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284 ." A few years later a similar complaint was made by Mexico. Her minister of foreign affairs complained that American Indians crossed the border, committed depredations, and then fled across the protecting boundary. It was claimed by the Governor of Chihuahua that in less than one month more than 60 persons had been killed by savages in that state alone. "It is high time," concludes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, "for the honor of the age in which we live, for the honor of two powerful neighboring Republics, for the sake of the friendship that happily exists between them,. . . that a stop be put to [these] frightful scenes,. . ." As the Diaz government succeeded in establishing itself and as the settlement and better policing of the American side of the river progressed, the danger of a breach between the two governments lessened.

The source of complaint gradually shifted to the westward and, as exploitation of the resources of the border states progressed, especially after the railroads crossed the boundary, southward. The border problem broadened and became one involving the general protection of the life and property of foreigners. The violation of sovereignty by crossing the frontier in one direction or the other was less common and the rights of resident aliens came more frequently under discussion. Since the economic development of the country was spreading from north to south, it was natural that the disputes should more frequently involve the rights of United States citizens in Mexico than the reverse.