[ Mexican Revolution and British interests. ] Typed Letter Signed from Robert Vansittart, Foreign Office, to Sir Richard Harington, regarding 'Mexican Railways'. With two printed documents: one ('Confidential') on 'Anglo-Mexican Claims Convention'.

ONE: Typed Letter Signed from 'Roger Vansittart' to 'Sir Richard Harington, Bart., | Whitbourne Court, | Worcester.' Foreign Office; 13 April 1927. 1p., foolscap 8vo. In fair condition aged and worn. He is 'directed by Secretary Sir Austen Chamberlain to refer to your letter of the 5th instant regarding the possibility of a claim being preferred against the Mexican Government in respect of your holding in Mexican Railways'. He is transmitting 'the full text of a Foreign Office statement recently issued to the Press [Item Two below] explaining the circumstances under which claims against the Mexican Government would lie under the recently concluded Anglo-Mexican Claims Convention'. Vansittart notes that '[g]enerally speaking it may be said that claims in respect of interest on individual railway bonds do not fall within the purview of the Convention', and suggests that Harington should 'in the first instance communicate with the Boards of any British owned Railway Companies in Mexico in which you may hold shares or bonds. TWO: The press statement referred to in Item One above. 1p., 8vo. Headed 'CONFIDENTIAL.' At foot: '3931 [16000]'. Aged and with creasing and wear to extremities. A detailed statement, broken down into five sections. Begins: 'A CONVENTION has been concluded between the British and Mexican Governments for the adjustment of pecuniary claims for losses incurred by British subjects in Mexico on account of revolutionary acts which occurred between November 1910 and May 1920.' No other copy traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC. THREE: Printed 'Circular Letter' by 'Thomas Linton, | Secretary.' Headed: 'The Interoceanic Railway of Mexico (Acapulco to Vera Cruz) Limited. | The Mexican Eastern Railway Company Limited. | The Mexican Southern Railway Limited.' Dated from 'Finsbury Pavement House, | London, E.C.2. | 18th March, 1927.' 2pp., foolscap 8vo. Aged and with creasing and wear to extremities. Printed in black on blue-grey paper, with final note ('To the holders of both classes of deferred interest warrants of the Mexican Southern Company.') printed in red. Linton explains that 'The properties of the three Companies were seized by the Government of Mexico on the 15th August, 1914, and were not returned until the 1st January, 1926. During that period the Government administered the Railways and retained the earnings. When returned, the Railways were in bad condition, and they have not yet been restored to the 1914 standard, the cost of which is an obligation of the Government, nor has any compensation yet been recovered from the Government in respect of the loss of income during the period of attachment, which lasted for upwards of eleven years.' He proceeds to discuss what plans are 'needed in the difficult circumstances in which the Companies have been placed by reason of the non-payment of their claims against the Government'. From the Harington family papers.