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John Barrett's Plan to Mediate the Mexican Revolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Salvatore Prisco III
Salvatore Prisco III*
Affiliation:
University of Alabama, University, Alabama
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Extract

In 1911 Francisco I. Madero overthrew the Mexican dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. Unable to consolidate his initial victory and establish a stable government, Madero presided for sixteen months over the political destruction of the Mexican Republic. Then on February 9, 1913, the counterrevolutionary General Victoriano Huerta came to power following a coup d'etat.

Throughout the period of Madero's presidency the United States and the republics of Latin America had attempted without success to encourage stability in the Mexican Government. In order to begin the quest for a steadying influence in Mexico, John Barrett, the Director-General of the Pan American Union and an experienced American diplomat in Latin America, proposed that the international hemispheric organization mediate the situation, and thus work to insure an essentially Mexican solution to a Mexican problem. To this end Barrett sent a series of letters on February 13, 1913, to President Taft, Presidentelect Wilson and the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, explaining his plan. To avoid the further decay of the Mexican situation, which could eventually lead the United States to intervene with force, Director-General Barrett proposed that an international commission of mediation be called under the auspices of the Pan American Union.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , April 1971 , pp. 413 - 425
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1971

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References

1 John Barrett (1866–1938) was a diplomat and commercial publicist who had previously served as American Minister to Siam (1894–1898), Argentina (1904), Panama (1905) and Colombia (1906). He was Director-General of the Pan American Union from 1907 to 1920. John Barrett MSS, Library of Congress.

2 Barrett to William H. Taft, Feb. 13, 1913, File Box 14, John Barrett MSS, L. C.

3 Barrett to Woodrow Wilson, Feb. 13, 1919, F. B. 14, John Barrett MSS, L. C.

4 Barrett to Henry Cabot Lodge, et al., Feb. 13, 1913, F. B. 14, John Barrett MSS, L. C.

5 New York Times, Feb. 14, 1913, p. 1.

6 Barrett to Woodrow Wilson, July 26, 1913, Series 4, F. B. 131, Woodrow Wilson MSS, L. C. Barrett expanded upon his position in later writings. See Barrett, John, “A Pan American Policy: The Monroe Doctrine Modernized,” The Annals: American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 54 (July, 1914), 1–4 Google Scholar; The Pan American Union and Peace (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916), p. 3 ff.; Address on Pan Americanism and the Monroe Doctrine (Chicago: Illinois State Bar Assn. Press, 1916), p. 12 ff.

7 Mecham, Lloyd, The United States and Inter-American Security, 1889–1960 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1961), p. 50.Google Scholar Also see Muzzey, David S., James Q. Blaine: A Political Idol of Other Days (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1934), pp. 291, 430 ff.Google Scholar Faulkner, Harold U., Politics, Reform and Expansion, 1890–1920 (New York: Harper & Bros., 1959), p. 213.Google Scholar Roa, Jorge, Los Estados Unidos Y Europa en Hispano America: Interpretación Política y Económica de la Doctrina Monroe, 1823–1933 (Habana: Carasa, 1935).Google Scholar Lobo, Helio, O Pan-Americanismo eo Brasil (Sao Paulo: Eds. da Companhia Ed. Nacional, 1939).Google Scholar Yepres, Jesus M., Philosophie du Panaméricanisme et Organisation de la Paix (Neuchatel: Ed. de la Baconniere, 1945).Google Scholar

8 Whitaker, Arthur P., The Western Hemisphere Idea: Its Rise and Decline (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1954), p. 95 ff.Google Scholar Perkins, Dexter, Hands Off: A History of the Monroe Doctrine (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1942), p. 247 ff.Google Scholar Also see Anador, F. V. García y Rodríguez, , El Proceso Internacional Panamericano (Habana: J. Montero, 1942).Google Scholar de la Sota, Carlos Naudon, America Impaciente (Santiago de Chile: Ed. del Pacífico, 1963).Google Scholar

9 Whitaker, op. cit., p. 95. Roosevelt’s message was sent to Congress at the beginning of December, 1902; Drago’s message was not sent to Washington until the end of the month.

10 Ibid., p. 102 ff.

11 Ibid., p. 106 ff.

12 Ferrara, Orestes, El Panamericanismo y la Opinion Europea (Paris: Le Livre Libre, 1930),Google Scholar and Tentativas de Intervención Europea en America (Habana: Ed. Hermes, 1933), p. 70 ff.

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21 Perkins, op. cit., p. 323. See also Triana, Santiago Pérez, La Doctrina Drago (London: Weitheimer, Lea y Cia, no date).Google Scholar In many ways the Drago Doctrine was an official expression of a similar policy put forth by Alejandro Calvo in 1867. See Calvo, Alejandro, Política Americana (Buenos Aires: Imprenta La Universidad de J. N. Kingelfuss, 1886),Google Scholar and Rivera, Alberto Arroyo, “La no Intervención en el Derecho Internacional Americano,” (Mexico City: Unpublished law thesis at the National University of Mexico, 1962).Google Scholar

22 Perkins, op. cit., p. 324.

23 Dozer, Donald M. (ed.), The Monroe Doctrine: Its Modern Significance (New York: Knopf, 1965), p. 21.Google Scholar Callcott, Wilfrid H., The Caribbean Policy of the United States, 1890–1920 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1942), p. 319,Google Scholar and The Western Hemisphere: Its Influence on United States Policies to the End of World War II (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1968).

