Chapter 1

Produced by Irma Špehar, Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)

LATIN AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES

ADDRESSES BY ELIHU ROOT

COLLECTED AND EDITED BY ROBERT BACON AND JAMES BROWN SCOTT

CAMBRIDGE HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1917

COPYRIGHT, 1917 HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

CONTENTS

Page INTRODUCTORY NOTE ix FOREWORD xiii

SPEECHES IN BRAZIL

RIO DE JANEIRO At the Third Conference of the American Republics: HIS EXCELLENCY JOAQUIM NABUCO, President of the Conference 3 MR. ROOT, Honorary President 6 MR. MARIANO CORNEJO, Delegate from Peru 11 HONORABLE A. J. MONTAGUE, Delegate from the United States. 13 HIS EXCELLENCY BARON DO RIO BRANCO, Honorary President 13

At the Banquet of the Minister for Foreign Affairs: HIS EXCELLENCY BARON DO RIO BRANCO 14 MR. ROOT 15 DR. JAMES DARCY 16 MR. ROOT 17

In the Federal Senate: SENATOR RUY BARBOSA 19 SENATOR ALFREDO ELLIS 28

In the Chamber of Deputies: DR. PAULA GUIMARÃES 30 MR. ROOT 31

SÃO PAULO At a Mass-Meeting of Law School Students: MR. THEODOMIRO DE CAMARGO 35 MR. GALAOR NAZARETH DE ARUJO 36 MR. GAMA, JR 36 MR. ROOT 38

At a Football Game: MR. ROOT 40

SANTOS At the Commercial Association: DR. REZENDE 41 MR. ROOT 42

PARÁ At a Breakfast given by the Governor: HIS EXCELLENCY AUGUSTO MONTENEGRO 45 MR. ROOT 45

PERNAMBUCO At a Breakfast given by the Governor: SUMMARY OF SPEECH OF HIS EXCELLENCY SIGISMUNDO GONÇALVEZ 47 MR. ROOT 47

BAHIA At a Banquet given by the Governor: HIS EXCELLENCY JOSÉ MARCELINO DE SOUZA 48 MR. ROOT 50 SENATOR RUY BARBOSA 52

SPEECHES IN URUGUAY

MONTEVIDEO At a Banquet of the Minister for Foreign Affairs: HIS EXCELLENCY JOSÉ ROMEU 55 MR. ROOT 58

At a Banquet given by the President of Uruguay: HIS EXCELLENCY JOSÉ BATLLE Y ORDÓÑEZ 60 MR. ROOT 63

At a Breakfast by the Reception Committee: DR. ZORRILLA DE SAN MARTÍN 65 MR. ROOT 69

SPEECHES IN ARGENTINA

BUENOS AYRES In the Chamber of Deputies: HONORABLE EMILIO MITRE 73

At a Banquet given by the President of Argentina: HIS EXCELLENCY J. FIGUEROA ALCORTA 81 MR. ROOT 84

At a Reception by American and English Residents: MR. FRANCIS B. PURDIE 86 MR. ROOT 90

At a Banquet at the Opera House: DR. LUIS M. DRAGO 93 MR. ROOT 97

SPEECHES IN CHILE

SANTIAGO At the Government House: HIS EXCELLENCY JERMÁN RIESCO 103 MR. ROOT 103

At a Banquet given by the President of Chile: HIS EXCELLENCY ANTONIO HUNEEUS 104 MR. ROOT 109

SPEECHES IN PERU

LIMA At a Banquet given by the President of Peru: HIS EXCELLENCY JOSÉ PARDO Y BARREDA 113 MR. ROOT 114

Banquet of the Minister for Foreign Affairs: HIS EXCELLENCY JAVIER PRADO Y UGARTECHE 116 MR. ROOT 123

Reception at the Municipal Council: DR. FEDERICO ELGUERA 127 MR. ROOT 129

At an Extraordinary Session of the Senate: SENATOR BARRIOS 130 MR. ROOT 132

University of San Marcos: DR. LUIS F. VILLARÁN 133 DR. RAMÓN RIBEYRO 136 MR. ROOT 140

