Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-28


forward stride has been made in the d.
rectfon of closer and more sympathetic
understanding and cooperation among
the nations of America.
knowing that lack of mutual acquaint-
ance always operates as a serious handf-
cap to successful and satisfactory rela-
lions between the men Of this hemisphere
VINO deal with the affairs of government.
Gently directed me to pay visit Of cour-
tesy to our neighbors f,the Caribbean.
Mission to Latin America.
I'm fulfilling this onerous, but most
gratifying mission confided to me by the
President. to be the bearer of greetings
or earnest friendship and good will on be-
half OF the people of my country to the
caribbean and Latin American states on
the eve of the completion of the isthmian
canal, there came to me the great pleas
ure or visiting for the first time and
meeting upon their own soil the hospita-
pie and generous sons and daughters of
ten or the Caribbean republics. My mis-
sion gave me the opportunity to become
better acquainted with the people of
Latin America and to familiarize myself
WIN the diverse features of those impor-
tant countries. 1t enabled me to visit
the countries where in the sixteenth Gen.
fury, the great pioneers of the western
movement of civilization were most active
OF enterprise and to open vast regions
heretofore unexplored; to see the peak In
Darien upon which the great Balboa
stood and first came to realize that the
isthmus Of Panama was the barrier that
matted his further western passage; to
witness the progress already made in
sweeping away this obstacle work
which will revolutionize the commerce
or the world: to see the romantic spots
visited by the buccaneer Morgan; to pass
11-f ho Mt
Alvarado In his triumphant march
through Central America: to know the
country OF the great Bolivar. whose de-
sires for early pan-Americanism were SO
ardent; to pause at the tomb of Columbus
and there contemplate the scenes Of the
first discoveries of this remarkable navi-
gator, and. lastly, to view the specter
piles marking the spot where took place
the tragedy of the Inflated Maine that in
volved this country in war with Spain.
but resulted in the birth of the free re-
public of Cuba.
|. AS in this land. where there is every
geographical extreme. from the northern
pine forests to the southern palms and
from the granite hills Of the east to the
fertile plains that fringe the Pacific on
the west, no one section can fairly repre-
sent the whole. so there l beheld one ia
vored region after another. washed by
benign seas and lowered with an infinite
variety Of physical conditions and an ex-
ceptional abundance of natural resources.
Though my surroundings were new and
strange. l felt myself in a congenial at
mosphere as I partook Of the gracious
and generous Inequalities designed to ex-
press cordially toward the American peo-
pie, and I was comforted by the thought
that although the hills and plains remain
perpetually apart the peoples of all these
countries can be brought together in con-
genial brotherhood.
1T was my privilege to bear with a
full heart to the peoples of the Carib-
bean countries the brotherly greeting that
BELTS the moral and material relations be-
tween US All the Latin Americans have
this in common with us of the north: they
have. like us, won their independence
with the sword, and. like us, they have
conserved the inestimable boon of the
institutions Of civic freedom for them
selves and their children's children. The
same principles of democracy nnderlie
our respective political organizations. Like
us, they have passed through the fires of
domestic conflict, and, like US, they have
risen with renewed strength, as Antaeus
from his contact with the eternal mother
earth. For us all, independence and lib
erty are like mother earth of the fable
we are invincible so long as we hold to
that sure basis.
Message of Fraternal Greeting.
1.-The principal motive of my mission
was to make the approaching opening of
the Panama canal the text of a message
of fraternal greeting to all the peoples
within the immediate sphere of the bene-
fits that great work is to bring. through
the annihilation Of a physical obstacle to
the natural course of the worlds CONNER
cial interchanges. and to assure them of
our confident hope that this breaking
down of seemingly perpetual barrier
between the peoples should mark the mi
tiative of q new era of closer relations
between all the Americas. We assumed
this great task, not for selfish ends, not
for elf-aggrandizement or political mas
terry, but rather for the common benefit
Of the western world and of all mankind.
To bring about results Of the greatest
good to all, the canal should be- and l am
confident will be- the instrument of pro-
ducing a closer sympathy, broader con-
fidence and a greater degree Of practical
and helpful correlation of the western
nations in the several but identic accom-
plishment of acknowledgment. My adj
dress at Panama struck the keynote of
the Presidents message to Latin America.
AS then said, l say now, that the pur-
pose Of the United States toward all the
American republics is that We should live
in amity and essential harmony, and that
prosperity, more happiness and more Sc
curity shall come into and become part
Of our individual and national lives.
Policy of This Government.
mo one is better able to appreciate in
its true light the policy of the United
States toward these countries than those
Of you who have had the opportunity to
reside in Washington in representation of
your governments and thus learn from
first-hand evidence the real motive under
lying the policy of this government We
wish to see the other nations of this
hemisphere grow greater. stronger and
more stable as the years roll on. and de-
sire that good will may, mark the inter-
course of our countries in the future as
in the past. II this is to come about, as
we pray it may, we must understand each
other. bear constant conf1ding loyalty to
one another, and cast aside all unworthy
imputations of sinister motives or malev-
olent designs
MANY difficulties confront the better
ment of our mutual relations. and among
them not the least is the inadequacy of
press facilities between our various coun-
tries. Apparently persons who, through
the misunderstanding of the different
countries concerned, are best able to sat
isfy their own sinister and selfish designs
and purposes, and reap gain therefrom
have up to the present contriyed that
practically only the so-called news least
likely to draw US close together has been
given wide circulation. False interpreta-
tons have wckedly been placed on our
governments acts and designs and like
wise a sentiment hostile to the United
States has been created and, reciprocally
the conditions existing in the other repub-
lies have been grossly misrepresented
here.