No. 824.
Mr. Whitehouse to Mr. Bayard.
Legation of
the United States,
Mexico, November 16, 1888.
(Received November 24.)
No. 190.]Sir: Supplementing my dispatch. No. 187, of
yesterday, in reply to your telegram of the 14th instant, concerning the dam
being constructed at Paso del Norte, I am now able, through the courtesy of
Señor Mariscal, to furnish the Department with a copy of a telegram sent by
the Mexican consul at El Paso, dated the 10th instant. The copy of the
consul’s telegram is followed, as will be observed, by the Mexican
engineer’s remarks and statements on the subject.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No.
190.—Translation.]
Mr. Mariscal to Mr.
Whitehouse.
Mexico, November 15,
1888.
Unofficial.]My Esteemed Mr. Whitehouse: As I promised you,
I send you herewith copy of some data relative to the works under way at
Paso del Norte, found in a dispatch I have just received from our consul
at El Paso, Texas.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 2 in No.
190.—Translation.]
Extract from a dispatch from the Mexican consul at
El Paso, Texas, dated November 10, 1888, relative to the works undertaken at Paso del Norte.
The municipal hoard of El Paso approved the text of a telegram to he
sent, and which was sent, to the governor of Texas, which presented the
question in a false and exaggerated light, saying “that the Government
of Mexico is constructing a strong dam entirely across the river at a
point opposite to and partly within that city, with the intent of
permanently changing the river channel; that a large part of said dam is
entirely on Texan soil; that, if the work be not at once suspended, the
frontier will be artificially changed; and that serious damage will in
consequence accrue to the owners of the said lands.”
The Mexican engineer in charge of the works, I suppose, will give exact
information in the case; but the inaccuracy of the report rendered to
the governor of Texas is apparent from the following considerations:
- First. It is not true that the part of the river in which the
works are constructed is the boundary line, that line lying a
great distance to the north, and not having yet been changed by
the two Governments.
- Second. Granting that the river, as it now runs, and not as it
ran in 1852, when the boundary line was designated for all time,
is the limit, said limit should be the center or middle of the
normal channel of the river, and not of the slight current which
runs at that point along the right bank, now that the river is
dry; for such could not have been the intent of the framers of
the boundary treaty, who desired to fix said boundary for all
time, as, in effect, the commissioners of both Governments did
do; and the works in question in no wise affect the mean line of
the channel referred to.
- Third. The said works, scientifically planned as they are, do
not unduly trespass upon the river channel, for they are
arranged to an angle that should deflect the current to a
distance of not over five times the extent of the dam; not
allowing said current to reach the opposite bank, nor even the
center of the river channel.
