TEXAS. 



689 



d 



mittce shonld be authorized to act during the 

 recess of the Convention. They were to be 

 authorized to hold their sittings at such times 

 and places as might be most convenient. This 

 adopted. 



On the 14th the Convention adjourned to 

 the 20th of February. 



The vote to refer the ordinance of secession 

 to the people was quite as unanimous in the 

 Convention as was that on the adoption of the 

 ordinance. The election of delegates being to 

 some extent informal, and scarcely half of the 

 vote of the State having been cast, it was 

 thought best that the ordinance of secession 

 should receive the sanction of the people before 

 it should be declared final. 



The ordinance of secession was submitted to 

 the voters of the State on the 23d of February, 

 which election was legalized by the Legislature, 

 and approved by the Governor under a protest 

 against the shortness of time intervening be- 

 tween the passage of the ordinance and the 

 day of election. The vote in eighty counties 

 of the State was: For secession, 34,79-4; against 

 secession, 11.235. Majority for secession, 23.559. 

 The vote at the Presidential election in Novem- 

 ber previous was : Lincoln, ; Douglas, 



; Breckinridge, 47,548; Bell, 15,438. 



On the 2d of March the Convention reas- 

 sembled without a quorum, and on the 4th the 

 vote was counted. When the result was an- 

 nounced in the Convention, and the President 

 declared that Texas was a free and independent 

 State, there immediately ensued a tremendous 

 burst of cheering and enthusiastic applause. 



On the oth the Convention passed an ordi- 

 nance instructing the delegates, whom it had 

 previously appointed to the Southern Con- 

 gress, to apply for the admission of Texas into 

 the Southern Confederacy, and to that end to 

 ?ive the adhesion of Texas to the Provisional 



institution of the said Confederacy. 



A resolution was then introduced to appoint 



committee to wait on Governor Houston and 



sk his cooperation, as the Executive of the 



state, with the Convention. This resolution 



lused some excitement in the Convention, 



and, after debate, the following was adopted in 



'leu of it, viz. : 



Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by 

 ''be President to wait on his Excellency the Governor, 

 nd inform him that the Convention ha's re-assembled ; 

 aat the ordinance of secession has been ratified by 

 lie people ; and that the State of Texas is and has 

 been from the 2d of this current month a free, sover- 

 eign, and independent State. 



The committee appointed in pursuance of the 

 esolution waited formally upon the Governor, 

 and presented to him a copy of the resolution, 

 together with the following letter : 



AUBTIX, TEXAS, March 5th, 1861. 

 To his Excellency, d-c. : 



DEAR SIB : The undersigned having been appointed 

 committee, by the Convention of the people of Texas 

 ow in session, to present to your Excellency the ac- 

 companying resolution, passed' this day by ttiat bodv, 

 this duty we now most respectfully perform, and will 

 with pleasure be the bearer of any communication 

 44 



your Excellency may wish to make to the Convention 

 in reply. 



With sentiments of esteem and regard, we remain 

 your Excellency's obedient servants, 



W. P. ROGERS, THOS. J. JENNINGS, 



J. B. ROBERTSON, A. S. BROADUS, 



W. A. MONTGOMERY. 



Governor Houston, in reply to this letter, 

 transmitted to the Committee on the 6th the 

 following communication : 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Arsnx. TEXAS. 

 March 6, 1861. f 

 TV. P. Rogers and others, Committee : 



GENTLEMEN : In reply to your communication of the 

 5th I can say, when the Legislature authorized the 

 Convention to submit the proposition to the people of 

 Texas, on the subject of secession from the Federal 

 Government of the United States, it was understood 

 that the performance of that act, when done, would 

 terminate the existence of the Convention. The Ex- 

 ecutive approved the same, with a protest against 

 the shortness of the time allowed, owing to the great 

 limits of our State. By a subsequent act of the Legis- 

 lature it was required, that the returns of the votes 

 should be made at the office of the Secretary of State, 

 and counted in the presence of the Governor and At- 

 torney-General. Tne votes were counted, and the 

 result declared, by proclamation, that a majority of 

 the votes cast was for secession. By an act of the 

 Legis|ature the Convention was emp'owered onlv to 

 submit the question of secession to the vote of the 

 people. _ The Convention performed the functions as- 

 signed it by the Legislature, and, in the opinion of 

 Executive, its powers were then exhausted. The Ex- 

 ecutive will recommend to the Legislature, which is 

 to re-assemble on the 18th instant, to take into con- 

 sideration the important issues arising out of the sev- 

 erance of our connection with the United States, with 

 such recommendations and suggestions as he may 

 think proper in the discharge of this duty. It will 

 then be within the province of the Legislature to take 

 such action on the subject as it may think proper ; 

 and also to call a convention, directly "from the people, 

 who will fairly represent their wishes and opinions, 

 and who will b'ave authority to make such changes in 

 the constitution of the State as her present and future 

 relations to the world at large may require. Until 

 then, it will be the duty of the Executive, as well as 

 ail State officers, to continue in the lawful discharge 

 of their functions, confining their action to the sphere 

 of Texas only. 



The Executive tenders his respects to the gentlemen 

 of the Convention, and assures you, gentlemen, indi- 

 vidually, of his esteem. 



Very truly, your obedient servant, 



SAM HOUSTON. 



This communication produced much feeling 

 in the Convention, which was thus described 

 by a spectator : " Some favored a reference of 

 the communication to a committee of ten, with 

 instructions to answer the alleged misstate- 

 ments contained in it. Others favored the 

 passing it by in contemptuous silence, and to 

 instruct the Committee on the Constitution to 

 prepare immediately an ordinance requiring all 

 State and county officers to take the oath of 

 allegiance to support the new Government and 

 carry out in good faith the ordinances of the 

 Convention! It was thought by many at the 

 time that the Governor had commissioned sev- 

 eral officers under the militia law, with a view 

 of raising men for the purpose of resisting the 

 action of the Convention. He opposed the con- 

 federation of Texas with the other Southern 

 States, and favored her setting up for herself." 



