No. 860.
Mr. Romero to Mr. Bayard.
Washington, March 19, 1888. (Received March 19.)
Mr. Secretary: I have the honor to state to you, with reference to our correspondence in relation to a resolution approved by the Senate of the United States on the 5th of May, 1886, whereby the President was recommended to negotiate with Mexico an arrangement to facilitate [Page 1287] the passage, for the purpose of pasturage, across the border line, of the cattle of one country to the territory of the other, that recently a case has occurred in the district of Mier, in the State of Tamaulipas, in which the Mexican citizen Trinidad Barrera had several calves belonging to him, of less than one year old, seized by the United States customs officers at Roma, Texas, on the ground that they had passed from his ranch, called El Refugio, to the territory of the United States to feed, and that import duties upon them were collected of him, and he was not permitted to recover them and take them back to Mexican territory without previously giving bond for the payment of such duties until the Secretary of the Treasury of this country should reach a decision in the premises.
This incident demonstrates the necessity, either that there should be an arrangement between the two Governments, or that such legislative measures as each of them may deem proper should be adopted, to the end of meeting, in either way, the necessities of the case, and taking into account the rights and interests of the two countries, so as to avoid injury to their respective citizens.
In recent numbers of the Congressional Record, I have observed that bills have been introduced in the Senate of the United States during the present session, providing that cattle belonging to citizens of this country which may have passed over into Mexico to graze shall, on their return to this territory, not be subject to customs duties, and inasmuch as this privilege, if adopted, would still be insufficient to meet the needs of the case, I deem it opportune to suggest to you the expediency of providing further that neither shall the introduction of Mexican cattle which may cross over into the United States to graze render them liable to duties.
Otherwise, the Mexican cattle-raisers who live on the frontier would find themselves in a worse situation than at present, and the Mexican Government might find itself constrained to adopt measures for their protection, the enforcement of which might occasion to the citizens of this country difficulties similar to those which the Mexican cattle-raisers now encounter.
Be pleased, etc.,