File No. 812.00/11486.
[Untitled]
Mexico City , April 12, 1914, 2 p.m.
847. Referring to my No. 844, April 12, 9 a.m., I called upon the Sub-Secretary for Foreign Relations at 9.30. He told me that General Huerta said that he could not accede to the demands of the United States and that he considered that the reparation which was stated in my number 841, April 10, 8 p.m., was sufficient under the circumstances, dwelling on the fact that there was fighting going on at the time of the occurrence, which extenuated in his opinion the action of the federal colonel. I told the Sub-Secretary as well as General Ramon Corona, Chief of the Presidential Staff, who speaks English quite perfectly, that I considered the attitude taken by General Huerta as one fraught with the most serious possibilities. I told him that if the people of the United States once believed that the federal colonel in question acted through an animosity against Americans, a fact which the press would not fail to endeavor to make them believe, my personal opinion was that the people would force the administration to uphold our national dignity even with armed force if necessary; and that I could not accept this verbal refusal from the Mexican Government in the premises as I felt in view of the momentous possibilities that a reconsideration should be given to the matter by General Huerta.
While at the Foreign Office the Sub-Secretary was called to General Huerta’s and he left at the same time I did. I told him that I would be at his disposition at the Embassy during the entire day but requested him to be as expeditious as possible as I desired to report to my Government.
At ten minutes past noon the Sub-Secretary called at the Embassy and delivered to me a note, signed by him in his character as Sub-Secretary for Foreign Relations, refusing to accede to the demands of the United States in the premises, which note I give in full below:
Mr. Chargé d’affaires: I beg to refer again to the case of the American marines arrested at the Iturbide bridge at the port of Tampico, and to the conference which you and I held this morning at two o’clock with regard to the fact that the Secretary of State of the United States of America informed the Chargé d’Affaires of Mexico in Washington that the declaration of the President of the United Mexican States, which I had the honor of communicating to you day before yesterday, is not sufficient to close the incident.
From the report received in this Department the following facts appear clear:
- First, That the American marines disembarked at a place subject to military authority where military operations were being conducted and where a hostile attack had just been made.
- Second, That the marines disembarked without previous advice and without permission from the military authorities of Mexico.
In view of these facts it is perfectly explicable that Colonel Hinojosa. who had under his orders the forces of the State of Tamaulipas who were charged with the duty of defending the above-mentioned Iturbide bridge, should have believed himself authorized to arrest the American marines. The sovereignty [Page 455] of Mexico in accord with international practice was not limited in this respect because the city was subject to military operations. For this reason I said to you in my first note relative to the matter that General Morelos Zaragoza, the commanding military officer in Tampico, carried courtesy to the extreme when he gave ample satisfaction and immediately caused the arrest of Colonel Hinojosa. In view of the fact I repeat that the American marines violated the military laws to which the city was then subject when they disembarked.
The President of the United Mexican States, in conformity with the policy which our country has always followed in international matters, wished to be even more punctilious and directed, as I had the honor to inform you, that the Government of the United States of America be informed that the President himself deplored what had happened and had ordered that the competent authorities determine the responsibility which Colonel Hinojosa might have taken upon himself.
But it appears that the Government of the United States of America has wished to interpret this extreme courtesy as recognition that Colonel Hinojosa acted arbitrarily and further insists on the demands formulated by Admiral Mayo: that the Mexican military authorities salute the flag of the United States.
By express order of the President I have the honor to inform you that the Government of Mexico, in conformity with international law, does not consider itself obliged to accede to the demands referred to, and that carrying courtesy to that point would be equivalent to accepting the sovereignty of a foreign state to the derogation of the national dignity and decorum, which the President is disposed to have respected in any case.
I avail [etc.].
R. A. Esteva Ruiz.
I told the Sub-Secretary that I considered the action of General Huerta very badly advised and that I might very likely endeavor to get him to reconsider his attitude. I shall, however, await your instructions before seeing General Huerta in this sense.
The Sub-Secretary insists that General Huerta is afraid of serious anti-American outbreaks throughout Mexico if he submits to what he calls the humiliating terms of the United States. General Huerta has been largely influenced in his decision by General Blanquette and his military entourage. I have the honor to respectfully suggest that, if you are determined to force this issue, it be not done too precipitately in order that Americans in unprotected and outlying districts as well as in small towns may have time to get to the border or seaboard, as isolated instances of mob violence against Americans and other foreigners will be more than probable, and they can be thus avoided.