Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 2, 1878

No. 358.
Mr. Foster to Mr. Evarts.

Legation of the United States,
Mexico, September 7, 1878. (Received September 24.)

No. 777.]

Sir: The government has thus far successfully resisted all the attempts at insurrection. General Pedro Martinez, who was in revolt in the north, has surrendered himself to General Treviño at Monterey, and the Minister of War has advices that Amador, another rebel chief in that locality, had been killed. In the mean time, however, a battalion of the regular army, stationed at Jalapa, the capital of the State of Vera Cruz, “pronounced” on the 16th ultimo, and carried the entire garrison with it, numbering near one thousand men. Among their first acts were the levy of a forced loan of $10,000 and the release of all the crimnals from the prisons. The government, with much promptness, sent by railroad from this city and other points near three thousand troops against the revolutionists, and within a week or ten days they were captured or dispersed, without much bloodshed.

Small bands are reported in arms in various parts of the country, but there is no present indication of any formidable gathering sufficient to give any alarm to the constituted authorities. The revolt at Jalapa appeared for a time to be serious, as it indicated strong discontent within the army; and this feeling was about to manifest itself in this city during the present week, as it appears that a conspiracy was discovered in one of the barracks of the garrison, and an entire regiment, just on the eve of a “pronunciamento,” was dissolved, the rank and file distributed to other corps, and the leading officers imprisoned. But there appears to be a general disinclination to precipitate the country into another revolution; while, on the other hand, the opposition to and dissatisfaction with the administration do not diminish, but seem to be increasing.

One of the chief sources of this dissatisfaction is occasioned by the great scarcity of the federal treasury. This was alluded to in my last dispatch on current events as a reported danger to the government, but it has since become a public and acknowledged fact. All departments of the government, except the members of Congress, are in arrears of pay for the month of August, and as the officials and clerical employés cannot be paid, all public improvements, claims, and all kinds of demands against the treasury must share the same fate. The discontent occasioned by this state of affairs is becoming very widespread. A significant incident occurred within the past few days, illustrating the dissatisfaction which the bankruptcy of the treasury occasions. It was reported in the newspapers that the federal supreme court had adjourned its sessions sine die because of its failure to be paid. This erroneous report originated in the representation which was made by its subordinate employés to the court that they could not subsist without wages, and as they were receiving none from the government, they asked permission to engage in whatever occupation they could find outside of the court; whereupon it was ordered that the permission be granted. The court likewise appointed a committee of two of its magistrates to call upon the Minister of Finance and ascertain why the salaries and wages of that department of government were not paid. The committee discharged its duty and submitted a report to the court, which body ordered it to be published in the newspapers, a translation of which I inclose.

This report discloses some important facts. Its whole tenor and the action of that tribunal show that there is a deeply-rooted hostility between the latter and the Executive. In the discussion which occurred with the committee, the Minister of Finance informed them that the President had determined that the order of payment from the treasury should be first to the legislative power, second to the executive power, and third to the judicial power. The committee, referring to the constitution, claimed that the judiciary should be paid next after the President and in preference to the legislative department. They stated that the court thought it strange that in a time of comparative peace the treasury should be so scarce of funds as to leave unprovided for the functionaries and employés of so important a branch as the judicial power.

The minister, in reply, held that the President’s construction of the constitution was correct; that the legislative department only had been paid in ful from the 1st of August, and that an effort had then been made to pay the army in part, as it, being “composed mostly of impressed men, was always disposed to rebel if not punctually paid, being thus a constant menace to the public tranquillity.”

The minister’s reasons for the poverty of the treasury make public acknowledgment of the disorganized and bad state of the commerce of the country, as he states; orders for importations had so greatly decreased and smuggling had so largely increased, that honest commerce was ruined, and the treasury was so reduced as to require the combined efforts of all the functionaries of the federation as well as of the States to redeem the country from its present troubles. This condition of aflairs is bearing its natural fruits in bringing the government into serious embarrassments. The wholesale smuggling, which the minister says “ruins honest commerce,” has brought upon the administration the denunciations of the mercantile and manufacturing interests throughout the whole country, which charge that this illicit trade is carried on through complicity with high officials, whom the President has not the strength to remove and punish. It also leads to smuggling in other parts of the republic, the practice being contagious as the Diario Oficial, the government gazette, in explaining Minister Romero’s interview with the committee of the court, says that the smuggling is not confined to the Rio Grande frontier, but exists in other parts of the country.

