The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918 Page: 242
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The Southwestern Iistorical Quarterly
Austin had sole authority to admit or reject immigrants within
the broad limits of his grant, and the law, as well as sound policy
required him to prevent the settlement of bad characters. ITe
therefore required applicants to file testimonials of character from
responsible persons and take the oath o'f allegiance to, the Mexi-
can government before granting them certificates of admission.
which authorized them to select land and have it surveyed by an
official surveyor appointed by the commissioner. This done, and
the necessary notes and fees attended to, the applicant petitioned
for his title, which, upon proper attestation from Austin, the com-
missioner issued. Essentially, of course, the system. was the same
as that in the United States, so that Austin's claim to, our ad-
miration is not that he originated an excellent system, but that at
the cost of much labor and some money he so, faithfully adhered
to a model already tested by the experience of a generation.
3. Establishment of Normal Government--the Ayuntamiento of
San Felipe
Austin's tenure of extraordinary powers was probably more pro-
longed than either he or the authorities had expected it to be, and
was certainly more so than he desired. This was due. to the dis-
organization of the central government, which made it impossible
to attend to local affairs. By 1824, however, discussion of the
Constitution was sufficiently advanced to warrant Congress in tak-
ing steps to put the Federal system into operation, and on Febru-
ary 4 it promulgated a. decree for the election of State Legislatures.
On May 7 it united Coahuila and Texas into one State, until Texas
should be qualified "to figure as a State by itself," and ordered the
election of ten deputies for Coahuila and one for Texas to form the
Legislature at Saltillo.7" Texas was represented in the Federal
Congress at this time by Erasmo Seguin,73 and in May Bastrop74
'"Dublan and Lozano, Legislacion Mexicana, I, 677, 706.
78The salaries of deputies were paid by their respective provinces. The
colonists subscribed 640 bushels of corn towards Seguin's maintenance.
See list of subscriptions, November 16, 1823, Austin Papers, miscellane-
ous; also Austin to. political chief, December 2, 1823, in translations
from Bexar Archives, Texas State Library.
"Austin to Alcalde of San Felipe de Austin, May 25, 1824. See also
Austin to political chief, April 20, 1824-vote taken by courier yesterday
and more than half the colonists have already chosen Bastrop; will242
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918, periodical, 1918; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101073/m1/248/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.