SPEECHES

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INCIDENT TO THE

Visit of Philander Chase Knox

Secretary of State of the United States of America

TO THE

Countries of the Caribbean

FEBRUARY 23 TO APRIL 17, 1912

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WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1913

DISCARDED

F

CONTENTS

PACK

Itinerary viu

I

Speeches in Panama 1-16

Welcome upon arrival at Colon, February 27, 1912 :

His Excellency Demosthenes Arose-

mena 3

Mr. Philander C. Knox 5

At Panama City, at banquet given by Minis- ter for Foreign Affairs, February 28, 1912:

His Excellency Aristides Arjona 6

Mr. Philander C. Knox u

II

Speeches in Costa Rica 1T~29

At a dinner at San Jose, March 3, 1912:

His Excellency President Ricardo Jime- nez 19

Mr. Philander C. Knox 24

At luncheon on board the "Maryland", March 4, 1912:

Mr. Philander C. Knox 29

III

Speeches in Nicaragua 31-68

At railroad station, Managua, March 5, 1912:

Mr. Philander C. Knox : 33

in

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IV CONTENTS.

Speeches in Nicaragua — Continued.

Reception by President of Nicaragua, March

6, 1912: PAGE

His Excellency President Adolfo Diaz... 34

Mr. Philander C. Knox 38

At the National Assembly, March 6, 1912:

Dr. Ignacio Suarez 46

Mr. Philander C. Knox 53

At the Supreme Court, March 6, 1912: *

Dr. Alfonso Solorza.no 58

Mr. Philander C. Knox 61

At banquet given by Minister for Foreign Affairs, March 6, 1912:

His Excellency Diego M. Chamorro 62

Mr. Philander C. Knox 67

IV

Speeches in Hondusas 69-81

At luncheon given by Minister for Foreign Affairs at Amapala, March 8, 1912:

His Excellency Mariano Vasquez. 71

Mr. Philander C. Knox 74

At luncheon on the "Maryland," March 9, 1912 :

Mr. Philander C. Knox 77

His Excellency Mariano Vasquez 79

V Speeches in Salvador 83-95

Welcome upon arrival at San Salvador, March n, 1912 :

His Excellency PresidentManuelAraujo.. 85

Mr. Philander C. Knox..... 87

CONTENTS. V

Speeches in Salvador — Continued.

At banquet given by Minister for Foreign

Affairs, March n, 1912: PAGE

His Excellency Francisco Duenas 88

Mr. Philander C. Knox 91

VI

Speeches in Guatemala 97-126

Reception by President of Guatemala, March

14, 1912:

Mr. Philander C. Knox 99

His Excellency President Estrada Ca- brera 10 1

At banquet given by Minister for Foreign Affairs, March 14, 1912:

His Excellency Luis Toledo Herrarte... 103

Mr. Philander C. Knox 107

At reception by Legislative Assembly, March

15, 1912:

Sen" or Don Arturo Ubico in

Mr. Philander C. Knox 114

At University of Guatemala, March 15, 1912 :

Licenciado Manuel Cabral 117

Mr. Philander C. Knox 120

At banquet given by President of Guatemala, March 16, 1912:

His Excellency Estrada Cabrera 121

Mr. Philander C. Knox 123

VI CONTENTS.

VII PAGE

Speeches in Venezuela 127-145

At Independence Hall, Caracas, March 23, 1912:

Dr. Marquez Bustillos 129

Mr. Philander C. Knox .-... 130

At Bolivar statue:

Mr. Philander C. Knox 131

At banquet given by Minister for Foreign Affairs, March 24, 1912:

His Excellency Manuel A. Matos 132

Mr. Philander C. Knox 135

Farewell to President of Venezuela, March 25, 1912:

Mr. Philander C. Knox 139

At railway station at Valencia, March 25, 1912:

President of the State of Carabobo 140

Mr. Philander C. Knox 142

At Puerto Cabello, March 25, 1912:

Collector of Customs of Puerto Cabello.. 143

Mr. Philander C. Knox 145

VIII

Speeches in the Dominican Republic 147-153

Reception by President of Dominican Re- public, March 27, 1912:

Mr. Philander C. Knox 149

His Excellency President Eladio Vic- toria 153

CONTENTS. VII

IX PAGE

Speeches in Haiti 155-172

Welcome upon arrival at Port au Prince, April 3, 1912:

M. Jerome Salomon, Mayor of Port au

Prince 157

Mr. Philander C. Knox 159

At luncheon given by Minister for Foreign Affairs, April 3, 1912:

Mr. J. N. Leger 161

Mr. Philander C. Knox 163

At banquet given by President of Haiti, April 3, 1912:

His Excellency President Leconte 165

Mr. Philander C. Knox 167

At Bellevue Club, April 4, 1912:

Mr. Philander C. Knox 171

X

Speeches in Cuba 173-188

At banquet given by President of Cuba, Ha- bana, April n, 1912:

His Excellency Sefior Manuel Sanguily.. 175

Mr.- Philander C. Knox 184

XI

Speeches on board the "Washington", April 14,

1912 189-202

Mr. Philander C. Knox 191

Mr. Hale, of the World's Work 194

Hon. Martin W. Littleton 197

Judge Morgan O'Brien 200

XII

Statement to the press by Mr. Knox, Washing- ton, April 17, 1912 203-208

ITINERARY

	Date of arrival.	Date of departure.
Kev West, Fla	Feb. 2T.	Feb. 21
Colon, Panama	Feb. 27	Feb. 27
Panama City, Panama	Feb. 27	Feb. 29
Colon , Pan ama	Feb. 29	Feb. 29
Port Limon, Costa Rica	Mar. i	Mar. i
San Jose de Costa Rica	Mar. i	Mar. 4
Puntarenas, Costa Rica	Mar. 4	Mar. 4
Corinto, Nicaragua	Mar q	Mar. 5
Managua, Nicaragua	Mar. 5	Mar. 7
Corinto Nicaragua	Mar. 7	Mar 7
Amapala, Honduras	Mar. 8	Mar 9
Acajutla, Salvador	Mar. 10	Mar. 10
San Salvador Salvador	Mar. TO	Mar 13
Acaj u tla, Sal vador	Mar. i*	Mar. it
San Jose de Guatemala	Mar. 14	Mar. 14
Guatemala City	Mar. 14	Mar. 17
Puerto Barrios, Guatemala	Mar. 17	Mar. 17
La Guaira, Venezuela	Mar. 22	Mar. 22
Caracas Venezuela	Mar. 22	Mar. 2?
Puerto Cabello, Venezuela	Mar. 25	Mar. 25
Santo Domingo City	Mar. 27	Mar. 28
St. Thomas	Mar. -10	Mar. 10
San Juan, Porto Rico	Mar. 31	Apr. i
Port au Prince, Haiti	Apr. •*	Apr. 4
Guantanamo Cuba	Apr. =;	Apr. q
Santiago de Cuba	Apr. e.	Apr. 6
Guantanamo Cuba	Apr. 6	Apr. 7
Kingston, Jamaica	Apr. 8	Apr. 8
Port Antonio, Jamaica	Apr. 8	Apr. 8
Habana, Cuba	Apr. ii	Apr. i •?
Piney Point, Md	Apr. 1 6	Apr. 1 7
Washington D C	Apr. 17

Speeches in Panama

s 105 — i

Address of ^welcome of Senor Demosthenes Arose- mena, Governor of Colon Province, on the arrival of the Secretary of State at Colon, February 27, igi2.

[Translation.]

MR. SECRETARY:

As the representative of my country's Govern- ment in this part of the Republic, the honor of offering you a cordial greeting upon your arrival on our shores in the name of the Panaman nation devolves upon me.

The Panaman nation, to whom you are well known, greets in you an eminent statesman of a nation which marches in the vanguard of the civili- zation and progress of the American continent, and it highly appreciates the visit of so distinguished a guest.

Panama, to whom you are especially persona grata, regards as an honor the presence of so illustri- ous a representative of the great American Union, which, in an hour of trial for the Isthmians, fearlessly assumed before the world an obligation which it has fulfilled, and will, no doubt, in the future most loyally fulfill, of guaranteeing and maintaining the sover- eignty and independence of the youngest Republic of this continent, and 400,000 Panamans are at this mo- ment hoping that upon leaving our shores you will

3

4 PANAMA.

carry with you as agreeable a memory of the coun- try as your visit will doubtless leave in their breasts. Welcome, Mr. Secretary, to this Republic, which gladly contributes to the aggrandizement and pros- perity of your country with the only thing possi- ble— with its territory.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

EXCELLENCY:

In the name of the people of the United States, the President of the United States, for my party, and for myself, I desire to express to you our deep gratitude for the cordiality of this welcome when we have first touched the shore in the Republic of Panama and in the ancient city named for the great discoverer of America. This reception is ex- tremely flattering to me, because it indicates that the people of Panama respond to the sentiment that inspired the President of die United States, and whose inspiration has been cordially and fully in- dorsed by the people of the United States, to send me hither as a bearer of a message of good feeling, friendship, and kindliness to the people of this Re- public and the other peoples of the Caribbean lit- toral. I have sincerely to thank you all for this manifestation of the sympathy which is thus shown toward us, and I shall repeat to you only what I have said before — that is, thanks — which I am sure will find a response in the hearts of the American people.

Speech of His Excellency A rist ides Arjona, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Panama, at a dinner given to Mr. Knox at Panama City, February 28, 1912.

[Translation.]

MR. SECRETARY KNOX:

When the cable and the press announced a few days ago your visit to some of the Central and South American republics, the citizens who repre- sent the brain and the heart of these nations, as if moved by a single potent impulse, made ready with their eyes fixed upon you, who can not be other than a bearer of good tidings and an inspirer of wholesome political policies for the Latin-American countries.

These countries, Mr. Secretary, relatively young, as compared with those of the old continent, are eager, in this delicate period of their existence, for such examples and teachings as may be offered by your great nation, which holds properly the first place in the civilization and progress of this hemisphere.

The youth, the blood, the race, and the idiosyn- cracies, in short, of these countries tend to make them appear impulsive in the grave questions in which a solution is needed for complicated social and political problems, since, in truth, opposing tendencies and judgments degenerate sometimes

6

ARJONA. 7

into internal complications with prejudicial conse- quences to the Latin-American family. On the other hand, in your country, the United States, the model Republic, a clear, temperate judgment, cold as the snows of those beautiful latitudes, can at all times be brought to bear upon the series of difficult problems which present themselves to the intelligence, and activity of statesmen like your- self; and therefore Latin-American nations, guided by a common purpose to become great, receive with interest and pleasure your visit, which can have no other object than to stimulate and benefit them. Considering the facts thus, I do not hesitate to acknowledge that only a noble altruism guides you, that only lofty ideals inspire your acts, and that only your marked interest in the future of these entities of young America has impelled you to lay aside your delicate and multifarious official duties in your own country to come to strengthen the ties of friendship, interest, and sympathy which join them with your nation, increasing the prestige which has been attained by the wise diplomacy of North America.

The Republic of Panama, mistress of the two greatest bodies of water which bathe the world, has a thousand reasons to be grateful to you and to your Government, and to-day has another reason in considering that it is the first which you have chosen to honor with your visit, you who intend to proceed to the other countries, which will receive you cordially, as an illustrious and distinguished

8 PANAMA.

guest, with ovations expressive of their feelings. Panama knows that your mission is one of laudable patriotism and international concord, and doubts not that it will also know how to respond to the call of American confraternity which you have addressed to it, since it aspires loyally to aid you in the work of Pan-American progress which you carry on with such success and which will make your name im- perishable in the records of the world of Columbus.

You know well, Mr. Secretary, that the Re- public of Panama will always be in accord with your lofty views of international policy. A thou- sand reasons for perpetual gratitude and lasting union bind the inhabitants of the Isthmus to the American Government and people ; therefore, your triumphs will always have our sincere plaudits and the possibility of .your reverses as a nation will always be considered by us as a personal calamity.

The gigantic work of the Interoceanic Canal, which astonishes the whole world, is the principal factor in the community of interests and the reci- procity of sentiment which characterize the relations between our countries. To protect this great work, which is already nearing conclusion, the Republic of Panama will omit neither care nor effort, since it will always hold in remembrance the protection received from your nation when it took its first steps as a sovereign state and the wise purpose which has guided your country in all the acts in which its assistance has been necessary to secure the benefits acquired with our independence.

ARJONA. 9

The work of the representatives of your Gov- ernment in this Republic and in the Zone of the Canal has been most appropriate and beneficial. Confining myself to the present, I will mention the able diplomat, Mr. Dodge, who maintains upon a high plane the relations between both countries. At the head of the civil administration, Governor Thatcher is a model of zeal and intelligence. Col- onel Gorgas, with his well-disciplined officials in the sanitary department, has effectively removed the dark and horrible specter of epidemics; and, finally, Colonel Goethals, the man of iron, of trained mentality, of never-sufficiently-praised energy, the supreme director of the stupendous work of the canal, with his constant and honorable zeal to immor- talize the name of the United States in that of the colossal work, offers to your powerful country the splendid spectacle, which all powers will witness with delight, of the rapid passage of ships through the channel which is being opened by the unceasing blows of the marvelous arm of the North American Nation. A day of glory, recorded with letters of gold in the annals of the Republic of Panama, will be that upon which traffic through the new road is opened. The world, astounded, will contemplate the celebration which will crown the glory of the people and Government of the United States and which, at the cost of enormous sacrifice, will be the most valuable offering presented upon the altar of universal progress.

IO PANAMA.

Welcome, therefore, illustrious Mr. Secretary. Behold in the people of the Republic of Panama, which has for you the immense gratitude of the pro- tege, more than a friend, a true brother; and in the name of the Government and of all the citizens of my country accept this modest expression of appre- ciation and sympathy which we have dedicated to you for your entertainment. When you return to your country, tell the American Government and people, in the name of the Republic of Panama, that we, the people of the Isthmus, are bound to them with the same ties, with the same eternal bonds, with which at no distant time, to the astonishment of the world and for all eternity, the deep, blue waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific will be united.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN:

It is an honor and a sincere pleasure to be your guest and the recipient of the cordial welcome of Panama. It is a privilege to stand upon the threshold of the consummation of the greatest work done by man in or for the world and to feel that one is not a stranger upon the soil dedicated from the creation to be the scene of the supreme effort for human advancement when man's require- ments demanded it and man's genius should be equal to the task.

When the necessities of the world's first civili- zation could be no longer supplied and its aspira- tions no longer satisfied in its oriental abode it was natural that the pioneers of those days should make their first explorations by following the path of the life-giving sun in its daily journeys toward the West.

The fruits of their first timid ventures em- boldened them to more ambitious endeavor, and the ever-increasing rewards resulting from the dis- covery of continents and seas beckoned them on until, halted here by another world, they seemed to have fulfilled their mission of companion discov- erers with the sun, which passed on in solitude toward and into the unknown.

1 2 PANAMA

It was not until 1513, when Balboa stood "silent upon a peak in Darien" and gazed upon the waters of the Pacific, that it was evident that the hand that gave the seas and formed the land left it possible to divide the hemisphere which halted western progress, even as Moses had divided the Red Sea that the children of Israel might pass, and though the hands of the early navigators were unskilled for the gigantic task their imaginations grasped the possibility of its successful realization.

The history of the project to build an isthmian canal is full of strange national and personal disap- pointments. Perhaps the most tragic of them all is that, coincident with Spain's loss of the last vestige of her sovereignty in the New World, the final act of the realization of the dreams of her great navigators began.

After many vicissitudes and failures the comple- tion of this stupendous work devolved upon the people of the United States, who are thus thrown into relations with the countries of the isthmian region which, with our geographical propinquity, make a broader understanding and a more sympa- thetic reciprocal interest between us an essential basis for the realization of the splendid possibilities which seem to have been decreed from the begin- ning of time.

The President of the United States believes that the early completion of the Panama Canal should mark the beginning of closer relations to all Latin America, and especially to the Caribbean

KNOX. 13

littoral, as well as the relations of these countries to each other, and, impelled by the thought that this is an auspicious moment, through better acquaint- ance, to lay the foundations upon which there should rest a broader confidence, a closer sympathy, and more practical reciprocal helpfulness, has sent me hither as a bearer of a message of good will to our sister American republics. It is the Presi- dent's desire that I might personally meet your most hospitable peoples, might see for myself your beautiful countries, with their boundless resources and economic possibilities, to the end that such di- rect personal knowledge, understanding, and appre- ciation might result in mutual advantage and in co- operation for the development of all our countries. Responding to the hospitality of the country which has first and so generously received me and with which the relations of my country are so cordially intimate, I take this opportunity of assuring all the American republics that the purpose of the United States toward them is that we should live in amity and essential harmony and that we desire only that more peace, more prosperity, more happiness, and more security should come in and become a part of their individual and national lives.

While it is entirely clear to those who have fairly and intelligently considered the history of the relations of the United States to the other Ameri- can republics that our politics have been without a trace of sinister motive or design, craving neither sovereignty nor territory, yet it is true that our mo-

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14 PANAMA.

tives toward you have not always been fortunately interpreted either at home or faithfully represented by some of our nationals who have resided in your midst.

While we have much to learn of each other and are all to be vastly profited by clear and more sym- pathetic ties, yet between the elder and the younger republics there is much in common.

A commonwealth founded on freedom of con- science and security of individual rights is not an exclusive heritage of Saxon America, but one shared by all the peoples of the hemisphere who, like our- selves, have passed through the sore trials that attend the founding of new communities in a new land. However diverse our physical environments, however great the contrast between the natural obstacles to be surmounted, whether amid the snows and pine forests of the north or in the sierras of the Equator and the pampas of the south, the aim of our respective enterprises, expressed in the undying words of Lincoln, has been the same, to bring forth on this continent new nations, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Much has been said about the effect of the open- ing of the Panama Canal, but I believe it is given to few of us to realize what magic possibilities are potential in that event. As I conceive it, it will create for our Western World an entirely new situa- tion, a situation fraught with possibilities so vast they daze the fancy of the mind. In this new

KNOX. 15

world we must be found drawn closer by sympathies and mutual esteem, and working in harmony toward beneficent ends. This must be so, for our greatest interests are those that are common to us all. We who live on the Western Hemisphere find ourselves by force of geography in circumstances which make our situation peculiar, and this fundamental fact gives us privileges and imposes upon us duties and obligations we would not otherwise have. It was a perception of this, which your own thinkers and statesmen have seen as clearly as our own, which prompted the announcement by President Monroe of the great and beneficent policy that now bears his name. When the canal is opened and the ships of all the countries of the world come sailing through these Carib seas, the peculiarity of our position with its special requirement will be accentuated and the wisdom of that doctrine confirmed again and spe- cially. It serves admittedly your interests as much as ours. Even now it is a great bond between us. In its future amplification I perceive it will be a common heritage binding together the nations of this hemisphere with a force no power can break, and while it has in Providence been given to us of the north to state and interpret it, it has never been invoked to the detriment of the people of the south or operated to their hurt.

In my judgment the Monroe Doctrine will reach the acme of its beneficence when it is regarded by the people of the United States as a reason why we should constantly respond to the needs of those of

l6 PANAMA.

our Latin-American neighbors who may find neces- sity for our assistance in their progress toward bet- ter government or who may seek our aid to meet their just obligations and thereby to maintain hon- orable relations to the family of nations. Great as will be the glory of having physically divided a hemisphere, a greater glory will be to have con- tributed to the unity, happiness, and prosperity of its people.

It is a paradox that the severance of the physical ligament that joins the two continents of the New World will more closely unite them. Culebra is the clot in the artery of intercourse whose removal will give free and full circulation throughout the whole organism to the vivifying currents of friend- ship, peace, commerce, and prosperity.

When the waters of the two oceans are blended on the soil of Panama it will make curious changes in the geography of the Americas. All that is south of the Isthmus will be nearer to all that is north, and all that is north will, in a peculiar sense, be more closely drawn together. The Central Ameri- can republics will be the tropical end of a vast island whose northern limits will extend to the eternal ice and whose southern boundary will be a continuous procession of the commerce of the world.

II

Speeches in Costa Rica

S 105 2 17

Speech of His Excellency Ricardo Jimenez, Presi- dent of Costa Rica, at a dinner given to Mr. Knox at San Jose", March j>, 1912.

[Translation.*]

You are welcome to Costa Rica, distinguished representative of the United States of America, that friendly country that from remote times and in a variety of ways has exercised such a far-reaching influence over the destinies of this Republic.

A little time after the thirteen colonies, accord- ing to the terms of your Declaration of Independ- ence, "assumed, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them", the Spanish col- onies, stirred up by the revolutionary fermentation of the north and encouraged by your noble exam- ple, repeated and made good your words, applying them to themselves, declaring that "they were, and of right ought to be, free and independent States"; and so it was, sir, that Costa Rica, without hatred toward and even without disaffection for Spain, and carried along by the wave of emancipation that swept over the New World from Massachusetts to the Argentine, abandoned her secular vassalage and assumed the sovereign arbitration of her destiny.