SPEECHES IN PANAMA

PANAMA In the National Assembly: HIS EXCELLENCY RICARDO ARIAS 145 MR. ROOT 148

SPEECHES IN COLOMBIA

CARTAGENA At a Breakfast by the Minister for Foreign Affairs: HIS EXCELLENCY VÁSQUEZ-COBO 153 MR. ROOT 154

THE VISIT TO MEXICO

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS At a Banquet by the International Club: MR. ROOT 159

NUEVO LAREDO GENERAL PEDRO RINCÓN GALLARDO 161 MR. ROOT 162

CITY OF MEXICO At a Banquet at the National Palace: PRESIDENT DÍAZ 162 MR. ROOT 164

At a Reception at the Municipal Palace: GOVERNOR GUILLERMO DE LANDA Y ESCANDÓN 165 MR. ROOT 167

Reception by the Chamber of Deputies: LICENTIATE MANUEL CALERO 168 MR. ROOT 174

Luncheon by the American Colony: GENERAL C. H. M. Y AGRAMONTE 177 MR. ROOT 179

Mexican Academy of Legislation and Jurisprudence: LICENTIATE LUIS MÉNDEZ 181 LICENTIATE JOAQUÍN D. CASASUS 184 MR. ROOT 188

Banquet of the American Ambassador: AMBASSADOR THOMPSON 192 VICE-PRESIDENT CORRAL 192 MR. ROOT 193 LICENCIADO DON JOSÉ IVES LIMANTOUR 195

Banquet of the Minister for Foreign Affairs: LICENTIATE IGNACIO MARISCAL 198 MR. ROOT 199

Farewell Supper given by Mr. Root: MR. ROOT 202 VICE-PRESIDENT CORRAL 203

PUEBLA At the Governor's Banquet at the Municipal Palace: GENERAL MUCIO P. MARTÍNEZ 204 MR. ROOT 205

ORIZABA Luncheon at the Cocolopan Factory: GOVERNOR D. TEODORO A. DEHESA 206 MR. ROOT 206

GUADALAJARA GOVERNOR AHUMADA 208 MR. ROOT 209

ADDRESSES IN THE UNITED STATES ON LATIN AMERICAN RELATIONS

THE CENTRAL AMERICAN PEACE CONFERENCE 213 Opening Address, Washington, D. C., December 13, 1907 214 Closing Address, Washington, December 20, 1907 217

THE PAN AMERICAN CAUSE 219 Response to the Toast of the Ambassador of Brazil at a dinner in honor of the Rear-Admiral and Captains of visiting Brazilian ships, Washington, D. C., May 18, 1907

THE PAN AMERICAN UNION 223 Address at the laying of the corner stone of the building for the Pan American Union, Washington, D. C., May 11, 1908 228

Address at the dedication of the building, Washington, D. C., April 26, 1910 231

OUR SISTER REPUBLIC--ARGENTINA 235 Address at a Banquet of the Chamber of Commerce, New York, April 28, 1893

OUR SISTER REPUBLIC--BRAZIL 239 Address at a Banquet of the Chamber of Commerce, New York, June 18, 1913

HOW TO DEVELOP SOUTH AMERICAN COMMERCE 245 Address before the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress, Kansas City, Missouri, November 20, 1906

SOUTH AMERICAN COMMERCE 269 Address at the National Convention for the Extension of the Foreign Commerce of the United States, Washington, D. C., January 14, 1907

INDIVIDUAL EFFORT IN TRADE EXPANSION 283 Address at the Pan American Commercial Conference, Washington, D. C., February 17, 1911

THE SECOND PAN AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS 291 Address of Welcome, Washington, D. C., December 30, 1915

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

The collected addresses and state papers of Elihu Root, of which this is one of several volumes, cover the period of his service as Secretary of War, as Secretary of State, and as Senator of the United States, during which time, to use his own expression, his only client was his country.

The many formal and occasional addresses and speeches, which will be found to be of a remarkably wide range, are followed by his state papers, such as the instructions to the American delegates to the Second Hague Peace Conference and other diplomatic notes and documents, prepared by him as Secretary of State in the performance of his duties as an executive officer of the United States. Although the official documents have been kept separate from the other papers, this plan has been slightly modified in the volume devoted to the military and colonial policy of the United States, which includes those portions of his official reports as Secretary of War throwing light upon his public addresses and his general military policy.

