REBUKE TO MEXICO.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 230, 27 August 1938, Page 9

REBUKE TO MEXICO.

SHARP AMERICAN NOTE. EXPROPRIATION OF FARMS. WASHINGTON, Aug. 25. The text of the United States Note' to Mexico concerning the expropriation of. American-owned farm lands declares that Mexico’s refusal to arbitrate on the matter is a violation of international law and threatens a breakdown of confidence and trust among nations. “Since the Mexican Government has challenged , the doctrine of just, compensation and has proposed to substitute for it the theory of confiscation, the merits of this fundamental issue must he determined before any others can be considered,” says the Note. . ,

The Note .which is sharply worded, contrary to earlier belief, takes strong issue with the Mexican policy, adding: “If this policy were generally followed, what citizen from any republic making his living in any other out of 20 republics in the Western Hemisphere could have any assurance from one day to the next that he and his family would not be evicted from their homes and bereft of all their means of livelihood ?”

The Note concludes that the expropriation constitutes an “unadulterated confiscation,” and it demands immediate action to satisfy the United States claim. America is ready to accept arbitration or determination by commissioners.