To determine the truth in all these allegations, which were freely printed in the American press of the time, would demand more facts than are at present available; yet it is clear that these oil and other “concessions” presented the perpetual Mexican problem in a new and difficult light.  The Wilson Administration came into power a few days after Huerta had seized the Mexican Government.  The first difficulty presented to the State Department was to determine its attitude toward this usurper.

A few days after President Wilson’s inauguration Mr. Irwin Laughlin, then Charge d’Affaires in London—­this was several weeks before Page’s arrival—­was instructed to ask the British Foreign Office what its attitude would be in regard to the recognition of President Huerta.  Mr. Laughlin informed the Foreign Office that he was not instructed that the United States had decided on any policy, but that he felt sure it would be to the advantage of both countries to follow the same line.  The query was not an informal one; it was made in definite obedience to instructions and was intended to elicit a formal commitment.  The unequivocal answer that Mr. Laughlin received was that the British Government would not recognize Huerta, either formally or tacitly.

Mr. Laughlin sent his message immediately to Washington, where it apparently made a favourable impression.  The Administration then let it be known that the United States would not recognize the new Mexican regime.  Whether Mr. Wilson would at this time have taken such a position, irrespective of the British attitude, is not known, but at this stage of the proceedings Great Britain and the United States were standing side by side.

About three weeks afterward Mr. Laughlin heard that the British Foreign Office was about to recognize Huerta.  Naturally the report astonished him; he at once called again on the Foreign Office, taking with him the despatch that he had recently sent to Washington.  Why had the British Government recognized Huerta when it had given definite assurances to Washington that it had no intention of doing so?  The outcome of the affair was that Sir Cecil Spring Rice, British Ambassador in Washington, was instructed to inform the State Department that Great Britain had changed its mind.  France, Germany, Spain, and most other governments followed the British example in recognizing the new President of Mexico.

It is thus apparent that the initial mistake in the Huerta affair was made by Great Britain.  Its action produced the most unpleasant impression upon the new Administration.  Mr. Wilson, Mr. Bryan, and their associates in the cabinet easily found an explanation that was satisfactory to themselves and to the political enthusiasms upon which they had come into power.  They believed that the sudden change in the British attitude was the result of pressure from British commercial interests which hoped to profit from the Huerta influence.  Lord Cowdray was a