John Bigelow to William H. Seward, September 14, 1866

Mr. Bigelow to Mr. Seward

Sir: The Moniteur of yesterday morning contains a convention which has just been negotiated between the Emperor of France and the so-called emperor of Mexico, of which I enclose a translation. It is designed to give to France a lien upon one-half the maritime customs receipts of all Mexico, and one-fourth of all the Pacific coast export duties, the remaining three-fourths being already pledged otherwise. It is stipulated that the funds to be collected from these sources shall be appropriated to the payment of—

1st. Interest, sinking fund, and principal of obligations resulting from the two loans made in 1864 and 1865 by the Mexican government; and,

2d. Interest at the rate of three per cent. on the sum of 216,000,000 francs, acknowledged by the convention of Miramar to be due to France from the Mexican government; and,

3d. Interest upon all sums advanced by the French treasury for whatsoever purpose, estimated now approximately at 250,000,000 of francs; the amount, however, to be hereafter definitely ascertained.

The collection of these duties is to be intrusted, at the ports of Vera Cruz and Tampico, to special agents under the protection of the French flag. French consular agents are to certify the returns from other ports. The Emperor of France alone has authority to decide how long the collectors of customs shall remain at Tampico and Vera Cruz, and he engages to take the requisite measures to protect them. The financial provisions of the Miramar convention of the 10th of April, 1864, are to be considered as abrogated, from the time to be designated by the Emperor of France for the new treaty to go into effect, which is declared by the imperial decree accompanying the convention, to be the 1st of November next.

The terms of this convention correspond substantially with what I prefigured in one of my communications to you early in the year. They correspond also, with the terms of negotiation sent to the French minister in Mexico, by Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys, in a communication bearing date February 16, 1866, which you will find in Documents Diplomatiques, No. vii, the second yellow book, communicated to the Corps Legislatif, at its last session, on page 37. The passage to which I refer, runs as follows:

“The government of the Emperor has thought that the combination the most simple and least onerous for the Mexican government would consist in the delivery into our hands of the customs of Vera Cruz and Tampico, or of others which may be thought more convenient. Half the products would be assigned to us to be applied, a portion to the payment of the interest at three per cent. of our credits, estimated at 250,000,000; and the remainder as a partial guarantee of the interest due to holders of the loans of 1864 and 1865. Administered by our care, it is to be hoped that these customs will furnish still, after the deductions previously agreed upon, important resources. You will therefore make with the cabinet of Mexico the necessary arrangements for this transfer to us.”

It is a curious coincidence that on the 1st of August, the day after this convention was signed at Mexico, by Maximilian, assigning away the duties to be collected at Tampico, that town was wrested from his control by the Mexican people; leaving, therefore, for the present at least, only Vera Cruz to respond to the expectations of his transatlantic ally.

A few days since, and before the convention in question abrogating the treaty of Miramar, and depriving Maximilian of his only reliable pecuniary resource, was ratified here, it was announced that General Castelnau, aide-de-camp of the Emperor of France, was to leave for Mexico in the steamer of the 17th instant, charged with a special mission, of which an officious explanation appeared in the Patrie, and was from thence generally transferred to the French press. It runs as follows:

[From the Patrie of September 12.]

“We believe that we can state that the mission of General Castelnau to Mexico is connected with the approaching realization of an entire reorganization. The plan involves several administrative and military reforms, which are to come into operation in the month of December next. The nomination of General Osmont as minister of war, and M. Friaut as minister of finance, were only the commencement of this new situation. According to the bases adopted for the Mexican army, that force, commanded principally by French officers, is not only to maintain order and tranquillity in the country, but to be employed to manage the different services, bota administrative and financial. The employés requisite for that purpose are to be selected from its ranks. This system, intended to last for three or four years, will have the advantage of enabling great savings to be effected, since Mexico will then have no other expense to meet than the support of the army, while it will satisfy the most pressing requirements of the inhabitants, whose first wants are order and economy. The organization of the new Mexican army—the basis of this system—was rapidly advancing by the last accounts. The number of voluntary enlistments was so great as to warrant the suspension of the conscription. As soon as the army shall be entirely formed it will take possession of the different services, and it is hoped that this substitution can be effected before the departure of the last contingent of the French expeditionary corps. When General Castelnau, as French commissioner, shall have regulated the different questions to which the adhesion of France is considered necessary, he will return to Paris, where he is expected to arrive in the early part of December. It is asserted that Marshal Bazaine, who will no longer have a command suited to his high rank, will leave Mexico about the same period.”

The appointment of the French officers Osmont and Friaut as ministers of war and finance by the emperor Maximilian seemed to be regarded by the print from which I quote as a part of a new programme for the reorganization of the Mexican government, and to day a foundation for the inference that Maximilian was preparing to make the Emperor of France, if he took the custom-houses, take with them the responsibilities of the government. This, however, does not prove to be to the taste of the Emperor of France, as I infer from the following paragraph, which appears in the Moniteur of this morning:

“By a decree of the 26th July, his majesty the emperor of Mexico has intrusted the portfolio of war to General Osmont, chief of the general staff of the expeditionary corps, and that of finance to the military intendant, Friaut. The military duties of these two superior officers, attached to an army in the field, being incompatible with the responsibility of their new functions, they have not been authorized to accept them.”

The facts which I have here recited require no amplification to show the deplorable situation in which these two governments have placed themselves, as well towards the rest of the world as towards each other. It is enough to say that to all appearance they are in a state of complete disaccord, and in a position from which it is extremely difficult to see how either can extricate itself with dignity or with honor. Everything that has thus far transpired favors the suspicion that Maximilian is anxious to transfer his ill-starred off-spring to the arms of the Emperor of France, who does not seem disposed to accept it.

I have not yet seen the minister of foreign affairs ad interim, who yesterday again pleaded an engagement with the Emperor as his excuse for not receiving the diplomatic corps. It is now presumed that there will be no official receptions at the foreign office until M. de Moustier arrives, except upon special applications. It is understood that the Emperor leaves for Biarritz on Monday, and that M. de Moustier, who is expected to land in France early in October, will join his Majesty there before coming to Paris. In view of such a contingency, I propose myself to leave for Biarritz to-morrow.

I annex a translation of an article commenting upon and explaining the recent convention between the Emperor and Maximilian, which appears in the Constitutionel of this morning. It may be regarded as semi-official.

I am sir, with great respect, your very obedient servant,