Page:Mexico under Carranza.djvu/19

 

ARRANZA'S régime was recognized by the United States October 19, 1915, as the de facto, and nearly three years later as the de jure, government of Mexico. That is to say, this nation on the former date gave notice to all the world that, waiving consideration of its legal status, the administration set up by Carranza was in fact the government of Mexico, having the power and the inclination to perform all the functions of a government in relation to its own people and to fulfil all international obligations. Recognition as the de jure government was nothing less than an official notification to the family of nations that Carranza's administration was legally constituted and that it possessed both the lawful power and the inclination to discharge its obligations toward its own people and all the rest of the world.

Having been the recognized authority for about four years the Carranza Administration may be