File No. 312.11/1048.
The American Ambassador to
the Secretary of State.
[Extract]
American Embassy,
Mexico,
January 18, 1913.
My Dear Mr. Knox: * * *
The draft of the note1 sent hither by
the Department of State to be transmitted by this Embassy to the Mexican
Government marked a distinctly new departure in our dealings with this
Government and the questions arising out of the situation which exists
here. In that note, which differs only from an ultimatum in that it
contains no prescribed limitation of time for the performance of the
demands made, we clearly and fully recited our grievances against Mexico
and in a number of cases demanded specific performance. Having assumed
this position and having stated clearly to the Mexican Government that
unless compliance with the demands made therein was forthcoming we would
feel compelled to take such steps for the protection of our rights as
might seem proper to us, we can not, with due regard for our dignity,
prestige and consistency, retrace our steps, ignore the formal
diplomatic exchanges, and reappear before the Mexican Government in the
light of a humble supplicant. Our note of September 15 was undoubtedly
carefully considered in all of its bearings by the Department before its
transmission to the Mexican Government and it must have been understood
at that time that there could only be one of two conclusions resulting
therefrom, viz, either the Mexican Government must yield, repair the
damages it has done to us, and give clear guaranties for the future or
we must take some vigorous and drastic action with the purpose of
securing redress for our wrongs, an abatement of the situation, and
perhaps, incidentally, the downfall of a Government which is hateful to
a vast majority of the people of this country and which has given us
innumerable evidences of its bad faith, inefficiency, hostility and
insincerity.
I wish to make my own views quite clear here. I do not believe in the
occupation of Mexico nor do I believe in or advocate the acquisition,
either justly or unjustly, of a single foot of Latin-American territory.
On the contrary, I am and have been since I have had an opportunity to
study Latin America and Latin-American conditions from an unusually
advantageous position more and more impressed with the circumstance that
the government of these countries,
[Page 887]
alien in speech, customs and race, is, under our
form of government, a most difficult enterprise and that each new burden
which we assume and each new adventure which we essay leads to the
creation of additional burdens and the invitation to more perilous
adventures. At the same time my experience has taught me that these
Latin-American countries should be dealt with justly and calmly but
severely and undeviatingly. Any other course will bring disaster and
forfeit to us, in the estimation of these peoples, the respect and awe
with which they have been taught to regard us and will sacrifice the
genuine benefits which spring from a consistent, firm, and
well-understood attitude on all international affairs.
I am of the opinion that all the matters treated of in our note of
September 15 must be made parts of a direct settlement with Mexico
growing out of the diplomatic correspondence based thereon, and that any
other course will be tantamount to a sacrifice of national dignity and
prestige. The draft of the note verbale or memorandum which is
transmitted as inclosure No. 1 of this despatch expresses briefly, but I
think clearly, what our position is or should be in the light of the
Mexican Government’s reply1 of November 22 to our
note of September 15. It may be amended, amplified, or changed to suit
the Department’s views as to phraseology, but it expresses, in my
judgment, the logical position at which we have arrived as a result of
our note of September 15. Of course the Department will understand that
unless the delivery of this proposed note should obtain satisfaction
from the Mexican Government we must then adopt one of the several
drastic courses which have been under consideration by the Department,
and which in my judgment—though perhaps necessarily delayed by patience,
a repugnance to extreme measures, a reluctance to engage in adventurous
sallies, and a natural fear of misinterpretation of our motives—must
finally be adopted in the interest of peace in America and the
protection of our own interests.
The memorandum inclosed with this dispatch, and numbered 2, was prepared
by Mr. Schuyler. It is not intended as an alternative with the inclosure
No. 1, but simply for the use of the Department in indicating the
Embassy’s views upon some of the points raised by the Mexican reply to
our note of September 15.
I am [etc.]
[Inclosure 1.]
draft memorandum.
For a period of more than two years now the Republic of Mexico has
been in a state of revolution, first against the long-established
Government of President Díaz and subsequently against that of
President Madero. During all of this long period a state of anarchy,
intermittent, sporadic, and rising and falling as the tides, has
prevailed through a large part of the territory supposedly under the
control of the Mexican Government and for the administration of
which it is responsible not only to its own citizens, but, under
accepted principles of international law, to the nations of the
world, which, upon the invitation of Mexico, have sent their
nationals and their capital hither, relying upon the ability of this
Government to afford to both the usual safeguards guaranteed by
civilized states.
