January 4th
Last night N. went to a big dinner at the Jockey Club. It was given by Corona, the chic governor of the Federal District, for the President, who made speeches at intervals. Several times Huerta seemed to be on the verge of mentioning the United States, but N. said he kept a restraining eye fastened on him. After dinner N. was called to the telephone. When he came back there was a subtle something in the air which made him feel that in his absence the President had drifted near the Washington rocks, for Huerta took pains to go over and embrace him. Later the President quoted the saying that “all thieves are not gachupines,” but that “all gachupines are thieves,” whereupon, catching the Spanish minister’s eye, he felt obliged to go over and embrace him, too! However, drifting a bit nearer to Scylla and Charybdis matters little to him.
He was not responsible for the much-talked-of New-Year’s greeting to President Wilson. It was sent out from the Foreign Office with the other usual annual messages to the heads of Powers, and in the Foreign Office they explained that they did not like to pass over the United States.
The admonition given out by the State Department yesterday, the third to Americans, warning them not to return to Mexico, was printed in small type in a corner of the Mexican Herald. Formerly it would have occupied a whole page, but the people are getting blasé about warnings. Each man looks to himself for protection—on the even chance. I don’t know whether this admonition was in any way an outcome of Mr. Lind’s conference; it might easily be, as one of his strong beliefs is that foreigners would better get out. This is also Carranza’s idea.