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: I have the honor transmit to you, for the information of the government of the United States, the documents expressed in the annexed index, which I received from the city of Mexico by the last Vera Cruz steamer, showing the situation of affairs in the portion of Mexico groaning under the rule established by the intervention.
I call your attention to a circular in French, addressed by the usurper Ferdinand Maximilian to various French agents, about the end of July last, which places beyond doubt, if there ever was any, that the so-called imperial government is not, nor ever has been, anything else than a French military government.
Moreover, what the French papers say of Jalapa and of the valley of Toluca is equally applicable to all that portion of the Mexican republic occupied by the invading army.
I embrace the occasion to renew to you, Mr. Secretary, the assurances of my most distinguished consideration.
Hon. William H. Seward, &c., &c., &c.
Index of documents sent by the Mexican legation in Washington to the Department of State of the United States, with the note of this date, on the state of affairs in the city of Mexico.
| No. | Date. | Contents. |
| 1866. | ||
| 1 | July 30 | Circular from the private cabinet of the usurper, Maximilian, to the French employes, explaining its policy. |
| 2 | July 30 | Decree of the usurper declaring the State of Michoacan to be in a state of siege. |
| 3 | July 30 | Decree of the usurper declaring the States of Puebla, Tlaxcala, and part of Vera Cruz to be in a state of siege. |
| 4 | July 30 | Decree of the usurper placing the police force under command of a French officer. |
| 5 | Aug. 1 | Decree of Don J. Calderon declaring Jalapa to be in a state of siege. |
| 6 | Aug. 8 | An article from the Estafette, the organ of the French army in Mexico, on the situation in Jalapa. |
| 7 | Aug. 1 | A private letter in the Estafette on the situation in the valley of Toluca. |
| 8 | Aug. 1 | An article from the Pajaro Verde, an intervention paper in Mexico. stating that the eighty-first regiment of the line of the French army will remain in Mexico at the service of the usurper. |
No. 1.
[Untitled]
On the eve of the departure of the French troops, while the country is in anticipation of trouble, the emperor has been solicited to make some reforms; but faithful to his antecedents, which have been badly represented, only taking counsel of his conscience and his devotion to his people and the policy of the Emperor Napoleon in America, his majesty has rejected everything that seems to oppose his intimate alliance with France. He has always desired, and still desires, that the great conception of European and Mexican patriotism that produced the empire may be accomplished. As he is not moved by any consideration of personal interest or vain renown, his sacrifice to duty will always be easy.
His ideas, his creed, his policy, all have been affirmed by acts which place their author in perfect accord with French ideas.
The cabinet has been modified. General Osmont and Intendant Friant have been taken into it, yet remaining at the head of their respective services in the expeditionary corps, the former as minister of war and the latter as minister of finance. Mr. Salazar Ilarregui, the firm and constant partisan of intervention, keeps the portfolio of the interior. The other departments, of secondary importance, are put in charge of under secretaries of state.
The emperor’s policy is explicitly set forth in the following passage in a letter which he addressed to Mr. Salazar Ilarregui:
“My programme is simply this: energy with, and protection to honest, peaceful people at home; an intimate alliance with France abroad. I know those are your ideas, too, and I depend on your patriotism to carry them out.”
What could be more positive and more simple! Such a declaration admits of no comment. To discuss it would be to weaken it.
We have nothing more to add except that it borrows a new strength from the letter of the emperor to Marshal Bazaine, informing him of the change he had effected in the mechanism of his government.
The emperor of Mexico places all the disposable resources for the pacification of the country into the hands of the commander-in-chief of the French expeditionary corps. He delegates much of his authority to him in allowing him to declare a siege and to discharge officials whom he may consider incompetent, and to replace them by others.
Thus the door is closed to every ambiguity, mistake, or accusation of declared enemies, or flattery of pretended friends.
The emperor Maximilian, constant in a line of conduct that history will reveal in its true light, has given, of his own accord, the best guarantee he could offer to France. His good will and self-denial will be justly appreciated by the eminent statesmen who participate in the councils of Napoleon; and we may say even now that the situation, all embarrassing elements being removed, will be safe if everybody follows the exalted example and does his own duty.
No. 2.
[Untitled]
MAXIMILIAN, EMPEROR OF MEXICO.
Considering that the departments of Michoacan and Tancitaro are now threatened by bands of malefactors that disturb order, destroy property, terrify the people, and disturb that tranquillity and security that reigns in the centre of the empire; considering it is our duty to protect and give aid to all the citizens in every way within our power, and by every means allowed by law; in accordance with the decree of the 16th of September, 1865, and with the opinion of our council of ministers, we decree as follows:
Article 1. The departments of Michoacan and Tancitaro are declared to be in a state of siege.
Art. 2. General Mendez is charged with the command of those departments: the first is temporarily withdrawn from the 1st military division, and the second from the 4th.
Art. 3. In conformity with powers granted by the decree of the 16th September, 1865, article 4, the towns will preserve their organization in order to carry out the commands of the military authorities.
Art. 4. Two councils of war shall be established in the territory, under command of General Mendez.