* Translation furnished by Costa Rican Government.

19

2O COSTA RICA.

Nevertheless, it was very possible, above all in Central America, that our exercise of sovereignty would only have been a momentary eclipse of Euro- pean domination, of this or that state, if it had not been for the joint Anglo-American action and if the United States had not pronounced in 1823, through the mouth of President Monroe, its for- midable veto. The American Eagle then spread its wings over this continent and in its flight joined that of the "nopal" and the condors of the south. And from that epoch the schemes of conquest or reconquest of the ancient colonies were consigned to the dominions of things past and gone forever.

But there is another benefit that we owe to your country, the greatest of all, without which all others would be mere dross : We have cast our institutions in the moulding-sand of yours. In our first at- tempts in the exercise of self-government — the only kind that deserves the decorous respect of men — we learned to spell in your famous document of Decla- ration of Independence that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"; and consist- ent with these fundamental principles, as incon- trovertible now at the beginning of the twentieth century as they were at the end of the eighteenth, we regulated our political system, and within that sys- tem the smallest Republic of this hemisphere lives happily, "without envying others or being envied by them", in the same manner as your wonderful

JIMENEZ. 21

country, enjoying all the privileges of that same system, also lives felicitously, a palpable demonstra- tion that self-government, with powers distributed and limited, with liberty of speech and a free press, of effective and extensive individual rights, a gov- ernment that derives its just powers from the con- sent of the governed, is beneficent everywhere — at least in America — with that same universality of the mathematical laws that are equally appropriate for fixing the course of the planets as they are for arranging the most humble transactions of men.

I hope, sir, that the personal knowledge of our institutions and customs may excite in you a feel- ing of true pride and pleasure on seeing many of the seeds of good government bearing fruit in this little corner of America, snatched from your fields of liberty by the winds that carry civilization from country to country, and dropped by them here and there in all parts of the world.

There will be perpetual peace between the United States and the Republic of Costa Rica! These were the prophetic words of Daniel Webster, stamped on the treaty of 1851, which bears his signature. Consecrated by the lapse of time the things that have happened since then have con- firmed this prophesy. Our mutual relations of countrymen with countrymen have grown in a con- stant manner. We sell in the markets of the United States 60 per cent of our exportations, and in exchange we buy in them 60 per cent of the articles that Costa Rica imports. This present

22 COSTA RICA.

condition of reciprocity is an excellent sign that prognosticates the firmness of our future relations. In negotiating, we enter into mutual relations with others, and to have amicable intercourse with others is to be known, to be appreciated, and to consoli- date friendships. Attracted by the fertility of our soils and the riches of our mines, and, I presume, attracted also by our peacefulness and by the respect we show to strangers, their properties and creeds, you will find here a great number of your fellow countrymen managing large capitals of their own or of persons who reside in the United States. Far from frowning upon their good luck, we are pleased to see it; and as their gains are not derived through legislative favors, their prosperity does not diminish, but, on the contrary, helps to augment vigorously the prosperity of the nation.

Lastly, Mr. Secretary, it is not possible to pass over in silence that share which, through our initia- tive and confident acts, your country has taken in the limitation of the territory of this Republic. An American hand, the just hand of Mr. Cleveland, of blessed memory, marked our boundaries on the north; and another American hand, the hand, of Mr. White, in which hangs, happily for you and also for us, the scales of justice, will trace our south- ern frontier. In the arrangement that Costa Rica and Panama made to this effect, you put, out of consideration to both parties, the valuable contin- gent of your skill, your benevolence and friendly interest, and I am delighted to be able to take

JIMENEZ. 23

advantage of this occasion to express to you by word of mouth the profound gratitude that from that time we Costa Ricans owe to you, a gratitude that expands, now that we find ourselves honored with your visit. And I am confident that this advent of yours will leave in us a wake of fellow feeling, not like that made by the furrow that the ship forms in the waters, to be destroyed by them immediately afterwards, but a wake as wide and luminous as it is permanent.

Based in these antecedents is inspired the cor- diality with which I drink your health, Mr. Secretary, and also that of President Taft, and in the same way the health of the people of the United States; and as that great country does not now see in any quarter a cloud that may darken the splendor of its power, I hope that it may never see the refulgent sun of justice eclipsed on its horizons, so that its greatness and moderation, without losing their force for a moment, may continue shining over the world until the end of time.

To your health, Mr. Secretary.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN:

It is indeed a pleasure for me, Mr. President, to acknowledge how deeply I appreciate the generous sentiment you have proposed and the honor you do me, and through me the American people, by show- ering upon me your bounteous and cordial hospi- tality, thereby evincing your sympathetic response to the spirit which has inspired my mission to you. I know that I am acknowledging no feigned friend- ship or simulated courtesy, but that the great heart of Costa Rica has responded to the heart of her most northern sister republic. The similarity of our political organizations, our geographical proximity, the tendency of our commercial and industrial inter- ests and policies, and our traditional and long-con- tinued relations of friendship and good will inspired in the President of the United States the sincere desire that our sympathies, cooperation, and good understanding should increase, and for that reason he directed me to visit the Republic of Costa Rica and our other sister republics in the region of the Caribbean Sea, in order that I might carry to them a message of good will from the people and Gov- ernment of the United States, and, further, that I might make that personal acquaintance with your public men and hospitable peoples to the end that 24

KNOX. 25

such direct personal knowledge and understanding and appreciation might result in mutual advantage and cooperation for the advancement of our com- mon interests.

It was with a feeling of genuine wonder and admiration that I arrived at your capital city after the marvelous ride from the coast, along the won- derful Revantazon, following its tortuous and diffi- cult windings through the most beautiful tropical foliage until, arriving at the highlands, the verdure of the Temperate Zone at once met the eye. The ability to make this journey in so much comfort was, Mr. President, a suggestion of what the Costa Ricans have accomplished along other lines, and fully prepared me for the abundant evidences of the industry, thrift, tenacity, and culture of your people which I met at every hand.

It is with a feeling of gratified expectancy that one finds at every turn expressions of the tradi- tional love of your people for education, not only in its practical forms, but for the higher arts, nota- bly architecture and music, and to see in the happy and radiant faces of the children the reflection of the beauty of their mothers and sturdy qualities of their fathers.

It is given to few countries to make the just boast that within her borders the school-teachers outnumber the soldiers and that resting upon her bosom in the very center of America is the first perfect type of an international court of arbitral justice.

26 COSTA RICA.

The attitude of the Government of the United States toward the peaceful settlement of interna- tional disputes, of which this court forms a model, has been consistently maintained since the founda- tion of our Government, as is evidenced by the Treaty of Ghent. The attitude of the Republic of Costa Rica has likewise been consistent and is am- ply evidenced by the course adopted for the settle- ment of the century-old boundary dispute with Panama. I repeat, Mr. President, that the people of Costa Rica may justly felicitate themselves that in their very midst is the home of the Central American Court of Justice, the one tribunal before which one nation may bring another — yes, before which an individual may bring a nation to deter- mine before the bar of impartial justice the differ- ences that exist "between them. My Government and, I am sure, the Government of Mexico feel proud of the part played by them in the Central American Peace Conference, convoked under their auspices, out of which grew this international fo- rum, which is the prototype of the court it has long been the desire of the United States to see estab- lished by the nations of the earth. In this connec- tion, Mr. President, let me express the feeling of profound satisfaction that the people and Govern- ment of the United States entertain, not only be- cause of the rapidly increasing prosperity of Costa Rica, but because of her love for peace, because of the respect she inspires in the family of nations, because she has laid the foundations of perpetual

KNOX. 27

freedom upon the eternal rock of justice and occu- pies an exceptional and enviable position among the American republics and to the general distribu- tion of property among her people, and because of the constantly increasing intimacy and friendliness between her people and our own.

It is but a short time, Mr. President, until at Panama a new highway of commerce will be opened to the world. That event, so conspicuous and sig- nificant, will remove the countries of the Caribbean Sea from their comparative isolation and place them upon the greatest highway on the globe, a highway from the northern to the southern, from the west- ern to the eastern world. The republics of this hemisphere will be thrown into a new day and a new condition. It would be folly to enter that new day without a proper conception of its oppor- tunities and possibilities for our common good. We should go into the new epoch as befits it, with new aspirations and enthusiasms and with greater promise. The casual relations which once marked our intercourse are now happily not casual, but they must be closer and more friendly still — so close, indeed, that as we labor to better human conditions this common end will be a bond of trust and hope.

I bear you, then, not only a message of good will, but one bespeaking a mutual understanding and union in aspiration and effort toward further- ing the progress of the Western World through deeds of reciprocal helpfulness.

28 COSTA RICA.

The free and equal republics which have estab- lished themselves upon this hemisphere have a sin- gular harmony of destiny, and that is to bring their common form of government to the highest point of efficiency for the maintenance of popular rights. The greatest strength of these republics, whose her- itage is so wonderful, lies in unity of aim and effort.

While we will all be more or less, in the future as in the past, engrossed in questions affecting our internal development and our own acute problems, it is wise to seize every opportunity to impress upon the world and upon ourselves that ours is a Pan-American union of lofty Pan-American public opinion, doing justice and exacting justice, disclaim- ing ignoble suspicion, and putting to scorn interna- tional acts of unworthiness when, unhappily, they may be found among us.

Ladies and gentlemen, I propose the health, the happiness, and the prosperity of the President and people of Costa Rica.

Speech of Mr. Knox at a luncheon given on board the "Maryland" at Pimtarenas, Costa Rica, March 4, 1912.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

Of course the thing that we would love the most would be to say that now we are welcoming you to the shores of our country, as you have wel- comed me and my party to yours, but as this seems to be a physical impossibility the next best thing is to welcome you to the decks of an American ship, which, in a sense, is American soil.

I want to tell you in all sincerity and from the bottom of my heart that when from the quarter-deck of the Maryland we view the disappearing shores of your hospitable land we will not only carry with us deep regret at parting, but lasting memories of your cordial hospitality and kindness to us while we were here, and as a parting toast I propose the health, the prosperity, good fortune in all things, and the perpetuity of your Republic; the beauty and grace of your women, the valor, industry, thrift, and tenacity of your men, Costa Rica, and

her people.

29

Ill

Speeches in Nicaragua

31

*z-

•\\

-

Speech of Mr. Knox at the railroad station at Managua, Nicaragua, March 5, 1912*

MR. MAYOR, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN:

My especial regret at this moment is that I have not an acquaintance with the beautiful language of your good people which will enable me to respond in fitting terms to your words of welcome. I can not take any other meaning from them, however, than that you have extended to me a kindly greet- ing, and in the name of the people of my country and of the President of the United States I sincerely thank you. It is not only a privilege to be here, but a great satisfaction to stand in this capital city and look into the eyes of the people for whom my friendship has always been great. I appreciate the honor that was done me by the citizens of Nicara- gua in sending to the seashore so many of your dis- tinguished men and beautiful women to greet us at the threshold of your country, and I am sincerely thankful to the municipal authorities of the city of Managua, as well as the authorities of the Republic, not only for myself but for my party, for my peo- ple, and for my President for the great cordiality you have shown me.

*The Secretary did not receive a copy of the speech to which this is a reply.

M

s 105 3

Speech of His Excellency Adolf o Diaz, President of Nicaragua, welcoming Mr. Knox, Managua, March 6, 1912.

[Translation.]

HONORABLE SECRETARY KNOX:

You are in a country where your name has long been known, because on a memorable occasion for our liberty you linked it with the history of our struggles for advancement by an act of justice of the American Government, inspired by the senti- ment of that great people which abhors tyranny not only within its own frontiers, but in every place to which if may carry the beneficent influ- ence of its policy.

As an admirer of that policy by reason of its evident results in other fortunate Latin countries, I live in the firm intention of accepting that friendly influence so long as I myself have any influence in the destinies of my country, whether as a ruler or as a citizen.

Unfortunate has been the existence of Central American democracy. A prolonged and bloody struggle has consumed the vigorous life of these nations during almost an entire century of sterile uprisings. To refer only to my own country; it has been a republic for almost a hundred years without having known republican methods in all

34

DIAZ. 35

that time, except at brief intervals. Our political struggles have unfortunately not been a luminous contest of ideas and principles; they have been a terrible duel between despotism, on one hand, and, on the other, the ill-directed efforts of the people in search of happiness never attained — a duel, a hor- rible duel, which has at length left the Republic, if not dead, at least almost utterly exhausted.

Horrible disasters have happened among us which have been viewed, if not with indifference, at least with passive calmness by the rest of the civilized world, because in international regulations the egotistical doctrine has prevailed that in the matter of good government each nation should concern itself only with its own people, as if those who suffer the oppression of tyranny were not human beings, like other unfortunates to whom succor is never denied among Christians. This doctrine, thanks principally to the United States, is disappearing among nations to give place to the more generous one of mutual assistance.

In the light of these principles I entered the revolution of Bluefields with firm faith, a faith maintained unchanged even amidst the greatest vicissitudes of that terrible war, because I knew that we were engaged not in one of the many up- risings, vain efforts, common in our disorganization, without positive results, but in a real revolution, an absolute overthrow not only of the despot but also of his baneful system, and thereafter a triumph

36 NICARAGUA.

of justice and the establishment of order and last- ing peace in Nicaragua.

I knew then, and I believe to-day, notwith- standing my transition from a revolutionist to a member of the Government, that this happy out- come can not be obtained without the assistance of your country. We are weak and we need your strong help for the regeneration of our debilitated land. The hand which your Government gener- ously and fraternally extends to us I accept without reserve or fear, for I know it belongs to a people which has made a religion of liberty and, educated in and for freedom, loves its independence above everything and respects the independence of others.

In this work for the welfare of Nicaragua, in- creasing the hope of its ultimate success, your name is pledged. It h'as been connected, to the joy of our people, with two of our principal events: With your famous note, in which, as the mouthpiece of civilization, you pronounced the doom of tyranny before the world, and with the treaty you signed in Washington with our Minister Castrillo, the clauses of which are a guaranty of peace, the basis of a future of prosperity and order, and the confirma- tion of which by the American Senate all good Nicaraguans are to-day anxiously awaiting in order to enter tranquilly upon the enjoyment of their assured rights and the anticipation of that future of development and wealth.

The name of your worthy President, William H. Taft, and your own name are pronounced by all

DIAZ. 37

Nicaraguans, from the statesman to the humblest countryman, as though they were names of person- ages of our fatherland, due to the fact that every day the bonds are becoming closer between your great and happy country and my own small country, worthy, however, of equal happiness because it con- sists of a generous race inhabiting a rich soil.

This sincere friendship between the powerful and the weak is meritorious for both — for the one because of its altruism; for the other because of its confidence. Yes, sir, unlimited confidence in the proven morality of the American Government, and even greater confidence in the people of your great nation, who in every circumstance would be the first and most earnest defenders of justice for the weak, even against their own Government.

In this new political life of Nicaragua, which, scarcely begun, is already showing the effect of almost forgotten liberties — in this work of regen- eration you have been one of the most active agents, bringing to us at this opportune moment of our transformation the influence of your power without offending us with your strength. For this reason you may count upon firm affection in Nica- ragua; for this reason you are received like an old acquaintance, and I, in the name of the people and of the Government of Nicaragua, greet you cor- dially, and hope your sojourn may be pleasant in this country, where your name signifies an ideal.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN:

On behalf of the Government and people of the United States permit me to express my sincere appreciation and thanks for your kindly greeting. I have come to Nicaragua to express to you the keen feeling of neighborly sympathy entertained by my Government for the Government and people of Nicaragua, and it is indeed a pleasure to meet you here and be privileged to speak to you face to face.

Thanks to the 'frank and most cordial relations which happily exist between our respective coun- tries our people are rapidly becoming more deeply interested in the welfare and development and con- sequent prosperity of Nicaragua, and are more than ever before manifesting a desire to cultivate even closer and more intimate relations. Movements toward closer association and truer friendship between the peoples of different countries are not arbitrarily created by outward efforts; they spring from within. Their primary impulse is the grow- ing conviction of neighboring countries that the development and prosperity of each is in harmony with the advancement of the welfare of all. Such movements are tremendously facilitated by the 38

KNOX. 39

confidence and friendship that follows acquaintance, and that fact is the inspiration of my mission.

Although the interest of the people of the United States in the welfare of your country is keen there is not and never has been any desire either on the part of the American Government or people to mix unduly or unbidden in the internal affairs of Nicaragua, but to the request for assist- ance in the regeneration of Nicaragua my Gov- ernment was happy promptly to respond.

The political and economic situation that had arisen, due to many years of misrule, rendered the task of reorganization of your Government exceed- ingly difficult, and your leaders, because of the frank friendship and good faith of the United States toward the Nicaraguan people as a whole, naturally turned to the American Government for council and assistance in the arduous task before them. My Government was glad to send to Managua a special commissioner to aid in making a fixed pro- gram which the leaders pledged themselves to carry out and in which was contemplated loyal coopera- tion in the rehabilitation of Nicaragua. The Gov- ernment of the United States was glad to suggest, upon the invitation of Nicaragua, a competent financial adviser who should make a careful study of the economic conditions of the country and counsel the Government of Nicaragua as to the best methods to be pursued in dealing with this most difficult and important problem, and also to assist you in devising means to be adopted to deal

4O NICARAGUA.

with the claims against Nicaragua and to dispose in an adequate and just manner of the outstanding and legally or economically unsound and ruinous concessions.

The United States was likewise, upon your in- vitation, glad to conclude a convention with Nica- ragua which will provide a sufficient measure of se- curity for a new foreign loan, essential for your financial reorganization and internal public im- provements. While this convention is still pending before the United States Senate it has become nec- essary for Nicaragua to make some provision for the immediate reformation of the local currency, and in order to accomplish this a short-time loan has been negotiated and my Government has gladly approved the name of an American collector gen- eral of customs, who has been appointed by the Government of Nicaragua.

The Nicaraguan people are to be congratulated that they have at the head of the nation a man quick to realize the necessities of the country and of courage sufficient to expeditiously set on foot the best and surest means of meeting the country's needs.

It must here be remembered that the progress already made and the continuance of Nicaragua along the path to national regeneration depend almost entirely upon the preservation of peace and contentment in the country, and that the surest means of reaching this end is the faithful

KNOX. 41

observance of the pledges made by the leaders of all parties.

In the zone of the Caribbean the responsibili- ties of the United States are becoming increasingly great as the opening of the great waterway which is to change the trade routes of the world draws nearer and the desire of the United States to see order and prosperity becomes even more intensified. We are especially interested in the prosperity of all the people of Nicaragua. Their prosper- ity means contentment and contentment means repose. The United States have always cherished sentiments of the warmest regard and most cordial esteem for the people of Nicaragua, and from the very commencement of the independent existence of Nicaragua the Government of the United States has steadfastly adhered to the traditional policy that found expression in the words of President Monroe and which indicated a sympathetic interest in see- ing this country develop and progress unrestricted and unfettered by the interference of foreign na- tions. Encouraged by that sympathy Nicaragua was able to add to its jurisdiction a strip of terri- tory along the Atlantic coast which, with the estab- lishment of better means of communication be- tween the eastern and western portions of the country, will add greatly to the resources and the political prestige of the Republic. The people of the United States most earnestly desire that Nica- ragua should steadily advance to that place in the family of nations to which its situation, its wealth,

42 NICARAGUA.

and the capacity of its people for self-government justly entitle it, and in that spirit of cordial good will and warm friendship the Government of the United States stands prepared to lend such counsel and assistance as may be requested and as may be proper in the establishment of a government calcu- lated to maintain order, enforce law, discharge its international obligations, and promote peace, prog- ress, and prosperity.

I was much impressed, sir, by the lofty stand- ard Nicaragua has set for herself, so eloquently ex- pressed by you in your gracious words of welcome to our minister, whom you have so recently re- ceived. When you assured him that Nicaragua "had established as a firm base of government the respect for human life, the absolute right to prop- erty, the suppression of the odious system of forced contributions, the complete independence of the courts, the freedom of the press, and the observ- ance of all individual guaranties", you justly con- cluded that these facts were "eloquent testimony of the unvarying purpose that animates the Govern- ment of Nicaragua to be faithful to its interna- tional obligations and to the promises of liberty and justice given to its citizens".

It has probably never happened that neighboring countries, which have been more or less afflicted with international and internal troubles of frequent recurrence arising from similar causes, have adopted such radical and effective means for their preven- tion as did the five Central American republics in

KNOX. 43

the three treaties signed at Washington in 1907 under the friendly counsel and sympathy of the United States and Mexico.

