Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress with the Annual Message of the President, December 2, 1872, Part I
No. 308.
Mr. Nelson to Mr. Fish..
Mexico, April 15, 1872. (Received May 1.)
Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy and translation (A and B) of an interesting article by Mr. Emilio Velasco upon the relations between the United States and Mexico, and especially upon the question of the removal of the Indian tribes from the northern States of Mexico to their reservations in the United States.
I am, &c.,
Mexico and the United States.
By Don Emilio Velasco.
[From the Siglo XIX of April 12, 1872.]
The official correspondence of the Department of State at Washington, presented on the 4th of December last, presents the state of our relations with the United States during the last year. We propose to make an analysis of the various topics mentioned in the said volume. The attack and sacking of Guaymas, perpetrated by Don Fortuno Vizcaino in 1870, is one of these topics.
The Government of the United States, in a note dated 16th of November, 1870, addressed by the Secretary of State to Mr. Nelson, the minister of that nation in Mexico, bases the responsibility of the Mexican government on the fact that Vizcaino acted under orders from Don Placido Vega, residing in the canton of Tepic; that the expedition was organized in Tepic with the connivance of Don Manuel Lozada, of whom Vega was believed to be the instrument; that although the general government has appointed officers in that canton, the appointees are creatures of Lozada; that the government itself has ordered its troops not to invade the territory controlled by Lozada; that Tepic is under the nominal authority of the funtionaries appointed by the government, but the real authority of the said Lozada; that in times of peace the reparation of damages, like those done at Guaymas, belongs in the first instance to the tribunals of the country in which they are committed; but that if the judicial authority is silenced by armed force, it would be ridiculous to submit the matter to such authority, especially if there is any reason to believe that the Mexican government has voluntarily suffered its authority to be disowned in Tepic.
From these antecedents the Secretary of State at Washington argues that, so long as the Mexican government pretends to exercise jurisdiction in Tepic, it should be held responsible for the damages inflicted upon American citizens, either there or elsewhere, by forces proceeding from Tepic. This matter has not as yet led to any results, since, as it appears from other notes, no American citizen suffered any loss by the piratical assaults upon Guaymas; but it is worth while to call attention to the principle upon which the American Government bases the responsibility of its attributes to Mexico. This principle is;? the consent of our government in leaving Tepic semi-independent, under the real sway of Lozada, but the nominal authority of the employes of the government, whereby the latter becomes responsible for the actions of Lozada, since it would be impossible to obtain reparation from the tribunals. It should also be observed that the general style of the note is friendly, and that it reveals not merely a desire to avoid creating difficulties for our government, but also to observe all the consideration due to a friendly government.
On the 12th of December Mr. Fish, the Secretary of State, wrote to Mr. Nelson, the American minister in Mexico, stating that military operations against the Texan Indians of the mountains of Guadalupe could only succeed during winter, and with the co-operation of the Mexican authorities, instructing him to solicit from our government an authorization for the governor of Chihuahua to treat and combine operations directly with the American military authorities, allowing the latter, when necessary, to follow the Indians into Mexican territory, and employing Mexican troops in cutting off their retreat. Mr. Nelson, in compliance with these instructions, on the 4th of [Page 418] January, 1871, addressed a note on the subject to Mr. Lerdo, then minister of foreign affairs.
The latter replied expressing, on the part of the executive, the best wishes to cooperate in the plan above sketched, to which end the President had authorized the government of Chihuahua to treat directly with the American authorities at El Presidio and lend them every aid.
As to the permission for American troops to pursue the Indians within our territory, Mr. Lerdo replied that the executive had not then the power to grant it, as it depended upon congress, which would meet on the 1st of April, 1871, for which reason, should it then be thought desirable, the question would be submitted to congress. Notwithstanding this favorable disposition, the lack of combination between the authorities of the two frontiers caused the state of Chihuahua to be invaded by several parties of Indians, one of which murdered the American citizen, Charles Kerl, and five companions; though the lack of combination did not spring from any fault of the authorities on either side, but apparently from the lack of time to carry it into effect.
The Mexican government nevertheless again recommended the government of Chihuahua to come to an understanding with the commander of Fort Davis.
The Government of the United States, in view of information received from its military authorities, judged proper to solicit from the Mexican congress permission for its troops to pursue the Indians within our territory, while those of Mexico should cut off their retreat.
The Secretary of State accordingly instructed Mr. Nelson on the 7th of February, 1871, as follows:
“You will consequently adopt such measures for that purpose as may seem to you proper and likely to be successful. In a matter, however, which must, if not judiciously managed, wound the sensibilities of a people so averse to anything like an invasion of their soil by foreigners, it will be necessary to move with great delicacy and caution, not merely with a view to compass the object desired, but to avoid giving offense by even proposing it.”
These words prove the loyal good faith of the American Government in this negotiation, and furnish another motive for appreciating the delicacy of that Government toward our own. Mr. Nelson acted with no less delicacy. He addresed an unofficial note to Mr. Azpiroz, who was then in charge of the ministry of foreign affairs, as its chief clerk, asking the opinion of the Mexican government as to the possibility of submitting to congress at that time the question of authorizing the passage of American troops into Mexico, in pursuit of the Indians. At that time (April, 1871) the executive could not count upon congress, and it is certain that the latter would have refused its approval to any proposal of the kind emanating from the executive.
Mr. Aspiroz replied to Mr. Nelson that, in the opinion of the Mexican government, the occasion was not a proper one to solicit such permission from congress with any well-founded hope of obtaining a prompt and favorable decision.
In this reply Mr. Aspiroz manifested that the Mexican government highly appreciated the delicacy of the American Government, which, in soliciting the said permission, desired to obtain it without wounding the susceptibilities of this country. The question which gave rise to these negotiations deserves all the attention of our government. The United States have a great interest in the pacification of these barbarous tribes; but the latter, when pursued oh the American side of the frontier, flee to our border States, where they commit atrocious outrages. These tribes are thus employed in perpetrating depredations alternately upon both frontiers, although their most destructive ravages are those committed within our territory, because our frontier States lack the necessary elements for an active and efficacious pursuit. It is, then, for the interest of both countries to combine their efforts to subdue these barbarous Indians, and our frontier States would derive incalculable advantages from such action.
The policy of the American Government deserves our cordial approval and support; that policy being to locate these Indians upon reservations as the first step toward civilization.
The tribes which have hitherto subsisted by pillage, and have led a wandering life, have often deceitfully pretended to accept this policy, and have gone on committing ravages in both countries. The negotiation, of which we have just made an analysis, shows how different is the present from the former policy of the United States.
On our frontier it was a settled conviction that the savage Indians received aid and encouragement from the American authorities for their depredations upon our soil, and this was doubtless one of the reasons why the Mexican government, in 1848, insisted upon inserting in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo the clause making the American Government responsible for the damages caused by Indian invasions.
Far from this The American Government now shows a fixed desire to reclaim these tribes from their nomadic condition, for which the most natural means is the employment of force. It would be easy for the American Government to drive all these Indians into our territory, where they would cause immense evils, but instead of this, [Page 419] it labors to place the Indians beyond the reach of committing depredations in either country. It may, therefore, be readily seen that the realization of the proposals of the American Government, through the co-operation of our own, is for the true interests of the frontier States. The governor of Chihuahua so understood the matter, and therefore advocated a combination of the forces of the two nations. The day when the American policy shall definitely triumph in this matter, and the Indian tribes shall be obliged to abandon their nomadic life, the corner-stone of the prosperity and growth of our frontier States will have been laid.