April 12th. 5 P.M.
A written reply, very clever indeed, was received at one o’clock, refusing categorically to give the desired, or rather, demanded, salute of twenty-one guns, at Tampico. The Mexicans say that the whaleboat landed at a part of the town then in the military zone, and without permission; that fighting was going on at the time; that the city was under martial law. The men had been sent in to get gasoline for the ship with the paymaster (usually it is only a petty officer who accompanies the men on such errands). The reply ends with an acuerdo especial (especial message) from Huerta to the effect that he could not comply with the United States’ demands without wounding Mexico’s national honor and dignity and infringing on her sovereignty, which he is ready to defend at all times and in all ways. Now what are we going to do? The clerks have been working like mad all day, and endless cables have gone out of the Embassy. Nelson says he will not go to Huerta, though when we passed Chapultepec restaurant, coming from the Reforma Club near by, where we had been lunching, he saw the President’s motor, and got out of our car and strolled through the restaurant, to give Huerta a chance to speak, if he was so minded, without seeking him out. However, Huerta was dining with the officers of the rural guard, and Nelson left immediately. Huerta had been at the automobile races all the morning, we, in our Anglo-Saxon preoccupation, having, of course, forgotten about them. The situation is again very tense; again war and destruction loom up—a specter to us, as well as to this strange Indian republic that we are trying to mold to our image and likeness.
Nelson has told all newspaper men that he gives no information to any one; that he is a “dry spring,” and that they must cable to their home offices for news. As, since nine-thirty, there has been the strictest censorship, they won’t get or give much. Even the Embassy cables were delayed until Nelson went to the office and made his arrangements.
The white pony and the Mexican saddle that the President has asked to present to Elim, fortunately, have not appeared. You can imagine the juicy dish of news that gift would make at home! Refusal or acceptance would be equally delicate.