24 Calvert, Peter, The Mexican Revolution, 1910–1914: The Diplomacy of Anglo-American Conflict (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968), p. 132.Google Scholar

25 Luquín, Eduardo, La Política Internacional de la Revolución Constitucionalista (Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana, 1957).Google Scholar

26 Gil, Enrique, Evolución del Panamericanismo: el Credo de Wilson y el Panamericanismo (Buenos Aires: Ed. de Jesús Menéndez, 1933).Google Scholar

27 In addition to statements pertaining to the need for constitutional government in Mexico, Wilson adopted the rhetoric of equality when he said of Latin America in Mobile, Alabama, “We must prove ourselves their friends and champions upon terms of equality and honor. You cannot be friends upon any other terms than upon the terms of equality. … We must show ourselves their friends by comprehending their interest whether it squares with our own interest or not.”

The Pan American Pact of 1914, although not ratified, provided for mutual guarantees of territorial integrity and political independence under republican forms of government.

28 Washington Post, July 25, 1913, p. 8.

29 Barrett, John, “A Ready Aid in Foreign Trade,” Systems (March, 1908), 93.Google Scholar

30 Barrett, John, “A Pan American Policy: The Monroe Doctrine Modernized,” The Annals, 54 (July, 1914), 1–4.Google Scholar

31 Barrett to Wilson, July 26, 1913, Series 4, F. B. 131, Woodrow Wilson MSS, L. C.

32 Barrett, John, Address on Pan Americanism and the Monroe Doctrine (Chicago: Illinois State Bar Assn. Press, 1916), p. 22.Google Scholar

33 Mexican Herald, Feb. 14, 1913, p. 3. New Orleans Item, Feb. 15, 1913, p. 4, F. B. 14, Barrett, John MSS, L. C. Panama Star and Herald, Feb. 18, 1913, p. 4.Google Scholar La Prensa, Feb. 14, 1913, p. 10, and Feb. 17, 1913, p. 9. In a later issue of La Prensa, Barrett was spoken of as a champion of Pan Americanism and an official always willing to mediate between the United States and Latin America, Feb. 25, 1913, p. 10.

34 Mexican Herald, Feb. 14, 1913, p. 3.

35 New York Times, Feb. 14, 1913, p. 2.

36 New York Times, Feb. 16, 1913, p. 2.

37 Ibid.

38 Barrett to Elihu Root, Feb. 15, 1913; Barrett to William H. Taft, Feb. 15, 1913, F. B. 14, John Barrett MSS, L. C.

39 Washington Times, Feb. 15, 1913, p. 10.

40 Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 15, 1913, p. 7.

41 Detroit News, Feb. 17, 1913, p. 4.

42 New York World, Feb. 16, 1913, p. 4.

43 Editorial, The Independent, Feb. 20, 1913, p. 387. ‘Who Is Responsible?” The Outlook, Feb. 22, 1913, p. 394.

44 Hamilton Holt to Barrett, Feb. 19, 1913; Elihu Root to Barrett, Feb. J7, 1913; J. B. Tait to Barrett, Feb. 15, 1913; Anti-Imperialist League to Barrett, Sept. 15, 1913; Walter H. Page to Barrett, Feb. 24, 1913; Albert Shaw to Barrett, Feb. 24, 1913; L. L. Seaman to Barrett, Feb. 25, 1913; W. P. Massie to Barrett, Feb. 26, 1913; W. Morgan Shuster to Barrett, Feb. 26, 1913; Frank A. Vanderlip to Barrett, March 1, 1913, F. B. 14, John Barrett MSS, L. C.

45 Salvador Castrillo to Barrett, Feb. 17, 1913; Ignacio Calderon to Barrett, Feb. 17, 1913; Francisco Pezet to Barrett, Feb. 17, 1913; Manuel de Oliveira Lima to Barrett, Feb. 17, 1913; Angel C. Rivas to Barrett, Feb. 15, 1913, F. B. 14, John Marrett MSS, L. C.

46 Chicago Tribune, Feb. 14, 1913, p. 1.

47 Heriberto Barron to Barrett, Feb. 14, 1913, F. B. 14, John Barrett MSS, L. C. Barron was at one time a follower of General Bernardo Reyes. When Reyes moved to cooperate with Madero in 1911, Barron went over to Madero’s side. See Cumberland, Charles C., Mexican Revolution: Genesis Under Madero (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1952), pp. 38, 165 ff.Google Scholar

48 U. S. Consul Edwards to Secretary of State Bryan, March 7, 1913, U. S. Dept. of State, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States 1913 (Washington: G. P. O., 1920), p. 759.

49 New York Times, Feb. 15, 1913, p. 2.

50 Taft to Barrett, Feb. 20, 1913, Series 6, F. B. 347, William H. Taft MSS, L. C.

51 Barrett Memorandum, Aug. 22, 1913; and Barrett to Joseph Tumulty, Oct. 5, 1913, Series 4, F. B. 131, Woodrow Wilson MSS, L. C.

52 Bryan to Wilson, July 19, 1913, F. B. 29, William Jennings Bryan MSS, L. C.

53 Barrett to Wilson, July 26, 1913 and Aug. 22, 1913, Series 4, F. B. 131, Woodrow Wilson MSS, L. C.

54 Lansing Memorandum, June 11, 1914, U. S. Dept. of State, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, The Lansing Papers, 1914–1920, Vol. 2 (Washington: G. P. O., 1946), p. 461 ff.

55 Ibid., p. 528 ff.

56 Ibid., p. 462 ff.