Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1936, The American Republics, Volume V

812.0145/15

The Ambassador in Mexico (Daniels) to the Secretary of State

No. 3374

Mexico, March 9, 1936.
[Received March 16.]

Sir: With reference to the Department’s instruction of January 11, 1936, instructing the Embassy to inform the Mexican Foreign Office that the American Government reserves all rights as to the effects on American commerce from enforcement of the Presidential Decree published in the Diario Oficial of August 31, 1935, establishing the breadth of Mexican territorial waters at nine nautical miles, I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of the Embassy’s note No. 1438 of March 7, 1936, addressed to the Foreign Office in this sense. In this connection, the Department is respectfully referred to the Embassy’s despatch No. 3229 of January 18, 1936,⁶² explaining the reasons for the Embassy’s delay in transmitting this note.

Respectfully yours,

For the Ambassador:

John H. MacVeagh

Second Secretary of Embassy

[Enclosure]

The American Ambassador (Daniels) to the Mexican Minister for Foreign Affairs (Hay)

No. 1438

Mexico, March 7, 1936.

Excellency: I have the honor, under instructions from my Government, to refer to the Presidential Decree of August 29, 1935, published in the Diario Oficial of August 31, 1935, which purports to amend existing laws so as to extend the territorial waters of Mexico in breadth from three to nine nautical miles.

It is the desire of my Government to inform the Government of Mexico that the United States of America reserves all rights of whatever nature so far as concerns any effects upon American commerce from enforcement of this legislation.

Please accept [etc.]

Josephus Daniels

62. Not printed.