Her products in the
vicinity of the tributaries of the Mississippi must have sought a market
through these streams, running into and through our territory, and the
danger of irritation and collision of interests between Texas as a
foreign state and ourselves would have been imminent, while the
embarrassments in the commercial intercourse between them must have been
constant and unavoidable. Had Texas fallen into the hands or under the
influence and control of a strong maritime or military foreign power, as
she might have done, these dangers would have been still greater. They
have been avoided by her voluntary and peaceful annexation to the United
States. Texas, from her position, was a natural and almost indispensable
part of our territories. Fortunately, she has been restored to our
country, and now constitutes one of the States of our Confederacy, "upon
an equal footing with the original States." The salubrity of climate,
the fertility of soil, peculiarly adapted to the production of some of
our most valuable staple commodities, and her commercial advantages must
soon make her one of our most populous States.
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