Tombstone epitaph., 1916-10-08

I.lNv the Continental hall of the Daughters of the Ameri-
 NMI can Revolution, Is what
 many judges of the fine in architecture have declared to be the most beautiful building in the capital of the United States. It is the home )f the Pan-American union, of which John Barrett Is the director general.
 In this building every little wniie there Is a meeting which has no coun- terrart in any other country of the world. In a beautiful hall and about q magnificent table made of South American woods gather the ambassa- torS and ministers of all the American republics. The secretary of state of ihe United States of America presides at the meeting.
 m foreign countries q few dIplo- mats sometimes meet to discuss mat. ters Of grave moment to their coun. tries. There Is no general meeting such as that which takes place in the clty or Washington. Only on the rarest occasions in the European carl,als do the representatives of all the conn., tries gather for conclaye. The threat of war generally brings the foreign representatives together fin most of the capitals of the world.
 In the city of Washington. in the Pan-American union building. the ambassadors and ministers of the South American countries meet to con- Ter with one another and with the secretary of state of the United States on subjects of peace and amlty and m The endeavor to make stronger the bonds Of union which hold together all the republics of the West.
 The Pan-American union was or. ganized % yenrs ago. In that year there was Pan-American conference following former conference which was held in Washington In the winter of the year previous. James c. Blaine, then secretary of state. presided at the first conference. To Blaine per haps more than to any other American Is due the credit for the inception of the idea of m organization which would bind closely together the west ern republics. For long time inc organization was known as the "Bu- reau of American Republics"
 In writing about Pan-Americanism and the Pan-American union, John Barrett. the present director. said:
 "BecinnIng on a small scale. 1t has now grown into position of power and usefulness where IL can be de- scribed as the most comprehensive and practical international institution at least 1t has been so described by eminent statesmen not only in the United States. hut Tn Europe As evil dence of the way it is regarded in Eu- rope. It can be cited that recently one of the most prominent English states men remarked that. If there had been a Pan-European union. fashioned upon the Pan-American union at Washing ton. with its headquarters '1 London. or Paris. or Berlin. or Vienna, there never would have been a European war;"
 The present home of the Pan-Ameri- can union was built in the years 19OS- co. The corner stone was laid In the spring of 1908 in the presence of 5000 persons. among whom were the mem bers of the Supreme court. the cabinet. the house and senate. the diplomatic corps and President Roosevelt. Sec retary of State Root. Bishop Cran- ston of the Methodist church. Cardinal! Gibbons of the Roman Catholic church and Andrew Carnegie, the latter of whom made the Pan-American union building possible by the gift of a large sum of money.
 One gets from what Ellhu Root said on the occasion of the laying of the corner stone an idea of the scope of the work of the institution and of the spirit which keeps it alive.
 Mir. Root said: This building Is to be in it's most manifest utilitarian serv- ice. a convenient instrument for asso- ciation and growth of mutual knowl- edge among the people of the different republics. The library maintained here. the books and journals access sible here. the useful and interesting publications of the bureau. the enor- nous correspondence carried on with seekers for knowledge about Ameri- can countries, the opportunities now