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BANCROFT
LIBRARY
Some of the facts and arguments
which led to the recognition of the
First Chief of the Constitutionalist
Army in charge of the Executive
Power of the Mexican Republic, Mr.
Venustiano Carranza, as the de facto
government in Mexico.
By Heriberto Barron, friend and
follower of Mr. ~ Carranza, and a
member of the Constitutionalist party
Foreign & International Book Company, In
11O EAST 42ND STREET
NEW YORK CITY
MR. VENUSTIANO CARRANZA, FIRST CHIEF OF THE CONSTITUTION-
ALIST ARMY, IN CHARGE OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER OF THE
MEXICAN REPUBLIC.
The Legitimacy of the Government of
Mr. Venmtiano Carranza in Mexico
San Antonio, Texas, July 16, 1915.
To The Honorable Woodrow Wilson,
President of the United States,
Washington, D. C.
Your Excellency :
I request that you fix your attention
on this letter, because in it I will present
to you a legal study, applied to the events
which have taken place in Mexico from
February 18, 1913, until the present date,
and in which I propose to demonstrate
that the government of Senor Don
Venustiano Carranza is constitutionally
legal and should have been recognized by
the United States and other nations of
the world from the time of First Chief
of the Constitutionalist army, complying
with the duties imposed by the Consti-
tution of the Mexican Republic, refused
to recognize the usurper's Government
of General Victoriano Huerta.
To arrive at this result, I will review
briefly the events which took place in the
City of Mexico from February 9 to Feb-
ruary 22, 1913, during which period the
President of the Republic, Don Francisco
I. Madero, and the Vice-President, Don
Jose M. Pino Suarez, were assassinated.
On February 9, 1913, Generals Ber-
nardo Reyes and Felix Diaz, liberated
from the prison in Mexico City in which
they were held on charges of rebellion,
and accompanied by a body of troops and
the alumni of the Military School of
Aspirants, made an attack on the National
Palace, which was repulsed by the gar-
rison, General Bernardo Reyes perishing
in the fight.
Felix Diaz, at the head of the rebellious
troops and a group of his civil partisans,
then directed an attack on the Ciudadela,
taking possession of this building, estab-
lishing himself in it by force, and declar-
ing his refusal to acknowledge the con-
stituted authorities.
The President of the Republic, Don
Francisco I. Madero, meanwhile, having
knowledge of what had taken place, went
on horseback from Chapultepec to the
National Palace, encountering on the way
General Victoriano Huerta, who pro-
tested his loyalty and offered his sword
to defend the Government. Upon arrival
at the National Palace, General Huerta
was named military commander of the
City of Mexico and placed in command
of the loyal troops destined to battle with
Felix Diaz and his companions.
From February 9 until February 18
the battle in the streets of Mexico be-
tween the troops defending the Govern-
ment and the rebellious troops did not
cease. General Huerta, notwithstanding
that he was amply supplied with the ele-
ments of war, did not make a single res-
olute and decisive attack against the
rebels in the Ciudadela, who did not num-
ber 1,000, and this is a proof that he then
meditated the treason which he later
consummated.
On February 18, after conferring se-
rectly with the Archbishop of Mexico,
Don Jose Mora y Del Rio, to secure the
aid of the Catholic clergy; with the
American Ambassador, Henry Lane Wil-
son, and with a group of reactionary sen-
ators partisans of Porfirio Diaz,
Huerta substituted the loyal garrison that
commanded the National Palace, with
the Twenty-ninth Battalion commanded
by the traitor, Aureliano Blanquet, who
was already in combination with Huerta ;
and while Huerta was breakfasting with
Gustavo Madero, brother of the Presi-
dent, still protesting his adhesion to the
President, Blanquet declared a rebellion
in the National Palace, and after a vio-
lent scene made prisoners of the Presi-
Bancroft Library
dent, the Vice-President and his minis-
ters.
While this transpired, Deputy Gustavo
Madero was conducted to the Ciudadela
and assassinated by bullets that same
night, to satisfy a vengeance and to ter-
rorize the other deputies.
On February 19, during the course of
the day, the relatives of Senor Madero
sought to convince him, through the con-
tinued menaces of Huerta, that the only
course to save his and the vice-president's
lives was to present their resignations of
the high posts in which they had been
placed by popular election. This resig-
nation was written, signed and deposited
in the hands of the Secretary of Foreign
Relations of the Cabinet of Senor Ma-
dero, Don Pedro Lascurain, with the con-
dition that it would not be presented to
Congress until the President and Vice-
President arrived aboard a Cuban vessel
lying in the harbor at Vera Cruz to trans-
port them to Havana.
Huerta, without complying with his
promise to save -the lives of the Presi-
dent and the Vice-President, obliged Las-
curain by force to present the resigna-
tions of these high officials before
Congress, which was also compelled by
Huerta by force to assemble, the Cham-
ber of Deputies being surrounded with
troops and the threat being made to shoot
whichever deputy refused to obey the
orders of Huerta. The resignations were
accepted, Lascurain took possession of
the Presidency for half an hour, named
Huerta Secretary of Gobernacion, re-
nounced the Presidency, and Huerta, still
by violence and duress; and by means of
a comedy of legality, became Provisional
President of the Republic, consummating
the manifest usurpation.
These are the striking features of the
events consummated in Mexico up to
February 19, before the assassination of
the President.
Mow let us see what the . Constitution
of the Mexican Republic provides in
several of its articles and their relation
to that abnormal situation.
Article No. 121, of the Constitution,
provides as follows :
"Every public functionary without any
exception, before taking possession of
his post, shall make the protest to guard
this constitution and the laws emanating
from it."
By virtue of this disposition, all public
officials of the administration of Presi-
dent Madero who had made the protest
to guard the Constitution and the laws
emanating from it such as ministers,
senators, deputies and governors of
states were obliged to observe the same
and the precept of the same Constitutfon,
contained in Article No. 128, as follows :
"This Constitution will not lose its
force and vigor, even if, by any rebellion,
its observance should be interrupted. If,
through an overthrow, a government is
established contrary to the principles
which it sanctions, as soon as the people
recover their liberty its observance will
be reestablished, and in accord with- it
and with the laws issuing from it those
who were in the Government emanating
from the rebellion, as well as those who
co-operated with them, will be judged."
All public officials, in compliance with
this precept, should have protested
against the usurpation of Huerta, should
have appealed to the people to refuse to
recognize the usurper, and "as soon as
the people should have recovered their
liberty, should judge those who figured
in the rebellious Government and those
who co-operated with them."
Was that what happened in the City
of Mexico? Unfortunately, no. The
secretaries of the cabinet who. in con-
formity with the Constitution, had the
right to the succession to the presidencv,
terrorized by events and by the assassi-
nation, did not have the bravery to pro-
test against usurpation in compliance with
the duty imposed on them by the Con-
stitution. The same considerations
swayed the President of the Chamber of
Deputies, the President of the Senate,
and the members of the Supreme Court
of Justice, in whom the desire to preserve
their lives triumphed over their duty to
save their country.
'But was such the 'case in the States of
the Republic ? Fortunately for Mexico
and for the conservation of the Con-
stitutional Government, in one of the
states that which transpired iri the capi-
tal did not occur; and there was
Constitutional Governor, elected by the
people the Governor of Coahuila who
complied faithfully with the duties im-
posed by the Constitution, without tak-
ing into account the perils to which his
patriotic attitude might expose him.
This Governor was Don Venustiano Car-
ranza, Chief Executive of Coahuila.
Let us recite faithfully the record :
On February 18, 1913, the treason of
Huerta being consummated, and, the
President and Vice-President and Min-
isters of the Cabinet being prisoners, the
traitor general communicated with rep-
resentatives of foreign governments and
with the Governors of the Mexican
States, demanding of these latter prompt
recognition.
Herewith is the text of the telegram
which Huerta sent to the Governors of
the Mexican States:
"Authorized by the Senate, I have as-
sumed executive power ; the President
and his Cabinet are prisoners."
