, nor has there been until now a land office.
The consequence is that the government cannot tell which lands are public and which private, and though the chief of the land office is vigorously at work organizing surveying parties, and sending them forth into the field, it is found that lands sufficient to receive the coming tide of immigration cannot be surveyed, mapped, and brought into market for some time yet. Therefore, it is recommended to those, both in Europe and the United States, who desire to come now to Mexico, to form themselves into companies, consisting of not less than twenty-five families each. Then, while those at home are making their preparations, let their pioneers come to Mexico for the purpose of purchasing a hacienda or other lands, and of making ready to receive the rest.
To those who will thus come now, with their families, and form settlements sufficient to call into play all the industrial appliances, consisting of machinery, shops, and implements connected with agriculture in its most improved state, and calculated to serve as so many centres of agricultural improvement in the country, special encouragement is held out.
They are invited to send forward their agents, who will receive all the information that the office of colonization can give, and every facility that it can throw in their way, as to the most desirable parts of the country in which to settle—the choicest localities, and the cheapest and best lands, &c.
Having made their own selections, the government will then, in case they require it, lend them pecuniary assistance sufficient to enable them to establish themselves in their new homes and get fairly under way.
No. 6.
[Untitled]
My Dear Friend: Presuming a letter from a live rebel that never surrendered, and who preferred exile to degradation, regardless of the acts of other rebels to the contrary, it is with pride and pleasure I take this means of addressing you, and acknowledging my deep sense of gratitude for acts of personal kindness received at your hands by my wife and children while I served in the army of the Confederate States of America, and which will doubtless in the measure of time assume her separate existence among the nations of the earth. I can only give you a very brief outline of family incidents since my wife parted with you at St. Louis on the 3d March, 1865, when she received Special Order No. 58, paragraph 10, and which I shall very cheerfully bequeath as a legacy to my children and impress upon their minds the duty they owe to God and the land that gave them birth, to resent it to the full extent of extermination of the government from whose authority the order emanated. I met my wife and children at Camden, Arkansas, on the 26th March; on the 2d of April I left Camden and conveyed them, through the worst roads and weather you ever saw, to Fulton; thence to Clarksville, Texas; thence to Paris, where I arrived on the 17th April, and was there detained until the 2d May, waiting to obtain conveyance for my family to leave them with my brother-in-law at San Antonio, which place I did not reach until the 26th May, intending to return to my command; but on reaching that place, having sufficient evidence that the army had disbanded, and having witnessed and known so much diabolical cruelty and inhumanity of the federal government, I resolved to continue my journey to this country and abandon the God-forsaken land of the so-called United States—as you are well aware that the word united is only a name and not a fact. I left San Antonio with my family and arrived at Monterey on the 21st June, where I went into the commission business and remained there until the 19th November, when I left and arrived with my family at the city of Mexico on the 19th January, 1866, and unless I change my mind shall proceed to Cordova, some sixty-five miles from Vera Cruz, where I shall locate and cultivate coffee, tobacco, &c. It is estimated from the experience of others that five years, with the cultivation of about eighty to one hundred acres in coffee, will make any man with ordinary skill and attention become immensely wealthy, There is also about 300 different varieties of tropical fruits, and never without vegetables at any season of the year. The climate is delightful, and from a strange fact, that in the space of ten leagues you can, by selection of a slope of table-lands, realize any climate you may desire. The climate of this city is, from its great height, dry and salubrious, but very light; it is quite warm all through December, January, and February—Missouri fall heat; since 21st May up to present time I have experienced less inconvenience from heat than I have in Missouri in the months of July and August. House rent in this city is rather high; I pay $25 per month for six rooms, and every house convenience, [Page 213] water-closet, &c. We have at this time green peas, tomatoes, cabbage, turnips, beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, turkeys, eggs, chickens, fresh beef, pork bananas, oranges, lemons, and