"It adds a climax to the operations of Count von Bernstorff and the German Embassy in this country, which have been colored with passport frauds, charges of dynamite plots, and intrigue, the full extent of which never has been published.
"It gives new credence to persistent reports of submarine bases on Mexican territory in the Gulf of Mexico. It takes cognizance of a fact long recognized by American army chiefs, that if Japan ever undertook to invade the United States it probably would be through Mexico, over the border and into the Mississippi Valley to split the country in two.
"It recalls that Count von Bernstorff, when his passports were handed to him, was very reluctant to return to Germany, but expressed a preference for an asylum in Cuba. It gives a new explanation to the repeated arrests on the border of men charged by American military authorities with being German intelligence agents.
"Last of all, it seems to show a connection with General Carranza's recent proposal to neutrals that exports of food and munitions to the Entente Allies be cut off, and an intimation that he might stop the supply of oil, so vital to the British navy, which is exported from the Tampico fields."
A series of repudiations followed. The Mexican Government, through various officials except President-elect Carranza himself, denied all knowledge of Germany's proposal. The German Minister at Mexico City protested that he had never received any instructions from Secretary Zimmermann, which appeared to be the case, since they were intercepted. From Tokyo came the assurance of Viscount Motono, Japanese Foreign Minister, that Japan had received no proposal from either Germany or Mexico for an alliance against the United States. He scouted the idea as ridiculous, since it was based on the "outrageous presumption that Japan would abandon her allies." Secretary Lansing did not believe Japan had any knowledge of Germany's overtures to Mexico, nor that she would consider approaches made by any enemy, and was likewise confident that Mexico would not be a party to any agreement which affected her relations with the United States.
The Berlin Government impenitently admitted the transmission of the Eckhardt letter and justified the alliance with Mexico it proposed. The Budget Committee of the Reichstag, unequivocally and by a unanimous vote, indorsed the initiation of the ill-starred project as being within the legitimate scope of military precautions. Addressing the Reichstag, Herr Zimmermann thus defended his action:
"We were looking out for all of us, in the event of there being the prospect of war with America. It was a natural and justified precaution. I am not sorry that, through its publication in America, it also became known in Japan.
"For the dispatch of these instructions a secure way was chosen which at present is at Germany's disposal. How the Americans came into possession of the text which went to America in special secret code we do not know. That these instructions should have fallen into American hands is a misfortune, but that does not alter the fact that the step was necessary for our patriotic interests.
"Least of all are they in America justified in being excited about our action. It would be erroneous to suppose that the step made a particularly deep impression abroad. It is regarded as what it is—justifiable defensive action in the event of war."
The Mexican Government, despite its denials, remained under the suspicion that it had secret dealings with Germany. Toward the close of 1916 circumstantial rumors were afloat that German sea raiders, who were then roaming the South Atlantic, had a base somewhere on the coast of Mexico. The Allied Powers were persuaded that if this was true the raiders could not obtain supplies from such a source without the knowledge or connivance of the Mexican authorities. The British chargé at Mexico City thereupon presented a note to the Carranza Government stating that if it was discovered that Mexican neutrality had thus been violated, the Allies would take "drastic measures" to end the situation. The retort of the Mexican Foreign Minister, Señor Aquilar, almost insolent in tone, was to the effect that it was the business of the Allies to keep German submarines out of western waters, and that if they were not kept out Mexico would adopt whatever course the circumstances might dictate.