Mexican Policy

By a stroke of ill-luck, the one really pressing matter that came before the new Cabinet as soon as it was formed was a matter in the province of the one new Cabinet member who had not reached Washington--the new Secretary of State, Colonel Stimson. There was little doubt that the leaders of the Mexican revolt (see p. 27) timed their uprising in order to catch the new administration off its guard in hope that its support of the existent regime in Mexico would be weak.

The old Secretary of State, Mr. Kellogg, was put in the embarrassing position of having to initiate policies that properly belonged to his successor. However, President Hoover relieved Mr. Kellogg's embarrassment as far as possible by announcing that the Mexican policy of the Coolidge administration would be continued. Secretary Kellogg shuttled back and forth to the White House daily to consult the President, and likewise conferred with the new Secretary of War, Mr. Good.

The first result of these conferences was a number of decisions all calculated to strengthen the hand of the Mexican Government, 1) The arms embargo of 1924 was continued. This embargo forbids the general exportation of arms and ammunition to Mexico (i. e., to rebels) but permits such materials to be delivered to the Mexican Government under special license from the U.S. Government. 2) Licenses were promptly granted to the Mexican Government for such war materials as it wished to buy from private firms in this country. 3) Commercial airplanes (easily convertible to fighters) which were removed a year ago from the list of articles under embargo, were restored to the embargo list. 4) The U.S. sold to Mexico some 10,000 Enfield rifles and 10,000,000 rounds of ammunition from U. S. reserve stores. This was done on precedent--5,000 rifles were sold to Mexico at the time of the Huerta revolution in 1924, and payment was promptly made.

In addition Secretary Kellogg let it be known that the administration might go even further in support of the present Mexican Government because the Government had shown "a willingness to live up to its international agreements"--that is, to protect U.S. citizens and property in Mexico. He said there was precedent for allowing Mexico to transport troops through the U.S. in order to make a concentration against the rebel forces in northwestern Mexico.