No. 451.
Mr. Foster
to Mr. Fish.
Mexico, September 27, 1875. (Received October 12.)
Sir: Since the date of my last dispatch on current events, local revolutions and armed disturbances of public order have been more numerous and frequent than in any previous period during the administration of President Lerdo.
During the month of June a revolution occurred in the territory of Lower California, which grew out of opposition to the governor, Davalos. The revolutionists were for a time completely successful, occupying the capital, La Paz, imprisoning the governor, who was afterward released upon the payment of a ransom and sent out of the territory, and possessing themselves of the public offices and authority. As illustrating the manner in which these petty revolutions are conducted, and the injuries which they inflict upon commercial and industrial enterprises, [Page 952] I inclose herewith a copy of one of the reports made by the consul at La Paz upon these occurrences. The federal government having sent to La Paz a detachment of the army from the port of Mazatlan, the revolution was readily suppressed, and a new governor appointed, who has restored the territory to order. A portion of the revolutionists seized a vessel and sailed from Magdalena Bay for the State of Sinaloa, where they are reported as having joined the bandits in the mountains.
In July one Escobar raised the standard of revolt against the governor of Chiapas, the most southeastern State of the republic, and adjoining Guatemala, and, with a few hundred men, attacked and defeated the State troops, and drove the governor out of San Cristobal, the capital. The governor called upon the President for federal aid, and national troops were ordered, both from Tabasco and Oaxaca, to his relief, but before their arrival he was able to collect a sufficient State force to drive out the insurgents and reoccupy the capital. The latest advices are that they have all been defeated, and the small remaining band is reported to have taken refuge in Guatemala.
During the last and present month an armed conflict has been carried on in the State of Nueva Leon between two rival claimants for the office of governor. A number of engagements in the open field have occurred, and the controversy began to assume quite a warlike footing, several thousand men being reported as under arms, when General Fuero, federal commander on the Rio Grande frontier, under instructions from the President, proclaimed martial law in the State, assumed control himself of all civil as well as military affairs, and disarmed the contending factions. The President has reported his action to Congress, stating that General Fuero will remain in charge of civil affairs only until that body shall provide for the restoration of the civil authority and the preservation of peace through that medium.
The insurrection against the general government still continues in the State of Michoacan, but important successes are reported by the commander of the federal troops. On the other hand, the opposition insist that the revolt is gaining strength and is extending to the adjoining States. It is known that there are considerable bands of pronunciados in the States of Jalisco and Guerrero, and smaller ones in Guanajuato, Mexico, and Morelos; but everywhere they are compelled to keep to the mountains, and do not dare to meet the government forces in the open field. They are, however, a great source of annoyance to the towns, haciendas, (plantations,) and travelers in the infested regions, levying upon these forced loans of money and provisions, and plundering them of arms and valuables. Troubles are also reported in the States of Sonora, Sinaloa, and Chihuahua, but up to date are not confirmed through official sources.
The disorders in Lower California, Chiapas, and Nuevo Leon have been of a local character, directed against the State governments, and expressly disavowing opposition to the federal authority. Their effect upon the country has, however, been unfavorable, as they create the impression that there exists a general spirit of discontent and revolt. Unfortunately for the public peace, the crops for the current year are proving partial failures in many sections, creating a great scarcity of food, which, added to the prevailing stagnation of business, has a tendency to swell the guerrilla and robber bands; so that the task at present imposed upon the federal and local authorities of enforcing order and a reasonable degree of security is by no means an easy one.
In order to meet an anticipated deficit in the national treasury, the President, in the exercise of his extraordinary faculties, has decreed an [Page 953] increase of ten per cent. in the import duties; or rather has ordered a discontinuance of the discount of ten per cent. on the existing tariff heretofore in practice. The consul-general will communicate to the Department a copy of the decree.
The revolt in Chiapas, and the alleged aid which it received from citizens of Guatemala, has led to a discussion in the public press of the unsettled relations with that republic, mainly growing out of the boundary question. The general expression has been that an early settlement of this long pending matter is highly desirable for both nations. President Lerdo, in his recent address to Congress, states that it is receiving the earnest attention of the government.
The anniversaries of the battles of Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec, in 1847, were observed as on previous years, the President and cabinet and many other public men participating therein.
During the past year this government has been having constructed in England four gunboats as coast-guards, both for naval and revenue service. Two of these, the Independencia and Libertad, carrying respectively six and five guns, have arrived in the harbor of Vera Cruz, and will be employed along the Gulf coast. The two others have sailed from England, and are now en route for Acapulco, and will be stationed on the Pacific coast.
The new Congress, which, under the recent organization, is composed of a senate and chamber of deputies, convened on the 16th instant, and was opened by an address from the President, a copy of which is transmitted in a separate dispatch. Much interest and feeling has been caused by the action of Congress in rejecting the credentials of the majority of the deputies, representing the State or anti-administration party, from Jalisco, and giving the seats to the administration members, and also in rejecting the senators whose credentials were declared to be legal and correct by the State legislature, as the law for the senate provides. The rejected members announce that they will apply to the federal supreme court to compel a recognition of their credentials by Congress. One of the rejected senators, Señor Vallarte, has just retired from the office of governor of the State, which he has occupied for the past four years; was a member of President Juarez’s cabinet, and has rendered important services to the country. Jalisco, the most important state of the republic, has been for some time past recognized as an anti-administration State, and this action of Congress is likely to imbitter its hostility to the present executive.
The difference between the supreme court and the President, to which reference has been made in previous dispatches, still continues, and is made the subject of a separate dispatch.
I am, &c.,