Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Address of the President to Congress December 8, 1914
File No. 812.00/13430.
Consul Letcher to the Secretary of State.
Chihuahua, September 30, 1914.
Sir: I have the honor to forward herewith the manifesto of General Francisco Villa against the Provisional Government of General Venustiano Carranza, which manifesto has just been issued at Chihuahua although Villa has been actively in the field against Carranza for some days past.
I have [etc.]
manifesto to the mexican people.
* * * Although the Plan of Guadalupe, drawn up by Venustiano Carranza, Only offered the reestablishment of the Constitutional Government, It was nevertheless accepted by the revolutionary chiefs because they felt sure that the First Chief of the Revolution was in favor of establishing not only a democratic government but also the social and economic reforms indispensable to the betterment of the condition Of the poor.
Unfortunately the acts and declarations of Mr. Carranza have created in many revolutionaries the fear of not seeing realized the promises made by the Revolution to the people.
The Division Of the North, which has been the object Of Mr. Carranza’s political intrigues, fearing above all else that they would be cheated out of their revolutionary ideals, proposed, in accord with the Army Corps of the Northeast, at the Conferences Of Torreon, the organization of a Convention on a democratic basis, in order to force the First Chief to carry out the revolutionary program, guaranteeing the establishment of a democratic government and the execution of the reforms necessary for the betterment Of the people.
Mr. Carranza refused to accept the Convention on the bases proposed at the Conferences of Torreon, and resolved that upon the entrance of the Constitutionalist Army into the Capital of the Republic he would call a Council of Generals and Governors to study the political as well as the social problems brought out by the revolution.
If the Division of the North had lost confidence in the First Chief it would naturally have none in any council whose members were chosen by him, he being the one having the power to confer the rank of General and to name the Governors, and having therefore always an assured majority.
[Review of the acts of Carranza after his entry into the City of Mexico.]
Confronted by a situation that menaces the triumph of the revolution, the Division of the North sent a delegation to Mexico City to present to the First Chief a program of provisional government which is, in substance, a program for the immediate reestablishment of constitutional order by means of elections, and for agricultural land reforms—a program signed by General Obregon representing the Army of the Northeast and by me representing the Division of the North.
Mr. Carranza refused to immediately call the elections, deciding that the Council of Generals and Governors convoked by him for October 1 should be the authority to set the time and manner of the elections. This showed that in the end it would be Mr. Carranza who would fix the time and manner of the elections.
Nevertheless, and in proof of their conciliatory attitude, the Chiefs of the Army of the Northeast and the Division of the North agreed to send their delegates, exacting only the condition that in the Council preference should be given to the three following questions: (1) The confirmation of Venustiano Carranza as Provisional President of the Republic, which pertains to him by virtue of the Plan of Guadalupe; (2) the reestablishment of constitutional order through popular elections at the earliest possible moment; and (3) the adoption of measures guaranteeing the solution of the problem of the agricultural lands.
While General Obregon and certain of the delegates were on their way to the City of Mexico, the First Chief Suspended all traffic with the regions occupied by the Army of the North, showing in this way his determination to begin hostilities against any who tried to bring pressure for forcing him to comply with the pledges of the revolution.
Realizing that every peaceful method would be useless in trying to induce the First Chief to deliver in due time the Executive Power to whomever might be chosen by the people, and realizing also that the salvation of our country depended upon the immediate solution of its problems, the Division of the North has resolved to repudiate Mr. Carranza as First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army in charge of the Executive Power.
This repudiation does not embrace any ambition of my own nor of the generals of the Division of the North, and I do solemnly declare that neither they nor I will accept the post of Provisional President or Constitutional President of the Republic, nor those of Vice President or Governors, and that, in accord [Page 608] with any other chiefs, generals and officers of the Constitutionalist Army who wish to cooperate with us, we will struggle to establish a civil government that will guarantee all the rights and liberties of our citizens. I therefore invite all Mexican citizens—
First, to repudiate Venustiano Carranza as First Chief in charge of the Executive Power of the Nation;
Second, to unite with the Division of the North, contributing in the most effective possible way toward effecting the removal of Venustiano Carranza from the offices of Chief of the Constitutionalist Army and of the Executive Power.
Immediately upon effecting this removal, the generals in command of troops will designate a civilian who, in the character of Provisional President, will call the elections, establish constitutional order and initiate the economic and social reforms which the Revolution demands.
In order that electoral agitation shall not be repeated too soon after such elections and the president elect be enabled to carry out the program of the Revolution, the Provisional President shall submit for the approval of the Congress the proposition that the term of office of President shall be that of six years, beginning with the date on which the president elect shall take office.
The Division of the North offers to reestablish order and peace wherever it may be stationed and to respect the lives and interests of residents whether native or foreign.
Fellow-countrymen, it is very painful for me to exact of the Mexican people further sacrifice to the end that the Revolution may realize its ideals, but I am sure that every honest citizen will see that without this last effort of the people the entire work of the Revolution will be broken up, for we have thrown down one dictatorship only to set up another. The Mexican who will not contribute to the finish of this grand movement of liberation will carry in his own conscience the remorse of not having known how to love and serve his country.