was not satisfied with the apologies offered, but demanded that the flag
of the United States be saluted with special ceremony by the military
commander of the port.

The incident cannot be regarded as a trivial one, especially as two of
the men arrested were taken from the boat itself--that is to say, from
the territory of the United States--but had it stood by itself it might
have been attributed to the ignorance or arrogance of a single officer.
Unfortunately, it was not an isolated case. A series of incidents have
recently occurred which cannot but create the impression that the
representatives of General Huerta were willing to go out of their way to
show disregard for the dignity and rights of this Government and felt
perfectly safe in doing what they pleased, making free to show in many
ways their irritation and contempt. A few days after the incident at
Tampico an orderly from the U.S.S. _Minnesota_ was arrested at Vera Cruz
while ashore in uniform to obtain the ship's mail, and was for a time
thrown into jail. An official dispatch from this Government to its
embassy at Mexico City was withheld by the authorities of the
telegraphic service until peremptorily demanded by our chargé d'affaires
in person. So far as I can learn, such wrongs and annoyances have been
suffered to occur only against representatives of the United States. I
have heard of no complaints from other Governments of similar treatment.
Subsequent explanations and formal apologies did not and could not
alter the popular impression, which it is possible it had been the
object of the Huertista authorities to create, that the Government of
the United States was being singled out, and might be singled out with
impunity, for slights and affronts in retaliation for its refusal to
recognize the pretensions of General Huerta to be regarded as the
constitutional provisional President of the Republic of Mexico.