Another embarrassment consequent upon the poverty of the treasury is that the minister of that department is seeking for other and additional methods of taxation, and he has alarmed all the property and business interests of the country, lest it will fall too heavily upon their particular branches. In this country, with many it is a sufficient inducement to encourage a revolutionary change of government in the hope of avoiding an impending tax or forced loan.

It is understood that Mr. Romero, Secretary of the Treasury, annoyed by the difficulties which he has encountered, tendered his resignation, but the President refused to accept it and he has been induced to withdraw it. Mr. Mata has also asked to be relieved from the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, and the President will at an early day yield to his wishes and permit his retirement. The announcement has been made in the Diario Oficial that the resignation of Mr. Zamacona, as minister at Washington, has also been sent in, and he is expected to return to Mexico next month.

I inclose an editorial article from the Monitor, an independent newspaper, which has been friendly to President Diaz, giving its opinion of the situation of the country, a view which quite generally prevails with persons outside of strictly official circles.

The anniversary of the battle of Churubusco was celebrated on the 20th ultimo, and that of Molino del Rey will be to-morrow participated in by the government officials.

I am, &c.,

JOHN W. FOSTER.

[Inclosure 1 in No. 777.—Translation.]

Question of pay,

[From the Libertad of September 5, 1878.]

supreme court of justice of the united mexican states, full tribunal.

To the citizen editor of the Libertad, present:

By agreement of this supreme court of justice, and for the proper ends, I transmit to you a certified copy of the act of the session of to-day, to the end that you may be pleased to publish it in your paper.

Liberty in the constitution!

Mexico, September 4, 1878.

ENRIQUE LANDA,
Secretary.

Act of September 4, 1878.

The Citizen President Vallarta, Justices Altamirano, Ramirez, Montes, Ogazon, Alas, Blanco, Bautista, Guzman, and Salclaña, and the Attorney-General were present. The citizens Martinez de Castro and Vasquez were absent on account of sickness.

The foregoing being approved, the following statement was made:

The Citizen Justices Altamirano and Bautista having been named in the preceding session as a committee which, representing this supreme court, should inquire of the Citizen Minister of Finance why, in accordance with the terms of constitutional article 120, the remuneration of the services of the public functionaries of the federation were not paid, the said committee returned the following report; and which, on the motion of the Citizen Minister Ramirez, was ordered to be published with that part of the record relating thereto:

In the discharge of the commission which the supreme court of justice was pleased to confer upon us, we called, yesterday afternoon, upon the Citizen Minister of Finance, and called his attention to article 120 of the general constitution of the republic, which reads thus: “The President of the republic, the individuals of the supreme court of justice, the deputies, and other public functionaries of the federation, popularly elected, will receive compensation for their services, which will be determined by law and paid by the federal treasury. This compensation cannot be refused, and the law which increases or diminishes it cannot take effect during the period in which a functionary is in the exercise of his duties”; and we stated that in view of the fact that the month of August has passed, and the members of the supreme court have not received the compensation which is accorded to them by the law, this worthy body desired that the Citizen Minister of Finance should be pleased to state what reasons he had for not complying with the constitutional provision.

The Citizen Minister replied that the supreme court should do him the justice to suppose that this failure to pay was not occasioned by any other reason than a great scarcity of funds in the national treasury—a scarcity which had only permitted the payment of the amount due for the first two weeks in August to the members of the legislative corps, and something to the army, and for which reason the entire appropriation due to the executive power had not been paid, and nothing on the amount due to the judicial power. This preference in the payments had been determined upon by the President of the republic because in the opinion of that functionary, as well as in his own (the Minister of Finance’s), they should be made thus in conformity with article 50 of the constitution, which mentions first the legislative power, second the executive, and third the judicial, as reasons of convenience, which were probably known to the court, made it thus advisable, since the army, composed in greater part of impressed men, was always disposed to rebel if it was not paid with punctuality, it being thus a constant menace to public tranquillity.