[Page 888]
The present revolution, which began under the Presidency of General
Díaz and which has continued without intermission to the present
hour, has brought neither order, peace, prosperity nor happiness to
the Mexican people. On the contrary, there has been a vast sacrifice
of human life, enormous destruction of property, a riot of barbarity
and inhuman savagery, throughout large parts of the Republic.
Government and the law have ceased to be respected, and general and
local administrations are helpless and impotent to deal with a
situation of constantly increasing gravity and which has become a
menace not only to the material interests of foreigners who have
invested their money in Mexico and contributed to the development of
the material resources of the Republic, but it has also placed in
jeopardy and in numerous cases actually sacrificed the lives of
foreigners who must necessarily rely upon the Government for
protection.
The American Government, though embarrassed by obsolete neutrality
laws, honestly endeavored during the revolution against the
Government of General Díaz to discharge its full obligations toward
the recognized government of a friendly state. When the Government
of General Díaz fell and was succeeded by the administration of
President Madero, the American Government promptly recognized its
duties in the new order of things and; by word and deed, gave its
loyal and friendly support to the Government which it understood to
be the choice of the Mexican people. Not content with these ordinary
demonstrations of good will, and believing that by so doing it would
contribute in no inconsiderable measure to the restoration of
peaceful condition in Mexico, it amended its neutrality laws and in
conformity therewith, and for the proper execution thereof has
maintained upon the Mexican frontier since February, 1911, a
military force varying in number from ten to forty thousand men, and
has, moreover, at a great expense, and to the detriment of other
localities, kept there a not inconsiderable number of extraordinary
employees of the Departments of Justice, Labor, and the Treasury,
expecting no other recompense for the sacrifices incurred than the
grateful appreciation of the Mexican Government, the just treatment
of American citizens, and the protection of their lives and property
against the assaults of the elements of disorder, the tyranny of
local administrations, and the collusive confiscatory intrigues of
those who, being unable to lay up fortunes by industry, toil and
intelligence, find it both convenient and popular to prey upon the
foreigner who has brought hither his thrift and his capital.
At the beginning, of the revolutionary movement there were in Mexico
somewhere between fifty and seventy-five thousand American citizens,
and American capital invested to the extent of probably a billion of
dollars. As the revolution progressed it became evident, not only to
the official representatives of the Government of the United States
in Mexico but to all observing and patriotic Americans, that there
existed a strong anti-American sentiment among a large number of the
more ignorant part of the population of Mexico, a sentiment which if
not in some measure shared by the Mexican Government was at least
not discountenanced or reproved by it. In no single instance that
can be recalled has an official of the Mexican Government voiced an
appreciation of the unselfish attitude of the American Government
and people or expressed the smallest measure of gratitude for the
material benefits which American intelligence and energy and
American capital has bestowed upon this country. On numerous
occasions, however, public orators, the press, and all the organs
capable of influencing public opinion have been busily engaged
inflaming the public mind and in rendering more dangerous the lot of
Americans and the safety of their properties in Mexico. This lack of
sound and civilized public policy has borne its fruit, as might be
expected, in a wide and indiscriminatory attack on everything
bearing the stamp of American origin. American interests honestly
acquired, and on which vast amounts of capital have been expended,
have been attacked on a wide scale on baseless and absurd pretexts
by persons in collusion with friends of the Government and have been
harassed by confiscatory taxes and by the denial of that protection
which the most elemental conceptions of government would afford
them.
American citizens to a great number have been arrested on frivolous
and insufficient charges and incarcerated in filthy and uncivilized
jails, from whence neither the protests of our own Government nor
the palpable and proven injustice of their imprisonment could
release them. American citizens have been foully and brutally
murdered, and neither diplomatic representations, entreaties or
threats have served to procure the trial or punishment of the
offending
[Page 889]
criminals; their
property destroyed, with only a deaf ear turned to their complaints
and with a denial of that justice in the consideration of their
claims which is incumbent upon all civilized nations. To such an
extent has this persecution passed that today probably 15,000 of
them have been obliged to abandon their homes, their factories,
their mines and their haciendas and to return to the United States,
and their property which has been sacrificed or damaged, along with
that of other American financial concerns, has now reached a sum of
vast proportions, which, if all present indications do not fail, the
Mexican Government has no intention of recognizing its
responsibility for.
