File No. 812.00/11654.
The Secretary of State to Special Agent Carothers.
Washington, April 24, 1914.
Your dispatch El Paso, April 23, received and read with great gratification. You are at liberty to say to General Villa* * * that the action of the United States on that part of the border which is controlled on the Mexican side by the Constitutionalists will be governed entirely by the attitude of General Carranza, General Villa [Page 487] and their associates. We are earnestly desirous that the most friendly relationships should exist and are greatly pleased and reassured by what you report General Villa as having said. It shows a largeness of view on his part and a comprehension of the whole situation which is greatly to his credit. We sincerely hope that he represents the views of the Constitutionalists. Public opinion in the United States has been greatly disturbed by General Carranza’s attitude and has felt a very considerable degree of resentment about it. I have so far taken leave to believe that General Carranza did not mean real hostility. I hope that we may be assured of that in a very short time.