The Acting Secretary of State to the Mexican Ambassador.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note No. 1397,1 of the 29th ultimo, in which, in compliance with instructions received by you from your Government, you state that on April 25 foreign concerns operating in the interior of the State of Chihuahua advised the Department of Foreign Relations of Mexico that they have enough coal to last but a short time, and express the opinion that if coal were imported at Ciudad Juárez and other points in the State of Chihuahua from the United States the rebels [Page 808] might seize the fuel for the operation of their trains between Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez. You state that communication will soon be cut off in that vicinity, and request, as a means of effective assistance to the Federal forces of Mexico, that instructions be issued to the Northern Railway to suspend all traffic between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.

The Department has given careful attention to your note under acknowledgement and regrets that it can not entertain the request contained therein.

Accept [etc.]

Huntington Wilson.
  1. Not printed.