The Governor of Coahuila, Don
Venustiano Carranza, on February 19,
in the morning, convoked the legislature
of the State and presented to it the fol-
lowing official communication, in order
that a resolution might be taken by a
legislative power which, like his own
post, was constitutional:
"Government of the State of Coahuila
de Zaragoza Republic of Mexico
Third Section, No. 5565.
"Under date of yesterday, and coming
from Mexico City, I received the follow-
ing message from General Victoriano
Huerta :
; ' 'Authorized by the Senate, I have as-
sumed executive power; the President
and his Cabinet are prisoners.'
"The above telegram is of itself in-
sufficient to explain with clearness the
delicate situation entered upon by the
country ; moreover, as the Senate, in con-
formity with the Constitution, has not the
faculties to designate the First Magistrate
of the Nation, it would not legally au-
thorize General Huerta to assume the
executive power, and, in consequence,
that general has no legitimate investiture
as President of the Republic.
"Desiring to comply faithfully with
the sacred duties of my office, I believe it
expedient to address myself to this hon-
orable Chamber, in order that it may
resolve on the attitude which the Gov-
ernment of the State should assume with
respect to the general who, by mistake
or disloyalty, pretends to usurp the Chief
Magistracy of the Republic.
"Hoping that the resolution of this
honorable Congress will be in accord with
legal principles and with the interests of
the country, I am gratified to renew to
you the assurances of my distinguished
consideration and particular appreciation.
"Liberty and Constitution. Saltillo,
February 19, 1913. V. Carranza E.
Garza Perez, Secretary. To the Citi-
zens Secretaries of the Honorable Con-
gress of the State."
Permit me, Mr. President, to call your
attention to the highly patriotic attitude
of Senor Carranza. immediately after the
usurpation and before the assassination
of the President, which, through indig-
nation caused throughout Mexico and the
civilized world, was strengthened and
caused him, in addressing himself to the
members of the Congress of the State,
to declare to them that he hoped their
resolution would "be in accord with legal
principles and the interest of the coun-
try."
The result of the communication of
Senor Carranza to the Legislature was
that after a brief discussion, in which
all the deputies were in complete accord,
the Legislature of Coahuila issued the
following decree, which was immediately
promulgated by the Governor of the
State :
"Venustiano Carranza, Constitutional
Governor of the free and sovereign State
of Coahuila de Zaragoza, to its inhabi-
tants, know ye :
"That the Congress of the State has
decreed the following:
'The Twenty-second Constitutional
Congress of the free, independent and
sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza,
decrees :
'' 'Art. I. The State refuses to recog-
nize General Victoriano Huerta in the
character of chief of the executive power
of the Republic, which he claims through
act of the Senate, and it likewise refuses
to recognize all the acts and dispositions
which he may dictate in that character.
" 'Art. II. The Legislature hereby
confers extraordinary faculties on the
executive of the State, in all branches of
the public administration, in order that
he may exercise those powers deemed
necessary and proceed to arm forces to
aid in sustaining constitutional order in
the Republic.
" 'Economico Excite (urge) the Gov-
ernors of the States, the chiefs of Fed-
eral forces, rurales and militia of the
federation, that they may second the at-
titude of the Governor of this State.
" 'Given in the Salon of Sessions of
the Honorable Congress of the State, in
the City of Saltillo, on the 19th day of
February, 1913. Deputy A. Barrera,
President. Deputy J. Sanchez Herrera,
Secretary. Deputy Gabriel Calzada,
Secretary.
" 'Public., communicate and observe.
Saltillo, February 19, 1913. V. Carranza.
E. Garza Perez, Secretary."
From the moment in which he pro-
mulgated the foregoing decree, Mr. Pres-
ident, the audacious usurpation of Vic-
toriano Huerta was refused recognition
by a constitutional governor of the Mex-
ican Republic in obedience to a decree
issued by the Legislature of the same
State and in compliance with the pre-
cepts of the Constitution. It was not a
revolutionary movement which he in-
stalled; it was a movement of revindi-
cation of constitutional government, led
by him who do not only had the right
but the duty of leading it.
The foregoing events are neither sub-
tleties nor technicalities of law on which
to found an unworthy action; they are
the palpable proofs that Venustiano Car-
ranza, Governor of Coahuila, conforming
to the spirit and the letter of the Mexi-
can Constitution, assumed the constitu-
tional power usurped by a rebel general,
in order to reestablish in Mexico the con-
stitutional government.
From the moment that none of the
Ministers, and neither the President of
the Chamber of Deputies, nor the Presi-
dent of the Senate or the President of
the Supreme Court, complied with their
duties, Venustiano Carranza was the le-
gitimate successor of President Madero.
To comply with the decree of the Leg-
islature of Coahuila, the formation of an
army to face the military dictatorship of
Huerta was necessary, and the Governor
of Coahuila, at the front of sixty-five
loyal soldiers, launched the struggle.
On February 22, while being con-
ducted from the National Palace to the
penitentiary, the President and the Vice-
President of the Republic were assassi-
nated. This crime, perpetrated in cold
blood by the usurper and his partisans,
raised a cry of indignation in all the
Republic and strengthened the dignified
and patriotic attitude of Carranza.
A multitude of volunteers presented
themselves to be enrolled in the ranks
of the Constitutionalist army, which, in
a short time, reached the figure of 2,000
men. It was necessary for this army to
have a chief recognized by all, to estab-
lish discipline and to outline a plan of
operations. This necessity was answered
by the Plan of Guadalupe, signed at the
Hacienda of Guadalupe, in the State of
Coahuila, the 26th day of March, 1913,
which I copy herewith :
"Considering that General Victoriano
Huerta, to whom the Constitutional Pres-
ident, Don Francisco I. Madero, had
confided the defense of the institutions
and legalities of his Government, uniting
with the armed rebel enemies against
this Government to restore the former
dictatorship, committed the crime of
treason to attain power, arresting the cit-
izens' President and Vice-President, as
well as their Ministers, forcing them by
violent measures to resign their posts,
the which is proved .by the messages
which the said General Huerta directed
to the Governors of the States, communi-
cating to them that he had imprisoned
the supreme magistrates of the Nation
and their Cabinet ; considering that the
legislative and judicial powers, contrary
to the laws and constitutional precept^,
have recognized and protected General
Victoriano Huerta and his illegal and
anti-patriotic proceedings ; and consider-
ing, finally, that some of the Governors
10
of the States of the Union have recog-
nized the illegitimate government im-
posed by a part of the army, commanded
by Huerta, which consummated the
treason, notwithstanding they have vio-
lated the sovereignty of these States, the
Governors of which should have been the
first to refuse to recognize the illegiti-
mate Government ; the subscribers, chiefs
and officials in command of Constitu-
tionalist forces, have agreed upon and
will sustain with arms the following:
PLAN
"1. Recognition is refused to Vic-
toriano Huerta as President of the Re-
public.
"2. Recognition is refused also to the
legislative and judicial powers of the
Federation.
"3. Recognition will be refused the
Governors of the States who persist in
recognizing the federal powers which
form the present administration, 30 days
after the publication of this plan.
"4. For the organization of the army
entrusted with enforcing compliance with
our proposals, we name as first chief of
the army, which will be denominated the
Constitutionalist army, the Citizen
Venustiano Carranza, Governor of the
State of Coahuila.
"5. Upon occupation of the City of
Mexico by the Constitutionalist army, the
executive power will be encharged ad in-
terim to the Citizen Venustiano Car-
ranza, first chief of the army, or who-
ever may substitute him.
"6. The President ad interim of the
Republic shall convoke general elections
as soon as peace has been consolidated,
delivering the power to the citizen who
may be elected.
"7. The Citizen who acts as first chief
of the Constitutionalist army in each
State whose Governor may have recog-
nized Huerta, will assume the post of
Provisional Governor and will convoke
local elections after the citizens who may
have been elected to discharge the high-
est post in the Federation, as provided
above, have taken their positions.
