No. 231.
Mr. Foster
to Mr. Evarts.
Legation of
the United States,
Mexico, July 13, 1877.
(Received August 2.)
No. 573.]Sir: The report of the conference had between
General Ord, commanding the American forces in Texas, and General Trevino,
the Mexican commander on the Rio Grande frontier, reached this city through
the newspapers of the United States by last mail, and the results of said
conference have been the subject of considerable discussion in the Mexican
press.
The report of the conference as received here is that contained in the
telegram of General Ord to Lieutenant-General Sheridan, dated Fort Clark,
Texas, June 19, in which, referring to General Treviño, he says:
There is a good understanding between us on the basis of my
instructions regarding prompt action to suppress marauding and the
co-operation of our troops on both sides of the river in necessary
pursuit.
Some of the opposition press have interpreted this report of General Ord to
mean that Trevino, in the conference, has agreed to the passage of American
troops across the boundary into Mexican territory in pursuit
[Page 420]
of raiders, and have accordingly harshly
attacked the administration of General Diaz for permitting the national
territory to be violated and for humiliating the Mexican nation by yielding
to the demands of the United States. The Diario Oficial, the government
official organ, has replied that General Trevino has made no such agreement
for the passage of American troops into Mexico, and that the government has
not receded from the position assumed in the order of the minister of war,
of 18th ultimo, requiring the commander on the northern frontier to resist
by force any passage of the frontier by American troops, and demanding the
recall or modification of the instructions to General Ord on that point. I
inclose a translation of the Diario Oficial’s reply. Since these articles
have appeared General Trevino’s official report of the conference with
General Ord has been published, a translation of which I herewith
transmit.
It will be seen that he expressly states that he declined General Ord’s
proposition for the reciprocal passage of the frontier by the troops of
either nation in pursuit of outlaws.
General Treviño makes an important statement in his report in regard to the
Li pan Indians, whose continued residence in Mexico near the frontier has
been the principal cause of the recent raids, murders, and robberies in
Texas.
Attention is also called to the character of the force which he proposes to
employ to co-operate with the American troops, and to suppress the raids and
outlawry on the frontier. He intimates that the regular federal troops
cannot be stationed on that border because they “disperse for different
causes,” which I understand to mean that they dissolve by desertion, as was
stated to me by the former administration, as an excuse for not sending
troops to that region. General Treviño states that he has taken steps to
organize a volunteer force from the vicinity of the border, to which he
proposes to intrust the protection of the Rio Grande, and urges upon the
government the importance of providing for their support and prompt
payment.
In my opinion there are two objections to intrusting the preservation of the
peace and order of the border to such a volunteer force. First, being an
independent corps, enlisted at a much higher rate of pay than the regular
troops, removed a great distance from the federal treasury and beyond the
reach of custom-houses likely to possess federal receipts, there is great
danger that their subsistence and pay will be neglected. Second, being
composed of residents of the Rio Grande, there is a possibility that they
may be subject to the objection which I have repeatedly made to the local
authorities, their sympathy or complicity with the robbers., and, being an
independent corps, they will not be subject to the same discipline and
restraint as the regular troops, and will be as likely to provoke hostility
as to repress raids.
I regard it as imperative on the part of Mexico to adopt much more effective
measures than those proposed by General Trevino, in order to discharge its
international obligations on the Rio Grande.
I am, &c.,
[Page 421]
[Inclosure 1 in No. 573.]
Translations of newspaper articles.
[From the Federalista, July 10,
1877.
what name does he deserve?
The Tuxtepec Diario called Mr. Lerdo a traitor on the simple suspicion
that he was creating difficulties for Mexico. And now that Mr. Porfirio
Diaz lays the national dignity at the feet of the United States, and
agrees, contrary to the constitution to the humiliation of American
troops crossing into Mexican territory, will the Diario please tell us
if we can apply the same epithet to the author of such a crime? Let the
official organ of Tuxtepec reply.
[From the Diario Official, July 10, 1877.]
what name does he deserve?
Under this title the Federalista has a local item which commences by
attributing to us words that we have not written. As upon this subject
we have been very explicit, we consider that our colleague is losing its
time in endeavoring to misrepresent our views. Then it supposes that the
government has entered into some arrangement contrary to the national
dignity, a supposition which is entirely false.
The instructions issued by the government in the matter to which the
Federalista refers are well known, and there has not been a
dispassionate person who has not acknowledged, that the national dignity
and the decorum of the country have been well sustained.
The executive will always assiduously endeavor to maintain friendly and
cordial relations with the foreign powers. This is its duty, as it is
also its pleasure, and in the interest of the country, but it will in
every case maintain unstained the national honor.
The statement on which the local item to which we allude is founded is,
then, false, and false also is the basis of our colleague’s editorial.
Its impassioned comments are consequently without foundation, and can
only serve to bring forth others on the other side, inasmuch as the
truth is also contrary to the asserted facts.
In the instructions given to General Treviño, under date of the 18th of
last June, and which were published in the Diario of the same day, the
following is said: “In obedience to that law (the constitution) you will
by no means consent that the troops of the United States enter our
territory, and, out of respect to the sovereignty of that republic, you
will likewise prevent Mexican troops from trespassing on foreign
soil.”
These instructions are still in force; they have not been abrogated nor
modified; they mark the firm purposes of the government, and by them
General Trevino mast be guided.
Everything said to the contrary by newspapers and letters from the United
States is deficient of truth, and the deductions drawn from such
falsehoods are arbitrary and unjust.
[From the Diario Official, July 11, 1877.]
amusing stories.
The Federalista continues to relate amusing stories, founded on false
suppositions.
