File No. 812.00/5380b.
The Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Navy.
Washington, October 25, 1912.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the effects of the recent developments in the situation in Mexico, as reported by the Embassy at Mexico City and the consular officers throughout Mexico, are such as to cause this Department concern as to the course of affairs in that country in the near future.
It seems the part of wisdom, therefore, and the Department has been confirmed in its opinion by conferences with the American Ambassador to Mexico, who has recently been in Washington, to be adequately prepared promptly to afford protection to such Americans and American interests as may stand in need thereof.
I accordingly have the honor to request that in addition to the Des Moines and Tacoma, which are now at Vera Cruz and Tampico, respectively, two other vessels, one to be of very light draft, be held in readiness for service in Mexican east-coast waters (the light-draft vessel being necessary in the event of any disturbances in the Yucatan Peninsula, where all the harbors are shallow), so that any emergency that may arise may be quickly and effectively dealt with.
With regard to the situation on the west coast it is requested that vessels be kept in readiness for dispatch, in case of need, to the four principal ports and railway terminals on the west coast of Mexico—i. e., Salina Cruz, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, and Guaymas—since there are large American interests at all of these places and they are the ports which Americans who might be forced to flee from interior points would endeavor to reach in attempting to leave the country. The Department has reason to believe that the port of Manzanillo, which is the gateway to the city of Guadalajara, the second in importance in Mexico, should be kept particularly in mind, since it would appear that the most serious of the revolutionary activities that may break out in the interior of Mexico will probably occur in the State of Jalisco.
This Department realizes that the early dispatch of the Denver to Mexican west-coast waters, which has already been determined upon, and which will probably remain indefinitely in Mexican west-coast waters, makes it necessary for the Navy Department to be prepared to send only three additional vessels to west-coast ports.
I have [etc.]