By the convention for the establishment of a Central American Court of Justice they bound themselves to create and maintain a permanent tri- bunal and to submit to it all controversies and ques- tions which may arise among them of whatever nature. By the general treaty of peace and amity they agreed to the maintenance of peace in their mutual relations, and to that end, taking into con- sideration the central geographical position of Hon- duras, they stipulated for its complete neutrality in event of conflict between the other republics, and, in order to remove one of the most frequent sources of trouble, provision was made calculated to sup- press revolutionary activity on the part of the resi- dents in adjacent republics. By the addition to that convention, and for the purpose of further dis- couraging and preventing internal disturbances in the five republics, they agreed to refuse to recognize revolutionary governments in each other's countries until first constitutionally recognized in the country where occurring; they agreed not to intervene in any country in case of civil war; and they agreed to constitutional reform. The mere fact that these high resolutions may not have been strictly observed in particular cases should by no means discourage the signatory parties, the important fact being that these five republics have indicated their sincere desire for international peace and domestic tran-

44 NICARAGUA.

quillity, and have devised complete and adequate means to that end, the faithful adherence of which will become more and more habitual as the excel- lent example of the more advanced republics con- tinues to prompt it.

Mindful of the part the United States took in encouraging the making of these treaties and the moral obligations arising therefrom it is not the intention of our Government or our people to refrain from lending every possible proper aid and encour- agement to the parties to these conventions to con- stantly carry into effect their wise and beneficent provisions.

If this or any other government is to endure in this or any other land it is necessary that wisdom, vigilance, patience, and loyalty should abide in its halls of legislation, its chambers of justice, in the centers of executive power, and with the dominating mass of its people.

The establishment and preservation of the insti- tutions of free government, here as elsewhere, depend not upon those who think first of serving themselves and to that end would sacrifice their country; not upon those who think only of defeat- ing the opposition and to that end would sacrifice the world; but upon those who think only of the welfare of their country and to that end would sac- rifice themselves.

In Nicaragua there is to-day present the oppor- tunity and the acute necessity for a display of the very highest and most enduring type of patriotism.

KNOX. 45

There is now a call to her true sons to give the best that is within them to anxious and concerted effort for the public weal, to execute the compromises, adjustments, and concessions essential for the gen- eral welfare, and, by consistent and loyal adherence to the understandings and agreements that have been reached for the rehabilitation of their Govern- ment, to place their names first upon their country's enduring roll of fame.

' &•>-. * -

Speech of the President of the National Constitu- tional Assembly of Nicaragua, Dr. Ignacio Suarez, at a solemn session of that body held at Managua in honor of Mr. Knox, March <5, 1912.

[Translation.]

MOST EXCELLENT MR. SECRETARY:

The National Constitutional Assembly wishes to accord you this reception to give you a cordial welcome in testimony of the lively sympathy and high esteem which the people and Government of the United States inspire in them, and you, Mr. Secretary, who, in the high character of Secretary of State of the great American nation, have con- tributed indirectly with your moral influence to the pacification of our country. Hence, I have the honor to express these sentiments in the name of the National Congress, prophesying the most per- fect success of the mission which has brought you here.

You are not, therefore, to us merely the diplo- matic representative of a powerful nation whom we admire and respect and to whom we are bound by ties of old and friendly relations, but also a wel- come guest, owing to your having given proof that you are animated by a lofty spirit of American brotherhood. 46

SUAREZ. 47

It can not be denied, however, that your visit, which the peoples of America and ourselves espe- cially, have been awaiting with suspense, has awak- ened fears and misgivings in timid minds, who see in it a peril to our autonomy. Undoubtedly it is because they are unaware of the many proofs which on divers and solemn occasions North American statesmen have given officially which eliminate all tendency to expansion or to interference in foreign dominions which might compromise the latter's sovereignty and independence.

It must be recognized also that a propaganda nearly continental in proportions denouncing ex- pansionism has been initiated. This propaganda first took form in the famous Monroe Doctrine, so opportunely formulated, now amplifying and re- stricting its terms, or diluting it in a strong solution of unbiased criticism in order to arrive at the exact conception of its true meaning.

Those unfounded fears of which I have just made mention arise from this. To dissipate them it is enough for me to recall some of those proofs, unimpeachable through having been confirmed in the international practice of the United States.

The glorious conqueror of Vicksburg, in 1881, calmed the restlessness of the Mexicans who at- tributed intentions of annexation to his journey, assuring them, at a banquet given to him by the deputies of Oaxaca, that the people of the United States would under no circumstances accept annexa-

48 NICARAGUA.

tion, not even if nine-tenths of the people of Mexico should ask for it, and he added :

We do not need new territory; we have yet to develop what we have. We wish to see our neighbors prosper and become strong enough in order that the projects which are formed by other countries in relation to them may in no way endanger their safety.

And later, in 1885, in order to dispel new fears in the same Republic, the United States minister, Mr. Henry R. Jackson, in a reception given on July 4, pronounced these energetic and quieting words:

May the hand be paralyzed that dares to strike out a single star of the pleiad of American republics! May the stateman perish who pulls out petals or pistils from a sin- gle flower! Allow to each nation the full enjoyment of its institutions, cust6ms, and local laws. Let it govern itself according to its pleasure. If American freedom for all nations does not consist in this, then our Constitutions, Federal and State, can be naught but lies and our flag a farce.

The Attorney General, Mr. Gushing, upon giv- ing an opinion requested by the Secretary of State, Mr. William L. Marcy, on a claim of Peru against the United States, thus expressed himself:

It seems to me that considerations of expediency con- cur with all sound ideas of public law to indicate the propriety of a return to more reserve in all this matter, as between the Spanish American Republics and the United States; that is, to abstain from applying to them any rule of public law which we do not admit to have applied to us; to do only as we would be done by; and

SUAREZ. 49

to consult their well-being, and cultivate their friendship, by adhering to the impartial assertion, whether in claim or in rejection of claim, of the established rules of the international jurisprudence of Christendom.

Such wise and worthy words even the venerable founder of American democracy would not have disdained to pronounce.

I omit other more recent declarations, for they are better known, such as those of Secretary of State Root on his trip through South America, calculated also to communicate to weak nations the security of their independence.

There can be no doubt that justice will triumph and that the way will be opened through which invigorating and fruitful currents will urge on to fields of progress.

The evolution taking place in private law, influ- enced by the principles of true justice which does not lose sight of the common destiny of mankind, is already more important than international law, and from day to day the violence of nation against nation becomes rarer where such violence is grounded only on the supremacy of strength.

I have the pleasure here to state that the United States has in nearly all cases abided by the principles above laid down. In evidence of this are the many cases of arbitration with small nations : The Vene- zuelan flour claim of 1836, which it dropped when convinced that it was in the wrong; the abuses of a mixed commission on claims against Paraguay, removed in 1862 by this declaration

s 105 4

5<D NICARAGUA.

of the President: "The people and Government of the United States are too honorable to connive at oriental trickery in favor of their citizens to the detriment of justice"; to Peru was given entire satisfaction in 1852 by the Secretary of State, Mr. Everett, "in consequence of unintentional injustice done", according to his expression, when the sov- ereignty of this Republic in certain guano islands which American citizens wished to take possession of was put in jeopardy.

And I could continue with similar quotations. I shall not omit the Venezuelan case, owing to the special circumstances which attached to it. This Republic was condemned to pay by a mixed com- mission an indemnity to American citizens in the sum of $1,253,310.30. It paid one-half, more or less, and it then refused to pay the rest because great frauds had been disclosed which placed the real amount of the debt at $80,000. The American Congress, at the request of the Executive, author- ized the use of force for obtaining payment; but Venezuela held out in its refusal until President Arthur and Secretary Frelinghuysen recognized that it was right, and to this effect Congress was in- formed, and this high body thereupon unanimously resolved that another commission should be ap- pointed to revise the first decision.

I have gone into these details at length to make clear the procedure of your powerful country with the other weak ones of the continent; and the last cited in particular attracts the attention, for it

SUAREZ. 51

treats of a decision clothed with all the force of a thing adjudicated opened anew through respect for right and equity.

Hence, all fears and all prejudice ought to be rejected in our relations with the United States, it being evident that the strongest bulwark of our guaranty as a nation, lacking physical strength, lies in the force which emanates from right, and therefore it resides in your own institutions, in your characteristic respect for law, which, as was said by a notable writer, is borne of the Anglo-Saxon temperament — calm, practical, lover of justice, and adverse to all extreme measures.

Hard is the lot of a weak people, even when its friendship with great and strong nations is taken into consideration.

The same august founder of your prosperous Union, who saw everything through the crystal of his excellent virtues, said, on taking leave of public life, in his immortal message addressed to Congress:

Such an attachment of a small or weak toward a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

Nicaragua, however, which in 1884 was closely bound to your country by the Zavala-Frelinghuysen treaty, does not fear prejudice or see peril to its autonomy, and, strong in its good faith and confi- dent in its institutions, founded in and strengthened by the same principles of justice which govern your wonderful Republic, we open our arms and receive

52 NICARAGUA.

you as friends, with signal show of respect and true esteem.

Accept, Mr. Secretary, this manifestation of the Assembly, and which, through you, it extends to the people and the Government of the United States.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. PRESIDENT:

I deeply appreciate the honor of being invited to appear before this Assembly in solemn session. It is another mark of the high consideration I have been shown since I entered the Republic. I pro- foundly realize the important relations which the legislative branch of your Government, like the legislative branches of all republics, bears to the national system and how important its functions are for the welfare of the people.

The real crisis in the history of any people who have by revolution freed themselves from tyranny and oppression is when the cohesive force of the perils of war have been released and the duty of the construction of a new government begins. A people may be liberated and their right to self- government established by the arbitrament of war; but liberty without efficient government is anarchy, and a true national government must be con- structed. We found this true in the history of the United States, and the period that intervened between the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at York- town and the establishment of the present Govern- ment of the United States was one of the most critical in its history. It was commonly asserted, and even by our most friendly critics, that we were

: *e if-

54 NICARAGUA.

incapable of establishing any species of government because we were disunited. It was thought that suspicion and distrust of the people of the different sections of our country would continue until the end of time, and that we would be subdivided into little commonwealths or communities, according to the physical conformation of the land.

Perhaps without the splendid service which the immortal Washington rendered to his country in its trying years this dire prediction might have proved true, but he roused the people to the appre- ciation of the fact that no permanent government was possible unless the people themselves would be willing, as he expressed it in his farewell letter, "to sacrifice, if need be, some of their local interests to the common weal; they must discard their local prejudices and regard one another as fellow citizens of a common country, with interests in the deepest and truest sense identical". This communication was addressed to the people of thirteen different Commonwealths, each of which regarded itself as a sovereign power, and each of which was groan- ing under the burden it had assumed for the common cause now brought, as they believed, to a happy issue. They were in no humor for fur- ther surrender or sacrifice; they were quarreling among themselves over all sorts of real and fancied grievances. Our credit was failing at home and abroad; our relations with other countries as well as between ourselves were unhappy because of our lack of unity. As a result our citizens were

KNOX. 55

insulted, kidnapped, impressed, and sold into slavery, and all sorts of economic vagaries were abroad in the land. This pointed to an early condition of total wreckage of all that we had gained by our war for independence if a better understanding for the future was not soon reached.

Fortunately this opportunity came in the call for the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Once again duty called Washington from the satisfactions of private life to preside over the destiny of his countrymen, and upon the very threshold of its labors his lofty character and noble eloquence inspired the members of the convention with a sense of their duties and responsibilities. It has been said by one of our great historians* that —

At the very outset some of the delegates began to exhibit symptoms of that peculiar kind of moral cowardice which is wont to afflict free governments, and of which American history furnishes so many instructive examples. It was suggested that palliatives and half measures would be far more likely to find favor with the people than any thoroughgoing reform, when Washington suddenly in- terposed with a brief but immortal speech, which ought to be blazoned in letters of gold, and posted on the walls of every American assembly that shall meet to nominate a candidate, or declare a policy, or pass a law, so long as the weakness of human nature shall endure. Rising from his President's chair, his tall figure drawn up to its full height, he exclaimed, in tones unwontedly solemn, with suppressed emotion: "It is too probable that no plan we propose will be adopted; perhaps another dreadful con- flict is to be sustained. If, to please the people, we offer

*John Fiske, "The Critical Period of American History, 1783-1789".

56 NICARAGUA.

what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair; the event is in the hand of God."

This outburst of noble eloquence carried conviction to everyone, and henceforth we do not hear that any attempt was avowedly made to avoid the issues as they came up. It was a most wholesome tonic. It braced up the con- vention to high resolves, and impressed upon all the dele- gates that they were in a situation where faltering or trifling was both wicked and dangerous. From that moment the mood in which they worked caught some- thing from the glorious spirit of Washington.

The result of the labors of this convention was the Constitution of the United States; the result of its ratification by the States was the birth of a nation. The present unity, brotherhood, and inter- citizenship of the inhabitants of the formerly dis- cordant and jarring States of our Union attest the beneficence of the work of those upon whom the original responsibility was cast, and you people of Nicaragua may be assured of the certainty that under Providence great blessings will come to you as a result of the heroic fortitude you have dis- played in the cause of liberty, if it is followed by wise, prompt, and beneficent action for the rehabili- tation and reconstruction of the institutions of your land. Mere politics, local differences, sectional strife, personal ambition, should be set aside, and the best thought and the best effort of the country given to the consideration and enactment of such economic measures as will open to the people of

KNOX. 57

Nicaragua a new vista of hope and prosperity. This, supplemented by such measures as will make permanent and enduring the equality of rights which is essential to the maintenance of republican institutions, will give Nicaragua her proper place among the family of American republics.

I note, Mr. President, what you have said in re- gard to the existence of some apprehension here and in other republics of Latin America as to the true motives and purposes of the United States toward them under the Monroe Doctrine. I beg to assure you, and I am sure that what I say meets the approval of the people and President of the United States, that my Government does not covet an inch of territory south of the Rio Grande. The full measure and extent of our policy is to assist in the maintenance of republican institutions upon this hemisphere, and we are anxious that the experi- ment of a government of the people, for the people, and by the people shall not fail in any republic on this continent. We have a well-known policy as to causes that might threaten the existence of an American republic from beyond the sea. We are equally desirous that there shall be no failure to maintain a republican form of government from forces of disintegration originating from within ; and so far as we may be able we will always be found willing to lend such proper assistance as may be within our power to preserve the stability of our sister American republics.

Speech of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Dr. Alfonso Solorzano, at a solemn ses- sion held by that Tribunal in honor of Mr. Knox on March 6, 1912.

[Translation.]

EXCELLENT SIR:

It is the first time in the annals of the history of the Supreme Court of Justice that it has departed from its traditions and extended an invitation to anyone to honor it with a visit.

But nothing is more natural than that it should be extended to you who come as the representative of the great American Nation, which, it is truthfully said, has placed law upon the highest pedestal in the world.

We read your history with interest to learn of the institutions of a free people; its pages, covered with wise lessons, have taught us to love your great men of lofty virtue, who, always conscious of their duty, had the strength of mind to perform it — those men of a glorious past who first planted with firm and unfaltering hand the banner of freedom in the heart of the American Continent.

Born, like you, to a life of law, we have strug- gled for liberty. Vividly before us is the example of your country, which has succeeded in attaining

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SOLORZANO. 59

the height of power not only through the untiring endeavors of its sons to win material progress, but also, and especially, through its political institu- tions so wisely formulated and even more judicially adhered to.

When your great ancestors founded the Republic they embodied in the Constitution the admirable principles of liberty. They believed, and rightly, that progress and happiness of a people could only be brought about by the full exercise of indi- vidual activities, and hence they put upon them no limitations other than those fixed by God, Himself, to prevent annihilation of all in the clash of oppos- ing aspirations.

But they also understood that the wise provi- sions of this political organism would be fruitless if they did not establish a sovereign and independent power, which, removed as far as human weakness permits from the strife of parties and free from the passions of interest, should become the custo- dian of its institutions and safeguard its laws; and to the Supreme Court of Justice, which already had been intrusted with the noble mission of conserving peace, protecting life, property, and honor against individual acts, was intrusted this other and higher charge — that of maintaining its principles when unfortunately they might be trampled upon by those intrusted to guard them.

The institution of the Supreme Court of Justice as the custodian of the fundamental law is, to quote Root, "the most precious gift that political science

6O NICARAGUA.

has given to our country". We, prepared by the history of our "mother country", which from the first understood that law is in the hands of the govern- ing power, were heirs also to this valuable legacy. Our court, like yours, without machinery of material force, is perhaps the highest moral power of the State. It prevents the execution of those orders of the other high powers of the States which might violate the Constitution; it repairs the wrong, punishes the guilty, and, by recent ruling, it even decides upon direct appeal the unconstitutionality of the laws. It is this power which now demon- strates its admiration and good will toward you, and, through you, toward your country. We fain would believe that, if the assurances of cordiality which the political bodies* of our country have lavished upon you have been agreeable, as the expression of sincere feeling, this demonstration, which is ad- dressed not to policy but to an eminent jurisconsult, not to a great and strong power, but to people great in law and liberty, will be not less well received.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE:

This is indeed a high honor you have conferred on me, and I deeply appreciate it, as well as the very kind and complimentary words which you have just pronounced in referring to my Government and to my people.

During twenty-five years of my life I devoted myself to the practice of law in my native State and there I learned to respect the courts as a power, exert- ing within the orbits of law, justice, and equity great influence for all that is good, and in the last analysis constituting the strongest safeguard for the people's rights. Though I have never occupied a judicial position, yet, having served as the chief of the Department of Justice in two administrations, the contact which my position permitted me to enjoy with the members of the bench strengthened my respect for the courts and taught me to appreciate the sacrifice made by those who, in devoting their lives to the administration of justice, deny them- selves opportunities for acquiring wealth or fame in the more alluring fields of human endeavor.

Again I beg of you, Mr. Chief Justice, to accept my most sincere thanks for the distinguished honor you have this day shown to me.

61

Speech of His Excellency Diego M. Chamorro, Min- ister for Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua, at a banquet tendered to Mr. Knox at Managua, March 6, 1912.

[Translation.]

MOST EXCELLENT MR. MINISTER, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN :

Animated by sentiments of the most legitimate satisfaction, I have the great honor to offer this homage of high appreciation and good will to the most excellent the Secretary of State of the United States of America, Mr. Philander C. Knox.

The people and Government of Nicaragua, most excellent Mr. Secretary, feel a lively pleasure in the visit that you make to our country, where your illus- trious land is alternately appreciated and admired, and with unfeigned rejoicing we celebrate the happy occasion of your presence among us, which has per- mitted you to know personally how sincere and en- thusiastic are the sympathies we cherish for the great Republic of the north, sympathies which increase every day in the glow of the inalterable confidence which your interest for the well-being and prosperity of Nicaragua inspires in us, and in the perseverance with which we labor in the same work of liberty and of justice, which is the aspiration of our people and the generous ideal of your nation and of your Government. 62

CHAMURRO. 63

Peoples, like individuals, more than by their own resources, live by the interests common to other peoples, and no nation, without placing in danger its well-being and its existence, can draw away from that sociological law which compels all individuals and all nationalities to live together in a general concert which tends to the highest development of their forces in the material, the economic, and the moral order.

Profoundly affected by this truth and by the exceptional importance which the relations will as- sume in the near future, without doubt, between the United States and other nations of the world and all the countries surrounding the Panama Canal, we, in the agreements celebrated with the United States, without any reserve or vacillation, have fol- lowed the inspirations of a far-sighted and patriotic policy that counsels us not to lag behind the other nations on the ascending road of progress, civiliza- tion, and culture, but to assure, once for all, our position among the nations of the world.

You, most excellent sir, are not a stranger among us. Your name is familiar to our people, and every- where it is accompanied by the respect and the affection with which entire Nicaragua greets you and receives you as an old and true friend. Your illustrious personality and the eminent representa- tive character vested in you give to your pleasant visit a significance superabundantly honorable for Nicaragua, because you come in the name of a great people to whom we are bound not only by the

64 NICARAGUA.

material ties of an active commerce ever on the increase, but by the better and indestructible moral bonds of the same political ideals, and by your his- torical traditions closely connected with all our struggles for independence.

With your beautiful Declaration of July, 1776, you awakened in all the people of America the love for liberty. Your sympathies accompanied us in our strivings for emancipation, and before any other country it was your people who recognized us as sovereign nations. Your international doctrines then gave stability and strength to those conquests of right, assuring forever our existence as republics, unhampered by foreign interference. We owe to you the restoration of our territory, and to-day more than ever we place confidence in the friendship and solicitude of your people for the maximum develop- ment, which all Nicaraguans desire, of republican institutions and practices of which your country is, par excellence, the highest exponent in the world.

In the paternal house we learnt from childhood to know and admire your great forefathers. The lives of Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin were heroic legends of the home and their salient and stirring deeds were held up before us constantly by our elders as the most beautiful examples of virtue and patriotism worthy of admiration; and so, used to living in communion with your heroes, we never have and never will accustom ourselves to regard them as strangers, since they are not and can not be such for any free man, whatever the place of his

CHAMORRO. 65

nationality in the world. If your language be unknown to us, the language of liberty and justice, which by its example pointed the way to the attain- ment of the greatest and most perfect political institution that human endeavor has been able to bring about, so took possession of our minds that it is not surprising that, as men, in contemplating the stupendous altitude which your country has reached in all the spheres of activity and civiliza- tion, we should continue rendering that same heart- felt tribute of our admiration to those famous men who initiated such work and to the heirs of those virtues and warders of such great institutions.

