File No. 123F63/149
Ambassador Fletcher to the Secretary of State
Mexico City, March 13, 1917.
Sir: I have the honor to report that I presented my letters of credence to Mr. Carranza, First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army, charged with the executive power of the Union, at Guadalajara, Jalisco, on the 3d instant.
On the evening of the 28th of February, I received a message by telephone from General Aguilar, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, informing me that he and Mr. Arredondo were about to leave for Guadalajara to confer with the First Chief and stating that he was commissioned by the latter to invite me to accompany him. I accepted and we left within the hour. We arrived without incident [Page 911] at Guadalajara the following evening at 8 o’clock and were met at the station by General Manuel M. Dieguez, Govenor of the State of Jalisco; General Benjamin Hill, commanding the garrison of Mexico City; Manuel Amaya, Chief of the Protocol of the Foreign Office; and others.
At noon of the 3d, I was escorted to the palace by a troop of cavalry, accompanied by the Chief of the Protocol, Mr. Amaya, and General Davilla, Governor of Guanajuato. On account of my hurried departure none of the official staff of the Embassy accompanied me on my visit to Guadalajara.
The usual ceremony was observed. The Star Spangled Banner was played and arms presented by the guard on my arrival at the palace. At the head of the stairs I was met by General Amado Aguirre and conducted to the reception room, where Mr. Carranza and certain members of his cabinet awaited me standing. I advanced and read the following speech:
Mr. First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army, charged with the executive power of the Nation.
The President has committed to my charge the interests of the United States near the de facto Government of Mexico. I have accepted this honor with genuine pleasure. In the conduct of my mission I shall endeavor faithfully to interpret the sincere and earnest desire of the Government and people of the United States to cultivate the closest and most friendly relations with the Government and people of Mexico.
The courteous reception and many kind attentions I have received since my arrival on Mexican soil speak eloquently of the friendly spirit which animates the officials of Your Excellency’s Government, and I enter upon my duties with the most delightful impressions of Mexico and the most pleasant anticipations.
The President has charged me to convey to Your Excellency his friendly greetings and best wishes to your personal happiness and the success of the Government of which you have the honor to be the head.
I beg to present, Sir, my formal letter of credence as Ambassador of the United States, to which Mr. Carranza read the following reply:
Mr. Ambassador: I experience a pleasant feeling of satisfaction in receiving from your hands the formal credentials by which the President of the United States of America accredits you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of that great Nation before the Government of the United Mexican States which I have the honor to represent.
I am glad to have heard from your lips that you accept with real pleasure such a well deserved honor and that in the discharge of your delicate functions you will endeavor faithfully to interpret the sincere and ardent desire of the Government and people of the United States of America to cultivate the closest and most friendly relations with the Government and people of my country.
You may rest assured, Mr. Ambassador, that Mexico will reciprocate this friendly feeling, and that her Government will afford you all facilities to the end that you may carry out your program of improving the relations for the good of the interests of both nations.
The courtesies which you have received since you arrived on Mexican soil, and for which you express your gratitude, are no more than the demonstrations of our good will to initiate, upon a basis of the greatest cordiality, the new policy of mutual respect and consideration which must exist between two peoples whose propinquity and community of interests demand of them a perfect and reciprocal understanding for their best development. These marks of courtesy, moreover, have been a well deserved homage to your personality, of which we were already well informed.
I beg of you, Mr. Ambassador, to transmit to the President of the United States of America my most cordial greetings, in response to those which he sends through you to me, and my best wishes for his personal happiness, and, as well, that you will accept the expression of my desire that your stay in my country may be pleasant.
I then sat down and conversed a few moments with the First Chief, after which General Aguilar presented me to Mr. Bonillas, Minister of Communications, recently appointed Ambassador to Washington; Mr. Roque Estrada, Acting Minister of Justice; and General Hill; and General Dieguez. I then retired and the ceremony was concluded.
I had expected to return immediately to the Capital but a small band of so-called bandits burned a wooden railway bridge near La Piedad station and I was forced to remain in Guadalajara until it could be repaired.
On the 5th of March, the First Chief invited me to accompany him on the presidential train to Lake Chapala, some thirty-five miles east of Guadalajara. Here a fiesta was given in his honor, a number of the prominent families of the city accompanying him. On the journey I had a long talk with Mr. Carranza on the whole subject of United States-Mexican relations. General Aguilar was present at the interview. The particular subjects discussed will form the subjects of separate despatches. The interview was most cordial, and both Mr. Carranza and General Aguilar promised to do everything possible to facilitate the work of my mission and to bring about a sympathetic and friendly understanding between the two Governments.
I remained at Lake Chapala until the 8th, when General Aguilar telegraphed that the line was again open and invited me in Mr. Carranza’s name to accompany him as far as Irapuato on my return journey to Mexico City. This invitation I accepted gladly and had another opportunity to converse with Mr. Carranza easily and informally. The First Chief traveled in state, in the presidential train, accompanied by his staff and guests. An escort of one thousand troops accompanied us, also a repair train. There were in all six special trains. Long stops were made at the various stations where large holiday crowds turned out to welcome the First Chief and the usual speeches were made. It was exceedingly interesting and picturesque.
In company with the Minister for Foreign Affairs I left the First Chief at 11 o’clock at a small station along the line and proceeded in another special train to Mexico City where I arrived at six in the evening on the 9th.
Details of the ceremonies will be found amongst the newspaper clippings forwarded in this pouch.
I have [etc.]