"Signed at the Hacienda de Guada-
lune. Coahuila, the 26th day of March,
1913."
(The signatures of all the chiefs and
officials of the Constitutionalist army
follow.)
This plan has been recognized by all
the chiefs and officials who headed the
Constitutionalist army, after the plan was
issued, and all have protested on their
word of honor to comply with it.
There has been much criticism of
Senor Carranza for having refused to
recognize the legislative and judicial
powers of the Federation, but to be logi-
cal in his . movement the Governor of
Coahuila could not do anything else ex-
cept declare outside the law all those
who approved the usurpation, or who re-
mained passively silent without pro-
testing against it, such as Senor Vasquez
Tagle, Secretary of Justice in the Cabinet
of Senor Madero, who is now proposed,
as you are aware, Mr. President, by
Francisco Villa and Felipe Angeles, as
the legal successor of Senor Madero, just
when the revindicating movement of the
Constitutionalist army has triumphed in
all the Republic.
I believe, Mr. President, I have satis-
factorily demonstrated the constitution-
al legality of Senor Carranza as chief of
the Constitutionalist movement and as
encharged now with the executive power
of the Mexican Republic while awaiting
the convocation of elections for Presi-
dent and Congressional Deputies.
If the abnormal condition which has
transpired in Mexico and which the laws
cannot foresee in all their details, had
occurred in the United States, no one
would venture to deny the legality of him
who, under identical conditions, should
have led a movement to reestablish con-
stitutional government.
Suppose that the President and the
Vice-President of the United States had
been arrested and assassinated by a gen-
eral of the American army : suppose that
the legislative and judicial powers, ter-
rorized, did not have the bravery to pro-
test against the usurpation ; suppose that
the Ministers had been silenced and that
onlv the Governor of New York, sup-
ported bv a decree of the Legislature of
the State, had refused to recognize the
usurpation and had called on the people
11
and the loyal part of the army to over-
throw the regime of the usurper. Would
there be any one in the United States
bold enough to deny that the Governor
of New York, under those circumstances,
was the legitimate representative of the
constitutional power in the United States
until new elections could be called?
Criticism also has been directed at
Senor Carranza because he has not yet
restored the constitutional regime m
Mexico; but it is well known that when
the Constitutionalist movement tri-
umphed and he established his Govern-
ment in the City of Mexico and proposed
to convoke elections, for which purpose
he called a reunion of his principal gen-
erals and chiefs, the reunion was skil-
fully taken advantage of by Francisco
Villa, who from egotistical and personal
motives, had refused to recognize the
authority of Senor Carranza, and by
Felipe Angeles, converting the conven
tion of Aguas Calientes into a sedition to
depose, without any reason, the legiti-
mate person in charge of the executive
power of the Republic.
The loyal generals, advised of the peril
through articles written by the writer of
this and published in "El Liberal" of
Mexico City, separated themselves from
the convention and grouped themselves
anew about Senor Carranza, in charge
of the executive power, to sustain his
legitimate and indisputable authority.
Then ensued the new struggle which
had not been provoked by Senor Car-
ranza, but by generals disloyal to him, as
Huerta had been to Madero. It is not
the fault of the first chief of the Con-
stitutionalist army that he has not re-
stored the constitutional powers, when he
has had to undertake a new campaign
to overcome the rebels.
You yourself, Mr. President, misled by
false information, said in a note pub-
lished recently, that on the entry into
Mexico City of the Triumphant Consti-
tutionalist army there had occurred a
disagreement between the leaders ; but I
am sure that after you have read this
letter von will be convinced there is no
other legal leader of the Constitutionalist
movement except Senor Carranza, inas-
much as Villa is one of the generals
named by Carranza who broke his word
and his honor and rebelled against his
chief.
To conclude this letter, already too
long, but in which it has been necessary
to touch on these questions, I am going
to explain to you, Mr. President, that
which apparently seems to be a paradox
and is well-comprehensible only by those
who know the ground-word of Mexican
politics and who have taken part in this
movement.
Why has the legal movement headed
by Senor Carranza to reestablish con-
stitutional government in Mexico been
considered as a revolutionary movement,
and why have the Constitutionalists, in
speaking of this movement, termed it a
revolution?
For a simple reason. Because the so-
cial and political revolution which tri-
umphed when Senor Madero overthrew
the dictatorship of General Diaz, and
which afterwards became converted into
a Government by means of a free and le-
gitimate popular election, could not
bring about the reforms which the people
desired, for the reason that the reaction-
ary element of the overthrown regime
knew how to ensnare the Government
until it could consummate the violent
usurpation which carried Huerta to its
head.
When the Governor of Coahuila, in
compliance with the Constitution, as I
have endeavored to demonstrate, and in
his constitutional character, assumed the
succession of Madero, the aspirations of
the first revolution, personified in those
citizens who took up arms, were delin-
eated with even greater vigor than during
the first revolution of Madero.
It was necessary, before anything else,
to solve the economic problem of better
wages for the peon and laborers ; it was
necessary to solve the agrarian problem,
putting the possession and the cultivation
of lard into the reach of the poor labor-
ers and destroying the feudal monopoly
of the great land-owners ; it was neces-
sary, to sum up. to give life and form,
within the new movement, to all the as-
pirations for greater economic and politi-
12
cal welfare, which obligated the Mexican
people to launch the struggle which over-
threw the dictatorship of General Diaz.
This is why Sefior Carranza, at the
same time that he legally opposed the
usurpation of Huerta, fulfilling his con-
stitutional duties, personified the social
and political aspirations of the revolution-
ists of 1910, mocked in their hopes of re-
form by the reactionary party.
As a resume, Mr. President, I believe
I have demonstrated the following:
1. Senor Venustiano Carranza, first
chief of the Constitutionalist army, is the
legitimate successor of President Ma-
dero, as entrusted with the executive
power of the Mexican Republic.
2. Senor Carranza refused to recog-
nize the usurpation of Victoriano Huerta,
thus fulfilling the unescapable precepts of
the political constitution of the Mexican
Republic, which were not fulfilled by
other functionaries who were under even
greater obligations than he to comply.
3. Senor Carranza has not been able
to reestablish the constitutional regime,
due to the treason of some of his gen-
erals who, through personal ambition,
have refused to recognize his authority ;
and due to the fact that the Government
of this friendly Nation, misled by false
information, has been protecting the
rebels, having named diplomatic repre-
sentatives close to them, and permitting
them to introduce arms and munitions
to attack the legal Government of Senor
Carranza.
4. Once the Constitutionalist army
has obtained dominance over seven-
eighths of the territory of the Republic,
Senor Carranza has the right, in con-
formity with the precepts of international
law, to hope that the United States will
recognize his Government, not only as a
Government de facto, but as a legal Gov-
ernment emanating from the Constitution
of the Republic, as I believe I have dem-
onstrated.
In my judgment, these are the funda-
mental reasons which will support Gen-
eral Carranza when, through the medium
of his representatives at Washington, he
asks of you the recognition of his Gov-
ernment.
And I believe, Mr. President, that a
ruler such as you, who has given re-
peated proofs of love to constitutional
institutions and respect for patriots who
know how to comply with their duty,
will justly heed these reasons and, in
heeding them, will co-operate promptly in
the reestablishment of peace in Mexico,
which is ardently desired by the citizens
of the two sister Republics.
I am, Mr. President, with all respect,
your obedient, humble servant.
HERIBERTO BARRON.
13
Memorandum which the undersigned, Heriberto Barren,
follower of Venustiano Carranza, First Chief of the
Constitutionalist army in charge of the Executive Power
of the Mexican Republic, respectfully submits to the
Honorable The Secretary of State of the United States
to their Excellencies the Ambassadors of the Argentine
Republic, Brazil and Chili, and to the Ministers Pleni-
potentiaries of Bolivia, Uruguay and Guatemala in the
United States.
ORIGIN OF THE CONSTITUTION-
ALIST MOVEMENT.
The Constitutionalist Movement, led
by First Chief Venustiano Carranza.