It is not true that General Treviño has taken the step attributed to him
by our colleague. In accordance with the instructions received from the
supreme government, and with which the public is acquainted, he has
adopted the means of preventing depredations on the frontier, pursuing
and punishing the delinquents; but it is false that, exceeding his
powers, he has consented to the invasion of our territory by foreign
troops.
The telegram of Lieutenant General Sheridan, which the Federalista takes
from an American paper, may or may not be authentic.
In the first case it may be that in stating that General Treviño has had
an understanding with General Ord on the basis of the instructions given
the latter by his government, he referred solely to the part in which he
is recommended to solicit the co-operation of the Mexican authorities in
the pursuit of the banditti, notwithstanding that the phraseology of the
telegram, or its translation, leads to a more extensive application.
At all events, it is false that General Trevino has exceeded his
instructions, and neither the Federalista, nor anybody can prove the
contrary. The question refers to facts, and the existence of the facts
should be fully proven in order to serve as the basis for impartial
comments. Until it is proven that any act of General Treviño has been
contrary to instructions received from the supreme government and to the
dignity of the country, all the statements made to this effect will be
arbitrary and defamatory.
The government is well acquainted with the acts of General Treviño, and
knows well that he has not discredited his known prudence and well-tried
patriotism. Hence the declamations of the Federalista are useless and
unjustifiable.
[Page 422]
[Inclosure 2 in No. 573.]
General Treviño’s report of his interview with
General Ord.
Constitutional Army,
Headquarters of the Line of the North,
Monterey, June 30, 1877.
To the Citizen-Minister of
War:
On my way to this city I received the instructions which the federal
government communicated to me by telegraph through General Canales, and,
in view of their importance, I sent a courier to General Ord, telling
him that I would communicate to him the instructions I had received from
my government by means of a commissioner, as ordered by your department.
That commissioner ad hoc, Mr. Bibiano L.
Villareal, is preparing for his journey, and he will surely be on the
road to-day or to-morrow.
During my stay in Piedras Negras, I was visited by General Ord, military
chief of the American line, for the purpose of conferring upon the
manner of preventing the depredations made for robbery which are
experienced on both sides of the Bravo (Rio Grande.).
General Ord saw me at my quarters; I returned his visit, going to his
quarters; I visited his camps in the vicinity, and we had a conference.
He claimed that the forces of either nation, in following the trail of
robbers, might continue the pursuit into the adjoining territory,
reporting their operations to the authorities of the respective
territory, for their information and aid; and, in order the better to
support his position, he cited to me the case in which he had permitted
a Mexican force from Sonora to continue into American territory the
pursuit of a party of Indians, besides aiding our forces with his troops
and furnishing them the supplies they needed.
In reply I man ifested to said general that the authorization which we
were discussing could not be granted by either him or me in virtue of
our own power, not even with the acquiescence of our governments, if it
should not have the approbation of the respective Chambers or Congress,
and much less could I do anything in such a difficult question, as I had
no express authority to deal with it in any manner; that the pursuit of
banditti being an urgent duty of the authorities, and even of private
citizens, and to stop the complaints which, with or without foundation,
are frequently made by the press of both countries in regard to the
conduct of the authorities of the two nations, I would take every
measure for the purpose of punishing the crimes that might be
perpetrated on the American line by inhabitants or residents of our
territory, stationing troops of the line at convenient points, and
establishing vigilant forces to patrol our desert places.
I also assured him that those stations or forces being apprised in good
time of incursions made by Mexicans to the left bank of the Bravo (Rio
Grande), they would have the best results in the apprehension of the
delinquents, as they would operate in a country well known to them and
against known persons, thus guaranteeing the security of honest
travelers or residents, who might easily be confounded with banditti by
strangers having no acquaintance with them.
With this, and the promise to communicate to General Ord the instructions
which I might receive on the subject from my government, and with the
promise which he made on his part to prevent the organization of bands
proposing the invasion of our territory, even under the pretext of a
political object, we terminated our conference. I should add that in the
conferences General Ord always manifested that his government did not
propose any act hostile to our country.
On my return from Piedras Negras, I left some regular forces stationed on
the Sabinas River, and being persuaded that the Lipan Indians are a
constant threat to our security, and by the depredations on the left of
the Bravo (Rio Grande) might even complicate our relations with the
neighboring nation, I gave orders to Colonel Nuncio to apprehend them
and hold them prisoners at the disposition of the government. These
Indians are the remnants of the tribe who, on account of their
treachery, were almost destroyed by the deceased General Zuazúa. They
continue to be as treacherous as ever, and are always lazy, except when
they/are engaged in robbery, which constitutes their patrimony.
My opinion is that, once apprehended, they should be taken to the
interior, divided there among workshops or charitable institutions,
where they could be educated or taught to work, according to their sex
and age.
I also ordered the organization of a mounted force of auxiliary troops,
at the government expense and well paid, to perform the service of the
line of the Bravo (Rio Grande). That force, being volnuteers, well paid,
and composed of men acquainted with the country in which they are to
serve, will be the one that will principally comply with the promise I
made the American officer, and with it alone that service can be
performed, because there the troops of the line disperse for different
causes, which I have already stated to the supreme government.
[Page 423]
In order to give the security we owe to our citizens, who are frequently
the victims of robberies, the spoils of which are carried to the other
side of the Bravo (Rio Grande); in order to maintain the good relations
which should unite us with the inhabitants of the neighboring nation,
and in order to give respectability to our territory which is exposed to
unjustifiable invasions, I hope that your department will approve the
measures which I have mentioned, attending promptly to the payment of
said forces.
I have been more extended than I intended in order to acquaint the
government with what occurred at my interview with General Ord.
On the return of the commissioner, whom in compliance with orders from
your department, communicated on the 18th instant, I send to that
general, I will report to you the result.
Liberty in the constitution.