In witnessing the public demonstrations and your reception by the Nicaraguan people in their fold, and in considering how the prejudices and misunderstandings among the nations of this conti- nent are quickly blotted out by the frequent cele- bration of our Pan-American Congresses, of the lofty policy of which your visit to our countries of Central America is one of the most expressive signs, we can not fail to recall the notable words which one of your most illustrious men, John Adams, wrote with prophetic vision to his wife on signing your magnificent Declaration of Inde- pendence. He said:

Yesterday, the greatest question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater, perhaps, never was nor will be decided among men. * * * But the day is past. The second of July 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am s 105 5

66 NICARAGUA.

apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be sol- emnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, forevermore.

Remembering these beautiful words of him who was your second President, the clear-sightedness of the statesman is surprising who, from that memo- rable date, understood the whole compass of your revolution for the entire world; and with the vision of his soul assisted, and caused his contemporaries to assist, in the contemplation of the colossal devel- opment of his country, free, rich, and happy after more than an age "of existence; who discerned, and caused others to discern, the edifying and magnifi- cent spectacle of America separated in numerous republics, but all united in a single ideal of justice, of liberty, and of respect for the independence and sovereignty of each one of them.

Permit me, gentlemen, in the name of the Pres- ident of the Republic, to invite you to drink a toast to His Excellency the President of the United States, William H. Taft; to His Excellency the Sec- retary of State, Philander C. Knox; to his worthy wife and distinguished ladies who accompany her, whose presence grace and honor this occasion; and to the North American people, to that great nation, the friend of peace, of liberty, and of justice.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. MINISTER, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN:

I am deeply grateful for the evidences of cor- diality which the Government has given me, and I accept these as a mark of brotherly feeling toward the Government and people of the United States.

To my addresses before the Assembly and at the Campo de Marte I have nothing further to add rela- tive to the situation of Nicaragua, but I do wish to avail myself of the opportunity to repeat that the Government of the United States does not propose in any way to interfere in the internal affairs of this country.

This country, though small, has territory and resources sufficient to support 6,000,000 inhabitants, and the Government of the United States will assist Nicaragua in order that it may grow in wealth and population, thus becoming a strong nation.

When I promised to go to Granada I fully in- tended to make the journey, as it was one of my most cherished wishes that I could have the privi- lege of visiting that city. The demands upon me while I have been in Nicaragua have been so numerous that I find myself physically unable to undertake a journey that will require me to travel so far to-morrow. I wish, through you, to express

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68 NICARAGUA.

to the good citizens of Granada my very deep regret that I am so situated that I can not be the recipient of the cordial welcome that I feel certain I should receive from them.

IV

Speeches in Honduras

Speech of His Excellency Mariano Vasquez, Min- ister for Foreign Affairs of Honduras, at a luncheon given to Mr. Knox at Amapala, March 8, 1912.

[Translation.]

MR. SECRETARY:

The people of Honduras feel a very great satis- faction at your arrival in its national territory.

We, the members of the Government, Delegates of the National Congress, and representatives of the judiciary, have come to offer you most cordial reception and to state to you that the visit that you are making to our country gives us pleasure.

We esteem it an honor to our small Republic to have here the illustrious Secretary of State of the great Republic of America.

The American Nation has always attracted the attention of the world by the tremendous progress it has made in advancing civilization. We have learned, from childhood up, to admire it; every triumph which it has won in its phenomenal march has a grateful echo in our little republics and makes us feel proud to be, like it, sons of the New World.

We have learned likewise to pronounce with veneration and affection the names that render illus- trious the history of your nation, the model of re- publican virtues.

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72 HONDURAS.

Washington, the glory of America, will always be recognized as one of the greatest leaders of the nations; his words are maxims of political morality. He who said "the best and only road that leads surely to honor, glory, and true dignity is justice" is, indubitably, not only the father of the American people but of all humanity. His wise counsel will continue to resound through future ages.

We honor Franklin, the genius that imprisoned the destructive lightning, the apostle who preached the gospel of peace to all nations; Lincoln, the liberator, and all the founders of America; and we admire, too, those who, continuing the great work, are likewise benefactors of humanity.

We honor Elihu Root,who, from the high tribune of Rio de Janeiro in the Third American Conference, declared, to the glory of the great Republic, the universal principle of the equality of the nations, when he said :

We deem the independence and equal rights of the smallest and weakest member of the family of nations entitled to as much respect as those of the greatest empire.

We honor Roosevelt, President Taft, and his worthy Secretary of State, Mr. Knox, who, in the midst of their wise and fruitful labors in their own country, began yesterday and will to-morrow ter- minate so colossal an undertaking as the Panama Canal, which will fill the world with admiration and will open new and broader highways for the civili- zation and progress of the American Continent.

VASQUEZ. 73

Accept, sir, from the Government of Honduras expressions of keenest appreciation of the cordiality shown by you in coming to our territory accom- panied by your distinguished family and prominent persons of your country, and permit me, on this happy occasion, to extend in the name of the Gov- ernment of Honduras most sincere wishes for the increasing prosperity of the great Republic and for the personal welfare of President Taft and his illustrious Secretary of State.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. MINISTER:

In the name of my Government and my fellow citizens I thank you for your cordial hospitality and friendly reception.

It is with sincere regret, Mr. Minister, that I am forced, through circumstances over which neither of us has any control, to forego the pleasure of visiting the capital city of Honduras, which I had hoped to be able to accomplish but which I found to be impos- sible within the limited time at my disposal. Much as I should have enjoyed the beauties of the journey to the capital over rtie rugged face of nature, it is nevertheless a great pleasure to meet you here and have the advantage of your personal acquaintance.

The importance of the geographic position of Honduras, which borders on three of the other Re- publics of Central America, has long been recog- nized, and experience has shown that most of the unrest that has disturbed Central America, and par- ticularly Honduras, has been due to the fact that Honduras lies conveniently in the track of any armies of other contending Central American states and it has been impossible for Honduras to resist their passage without itself becoming engaged in the quarrel on one side or the other. So much has the Republic of Honduras suffered in this regard and so often has the peace of Central America been

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KNOX. 75

easily disturbed, owing to the exposed position of this country, that when the Central American Peace Conference met in Washington in 1907, under the auspices of the United States and Mexico, an article was incorporated in one of the conventions there signed whereby all the other powers concerned pledged themselves to respect the neutrality of Honduras. The importance and wisdom of the provision has been fully demonstrated, and an elo- quent testimonal as to its practical value is that since the adoption of these conventions, although other of its provisions may have been disregarded, there has been no international war in Central America.

Probably one of the most important matters to be considered by the Honduran Government is how to make this guaranty, which is all important to the peace of Central America, still more effective and permanent. It is manifest that it is only as strong as the stability of the country and the good will of its neighbors combined, and that the surest means of insuring its continued respect and resultant bene- fits is to assure the stability of the Government of Honduras itself and thereby to permit the develop- ment of its wonderful store of natural resources.

Possessed, as it is, of a fertile soil and healthful climate, as well as of probably the best natural har- bor between San Diego, California, and Concep- cion, Chile, the development of Honduras would seem to be a matter which it should require but a short time to accomplish. In Honduras, all the elements of great national prosperity are but await-

76 HONDURAS.

ing development. The great needs of the country, so great in natural wealth, are facilities of transpor- tation, which will at once stimulate foreign and do- mestic commerce, and an economic administration.

Central American tranquillity and security have from the first been matters of the deepest concern to the United States, and repose in Honduras, which will always be the key to Central American peace, has ever awakened the keenest interest among Americans. When the transcontinental railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific was first under- taken the sovereignty of Honduras over the rail- road was guaranteed by the United States, and my Government has always stood ready to assist in any proper manner the preservation of order and the promotion of peace in this country. The Marble- head treaty, the convocation of the Central Ameri- can Peace Conference in Washington, and the part played by my Government in the Peace Conference at Puerto Cortes in February, 1912, are all eloquent testimonials of our good will toward Honduras.

It is the desire of my Government to perpetu- ate upon the foundations of closer friendship and acquaintance the good will we have received from the past, to promote our common interests by de- veloping a better mutual understanding, and to frown down any and every attempt to disturb by calumny and baseless suspicion the peaceful and friendly relations between the United States and Honduras.

Speech of Mr. Knox at a luncheon given by him on board the "Maryland" at Amapala, Honduras, March 9, 1912.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

I wish, on my own behalf and on behalf of my party, to express our appreciation of the friendli- ness and hospitality that we have received since we have been here, and this afternoon I want to espe- cially acknowledge our appreciation of that test of good will which is evidenced by the long journey that those among you have made from the capital city to the coast under most trying circumstances. I do not know of a higher test of friendship than the one which you have thus given us. Our reception in Honduras has been especially pleasing. Indeed, I might almost say that nothing could excel the kindliness that has been shown to me and to my party since we reached Central America. There is one thing that I can imagine might excel it, and that is the malice and wickedness with which those who desire to prevent closer relations between the United States and Central America have, through false reports, endeavored to create the impression that the Central American people have not received this mission with kindliness and with sympathy. When I get back to my Government my report shall be that up to the time that we have

-;\ "

78 HONDURAS.

left Amapala not a single incident has marred the pleasure of our visit, not a single thing in the way of bounteous and generous hospitality has been lacking, and that we shall all feel that this visit has been worth much to us and we hope it has been worth something to you. As I started out to say, I want this afternoon to express my special appre- ciation to those who have come from Tegucigalpa here to meet us, and I propose their health, their long life, their prosperity, and their happiness.

Reply of His Excellency Mariano Vasquez, Minister for Foreign Affairs,

[Translation.]

MR. SECRETARY :

With enthusiasm I have transmitted to the President of the Republic the expressions of cor- diality addressed by you to him and to Honduras.

The entire country will receive with satisfaction your friendly words, which reveal the wise policy of the acts of the Government of the United States.

The convention written on board the Marble- head, which put an end to a conflict among the States of Central America ; the treaty of Washing- ton, which stipulated the neutrality of Honduras and removed the dangers of fresh international dis- turbances ; and the Puerto Cortes conferences, which extinguished the civil war recently kindled in our country — all through the amicable mediation of your country — prove that you are interested in our wel- fare, which naturally must emanate from peace, and that on all occasions vou have advised us well.

j

At the very moment that you hear the tumult of our fruitless strife we hear your voice urging us toward concord and peace.

With such antecedents it is impossible for Hon- duras to welcome any malevolent propaganda which might disturb the relations it cultivates with the

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8O HONDURAS.

United States or the gratitude it owes to your Government.

On the contrary, we are endeavoring to make those relations even more intimate and to attract a useful immigration, which, by establishing business interests, will strengthen them day by day.

Honduras, sir, desires peace, a stable and lasting peace, in order to develop by means of salutary work all the elements of life which it has in abund- ance. Consequently, in order to attain this desired end, it must not look to those countries for inspira- tions which, more or less, have always lived under the scourge of war, but it must take its example from your Republic, which is rich, powerful, and great, owing to the peace and order so wisely main- tained since the first days of its independence.

I bear special instructions from the President of the Republic to express these sentiments of frank cordiality and of the mutual interest of our coun- tries. And both he and each one of us are deeply sorry that you have been unable to observe our country at closer range. Our land is essentially mineralogical and is likewise capable of growing productive plants of every zone ; therein are forests rich in precious woods, rivers flowing over sands of gold. With your sagacious eye you would have seen the land where a people now debilitated by misfortune will soon be transformed, through the efforts of its sons, into a rich and prosperous nation by the fruitful agency of toil, and then you

VASQUEZ. 8 1

would have been convinced of the sincerity of our desire of peace.

With unfeigned regret we learn the news of your proximate departure. So numerous have been the demonstrations of cordiality with which you have distinguished us, and such the affection you have awakened in each one of us, that in pressing your hand for the last time we shall truly regret the separation.

We wish you, your family, and party a happy voyage, and it is a pleasure for me to assure you that we shall ever remember the happy moments when we had the satisfaction of having on our shore the cultured and distinguished Mrs. Knox and the trained diplomat who guides the destinies of the great Republic.

s 105 6

V

Speeches in Salvador

Speech of His Excellency Manuel Araujo, Presi- dent of Salvador, welcoming Mr. Knox at San Salvador, March n, 1912.

[Translation.]

YOUR EXCELLENCY THE SECRETARY OF STATE :

In the name of the people of Salvador and of the Government over which I preside I extend a most cordial welcome to your excellency. Your presence here, at this time, will establish an epoch of note in the history of Central America. You bear to us on your visit of courtesy the good will of a great nation, one of the most powerful races of the world. We acknowledge your visit as an act of regard, and I, especially, at this moment, feel the spirit of the American, the Latin, and the Indian stirring upon my lips to enable me to render a com- plete testimony of affection to your great nation, your Government, and to your excellency. Your country exhibits before the world, as a great and sovereign nation, the glowing example of the liberty and wisdom of your privileged race, forming an attractive and enviable standard for all other peo- ples. We, though constituted as small nationalties, possess the nobility and loftiness of purpose engen- dered by honor and faith in our destinies; and your excellency may feel assured that in Salvador, as throughout all Central America, there burns

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brightly, exceeding brightly, that noble ambition which is the objective point of all cultured peoples to occupy a prominent position in the concert of the civilized and free nations of the globe. Wel- come, most honored Mr. Secretary, as also your distinguished family and your brilliant suite. It is our desire that the time spent by you in this section of Central America may be agreeable, and that the benefits of this visit may, at no distant day, flower into the peace, liberty, and progress of our country's ensign.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

EXCELLENCY:

I come to your country not in the capacity of a diplomatic representative but by the direction of the President of the United States as the bearer of a message of friendship and good will from the American people, and I desire to express to Your Excellency my appreciation of the cordial and en- thusiastic welcome accorded me by the officials of your Government and the people of Salvador.

It is the earnest desire of the President and people of the United States that the mutual rela- tions between our two countries should continue to become even more intimate and cordial than they fortunately are to-day. I earnestly hope that Your Excellency and the people of Salvador may con- tinue to enjoy that happiness and prosperity which Providence up to the present time has so bounte- ously accorded you and them.

87

Speech of His Excellency Francisco Diienas, Min- ister for Foreign Affairs of Salvador, at a banquet given in honor of Mr. Knox at the National Palace, San Salvador, March n, 1912.

[Translation.]

GENTLEMEN :

Invested with the high character of Secretary of State of the Government of the United States of North America, the eminent jurisconsult and states- man His Excellency Philander C. Knox is now visiting us, the bearer of the messages of friendship and sympathy which the powerful Government of the White House sends us through the medium of its most distinguished representative.

A cause of veritable satisfaction is the visit of him who comes preceded by so conspicuous re- noun, for it involves the generous and noble idea that new bonds of friendship well understood must continue to bind these Governments closer together and because this is a happy occasion to evidence to our illustrious guest the pacific and progressive evo- lution which is going on in Salvador, thanks to the highly patriotic spirit of the Government presided over by Dr. Araujo and to the wisdom and high ideals of the Salvadoran nation, which in its inter- nal political construction embraces lofty principles of liberty and order, and of peace and intimate

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DUENAS. 89

communion with the sister nations of the Isth- mus, under the symbolic aegis of its democratic institutions.

Salvador, like all the countries of Central America, has a great example to imitate in the American people, both for their untiring spirit of advancement in all spheres of human life, and for their constant and gigantic industry, which has placed them on the pinnacle of greatness; or, rather, for their eminently republican doctrines, which have been sustained and vouched for by characters of the type of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Lincoln, who are the stars that shine by the side of others in the political sky of that marvelous center of modern civilization. Salvador, in a salutary com- munication of ideas, will have much to avail itself of and learn from the people who disseminate civilization by the currents of their material and intellectual culture, who owe their immense evolu- tion to the well advanced and admirably defined progress of liberty and law ; like a compass which marks a changeless route for the peoples who follow fruitful ideals in the realization of their immortal destinies in the immense trajectory of the centuries.

The Government of Salvador expects, as a pleasing reality, that the visit with which His Excellency Mr. Knox honors us so exceedingly to- day will have beneficial and practical results for the rapprochement and concord of both peoples and Governments, which will open a new era in inter- national friendship, as his courteous visit is in the

'

*

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90 SALVADOR.

nature of a frank refutation of the unfounded prejudices of those who have not had the fortunate opportunity, as we have, of hearing and admiring the most noble ideas of peace and friendship which he presents to us, ideas of which His Excellency the North American Secretary of State is the distin- guished bearer, coming, with his words of fraternity and his honoring presence, on a mission of courtesy, bearing in one hand the olive branch of peace and in the other the heraldic emblem of the noble and just friendship of the American Gov- ernment and people, who do us this high honor of sending us fraternal messages through the medium of their highest representative.

Let us drink, gentlemen, to the glories of the American people;* to His Excellency President Taft; to the most worthy Secretary of State, Mr. Knox; to his most distinguished lady and brilliant suite — and on raising our glasses in their praise let us raise also our hearts, which burn with the sacred flame of pure patriotism, thus responding with frank cordiality to the homage which His Excellency the Secretary of State of the great Republic pays us by his visit.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN:

It is with the feeling of sincere gratitude that I desire, on my own behalf and on the part of the people and Government of the United States, to express thanks for the courteous and cordial hospi- tality you have so generously lavished upon me and upon my family.

It is indeed a pleasure for me, Mr. President, to come from my countrymen as the bearer of a message of their good will and friendship to the people of Salvador.

Although the smallest of all the American re- publics, Salvador has much of which it may justly feel proud. Early among the Central American republics to proclaim its independence and to embark in the struggle for national emancipation, Salvador has always given to the world a whole- some example as a peace-loving and industrious people. With its dense population and small area its people have found it advantageous and even necessary to seek new fields of occupation and are gradually spreading into the neighboring republics, there to engage in the pursuit of agriculture, and lands theretofore unproductive promptly respond to the sturdy and capable hand of the enterprising Salvadoran who has gone peacefully to promote their industrial conquest.

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92 SALVADOR.

Salvador is the only sovereign nation of the Northern Continent of the Western Hemisphere which does not border on both oceans, and the opening of the Panama Canal will shorten by some 10,000 miles the journey by water between Acajutla and New York, which should naturally be one of the chief markets for Salvadoran products. The United States is not only the greatest producing nation but likewise is the greatest consuming nation of the world, and as soon as the products of Central America, by being popularized in the United States, become sufficiently known, and the facilities for transporting them thither are made adequate, the trade with our Caribbean neighbors will grow and develop to an enormous extent.

The people of the United States have been too ignorant of our southern neighbors, their vast, undeveloped resources, and the measures they have taken to open themselves to the world.

If we are to enjoy with them the satisfactions of international friendship, the advantages of interna- tional trade, and the blessings of peace we must give more consideration to the means by which these advantages are brought about. Friendship and peace are indeed the common, if not inevitable, consequences of commercial intercourse and result from reciprocal dependence of countries upon each other's products, sympathies, and assistance.

I have heretofore elsewhere in my journey spoken of the possibilities of greater reciprocal helpfulness between the United States and the

KNOX. 93

other American republics. This might take the form, in part, of more generous measures of com- mercial reciprocity between them. This, it seems, would be a natural expression of their mutual inter- dependence. In speaking, some two years ago, of the spirit and purpose of American diplomacy I then expressed the hope that the commerce be- tween the United States and its southern neigh- bors, which makes so powerfully for friendship, might be adjusted on a more reciprocal basis.

The total annual trade of the Central American states, not including Panama, with the United States now amounts to something like $22,500,000. An idea as to what extent this commerce is capable of development and expansion may be obtained by recalling for a moment what has taken place with regard to the commerce of Mexico, whose close relations with the United States have so materially contributed to the rapid development of an enor- mous volume of trade.

Picture, then, the possibilities of these Central American republics and pause for a moment to consider that Salvador, in proportion to its area, produces more by far than any of its neighbors, and some faint idea may then be obtained of the magic to be worked by the closer intercourse between them and the United States.

By far the most active sphere of American diplomacy to-day is that of our relations with the twenty other republics of the Western Hemisphere. Most of these republics are passing through an

94 SALVADOR.

evolution similar to our own — that of the peopling and developing of vast areas and the attempt to perfect republican government under similar insti- tutions. Now that so many of the republics to the south of us have achieved government as stable, as enlightened, and as responsible as our own, it becomes more and more incumbent upon the citi- zens of the United States to know and appreciate them.

