No law or act of the supreme government is complained of; not one of the complaints in question afforded a legitimate cause for war. The conclusion to be naturally drawn from the instructions given Ellis is that he was to establish the principle that, under the treaty of amity with Mexico, when the decisions of Mexican courts did not happen to meet the views
off their crimes on the Mexicans. Two American shipmasters who afterward visited that coast, and investigated the case, decided it against the crew. In 1832 the Mexican officers in Tabasco seized the steamboat Hidalgo and schooner Constitution, both the property of the American Leggett. U. S. Govt Doc., Cong. 30, Ses. 1, H. Ex. 83. It appears, according to the Mexican account, that Leggett had special privileges from the government of Tabasco, burdened with the condition, willingly assumed by himself, to convey free of charge Mexican troops when such service should be needed. He was, however, paid for one transportation $1,433. The steamboat afterward foundered when not in the government's service, owing to the bad state of her hull and excessive lading. This was decidedly a case for a court to adjudicate, and not for diplomatic interference. 4. The Brazoria was seized by John Austin, military commandant at Brazoria in Texas, and used for an expedition against Anáhuac. She was damaged and her owner received no compensation. The facts of the case were that Austin was a Texan rebel. The owner abandoned his vessel under protest; afterward the judicial authority declared her unseaworthy, and she was sold at auction. The government long before had ordered the proceeds to be paid to the owner, but he never applied for them. 5. Captain MacKeigé was imprisoned and heavily fined in 1834. The government disapproved the proceedings, and ordered the revenue official and judge arrested for trial to compel them to pay MacKeigé the damages he sustained at their hands. 6, 7, 8, and 9 are cases of vessels engaged in carrying contraband of war, or accused of violating the revenue laws. 10. Two Americans were in 1836 temporarily detained in Matamoros, on suspicion that they were on their way to join the Texan rebels; a mare and two mules were taken out of the yard of the house where they were arrested, which happened to be the American consul's. As soon as they produced their passports they were released, and the animals were returned to them. An apology was made to the consul for the ignorance of the soldiers in entering his house to make the arrest. 11, 12, 13, and 14 were complaints for acts of subordinates, unauthorized by the supreme government, and which caused no injury, pecuniary or otherwise, to any one. 15. The American vessel Northampton was wrecked in 1836, near Tabasco, and being taken possession of by custom-house officers and soldiers, more than half her cargo was pillaged or lost by them. The attempt by Mexican local authorities to save the vessel and cargo was certainly in order. If the wreckers committed crimes on board, the injured parties had free action to lay their complaints before the courts. Bustamante, Gabinete Mex., ii. 27-31; Jay's Rev. Mex. War, 36-9, 43-5.
William Jay. A Review of the Causes and Consequences of the Mexican War. The author aimed — regardless of considerations prompted by so-called patriotism, and national glory and prosperity — to furnish all the facts connected with the acquisition, by the United States, of Texas and other Mexican territory. He also endeavored to show the dishonest devices that were resorted to for the accomplishment of the preconcerted plan; and to excite abhorrence for that kind of statesmanship which, upholding the maxim that 'all is fair in politics,' seeks to aggrandize a country in defiance of the laws of justice and equity. Whatever differences of opinion there may be as to the author's conclusions, his facts are incontrovertible.
