Ambassador Thompson to the Secretary of State.

No. 21.]

Sir: I have received Mr. Bacon’s telegram of the 9th instant, reading as follows:a

This afternoon I called upon the minister for foreign affairs and made known to him the gist of the department’s instruction No. 103 and of your telegram. He said that the order prohibiting aliens from acquiring mining claims in Sonora and Lower California was issued as a general notice that the Yaqui country was unsafe. He said that the order had been revoked, that conditions in the Yaqui country were considered to be much improved, but that it was still unsafe for travelers without military escort. He stated that the Mexican Government was doing the best possible to make the Indian districts safe for all; that military escort will on application be given to all persons now located in those districts and to others on request, so far as is possible with available forces; that if there should be a rush of miners into the Yaqui country it might not be possible to furnish escorts for all. He stated that there are now no restrictions of any character on those desiring to enter the Indian country except that of prudence.

He also said that the Mexican Government was glad to have Americans in that part of Mexico and in other parts in the fields of labor and development.

I telegraphed you to-day as follows:a

I have, etc.,

D. E. Thompson.
  1. Supra.
  2. Supra.