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Dwight W. Morrow, Ambassador to Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Stanley R. Ross
Stanley R. Ross*
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska
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Extract

Historical evaluation of the Morrow mission to Mexico, October, 1927 to September, 1930, has been ill-served by polemicists, adulators, and critics who have misrepresented the state of relations between the United States and Mexico in 1927, misinterpreted the nature of Morrow’s accomplishments, and overemphasized the persistence of the problems with which he had to deal. It is the purpose of this paper to clarify the circumstances attendant on Morrow’s appointment, to describe the character of his mission, and to evaluate the consequences of his efforts in Mexico.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , January 1958 , pp. 273 - 289
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1958

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References

1 This paper is based on one presented at the Fiftieth Annual Meeting of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association held at Lincoln, Nebraska, in May, 1957. The writer wishes to acknowledge two grants by the University of Nebraska Research Council which have made possible his investigation of the diplomatic career of Dwight W. Morrow.

2 See Speech of President Coolidge, Jan. 10, 1927, United States Daily, Jan. 11, 1927.

3 Papers of Dwight W. Morrow, Amherst College, File 8 (Reminiscences, Eman Beck), hereinafter cited as DWM Papers.

4 Mexican petroleum production, in millions of barrels, declined as follows: 1921–193.4; 1925–115.5; 1926–90.4; 1927–64.1. The even sharper reduction in revenues, due to the decline of crude oil prices, is confirmed by the following tax yield figures in millions of pesos: 1921–62.7; 1925–42.0; 1926–34.8; 1927–18.9. Howland, C. P., ed., Survey of American Foreign Relations, 1931 (New Haven, 1931), p. 163 Google Scholar; Report of the U. S. Acting Commercial Attaché, United States Daily, Feb. 1, 1927.

5 Diario Oficial, Apr. 23, 1927.

6 W. Evarts to John W. Foster, Aug. 12, 1878 as quoted in Thompson, Wallace, “Wanted A Mexican Policy,” Atlantic Monthly (Mar. 1927), p. 381.Google Scholar

7 The Anti-Smuggling Convention was signed Dec. 23, 1925 and ratified the following March. United States Treaty Series, No. 732, 1926. Notice of the termination was given Mar. 21, 1927, United States Daily, Mar. 23, 1927.

8 The New York World, Jan. 27, 1928, referred to the “same old gang,” and Representative Huddleston, speaking of Doheny and Sinclair, stated that “these are the worthies for whom the honor of our Nation has been jeopardized.” Congressional Record (Feb. 8, 1927), Vol. 68, p. 3295. See also, Beals, C., “Who Wants War With Mexico,” New Republic (Mar. 27, 1927), pp. 266–269.Google Scholar

9 New York Herald Tribune, Dec. 7, 1926.

10 Newspapers advocating arbitration included: New York—Times, World, Evening Post, and Evening World; Syracuse Herald; St. Louis— Globe Democrat and Post Dispatch; Chicago— Post and Journal of Commerce; Boston Globe; Newark News; Cleveland Plain Dealer; Brooklyn Eagle; Raleigh News and Observer; Baltimore Sun; Richmond Times-Dispatch; Norfolk Virgiman and Pilot; Providence News; Columbus Ohio State Journal; Pittsburg Sun and Post; Houston Chronicle; Washington News; Hartford Courant; Philadelphia Record; and Minneapolis Journal.

Petitioners included one hundred leaders in educational, religious, and civic organizations; one hundred professors of international law and political science at thirty-five universities; and the Federal Council of Churches. Labor was represented by William Green of the American Federation of Labor.

11 United States Daily, Jan. 26, 1927.

12 Emilio Portes Gil, ”Las Relaciones internacionales entre México y los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica, desde 1911 hasta el gobierno provisional del año de 1929: Cómo se conjuró en 1927 una intervención armada en México,” Ms.

13 United States, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1927, III, 209–225.Google Scholar

14 El Universal, Apr. 27, 1927. The following day this paper concluded that the “period of threats has passed” and “the situation differs from a few months back”.

