File No. 812.00/1348.
[Untitled]
Washington, April 22, 1911.
Excellency: In further reply to Mr. de la Barra’s note of the 16th ultimo, communicating to the Department a report that on February 7, 1911, persons on the American side of the Riv, Grande fired on Mexican soldiers near Juárez, I have the honor to inclose herewith copies of a letter from the Department of Justice,1 with accompanying papers relating to the investigation of the matter by its agents.2
From the evidence collected by the agents of the United States, it seems clearly established that the shots which were thought by the Federal troops to have been fired upon them from the American side of the river were in reality fired from the Mexican side of the river by certain insurrecto scouts, who suddenly appeared upon the hills directly opposite the smelter, which were apparently more or less directly in line with the crowd collected upon the American side of the river. The very thorough patrol established at the time of the incident by the American troops, as reported by Capt. Dillingham, would seem to make this explanation conclusive. The Department believes that this explanation will be found entirely satisfactory to the Mexican Government.
I wish, however, in closing, to assure your excellency that the Government of the United States will in the future, as it has in the past, make every effort to secure the strict enforcement of our so-called neutrality statutes, to the end that no hostile act shall be carried on from American territory.
Accept [etc.],