No. 481.
Mr. Morgan
to Mr. Evarts.
Legation of
the United States,
Mexico, July 24, 1880.
(Received August 5.)
No. 63.]
Sir: Referring to my dispatch No. 51, and its
inclosure, I now inclose translation of a note this day received by me from
the minister of foreign affairs (which is an answer to my note contained in
the dispatch above mentioned), from which you will observe that the Mexican
Government protests that the refusal of the President to consent to the
crossing of American troops into Mexico, in pursuit of the Indians who,
fleeing before General Hatch, had come upon Mexican soil, cannot be
considered as an asylum granted to the enemies of the United States by
Mexico.
The minister also reiterates the desire on the part of the Mexican Government
to enter into negotiations with the Government of the United States to the
end that the troops of each nation may be authorized to cross into the
territory of the other in pursuit of hostile Indians, who may have fled
there when pursued by troops.
In the name of the President, he denies that Mexico can be held responsible
for any damages which the Indians, who are the subject of this
correspondence, may inflict upon citizens of the United States.
You will also observe that the minister assures me that the Mexican
Government is doing, and will continue to do, everything in its power to
capture the Indians in question.
I also inclose a copy of my note to the minister in answer to the one which
is the subject of this dispatch, of this date.
I am, sir, &c.,
[Inclosure 1 in No.
63—Translation.]
Mr. Ruelas to Mr.
Morgan.
Department of Foreign Affairs,
Mexico, July 23,
1880.
Sir: In due time your excellency’s note, dated
the 13th instant, was received in this department, in which you make
reference to your previous notes of the 21st and 26th-of June last,
relative to the permission asked of the Government of Mexico for the
passage of United States troops into Mexican territory in pursuit of
Indians, and your excellency says that you have received instructions
from your government to say that according asylum to the enemies of the
United States flying over the border when under pursuit involves, in its
apprehension, an urgent obligation on the part of the Mexican Government
to disarm the Indians referred to in your excellency’s said notes, and
the responsibility also on the part of the Mexican Government for any
future inroads upon United States territory they may make.
In due reply I have the honor to say to your excellency that the simple
refusal of the Government of Mexico to grant a permission which the
constitution prohibits can in no manner be interpreted as an accordance
of asylum. The Indians who, eluding the vigilance of the American
authorities in charge of the reservations on which they are confined,
turn the arms which they have received on said reservations against
[Page 765]
pacific inhabitants, and,
after committing their depredations in American territory, invade that
of Mexico, not in search of an asylum, which they know by recent
experience they will not find, but to continue in it their atrocious
crimes, are not only the enemies of the United States, but of all
humanity.
The reasons which the government has for refusing the permission in
question are stated in my note of the 23d of June last. They are based
on unavoidable constitutional duty, and in complying with it no offense
is offered to the United States, nor is any international obligation
broken. Far from this, and desiring to put an end to the depredations of
the savages, the Mexican Government has several times proposed, and I
repeated the proposition in my said note, to enter into negotiations for
the reciprocal passage of troops on bases possible to make. If the
Government of the United States has not cared to accept them, it is not
the fault of that of Mexico.
The recent campaign made against the Indians by General Treviño, in which
he succeeded in drawing them from Mexican territory, and that which
Colonel Valle is now commencing in Chihuahua, are the best proofs that
the government can give that it complies with its duties. Recently the
most imperative orders have been issued by the department of war, to the
end that the Indians referred to by your excellency in your said notes
may be pursued, and you can assure your government that the pursuit will
be energetic within the limits of the republic. In virtue of the
foregoing, I have received instructions from the President to say to
your excellency that the Government of Mexico does not accept the
responsibility which that of the United States desires to impose.
[Inclosure 2 in No. 63.]
Mr. Morgan to Mr.
Ruelas.
Legation of the United States,
Mexico, July 24,
1880.
Sir: I am in receipt of your excellency’s note
of the 23d instant, in which, replying to my note of the 13th instant,
you inform me that in the opinion of the Mexican authorities Mexico
cannot be considered as having granted asylum to the Indians who fled
into her territory from the United States, from the fact of the refusal
of the President to consent to their being followed across the boundary
by the troops of the United States. Also that the Mexican Government is
willing, as it has heretofore expressed its willingness, to enter into a
convention with the United States Government, to the end that the troops
of each nation may be authorized to cross into the territory of the
other, in pursuit of hostile Indians. A copy of your note I have
forwarded to the honorable the Secretary of State of the United
States.
I take this occasion to express to your excellency my gratification at
seeing that your health is sufficiently restored to permit of your being
again able to assume the duties of your office, and I beg to renew to
your excellency the expressions of my distinguished consideration.
