File No. 812.113/216.
The Acting Secretary of State to the Mexican Ambassador.
Washington, March 16, 1912.
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency’s note No. 1143, of the 11th instant, in which, in view of the cordial and amicable relations existing between our two countries, you express the hope, as you have been instructed by your Government to do, that prompt measures be taken by the Government of the United States to prevent the exportation of arms and munitions of war by private individuals in this country through the port of Juarez, now in the control of rebel forces, into Mexican territory.
In reply I have the honor to refer your excellency, in so far as the applicability of the governing rules of international law and the provisions of the statutes of the United States are concerned, to the Department’s note to your excellency of the 8th instant, which sets forth the position taken by this Government not only under and in [Page 748] accordance with the principles of international law (which remain now, as heretofore, entirely unaffected by legislation of this Government), but also the position which, under our so-called neutrality statutes, it was necessary for this Government to take prior to the passage by Congress of the joint resolution dated March 14, the substance of which was communicated to your excellency personally on the evening of the same day. However, the Congress of the United States, voicing the desire of the President and of the American people that the Mexican nation shall be restored to conditions of domestic tranquility, desiring to do everything this Government might properly do to contribute to such a state of tranquility, and in the hope that the present unrest in Mexico shall soon pass away, has so modified existing statutes germane to the exportation of arms and munitions of war from this country as to inhibit, under conditions named, the exportation of any such materials from any place in the United States to any country specified until otherwise ordered by the President or by Congress. This action was taken not because of any obligation so to do resting upon this Government by reason of the rules and principles of international law, which obligations were already far more than met by the existing so-called neutrality statutes of the United States, but solely from a sincere desire to promote the return of peace to Mexico and the welfare of a neighboring nation.
In pursuance of the powers conferred upon him, the President, on the 14th instant, by proclamation, gave the force of law to the provisions of the joint resolution so that at the present moment the exportation, within the meaning of the statute, of any arms or munitions of war from any place in the United States into the Republic of Mexico is prohibited, and is therefore unlawful, and penalties for engaging in such exportation are prescribed.
In requesting that your excellency will be good enough to transmit to the Mexican Government the copy of this proclamation which will be found accompanying this note it is hoped that your excellency will have the kindness to point out that it is an evidence of the deep and abiding friendship of the American nation for Mexico and the Mexican people and an earnest of its constant and impartial determination against, even negative participation in the domestic difficulties of Mexico, to which it is the sincere and earnest desire of the President that the blessings of peace and prosperity may soon return.
This action should be construed, therefore, not only as an act of friendship, but should be considered as a strong incentive to every possible and proper effort to reestablish throughout Mexico at the earliest possible time the reign of law and order.
Accept [etc.]