Nothing could have gratified me more than the sentiment the Minister for Foreign Affairs has just expressed when he said : The Government of Salvador expects, as a pleasing reality, that my visit to-day will have beneficial and practical results for the rapprochement and concord of both peoples and Governments, which will open a new era in inter- national friendship and is in the nature of a frank refutation of unfounded prejudices. It is, indeed, the supreme purpose of my visit to show that upon our part there is no justification or substantial reason for prejudice or misunderstanding between the people of the United States and the people of Central America. What we both sorely need is that the truth about. Central America and Central Americans and of their high civilization and lofty purpose and graceful and dignified hospitality should reach the United States through unpolluted sources and that the truth as to the motives and friendliness of the Government of the United States should reach you without wicked perversion. Then, in- deed, would our countries and our peoples be

KNOX. 95

unhampered in our advancement in the paths of rectitude and trustful confidence to higher levels of welfare and beneficial association. By such advances the stature of equality tends gradually to become as real as the equality of sovereignty and to reach the high level of stability, justice, and modera- tion and mutual responsibility which now happily characterize the relations between Salvador and the United States.

With its beautiful and health-giving mountain ranges, fertile and productive valleys, dense and labor-loving population dedicated to peaceful pur- suits, Salvador presents, Mr. President, a spectacle which irresistibly merits the admiration of every foreigner whose good fortune it may be to touch these shores and justifiably inspires with pride the heart of every true son of Salvador.

VI

Speeches in Guatemala

s 105 7 97

Speech of Mr. Knox upon his reception by the President of Guatemala, March 14, 1912.

MR. PRESIDENT :

I received on the quarter-deck of the Maryland this morning the courteous message of welcome which you sent to me by the distinguished gentle- men whom I had then the honor to meet. From that moment to the present nothing but expressions and evidences of the most cordial and general hos- pitality have met my ear and my eye upon every side. I construe this to indicate, Mr. President, that you and your Government and your people accept in its true meaning the purpose of the Presi- dent and people of the United States in sending me to your country as a messenger of friendliness and good will. The intimate relations and friend- ship that have heretofore happily existed between our two countries must necessarily grow closer and stronger as Pan-American civilization develops, and they will be much accelerated by the completion of the great commercial highway at Panama, which will in a peculiar sense draw the republics of this hemisphere closer together. I beg you to accept my thanks, the thanks of my party, and, through us, of the people and President of the United States for this dignified and courteous reception, and to assure you that I am encouraged to believe that our

99

IOO GUATEMALA.

short stay among you will be most pleasant and profitable to us, and, I trust, likewise conducive to the closer union and better understanding between the peoples of the two Republics.

Reply of the President of Guatemala.

[Translation.]

MR. SECRETARY OF STATE:

The cordial words I have just heard from your excellency's lips fill me with the liveliest satisfac- tion, since they express your appreciation of the sincere demonstrations of good will and affection which my Government, in the name of the people of Guatemala, has offered to you upon your arrival in this country, which is enjoying in these moments the great honor of being visited by the representative of a nation with which my country happily cultivates such good and friendly relations.

As the cradle and champion of American free- dom, as the flowing fount of human progress and the potent arm of labor, the American Union merits the respect and esteem of every nation and the affection of those who can interpret the senti- ments with which its statesmen and thinkers are inspired. From day to day it unfailingly makes new conquests in every branch of human activity. Its influence is bringing about closer relations between the nations of the continent, and the per- fect harmony which has always characterized its relations with Guatemala justifies the enthusiasm with which the Government of this Republic wel-

IO2 GUATEMALA.

comes your excellency as a messenger of concord and affection from the Government of the United States to the nations surrounding the Panama Canal, which, upon the completion of this gigantic work, will be more intimately linked with the great Republic of the north by new ties of com- merce and culture.

In wishing your excellency and the distin- guished persons who accompany you on your visit the most pleasant stay among us, I beg that you please give to His Excellency the President of the United States the thanks of the people and the Government of Guatemala for the honor conferred upon them by the visit of His Excellency the Sec- retary of State of that nation, and present to him my wishes for his personal happiness and the wel- fare and prosperity of the American people.

Speech of His Excellency Luis Toledo Herrarte, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, at a banquet given in honor of Mr. Knox at Guatemala City, March 14, 1912.

[Translation.]

GENTLEMEN :

The just rejoicing of the people and the Gov- ernment of Guatemala in welcoming to their midst His Excellency the Secretary of State of the United States is but the natural consequence of the broth- erly love inspired by the powerful Republic of the north which for more than a century has been the paladin of American freedom, and constitutes a tes- timony of the great value we attach to the visit of so eminent a continental personality. Under such happy circumstances Guatemala can not forget the aid which her nascent sovereignty encountered a hundred years ago in the United States, nor the good and loyal friendship she has fostered for it during all her independent life and which is so brilliantly confirmed on the present occasion.

The American Union has won for itself the esteem and admiration of all the civilized world for its progress, which, marked with letters of gold in the world's history, demonstrates clearly the possi- bilities of the combination of liberty and labor. It is an exemplar in modern ages to the younger

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IO4 GUATEMALA.

nations and worthy of study by even the older coun- tries, which in things politic, as shown in the French Revolution, can adopt the principles of the assembly of Philadelphia and in industry, com- merce, and science apply to their respective needs the product of the marvelous progress realized by this wonderful country in every branch of human activity.

A cyclopean work, as though the manifold ones already accomplished were not enough, will soon proclaim, with the opening of the Panama Canal, the greatness and the power of American genius. Thanks to the efforts of man, the obstacle placed by nature between the two great seas of the world will be demolished for the benefit of the peoples of both hemispheres; 'and following this stupendous conquest of labor the activities of the universe will revolve as though around the axis and center of the globe, and the nations on each side will see the rapid development of their resources and of the numberless elements of life which nature so prodi- gally has lavished upon them.

In this proximate evolution a special place be- longs to Guatemala, included, as it is, in the con- tinental zone, where the influence of the Panama Canal will most be felt, and thus once more will American initiative and effort be the promoters of the growth of the industry and commerce of our Republic.

The trade relations of Guatemala with the United States have grown to such proportions,

HERRARTE. IO5

with the facilities offered by railroads and steamship lines, that during the last few years there is no nation with which our country has maintained more active commerce or a more valuable interchange of the products of the soil and industry.

The interest of American merchants and manu- facturers in our Republic becomes keener every day, finding new outlets and new practical mani- festations, thus giving rise to the most intimate and perfect relationship, which in this way effec- tively makes for a more binding intimacy, which both countries by mutual effort wish to bring about, since they happily are united by identic sentiments of cordiality and good understanding.

Men of peace and good will direct the Govern- ments of the nations whose flags, now intertwined, symbolize their amicable intercourse, and a mes- senger of peace and cordial feeling is the illustrious statesman who honors us with his presence in this country, and whom the Government of Guatemala receives and welcomes with the heartiness and sympathy which is due the free American people and to the Government which so skillfully guides its destinies.

Gentlemen, while offering this homage in the name of the Government of the Republic to His Excellency the Secretary of State of the United States and the distinguished persons of his party who accompany him, I ask you to drink with me to the uninterrupted greatness of the United States, to the personal happiness of its worthy President,

IO6 GUATEMALA.

and to the welfare of its eminent representative, who has come to make so eloquent a public demon- stration of the friendship of the American people and Government for the people and Government of Guatemala.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. PRESIDENT AND MR. MINISTER:

You may have thought it strange that, after the courteous toast of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, I did not rise during the playing of your national air. I wanted to arise alone and thus distinctively and by word of mouth to pay my respects to the beautiful strains of your noble national hymn. One can not travel long in this genial clime without exhausting his vocabulary of grateful expressions and thanks. I have much to be thankful for, much to be grateful for, since I came to Central America. From Panama, the most southern of the Isthmian republics, through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, at Honduras, Salvador, and finally here, where I am to say good-by in this beautiful country of Guatemala, I have received nothing but sympathetic kindness; and perhaps, Mr. Minister, one of the things I should be most thankful for is that when I was landed in your beautiful country in a basket in a not particularly dignified manner, when my legs were reaching for something firm upon which T might rest, and I was embarrassed by my own awkwardness, my eyes lighted upon your friendly countenance and that of your charming wife, whose acquaintance I had enjoyed in Washington, and I at once felt quite at home. My journey to

107

IOS GUATEMALA.

this city to-day has been one of continuous delight. Your country surprises me with its beauty and its friendliness. The hospitality of your people cheered me. I was a stranger in a strange land, and noth- ing to a stranger in a strange land is so encouraging as welcome smiles from those who meet you along the highway. Not only did the adult population of your country greet us cordially, but what touched me most was the little children in their tidy cos- tumes, whose countenances beamed with a genuine welcome, for there is no feigned hospitality in the countenance of the children; and here, Mr. Presi- dent and Mr. Minister, permit me to say that in the education of your children you are laying an unperishable foundation for institutions of liberty. You are building for Guatemala a foundation upon which tyranny and oppression and injustice can never rest.

Mr. Minister, you spoke of the Convention at Philadelphia, referring, of course, to the Constitu- tional Convention, which constructed that great piece of statesmanship, the Constitution of the United States, which any American can say proudly and not immodestly is probably the greatest political instrument that has ever been constructed bv man. The authors of our Constitution were

if

not solving the problems of North America alone; they were solving the problems of the Western Hemisphere. To-day nearly one hundred and three score millions of people residing upon the Western Hemisphere (and that represents 90 per cent of

KNOX.

its entire population) are engaged in trying to perfect the problem of popular government, and the men who worked out the first Constitution that has withstood the shocks of almost one hun- dred and twenty-five years were not only working out our problem, but they were working out yours. It was a great thing for the world that for fifty years prior to the Convention in Philadelphia, in the colonies of North America, the best talent of that day was given to the study of the princi- ples of government. The works of the great writers upon political science of that epoch had been closely studied for fifty years prior to the American Revolution with a diligence and purpose unparalleled in any other country or at any other time. To illustrate: It has been said on the best authority that important political writings found a larger sale and closer perusal in the colonies of North America than they found in any part of Europe. You of Latin America have received, and you will continue to receive, the benefits of those studies and our experiment. You were not long behind us in demanding self-government, and when the time came when you determined to strike for freedom and to follow the example of your north- ern brothers we were instantaneous in our sympa- thetic recognition of your claims. We sustained you by recognition when the great powers of the world looked askance upon the American system of government, whose merits they now so frankly concede. We stood by you in your infancy; we

IIO GUATEMALA.

have endeavored to encourage you in your rapidly maturing growth; and I am here in your country to-night to say to you, not only upon my own responsibility but speaking for the President of the United States and for the people of the United States, that we have but one thought for all of the sister republics of America, and that is that we want you to prosper, we want you to grow, we want you to be stronger, we want you to be always peaceful. That is the message that I bear to Guatemala to-night; that is the sentiment which is indorsed by the best elements of my country ; and I want to assure the people of Guatemala, and I want to assure you, Mr. President, that in your efforts for your people, in your sincere endeavors to develop your country, in your desire to expand your friend- ship and to form closer and more binding ties with other nations of the world, Guatemala has the sympathy, as it will always have, where possible, the cooperation, of the United States.

Speech of Senor Don Arturo Ubico, President of the Legislative Assembly, to Mr. Knox on his recep- tion by that body at Guatemala City, March 75, 1912.

[Translation.]

HONORABLE MR. SECRETARY:

It is for me a great honor and a great pleasure to present, in the name of the Legislative Assem- bly of the Republic, our most cordial salutation to His Excellency the Secretary of State of the United States of America and welcome him to the midst of this representative body of the nation, thanking him at the same time for the courteous deference with which he has accepted the distinc- tion accorded in his honor, the only one of the kind in the annals of our parliamentary history, and which is due not only to the high personal endow- ments of so honorable a guest, but also because of his labors in favor of all America, and because he is now representing in this country the American people, who have given us proof of their frank and loyal friendship, and the Government of that illus- trious nation, which has always treated us with the most intense and fraternal interest.

As nature has placed the Republic of the United States at the head of the continent, so the intelli- gence of its sons and their constant endeavor have

112 GUATEMALA.

placed it at the head of the civilization of America, and, ipso facto, it is morally bound before the world to secure the peace, the union, and concord of all the American nations as a fundamental basis for the development of their culture and their prosperity and as an indispensable preparation to carrying out satisfactorily the high ends and impor- tant destinies which the future holds in store for them.

Some years ago prominent men of America, inspired with the ideals of Monroe, strengthened still more the basis of an essentially Pan-American policy ; and to-day we see this policy converted into a reality and raised to the category of a truly official institution, which has already given excellent re- sults in the economic order of Latin America.

Moreover, a stupendous event of an interest absolutely universal, soon to occur — the interoceanic canal across the Isthmus — would in itself justify, without regard to the wonderful works of civiliza- tion the world already owes to the United States, special manifestations of the good will and the gratitude of the nations of the Caribbean Sea, which are so especially benefited by that gigantic work.

From this is to be deduced that, although sepa- rated from the United States by ethnological in- fluences, that country is beloved and respected by us, and our geographical position in the center of the Western Hemisphere binds us by ties that are strong and firm and of great practical impor- tance in the strenuous life of modern intercourse;

UBICO. 113

and well-understood patriotism advises us, therefore, that, without forgetting our firm friendship for other nations, we should nevertheless always maintain with the United States a policy of preferential and especial harmony, good understanding, and intimate cordiality, founded, quite naturally, on reciprocal justice and loyal frankness ; and I ask your excel- lency, in the name of the people of this Republic, please so to inform the Government and people of North America, and that you also deign to receive the sincere wishes we extend for their welfare and for the personal happiness of your excellency.

s 105 8

Reply of Mr. Knox.

Permit me, Mr. President, to acknowledge and to thank you for the unprecedented honor the Na- tional Assembly of Guatemala has accorded me in receiving me in its midst to-day, thereby furnishing an additional evidence of the high regard in which the people and Government of Guatemala hold my country and its people.

Your felicitous reference to the great doctrine announced by President Monroe nearly a hundred years ago, which has since that time been solicit- ously, scrupulously, and unswervingly adhered to by the Government of the United States, has been a source of great satisfaction to me, and leads me, on passing through the last Central American Repub- lic, to reiterate what I said on landing at Panama, and that is that "in my judgment the Monroe Doc- trine will reach the acme of its beneficence when it is regarded by the people of the United States as a reason why we should constantly respond to the needs of those of our Latin-American neighbors who may find necessity for our assistance".

Guatemala is to be highly congratulated because

of her appreciation of the fundamental fact that in

many things the highest interests of the State can

be advanced by friendly coordination with other

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KNOX. 115

sovereign states in relation to matters of interna- tional common concern. Guatemala's friendly par- ticipation in the centennial celebration of her neighboring republics and highly valuable partici- pation in the conferences and congresses dealing with matters affecting Pan-American interests and her prompt ratification of the conventions pro- viding for the unification of currency, weights, and measures, and the improvement of the consular service of Central America, are evidences of high international purposes and show an appreciative realization of the fact that intelligent international cooperation tends to advance the brotherhood of nations. This has been one of the high purposes and most consistent policies of the United States, and we have endeavored in such matters to act in concert with the other powers and to recognize the same high duty. Not only does such international cooperation advance civilization and improve the relations between States, but, as I have heretofore ventured to observe, will hasten the time, which I sincerely believe the future holds in store, when war shall cease ; when the nations of the world shall realize a federation as real and vital as that now subsisting between the component parts of a single state; when the deliberate international conjunc- tion of the strong shall universally help the weak ; and when the corporate righteousness of the world shall destroy the habitations of injustice still linger- ing in the dark places of the earth.

Il6 GUATEMALA.

Those ends so much to be desired, and so benefi- cial to humanity, are accelerated by the recognition of national interdependence and such international coefficiency as the statesmen of your country have encouraged in the matters to which I have alluded.

Speech of Senor Licenciado Don Manuel Cabral, Dean of the University of Guatemala, when con- ferring a degree upon Mr. Knox, March 75,

[Translation.]

YOUR EXCELLENCY:

The significant fact of having among its mem- bers the most eminent personalities in the divers branches of human wisdom has ever been an honor and a glory to scientific and literary institutions, and because of this the most learned universities of Europe and America have been proud to have in- scribed in their registers the most illustrious of the wise men of the world. This is a pride all the more legitimate, inasmuch as science and letters do not recognize frontiers and are the bonds which unite in fraternal intellectuality the minds which, by their culture, nobly represent their respective countries.

To-day one of the most notable figures of the great American Nation arrives upon Guatemalan soil, and this institution of learning, heir of our ancient and glorious university, the true alma mater of Central America, feels immense satisfaction and considers the inscription of the enlightened name of your excellency in the catalogue of the persons already there an event of inestimable value, and I

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Il8 GUATEMALA.

have the honor to clothe you with the highest of our academic titles, with the grade of Doctor of Laws of the Facultad de Guatemala. At the same time this center of science wishes to tender you its homage of sympathy, respect, and admiration for the great qualities which adorn you, and which make you one of the most distinguished citizens of the most populous of democracies and an illustrious lawyer who, at home and abroad, adds so much brilliancy to the American forum.

Guatemala and the United States, your excel- lency, have always conserved the most perfect friendship. Never has even the lightest cloud arisen to darken the clear horizon of our countries, and these relations of cordial amity have been strengthened of late, thanks to the frequency of our intercourse, to the better understanding of our peoples, to greater mutual intimacy owing to their common ideas and aspirations, to the daily increas- ing commerce, and to the wisdom and patriotism of our respective Governments, who, by the recti- tude of their acts and the faithful performance of their international duties, have succeeded in main- taining between the two peoples an unbroken peace, which is the fountain of all happiness and all progress.

The Facultad de Derecho y Notariado, an im- portant organism of the State, charged with arous- ing and fomenting among its citizens the love of institutions and of the study of law, which is the principal base of national felicity, is not, nor can it

CABRAL. I IQ

be, unconscious of this good understanding, and now that one of the most illustrious citizens of the great land of Washington and Lincoln honors our country with his visit it takes the keenest pleasure in proffering him this humble evidence of its affec- tion and its respectful appreciation.

May your excellency deign to favor it with your acceptance as a souvenir of your visit to Guatemala. We, in our turn, shall ever guard your name with respectful affection among the members of our pro- fession, and the day in which you honored us by permitting us to inscribe your name prominently in our register will be an imperishable memory.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

GENTLEMEN OF THE FACULTY :

The unprecedented act of this ancient seat of learning in conferring upon me the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, with notarial powers, is an honor of which I am indeed proud. If, as I understand my informants, at no time and to no one has the university extended so marked an evidence of its good will, it is a distinction of such an unique character that while I feel unworthy of receiv- ing it I am sure I shall always bear it in graceful remembrance.

The law was my first love, and, although she has always been termed a "jealous mistress", yet, after a quarter century of devotion, I was lured away by the blandishments of political life, but I am not without hope that time holds for me the good for- tune of a return to the profession.

Let me again express to you, gentlemen of the Faculty of the National University of Guatemala, my gratitude and my thanks.

Speech of His Excellency Estrada Cabrera, Presi- dent of Guatemala, at a banquet given by hint to Mr. Knox, March 16, 1912.

[From Diario de Centre American of March 19, 1912. — Translation.]

It was indeed a happy thought of His Excel- lency the President of the United States of America to intrust to his worthy Secretary of State the mission of frank and loyal friendship which confers upon us, in addition to the honor of having him among us, the truly singular pleasure and satisfac- tion derived from the fact that one of the most eminent citizens of the New World bears to Guate- mala a message of fraternity and good will from the American people.

The relations of intimate sympathy and mutual attraction which have always been carefully culti- vated by both peoples and Governments tend each day to produce most flattering results through a reciprocal understanding in official matters, through the better acquaintance of their respective citizens with each other, and through the development of commerce, which not only consists in an interchange of products of the soil and industry but which also disseminates ideas of civilization and progress.

I value and take pleasure in the presence of His Excellency Mr. Knox in this country to the fullest

121

yf?"'* &

_

122 GUATEMALA.

extent and he can not do otherwise than inspire my utmost appreciation of it. It constitutes a pledge of greater intimacy — which has always been my prayer, and I am happy to see it realized — between Guatemala and the United States, as the immediate result of geographic situation, of historical condi- tions, and of hopes for the future, which, combined, constitute a collection of facts and principles which controls the evolution of the twenty-one sister republics of the Western Hemisphere.

While experiencing the extreme pleasure of the moment, I am especially pleased to perform the grateful duty of expressing my sincere thanks to His Excellency Mr. Knox for his delicate courtesy in that he is accompanied by persons dearest to the sentiment of a higfily cultured gentleman ; and may I be permitted to render the homage of my respect- ful esteem to the distinguished Mrs. Knox, who, together with her estimable children, honors us by participation in the demonstrations which Guate- mala is so happy to offer to the great Republic through its eminent representative.

It gives me honor and pleasure to drink to the ever-increasing prosperity of the United States of America, to the personal felicity of His Excellency President Taft, and to that of his eminent Secre- tary of State and Mrs. Knox.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN:

Permit me, in my own behalf and in the name of my countrymen, to thank you for the cordial welcome and bountiful hospitality you have ex- tended to me and to my family.

