Pile No. 812.00/12472.
Special Agent Carothers to the Secretary of State.
Durango, July 5, 1914.
Sir: I saw General Villa Saturday morning, July 4, and had a very confidential talk with him. He is really well disposed, and realizes that a break now will be disastrous, and I am very confident that the whole matter will be patched up. It is possible that General Villa will eliminate himself for a while, going back to Chihuahua, letting Carranza’s troops take San Luis Potosi, then join in the general move on the City of Mexico.* * *
I told him that it was the desire of the American Government that the differences between him and Carranza be settled. He replied with a question, “Is it possible that a great nation like yours can not see what kind of a man Carranza is, and that he stands alone in many of his statements?” I replied that it was not a question now of what Carranza is, but that it would be very embarrassing to us to have a severe break come up now, and that I considered it a patriotic duty of his to conform to the decision of the conferences that are being held, and that in my estimation the more he bent to their will now, the bigger man he would become in the eyes of the world. He gave me to understand that he would do everything possible to arrive at an understanding, and I believe he will.* * *
I have [etc.]