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Show Relations Between U. S. And Mexico to Remain Re-main Friendly. CASE IS REVIEWED Jenkins Waived Legal Rights by Refusing to Give Bail. MEXICO CITY, Nov. 27. (By the Associated Press. Belief that the relations of friendship between Mexico and the CnlteJ States "cannot be af fpcted unfavorably," by the former's refusal to take steps looking to the release re-lease of William O. Jenkins, United States tonsillar agent, from the pent-i tentiarv at Pucbla was expressed in the note replying to the American de-j mand for Mr. Jenkins' liberation., sent by thj Mexican government to the American ehbassy late yesterday. After reviewing the case the reply! pointed out lhat the Judge at Puebla Who ordered Mr. Jenkins' detention1 had acted within his powers jiuI that! the latter had waiw-u his legal rights in refusing to give bail. Only when justice is denied, the note asserted,1 can one nation demand the release of a subjeet who is imprisoned in another an-other country it is declared thai the Mexican avs does not contemplate interference in-terference by the executive branch of the government in operations of the judiciary and that, even in the United States the government is powerless to act in a case until state courts render a decision Little Surprise in Washington. Little surprise was caused by the attitude assumed by the Mexican government, gov-ernment, as statements by official's during the last week have reflected I sentiment adverse to acceding to the American demand Mr. Jenkins was abducted on October Oc-tober 22 by a band of outlaws under I command of Fedenco Cordova and held at the latter's hacienda In the i mountains south of Puebla until a ransom of ?.L:".,"f in gold was paid. This sum was handed to the bandits a week later and Mr. Jenkins released, payment beinc made by Scnor Alestre I who has been Mr. Jenkins' attorney The Mexican government later refused ! to refund the amount of tho ransom, a 'suggestion t hat was made from Washington. Wash-ington. Soon after Mr .Tankins" release his attorney was charged with being an accessory of Cordova in Mr. Jenkins' abduction and later rli corr-pond ence in Mr. Jenkins possession was seized and he was placed under surveillance sur-veillance on a charge of having con j spired with Cordova for the carrying lout of an alleged false abduction H' w;is placed under arrest but was not i actually incarcerated until November ,1-1 when he was confined In Puebla i penitentiary by a judse before w hom : allegation- wero made lhat Jenkinw had made false statements and had threatened peons who were prepared to testifj that the had si en .Mr Jen-; Jen-; kins in company w ith Cordoa after the former had been released by the bandit chief, i , EL PASO, Tex.. Nov. 26 The text of the note follows Mexico, Nov 26, 1919. Mi. George L. Summerlin, Acting i Charge of Affaires for the United j States of America. Dear Sir: I am instructed by the president of the republic to answer herewith your note of November 20, which you addressed to tho Mexican government on instructions from the I state department of the United States You will no doubt realize that the fact that, no legal foundation for thc-pnnciple thc-pnnciple or precedent of international 'right, or even of reason, is invoked in I the demand for the immi (Hate-liberation of Mr. Jenkins, who, as you know, is at present under the jurisdiction of a judge of the City of Puebla The Mexican government cannot see 'what the foundation lor such a demand J might be. It believes that it can be only the power of the country that makes it. although the United States I has exprec3p.rj tj1(-. desire on various 1 occasions that rli?ht and justice should be the basis of Its diplomacy, I and respect for weak countries the I basis of its international relations on the continent. j The terms of a note which I am answering are attributed by my gov-'ernmnt gov-'ernmnt to an imperfect understand I inp of our penal laws. The impnsou-;ment impnsou-;ment is neither unjust or arbitrary, as your note states, since Mr. Jenkins j himself has signed contradictory' statements state-ments regarding the kidnaping ot I which he was a victim The judge has had ample foundation to suppose that 1 he was guilty of the crime of falsiflfy-' falsiflfy-' ing judicial declarations, and this has caused his imprisonment. Nevertheless this imprisonment does not Itself signify that Mr. Jenkins Is guilty, because such a fact can only ! be established by a definitive Judge-1 Judge-1 ment. Your excellency knows that the crim inal proceedings in Mexico involves three classes of In nrl inment: Pre ventive, when it is suspected that a person has criminal complicity in an act; formal, when against the accused there is sufficient evidence in the judgment of (he magistrate to suppose that the accused is guilty of the crime, and ordinary imprisonment, which in oie a definitive sentence as the penalty provided for the crime and the guill of the accused duly proed The two first classes 01 imprisonment are not legnllj penalties, but restrictions to the liberty of the accused, pending Investigation The judgment may also declare the Innocence of the accused.. Mr Jenkins has undergone a pre ventive detention, first, and then a