Evening star., 1902-02-01
The Pan-American Convention in the
City of Mexico.
PLEASANT RELATIONS ESTABLISHED
It May Require Time for Results
to Materialize.
GENERAL REYES SPEECH
pecial Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

| may write or say what they think of its
work. During the sessions. which have
| lasted more than three months, this might
not have been proper, but now the members
are free to state their views of their own
| labors.
| It is the belief of the delegates that the
| conference in its ultimate results will bear
what Mr.. Mariscal the Mexican minister of
| foreign relations, in his opening address
aptly called seasoned FRUITS On the part
Of the American people the interest has not
| been great, except when there was pros
pect. or a supposed prospect, of the assem-
bly, breaking up in a row. The idea of a
| peace congress warning within itself and
going to wreck whetted the appetite for
news. When the war cloud melted away
| and the delegates went forward quietly
| with their duties the appetite was lessened.
or the nineteen republics of the western
hemisphere called in convection by the joint
| initiative of the United States and Mexico
| one nation, Brazil, through the death of its
| delegate and the difficulty Of sending an
| other In time to be of benefit, was not rep
| resented during the closing weeks. An
| other country, Venezuela, withdrew its del
| egatlon a fortnight before adjournment for
| causes not bearing on the situation, but
| the fact stands that the conference closed
practically as 1t began, intact, and its la
| bors will have its share in making more
| iiiOiiuly lle HdllOHS VI llle COHllIeHl
| Results Will Require Time.
How useful those labors may be 1t will
| take time to show. Some of the policies
| followed and the recommendations made
| necessarily are of a character to require
waiting for their fulfillment. 1t is after
| this waiting that the seasoned fruits may
| be gathered
| The personnel of the conference was rep
resentative. Nearly all the Mexican dele
| gates were members CT congress, and all
Were able and influential men. 1t is worth
| noting that every one Of them spoke Eng
| lish. The Latin-American countries have
| had their best men here, and most of them
| strengthened their delegations by including
| their ministers resident in Washington.
| There We're also cabinet members. vice
presidents and members of the judiciary
| and legislative bodies. In the list were sew
| eral future presidents in Central and South
| America. All came with pronounced con-
| victions and with definite programs. Not
| all OF these programs were parallel and not
| all of the views were in harmony. In some
| cases it was flint against flint and steel
against steel. Fire has been irawn often
| but the conference did not break up, and
| the harmony which has marked it's closing
| sessions is a tribute to the earnestness and
sincerity of the delegates, who in represent
ing their respective countries have found 1t
possible also to represent the broader spirit
| of Pan-AmericaniSm.
The third international American confer
ence will be held in a few years. and that
will show how far pra ctical results were
achieved by the present assembly. This
sentiment for future Pan-American con-
crosses was one of the first ideas that de-
veloped and its meaning was clear 1t re-
fected the belief that there will be a grad
ual knitting together of the republics of
this continent withou. sacrifice of their in
dependence and in spite of the difference of
race, language and political institutions.
Gen. Rafael Reyes' Speech.
One of the early incidents which caused
talk was a speech by Gen. Rafael Reyes Of
Colombia. At a banquet given by the mu-
| nicipality of Mexico, after paying a tribute
to the United States, he dwelt on the ties
of blood and of traditions among the Latin
American peoples The diplomatic corps
were guests and Ambassador Powell Clay
ton responded for them. The Spanish min
lister, the Marquis of Prats, also made a
brief response to a toast and took occasion
to thank General Reyes for his sentiments
The delegates from the United States pres
ent who understood Spanish saw nothing in
this exchange Of compliments to ruffle
them.
On the next day those who did not un-
derstand Spanish, and who read the re-
marks of General Reyes in English failed
to find anything In them which was OBJ
jectionable. 1t was surprise to them to
learn afterward that the speech was ex-
citing comment and was looked upon as an
attempt to revive the pro-Spanisn feeling
General Reyes was distressed and made a
speech in the conference, explaining what
he meant to say and what with entire pro-
priety, he had said. He also gave the
American delegates copies Of his speech
They could find nothing then to object to-
and they are still in ignorance of wherein
consisted the attack on the United States
The Dtaz Doctrine.
Another incident outside Of the confer
ence was the statement Of the Daz doc
trine. This came at banquet given by
the Mexican delegation. 1t was contained
in f1ve-minute speech delivered by Mr.
Chavero. 1t was simply that the interna-
tional law of America is founded on peace,
which In turn depends on respect for the
sovereignty, independence and territorial
integrity Of all the nations Of the CONT
nent. The sentiment met with sponta-
neous response among the delegates Later
came the echoes of approval from the
United States and from Latin America
AS one result of holding the conference in
Mexico this republic has been able to
strengthen it's relations with the countries
south of it. Many of them, because Of ge-
ographical separation and the lack of com
merce, had not maintained consular or dip
lomatic officials. They took advantage of
the conference to accredit ministers to
Mexico, and in this way cemented the spirit
Of continental fellowship. Without doubt,
now that Mexico has established diplomatic
relations with all the Central and South
u
der the progressive and enlightened govern
ment Of President Diaz twill be potent in
spreading the acceptance of the Diaz doc
trine. Possibly this may come in the form
of mediation, when some of those troubles
grow SO acute as to threaten the general
peace.
The Position of Mexico.
Force was given this position of Mexico
and the place she has taken among the na-
tions of the world by the action of the con-
ference in delegating to her, in conjunction
with the United States, the work of secur-
Ing the adherence of the other republics to
The Hague convention. This action was
the solution reached on the vexed question
of arbitration. No one identified with the
conference would seek to deny, or should
seek to deny, that arbitration was the
overshadowing issue. Sometimes The shad-
ows were pretty black, but in the END they
dissolved and a real advance was made A
protocol was signed declaring that the prin-
ciples established in the three Hague con-
ventions shall be considered as American
public law. The United States and Mexico
will jointly negotiate with the signatory
powers Of The Hague for the admission
into 1t of the other nations on this conti-
nent when they ask for that privilege.
Supplementing this protocol is an article
kfv,r~ H.