Foster to J. W. Foster , Envoy Extraordinary and, February 15, 1875

No. 417. Mr. Foster to Mr. Fish.

Sir: I inclose herewith a copy of a communication dated on the 3d instant, from Mr. Sutter, consul at Acapulco, with its accompaniments, giving an account of events subsequent to the assault to which my Nos. 237 and 241 relate, and of the state of public sentiment in that community. Your attention is directed to the recommendation of the consul, that a United States naval vessel be temporarily stationed at that port. In view of the facts developed in the interview which I had with the Mexican minister on the 11th instant, to which reference is hereinafter made, I respectfully suggest that the presence of an American man-of-war would have a salutary influence upon the community and encourage the local authorities to greater firmness and activity in punishing the assassins. I also inclose a copy of my reply to the communication of the consul, dated February 12.

On the 11th instant I called upon Mr. Lafragua, minister of foreign affairs, and read to him a translation in Spanish of the greater part of Mr. Sutter’s communication, as well as a translation of your dispatch, No. 178, of the 14th of January last, in relation to the assassination at Ahualulco, of which latter I left with him a copy.

After the reading was concluded, Mr. Lafragua said to me that the character of the people in the State of Guerrero made it very difficult for the government to deal properly with the affair at Acapulco; that it was very different from other parts of the republic, such, for instance, as Guanajuato or Puebla, where the laws and authority of the government were respected; but that in the south of Mexico the people were ignorant and fanatical; that the statements of the consul just read, which were confirmatory of the information received by the executive, showed the embarrassment of the authorities; neither the governor nor judges having sufficient power to inflict the full measure of punishment demanded; and that it would require a whole division of the federal army to do it. Mr. Lafragua asked me not to forget the present politico-religious condition of the country, the long struggle which the liberal party had carried on for years against the political power of the Catholic Churchy and that the government was now contending against three hundred years of prejudice and intolerance. He acknowledged the justice of my demand for the punishment of the criminals and for the protection of the lives and property of Americans in Acapulco, and said that the government was doing all it could to secure these ends, and hoped to fully vindicate the law and secure full religious toleration.

In reference to the judicial proceedings growing out of the Ahualulco affair, the cases were before the federal supreme court on appeal, and not under the control of the executive department of the government; that he (Mr. Lafragua) had three times asked for an early decision, and that he would again address the court upon the subject.

I answered the minister that I was far from forgetting the peculiar political situation of the country; that I had no disposition to embarrass this government by any factious or unnecessary demands, but was anxious to do all I properly could to strengthen it in its efforts to establish and maintain a liberal republican government, and that in this course I was satisfied I was representing the wishes of my Government; but that these religious massacres, in which American citizens were being murdered, could not be passed over in silence; that I was thoroughly convinced that it was an imperative necessity of the present liberal administration of Mexico, for its own safety and permanence, to repress and punish these outbreaks with a prompt and vigorous use of power 5 and that the lives and property of American citizens and companies at Acapulco, according to the report of the consul, confirmed by those of the local authorities, were exposed to the fury of a fanatical community, and it was for his government to decide whether Mexico or the United States would protect them.

I am just in receipt of a communication from the consul at Acapulco, a copy of which I inclose, from which it will be seen that, up to the 7th instant, the only culprits discovered by the judicial authorities were the two wounded assailants left in possession of the officials, who have since died. Twelve days have elapsed without any arrests, and it appears that the consul’s prediction, that no one would ever be convicted and punished, is in a fair way to be realized.

I am, &c.,