On the 15th of September, 1912, the Government of the United States,
after a long, prudent and patient series of representations to the
Mexican Government touching individual causes of complaint,
addressed a most vigorous and direct but nevertheless friendly note
to that Government setting forth in a general way its
dissatisfaction with the situation set forth above and supporting
its averments by the citation of many, but not nearly all, of the
cases which gave ground to its complaint. The purpose of this note
was to recall the Government of Mexico to a realization of its
unfulfilled obligations and to an appreciation of the dangerous
situation which it was confronting not only with reference to the
American Government, but to all other governments having substantial
interests in that country. The American Government permitted itself
to believe that the Mexican Government would heed this solemn but
friendly warning and bestir itself in a practical and evident way to
procure a betterment of the evils complained of. The hope was
indulged in, having in mind our patient attitude, that the answer of
Mexico to our just and reasonable demands would be moderate,
conciliatory and specific. On the contrary, it has been obliged to
note with the greatest regret and distress that Mexico, far from
appreciating the grave and solemn warning contained in our note,
delayed its reply for a period suggestive of intentional
discourtesy, and that the answer which it finally gave was evasive,
disingenuous, frivolous, at variance with the facts, illogical in
its conclusions, and lacking in that seriousness of tone and dignity
of utterance which should characterize the diplomatic exchanges of
governments seeking the support of a just cause before the world.
The averments contained in the Embassy’s note of September 15 are
each and every one of them sustained by positive and unequivocal
evidence which will stand the test of revelation to the world and
the judgment of history. The performance of exact justice in each
and every instance is insisted upon by the Government of the United
States.
In addition to the specific complaints which were set forth in its
note and which the Government of the United States has not the least
intention of abating or subtracting from and for the righting of
which it demands and will expect specific performance, it must,
having due regard for the responsibilities with which it is charged,
call the attention of the Mexican Government to the deep
apprehension of the American Government and people that the present
administration will not be able to successfully cope with the armed
revolution and the sporadic and widespread brigandage which has now
for some two years been existent within its territory.
Notwithstanding repeated assurances of the procurement by the
Government of positive and definite results, and in spite of the
optimistic appreciations of the situation which have been actively
spread abroad through the world, the revolutionary movement
continues, brigandage grows apace, the destruction of property
increases, and the economic situation has become an immediate
menace. Independently of the losses and sufferings incurred by
American citizens, the Government of the United States can not for a
much longer period, having due regard for the peace and order of
this continent, permit a savage and desolating war to continue at
its threshold. The Government of the United States recognizes that
within certain sound and established limitations every sovereign
government has the right to put its own household in order, but it
can not commit itself to the principle that a cruel and devastating
warfare, the sole object of which, as nearly as can be judged by an
impartial opinion, is the gratification of the rival ambitions of
aspiring chieftains, can be carried on in territories contiguous to
it for an indefinite period.
Finally, and in the exercise of its great patience, preferring to
secure redress and an amelioration of conditions through methods and
by an attitude in keeping with its constant and undeviating policy
with all nations of the world, the American Government solemnly and
firmly, but none the less in a friendly spirit, adjures and warns
the Mexican Government that there must be a just and prompt
adjustment of the grievances set forth in its note of September 15
and
[Page 890]
that substantial
guaranties of future protection to American life and property
against armed violence, against malicious intrigue, against
antiforeign sentiment, shall be given, and that those who take
American life and American property shall be swiftly pursued by
justice and punished adequately and quickly by competent courts.
[Inclosure 2.]
draft memorandum.
The following facts are brought to the attention of the Mexican
Government in reply to its note of November 22, 1912, which was
itself an answer to the Embassy’s note of September 15.
The Mexican Government, referring to the specific cases of murder of
American citizens in Mexico which had not received adequate action
nor proper punishment from the Mexican Government, tabulated ten
cases. An endeavor was made to extenuate several of these on the
ground that they occurred under the previous administration of
President Díaz. The Government of the United States can not,
however, admit that a change of administration is sufficient reason
for a complete stopping of the course of justice nor is any reason
known why the present administration should not exert itself to the
utmost to mete out adequate justice in these cases. Some of the
reasons given in the note of the Mexican Government are as follows:
- Case of Waite, “investigation still in progress”.
- Case of Crumbley, “assailant’s whereabouts
unknown”.
- Case of Ayres, “arrest of murderers impossible”.
- Case of Krause, “murderer not found”.
- Case of Elliek, “murderer escaped”.
- Case of Lockhart, “rebels have prevented
investigations”.
- Case of Hidy “no results; lack of data”.
