The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 27, July 1923 - April, 1924 Page: 5
344 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Negotiation of the Gadsden Treaty
about 30' and then again west to the Gulf. Should Mexico be
unwilling to make such a large cession of country as such a line
would require she might agree to have the line on the southern
border of New Mexico continued until it shall strike the River
San Pedro and thence down that river to its junction with the Gila.
With the negotiations for the alteration of the boundary Marcy
suggested that it might be proper to embrace a settlement of
mutual claims. In regard to Mexican claims for indemnity under
the eleventh article of the treaty of 1848, however, Marcy con-
tended that the government of the United States could not admit
of any responsibility. It had fulfilled its obligations to restrain
the Indian incursions "in the same way, and with equal diligence
and energy, as if the same incursions" had been "committed
within its own territory, against its own citizens." Since 1848,
the United States had kept a large portion of its military forces
stationed in the vicinity of the international boundary for the pur-
pose of "keeping the Indians in order and restraining incursions
into Mexican territory." Better results had not attended their
efforts largely because Mexico had left her border in an almost un-
protected state. "It would be singular indeed," said Marcy, "if
the United States could be held liable to indemnify Mexico or her
citizens for injuries which she invited or at least might have pre-
vented, and in virtue of being a government was bound to her citi-
zens to prevent." Nevertheless, while denying the justice of these
claims, Marcy realized that the offer on previous occasions of sev-
eral millions for release from the obligations stipulated by the
article in question put his government in a somewhat embarrassing
position, from which he admitted that he would like to find a
way of escape.
Marcy assured Gadsden that the government of the United
States was willing to "pay liberally" for these three important
considerations, but he did not state definite figures. Moreover, he
left the subject of the concessions of citizens of the United States
in Tehuantepec open for further instructions, and promised later
advice concerning the subject of claims in general.
The concluding paragraph of Gadsden's instructions dealt with
the commercial relations of the neighboring republics, describing
the situation in a few brief sentences:
The unsettled condition of affairs in Mexico for many years
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 27, July 1923 - April, 1924, periodical, 1924; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101086/m1/11/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.