Constitutional Governor of the State of
Coahuila at the time Victoriano Huerta
usurped the Government in Mexico, has
not been that of a rebellious faction
against a legal government, but that of
the adherents of the Constitutional Gov-
ernment against usurpation.
First Chief Carranza, complying with
the paramount provisions of the Mexican
Constitution and of a decree of the Leg-
islature of the State of Coahuila, refused
to recognize the sanguinary dictatorship
of Huerta, based on usurpation and the
assassination of the Constitutional Pres-
ident of Mexico, Francisco I. Madero,
and of the Vice-President, Jose M. Pino
Suarez.
The Cabinet of President Madero, hor-
rified by the outrages perpetrated in the
City of Mexico after the 19th of Feb-
ruary, 1913, did not have sufficient en-
ergy and patriotism to face the usurper
and to assume the Presidency of the
Republic in accordance with the pro-
visions of the Constitution, and, for this
reason, First Chief Carranza, the sole of-
ficial of the Administration of President
Madero elected by the people and who
refused to recognize such usurpation,
should be regarded as the lawful succes-
sor of the President of Mexico and the
defender of Constitutional Government.
Licentiates Manuel Calero and Jesus
Flores Magon, in a memorandum which
they have submitted to Your Excellen-
cies, bitterly attack First Chief Carranza
and his followers and have the audacity
to sign, the first mentioned gentlemen
being an ex-Secretary of Foreign Rela-
tions and ex-Ambassador of Mexico to
the United States, and the second, ex-
Secretary of Gobernacion (Interior).
Later on I shall entirely refute the
principal charges which these gentlemen
make against First Chief Carranza and
his adherents. For the time being I only
desire to call the attention of Your Ex-
cellencies to the attitude of Messrs.
Calero and Flores Magon when the Con-
stitutionalist Movement broke out.
The acts which I am about to cite are
historic, public acts, and, for that reason,
I do not need to prove them but simply
to call your attention to them.
Licentiate Manuel Calero, after having
been liberally rewarded with favors and
honors by President Madero, who ap-
pointed him Secretary of Foreign Rela-
tions and Ambassador to the United
States, treacherously turned on his bene-
factor impelled entirely by personal am-
bition, resigned the post of Ambassador
and entered the Mexican Senate to oc-
cupy a seat in that body for the purpose
14
of bitterly attacking Mr. Madero and to
oppose the loan which his Government
was about to negotiate in Europe, thereby
contributing to the fall of the President
of Mexico and to the triumph of the
usurper.
The same is true of Jesus Flores
Magon, the bosom friend of Mr. Calero,
and it is an act of cynicism on their part
to recite the appointments which they
obtained and the offices they filled, the
fact being that they did not know how
to loyally honor such posts nor did they
comply with the duties which every good
citizen is morally bound to fulfil.
When First Chief Carranza gallantly
rushed to the defense of the lawful in-
stitutions of the country, what were
Messrs. Calero and Flores Magon doing ?
They flattered Huerta, about whom they
now speak in such bad terms, helped him
in the Senate, accompanied him in his
banquets and festivities and sought his
aid in electing Mr. Calero President of
the Republic, and Mr. Flores Magon,
Yice-President. Huerta scorned them,
and rightly so, inasmuch as men who em-
ployed unworthy methods in the triumph
of their personal ambition, while their
countrymen heroically perished on the
field of battle defending lawful institu-
tions, well deserved the scorn of the
dictator.
General Francisco Villa did not lend
his aid to Constitutionalism until some
months after this Movement had been
initiated by First Chief Carranza, who
received Villa as a military subordinate
and supplied him with funds and am-
munition to organize his forces.
General Felipe Angeles gave his ser-
vices to Constitutionalism six months
after the commencement of the revolu-
tionary movement at the time when First
Chief Carranza was in Hermosillo, State
of Sonora, the revolutionary supporters
already having an army and had won
numerous battles against the soldiers of
Huerta. General Angeles, after having
accepted from Huerta a post in France,
returned from Europe, having been
brought over by the Messrs. Madero
whose interests he has served wonder-
fully well, although unsuccessfully, and
he did not decide upon his return until
several thousand dollars were placed at
his disposal.
THE TRIUMPH OF CONSTITUTIONALISM.
After a year and five months of a
hard campaign, and the conquering of
Huerta, who had to flee from Mexico,
the First Chief of the Constitutionalist
Army .took possesion of the Executive
Power of the Republic, in accordance
with the plan of Guadalupe, entered the
City of Mexico, where he established the
Provisional Government and was about
to issue the necessary decrees to insure
the reforms demanded by the Revolution
and to take preliminary steps for the re-
establishment of Constitutional Govern-
ment, when General Francisco Villa is-
sued a manifesto disavowing the author-
ity of First Chief Carranza and declaring
himself in open rebellion against the
First Chief.
Villa himself had initiated a rebellious
movement a few weeks before the en-
trance of First Chief Carranza into Mex-
ico in June, 1914, when said First Chief
of the Constitutionalist Army was in
Saltillo, capital of the State of Coahuila,
where the undersigned accompanied him.
Then First Chief Carranza appointed
Generals Antonio 1. Villareal and Luis
Caballero peace commissioners, and Villa
consented to submit to the authority of
the First Chief, only to attack him a few r
weeks afterwards.
First Chief Carranza had called a meet-
ing of his leading generals in Mexico in
order to come to an understanding with
them for the purpose of drafting such
reforms as might be deemed advisable,
and to fix the date for holding an election
of a Constitutional President.
This meeting was cleverly made use
of by Villa and Angeles, who, through
numerous intrigues, succeeded in per-
suading the generals to proceed to Aguas-
calientes under the pretext of holding a
Peace Conference and of settling the
differences which had arisen.
15
It was at that time that the Conven-
tion of Aguascalientes was organized, and
by means of the threat of the troops of
Villa against the delegates and the
shrewdness of Angeles, who converted
into delegates twenty-five Zapatistas
whom he brought from Cuernavaca and
who had no credentials as such delegates,
the famous Aguascalientes Convention
declared itself sovereign and in the name
of that usurped sovereignty, carrying out
a seditious act, decided to dismiss First
Chief Carranza and to appoint Provi-
sional President General Eulalio Gutier-
rez, Military Governor of the State of
San Luis Potosi, and one of the most
faithful supporters of First Chief Car-
ranza.
Two weeks later Villa had rebelled
against his own work, namely, the new
Provisional President (so-called by the
Villistas), and the unfortunate Gutierrez
had to abandon the City of Mexico at
the head of a small number of faithful
followers in order to seek refuge in the
mountains of the State of Coahuila. Ad-
mitting his mistake, Eulalio Gutierrez
has recently surrendered to General
Obregon and shows himself to have sin-
cerely repented of his blunders.
The treachery of Villa compelled First
Chief Carranza to interrupt the recon-
structive work of the Government and
to undertake a new and energetic cam-
paign against the rebellious forces of
Villa and Zapata, to which end he es-
tablished his Government in Veracruz,
from whence he has directed a campaign
which may already be regarded as vic-
torious.
It should be borne in mind that First
Chief Carranza on entering Mexico, sent
General Antonio I. Villareal and Licen-
tiate Luis Cabrera to Zapata as peace
commissioners, but it was impossible for
them to bring him to terms, notwithstand-
ing the just offers which they made to
him.
CAUSES OF THE TREACHERY OF VILLA.
The adherents of President Madero.
who joined the Revolution, may be di-
vided into two classes, namely, one com-
posed of practical, patriotic and intelli-
gent men whose services were available,
and the other consisting of the incompe-
tent and ignorant, who; owing to this
fact, brought about the failure of his
administration. First Chief Carranza
accorded to all of them a kind reception,
but refused to give to the second class
the important offices to which they
thought they were entitled, and from
that moment a nucleus was formed of
greedy malcontents who took refuge with
Villa, thus establishing the embryo of a
rebellious faction.
