No. 267.
Mr. Romero to Mr. Frelinghuysen.
Washington, October 9, 1884. (Received October 10.)
Mr. Secretary: I have the honor to inform you that I received in due time and transmitted to my Government your note of the 10th July last, in reply to those which I addressed to the Department on the 13th of March and the 24th of the preceding May, and the 2d and 12th of June, with respect to the question raised touching the ownership of the islands of Morteritos and Sabinitos, situated in the Rio Bravo.
You were pleased to state in the aforesaid note that the island of Sabinitos appeared marked as No. 14 in the maps of the original survey made by the boundary commission in 1853, and that it remained on the Mexican side, for which reason there can be no doubt thereto, and with respect to the island of Morteritos or Beaver Island or Island No. 13, you state:
That the facts and record of the case warrant and demand that the Government of the United States shall regard its territorial jurisdiction over the island of Morteritos, otherwise Beaver Island (No. 13), as established by the boundary commission under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
To the end that the Mexican Government might better examine the bases presented by yon in order to reach the conclusions which you expressed, I solicited, together with General Emory, permission to examine the original maps of the mixed boundary commission which exist in the Department of State, since I could not here consult the copies existing in Mexico.
There appeared to be an evident confusion in the name of Island No. 13, and it did not clearly appear whether it was or was not the island of Morteritos.
A careful examination on this subject having been made by my Government, the President has decided not to insist upon the rights of Mexico over the island of Morteritos in the supposition that it is Island No. 13, or Beaver Island.
The bases of this decision rest upon the stipulations of the fifth article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of February 2, 1848, that the dividing line between our two countries from the Gulf of Mexico to Paso del Norte should be the center of the Rio Grande, and that where this river had more than one channel the line should follow the deepest. This circumstance being borne in mind by the boundary commission in laying down the line, the channel which lay to the south of Island No. 13, or Morteritos, or Beaver Island, left this island upon the side of the United States.
As this is the basis presented by the Government of the United States to defend its rights to that island, it thus recognizes that the limit between the two Republics are those fixed by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, such as were laid down by the mixed commission, without having been altered by the changes occasioned by the current of the river, whether in its margins or the deepest of its channels.
It is very satisfactory to me to see that in this important point there is an uniformity of views and principles between our two Governments.
[Page 397]I cannot end this note without calling your attention to the good faith and justice of the Government of Mexico in the present case, since instead of leaving this matter pending, or proposing that it should be decided by the treaty which it has submitted for the consideration of the United States, it has acted with loyalty in recognizing their rights without reserve.
Be pleased, &c.,