one hundred other different varieties of fruits and vegetables, fresh and in abundance at this time, and cheap. At first, on account of the language, my wife thought she never would like to live in the country, but necessity soon forces a person to learn to speak it. We have a female servant, Mexican, we pay five dollars per month. On the 21st January, at 11.40 a. m., my wife was safely delivered of a fine, healthy, rebel child, a little girl, whom we have named Carlotta, after the empress of Mexico, and deservedly so, because she has been and still is the true friend of true confederates. Both my wife, Susey, Bartlett, and Carlotta, are all well and in fine health. Bartlett has grown to be a very fine boy, and has learned to speak Spanish better than his mother or myself. There appears to be very little known of this country in the United States or other countries—concerning its interior mineral and agricultural wealth; it is far beyond anything I ever before conceived of, and I must say I have been very agreeably disappointed. I was sorry to see and witness so many confederates come to Mexico with wrong and improper motives; some imagined that they would be forthwith installed into some fat office, like Commodore Maury, and because they were not, and not being disposed to adapt themselves to temporary inconvenience, would not labor, and to their shame went back to the dis-United States, like a dog returning to his vomit; whereas had they been patient, and not tried to force things whether or no, they would, by settling in colonies of twenty-five and fifty families, as is now the case at Cordova, Rio Verde, and other places—they would all have done well and been of mutual assistance to each other. The only temptation that I or any of my family could have to return to the States would be on the occasion of a war with any other power on earth and that of the federal government, in which event you may expect to see me in the service of that army, whatever army it may be.
At present I know of no country that can offer as many inducements to intelligent agricultural, mechanical, or other men of sound, sober, practical business capacities, as Mexico, notwithstanding all that random writers have said to the contrary; but I must be candid with you, that Englishmen and Americans must settle in colonies of from fifteen to one hundred families, otherwise, by scattering, isolated few by themselves, they actually become lost for any good purpose to themselves or their race, and every colony, however small, must have within themselves their proper quota of the common trades of life, particularly blacksmiths, wagon-makers, carpenters, &c. In point of climate and natural good health, I prefer that of Mexico to any part of the States. There are a great many Americans and English in business in this city, and they have all grown rich.
I can, upon the information I have derived from my wife, on the subject of one article of trade, soap and its manufacture here, according to the patent mode which she says was offered to you at St. Louis for county rights in Missouri for sale, guarantee to you an independent fortune in eighteen months, if you will purchase the right from the patentee for all of Mexico; and, if you desire, I will engage in the business with you to our mutual interests and profit. I feel deeply and personally interested in this matter, and wish to hear from you immediately on the subject Common brown soap, but good, sells here, retail, at 18¾ cents per pound. You had better come at once to Vera Cruz as an immigrant, and bring the necessary machinery to make the soap with you, and it will be admitted free of duty. Let me hear from you at once, or if you will not come, procure the agency of the patentee for the whole of Mexico for me, and I will put it through, stating rate per cent., commission, &c.
The railroad from Vera Cruz to this city will be completed in three months. Telegraph is now in working order all through. Common castings sell here at 37½ per pound.
With kind regards and best wishes of my wife, self, and little ones, I am your friend, faithfully,
Mr. J. Calvin Littrell.
P. S.—I wish you to write to old man William Cogswell, sr., to send you my box of books, in his care, and I shall be under many obligations to you to forward the same to me, care of Snow-den R. Andrews, at Vera Cruz; or if you will come, as I wish you to do, bring it with you. Give our best regards to all our friends. We will have a colony at Cordova of about one hundred families this spring, and they are all good rebs. B. C.
Direct your letters to me as follows: Benj. Crowther, en cargo de los sures F. A. Lohse & Sons, No. 2 calle del Espiritu de Santo, ciudad de Mexico.
[The envelope was marked as follows: J. Calvin Littrell, box 275, St. Louis, Mo., or care of Wm. H. Stephens, esq., Fourth street, St. Louis, Mo.]
No. 7.
[Untitled]
Sir: In reply to yours of the 24th of December last, I beg leave to forward you enclosed some information relative to Mexican immigration and Mexico.
