The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971 Page: 3
616 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Tempest in a Teapot?
all foreign properties taken over by the Mexican Government . . .
[and] make an adjustment of foreign claims for damages as a result
of the revolution.""
Hints by Carranza that legislation might be forthcoming guarantee-
ing ownership of lands acquired prior to 1917 failed to placate mem-
bers of the United States Congress who contemplated the gravity of
the Mexican situation, especially with regard to the oil fields of Tam-
pico and Tixpam. Senators and congressmen alike noted with grow-
ing concern that the oil fields were essential to national security,
especially since the exigencies of war had drained off much of the
nation's oil reserve. Without a ready reserve of oil, a viable merchant
marine seemed an impossibility, and discrimination against United
States oil men in Mexico seriously damaged the development of mari-
time commerce through a curtailment of supplies from Mexico. In
addition, United States citizens living in the Tampico area feared for
their lives and properties. Numerous Americans, one congressman
noted, were murdered around the oil fields during the time that Mex-
ico unofficially supported Germany in the Great War. The persistence
of rampant banditry and pillage showed Carranza's inability to con-
trol the country, and Francisco Villa remained the principal concern
of individuals worried about the safety of United States citizens in
northern Mexico.'
Northwest of Tampico and Tixpam, Villa continued his forays
against the Mexican government, and Carranza proved incapable of
denting the Great Centaur's defenses. Villa's border activities resulted
in the establishment of a heavy contingent of seasoned United States
cavalry along the international boundary. Some dissent in the United
States, however, existed against the prevalent pessimism over Mexico.
Samuel Guy Inman reported a variety of favorable developments,
including a reduction in banditry, safety along the railroads, and a
rise in trade and commerce. Similarly, W. E. Chapman, the United
3Fletcher to Thomas W. Lamont, December 4, 1918, Henry Prather Fletcher Papers
(Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress). Senator Albert B. Fall was among those who
turned their attention back to Mexico with the termination of the war, and in June he
gave his reasons in a speech before Congress. Congressional Record, 66th Cong., Ist Sess.,
Pt. 2, pp. 1173, 1175. See also Samuel Guy Inman, Intervention in Mexico (New York,
1919), 16.
4Congressional Record, 66th Cong., Ist Sess., Pt. 2, pp. 1192-1193, 19o02; also Fletcher to
Woodrow Wilson, March 1, 1919, File 711.12/187 (RG 59, NA); Investigation of Mexican
Affairs, in Senate Documents, 66th Cong., 2nd Sess. (Serial 7666), Document No. 285,
II, 3316-3326, presents a long list of claims against the Mexican government.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971, periodical, 1971; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101200/m1/15/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.