812.00/27422
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Davis)
Memorandum of Conversation with Señor Fernando Iglesias Calderón
I first informed Mr. Iglesias that I had received his letter of August fourteenth,28 which I had not answered because I considered it would be futile to enter into academic discussion of the question whether the official relations between our respective countries were not formally severed by the overthrow in May of this year of the Government of Ex-President Carranza. Equally futile would it be for me to enter into an argument as to whether Señor de la Huerta was, or was not, elected Substitute President in accordance with those provisions of the Mexican Constitution applicable in cases of the permanent disability of the Chief Executive. It will be admitted, I stated, that so far as affects the United States of America, this Department must, in the last analysis, pass final judgment on both of these questions. Recognition, my Government holds, must be spontaneous, not inferential. There must be a reciprocal desire to enter into official relations, and such a desire must spring from a mutual appreciation of, and respect for, the inherent rights of the citizens of one country when engaged in orderly and legitimate business enterprises within the jurisdiction of the other.
I told Mr. Iglesias I had read press despatches from Mexico to the effect that the Mexican Government had stated officially that he was not authorized to receive from this Government any conditions relating to a recognition of the Mexican Government by the United States Government. He replied that as he had stated to me informally he had been appointed as Ambassador to the United States, with the usual powers of an Ambassador, and either that said press despatches were not official or were intended to convey the opinion which his Government undoubtedly holds, that it is not customary for one Government to dictate to another Government the conditions upon which it will recognize such Government; that he presumed that a recognition of the Mexican Government, or the resumption of official relations with the Government, would follow as soon as the Government extending recognition is convinced that the Mexican Government is capable of fulfilling its international obligations.
I then stated that certain events of recent occurrence lead my Government to doubt whether the administration of Señor de la Huerta has placed a proper appraisement upon the protests heretofore [Page 179] lodged by the Department of State against the retroactive and confiscatory provisions of Article XXVII of the Mexican Constitution of 1917.29 These protests voiced the Department’s grave apprehension that the enforcement of President Carranza’s Executive Decrees would seriously impair the friendly relations between the two countries. They deprecated the policy adopted by the Petroleum Section of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor in accepting denouncements filed by third parties on properties acquired by American citizens prior to May 1, 1917, and they pointed out the obvious advantages of maintaining the status quo with respect to the many phases of the oil controversy pending the enactment by the Mexican Congress of an organic petroleum law.
Much to its surprise and regret, my Government now observes that the attitude of Señor de la Huerta with respect to Article XXVII of the Constitution appears in no essential particular different from that of his predecessor. Notwithstanding the interviews appearing in the Mexico City press shortly after his elevation to the office of the Substitute Chief Executive in which he was quoted as being enthusiastically in favor of abrogating the said Carranza Decrees, no steps in that direction have been taken. Denouncements numbering hundreds have been admitted for filing on American properties, the deeds and leases to which antedated by several years the adoption of the Constitution of Queretaro, and at least in one case coming to the attention of the Department, a title has actually been issued by the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor to third parties covering property belonging to citizens of this country.
I indicated that the continuance by the present administration of the petroleum policies adopted by Ex-President Carranza will further complicate an already complicated situation. It will tend to delay any action which my Government may have desired to take in respect to resuming official intercourse with Mexico, and, finally, it will retard that restoration of confidence in the ability and willingness of Mexico to fulfill its international obligations—a confidence which all true friends of Mexico would be gratified to see restored at the earliest possible moment.
Mr. Iglesias was inclined to believe that there had been some misunderstanding regarding the recent denouncements for oil development but stated that he would convey to his Government the views expressed by me and hoped to give a satisfactory explanation in the very near future.
He then stated that he had every reason to believe that his Government had not in any sense changed from its desire and willingness [Page 180] to rectify any injustices and adopt the policies heretofore indicated, and to maintain the closest friendly relations with the United States, complying with all of the natural obligations of a sovereign state, member of the Society of Nations. He again expressed the hope that this Government would at an early date renew official relations with Mexico. I then reiterated what I had told him before and expressed the hope that the Mexican Government would be able in the near future to take such effective measures as would eliminate existing complications and obstacles to a renewal of friendly and official relations.