Beginning for the fourth time the journey from ocean to ocean in Central America, it is with a feeling of regret that I realize that the brevity of the time at my disposal does not permit me to travel more extensively through these countries, to enjoy the pleasures of the wonderful scenery which so beautifully reflects the magic touch of the lavish hand of nature, and to gain the educational advantages which observation and friendly commu- nication with the people so abundantly afford.

Guatemala, in its position of close proximity to the United States, where there is ever ready an eager market for its products, and with its dense population, occupies, indeed, an enviable position among the Central American nations. This posi- tion will be rendered increasingly desirable as time goes on and the development of your country's enormous possibilities is accomplished. And, Mr. President, I may here remark, without, I am sure, indulging any view not equally shared by yourself, that the continuous development and permanent

123

124 GUATEMALA.

advancement of the Republic depend on its stable economic conditions as well as upon its domestic content and consequent repose. The unvarying friendship of the Government of the United States for republican institutions in this hemisphere and its desire to see them conserved free from interfer- ence are too well known and understood to need words of reassurance from me. From the very inception of, and even before the independence of, the Latin-American nations the attitude of the American Government, which later was unmistak- ably announced by President Monroe, was well known and it continues undiminished to the pres- ent day.

In Central America the United States has a special interest not only because of the proximity of the five republics to the great commercial high- way now nearing completion in Panama, but also because of its moral obligations under the Wash- ington conventions. The maintenance of peace and stable conditions in these republics is a matter of first importance to my Government. The faith- ful observance of these conventions will, in the opinion of my Government, go far toward the elimination of the turmoil that has hitherto shaken the very foundations of some of the less fortunate and less tranquil countries.

It is the sincere and candid desire of the United States to maintain and advance to an even higher degree frank and cordial relations with all the republics in this hemisphere, and to that end the

KNOX. 125

President directed my present mission that, by per- sonal contact, I might become better acquainted with the men who direct the destinies of these states, in order thereby to promote better understanding and mutually advantageous relations. That the friend- ship of my Government toward these states is frank and sincere needs no demonstration other than a consideration of the record of the past, and no words from me can half so eloquently deal with the situa- tion or manifest the true attitude of my Government as can its acts toward its sister republics. The United States, unfortunately, has many times been misrepresented in the past by those unscrupulous persons who, through an endeavor to promote their own gain, falsely represent the sentiments of the American people with regard to this or that nation of Central America.

It is a matter for rejoicing to everyone having faith in the great destinies of this continent to observe that in this Republic a large stretch of steel way which will at some time, in the not far distant future, connect the capitals of all the sister states of this continent with each other has been completed. The completion of the Central Ameri- can link will be the first step in the grand project of the three Americas' trunk line from New York to Buenos Aires. With the proximate inaugura- tion of the Guatemalan section of this system there will be through railway connection from New York to Guatemala City.

The effect of a through trunk line of railroad on

126 GUATEMALA.

the countries of Central America would be to sow the prolific seed of communication in rich districts and the consequent development of mutual com- merce and the advantageous exploitation of bound- less native resources. To this great central artery the transverse lines from the Atlantic to the Pacific, acting as feeders, would contribute to swell the international traffic.

In conclusion, Mr. President, allow me to in- dulge the hope that the relations between our respective countries may become increasingly cor- dial and close, to the mutual benefit of both, and for your warm welcome and your cordial and grace- ful hospitality and entertainment to sincerely thank you.

VII

Speeches in Venezuela

127

Speech of Dr. Marquez Bustillos, Governor of the Federal District, at the Municipal Council, Independence Hall, Caracas, March 23, 1912, in welcoming Mr. Knox.

EXCELLENCY:

The municipality and the people of Caracas, in the name of whom I, as governor of the Federal District, have the honor to address you, feel great and singular pleasure in welcoming you to this spot, a place of cherished remembrances in the struggles which form our political history. In you we greet the illustrious statesman who brings us as a pledge of friendship words from the country of the im- mortal Washington, he who was, and with justice is called, "the first in peace, the first in war, the first in the hearts of his countrymen".

While thanking your excellency for the honor you confer upon us by your visit to the Govern- ment and to the municipality of the Federal Dis- trict, we pray for your personal happiness and for that of all the persons of your distinguished party, and hope that the impressions which you take away upon parting may be pleasant and lasting.

s 105 — 9 129

Reply of Mr. Knox.

EXCELLENCY :

I had not known until I entered this hall, sacred not only to the liberty of Venezuela but to all of Latin America, that the great honor was to be done to me of permitting me to speak in this distinguished presence. It would be a cold heart that would not throb with the highest emotions standing in this sacred place. This noble scene, depicted upon can- vas in the background, is a reenactment of one in our own history that is sacred to every American, be he a North or. South American, because, after all, we were but a short time before you in our aspirations for liberty and in our declaration of independence. Your excellency has been kind enough to wish that my sojourn among you should be pleasant. I am frank to say that in the short time that we have been upon your hospitable soil one act of kindness has crowded another act of kindness so rapidly that one's vocabulary of grati- tude and appreciation is inadequate to meet such a splendid ovation. I wish to proceed from this hall, dedicated to the holy cause of liberty, with my suite to the adjacent park and there lay, as an evi- dence of the appreciation of the American Gov- ernment and the American people, a wreath at the foot of Bolivar, the great Liberator of the South. 130

Remarks of Mr. Knox upon placing a wreath at the foot of the statue of Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela, March 23, 1912.

MR. MINISTER:

In the name of the people and of the President of the United States I beg to lay this token of appreciation, respect, and veneration at the foot of the statue of the great Venezuelan Liberator.

[Remarks of Mr. Matos, Minister for Foreign Affairs, were extempore and not taken.]

Speech of His Excellency Manuel A. Matos, Min- ister for Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, at a banquet given to Mr. Knox at Miraflores, March 24, igi2.

MR. MINISTER:

I comply with the instructions of the President of the Republic to tell you that your presence amongst us is regarded with the greatest satisfac- tion by the Government and people of Venezuela. Upon selecting you to visit these countries in its name your Government has furnished fresh evidence of the friendly interest which they inspire, tend- ing thus to strengthen the bonds which bind us to the country of Washington and Lincoln.

Your visit, Mr. Minister, must further serve to make better known in your country the conditions of vitality of our own, thus accentuating sentiments of mutual respect and consideration and developing at the same time on a larger scale our commercial relations. It is a further step in the fruitful work of Pan-Americanism which our Liberator sought to accomplish in his beautiful conception of the Congress of Panama and which the United States is supplementing with a perseverance worthy of the genius of your noble race.

A principal factor of this union of the peoples of America so necessary to the high aims of human 132

MATOS. 133

progress will be the opening of the Panama Canal, which will not only bring nearer the East and the West, uniting the two oceans, but which will also draw closer together the republics of South and Central America and the great Republic of the north, giving a new and vigorous impulse to civiliza- tion resulting from the interchange of the products and ideas of all the regions of the world.

Venezuela, being situated on the route to Eu- rope, will be one of the nations most benefited by that colossal work of American endeavor from which we perceive a new element of progress which will permit us to develop further the sources of our natural wealth and to better show our character- istics of nationality on the American union.

Mr. Minister, the blood of your compatriots watered the foundations of Venezuelan independ- ence and the recognition of our country has been perpetuated in monuments which you will have occasion to see at Maracay and Puerto Cabello. This is a further cause for the regard of the Venezuelan people for the American people, a regard which we have no doubt must be strengthened as a result of your visit because of the high authority and repre- sentation with which you are invested and because of your remarkable merits as a statesman.

Gentlemen, in the name of the President of the Republic, I invite you to drink to the prosperity of the America people, to the happiness of their Presi- dent, His Excellency Mr. Taft, and to the hope that His Excellency Mr. Knox and his honored

134 VENEZUELA,

family, during their brief stay amongst us, may have reason only to be truly pleased and that they may take from our country as pleasing and lasting impressions as we shall have to retain of them.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN:

It is indeed fortunate for me that the burdens and responsibilities of the office I hold are tem- pered by the enjoyment of privileges and advan- tages which would not otherwise have been within my reach. Not the least of these is the opportu- nity now vouchsafed to me of coming among you, my fellow countrymen of the Western World, with a message of fraternal good will from the Govern- ment and people of the northern Republic. I prize this privilege beyond measure, and the more so as in this historic land, favored by nature to be the fitting cradle of the new birth of occidental empire under the proud Castilian banner of its first explorers, I feel myself among friends. The ob- stacles of distance, of diverse ancestral origin, and of dissimilar language disappear with the warmth of your greeting. The Saxon North and the Hispanic South meet as associates in the com- mon cause of progress and peace, alike devoted to the common duty of promoting the good will and the mutual confidence and esteem which draw the democratic commonwealths of America into relations of true brotherhood. '

The auspicious occasion of my present visit is the proximate opening of the great canal. This

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stupendous work, the dream of centuries, since Balboa first trod the solitudes of Darien, is far more than a commercial enterprise. It is a great humanitarian achievement, fraught with endless possibilities of good for all the nations of the con- tinent. It opens an avenue by which the peoples of the eastern and western coasts of the northern and southern continents are brought into closer relation. The barrier of ages becomes the high- way of the future, not for the devastating advance of conquering hosts but for the beneficial move- ment of progress and development, in which Vene- zuela can not but take an important part. The diversion of a vast share of the commerce of Europe and America to the new channel must nec- essarily bring benefit to the neighboring countries. The already intimate intercourse of my country with yours can not retrograde. The volume of incoming and outgoing commerce between Vene- zuela and the United States is now relatively larger than that between Venezuela and any other nation. Good will and mutual confidence will make it actually larger. It is to the interest of Venezuela that it should increase. The augmentation of the exports of a vast and as yet but partly developed country like yours is a stimulus to the expanding development of its natural resources and the growth of economic prosperity. The increase of its im- ports is the natural reflex action due to domestic prosperity. It is, indeed, an index of national well-being. Moreover, advancement of home in-

KNOX. 137

terests makes for the material and moral uplifting of the country and is the surest step to the firm assurance of domestic peace and stable government, which all good citizens desire and for which they should strive whole-heartedly.

In coming to you with an earnest message of peace and good will, I am especially mindful of the historical fact that the political and traditional sym- pathies of the United States and Venezuela are in singularly close accord. If we have our Washing- ton, you have your Bolivar, happily styled by Henry Clay as the Washington of the South, who bore upon his breast during his life the miniature of Washington, presented to him through Lafayette in 1825, more proudly than he wore the insignia of rank, a sentiment you have respected and recorded upon the imperishable and noble statue erected to Bolivar's memory. Bolivar was the pioneer in the noble work of upbuilding, in the northern region of South America, a free commonwealth like ours of the North ; and I can not forget that the vast terri- tory which Bolivar liberated embraced the broad reaches of the Caribbean and the Pacific, including the very Isthmus through which we are now, as appointed agents for the benefit of all the Americas and of all the nations of the earth, opening a world highway. Bolivar, his noble work achieved, re- garded the isthmian barrier with regretful eyes, feeling in his great heart a keen longing for the accomplishment of the century-old dream of Latin America that the Atlantic and Pacific might in time

138 VENEZUELA.

be joined by a pathway through the land whose freedom he had won. It was one of the objects brought before the Pan-American Congress of Panama in 1826, but the intelligent, although fruit- less and perhaps premature, efforts of your great Liberator failed to mold the project into practical shape. Let us believe that the spirits of Bolivar and Washington are sharing our mutual felicitations over the approaching realization of the unparalleled task, and inspiring us all, Venezuelans and Ameri- cans alike, with the glad resolve to know each other better, to strengthen the ties of mutual confidence that happily exist between us, and to give lasting expression to that sentiment of disinterested help- fulness which moves the two peoples to live in amity and essential* harmony, each rejoicing when more of peace, of prosperity, of happiness, and of security comes into the life of its brother people.

Farewell speech of Mr. Knox to His Excellency Juan Vicente Gomez, President of Venezuela, March 25, 1912.

MR. PRESIDENT:

In saying good-by to you I wish to repeat that which we have tried to say to you again and again and which we feel most sincerely and deeply, and that is that you have our profound gratitude for all of the acts of kindly courtesy and hospitality that you have shown us since we have been in your Republic, and we shall carry home with us everlasting recollections of satisfaction, pleasure, enjoyment, and profitable observation. For my entire party I wish to emphasize the depth of our appreciation.

I have been asked especially, Mr. President, by the representatives of the American press who have accompanied us upon this journey to say to you for them, and with as much sincerity as I have endeavored to express my own feelings, that they rest under the deepest debt of gratitude not only for the comforts, recreations, and pleasures you have given to them, but for the particularly per- sonal touch that you have given to every courteous act of hospitality of which they have been the recipients.

I will say good-by, and I hope to have the

pleasure of seeing you again.

139

Address of welcome of Senor Don Santiago Gon- zalez Guinan, President of the State of Carabobo, delivered at Valencia, March 25, 1912, by the Comandante in the name of the State Executive.

YOUR EXCELLENCY :

It would have been a pleasure to the govern- ment of the State and also to the people of Valen- cia to present its respects and demonstrate its sympathy with you by a feast of greater splendor, but your rapid transit through the city scarcely affords us sufficient time to offer this glass of cham- pagne in the station park and without other orna- ments than nature's green foliage and the blue dome of a tropical sky, and this is possible only through the consent of your excellency to stop a moment in spite of your limited time.

In thus affording me, through your courtesy, the opportunity of carrying out in this way the part of the program assigned to me by the Govern- ment of Venezuela in connection with your visit, I take occasion, moved both by my personal feelings and the natural impulse of the moment, to impress upon your mind the sincerity with which I drink to the welfare of your wife, the lasting memory of your trip, the reciprocal cordiality of Presidents Gomez and Taft, and, lastly, to your great country, which as a unique instance in history has attained 140

GUINAN. 141

to a conquest of rights without shedding of blood and which, in the midst of the wonderful develop- ment of its civilization, fully meets the aspirations of the human race in the unparalleled progress of its democratic institutions. Your excellency's health.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. COMANDANTE:

No program of entertainment that you might have devised for me, and I know how well Vene- zuelans do devise their programs of hospitality, could have made a deeper impression upon me than the one I see before me, namely, the sight of so many strong men and so many beautiful ladies. You have voiced a wish that my visit in Venezuela should have been a pleasant one. We have not only had days and hours of pleasure, but one pleasure has crowded another so rapidly that it is almost literally true that every moment of time that we have spent in your beautiful country has found- us to be the recipients of the most kindly hospitality, of the best of good cheer not only from your officials and those who may have been desig- nated by the Government to extend to me a wel- come, representing as I do the people of the United States, but I am glad to say that I have been able to read in the faces, and looking into the eyes of all the people of Venezuela, a welcome which I shall never forget.

I beg to propose the health, the happiness, the peace, and the prosperity of the Republic of Vene- zuela and its generous, hospitable, and kindly people. 142

Speech of Senor Don Jose" Felipe Arcay, Collector of Customs at Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, March 25, 1912.

YOUR EXCELLENCY, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN:

While greeting you in the name of the National Government which I represent, in my own, and in that of the high public officials who accompany me, it is most pleasing to say that the honor you confer upon us by your visit is a source of true satisfaction which we duly appreciate, not only because we con- sider it a special demonstration of sincere friendship for our Republic, but also because it is the first time that an American Secretary of State has visited our country bearing with him true ideas of American unity, strengthening and making more friendly, if possible, the cordial relations existing between your Republic and ours.

The sincere welcome you have received and the demonstrations of deference of which you have been the object by the Chief Magistrate of the nation, by all the important persons of his Government, and by the people in general, are unmistakable proofs that we have been impressed with your visit, which greatly honors us. We are certain that with your clear judgment you will be able to appreciate the progressive advance which our industries, our agri- culture, and in general all the branches constituting

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our territorial riches are making under an era of peace wisely founded and maintained by the modest and equally patriotic citizen who guides the des- tinies of the Republic, Gen. Juan Vicente Gomez.

You have been able to observe, despite the briefness of your stay among us, the good will which animates the Chief Magistrate of the country toward all that tends to its aggrandizement, and in effect he is taking measures to the end that the proximate opening of the Panama Canal will find Venezuela in a truly prosperous condition, so that we may advance our great commercial interests.

We drink, therefore, to the country of Wash- ington and to its worthy representative.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. COLLECTOR:

It will be a pleasing message, sir, that I will be enabled to carry to the President and people of the United States as the result of my visit to Vene- zuela. President Taft conceived in his mind that because of the early opening of the Panama Canal the relations of the United States to our neighbors on the littoral of the Caribbean Sea must neces- sarily be closer and more intimate. He believed that if he would send to you that officer of the Gov- ernment of the United States who is charged with the duty and responsibility of our. relations with foreign governments, the more intimate, direct, and personal acquaintance would be an advantage not only to us but he hoped also to them; and when I return I can cheerfully say to the President, and through him to the people of the United States, that in the great Republic of Venezuela from the moment my foot first touched its shores until the moment when I said to you my last farewell there has been nothing but kindness and hospitality, not only upon the part of the people but upon the part of your President, to whom you have referred, and who has been kindness itself to us all.

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VIII

Speeches in the Dominican Republic

147

Speech of Mr. Knox to the President of the Domini- can Republic, Santo Domingo, March 27, 1912.

MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN:

In fulfillment of the wish of the President of the United States that I should personally meet the eminent men to whom the people of the neigh- boring Caribbean countries have confided the reins of government and that I should enjoy the privi- lege of becoming better acquainted with the peo- ples of those countries, it is my good fortune to come among you bearing a cordial message of good will from the Government and people of the United States to their comrades in the community of American republics. I feel especial gratification in being enabled for the first time to breathe the air of the oldest city in all the Americas, identified for all time with the undying fame of Columbus, founded by the great Admiral's brother ; the spot where first were planted the fertile seeds of civic order and of Christianity in the great western empire of the peoples; the scene of the untiring efforts of the discoverer to found an enduring civilization ; and the home of Las Casas, that great and good man who, in the sixteenth century, stood forth as the advocate of the rights of man and who is justly revered by all liberty-loving Americans as one of the earliest apostles of democracy and freedom.

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I stand, as it were, in the passing shadow of the bereavement your country has suffered in the loss of that humble, unselfish, and sincere patriot, Ramon Caceres, slain at his post of duty; but I rejoice to see the passing of that dark cloud with- out disturbing the normal march of your people in the broad path of orderly self-control. It is an especial satisfaction to me that I can say this to you, men of Santo Domingo, who are in a posi- tion to bear witness to the unfeigned interest the United States takes in the welfare and stable prog- gress of the peoples of the great American brother- hood ; to the earnest sympathy we feel for all the younger commonwealths that, like your own, have passed through the fires of tribulation toward a higher and better national life ; and to the unselfish spirit that prompts my countrymen and the Gov- ernment of which I am a part to extend a ready helpfulness to all who are prepared and willing to help themselves to win stability and good order for themselves and for their posterity.

Santo Domingo stands to-day a bright example to all the Americas and to the world, teaching the lesson that all free peoples are fit for good self- government if they set about it in a way to do jus- tice to themselves. That is what you Dominicans have done, and it is precisely because of this that my country was enabled to lend you a helping hand in order to strengthen and make durable the rehabili- tation for which you strove. The rapid growth of national revenue and agricultural resources in the

KNOX. 151

last five years is far beyond the most fervent expec- tations. I am convinced that this is but the begin- ning, and that your Republic is but on the threshold of still greater progress. Your position among the countries of the western seas is singularly advanta- geous. Lying on the avenues of approach to the Isthmian Canal, now on the eve of completion, your island can not fail to share in the prosperity that will attend the opening of a highway destined to change the old currents of international commerce. I have had recent occasion to emphasize, in public addresses, the new and enlarged responsi- bilities to be assumed by the United States as the patron of the Isthmian Canal, and as the upholder of the time-honored doctrine which bears the name of Monroe. The maintenance of that doctrine and the effective carrying out of the policies that flow therefrom demand a peculiarly intimate coordina- tion of the part of all the nations which are to reap the far-reaching benefits of the canal. It behooves them to be cooperative, not obstructive. Each is concerned in uplifting itself; each is benefited by the uplifting of its neighbor. No more signal ob- struction could be interposed in the path of general progress than for any of the affected countries to fall into disrepute through subversive disturbances or failure to discharge its international obligations. No greater aid can be given toward realizing that general welfare for which we all strive than the solid establishment of peaceful prosperity. You, men of Santo Domingo, have led the way toward

152 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

realizing this high end through means whereby your country may continue to be prosperous, independ- ent, self-respecting, and entitled to the respect of all.

The relations of friendship and cordial inter- course which have always existed between the United States and Santo Domingo are singularly close and have worked for the mutual advantage of both countries, thus fulfilling one of the highest duties of neighborliness. Flowing through natural channels, their reciprocal commerce has thriven and has kept afloat one of the few lines of steamers that have survived the competition of foreign shipping.

