File No. 312.11/5656.
The Secretary of State to the Brazilian Minister to Mexico.
Washington, March 12, 1915—4 p.m.
535. Please communicate the following to the American Committee:
Your message17 has been laid before the President. He does not think it would contribute to the welfare of the Americans there to give your statement to the press. He asks me to assure you that we understand and sympathize with the situation of Americans in Mexico and share their concern; and that we are doing everything in our power to improve the situation. Your attention is also called to the fact that General Carranza in his dispatch18 to the President after renewing his promise to exert himself to the utmost to protect the lives and property of foreigners, indorsed the President’s advice that Americans [Page 671] temporarily remove from the City of Mexico to some place where they could be more effectively protected. General Carranza expressed the same desire in regard to other foreigners.