812.6363/1985
The Secretary of State to
the Chargé in Mexico (Schoenfeld)
Washington, October 30,
1926.
Sir: Enclosed is the original and one copy of a
note addressed by me under date of October 30th to the Mexican Secretary
for Foreign Relations. You are instructed to deliver this note
immediately upon its receipt, and to advise me by telegraph of the date
and hour of delivery.
I am [etc.]
[Enclosure]
The Secretary of
State to the Mexican Minister for Foreign
Affairs (Sáenz)
Excellency: The note of Your Excellency,
dated October 7, 1926, has received most careful consideration, and
I have the honor to submit the following reply:
- 1.
- My Government observes that the Mexican Government, while
contending that the retroactive character of a law may not
of itself, in advance of actual confiscatory or otherwise
injurious effects when applied, give rise to objection or be
the subject of diplomatic representations, reiterates its
adherence to the fundamental principle that acquired rights
may not be impaired by legislation retroactive in character
or confiscatory in effect.
- 2.
- My Government likewise notes the unqualified adherence of
the Mexican Government to the fundamental principle that
rights of property of every description legally acquired are
to be respected and guaranteed in conformity with the
recognized principles of international law and of
equity.
- 3.
- My Government has not failed to appreciate the gravity of
the situation arising from the position taken by the Mexican
Government with respect to the negotiations of 1923. As my
previous communications to Your Excellency have amply
explained, the declarations of the Mexican and of the
American Commissioners on that occasion, subsequently
ratified by an exchange of notes between the
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two Governments, constituted,
in the view of my government, solemn and binding
undertakings which formed the basis and moving consideration
for the recognition of the Mexican Government by this
Government.
- 4.
- After a further review of the entire correspondence, and
especially after a careful examination of Your Excellency’s
note of October 7, 1926, this Government finds no occasion
to modify any of the positions which it has heretofore
taken, and desires to be understood as maintaining those
positions with the utmost emphasis. Although they have all
been clearly set forth in my previous communications, and
therefore need not be here restated, I deem it appropriate,
in the light of the tenor and effect of Your Excellency’s
last note, to emphasize again the reservation made by the
American Commissioners and formally stated on the record by
the Mexican Commissioners, acting in behalf of their
Government, at the meeting of August 2, 1923, and to recall
to mind the passage on that subject appearing in Your
Excellency’s note of March 27, 1926.
My purpose in engaging upon this correspondence relating to the land
law and the law concerning the rights to certain products of the
subsoil was, in a spirit of genuine goodwill and friendliness, to
point out so clearly as to leave no room for misunderstanding, the
extremely critical situation affecting the relations between the two
countries which would inevitably be created if those laws were
enacted and enforced in such manner as to violate the fundamental
principles of international law and of equity, and the terms and
conditions of the understanding arrived at in 1923. That purpose has
been fulfilled, the issues have been plainly defined, and my
Government in conclusion reasserts that it expects the Government of
Mexico, in accordance with the true intent and purpose of the
negotiations of 1923, culminating in the recognition of the
Government of Mexico by this Government, to respect in their
entirety the acquired property rights of American citizens, which
have been the subject of our discussion, and expects the Mexican
Government not to take any action under the laws in question and the
regulations issued in pursuance thereto, which would operate, either
directly or indirectly, to deprive American citizens of the full
ownership, use and enjoyment of their said properties and property
rights.
Accept [etc.]
Frank B. Kellogg
Washington, October 30,
1926.
