File No. 812.00/499.
The Secretary of State to the Mexican Ambassador.
Washington, December 1, 1910.
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency’s confidential note No. 362, of the 28th ultimo, in which you state [etc.]
Referring to the Department’s memoranda of the 29th ultimo and to previous correspondence in the matter of the prevention by this Government of any act of violation of neutrality in the United States in aid of persons in arms against the Government of Mexico, I have the honor to reiterate that this Government will act promptly in all cases of violation of neutrality that may come to its attention.
[Page 371]In this connection it is not unworthy of remark that since no state of war exists in Mexico, nor as the Department has been given to understand is any such situation imminent, it can scarcely be regarded that the parties named, no matter what their actions may be, are violating the rules of international law regarding neutrality in time of international conflict or armed rebellion. Should the suggestions in your note regarding the violation of neutrality refer to violations of the American statutes, sometimes designated as “neutrality statutes,” it should be observed that under these statutes no offense is committed and no legal action looking to punishment can be instituted until and unless the parties in question carry out some of the specific acts named and prohibited in the statute; and as bearing upon this point it should be recalled that, since under the American Constitution liberty of speech and of the press is guaranteed, mere propaganda in and of itself would probably not fall within these statutes and would not therefore be punishable thereunder.
With these facts in mind, I have to repeat to your excellency the statement already made that this Government will be most prompt to act so soon as it discovers, either through its own investigations or through evidence furnished by your Government, any violation of its statutes.
Accept [etc.],