[Page 214]As yet no funds have been placed at the disposal of this office for defraying the expenses of immigrants here. The policy of your government in forbidding Mexican colonization agents in the United States has defeated this generous intention of my emperor.
Very truly,
James M. Payne, Nashville, Tennessee.
No. 8.
[Untitled]
My Dear Sir: My father has just sailed for England for the purpose of returning with his family to Mexico after the rainy season, in October next. I will forward your letter just received, of the 21st of January, to him there. He will be delighted to hear from you, for your name is often on his lips. His address is “Care of Rev. F. W. Tremlett, the Parsonage, Belsize Square, London, N.W.”
I enclose you a circular letter of his, which I am sure you will read with interest. It was addressed to the Rev. Dr. Hawkes, of New York, in answer to one from him, expressing a desire to immigrate, and to learn, something of the country of Mexico before leaving his home in New York.
I hope that you will consider that both myself and my office are entirely at your service to render you any aid, assistance, or information that we can, or that you may desire.
I hope in a few months to have published a little work on Mexico, which, in view of the accuracy of the information which it will contain, I think will be very well received by those of the South whose attention has been attracted towards Mexico.
Most sincerely and truly,
W. C. S. Ventress, New Orleans.
No. 9.
[Untitled]
Sir: Your letter of January 30 has just been received. You may rely upon the enclosed circular as accurate.
The inducements offered to immigrants by imperial decree are exemption from taxation, military conscription for a term of years, from the payment of all or any import dues on personal effects or farming utensils, religious liberty, and a grant of land of 640 acres to married men, or 320 to single, either gratis or at low rates and accommodating terms.
Very truly,
Reuben Herndon, Galveston,Texas.
No. 10.
[From the New York Tribune, June 22, 1866.]
The hopes the confederate emigrants to Mexico had entertained of an extensive settlement in that country under the paternal hand of a much admired and praised monarch, as they themselves designated Maximilian, are at an end. The Cordova colony, founded by General Price and Judge Harris, has broken up. The far-famed city of Carlotta, laid out by the former, and consisting of a house, a barn, and a stable, has been destroyed. The fields of coffee, by means of which Judge Perkins, of Louisiana, expected to retrieve his lost fortunes, have been ravaged; the pineapple plants, out of which General Price was to distil a most delicious fourth-proof brandy, have been uprooted and trampled upon by the hoofs of the guerrilleros’ mustangs; the palm-roofed shanties, under the shelter of which about one hundred southern emigrants have sought a refuge, have been burned to the ground, and their inmates, homeless and penniless, compelled to fly to the city of Cordova for protection, are now seriously contemplating the abandonment of Mexico forever, and the going back to the United States.
The history of the misfortunes of the Cordova colony is short but suggestive. In the [Page 215] month of January last several confederate settlers had entered into an agreement with a number of Indians, or peons, for a certain stated amount of labor, which the latter were bound to perform. It seems, however, that after three months the Indians, becoming disgusted with their bargain, if not with their employers, refused to work any longer. This, of course, was most injurious to the interests of the confederate planters. As it was impossible for them to find laborers anywhere else, the withdrawal of their field hands destroyed all hopes of a crop, and virtually placed them in a worse condition than they occupied at the outset. In this predicament they decided that the only way to save themselves from utter ruin was to compel these Indian laborers to fulfil their contracts, and to use violence in case of resistance. They went to a hamlet a few miles from Carlotta city, and there tried to persuade the Indians to come back to the field and resume their labors. But their efforts were of no avail; the Indians obstinately declined going. Thereupon the confederates seized the Indians, tied their hands with ropes, and driving them like a herd of cattle back to their fields, forced them by threats and blows to fulfil their contracts.