lormal imprisonment of 72 hours. It is because of this that he was rear-re rear-re sted. and this is a fact that seems to bex c onsidered by the government of the United States as persecution or a series of injuries that are inflicted unjustly un-justly on the consul. In the course of the trial, at any time, the accused may ask and obtain his liberty on bail. The Mexican law lie very liberal about this, since all 1 that is necessary is a request and the I production of the sum fixed by the I judge Mr. Jenkins' refusal to exer else this right, notwithstanding that , he was asked to do so several times, and the fact that the judge has fixed fer him as bond the sum of 1,000 'pesos, cannot permit him strictly to : call himself the victim of injuries which he has brought upon himself. ! Mr. Jenkins finding himself, then, Involved in a trial that Is being con-j con-j ducted according to law, under the I jurisdiction of a judge whose proceedings proceed-ings are open, and are constantly un-ider un-ider the vigilance of public opinion I which is interested in learning the j truth of the affair, the Mexican government gov-ernment finds itself under the neces sity of not being able to accede to the 1 demand for liberation contained in the noto to which I am replying; and it has for this Strong reason, founded on the rights of peoples and considerations considera-tions of constitutional character. A3 to the first rights the govern-ment govern-ment believes no other government can make diplomatic claims for one of its subjects abroad, save in the case where justlco is denied, or where I the sentence is notoriously excessive, I which is also In international law a I denial of justice; -and that the practice which has been invariably observed 1 has been that of waning for the tribunals trib-unals havllig cognizance of a case, Involving In-volving a foreigner, to pronounce a ; Judgment that, as I have said, if it were notoriously unjust, would bo the jonly basis for a claim As to the constitutional viewpoint, our political constitution establishes !as a fundamental principle, the separation separa-tion of the executive power from that Of the judicial, and by virtue of this, the executive does not have the power to interfere in the business of the latter. lat-ter. Likewise the autonomy of the va-jrious va-jrious states is guaranteed in our constitution con-stitution and by virtue of the federative federa-tive structure of the Mexican republic the federal power cannot Intervene in affairs which, like that of Mr. Jenkins, belongs properly and exclusively to the authorities of the state of Puebla. For this reason, the executive could not order the judge having Jurisdiction of the case to free Mr. Jenkins because this latter functionary could- with reason refuse to obey such an order. The executive would thus be lacking in the first duty of all government a duly that he has always tried to ob- serve that of respecting the laws of the country and causing them to be respected. re-spected. Therefore, such a line of conduct, in the opinion of the Mexican government, govern-ment, cannot unfavorablv affect the relations of friendship which fortunately fortunate-ly exists between it and the United States especially since the matter is so simple a one in which, by a simple request, Mr, Jenkins could be at liberty; for never should there be cause for friction in the fact that the laws of each are applied equally to citizens and foreigners. In the United States, at times. Mexican Mex-ican consuls have suffered imprisonment imprison-ment for some acts involving the law of the United States. Although in the opinion of the Mexican government, such Imprisonment was not justifiable, never has it asked that the application of the laws of the United States be not made in each case, for the Mexican government always observes respect for foreign laws and does not claim that Mexicans abroad should occupy, because they are Mexicans, a position of exception or privilege. Neither in the United States nor in Mexico can a citizen on trial be freed by an executive order, and it would be strange if an American citizen in Mexico should have more right than he would have in hiso wn country. The government of Mexico likewise cannot concede to American citizens more rights than Mexicans enjoy in the United States. The American government seems to labor under the conviction of the absolute ab-solute innocence of Mr Jenkins, in spite of the fact that the case is in progress of in esttgatlon The Mexican Mexi-can government, without trying to claim that Mr Jenkins is guilty, con fines itself to submitting the foregoing forego-ing considerations to the United States, permitting itself to hope that the department of stae will pospone is judgment until the courls have handed down their decisions, with the assurance that in the bosoms of Mexican judges there does not lie the desire to injure or persecute Mr. Jenkins, Jen-kins, but rather that they are possessed of a genuine desire to proceed pro-ceed according to justice. I take the occasion, etc. (Signed) HILARIO MEDINA. The only text of the reply received here was in Spanish A representa tlve from the Mexican consulate general gen-eral handed a cop of the Spanish version to the press without comment |