No. 445.
Mr. Foster
to Mr. Fish.
Mexico, June 26, 1875. (Received July 22.)
Sir: Referring to your dispatch No. 228, of the 20th ultimo, relating to the Mexican raids in Texas, I have the honor to report that I this morning called at the Mexican foreign office and had an interview with Mr. Lafragua, in conformity with the instructions contained in your [Page 944] dispatch. As the conversation had a wider range than the specific topic presented by me, I deem it important to give you a somewhat extended report of the interview, in order to enable you the better to understand the political condition of this country and the embarrassments which surround the present administration. I referred to the receipt by you of my dispatches, in which I had communicated the assurances given by Mr. Lafragua of the disposition of the Mexican government to do all within its power to repress the Rio Grande border troubles, and to the satisfaction with which they had been received; but I stated that these assurances alone were not sufficient, in view of the fact that the maraudings from Mexican territory continued to be frequent, bold, and destructive, and caused much public excitement in Texas; that it was expected that more energetic measures would be used by the Mexican authorities. Mr. Lafragua said his government had done all that was possible up to the present; that it had issued stringent instructions to the authorities on that frontier, and had arrested several of the supposed raiders, as he had previously informed me, and that their trial was progressing. He had seen the report of the preliminary examination, the first stages of the trial, and that, while the suspicions of guilt were strong, he feared it might be difficult to obtain proof sufficient to convict them upon trial.
It may be proper for me to state in this connection that these prisoners have not been brought to this capital for trial, as your dispatch infers, but they were taken by the troops to Saltillo, the capital of the State of Coahuila, and, by order of General Escobedo, division commander, were placed on trial by a military commission; and he was about to administer to them summary punishment, when, by orders from the supreme government at this capital, he was instructed to suspend the military proceedings, as unwarranted by law, and to turn them over to the judicial authorities for civil trial.
Mr. Lafragua said the troubles on the border were an evil common to both sides; that raids occurred from Texas into Mexico as well, and referred to the reported assault of Texans recently on Cortiua’s hacienda, in the State of Tamaulipas. I asked him what information he had on the subject, when he replied, nothing but the newspaper reports; no official information had been received.
I then gave him the declaration contained in your dispatch, that no incursions had been made into Mexican territory from Texas, and that proof was challenged to the contrary. I asked him to furnish me with any information he might have to substantiate the statement which he had just made to me, as the Department at Washington was in possession of none such, and it was desirable that both governments should be informed as to the real situation. Mr. Lafragua promised to examine the data in his department and ask information of the governors of Tamaulipas and Coahuila, and advise me of the result. I remarked that I supposed your declaration referred to recent times and events, and may not have been intended to reach back for years; what both governments were concerned about was to punish the recent depredators and to repress the depredations for the future.
Mr. Lafragua said that your interview with Mr. Mariscal had been fully reported to him, and that the border troubles had been much discussed and considered by the President and cabinet; that it was apparently impossible to suppress the evil absolutely; that all that could be expected was to restrain and diminish it as much as possible; that the long line of coterminous territory made it impracticable to station an army along the whole extent of the frontier; and he asked me if I had any measures to suggest to remedy the disorder. I replied that I deemed it [Page 945] quite feasible to adopt measures to so repress and diminish the raids as to make them lose importance and cease to be a cause of complaint. In the first place the locality of the troubles was not along the whole line of the extensive border of the two countries, but was mainly confined to the comparatively small portion of it between Matamoras and Laredo, on the Rio Grande; and that it was practicable to so garrison that region as almost entirely to put an end to the raids.
I then mentioned that it had been suggested to you that the Mexican government is embarrassed by the risk of desertions in sending troops to that quarter. Mr. Lafragua answered that this was one reason, but there were others. The situation of the country would not permit it, as the revolutionary state of affairs in Michoacan, the troubles on the Guatemala border, and the pending elections required troops at many and very distant points; and, besides, in the condition of the treasury the government could not afford to maintain a large army on the Rio Grande frontier. I replied that, if I understood him correctly, there were three reasons why his government was unable to maintain peace and restrain raids from Mexico into Texas: First, troops could not be sent to that quarter without fear of desertions; second, the internal troubles of the country rendered it impossible; and, third, in the state of the national treasury a sufficiently large force could not be maintained on the Rio Grande. I then stated that I was authorized to assure him that my Government had no information of any design for acquiring an extension of territory on that frontier, but the governor and citizens of Texas were clamorous in their demands upon the Federal Government for protection; and that the public press in the United States, in reporting these frequent incursions and depredations, was creating a strong public sentiment in favor of an aggressive and vigorous policy on the part of the Government. The acknowledgment of the inability of his government to restain the lawlessness of its own citizens, as just made by him, would afford the strongest possible argument to whatever advocates of the acquisition of territory there might be in the United States.
Mr. Lafragua said the adoption of any such policy would be a greater evil than the present troubles. I replied that, however much both governments might regret it, in the light of such facts, with the continuance of the raids, the spirit of territorial acquisition could not fail to increase.
I then told him that, as he had asked me to propose a remedy for these evils, I would venture to do so.
I was not blind to the present political situation of Mexico, and felt that what he had stated as to the embarrassments which rendered it difficult for his government to put an end to the troubles on the border was, unfortunately, in a measure true. But it was in the power of the Government of the United States to provide a remedy, with the approval or consent of that of Mexico. I referred to the embarrassments under which the American Army on that frontier labored; that it either had no notice of the organization of raiding bands on the Mexican side of the river, or, if it had such notice, was powerless to disperse them; and that the bands were generally able to cross the river, avoid the posts, commit their depredations, and recross in safety before they could be overtaken by the troops, as the frontier-line was a barrier which afforded them complete protection. It is this barrier which renders the American Army in a great measure powerless to prevent or punish this outlawry.
The remedy which I would propose is permission for the regular troops of the United States to follow the raiders across the border when in close pursuit, or, what would be still more efficacious, permission to [Page 946] temporarily occupy certain points on the Mexican side where the raiders are accustomed to cross the river. I was of the opinion that then the troubles would soon cease. But Mr. Lafragua said the executive has no authority to grant such permission without the consent of Congress, and it would not be prudent to ask for this consent; the sentiment of the country would not approve it; and he referred to the indignation occasioned by the passage into Mexican territory of General McKenzie. I replied that General McKenzie crossed without authority from either government; but, if permission was given, the necessity for it would be known to the public, and there would be no violation of national sovereignty, and good citizens ought to be satisfied.
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I am, &c.,