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Sir: By direction of the President of the Republic, I now proceed to examine the note of Your Excellency, dated August 21, 1874, and the accompanying memorandum, on the contents of which I have made to Your Excellency some observations in private conferences. . . .
Entering upon the examination of the serious matter in question, I must immediately remind you that on October 20, 1873, I had the honor to address to Mr. Manuel Garcia Granados, then representative of Guatemala, the formal declaration that the Government of Mexico does not admit any discussion upon the legitimacy of the possession of Chiapas and Soconusco by the United States of Mexico. As that note was not answered, and since Your Excellency afterward arrived here in the high capacity of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, the Government of Mexico naturally believed that Guatemala desisted from the question formerly raised by her as to the incorporation of Chiapas and Soconusco, and that the mission of Your Excellency had for object the much desired settlement of boundaries. But the note and memorandum of Your Excellency reopen this discussion, and conclude by proposing to Mexico the loss of almost the whole of Soconusco, as well as a part of Chiapas and the payment of the debt for which that state is alleged to be responsible.
It would suffice for the Government of Mexico to refer to the formal declaration contained in the note of October 20, 1873; but, with the only object of preventing that decision from being deemed capricious or arbitrary, I proceed to state to Your Excellency the reasons which legalize the possession of Chiapas and