Such excuses given by a sovereign state for seven out of ten eases of
murder brought to its attention by a foreign government would seem
to indicate the necessity for the establishment and maintenance of
such a form of government as would be able to afford proper
protection to foreign interests. The further statement made by the
Mexican Government that it is impossible in many cases to arrest and
punish criminals on account of the great extent of Mexican territory
and the scarcity of population in many sections of the country must
undoubtedly have weight, but it is not thought that the extent of
territory was less under the previous administration nor has the
population sensibly diminished since that time.
So far as the United States Government is aware no action of any kind
has been taken by the Mexican Government since the receipt of the
note of September 15—a period of four months—either to apprehend or
even to locate the criminals guilty of these murders. The entirely
inadequate reasons for such failure can only be regarded by the
United States as a willful disregard of the rights of foreigners in
Mexico and of the obligations of a sovereign state to enforce order
and to administer justice in its dominions. The Government of the
United States regrets that it must inform the Mexican Government
that it will no longer tolerate such flagrant disregard of
international obligations and that, unless a written promise to take
immediate steps to obtain satisfactory action be furnished, the
Government of the United States will unavoidably and regrettably
find itself under the necessity of protecting the lives and
interests of its citizens in Mexico in the manner which shall seem
best under the circumstances.
It is unfortunately true that certain Mexicans have been murdered in
the United States and in several instances, extending over a number
of years, the murderers have not been punished. This fact the
American Government deplores as much as can the Mexican Government,
and is, and has been, at all times ready to afford the promptest
justice to Mexicans or other foreigners in its territory. It should,
however, be pointed out that in the majority of cases the Mexicans
who have lost their lives in the United States were killed as the
result of having taken part in disorderly, or illegal
occurrences.
The Government of the United States can not refrain from expressing
the stupefaction with which it found in the note of the Mexican
Government, in reply to the demands made in its note for concrete
action in the cases of Foster,
[Page 891]
Giennon, and Carroll, which demands had
frequently been made not only during the entire term of President
Madero but under the administration of Mr. de la Barra as well, the
extraordinary statement that these men were accused of being
filibusters. The Government of the United States has made two
separate investigations of this entire matter with the utmost care
before bringing it to the attention of the Mexican Government, and
the amazing allegation of the latter concerning this absurd charge
at this late day inevitably suggests that up to that time the
Mexican Government had not even taken the trouble to investigate
this case for itself. Too serious attention can not be drawn to
those diplomatic methods which would allow the discussion of such an
important matter to continue for two years and at the end of that
time in a general note make to the other Government the absurd and
utterly unwarranted charge which has been made in this case.
With reference to the anti-American spirit which exists not only
among the Mexican people but among Mexican officials as well,
concerning which the Mexican note stated that the “enormity” of the
charge obviated the necessity for a reply, it should be pointed out
that the information on this matter in the possession of the Embassy
is naturally more complete and more accurate than that which could
be known to the Mexican Government, since almost daily reports are
being received from different parts of the country indicating
specific instances of such unjust and discriminatory action. Not
only is this seen in cases of obvious collusion between judicial
officers and interested litigants, such as the Butler case, but also
in many recent criminal matters where the sympathy of the judge or
magistrate is quite apparently on the side of the Mexican involved.
Among recent examples in criminal cases is the familiar case of the
American citizens Koch and Lundquist, arrested in Lower California
on the accusation of stealing guano from an island on which they had
been wrecked. Delay after delay occurred in this trial, and when the
prosecuting attorney finally declared that there was no “charge”
against these men they had already suffered a longer imprisonment
than if they had actually been convicted of the offense with which
they were charged. Another and more recent case, that of Mr. O. J.
Langendorf, of Parral, Chihuahua, who was arrested for alleged
complicity in the killing of the chief of police of that place, is
even worse. The evidence in this case shows that police entered the
mine, of which Mr. Langendorf was superintendent, at night in search
of ore thieves, and without disclosing their identity met a party of
the employees, who were also looking for the thieves, with the
result that in the dark the chief of police was regrettably shot and
killed. Although the evidence showed that Mr. Langendorf’s weapon
had not been discharged, he was nevertheless arrested and held
“incommunicado” for a number of days without bail, while eight of
the ore thieves, who had been captured at the same time, were
promptly released, in spite of the fact that seven of them were
captured in the mine in flagrante delicto and
another one was captured at the mouth of the tunnel holding a burro
upon which the stolen ore had been loaded. Of the guilt of these
thieves there could be no possible doubt, while there was no
evidence whatever to show that Mr. Langendorf had shot the chief of
police.
