File No. 812.00/12221½.
Secretary Dodge to
the Secretary of State.
No. 13.]
Niagara Falls, N. Y.,
June 9, 1914.
Sir: I have the honor to enclose herewith a
copy of the reply of the Representatives of General Huerta to the
Mediators, relative to the plan originally proposed by the Mediators.
This copy was handed by the Mediators to our Commissioners at our
conference this afternoon.
I have [etc.]
[Inclosure.]
[Untitled]
The Mexican delegation accepts the bases proposed by the mediation
with very slight modifications, which are stated herewith:
- 1.
- The new government, to substitute the Government of
President Huerta, shall be composed of a provisional
president of the Republic, selected from among neutral
elements and whose honor and standing shall be so high as to
remove him from any partisan objection; two members to be
selected, respectively, from elements of high standing and
representative of each of the two great factions into which
Mexican political opinion is at the present time divided;
and the other two members to be persons of recognized honor
and general acceptance, without reflecting particularly the
conflicting tendencies.
[Page 526]
In order to effect the transfer of
power from the hands of General Huerta to the new
government, and conforming to the machinery provided by the
Constitution, General Huerta shall appoint the person
selected to be provisional president regularly to the
portfolio of Foreign Relations, and shall present at once
his own resignation to Congress for its acceptance and turn
the power over to the Minister of Foreign Relations.
- 2.
- Upon the constitution of the government in the form
provided by the preceding base, it shall at once decree a
general and absolute amnesty to all Mexicans covering
political and related offenses.
- 3.
- The new government shall immediately call an election for
the election of president and vice-president of the Republic
and members of Congress, so that the operation of the public
powers may conform to the constitutional regime within as
short a period of time as possible. Inasmuch as there is no
electoral law of a general and permanent character, these
elections shall be governed by the provisions of the law of
May 22, 1912, which the government shall expressly put into
force for the purpose, supplementing it in similar terms to
govern the election of president and vice-president.
- 4.
- The new government will be requested to give immediate and
special attention to the following matters:
- The agrarian question.
- Electoral legislation.
- Primary and agricultural education.
- 5.
- The suggestion will likewise be made to the new government
of the advisability of adopting measures for the creation of
international commissions for the solution of the claims of
foreigners for damages arising out of military acts or the
acts of established authorities. Upon similar bases, a
special commission will be constituted to settle the claims
of nationals.
- 6.
- The provisional government of Mexico, organized in the
form stated, shall be recognized without delay by the
Government of the United States and by the three mediating
countries.
- 7.
- The American forces of occupation shall proceed to
evacuate the Mexican territory they occupy, within fifteen
days after the date the provisional government, through
regular channels or through the mediators, notifies the
Government of the United States that it is organized, and
such evacuation shall be fully completed within not to
exceed thirty days.
The Mexican delegation accepts this basis, subject to consultation
with its Government as to the period of the military occupation and
the withdrawal of the naval forces.
It is understood that as a result of this agreement, the contending
forces in Mexico will lay down their arms, submitting to the
Provisional Government, which will reorganize the public forces of
the nation.
On this point a new base will be prepared if deemed necessary.
