812.6363/1290
The First Secretary of the Mexican Embassy
(Téllez) to the Chief of the Division of Mexican Affairs,
Department of State (Hanna)
Washington, November 22,
1922.
My Dear Mr. Hanna: In compliance with
instructions just sent me by the Foreign Office, I have the pleasure of
enclosing herewith to you a copy of the declarations made yesterday by
that Office in connection with the statements given to the press by the
Department of State Saturday last.
In this connection, I take [etc]
[Page 706]
[Enclosure—Translation55]
Statement by the Mexican Foreign
Office
With reference to the statement made by the Department of State of
the United States and published in today’s press, the Mexican
Foreign Office makes the following statement:
Although it is true that the Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Mexico
and Mr. Summerlin naturally have had to discuss orally at various
times all matters connected with the decorous resumption of
diplomatic relations between the two countries, it is necessary to
point out that the Mexican Foreign Office—which is the only legal
channel which the Government has for its communication with the
Foreign Offices of other states—neither furnished the petroleum bill
of which it had no knowledge nor much less asked the Department of
State at Washington for comments of any kind thereon. And if the
Executive found it necessary to report to the Chamber of Deputies,
it was because the memorandum of Mr. Summerlin appeared to imply
limitations on the legislative power of Mexico, and to pass over the
incident in silence would have been to neglect a duty of solidarity
towards the other Federal power concerned and to encourage in
addition the belief that importance was not attached to the creation
of a precedent which was in writing and was inconsistent with the
sovereignty of Mexico and might be resorted to against Mexico in the
future by any foreign government.
Fortunately, the Department of State at Washington has stated that it
did not intend in this case to trespass upon the sovereignty of
Mexico; that the United States has no desire to interfere with the
internal affairs of Mexico; that it recognizes that Mexico is the
only judge of its internal policy, and that its intentions continue
to be friendly.
Mexico gladly receives the foregoing statements, inasmuch as it is
animated by the same sentiments of friendship, and it considers this
incident to be closed.
