Diego Cortez y Catalán.
The Sacramento conference was a secret meeting hosted by Kramer Associates President Diego Cortez y Catalán at his Sacramento hacienda on 1 August 1901 to plot the overthrow of Emperor of Mexico Benito Hermión.
Although Cortez himself had clandestinely orchestrated the Great Northern War between the United States of Mexico and the Russian Empire, he was unhappy that Hermión had declined to seek peace with Russia after the conquest of Alaska, and had gone on to invade Siberia. Sobel quotes Cortez's diary from 17 July 1899: "The man is mad. Benito will destroy the nation, Kramer Associates, and perhaps the world if he continues this way." At a meeting with Hermión in November he warned the Chief of State, "Siberia has nothing we need. Alaska was another matter entirely. Unless we can extract ourselves with honor and dignity, we will either be expelled by the European powers or sink into the icy morass of a useless land."
The outbreak of the Russian Revolution and the fall of the Romanov dynasty in 1900 convinced Cortez that he would have to remove Hermión from power. The final breaking point was the signing of the Yamagata-Macmillan Treaty between Japan and Great Britain early in 1901, which Cortez considered a threat to K.A.'s interests. That led Cortez to begin planning the Sacramento conference. Hermión's proclamation of himself as Emperor of Mexico on 2 April 1901 spurred Cortez to action.
On 1 August Cortez met with Pedro Sanchez, the exiled former editor of the Mexico City Times; Edward Van Gelder, the former Senator from Jefferson; Richard Polk, the former Senator from Durango; Carlos Lincoln, leader of the remaining Moralistas, and eleven other men. Sanchez suggested a surprise coup d'etat followed by a public trial; Van Gelder favored Hermión's assassination; Polk wanted Hermión captured and exiled.
When Lincoln declared that he would have no part in any scheme to make Cortez himself into "El Jefe Secundo," Cortez responded by saying, "First of all, the Kramer Associates has no desire to play a political role. Neither I nor anyone else even remotely connected with the Associates will take a position in any new or provisional government established when Hermión departs. You have my word on this.
"Second, we have no fear of retribution at the hands of a new government, no matter what its complexion, for, to be frank, gentlemen, Kramer Associates is strong enough to withstand any blow any of you might deliver.
"Third, we hope for a return to the Constitution, with free elections held as soon as possible. I note that Senator Van Gelder seems surprised. Let me remind him I have no reason to deceive any of you. If we wanted, we could get rid of El Jefe ourselves. You are here precisely because we are convinced that only through constitutionalism can Mexico return to any degree of sanity. Like Mr. Lincoln, I too have no desire to see a second El Jefe in power.
"Fourth, Benito must not be killed. Such an action made his father a martyr, and so paved the way for his son to gain power.
"Fifth, he must not go into involuntary exile, for such a man could easily return to cause all of us great embarrassment.
"Sixth, a trial is out of the question, for while it woul be taking place, pro-Hermión forces might stage a revolution of their own.
"Finally, gentlemen, Kramer Associates has a plan, simple but precise, by which we can rid ourselves of this danger to us all. We intend to put it into operation in a matter of weeks. Although I appreciate your ideas, I'm afraid they do not take into account many facets of the problem which we have been considering for the past two years. We will rid Mexico of Benito. Then it will be up to your to remake our nation, and it is for tht purpose you are here today."
Cortez went on to note that Hermión was a physical coward. "I know him better than any of you, and I swear it is a fact. If faced with danger to his person, he will panic, and then run. We must give him that opportunity. And when the Mexican people see him flee, they will know him for what he is, a craven coward, and his aura of power will vanish. Then let him leave Mexico; such a self-imposed exile would pose no problem to us, or to the nation."
Van Gelder would later write in his memoirs that no one present attempted to argue with Cortez. "To do so would have been useless in any event. Cortez had the soldiers. In any case, his was the best plan we had, the frankest statement, and the most convincing presentation. I believed him. So did we all."
Cortez carried out his coup on the night of 15-16 October 1901, surrounding the Imperial Palace with men from the Kramer Guard and convincing Hermión that he was the victim of a Moralista revolution. Hermión fled the Palace disguised as a butler, made his way to Tampico, and bribed the captain of an Argentinian oil tanker to take him to Spain.
Sobel's sources for the Sacramento conference are Van Gelder's The Victory of Republicanism (Mexico City, 1912); editor Jack Nathanson's From the Cortez Files (Mexico City, 1938); and Miguel Señada's Cortez and Hermión: Bitter Friendship (Mexico City, 1968).