It is the earnest prayer of my country and of my countrymen that peace and freedom may be the abiding heritage of the people of Santo Domingo ; that internal perturbations and external conflicts may be averted by wise and just counsels at home and in your foreign relations.

In conclusion, permit me to express how deeply I am touched by your cordial welcome; and, feeling that it is rather the people of the United States that you greet than my individual self, I thank you in the name of my fellow citizens.

Reply of President Victoria.

[Translation.]

MR. SECRETARY:

The presence of the honorable the Secretary of State of the United States of America in this capital is a source of great satisfaction to the Dominican people and to my Government. His official visit to the countries of Spanish origin is a notable event in the history of these young republics.

This visit, which undoubtedly must be profitable to the good relations so happily existing between the United States of America and these peoples, co-workers in the cause of peace and progress, will mark an epoch in the history of our international life — and I hope that it may result thus for the good of all and the glory of this continent.

Accept, Mr. Secretary, the most cordial wel- come, which I am glad to extend to you in the name of the Dominican people and of the Govern- ment which I represent.

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Speeches in Haiti

155

Speech of welcome of M. Jerome Salomon, Mayor of Port au Prince, on the arrival of Mr. Knox, April 3, 1912.

EXCELLENCY:

To-day offers an occasion of great joy to the city of Port au Prince. The fame of a fine and active intelligence which preceded your occupancy of the eminent post you now fill would alone have rendered you worthy of the most cordial reception on our part, but to your brilliant personal qualities is added your official title, which renders your visit of infinite value to us.

Often the most profound sympathy takes its origin in a mark of attention. In knowing each other, societies, as individuals, develop and strengthen their bonds of friendship. Therefore, Mr. Secretary, your thought of traveling in certain countries of this hemisphere was a happy one. Within a short time, by a supreme and superb effort of man's genius, the dream which the Indian pre- viously cherished in his native imagination — an interoceanic canal — will become a living reality.

Cities, until now remote, will cease to be such. But with the geographical rapprochement an inter- communication of spirit should be effected in order to attain that excellent relationship of "goodneigh- borliness, mutual aid, consideration, and confidence"

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of which you spoke two years since in your masterly address at Philadelphia.

Human demonstrations are of supreme worth when directed by the heart. It is indeed the heart which directs at this time the great satisfaction felt in this capital at your presence and that of the inter- esting personages accompanying you.

We are especially appreciative of the flattering tribute rendered us in affording us the pleasure of greeting, in conjunction with yourself, Madam Philander Knox, whose charming kindliness and courteous grace shine with such splendor in your magnificent Washington receptions, and which were so admired on January i, last, in the superb dwelling of the Pan American Union.

We hope that your excellency will take the same pleasure in your sojourn here as we do in your friendly testimonial toward the first city of this Republic.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. MAYOR:

Speaking for myself, sir, and for the members of my party, I wish to express our deepest sense of appreciation for the cordiality of the reception by the officials of the Republic of Haiti, and I wish to place especial emphasis upon the kindliness and cordiality with which we have been received by the people of Haiti. I can assure you, sir, that this has been no more gratifying to us than it will be to the President of the United States and to the people of the United States when I communicate to them the character of our reception here this morning. You have stated most eloquently one of the main reasons why my visit here is one that ought to be not only of advantage to you but of advantage to us, and that is the necessity, because of the proximate completion of the Panama Canal, for the republics and the peoples that are to be benefited immediately by the opening of that great highway to be brought closer together through the means of a more intimate personal acquaintance. I am more than satisfied in the few moments that I have been in Haiti that my visit here will be eminently agreeable. Before concluding, sir, I beg to express for Mrs. Knox her and my own

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deep appreciation for the graceful compliments you have paid her in your address of welcome and for all of us our gratitude for your extreme cordiality.

Speech of Mr. J. N. Leger, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Haiti, at a luncheon given by him to Mr. Knox, Port au Prince, April j>, 1912.

[Translation.]

MR. SECRETARY OF STATE:

Upon me devolves the agreeable duty of wel- coming you and of thanking you, in the name of the Haitian Republic, for your esteemed visit.

This is the second time that an American Sec- retary of State has honored us with his presence. The present, like the past, with the folds of our flags once more intertwined, evokes the undying memory of Savannah, where the heroes of Haitian independence rivaled in bravery the intrepid sol- diers of Washington. These are ties which can not be forgotten.

I am particularly happy to be, under the cir- cumstances, the mouthpiece of the people and Government of Haiti, because I recall the tender friendship which marks the relations between our two peoples. And your visit, all the more valued on account of the presence of Mrs. Knox, can not but make these relations the more cordial.

If upon our friendship depends the pleasure of your sojourn among us you will both carry from your short stay in Port au Prince the same remem- brance which I retain of my mission at Washington,

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1 62 HAITI.

the delicate attentions and the kindly hospitality of the American people, and I do not think it too much to ask that you please convey to that gener- ous people and to their Government our sincere wishes for the prosperity of the United States.

Permit me to raise my glass in honor of Presi- dent Taft and to drink to the health of yourself and Mrs. Knox.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. MINISTER:

It is always a great pleasure to renew an old acquaintance. You can imagine how much that pleasure is enhanced by renewing it under these delightful auspices. We recall with great pleasure your mission to Washington, where you were ac- companied by your charming wife and young chil- dren ; and I know of nothing that has occurred since I have been in your hospitable country that has given me more pleasure than when your good wife told me here to-day that some of the happiest moments of her life were spent in Washington. My pleasure is largely increased by hearing one who sustains the same relation to his own Govern- ment as I sustain to mine express the deep desire that the sympathies, the friendliness, and the inter- ests of the two countries should become closer and closer. There certainly is no reason why the Republics of this ancient island, which was the seat of American civilization, and their great sister of the north should not be upon the best of terms. I am glad to say that I know of no reason to the contrary. It is a real pleasure for me to propose the health of the President of the Haitian Republic, your own, Mr. Minister, and that of your good wife and your family, and the prosperity and peace

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A «.

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of your people ; and to express the hope that they may soon reach that point in their development and prosperity which the rich endowments of nature entitles them to attain.

Speech of President Leconte of Haiti at a banquet given to Mr. Knox, Port au Prince, April j, 1912.

[Translation.]

MR. SECRETARY OF STATE:

It gives me great pleasure to reiterate, in the name of the Republic of Haiti, our expressions of cordial welcome. And it is also pleasing to feel that your presence, at this time, among us is an unmistakable evidence of the. interest which our great sister of the north takes in us.

You, Mr. Secretary of State, have, without doubt, passed through countries of Latin America that are richer, more prosperous, than ours ; a wealth and prosperity which consists, to a large degree, in the same conditions existing when those peoples of this continent won their independence.

But here you will encounter the sincere and loyal expression of our high esteem and our keen sympathies for the people and Government of the United States.

Your visit to us, which we shall cherish as a most precious remembrance, will certainly strengthen the bonds of intimate friendship which unite the two countries, tend to make more cordial our relations, and to develop the economic interests of the two

nations.

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I pray that you deign to convey my personal respects to President Taft, and that you please assure him that the Republic of Haiti earnestly wishes him happiness and the prosperity and great- ness of the American people.

I thank you, Mr. Secretary, in the name of the Government and people of Haiti, for the visit you have been pleased to pay us, and I raise my glass in honor of President Taft, to your health and to that of your friends, and to the success of the mission of friendship and concord which you have undertaken.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN:

A glamour of historical memories hovers over the Caribbean Sea, and all who feel its influence long to visit the spots where the life of the New World began with the landing of Columbus, and where the foundations of government in the Western Hemi- sphere were first laid. I have long desired to see and become acquainted with the island world of the In- dies. My wish has come to pass through the determi- nation of the President of the United States to have me carry to the neighboring American peoples a fresh message of friendship and good will in the name of his and my countrymen. It was especially appropriate that the President should do this now, on the eve of the completion of the Isthmian Canal, and that the theme of his greeting should be the benefits to flow to all the nations of the three Americas from the opening of that stupendous channel of intercourse which, by annihilating the barrier between the oceans, must perforce change the currents of the world's commerce.

At a time when the obligation which my coun- try has assumed as the agent of the interest of all America and of the world in creating a highway for international commerce is about to be realized, we are impressed with the conviction that the fullest

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success of our work is, to a notable degree, depend- ent on the peace and stability of our neighbors and on their enjoying the prosperity and material wel- fare which flow from orderly self-development. A community liable to be torn by internal dissension or checked in its progress by the consequences of nonfulfillment of international obligations is not in a good position to deserve and reap the benefits accruing from enlarged commercial opportunities, such as are certain to come about with the opening of the canal. It may indeed become an obstruction to the general enjoyment of those opportunities.

It is with political communities as with the human organization, body and soul should be alike sound and sane, each attuned to the other, to fit the being for the struggle for existence in which it is the lot of men and states to be constantly engaged. The old Roman adage mens sana in corpore sano is in point for both. Not only must the body politic be healthy, but the public spirit which guides its acts must be equally healthy. Only by the union of these two conditions can a state hold its place in the assemblage of nations, or aspire to win a better station.

It is the fervent desire and the earnest hope of the nation I represent that all its comrades of the American fraternity shall attain to this well-balanced condition, or shall conserve it where already pos- sessed. We wish to see them all independent, contented, orderly, and materially prosperous, each gaining the fullest measure of well-being of which

KNOX. 169

it is naturally and physically capable, each bearing good will for its neighbors and deserving their good will in return. We begrudge the success of none ; on the contrary, on the few occasions where help- fulness is possible we have gladly given help.

The relations of the Haitian Republic with the United States have been singularly intimate for many years. The volume of American-Haitian trade is proportionately large. The enterprise of our citizens has contributed to the development of Haitian, resources. I look for the time, not far distant, when these relations may be expanded and strengthened, not through any invasive activity on our part, but through the steady self-development of the resources of Haiti under the benevolent sway of peace. Your country has almost incalculable native wealth at command. With a self-respecting energy or purpose; with a contented and thrifty population ; with wise counsels in the seats of gov- ernment, devoting the efforts of the nation to the great work of internal exploitation of natural resources and perfection of agricultural methods; and with the maintenance of peace, without as well as within, you Haitians have a future before you which other less-favored countries might well envy, and which we of the United States would witness with hearty sympathy.

I have a disposition to emphasize the essential condition of peace, at home and abroad, as a need in working out the material improvement of a country. While it is doubtless true that trade and

I7O HAITI.

trade extension are the foundation in practical life of most advances in civilization, yet the great modern movements of accord and good under- standing between nations are after all the lofty achievements and the crown of all international relations. The controlling principle of these move- ments is peaceful and beneficial international inter- course and a peaceful settlement by arbitration of differences and controversies — extending that prin- ciple, by friendly diplomacy, as rapidly as possible to embrace an increasing number and variety of disputes. The tide of world sentiment is setting strongly toward the accommodation of international controversies by processes of reason and justice; not by defiance and the sword. That tide is sweep- ing over my own country, where the ideal of uni- versal peace with justice is dear to every heart. Should not we, of the common brotherhood of all the Americas, share alike in devotion to that ideal, and stand mutually helpful toward whatever may assure, by pacific means, peace and good will among brethren ?

I thank you for the cordial personal welcome you have given me. I shall long treasure the memory of my visit.

Speech of Mr. Knox at a breakfast given by the Municipal Council at the Bellevue Club, Port au Prince, April 4, 1912, in response to a brief speech of introduction by the Mayor.

MR. MAYOR:

I thank you very much, sir, for this additional act of kindness, and we have been the recipients of many acts of kindness since we have been in Port au Prince, in your hospitable country, in your hos- pitable city, and among your hospitable people. My visit, however, would not, from my point of view, be considered an entire success if it were merely confined to pleasures and the delights of intercourse with the people of this city. I have observed here a thing that makes me very glad, and that is that the Haitians seem to have realized that industry is at the basis of prosperity and that the object of their Government is now undoubtedly to maintain peace at home and peace with her neighbors, so that industrialism, which is the sole foundation of wealth and prosperity, shall proceed uninterrupted. You seem to have discovered, as all nations must discover in their march toward the progress of which they are capable, that the true function of government is not to say to a man, "Work and we will reward you", but to say to all of its citizens, "Work and the government will secure to you the results of your labor, that it shall

172 HAITI.

not be taken away from you by violence or by in- justice". You have discovered, further, I believe, that while the true function of government is not what I have just described, it is this : to honestly collect the revenues, as lightly tax the people as the necessities of the government demand, and then to apply these revenues honestly for the best interests of the country. I am satisfied from a conversation with your worthy President that it is not the inten- tion of this administration of affairs in Haiti to spend the substance of the people upon unneces- sary military establishments but extend those great public improvements which make the life of every man better.

These are some of the observations I have made since I have been, with you, though the time has been very short and has been occupied very largely with the pleasures of the visit, but I shall carry them home to the President of the United States and to the people of the United States, and I am satisfied that they, with me, will rejoice that everything in Haiti seems to be on the upward move. I beg to pledge the health of the President and people of Haiti and their prosperity.

X

Speeches in Cuba

173

Speech of Senor Manuel Sanguily, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cuba, at a banquet given by the President of Cuba to Mr. Knox, Habana, April n, 1912.

[Translation.]

SIR:

The President of the Republic has honored me by charging me with the office — a most pleasant one for me — of giving you in his name and in the name of the Cuban Government and people a most cordial and heartfelt welcome to this isle that has rocked the cradle of many a hero, and which is ever a hospitable home in which the stranger easily forgets his native land midst the blandishments of bountiful nature and the warm brotherliness of a people as noble as it is good. Harbinger of peace, in visiting regions as yet unknown to you, peopled by races of an origin and tongue so dif- ferent from your own, you do not grasp the pon- derous sword of conquest, but rather the glorious caduceus of Mercury, symbol of prosperity and beneficence, entwined with olive and laurel, some of whose leaves shine with the tears of our sisters and our own blood, while the heavenly radiance of our martyrdom and our heroism blends with the halo of light by which it is surrounded and illumined ; for, united, the flashing American battalions and the careworn Cuban legions, thin and almost naked,

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176 CUBA.

accomplished — you in a rapid campaign, we bat- tling unwearied for half a century — the splendid issue which renewed your traditional doctrines of world politics and gave new direction to your his- toric destiny, while radically changing our secular condition, both assuming from that moment, in return for new duties and rights toward other na- tions, mutual and reciprocal responsibilities by vir- tue of which neither do you assume the right of oppressing us nor have we suffered the misfortunes of a fresh bondage.

With your excursion to the free commonwealths of the Caribbean Sea you complete that other in- teresting and fruitful excursion of your illustrious predecessor to those republics south of the Equator, animated, like him, by the same spirit of harmony and fraternity ; bearers, both, of one message of con- cord and affection which the great Republic then sent and now repeats to these impetuous republics, shaped to her image, although under different con- ditions— some born, as the most recent, at the magic touch of her diplomacy ; others, as our own, by the help of her arms; and all, perhaps, maintained through the efficacy of her original and life-giving principles. Wherefore the visit of so high an envoy from the largest and most famous democracy of the world could never imply purposes opposed to the consecration and normal exercise and development of republican institutions, not only because of the greatness of the august federation whose conspicuous and worthy representative you

SANGUILY. 177

are, and because of the elevation and moral refine- ment of the generous people who established it and have maintained and aggrandized it in the face of great perils and fearful struggles, but because of what, in the evolution of ideas and the transforma- tion of history, the American spirit, American doc- trines, and American action mean in the life of modern society. Blessed fruit of a seasoned and hard-fought development inspired and sustained by the highest aspirations of benevolence and progress, Americanism is either an empty word or is as a leaven of order, of dignity, and of that serene trust which in every man's heart builds up the sense of power and righteousness as an impregnable fortress and sows in every land the seed of vigorous virtues whereby, through its own self-respect and in the ex- alted interests of justice, it may become unconquer- able and happy. Solely by that spirit which cre- ates and upholds, by the humane and fruitful power of that doctrine which is the product of a high ava- tar of conscience, which is a new gospel of redemp- tion and hope for oppressed peoples and bulwark of vacillating and unstable democracies, would what has been called Pan-Americanism in contradistinc- tion to Old World denominations be truly justified and have its full force, in harmony with the dig- nity and happiness of nations. Whatever may be the changes and applications of the Monroe Doc- trine— the last phase of which your excellency has set forth and interpreted authoritatively in a recent well-known speech — it never could imply, as the

S IO5 — 12

178 CUBA.

malevolent would wish, a harassing, illegitimate, and humiliating suzerainty, consisting of a constant, arbitrary, and perturbing interference of an alien government in the private and normal life of sov- ereign nations.

My words are prompted, Mr. Secretary, by my admiration for your institutions as an old revolu- tionist as well as by my esteem and my gratitude as a Cuban. By participating in our hard struggle with the Spanish power Americans probably ad- vanced our independence by several years, assuring to us at the same time the favorable outcome of a protracted and devastating war, and saving us from a corresponding period of hate, bloodshed, and ruin. Later, in a demoralized and discouraged commu- nity, with their better and, for us, novel methods, they corrected pernicious errors, offsetting the de- fects of negligence and leveling obstacles that the past had laid across our path to a new life, whereby wider and brighter prospects were opened up to us. And now, if you counsel us in the difficulties of national life, pointing out for their avoidance dan- gers born of inexperience, excusable in a commu- nity undergoing radical changes in organization and government by bitter struggling, it constitutes what is known as "a policy of prevention"; there being nothing reprehensible in your exercise of an office operated for our own preservation and profit, and our failure to take advantage of the benefits it offers would be blameworthy in us, inasmuch as we are not to be held responsible for the fatalities

.

SANGUILY. 1 79

of history, nor of the time and place in which we entered upon national life. Nor have we been the first whom, because of weakness, you have sought to admonish as to error or injustice, foreseeing calamity and disaster, since in difficult or perilous circumstances the constant or direct action of your Government in American affairs, almost from the beginning of the last century till its end, with their assent and often with their compliance, imposed timely rectifications on even strong gov- ernments and powerful nations, even as in Cuba itself — in spite of its great secular and glorious titles — the earnest words of your Presidents have called attention insistently to the dangers toward which its blindness and pride were dragging it long before finally issuing against it a sentence from which there was no appeal.

Knowing, thus, our conditions and your ex- pressed purposes we should be too suspicious and skeptical if we still feared lest, through some evil inspiration of violence or through unspeakable mo- tives, the stability of our national institutions were threatened; the more in that you, too, Mr. Secre- tary, have just proclaimed in the very heart of the continent that your country is too great and too honest to covet foreign sovereignty and too ex- tensive to need another's territory; that not in vain has an uninterrupted heredity of virtue and culture separated immeasurably from the violence of pas- sion the luminous serenity of justice, nor from sav- age times the present epochs of democracy and

180 CUBA.

righteousness, and that the same distance lies in the moral world between the chaotic and dark soul of Tamerlane and the pure and immaculate spirit of George Washington.

Moreover, Mr. Secretary, we need you in the entire regulation of our national life, as, for many and diverse reasons, you need us, and therefore our common purpose should be in mutual usefulness by the giving and exchange of reciprocal and equiva- lent services; although it is clear that for the fulfill- ment of such worthy aims it is indispensable that neither here nor elsewhere should it be permitted and much less proclaimed without due correction, by the lawless voice of usury or of mammon, that anyone can, by divine right, at his fancy, suppressing the Republic by the scratch of a pen, reinstall Cuba as a subject colony; for, if we do not live by our own right and if our condition is that of a tenant, subject at will to alien caprices and interests, there is neither dignity in our lives, nor an authority to be re- spected in the state, nor any possibility whatever of true order and honorable and permanent peace. The interests that gained profit or were enriched in the public upheaval and interventions brought about by circumstances would be well satisfied and glad if the halcyon days of their power and predominance were to return; but for that very reason the Cuban people would be, indeed, unfortunate.