Our ministers of war and government are charged with the execution of the present decree in its corresponding parts.
By the emperor:
José Salazar Ilarregui, Minister of Government.
Ad. Osmont, Minister of War.
No. 3.
[Untitled]
MAXIMILIAN, EMPEROR OF MEXICO.
Considering that the departments of Tuxpan and Tulancingo, as well as the district of Zacatlan, in the department of Tlaxcala, are threatened by bands of malefactors; considering that this disturbance is caused by persons who favor smuggling to the injury of the nation in general and of its citizens; considering it is our duty to keep peace in those localities by every means in our power which the law provides, and to put a stop to this robbery of the public treasury, by the decree of the 16th September, 1865, and the opinion of our council of ministers, we decree as follows:
ARTICLE 1. The departments of Tuxpan and Tulancingo, as well as the district of Zacatlan, in the department of Tlaxcala, are declared to be in a state of siege.
Article 2. Brigadier General Count Thun is charged with the exclusive command of these departments and the district, with his headquarters at Tulancingo.
ARTICLE 3. A council of war shall be established at Tulancingo.
Article 4. In conformity with powers granted by the decree of the 16th September, 1865, article 4, the towns will preserve their organizations in order to carry out the commands of the military authorities.
Our ministers of war and government are charged with the execution of the present decree in its corresponding parts.
By the emperor:
José Salazar Ilarregui, Minister of Government.
Ad. Osmont, Minister of War.
No. 4.
[Untitled]
MAXIMILIAN, EMPEROR OF MEXICO.
Having heard our council of ministers, and considering the inertia of public affairs in the empire; knowing it is our first and greatest duty to protect persons and property, and punish disturbers of the public peace, and desiring to concentrate the imperial police under one chief, we have decreed as follows:
Article 1. The police is directly subject to our minister of government.
Article 2. Wherever there is a force of gendarmery, the municipal police shall be under it, giving aid to and receiving orders therefrom.
[Page 254]Article 3. Baron Tindal, lieutenant colonel of gendarmery, is hereby named director for the valley of Mexico, and especially charged with the public safety.
Article 4. He is also invested with plenary powers to execute the duties of his office. Our minister of government is charged with the execution of this decree.
Given in the palace of Mexico, on the 30th July, 1866.
By the emperor:
José Salazar Ilarregui, Minister of Government.
No. 5.
Warning.
On account of recent events General Calderon has been pleased to issue the following notice:
General Juan Calderon, supreme commander in the districts of Vera Cruz and Jalapa, makes known to the inhabitants of the latter city, that as the place is threatened by enemies of the government of his imperial majesty, and it being my duty to preserve order and public peace at all risks, I have been pleased to order the observance of the following regulations from this time forward:
1. After sunset no person is permitted to ride through the city on horseback, except those in military service and on duty, and the police.
2. All assemblages of more than two persons, of those known publicly as hostile to the present government, are hereby prohibited.
3. Violation of the above regulations shall be punished as the police laws declare.
No. 6.
[Untitled]
The Estafette published yesterday these brief but alarming lines:
“From Matamoras to Alvarado the whole eastern coast is in revolt. Tampico is held by the rebels, the robbers threaten the gates of Vera Cruz; Jalapa is besieged, and the treasury is empty.
“In this emergency the only alternative for the government is to raise money or break up.”
The same paper publishes this letter of the 3d August, from Jalapa:
“Your last letter reached me by the merest accident, and it is one of the few that have come through the rebel bands that surround the city, and have intercepted every communication for the last twelve days.
“News from the city of Mexico has somewhat revived the dejected citizens, for they were much discouraged by rumors of danger threatening the capital.
“Nobody has ventured out of town for some days. The enemy, of four or five hundred at least, approach the town and fire upon harmless citizens, and then go back to their camp only a league off, certain they will not be pursued. In fact, General Calderon, commander here, has not enough forces to defend the place, and we hear of no re-enforcements.
“On the other hand, a new revolution is whispered, and if it breaks out you may imagine what will become of Jalapa,
“Chacon is on the south of the city, Ochoa on the west, and Murieta on the northwest, with forces of 150 or 200 men each.”
No. 7.
[Untitled]
The Era, speaking of the bad situation of the valley of Toluca, publishes the following paragraphs from a letter dated in Tenancingo, the 1st of August:
“The people of Zacualpan are more lucky than we in getting Juan Lechuga, the former sub-prefect, restored to his old place.
“We are in constant alarm here, fearing every moment the rebels from San Gaspar may come down upon us in considerable numbers. The danger is imminent, and I myself had to go to inform the authorities of Toluca of it.
[Page 255]“The whole valley of Toluca is in a deplorable condition, and it could not be otherwise. If the government does not attend to them soon, the robbers will ruin all the farms that furnish the capital with grain. This is the result of the machinations of certain men since the French military authorities left Toluca.”
No. 8.
[Untitled]
Eighty-first regiment of the line.
A French soldier assures us the above regiment is allowed to return to France in November; but as all can stay who wish, only the colonel and the band of music will go back.
We are not responsible for the above communication.