But that was not the principal cause
of the rebellion of Villa. Ernesto Ma-
dero, uncle of the President and Secre-
tary of the Treasury in his cabinet, a
great friend of ex-Secretary of the Treas-
ury, Limantonr, went to Europe with
the express intention of obtaining the
co-operation of the most influential mem-
bers of the cientificos in the scheme
which he proposed to carry out, which
consisted in eliminating First Chief
Carranza from the Revolution, and to
put Francisco Villa at the head of the
same and induce the latter to proclaim
Provisional President the said Ernesto
Madero as one of the members of the
cabinet of the assassinated President, or
Rafael Hernandez, partner of Ernesto
and ex-Secretary of Interior (Goberna-
cion).
Ernesto Madero and Rafael Hernan-
dez established an office in New York,
and that has been the headquarters of
the Villista conspiration.
The brothers of President Madero co-
operated with Ernesto in the intrigues of
the latter, the fact being that in the Ma-
dero family there were two democrats
and two martyrs who were willing to sac-
rifice themselves for their country,
namely, Francisco I. Madero and his
brother Gustavo, who was cowardly as-
sassinated in the "ciudadela" (citadel)
in the City of Mexico, but all the other
members of the family constitute, as has
been correctly said by one of the con-
stitutionalist writers, an impenitent Is-
16
raelitisch clan, who only perceive pa-
triotic duties in so far as they concern
the coal of the mines they have in Coa-
huila and the guayule and cotton of their
plantations.
On May 30, 1914, when the under-
signed passed through Torreon, he spoke
with Villa, of whom he was a sincere
friend, concerning all these intrigues and
suggested to him the publication of a
manifesto disavowing them and of re-
maining faithful to First Chief Carranza.
The President of the United States has
in his possession the original of that
manifesto signed by Villa. All my ef-
forts were in vain, and three weeks after
having signed the manifesto, Villa re-
belled for the first time against First
Chief Carranza.
I regret to state, because of the re-
spect and cordial friendship which I pro-
fess toward the Government of the
United States, that an error of this Gov-
ernment, to wit, that of appointing Mr.
George C. Carothers special representa-
tive of the Secretary of State near Villa,
contributed in a great measure to the en-
couragement of the rebelliousness of the
latter. Mr. Carothers became a true
agent of Villa, made the latter think that
the United States regarded him chief of
his followers and as a belligerent faction,
and would give him all its support in
struggling against First Chief Carranza.
The insinuations of Mr. Carothers con-
tributed greatly to encourage Villa
against the First Chief of the Constitu-
tionalist Army.
These are the real facts in the case
and they should be revealed however
painful it may be to do so.
NEW TRIUMPH OF CONSTITUTIONALISM.
Naturally First Chief Carranza on be-
genning a new campaign against the
rebellious factions, had to interrupt the
task of reconstructing the Constitutional
Government. In spite of this fact he has
not neglected the mere administrative
duties, nor has he failed to issue the de-
crees which it has been possible to for-
mulate under such abnormal circum-
stances, assuring the reforms of the
Revolution, among which may be men-
tioned, in the first place, those which
establish the free municipalities through-
out the Republic and the re-establishment
of public and communal lands of which
the people had been despoiled.
After repeated and unsuccessful ef-
forts of First Chief Carranza to avoid
the defection of Villa and to bring Za-
pata to terms, there was no alternative
left but to undertake a vigorous cam-
paign against them and subdue them by
force of arms. This is the reason why
it was impossible for First Chief Carran-
za and for the constitutionalists, who
were familiar with all the previous
events, to accept the well meant initiative
that Your Excellencies made in your
communication relating thereto, to the
end that a Peace Conference might be
held in Mexico.
The campaign against Villa and Za-
pata was rendered all the more neces-
sary inasmuch as, being rough and ignor-
ant men, they changed, unconsciously
perhaps, from revolutionists into an easy
toy of the reactionary enemies of the
Revolution. Villa represented the in-
terests of the Madero family and their
relatives and close friends and of a group
of aspirants to public offices, impelled en-
tirely by personal and selfish interests.
Zapata became allied to the federal
forces of Huerta and appointed Com-
mander in Chief Higinio Aguilar, who
was one of the generals of Huerta, and
protected the plantation and rich land
owners of the State of Morelos, whose
rapacity has been the actual cause of the
Zapata rebellion.
The campaign against the rebels has
lasted about a year, and the latter being
defeated and without resources, are only
in possession of the States of Chihuahua,
Sonora and Morelos, the constitutionalist
forces controlling the remaining twenty-
four States, the Federal District, in which
is located the City of Mexico, and the
Territories of Tepic, Quintana Roo and
Lower California.
17
Each one of these States is under the
direction of a military governor ap-
pointed by the First Chief of the Consti-
tutionalist Army, with the understanding
that as soon as peace is entirely re-estab-
lished, constitutional governors of each
of these States shall be elected.
THE ORGANIZATION OF A VOLUNTEER
ARMY.
The Revolution has solved one of the
great problems of Mexico, namely, the
organization of an army of volunteers
in place of the army organized during
the administrations of General Diaz by
torced recruits from the jails or persons
placed in the army because of improper
conduct.
The formation of this army, already
well organized and disciplined, is the best
proof of the patriotism of the Mexican
people. The thousands of volunteers
who willingly answered the call of First
Chief Carranza, began to fight without
pay, almost without arms, half naked and
subject to great privations. Under such
trying conditions they nearly always de-
feated the soldiers of Huerta and took
from them the arms and ammunition
which they needed.
At present the Constitutionalist Army
is composed of one hundred and
fifty thousand perfectly disciplined and
equipped men, commanded by generals
as skilled and brave as Alvaro Obregon,
Pablo Gonzales, Jacinto Trevifio, Salva-
dor Alvarado, Francisco Coss and many
others who have gallantly struggled
against the dictatorship and have ac-
quired their knowledge of the art of war
on the field of battle, inasmuch as all of
them were peaceable citizens who took up
arms induced by patriotism in order to
attain permanent liberty for their coun-
try.
In spite of these facts, Licentiate
Manuel Calero and his friend, Licentiate
Jesus Flores Magon, who have never run
the slightest risk in the service of their
country, state in their memorandum al-
ready referred to that the revolutionary
army is composed of fifteen or twenty
thousand criminals to whom the Revolu-
tion opened the doors of the prisons, of
savage and bloodthirsty Yaqui soldiers,
and of improvised generals, some of
whom are fugitives from justice.
The proletarian class the one of
which Messrs. Calero and Flores Magon
speak, and the agriculturists are those
who have furnished the greatest number
of volunteers for our troops. And this
alone is sufficient to entirely disprove the
statement of the aforesaid gentlemen
when they assure us that the constitu-
tionalists do not represent the popular
elements of Mexico.
Messrs. Calero and Flores Magon, con-
stituting themselves the spokesmen of
the Archbishop of Mexico, Monsenor
Jose Mora y del Rio, make use in the
United States of this sheer mis-statement
or sophism concerning the army, which
assertion will not withstand the most
superficial analysis, for the purpose of
injuring the reputation of the constitu-
tionalists :
"Mexico has fifteen million inhabi-
tants. The Constitutionalist Army is
composed of one hundred and fifty thou-
sand men, and it follows, therefore, that
only 1 per cent, of the population has
succeeded in controlling the remaining
99 per cent."
It would seem that the fifteen million
inhabitants of the Republic have all been
able to bear arms, and, hence, the number
of those who have actually taken up arms
in the Revolution seems exceedingly
small.
But let us think the matter over and
make our calculations as they logically
should be made. Of the fifteen million
inhabitants of the Republic, we should, in
the first place, subtract all those who
never have been nor are now capable of
entering the army, such as foreigners,
women, children and old men. Bearing
in mind that in Mexico the female popu-
lation is greatly in excess of the male, it
follows that of the fifteen million inhabi-
tants we have to subtract two-thirds, or
ten million.
Of the remaining five million we still
have to deduct the soldiers and adherents
18
of the dictatorships of Porfirio Diaz and
Yictoriano Huerta, the rich land owners
and their relatives and close friends, who
naturally would not take up arms against
their own interests. Let us suppose, then,
that all these people number one million.