15 White, William A., A Puritan in Babylon, The Story of Calvin Coolidge (New York, 1938), p. 282.Google Scholar

16 Saturday Evening Post, May 12, 1928.

17 Coolidge, Calvin, The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (New York, 1929), p. 196.Google Scholar

18 Calles, P. E., Informe rendido por … ante el H. Congreso de la Unión el día 1° de septiembre de 1927 (México, 1927).Google Scholar

19 Morrow, D. W., “Who Buys Foreign Bonds?” Foreign Affairs (Jan., 1927), pp. 219–232.Google Scholar

20 , E. U. M., Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Boletín Oficial (Oct., 1927), Tomo IL, No. 10, pp. 22–29.Google ScholarPubMed

21 October 30, 1927.

22 Morrow speech to the American Chamber of Commerce, etc., Nov. 18, 1927, DWM Papers; Excelsior, Nov. 22, 1927.

23 Morrow to Bruce Barton, Feb. 2, 1928, DWM Papers.

24 Rogers, W., “More Letters From a Self-Made Diplomat to His President,” Saturday Evening Post, June 9, 1928.Google Scholar

25 Jan. 7, 1928, DWM Papers.

26 Current History (Feb., 1928), p. 727.

27 Beak, C., “Dwight Morrow Agrees with Mexico,” The Nation (Jan. 25, 1928), pp. 91–93.Google Scholar

28 El Universal, June 11, 1930; New York Times, Sept. 16, 1930.

29 Morrow to James Francis Burke, Apr. 6, 1928, DWM Papers.

30 Morrow to Robert Olds, Nov. 1, 1927, DWM Papers.

31 Nicolson, H., Dwight Morrow (New York, 1935), p. 323.Google Scholar

32 Ibid., p. 321; Morrow to Olds, Dec. 1, 1927, DWM Papers.

33 Morrow to Olds, Nov. 22, 1927, DWM Papers.

34 Morrow to Secretary of State, Nov. 8, 1927, Papers Relating …, 1921, III, 187 ff.

35 Morrow speech to the New Jersey Bankers’ Association, May 16, 1930, DWM Papers.

36 Morrow to Frederick E. Woodbridge, Feb. 9, 1928, DWM Papers.

37 Morrow to Lois Andrews Healy, Oct. 9, 1923, DWM Papers.

38 Nicolson, Morrow, p. 38.

39 Ibid., p. 49.

40 Morrow to Olds, Dec. 7, 1927, DWM Papers.

41 United States, Department of State, Press Releases, Mar. 27 and 28, 1928.

42 Toynbee, A. J., Survey of International Affairs, 1930 (London, 1931), pp. 384–385.Google Scholar

43 Morrow wrote to Walter Lippmann that “the more I study the question … the more I am convinced that when you get into the discussion of particular laws you are lost. The letter killeth. Perhaps it can be brought about that the spirit will give life …” To Olds he reported that “the issue between the Mexican government and the Catholic hierarchy can be dealt with, if at all only on practical lines. It cannot be settled in principle. There is no end to these discussions of principles, but there can be a common-sense adjustment of the actual facts of the situation. What must be sought is a practical modus vivendi.…” Morrow to Lippmann, May 13, 1928 and to Olds, Mar. 9, 1928, DWM Papers.

44 Morrow to Secretary of State, Nov., 1927, as cited in Nicolson, Morrow, pp. 385 ff.

45 Morrow to President Ortiz Rubio as cited in Nicolson, Morrow, p. 386.

46 Morrow’s speech to the American Chamber of Commerce, El Universal, Aug. 2, 1928.

47 Morrow to Secretary of State, Mar. 5, 1929, Department of State Files 812.00 Sonora/71; Papers Relating…, 1929, III, 344.

48 El Universal Gráfico, Dec. 28, 1929; Memorandum, Dec. 3, 1929, DWM Papers.

49 Daniels, Josephus, Shirt-Sleeve Diplomat (Chapel Hill, 1927), p. 22.Google Scholar

50 Nicolson, Morrow, p. 294.

51 Thompson, “Wanted …”, p. 389.

52 Morrow speech at Harvard Commencement, June 21, 1928, DWM Papers; El Universal, June 22, 1928.

53 Ibid.