The liberals, who were encamped all around Cordova, at a distance of three to five miles, were no sooner apprised of this fact than they met, to the number of about a thousand, and decided to revenge with fire and sword the insult upon their countrymen. They came by night upon the city of Carlotta and the farms surrounding it, entered the houses of the settlers, whom they surprised, carried twenty-eight of them away as hostages, dispersed the rest, burned several houses and shanties, and robbed all they could rob. The liberals spared, however, the homes of General Price, Judge Harris, Perkins, and others, who had shown themselves opposed to all violence against the natives of the country. These gentlemen, I understand, are actually at Cordova with their families, under protection of the military authorities; they have abandoned all notion of settling in Mexico and are making preparations for returning to the United States.
This retaliation of the Mexican liberals upon the confederates occurred at about eighteen miles from Cordova, a city having an imperial garrison and serving as a depot to the railroad company. If the liberals have such power in a place which is under the entire control of the military, I leave you to imagine what their influence must be in the frontier States, remote from all imperialist protection, and where Maximilian’s means of action are essentially limited. Nor am I astonished to learn of the horrible condition of those States, and particularly of Sonora, Michoacan, Coahuila, and others, now the theatre of the most savage and heartrending cruelties.
THE CONFEDERATE COLONY AT CORDOVA.
[From the Mexican Times, June 16.]
The colony at Cordova has suffered a serious interruption at the hands of liberals or robbers, it is not known which, but his excellency Marshal Bazaine has given such orders as will, it is believed, secure the settlers in future against similar attacks. We are glad to learn that the colonists themselves have also formed an organization for self-defence, and while, from the limited number who are thus organized, the protection afforded will not be as perfect as could be wished, yet, with the assistance of the military, it is thought that it will be effective for the future.
We are glad to learn from those of our countrymen who have lately had business to transact with his excellency Sr. Somera, minister of fomento, in relation to immigration, that there is as much activity in the acquisition and surveys of lands for colonization as has ever been known on the part of the government; that the policy of encouraging immigration is earnestly adhered to, and that many and very desirable lands have recently been obtained for that purpose. Messrs. Robert Laurence, Hardeman, and McCausland have been employed to make extensive surveys, and already there are several efficient parties in the field engaged in this operation.
No. 11.
[From the Missouri Republican.]
My Dear Sir: Your kind and much esteemed favor of the 19th ultimo was handed me a few days since, and I now proceed to answer it, in camp and without shelter, but upon my own six hundred and forty acres, near the town of Cordova and the railroad leading from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico. The lands in this vicinity are not surpassed by any of the Plate lands in fertility of soil and in the finest climate I ever saw, the thermometer never above ninety degrees or below seventy, and in full view of mountains covered with perpetual snow. I am gratified to be able to say that as soon as the survey was completed the thirty confederates now here unanimously tendered me the choice of sections. I think I have made a judicious selection. I have donated to the colonists twenty-four acres for a town site on a rushing stream of water and by a large spring of excellent water. We have laid off the [Page 216] ground into town lots and named it Carlotta, after the empress, and we are all now upon our lots, clearing away the brush to erect our houses. I wrote my family to-day to join me here as soon as they can raise the means to do so. I cannot think of returning to the States and be required to ask pardon for the action I took in the struggle. I am entirely satisfied with the part I took. I would do the same again under similar circumstances. I did all that my talents enabled me to do to avert the calamity of war. I was not a secessionist, but when the struggle came I did not hesitate to take the side of the South.
I pray God that my fears for the future of the South may never be realized; but when the right is given to the negro to bring suit, testify before courts, and vote in elections, you all had better be in Mexico.
There is no doubt of the stability of this government; French troops are arriving every week, and the marauding bands that have infested the country for ages past are fast being exterminated; no quarters are given.
When the character of our lands is well understood, immigration will be a fixed fact under any circumstances, and the finest lands, that can now be procured at low rates, will command large prices. I have never known the cultivation of lands to yield such large profits. My neighbor, Mr. Fink, (a man of science,) cultivates eighty (80) acres in coffee with ten hands, and sold his last year’s crop for $16,000. His coffee-field, shaded with every variety of fruit trees, in full bearing, and the walks fringed with the pineapple, is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen.
I am, dear sir, your friend, truly,