There remains, then, four million men
fit to take active part in the Revolution
and to defend their ideals which are those
of the great majority of the Mexican
people.
From these four million we will
further deduct three-fourths, or three
million men who have continued at work,
since otherwise all the people would per-
ish for lack of the indispensable elements
of subsistence.
There remains, therefore, available one
million able bodied men who are willing
to abandon their work and to uphold on
the field of battle the revolutionary prin-
ciples.
During the struggle more than one
hundred and fifty thousand Mexicans
have died and an equal number are en-
gaged in the Constitutionalist Movement.
If to the military we add the civil ele-
ment of the Government, we have four
hundred thousand Mexicans who have
taken part in the Revolution, or not less
than 40 per cent, of the citizens capable
of fighting.
And if our army is not greater, if to
those four hundred thousand citizens
who have taken an active part in the
Revolution an equal number is not added,
it is, in the first place, because the neces-
sities of the war have not required it,
and, in the second place, because we have
not had sufficient resources to arm more
citizens.
But the fact that four hundred thou-
sand citizens have voluntarily entered
this struggle is not the only thing that
shows that the constitutionalist revolu-
tion represents the feelings of the im-
mense majority of the inhabitants. I
have accompanied First Chief Carranza
in his journeys across the Republic and
have seen in each one of the towns how
the people en masse have assembled to]
cordially welcome him and to express to!
him their gratitude and affection. I have
had the honor to address these multi-
tudes more than one hundred times when
they have come to welcome First Chief
Carranza as their liberator.
If this is not an evident proof of the
immense popularity of First Chief Car-
ranza and of the ideals of the cause of
which he is the leader, let Messrs. Calero
and Flores Magon testify, who have
never succeeded in inducing not even
three inhabitants of any village to meet
them with equal demonstrations of grati-
tude and respect.
GUARANTIES OFFERED TO NATIVES AND
FOREIGNERS.
Immediately after the occupation of
the City of Mexico, General Pablo Gon-
zales issued a decree imposing the death
penalty on every one who commits an
outrage against the person or property of
natives or foreigners. There cannot be a
more evident proof of the desire of Gen-
eral Gonzales himself and of the First
Chief of the Constitutionalist Army that
all the inhabitants who live in the terri-
tory controlled by our forces should en-
joy complete guaranties of life and prop-
erty.
I cannot deny that during the war, as
happens in all wars, some abuses and
outrages may have been perpetrated, but
neither have they constituted the general
rule, nor has the First Chief of the Con-
stitutionalist Army ever failed to im-
mediately punish the delinquents. The
decrees for the purpose of maintaining
order issued by First Chief Carranza con-
cerning the mater, have given such good
results that it may be affirmed that all
the inhabitants who now reside in the
territory controlled by the constitutional-
ists forces, natives as well as foreigners,
absolutely enjoy the same guaranties as
in normal times and can freely engage in
their occupations in commerce, agricul-
,ture and industry without being molested.
Many times has First Chief Carranza
[declared that he will not permit the con-
fiscation of property, and that, without
19
the necessity of restoring to that arbi-
trary measure, the land problem, the
object of which is to put the cultivation
and possession of the land within the
reach of agriculturists of small means,
will be solved.
The fact that First Chief Carranza has
refused to participate in peace confer-
ences with his enemies, for well known
reasons, does not imply that the First
Chief of the Constitutionalist Army and
his followers, pretend to exclude from
the benefits which peace and order in
Mexico will bring, the numerous citizens
who, deceived by false and fallacious
promises, may have belonged to the
armies of Villa and of Zapata, and who,
admitting their error, acknowledge the
authority of First Chief Carranza. Gen-
eral Pablo Gonzales proclaimed an am-
nesty for the soldiers of Zapata. who gave
up their arms, granting them a certain
amount of coin and free passage over
the railways for returning to their homes
and engaging in their peaceful occupa-
tions. General Obregon did likewise con-
cerning the soldiers and officials of Villa.
These measures have given good results,
and thousands of soldiers belonging to
these rebellious factions have accepted
the amnesty decreed by General Gonzales
and Obregon in conformity with the
wishes of First Chief Carranza.
On the other hand, it is but just that
the leading intellectual groups who,
through selfish and personal reasons,
have dragged thousands of citizens into
this new struggle which has stained with
blood the soil of our country, should suf-
fer the consequences of their unpatriotic
conduct.
INDEMNITIES FOR DAMAGES AND
INJURIES.
First Chief Carranza has already of-
fered by means of decrees and manifes-
tos that the Constitutionalist Government
is willing to take into consideration all
just complaints both of natives and for-
eigners who have suffered damages on
account of the Revolution. In connec-
tion with the foregoing, First Chief
Carranza has stated that there will be
established in Mexico a board composed
of Mexicans and foreigners of the same
nationality as those who may have made
complaints, in order to examine the same,
and, by joint agreement, to fix such just
indemnity as may be deemed proper in
each instance.
This measure shows -the spirit of jus-
tice by which the First Chief of the con-
stitutionalists and his followers are
guided.
Bancroft Library
POPULARITY OF THE CONSTITUTIONALIST
MOVEMENT.
When Villa rebelled against the author-
ity of First Chief Carranza, taking with
him some of the generals who attended
the Aguascalientes Convention, the forces
at his disposal amounted to at least fifty
thousand men. Ever since, while the
forces of First Chief Carranza have re-
placed their losses with new men and in-
creased their standing army, thanks to
the citizens who voluntarily offer their
services, the forces of Villa have de-
creased to such a degree that the rebel
general of Chihuahua at present only
has some five or six thousand soldiers,
and, as desertions are of daily occurrence
in his ranks, it is to be presumed that
within a short time the followers of Villa
will be reduced to two or three gangs of
highways robbers whose persecution and
complete extinction will be the work of
only a few months.
Zapata's forces have also been reduced
to a few gangs who only engage in at-
tacking trains and murdering defenceless
persons, robbing them without mercy or
consideration of any kind.
I beg to call the attention of Your Ex-
cellencies to the fact that while the press
has been giving detailed news of the work
of robbery and assassination done by the
followers of Zapata and Villa, it has not
been able to mention any similar acts
perpetrated by constitutionalists. On the
contrary, their efforts to re-establish
order and offer guaranties of life and
property to everyone are well known.
20
THE MORAL AND MATERIAL FORCE OF
THE CONSTITUTIONALIST GOVERNMENT.
Your Excellencies have expressed the
desire to recognize a Government in
Mexico, and by the moral support which
that recognition will give to the Govern-
ment thus recognized, contribute to the
prompt re-establishment of public peace
in that nation. Your Excellencies desire
to know which party of those that have
struggled in Mexico has sufficient ma-
terial and moral power to guarantee that
the Government established by that party
will respect the rights, the property and
the lives of the inhabitants of the Mex-
ican Republic, both native and foreign.
In my opinion, what has been stated in
this memorandum is enough to fully con-
vince Your Excellencies that the only
Government now existing in Mexico is
that of Venustiano Carranza, First Chief
of the Constitutionalist Army in charge
of the Executive Power.
If Your Excellencies recommend such
acknowledgment to your respective gov-
ernments, the Mexican people will be
sincerely grateful, inasmuch as peace,
that much wished for blessing which all
Mexicans desire, would then be com-
pletely established within a short time.
DISTURBANCES ON THE FRONTIER.
The enemies of First Chief Carranza,
realizing that the triumph of the Consti-
tutionalist Party is certain and final and
that the Government of First Chief
Carranza will have to be recognized by
the United States and the principal na-
tions of America and Europe, have made
use of the most treacherous and perfid-
ious of intrigues to prevent or delay that
acknowledgment, and, if possible, to pro-
voke a war between Mexico and the
United States.
Such intrigues consist in organizing
bands of marauders along the frontier,
composed of followers of Magon and of
Huerta, to annoy the American soldiers
and to attack the ranches situated along
the border.
