File No. 812.00/6112.
The American Ambassador to the Secretary of State.
Mexico, February 12, 1913—8 p.m.
I went with the Austrian and Spanish Ministers, and with the written authority of the British Minister, to National Palace this morning and saw the President. I stated on behalf of my Government and those of my colleagues, that we had come to protest [Page 707] against the continuance of hostilities in this city. I informed him of the loss of American life and property and damage to property and particularly of the destruction of the Consulate General, and that the President of the United States was greatly concerned about the situation. President Madero was visibly embarrassed, and tried to fix the responsibility on Díaz. He added that measures were being taken by the Government which would end the rebellion by to-morrow night. These statements made no impression on me or my colleagues and we insisted that there be a cessation of hostilities until we could make representations to Díaz, to which the President agreed.
Joined by the British Minister, we then conferred with Díaz, who received us with all the honors of war. I made practically the same representations to him as to the President; urged that the firing be confined to a particular zone, owing to the danger to noncombatants; stated that much damage had been done in the residential district by the indiscriminate firing; that the President of the United States was much concerned over the situation; that vessels had been ordered to the various seaports, as well as transports with marines, which would be landed if necessary and brought to this city to maintain order and afford protection to the lives and property of foreigners. I added that these representations had been made to President Madero.
Díaz replied that he greatly regretted what was happening, but that he could prove that his attitude from the beginning had been one of defense, although he could have taken the National Palace at any time. He considered the placing of the Federal cannon in their present positions as an utter disregard of all rules of civilized warfare. The morale of his troops was excellent, and he would be joined by about 2,000 soldiers now at San Lazaro station.