Only a few weeks ago the people of this city rendered their last tribute of pious regard over the remains of the sailors who perished on the

SANGUILY. l8l

Maine, and in great crowds gathered along the shore and followed with bated breath the last voyage of the fantastic ship. Yonder on the horizon, as the evening fell, what was left of the fearful catas- trophe— the mutilated hull — was submerged forever ; but in every Cuban, as in so many American homes, hearts beat as one remembering past days of anx- iety, pain, and glory, and in the former as in the latter the tragic remembrance of the Maine and of that sinister night on which by the glow of that great disaster this new American nation was brought to life was evoked with religious unction. Born midst such exceptional circumstances, fruit of such labors, Cuba feels that the very roots of her national life and of her rights are planted and nourished in the conscience of the American nation ; and so, trust- ing and grateful, she now extends her loyal hand to her powerful and noble friend. When, as a reward for your triumphant effort, the two seas separated by the Isthmus since remote ages shall be joined in one embrace, should their waves, like the folded cloak of the Roman ambassador, hide the blessings of peace or the horrors of war, Cuba, satisfied and content in its happy independence, will enjoy with you the incalculable benefits of that universal pros- perity which is approaching as the necessary result of such a marvelous modification of the continent. And you may be sure, likewise, that in the hour of danger and of conflict your soldiers will not fight, should it be necessary to do so, with such enthusi- asm as, for its own independence and in your aid, our

l82 CUBA.

people would fight, knowing as they do that in the present state of the world and in the critical eventu- alities of an uncertain and not far-distant future never shall the Cuban flag be more secure of respect abroad than when close to the beneficent shadow of your own, which, strewn with stars, symbols of real nations in the full glow of life, prefigures the mystic and glorious galaxy of right. And therefore it is its high function, in conformity to tradition and purpose, to create free commonwealths and new republics throughout the continent and not — as those who out- rage her name by invoking her power in furtherance of inconceivable enmities and ignoble interests — to be the threat and scourge of weak nations. But if the relentless purpose which iniquitous prophets of evil have been announcing should ever be ful- filled by reason of the changes and weaknesses to which humanity is subject, surely some unheard-of portent would befall ; perhaps that majestic woman standing on Bedloe Island in the great estuary would loose her metal girdle and extinguish in the seething waves the gigantic torch that illumines the vast ocean and the conscience of man, while a fear- some clamor sprung from a terrified disenchantment would be reechoed from wave to wave and from height to height, proclaiming to the darkness of the world that Liberty was no more.

Never, however, shall such a misfortune take place, far more grievous and fatal than if at a mo- ment's notice the light of all the stars should be extinguished. Wherefore allow me to be the mouth-

SANGUILY. 183

piece of hope and love, in the sincere trust, Mr. Secretary, that you may enjoy a long and happy life of honor and of glory ; that your illustrious Presi- dent may be in all circumstances, as heretofore, the noble friend of Cuba; and that, crowned with bless- ings, in the prosperity of a spotless fame, your great nation may be now, and in centuries to come, protector of the law, aegis of the weak, example to the strong, firm foundation of civilization, palladium of republican America, realizing its great destiny as it circles in its huge orbit like a benign star, in harmony with all human interests and amidst the blessings of all the nations of the earth.

Reply of Mr. Knox.

MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN:

It has been my high privilege to be the Presi- dent's chosen instrument for conveying to the in- dependent nations of the Caribbean at this time, when the completion of the Panama Canal is near, a message of fraternal good will and an assurance, if, indeed, assurance were necessary, of the deep sense of responsibility felt by the Government and people of the United States that the great work which we have undertaken shall helpfully contrib- ute to the well-being of the commonwealths of the Western World and be instrumental in bringing closer all the peoples of the Americas, inspiring them with broader confidence, more intimate sym- pathy, and more practical reciprocal helpfulness in the promotion of their mutual advantage and coor- dinate development. This was the message I car- ried, not alone to the peoples of the Caribbean littoral but to all the countries of Latin America, emphasizing the sincerity of purpose and the pur- ity of motive which have animated the United States in all its dealings with Latin America. As I said at Panama, intelligent consideration of the relations of the United States to the other American republics makes it clear that our poli- cies have been without a trace of sinister motive or design, craving neither sovereignty nor territory. 184

KNOX. 185

The special purpose of my mission having been accomplished, it is alike appropriate and gratifying that on my homeward journey I should have the opportunity to get into closer personal touch with the one sovereign people of the whole Western World who are, above all, in a position to know and appreciate the broad and essentially conscien- tious policy of Anglo-Saxon America toward Latin America. So far as Cuba is concerned, our record speaks for itself. It is consistent and un- blemished. It was formulated and proclaimed be- fore the first shot was fired at Manila initiating the conflict to free from a crushing despotism "this fairest land the eye had ever seen" and which, hap- pily, ended in gaining a free Cuba for free Cubans. That policy has been lived up to ever since. It needs no reiterative protestations. It is a constant, vital entity, needing not to be galvanized into spas- modic action ; neither should its true import be dulled by wearisome repetition. Good faith is a thing that proves itself by deeds, not words. Our deeds in respect to the Cuban people are before you. Look to them for fresh assurance — if there be any doubting Thomas who thinks he needs it— that the United States stands firmly as the true, wholehearted friend of Cuba, glad of the work we have done for the Cuban people and ready to aid them to conserve the civic and material benefits which it was our good fortune to be instrumental in helping them to win.

l86 CUBA.

First among these benefits is self-government. We hold that all peoples are fit to work out the highest ideals of self-government by creating for themselves and by their own effort a healthy national life, inspired by the safe and sane exercise of the popular will, homogeneous in all its parts, free from radical weakness or corporeal blemish, self-respect- ing and imbued with respect for the rights of all at home and abroad. Providence has called upon free Cuba to be a model state among the popular com- monwealths of the world and has opened the way to the achievement of that noble purpose. That is the goal for which we have, with you, spent our blood and treasure and to which our earnest efforts will ever be directed. The beginning of Cuban political life was the affirmation of the brotherhood of the American and Cuban peoples. Let us ever be brothers.

I speak to you, with all the earnestness I may, the thoughts that rise at this time, when Cuba stands on the threshold of a new era of even greater pros- perity and progress by reason of being a natural gateway to the great Isthmian Canal and being des- tined, in the inevitable logic of events, to share in the almost incalculable possibilities to spring from the new channel to be opened to the world's com- merce under a fresh and controlling impetus. It makes a newer world of the New World of Colum- bus. As I said at Panama, "In this new world we must be found drawn closer by sympathies and mutual esteem, and working in harmony toward

KNOX. 187

beneficent ends. This must be so, for our greatest interests are those that are common to us all." We must not forget that in order to work together toward common ends each co-worker must be in a position to do his effective share of the common task. Even as the capacity of the individual workman is dependent on soundness of body and mind, so the potential efficiency of a community is measured by the homogeneous perfection of its civic organization and by the logical soundness of the public mind that directs its operations. While liberty is attained through patriotic valor, yet it is only through fraternity and unselfish coordina- tion that it is perpetuated. The crisis in the life of any nation that has thrown off the yoke of tyranny is the period of rehabilitation. When the cohesive bonds of a common peril are relaxed by the removal of the danger and liberty succeeds oppression, unselfish fraternity must be substituted for the unity which a common danger furnished during the struggle for national rights. A people liberated from oppressive tyranny is no better off if unrestrained selfishness, which almost in- evitably leads to anarchy, is the result. A people so situated can not profitably exercise the right of self-government unless they work faithfully together with singleness of aim. Mistrust, jealousy, selfish- ness, aloofness, and apathy will rob a people of their birthright. There is always more to unite than to separate all classes of citizens, and in Cuba, as in all republics, all classes should be alert in the conscious-

l88 CUBA.

ness of their civic duties and not remit the destinies of their country to the hands of the few who, with nothing to lose and everything to gain, make a busi- ness of the politics of their country.

It is the fervent prayer of my Government and my countrymen that free Cuba may abide stead- fastly in the high station to which Providence has called her, sturdy with the strength of stable self- control, free from the infirmities that beset weak peoples, and earnest in the path of self-development.

Coming among you as I do, the cordiality of the welcome I have received makes it impossible to realize that I am in a strange land, among strange kinsfolk. I feel, rather, that I am of your brother- hood, as you are of mine. I come, too, at an auspicious time, when the association of feeling between my country and yours is made closer by the sad memories attending the removal of the wreck of the Maine. The waves of ocean have clasped that ill-fated ship in their eternal embrace, and your beautiful harbor is no longer marred by the presence of a gloomy monument of national resentment and strife. As the sun rises upon the unbroken expanse of your noble bay, it brings a message of oblivion of the dark past and of encouragement for the new Cuba, strong in the possession of rightful strength and at peace \vith all the world.

XI

Speeches on Board the "Washington"

189

Speech of Mr. Knox to the officers and men on board the U. S. S. "Washington", Sunday, April 14, 1912.

GENTLEMEN :

When Captain Hughes asked me, a day or so ago, if I would be willing to say a few words to the men of this gallant ship, I told him promptly and without hesitation that it would give me great pleasure, indeed, to do so. I realize how utterly impossible it will be for my voice to reach the ears of all of you here upon this open deck. I have had the experience upon this voyage of talking against steam whistles at Colon, talking against the merry chat of the dancers in the ballroom at Guatemala City, but this is the first time in my life that I have been compelled to compete with the roaring of Old Ocean, and I admit in advance my inability to do so.

I wish you all to be impressed with this fact— that I regard the success this mission has attained is, in a large degree, due to the men of this ship. You have carried us with the promptness of an ex- press train upon a well-regulated railroad to our several destinations and enabled us promptly to meet all our engagements, which is an important factor in transactions between representatives of different governments. You have not only been largely instrumental in the success of the mission, but you have contributed greatly to the pleasures,

191

ON BOARD THE WASHINGTON.

and I can say to the profit, of those of us upon whom the direct responsibilities of its success were cast. We have participated with you in your rec- reations, we have enjoyed visiting the various parts of the ship, and we have seen you in the dis- charge of your daily duties, and I wish to say to you now, speaking in my official capacity, that the knowledge that I have acquired of the personnel of one of our great vessels of war will be of inestima- ble value to me in the discharge of my official du- ties, because you must know that the efficiency of diplomacy depends largely upon the Navy and that the efficiency of the Navy depends entirely upon the character of the crews who man the ships. When the United States believes that it is neces- sary for the protection of its rights or for the dis- charge of its international duties to call upon those nations within the special sphere of its influence and responsibility to cease needless war, to stop the shedding of innocent blood, the presence of an American vessel in the neighborhood as an efficient means for the enforcement of our rights or the per- formance of our duties generally insures the peace in the troubled region.

Gentlemen, I wish to thank you all for the many courtesies you have shown my party. I am glad of this opportunity of getting closer to you than we have been able to do until now. It would have been a great satisfaction to have formed the personal acquaintance of every man upon this ship, but inasmuch as your numbers and the exacting

KNOX. 193

and responsible nature of your duties have deprived me of that pleasure permit me to say now to you that this present opportunity to talk to you has been a very real satisfaction and pleasure.

The other members of my party desire likewise to say a word to you and I shall retire now and give place to Mr. Hale, one of the editors of the World's Work, a great periodical with which you are all acquainted, that he may say something to you in behalf of the American press, which is rep- resented on board the Washington.

s 105 — 13

Remarks of Mr. Hale, of the World's Work, on board the U. S. S. "Washington", Sunday, April 14, 1912.

MR. SECRETARY, CAPTAIN HUGHES, OFFICERS AND

MEN OF THE "WASHINGTON": The representatives of the press here aboard de- sire me to say for them that their interest in the American Navy, always great, and their admiration for it has been vastly increased by what we have seen within the last two months. Aside from the chief purpose of our presence here, which has been to describe the memorable journey of the Secretary through Central American and Caribbean coun- tries, we count it a very great opportunity, indeed, to have seen something of the life of a naval ves- sel, as exemplified on this splendid ship, with its splendid officers, and splendid crew, and splendid record. We are still a little hazy about things nau- tical and very much puzzled by a good deal of the language we hear in the wardroom, but we are not hazy in our conclusion that if the spirit of enthusi- asm and of work which we see here is typical of the spirit of the American Navy then that Navy de- serves the very best the nation can give, and we are not hazy or uncertain in our conviction that if Congress will give you the ships you desire there will never float on the blue waters of any of the 194

HALE. 195

Seven Seas anything that the clean, intelligent, steady nerves, steady-hearted men of the American Navy, under their ever-alert officers, can not knock the stuffing out of any moment in the day or night, if necessary.

We hope that will never be necessary. Forgive me if I say I believe our people hope that any dreams of victorious battle that your imaginations naturally cherish may never be realized ; hope that yours will continue to be the work of keeping the Navy in a state of such manifest efficiency that it will never be necessary to prove that efficiency.

But whatever may be the future, it is safe to say that you will probably never do a more useful or, in its way, more glorious service for your coun- try than you have done in conveying the Secretary of State on his mission to these troubled regions of the world. Secretary Knox has some virtues and a number of redeeming vices, but he lacks the great characteristic of a politician : he is too modest, and he was too modest this morning to tell you of the vast importance of this cruise and of the complete success, the victorious success, with which it has been accomplished ; but I can say as a reporter that no man can tell of the results of this mission of peace and good will, no man would be foolhardy enough to undertake to state the limits of the far- reaching results that may flow from the magnificent presence in the harbors of all the countries of this region of the Maryland and the Washington, great engines of war, consecrated to the purposes of

196 ON BOARD THE WASHINGTON.

peace, backed up by the words of broad statesman- ship, the noble assurances of good will and friendli- ness uttered by the Secretary in the capitals of these countries. I tell you that the journey upon which the Washington has conveyed the Secretary of State has been a history-making journey.

I now give way to one of the great orators and statesmen of America, Martin W. Littleton, a great friend of the United States Navy, but before I do so may I, in the name of the press, wish good luck to the good ship Washington, her captain, officers, and men, always, on every sea, in every port.

Remarks of Hon. Martin W. Littleton to the offi- cers and crew of the U. S. S. "Washington", April 14, 1912.

I count myself distinctly fortunate in having been in Habana at a time when I could be the re- cipient of an invitation to make the return journey upon the Washington in such goodly company. One reason was that I would have an opportunity of seeing the conclusion of that pilgrimage of peace made by the honorable Secretary of State on behalf of the American people to the various countries and governments to the south of us. Another reason was that I should have a chance to see those who are actually primarily engaged in the mission of peace because they are always prepared for the dangers and demands of war; those who, with the honorable Secretary, have been bearing a message of goodwill to all the southern countries and cleans- ing the bosom of each nation of prejudice and igno- rance, that kind of ignorance and prejudice which is at the foundation of the disasters of war and which serves more to retard human progress than all other influences put together.

It is particularly gratifying to know that this pilgrimage, made by the honorable Secretary, re- flecting so much credit on him and his wise judg- ment, was met by those with whom he came in

IQ7

198 ON BOARD THE WASHINGTON.

contact with unbounded enthusiasm and a grateful recognition of our friendly relations. There he was received with open arms, with banners, with music, with flowers, and innumerable tokens of high esteem.

One word about the Navy. I believe that we should have a navy growing and advancing with the growth and advancement of our country, not one so abnormally large as to provoke the suspicion of the world, not one so increasingly small as to invite the contempt of other countries, but a navy which, like every other great national institution, keeps pace with the progress of its people and the advances of time.

I left Congress a week ago this last Wednesday. I had just come from a conference of the majority side of the House regarding the battleships of the future. In my opinion we made a serious mistake in deciding that there should be no more battleships this year. Some of us have refused to be bound by this policy and with the aid of the Senate I feel sure that this mistaken policy will be reversed before the end of the session, that we will not proclaim to the world the discontinuance of the building of a navy.

Just a personal word to you of the crew. You come from every part of the United States; you go to every part of the world ; you typify the American life; you are missionaries and exemplars. You inevitably stand for America in every port. I count that heroism, that courage, the greatest and the

LITTLETON. 199

best which gives itself to the unseen and undramatic drudgery of work in behalf of one's country, such as the work rendered by you. These great instru- ments of war and of peace, these cruisers and battleships, these are your homes. Your charge is American liberty and American peace; your emblem is the American flag, brilliant in all its manifold colors, floating always above you as an unfailing inspiration.

Remarks of Judge Morgan O ' Brien to the officers and crew of the U. S. S. "Washington', April 14, 1912.

This is a very great privilege, to have had an opportunity of coming upon this great battleship, through the kindness of the Secretary of State, and my purpose is not to detain you with a speech, but to make my acknowledgments to him and to the captain of this great vessel and to the officers and to you men for the pleasure that I have received on the occasion of my first experience as a visitor and guest on one of these great vessels. Like the dis- tinguished orator, Mr. Littleton, whom you have just heard, neither of us knows much about a ship. I of course know much more about it than he does. They tell a story of one of our greatest Presidents, Mr. Lincoln, who, during the Civil War, called a Cabinet meeting to consider certain proposed changes in the policy of the Navy. When they came out of the meeting, having had an acrimonious discussion as to changes suggested in the types of ships to be used in the future conduct of the war, Mr. Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury, said to the President, "It is too bad that Mr. Welles, the Secretary of the Navy, should have been so strong and positive in his views as to the future conduct of the Navy, and I fear he has annoyed you"; where-

O BRIEN. 2OI

upon the President said to Chase, "You mustn't worry about that. I will come out all right. When I came into the Presidency and invited Mr. Welles into the Cabinet neither of us then knew the bow from the stern of a boat. I have since learned the difference though up to this time he has failed to note the distinction, but as he is an able and patri- otic man the Navy will not suffer."

Our great Secretary of State, Mr. Knox, on returning from his mission of peace, has indicated and pointed out what advances have been made and how the Navy has steadily grown in efficiency and in strength and in usefulness. This occasion is an inspiring one. A beautiful Sunday morning on the Atlantic Ocean with the sun shining, a great ship on its return from an epoch-making trip, here in the presence of the representative of our Gov- ernment, the opportunity is afforded to express to the officers and men of the Washington the feelings which all Americans entertain, irrespective of parties, for the Navy and for the splendid unselfish and patriotic work which they are performing for their country. Ideals and standards are the real things in life and in no department of government service are they better or higher.

When one feels deeply and strongly, when sentiments swell from the heart it is difficult to appropriately express them. Silence is the lan- guage of deep and abiding feeling. I wish, how- ever, to say to you how much pleasure we have had in being here to-day and meeting the rank and file

2O2 ON BOARD THE WASHINGTON.

of this great ship and of saying to the Secretary of State what a great honor he has conferred on us in extending the invitation to be his guests, and I shall carry away the recollection of this occasion and an abiding appreciation of the great kindness extended and a keener realization of the splendid service which you men are doing and the obligation which you are placing upon every citizen of our country for your unselfish work in promoting the peace of the world and the prosperity of our country.

XII

Statement to the Press

203

Statement to the Press by Mr, Knox upon his return to Washington, April //, 1912.

The purpose of my mission, as indicated in my letter of instruction from the President and by him publicly stated, was, through a friendly visit and personal acquaintance with the officers of the governments and peoples of the Caribbean republics, to put our relations with them upon a basis of bet- ter understanding.

It is well known by those who have given attention to conditions in some of the countries I have visited that misrepresenting the attitude and purposes of the United States toward them has for many years been a feature of their democratic politics, and it is equally well known that there has existed in the United States a small coterie of directly interested persons who have been endeav- oring to block reforms essential to the progress of some of the weaker republics which would break down political abuses through which they were profiting and a wretched despotism was being upheld.

The operation of these two forces upon political progress in the countries affected by them has been deadly, and the misrepresentations of us to them and of them to us has rapidly jeopardized friendly

205

2O6 STATEMENT TO THE PRESS.

and normal international relations by crystallizing misunderstanding into prejudice. This situation has been greatly aggravated by the seeming inability through news channels of getting important and substantial truth either into or out of some parts, especially of Central America.

What effect my visit may have in permanently improving our relations with and conditions in the countries I have visited is largely a matter of con- jecture. I prefer at this time to make no predic- tions beyond this: That in the concrete case of Nicaragua, if our Senate will consent to the ratifi- cation of the treaty with that country now before it, the effect will be instantaneously beneficial and new life and hope will inspire a people who for years have been the'victims of a crushing despotism.

The means through which the President felt that good results might be accomplished were dili- gently employed. Every facility was furnished in each country visited for meeting under the most delightful auspices the officials of the government and all classes of the people. Full and frank con- versations I have had with the responsible people of different countries, both those in official and private life, and the exceptional facilities I have enjoyed through the members of the American press accompanying me in getting popular expres- sion, especially from those in opposition to the governments, certainly have furnished me with a better understanding of these governments and

KNOX. 2O7

peoples and enabled me clearly to set before them the attitude of the United States toward them.

It was most gratifying to observe the genuine friendliness toward and interest in the people of the United States in all the countries I visited and the warmth of its manifestation when the real pur- pose of my mission was appreciated. In no country was our reception one of mere formal courtesy. We left each country with the firm belief that we were better understood when we left than when we came, and that the almost indescribably bountiful hospitality and kindness showered upon us reflected a sentiment as cordial as it was generous toward the country and the people whom we represented.

In view of the repeated and emphatic announce- ments of the Monroe Doctrine at all periods in our history, and by all shades of domestic political opin- ions, and the emphasis which seems to have been given to that doctrine by the extreme care the Senate recently took to prevent the possibility of any phase of its assertion being submitted to arbi- tration, I am more than ever convinced of the logic and wisdom of our helping the weaker republics to help themselves to avoid specific conditions where we might be embarrassed by its assertion.

The almost incalculable native wealth of the Caribbean countries, the great variety and beauty of scenery, and the salubrity of climate are the physical conditions that most impressed us.

With political and financial stability in such

2O8 STATEMENT TO THE PRESS.

countries where these conditions are now wanting, and under the benevolent sway of peace, there is bound to be a steady development of their resources and a growing appreciation of their natural charms and attractions.

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Speeches incident to the visit of Philander Chase Knox, Secretary of State of the United st.tes America, to the countries of the Caribbean

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