We replied that in the conception of the supreme court, the rule for paying the functionaries popularly elected, was contained, clearly and explicitly, in the text of article 120, which we have just read, and that according to that text the magistrates occupied the second place after the President and before the deputies; that it is true that article 50 mentions the legislative power first, the executive second, and the judicial third; but this article, which is essentially political, enumerates them thus in following out the spirit of democratic institutions, and according to the order of their functions, but that article 120 was the one which the framers of the constitution had expressly designated for determining the pecuniary compensation which the federal functionaries popularly elected should receive, and the order which should be observed in the payment, so that the latter article, and not No. 50, was the one which should serve as a basis for the distribution of the said compensations; that the court had said nothing up to the present with regard to this preference in the payment, because, as a general thing, it had received its apportionment at the same time with the other powers, this latter being in prosperous times for the national treasury, because in times of scarcity, on account of revolutions, it had suffered without complaining on any occasion the adversity which rested upon all; that to-day when the nation enjoyed peace, inasmuch as the small disturbances which have recently taken place are insignificant, it caused surprise to the court that the treasury should lack funds to such an extent as to leave destitute the functionaries and employés of so important a power of the administration as that of justice; that it feared that in consequence of this lack to pay the administration of justice would become paralyzed, inasmuch as it could not be required of employés of subordinate order that they should confine themselves to labors which were not remunerated, and more so when they had no other means of subsistence; that even on Monday an incident had occurred in the supreme court worthy of attention and which had already been given by the press, although in terms exaggerated and inexact. The secretary of the supreme court informed that body that certain employes asked leave to separate themselves from their labors for the purpose of obtaining other means of subsistence.

The president, with the approbation of the court, authorized the secretary to grant these requests, as he could not do otherwise when so serious a reason was alleged; and, in consequence, several employés left the office one hour before the time fixed by the regulations.

The Minister said that he would inform the President of all the reasons which the committee had just given him, and that he was going to make an effort to pay the salaries of the first half of August, but that he could not do less than state that the extraordinary scarcity suffered by the treasury was due to the following causes, which it was not difficult to quickly remove. This was the first time; and as in the last months of the administration of Mr. Lerdo the commerce of the republic had refrained from giving orders on Europe for goods, owing to the insecurity of the situation upon the triumph of the revolution of Tuxtepec last year, and peace being re-established, the said commerce had given orders truly enormous, which had resulted in a decrease in the demand for the present year, the receipts of the treasury being for this reason less than those of last year. The second cause was that this season of the year is generally bad for the public treasury; and the third and principal reason was the scandalous contraband being carried on on the northern frontier, which, besides ruining legitimate commerce, deprived the treasury of most, important resources. That this was the serious evil which the efforts of one man alone could not remedy if he was not seconded by the efforts of all the functionaries of the federation and of the States. That while it continued he could not be responsible for meeting current expenses and controlling operations depending upon his department. That we should represent the case thus to this supreme court, in order to dispel from its mind any unfavorable impression which it might entertain against him on account of this delay, which he regretted for his own credit as the head of the treasury department, and for the credit of the administration in general.

Such is substantially the result of the commission which we have discharged under instructions from the supreme court, for whose confidence we are grateful.

Mexico, September 4, 1878.

• IGNACIO M. ALTAMIRANO.
• JOSÉ MARIA BAUTISTA.

I certify that it is a copy.

September 4, 1878.

ENRIQUE LANDA, Secretary.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 777.—Translation.]

Alarming symptoms of the situation.—Rumors and discontent authorized by the policy of the government.

[From the Monitor Republicano, August 30, 1878.]

The latest news relative to the small success of the revolutionary movements, as well in the north as in the east, indicate the state of opinion in nowise disposed to favor outbreaks, which, with the disturbance of the peace, only serve to increase the weighty evils which afflict Mexican society. This good sense of the nation is not a new thing; it has been revealed in a manner sufficiently clear since upon the destruction of the empire the republic has been re-established, as is evidenced in the failure of the different attempts against the public peace which have been set on foot during the past nine years, it being necessary that a chain of extraordinary and truly exceptional causes should arise in order to afford to the country the uninstructive spectacle of a revolution victorious by means of arms.

