File No. 812.00/1129.
The Secretary of State to the Mexican Chargé d’Affaires.
Washington, March 28, 1911.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Ambassador de la Barra’s note No. 1138 of the 25th instant, in which he states that the Mexican Government will probably need to pass some supplies intended for Gen. Luque, at present at Ojinaga, Chihuahua, by way of Presidio, Tex., and he requests that the appropriate instructions be given by this Government, in order that the operation may be carried out promptly and easily.
As pointed out in the Department’s memorandum of March 23, 1911, the Department “does not perceive, either in the principles established by the so-called neutrality statutes of the United States or by the rules of international law governing this class of transactions, anything that would, under the circumstances of this case as understood by the Department, prohibit the commercial purchase within and shipment from the territory of the United States by private agents of provisions and fodder for the Mexican troops at Ojinaga, Chihuahua.”
It is understood by this Department that supplies purchased as set forth in the above-quoted memorandum may be imported into Mexico by way of Presidio, Tex. In order, however, that there may be no question about this matter, the Department has copied your inquiry to the Treasury Department, with a request that an immediate reply thereto be made.
Accept, etc.,