No. 487.
Mr. Morgan
to Mr. Evarts.
Mexico, September 21, 1880. (Received October 7.)
Sir: Your cipher telegram, which appears to have been received at Matamoros on the 15th instant, reached here late on the night of the 17th. I prepared a note to the minister for foreign relations, in which I requested the consent of the Mexican Government to the fitting out of troops by the United States to pursue Victorio across the border, which on the following morning I carried to the foreign office.
Mr. Fernandez, who has recently been appointed chief clerk, received me. I asked to see Mr. Ruelas; Mr. Fernandez said that he was ill, and in reply to my question whether he (Mr. Fernandez) was authorized to represent him, he replied that he was. I then referred him to the notes which I had addressed to Mr. Ruelas on the 21st and 26th of June and 13th of July last, in which I had warned him that Victorio and his band, having found asylum in Mexico, and the Government of Mexico having refused its consent to the crossing the Rio Grande by our troops in pursuit of them, would soon recuperate their forces, and, recrossing the Rio Bravo, renew their depredations upon our citizens and upon their property; and I said to him that the apprehensions which I had expressed in those notes had been realized, as I had been informed through the telegrams which I had only a short time before received from you, whereupon I handed him the note which I had prepared thereon, a copy of which I inclose, and which he read in my presence. He said, after reading it that, Mr. Ruelas being ill he would show it to him and would send me an answer thereto in a few days. I replied that the matter I had called upon was of serious importance to both governments, and that if the foreign secretary was unable to see me, and he, Mr. Fernandez, was not authorized to act in his stead, I must request an interview with the President. He asked me when I wished the interview to take place; I replied, at once. He went out, and returning in a few moments, informed me that the President would see me on the Monday following (20th instant). I then took my leave, informing him [Page 775] that I should communicate the President’s reply to you by telegraph, which I did.
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You will observe that in my note to Mr. Ruelas I limited myself to asking the consent of the Mexican Government to the fitting out of troops, in order that Victorio might be pursued upon Mexican territory. I did not wish the President or his ministers to feel that they were acting under any threat of future responsibility.
In my interview with Mr. Fernandez, however, I called his attention to the fact that my government was in earnest about the matter, and that something must really be done to protect the people of the United States against the constant depredations which were committed upon them by parties residing on this side of the boundary line between the two countries, and by public enemies of our country who found asylum upon Mexican soil.
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On Monday, at eleven o’clock, I repaired to the palace, where I was at once received by the President, to whom I explained the matter in hand. He replied to me that he had been authorized some time ago by Congress to enter into a convention with the United States by which the troops of each nation would be allowed to cross into the territory of the other when in pursuit of their enemy; that Mexico had on several occasions suggested that such a convention should be agreed to, but that the United States had not expressed any willingness to act thereon. I replied to him that the question of a convention was not the one which I had come to discuss, although I might mention that similar propositions had been made by the representative of the United States to the Mexican Government and by the United States Government to the representative of the Mexican Government at Washington without avail; that my instructions were to obtain from the Mexican Government its consent to the crossing of American troops into Mexican territory in pursuit of their enemy, who was causing damage to Mexican citizens as they had caused damage to ours. I called his attention to the fact, of which he must be cognizant, that a large body of troops were kept on the north side of the Rio Grande to preserve the peace on that frontier as well as to protect Mexican soil from invasion by evil disposed men from the United States, and that recently several of this class, suspected of being engaged in enterprises which might result to her detriment, had been/arrested; that these acts showed the strongest desire on the part of the United States to preserve the friendly relations now existing between the two governments; and that it occurred to me we were asking very little when we requested from Mexico the courtesy of allowing our troops to cross into her territory in pursuit of the savages who had been murdering our people and who “had found safety from the pursuit of our troops upon her soil. The President replied that he regretted the circumstance greatly, but that the constitution prohibited the entry of any foreign troops upon Mexican territory without the assent previously obtained of the Senate. He said also that he could apply to the Senate to give its consent, but that it was to be regretted that the forms of legislation should be gone through with to meet an isolated case, when provision might be made for this and for all similar occasions which might occur hereafter by a convention, which he requested me to state to you he was prepared to enter into; at the same time he said that his cabinet was then assembled, and that he would see whether Mr. Mariscal, minister of justice, with the assistance of the minister for foreign affairs, could suggest some mode which [Page 776] would be satisfactory to his advisers and himself, by which the consent of the government asked for could be given without violating the constitution, and that Mr. Mariscal, in an unofficial character, would communicate the result to me. I asked him when I might expect an answer. He replied, “to-morrow” (to-day). I have waited for Mr. Mariscal until the mail is about to close, but he has not presented himself, and I therefore report to you in what direction I have moved, and what my efforts have been to carry out the instructions contained in your telgram.
I may here state that on the evening of the day of my receipt of your dispatch I had a visit from Mr. Mariscal, in which he mentioned to me (by authority) the desire of the President that a convention between the two countries should be agreed to, by which troops belonging to either should be allowed to cross the Rio Grande. I then mentioned to him the telegram which I had that day received (of which he said he was ignorant), and I used all the arguments I was master of to convince him of the propriety of the Presidents acceding to your request. He assured me that he would see the President before I did on Monday, and I think I am justified in saying that it was because Mr. Mariscal had approached him upon the subject that he suggested him as the medium of any future discussion between us, added to the fact that Mr. Ruelas, the minister for foreign affairs, is in such a state of health that he can only attend to the routine business of his department.
I am, &c.,