Some American citizens and many
Mexicans have been killed in consequence
of the abominable work of those gangs
of evildoers.
The agitators of the Magon and Huerta
factions cross the frontier disguised, or
with fictitious names, mix with the con-
stitutionalist soldiers and relate to them
atrocities which the Americans have per-
petrated against Mexicans, in order to
excite them and produce friction between
Mexican and American troops. Our
enemies have made use of the ruse of
buying uniforms, which are sold in all
clothing stores of the cities along the
border, exactly like those of the consti-
tutionalist troops, and dress the members
of the organized gangs in same in order
to make believe that those who cause the
disturbances are constitutionalist soldiers.
The American Government is fully
aware of this and also knows that First
Chief Carranza has taken very energetic
measures to the end that every constitu-
tionalist soldier who should attempt to
provoke an international conflict be sub-
ject to court martial and severe punish-
ment.
If the Government of First Chief Car-
ranza is recognized, this state of constant
provocation which the frontier marauders
are encouraging will soon cease, since the
American and Mexican authorities by
common agreement will then be able to
organize an energetic campaign against
the gangs of evil-doers and exterminate
them.
RE-ESTABLISHMENT or THE CONSTITU-
TIONAL GOVERNMENT.
The enemies of the Constitutionalist
Party, together with a great number of
American newspapers, have been attack-
ing First Chief Carranza in the most un-
just manner, accusing him of not having
re-established the Constitutional Govern-
ment in Mexico.
This absurd argument has been used
also by Mr. Calero, who presumes that
President Wilson will not recognize the
Government of First Chief Carranza be-
cause it does not possess all the attributes
of a constitutional government.
21
Those who so argue would like First
Chief Carranza to be a magus, who
would, at one and the same time, defeat
Huerta, rout Villa and Zapata, order
peaceable and legal elections in the midst
of a destructive and violent war, estab-
lish a Congress, a Supreme Court of Jus-
tice, and hand over the Government to a
Constitutional President already elected.
This is an absurd and impossible thing,
and it seems strange that so able a man
as Mr. Calero could not realize that a
revolution so complete and destructive as
that which has occurred in Mexico has
two stages, namely, the destructive period
for completely overthrowing the dicta-
torial regime, and the reconstructive
period for re-establishing the Constitu-
tional Government, which can only begin
when the first period has ended.
Had it not been for the rebellion of
Villa it is certain that some months ago
we would have had in Mexico a Con-
gress and a President elected by the peo-
ple. But the destructive period of the
revolution had to be prolonged in order
to fight the rebellious forces of Villa and
Zapata. These are already annihilated,
and it can be confidently stated that the
reconstructive period in Mexico is al-
ready beginning. But the re-establish-
ment of constitutional government should
not be hurried in such a way as to be
brought about by illegal and abnormal
means which would cause the fall of any
Government that might be elected. The
plan which First Chief Carranza has out-
lined for the re-establishment of Consti-
tutional Government is a logical and legit-
imate one.
In order that a constitutional govern-
ment may be re-established, it is neces-
sary that elections be held, and in order
to do so it is essential that there should
exist popular bodies to organize the elec-
toral machinery, which bodies are the
municipal officers.
It is necessary, therefore, above all,
that the people freely elect officers for the
government of their municipalities. After
these are elected, arrangements will be
made for the organization of a Constitu-
ent Congress, which at the same time that
it shall revise the Constitution of Mexico,
adapting the same to the requirements
and needs of the triumphant Revolution,
shall ratify the acts of First Chief Car-
ranza as representative of the Executive
Power.
Congress being the only entity with
power to convoke the people to the elec-
tion of a President, the Constituent Con-
gress will issue such call, the election of a
Constitutional President will be held, and
the First Chief of the Constitutionalist
Army will surrender the Government to
the President elected by the people.
This method, the rational and only le-
gal and logical one for the re-establish-
ment of Constitutional Government, has
already been the cause of a decree of
First Chief Carranza, namely, the decree
of December 12 1914, issued in Vera
Cruz, which Your Excellencies are cog-
nizant of and whose articles relating
thereto I quote as follows :
"Article 4. Upon the success of the
Revolution, after the installment of the
First Office of the Constitutionalist
Army in the City of Mexico and when
the municipal elections in the majority of
the States of the Republic have been
held, the First Chief of the Revolution, as
the person in charge of the Executive
Power, shall issue a call for holding elec-
tions for members of Congress, stating in
said call the date and conditions under
which such elections should be held.
Art. 5. After the installation of the
National Congress, the First Chief of the
Revolution shall render to the same an
account of such use as he may have made
of the powers which this decree grants
him, and shall especially submit to it the
reforms decreed and put in practice dur-
ing the struggle, in order that Congress
may ratify, amend or supplement them
and adopt as constitutional amendments
such as it may deem proper, before the
establishment of constitutional order.
Art. 6. The National Congress shall
issue the call for the election of a Presi-
dent of the Republic, and as soon as same
is held, the First Chief of the Revolution
shall hand over to the President elected
by the people the executive power of the
nation."
22
Such would be the procedure for the
re-establishment of the Constitutional re-
gime, and in order to facilitate and give
greater moral force to the Government
of First Chief Carranza in carrying out
these ends, nothing can be more natural
or logical than to recognize his Govern-
ment, notwithstanding the opinion of the
learned Senor Calero to the contrary.
THE ARGUMENTS OF OUR ENEMIES.
Mr. Enrique C. Llorente has submitted
a protest to the Department of State al-
leging that First Chief Carranza has no
authority whatever to treat of indemni-
ties for damages and injuries, and adds
that only a Congress can grant such au-
thorization.
By what I have already stated the argu-
ment of Senor Llorente is disproved.
First Chief Carranza can, in conform-
ity with the extraordinary powers with
which he is invested, outline all prelim-
inary measures concerning indemnities
for damages and injuries and may even
fix the amount of same, with the under-
standing, of course, that he submit, at the
proper time, this, as well as all of his acts,
to the approval of the National Congress.
If Villa had triumphed and were about
to be recognized, he would find himself
in exactly the same position as that of
First Chief Carranza. It is obvious that
then Senor Llorente, instead of resorting
to the use of cunning subterfuges, would
be unceasingly talking about the willing-
ness of the rebel general to grant the
claims of all.
Senor Roque Gonzalez Garza affirms
that First Chief Carranza, with the excep-
tion of Huerta, is the most hated man in
Mexico, and says that if the United States
and the Latin- American Republics recog-
nize his Government the most complete
anarchy will follow in the Mexican Re-
public in consequence thereof.
It is not surprising to me that First
Chief Carranza may be more despised
than Huerta by those who have seen their
personal, selfish and unworthy ambitions,
annihilated such, for example, as Senor
Gonzalez Garza. I would add that the
fact that such men hate First Chief Car-
ranza is a cause of satisfaction to him and
the best proof of his honesty and patriot-
ism. On the other hand, the First Chief
possesses the gratitude, the^affection and
the respect of the great majority of the
Mexican people.
As to the anarchy they say would pre-
vail in Mexico if his Government were
recognized, this would be to reverse the
logical results which have characterized
all events heretofore.
In spite of the fact that the Villa and
Zapata factions have been treated, up to
the present time, by the United States
as belligerent factions and have been able
to acquire arms and resources, the Con-
stitutionalist Army has inflicted on them
tremendous defeats and has driven the
rebels out of nearly all the territory which
they formerly occupied.
It is entirely logical to suppose that if
the Government of First Chief Carranza
is recognized and Villa and Zapata are
treated as rebels and are prevented from
acquiring arms and ammunition in this
country, the complete triumph over those
rebellious factions will be more rapid and
the re-establishment of public tranquility
in Mexico will be a question of two .or
three months. Political passion causes
men to say foolish things which do not
withstand analysis in accordance with
the principles of logic.
THE ATTACKS OF THE AMERICAN PRESS.
