File No. 812.404/85.
The Secretary of State to Father Kelley.
Washington, March 20, 1915.
My dear Father Kelley: The President has referred to me your important letter of the twenty-third of February concerning the present distressing situation in Mexico, with the request that I tell you very definitely what the attitude and acts of the Administration have been in the matter of the protection of the rights of conscience and of worship there, a matter in which the Administration is, I need not say, deeply interested as all true Americans must be.
The question which has bulked largest in political discussion in connection with the present revolution in Mexico, and in connection with the revolution which preceded it, is the land question. * * *
But of course economic questions are settled, if the matter be thought through to its real heart, only in order to give leave to the deeper things that are spiritual. A democracy must be sustained by education * * * and above and beyond all, the full flower of democracy, lies religious freedom, the principle which the builders of our own Republic made the crown of the whole structure. * * *
The Administration has not felt at liberty to play any part in the internal affairs of Mexico except that of friend and adviser. It realizes that, by reason of geographical proximity and many historical circumstances known to all the world, it is in some peculiar degree charged with the duty of safeguarding, so far as it may within the limits of international privilege, the lives and rights of foreigners in Mexico, and it has again and again made the strongest possible representations with regard to such matters to those who have from time to time assumed responsibility for affairs in Mexico during the troublous months through which that country has been passing. At [Page 1025] every turn of affairs there, moreover, and upon every report of persecution, it has advised and warned those who were exercising authority of the fatal effect any disregard for the lives or rights of those who represented religion or any attack upon liberty of conscience or of worship would have upon the opinion of the people of the United States and of the world.
[Quotations from instructions sent to diplomatic and consular representatives of the United States in Mexico during 1914 and 1915.]
These despatches, selected from those sent, illustrate the spirit in which the President and those associated with him have, dealt with the Mexican situation in so far as it affects the subject of religion.
This Administration is, of course, the servant of the American people. It seeks to be governed by their convictions and by the principles which have governed their political life. It has felt it to be its duty to urge upon the leaders of Mexico, whenever an opportunity offered, the principles and methods of action which must underlie all real democracies, as they have supported ours. These principles will, in the same way, govern the Administration in handling every question that affects its relations with Mexico, including the final question of recognition of any government that may issue out of the present revolution and give promise of stability and justice. * * * The Mexican leaders will certainly know that in order to command the sympathy and moral support of America, Mexico must have, when her reconstruction comes, just land tenure, free schools, and true freedom of conscience and worship. * * *
I am [etc.]