The above instances, taken from many, suffice to show the
anti-American spirit of many minor Mexican officials. From the
nature of the case it is obvious that such actions would naturally
occur among the lower and less scrupulous officials, who, perhaps
not unnaturally, would hesitate to inform the Federal Government or
even their own superiors that they had acted in an illegal manner or
even with an anti-American bias.
With regard to the third portion of the note of September 15, in
which was pointed out the condition of anarchy and chaos through
which Mexico is passing, the Government of the United States regrets
to have to say that in the period of time since that note was
written not only have the conditions regarding safety of foreign
life and property not improved, but, in many places, they have
actually grown worse until, in many parts of the country, no
American citizens dare longer to reside even for the proper
protection and supervision of their properties. While in certain
districts an evident improvement is to be noted, in other and more
important districts there are practically no American residents left
even in those places where formerly there were numerous and
flourishing colonies of Americans who contributed in no small degree
to the prosperity of Mexico.
The American Government, actuated by the friendliest feeling toward
the new administration which had succeeded that of General Díaz, was
content to wait
[Page 892]
with
unexampled patience until the necessary period of disturbance
incident to the establishment of a new regime founded on principles
which, in so far as Mexico is concerned, were new and untried should
have passed over and the new administration should have had a full
and sufficient opportunity to root itself firmly in the respect and
support of the Mexican people. At the present time, however, the
American Government, which, time after time, has given the most
signal proofs of long suffering and hard-tried patience, must, in
spite of the repeated declarations of responsible members of the
Mexican Government that all revolutionary disturbances have
disappeared from the country, in spite of the repeated promises of
the authorities made on the repeated demands of the American
Government in countless instances for the protection of its citizens
and their interests in Mexico, take this occasion to say, in the
most earnest manner, that conditions in a large portion of Mexican
territory are such—and among specific localities should be cited the
States of Durango, Chihuahua, and Mexico, with large parts of the
adjacent States—that, in view of the immense American interests in
those places, it must, while disclaiming and deprecating any hasty
action, place itself on record in this formal way by declaring to
the Mexican Government that so little hope is entertained of the
restoration of normal conditions in the above-mentioned regions in
the near future that it reserves to itself the right to take such
action for the protection of its citizens and their interests as
shall seem necessary and proper.
The statements made in the American note of September 15 concerning
the practically confiscatory interference with and hindrance of
American corporations doing business in Mexico are as true today as
they were then. So far as the American Government is aware nothing
whatever has been done by the Mexican Government toward rectifying
the discriminatory practices against these corporations complained
of in that note. The American Government desires once again to
protest in the strongest terms against what it described before as a
predatory persecution amounting to confiscation. Not only have these
annoyances and persecutions not been discontinued, but they have
been aggravated in certain instances, one of the most familiar of
which is that of the Hacienda de Cedros. That company possesses a
vast property in the State of Zacatecas which is not given the
military protection which the constant depredations of the rebels
demand, but, on the contrary, is so loaded down with unbearable
taxation that its life is being taken with the connivance and
evident approval of the local authorities. It is regrettably true
that the real reason for these abuses is the desire on the part of
certain highly connected Mexicans to be able to purchase the
property at a small portion of its real value.
The American Government has been invariably patient and kind with the
present administration of Mexico and, as must be patent to any
impartial observer, has on every possible occasion shown its good
will toward Mexico and the Mexican people. In return for this
extreme forbearance during the past two years its citizens have been
murdered with impunity; their interests and their properties have
been raided and destroyed, in many cases without the slightest
protection, even when, as has several times happened, neighboring
properties owned by officials of the present Government have been
promptly and adequately protected; American women have been violated
in several instances and in none of these have the assailants been
punished. The just, temperate and patient representations and
protests of the American Government have been met with cynical
indifference and absolute lack of sincerity underlying the profuse
promises, both written and oral, of immediate and satisfactory
action which have been given to representatives of the United States
in their vain endeavors to secure simple justice for American
citizens and their interests.
In view of all the above the American Government is reluctantly
forced to state that should there not be observed an immediate
improvement in the attitude of the present Government of Mexico
toward American interests it will be obliged to withdraw its troops
from the border, to allow the resumption of traffic in arms and
ammunition across the border without restriction, and to cease its
efforts to keep justly indignant foreign nations who have suffered
much from Mexico in the last two years from insisting on that
reparation for their wrongs which up to now only the attitude of the
United States has been successful in restraining.