We believe, therefore, that it can be said that for the present there is no serious danger of the public tranquillity being altered in any alarming manner; and nevertheless, a phenomenon worthy of being studied, the generality of the country does not sympathize with armed disturbances; the government lias no dangerous enemy before it to combat; the tendencies of the nation are well pronounced in favor of peace; and in spite of this we say that, under whatever circumstances there would be flattering hopes for the future, the present situation is far from being satisfactory; on all sides is felt the frozen breath of want of confidence, which paralyzes life in the social body, and which brings with it the want of work, insecurity, and misery—something fearful which seems to be breathed from the atmosphere which surrounds us, and which holds over the mind that kind of mute alarm which precedes great events.

The nation experiences that uncertain peace which appears to be all that we can hope for, at least for some time. The government operates with a certain degree of regularity, and, nevertheless, we repeat, it seems that we are in the midst of a crisis which armed revolutions alone can produce. The poverty of the treasury, one of the most fearful consequences of revolutionary times, produces a panic in an administration which, according to all appearances, should continue in tranquillity the great work of reconstruction upon the bases of morality and well-understood economic principles. And this panic causes its evil influence to be felt in a society in which the official element predominates over all others.

We have said that this phenomenon is worthy of being studied; and in fact a situation which seems to carry within itself the germ of death, which consumes it, merits attentive observation; a situation in which, the men intrusted with meeting it flinch and vacillate as if they had lost faith in their own powers; as if their intelligence became clouded before problems which they cannot decipher, and far from causing a voice to be heard which may re-establish, so far as possible, the lost tranquillity, the pilot of the ship shrouds himself in dark silence, giving credence with his mysterious conduct to rumors and comments, little calculated to tranquillize, which run from mouth to mouth, creating in overexcited imaginations vain hallucinations, if you like, but which shadow forth more and more the picture of the situation already sufficiently dark.

We confess that we have not found in our history anything which resembles what is at present taking place. Governments, as a general rule, have had two periods widely diverse in their administration: the first full of hopes and expectations for the country which has believed one moment in the inauguration of an era of tranquillity and progress; and the second for the political parties which either prepare for a struggle later on, or indulge the illusion of having a part more or less active in the triumphant party.

But the time for being undeceived begins to draw near. The presumption of the men in power, blinded by the flattery of those near at hand, who surround them, does not permit them to clearly see the legitimate tendencies of the nation, and in place of satisfying them, they abandon themselves with blind confidence to the caprices of their own inspirations. On the other hand, it is impossible for them to meet all the demands of those who, with or without claims, wish to grow fat in the shade of power; then discontent little by little takes large proportions; the unsatisfied ambition of some easily develops this discontent, and in this manner there is organized what is called among us a revolutionary movement which ends by overturning the administration attacked, creating another in its place, which retraverses the same circle, presenting in its turn the same phases.

The present government has been nevertheless an exception; it may be said that it had no honeymoon, and that at its birth it already brought with it certain symptoms of decadence which caused its stability to be doubted. The persons who appeared as managers of the situation should, in our conception, have used all their efforts to cause such unfavorable impressions to disappear, initiating a tranquillizing and vigorous policy, for which purpose they had only to cast a glance upon the standard which they raised in the days of the contest.

But what happened? That banner was disdainfully banished to the museum of antiquity; the promises which it had inscribed upon it were officially declared “political absurdities and legal impossibilities,” continuing in spite of this, obliged to profess fidelity to it, all those who desire to enter an administration which had been inaugurated under such poor auspices.

The instinct of a people, however rude they may be, is hard to be deceived; and the indifference that very soon could be seen in place of that kind of enthusiasm which any administrative change excites is not to be surprised at. The consciousness tha their interests were not considered there; that the change effected at no small sacrifices for the republic was nothing more than a great passion for office; that all the talk about free suffrage, municipal independence, the suppression of interior customhouses, the organization of the federal district and respect for the constitution was nothing more than celestial music, intended only to deceive honest people; this conviction we say could not do less than engender the disdainful coldness which has invaded all classes of society, which continues to not believe in the efficacy of the revolutionary panacea, but which likewise has no faith in the ability and wisdom of the directors of public affairs.

* * * * * * *

The causes which we have stated in a brief manner and in compendium explain to our understanding the exceptional character of the situation through which we are passing, and give at the same time the clew to the singular phenomenon presented by an administration which, without having an armed revolution to combat, totters upon its own base as if it were wounded with irremediable impotency, being able to compare it to a lamp which, in the midst of a serene atmosphere, goes out of itself for lack of oil.