Unfortunately for the gopcf and cor-
dial relations which should exist between
two neighboring and sister American Re-
publics, some of the American news-
papers have begun a tirade against all
Mexicans, without distinction, making us
appear as a people of savages, of thieves
and murderers, devoid of patriotism and
without ideals. It is well known that in
all nations of the world patriotic and
honest men will be found as well as bad
ones.
I would call the attention of the news-
paper men, who have undertaken such
an unjust propaganda, to the following
remarks of the immortal Washington in
his famous farewell address :
23
"Observe good faith and justice to-
wards all nations; cultivate peace and
harmony with all. Religion and morality
enjoin this conduct: and can it be that
good policy does not equally enjoin it?
It will be worthy of a free, enlightened,
and, at no distant period, a great nation,
to give to mankind the magnanimous and
too novel example of a people always
guided by an exalted justice and benevo-
lence. Who can doubt that, in the course
of time and things, the, fruit of such a
plan would richly repay- any temporary
advantages which might be lost by a
steady adherence to it? Can it be that
Providence has not connected the per-
manent felicity of a nation with its vir-
tue? The experiment, at least, is recom-
mended by every sentiment which enno-
bles human nature. Alas ! is it rendered
impossible by its vices ?
"In the execution of such plan, nothing
is more essential than that permanent,
inveterate antipathies against particular
nations, and passionate attachments for
others, should be excluded; and that, in
place of them, just and amicable feelings
toward all should be cultivated. The na-
tion which indulges toward another ha-
bitual hatred or habitual fondness is in
some degree slave. It is a slave to its
animosity or to its affection, either of
which is sufficient to lead it astray from
its duty and its interest. Antipathy in
one nation against another disposes each
more readily to offer insult and injury, to
lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and
to be haughty and intractable, when ac-
cidental or trifling occasions of dispute
occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obsti-
nate, envenomed, and bloody contests.
The nation, prompted by ill-will and re-
sentment, sometimes impels to war the
government, contrary to the best calcula-
tions of policy. The government some-
times participates in the national pro-
pensity, and adopts through passion what
reason would reject; at other times it
makes the animosity of the nation sub-
servient to projects of hostility instigated
by pride, ambition, and other sinister and
pernicious motives. The peace often,
sometimes perhaps the liberty of nations,
has been the victim."
I avail myself of this opportunity to
express to Your Excellencies the assur-
ances of my most distinguished consid-
eration.
Washington, D. C, October 1, 1915.
HERIRERTO BARRON.
24
RECOGNITION OF CARRANZA
IN MEXICO AGREED UPON BY
PAN-AMERICAN ENVOYS.
UNANIMOUS ACTION OF LATIN-AMERICAN
STATES NOW ASSURED.
Washington, D. C., October 9, 1915.
Recognition of the Carranza govern-
ment as the de facto government of Mex-
ico was decided upon to-day at the end
of the fourth Pan-American Conference.
This statement was issued by Robert
Lansing, Secretary of State, announcing
the decision :
"The conferrees, after careful consideration
of the facts, have found that the Carranzista
party is the only party possessing the essentials
for recognition as the de facto government of
Mexico and they have so reported to their
governments."
While this statement indicates that the
recognition of the Carranza government
has not been carried beyond the point of
a recommendation to the six governments
participating in the conference, the action
is tantamount to recognition by those gov-
ernments since their representatives in
the conference have been acting in ac-
cordance with instructions from home
and the readiness of the governments to
act upon the recommendation announced
to-day was known here in advance.
Recognition of the Carranza govern-
ment by the governments of the United
States, Brazil, Chili, the Argentine Re-
public, Bolivia, Guatemala and Uruguay
is now assured.
FIFTEEN REPUBLICS FAVORABLE.
Beyond this it was stated that inquiries
have been made of the other Latin- Amer-
ican diplomatic representatives here as to
the readiness of their governments to
recognize Carranza. Their responses have
indicated that all of the other fifteen
Latin-American republics are prepared to
extend recognition to General Carranza.
Hence a unanimous Pan-American rec-
ognition of Carranza is now confidently
expected.
No inquiries, however, have been made
to determine the acceptability of the Car-
ranza government to any European
Power. The settlement of the Mexican
problem, through the present effort, is
of an exclusively American character.
Before deciding upon the recognition
of General Carranza, assurances were
asked of him regarding treatment to be
accorded to religious workers and am-
nesty of foreign offenders.
From the assurances given upon these
matters by Carranza it is evident that his
recognition comes to him as an uncondi-
tional victory.
Regarding the treatment to be accorded
religious workers, Carranza made only
the following promise :
Religious workers who have not been and
who will not be active in politics in Mexico are
free to return and will receive protection of
their lives and property. They will enjoy free-
dom to continue their religious work so long
as their activities do not extend into the polit-
ical field.
It is understood that further negotia-
tions with General Carranza are to be
held concerning amnesty to be granted to
political offenders. Thus far his promise
amounts only to this :
Amnesty, will be accorded to all political of-
fenders save the leaders of the revolution
against the Carranza government.
25
FOREIGN CLAIMS NOT CONSIDERED.
The question of foreign claims and
debts against Mexico was not considered,
it was explained, for the reason that any
government recognized in Mexico is con-
sidered to assume the obligation of meet-
ing the debts of former governments of
Mexico and of paying all foreign claims
established against it under the rules of
international law.
No formal announcement was made of
an intention to place an embargo against
the shipment of arms into Mexico to the
enemies of the Carranza government but
the act of recognition, it is explained, will
bring such an embargo as a logical cor-
rollary.
Having recognized General Carranza,
the Pan-American governments will do
all within their power to establish his su-
preme control over Mexico in the briefest
time possible. In fact, it was the idea
that General Carranza's supremacy could
be established quickly that led these gov-
ernments to select his party for recogni-
tion as the de facto government.
The outstanding feature of General
Carranza's recognition beyond all doubt
is that it is to be extended without any
conditions accepted by the first chief save
those which he has all along admitted
his willingness to agree to.
The many guarantees formerly de-
manded of General Carranza by the
United States in the course of the vari-
ous negotiations held with a view to ex-
tending recognition have been thrown
overboard. General Carranza has won
the recognition of 'the United States and
of all of the Pan-American republics pre,-
sumably without having receded one inch
in his insistence that the internal affairs
of Mexico shall be left absolutely to his
control as the head- of a sovereign State
Consequently his victory shines further
as an unconditional one for himself. The
United States abandoned all pretense to
interference in the internal affairs of
Mexico and recognition of a government,
there will be based upon the same rules
of international law that would govern
the recognition of a government in Great
Britain. (New York Herald, Sunday,
October 10.)
26
RECOGNITION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF
MR. VENUSTIANO CARRANZA, AS
THE DE FACTO GOVERNMENT
OF MEXICO.
The following letter was addressed by
the Honorable the Secretary of State Mr.
Robert Lansing to Mr. Eliseo Arredondo,
Confidential agent of the Constitutional-
ist Government of First Chief Carranza
in Washington :
Washington, D. C, Oct. 19, 1915.
ELISEO ARREDONDO, ESQ.
My dear Mr. Arredondo : It is my pleasure
to inform you that the President of the United
States takes this opportunity of extending rec-
ognition to the de facto government of Mex-
ico of which General Venustiano Carranza is
the Chief Executive.
The Government of the United States will
be pleased to receive formally in Washington
a diplomatic representative of the de facto gov-
ernment as soon as it shall please General
Carranza to designate and appoint such repre-
sentative, and, reciprocally, the Government of
the United States will credit to the de facto
government a diplomatic representative as soon
as the President has had opportunity to desig-
nate such representative. 1 should appreciate
it if you could find it possible to communicate
this information to General Carranza at your
earliest convenience. Very sincerely yours,
ROBERT LANSING,
Secretary of State.
Similar letters were received by Mr.
Arredondo from the Ambassadors of Ar-
gentine, Brazil, Chili and the Ministers
Plenipotentiaries of Bolivia, Uruguay
.and Guatemala to the Unted States, ac-
cording recognition to the governemnt of
First Chief Carranza.
r