The addresses and speeches selected for publication are not arranged chronologically, but are classified in such a way that each volume contains addresses and speeches relating to a general subject and a common purpose. The addresses as president of the American Society of International Law show his treatment of international questions from the theoretical standpoint, and in the light of his experience as Secretary of War and as Secretary of State, unrestrained and uncontrolled by the limitations of official position, whereas his addresses on foreign affairs, delivered while Secretary of State or as United States Senator, discuss these questions under the reserve of official responsibility.

Mr. Root's addresses on government, citizenship, and legal procedure are a masterly exposition of the principles of the Constitution and of the government established by it; of the duty of the citizen to understand the Constitution and to conform his conduct to its requirements; and of the right of the people to reform or to amend the Constitution in order to make representative government more effective and responsive to their present and future needs. The addresses on law and its administration state how legal procedure should be modified and simplified in the interest of justice rather than in the supposed interest of the legal profession.

The addresses delivered during the trip to South America and Mexico in 1906, and in the United States after his return, with their message of good will, proclaim a new doctrine--the Root doctrine--of kindly consideration and of honorable obligation, and make clear the destiny common to the peoples of the Western World.

The addresses and the reports on military and colonial policy made by Mr. Root as Secretary of War explain the reorganization of the army after the Spanish-American War, the creation of the General Staff, and the establishment of the Army War College. They trace the origin of and give the reason for the policy of this country in Cuba, the Philippines, and Porto Rico, devised and inaugurated by him. It is not generally known that the so-called Platt Amendment, defining our relations to Cuba, was drafted by Mr. Root, and that the Organic Act of the Philippines was likewise the work of Mr. Root as Secretary of War.

The argument before The Hague Tribunal in the North Atlantic Fisheries Case is a rare if not the only instance of a statesman appearing as chief counsel in an international arbitration, which, as Secretary of State, he had prepared and submitted.

The political, educational, historical, and commemorative speeches and addresses should make known to future generations the literary, artistic, and emotional side of a statesman of our time, and the publication of these collected addresses and state papers will, it is believed, enable the American people better to understand the generation in which Mr. Root has been a commanding figure and better to appreciate during his lifetime the services which he has rendered to his country.

ROBERT BACON. JAMES BROWN SCOTT. APRIL 15, 1916.

FOREWORD

The visit of the Secretary of State to South America in 1906 was not a summer outing. It was not an ordinary event; it was and it was intended to be a matter of international importance. It was the first time that a Secretary of State had visited South America during the tenure of his office, and the visit was designed to show the importance which the United States attaches to the Pan American conferences, and by personal contact to learn the aims and views of our southern friends, and to show also, by personal intercourse, the kindly consideration and the sense of honorable obligation which the Government of the United States cherishes for its neighbors to the south without discriminating among them, and to make clear the destiny common to the peoples of the western world. These were the reasons which prompted Mr. Root to undertake this message of good will and of frank explanation, and these were also the reasons which caused the President of the United States in his message to Congress to dwell upon the visit, its incidents and its consequences. Thus President Roosevelt said in his message of December 3, 1906:

The Second International Conference of American Republics, held in Mexico in the years 1901-02, provided for the holding of the third conference within five years, and committed the fixing of the time and place and the arrangements for the conference to the governing board of the Bureau of American Republics, composed of the representatives of all the American nations in Washington. That board discharged the duty imposed upon it with marked fidelity and painstaking care, and upon the courteous invitation of the United States of Brazil, the conference was held at Rio de Janeiro, continuing from the twenty-third of July to the twenty-ninth of August last. Many subjects of common interest to all the American nations were discussed by the conference, and the conclusions reached, embodied in a series of resolutions and proposed conventions, will be laid before you upon the coming-in of the final report of the American delegates. They contain many matters of importance relating to the extension of trade, the increase of communication, the smoothing away of barriers to free intercourse, and the promotion of a better knowledge and good understanding between the different countries represented. The meetings of the conference were harmonious and the conclusions were reached with substantial unanimity. It is interesting to observe that in the successive conferences which have been held the representatives of the different American nations have been learning to work together effectively, for, while the First Conference in Washington in 1889, and the Second Conference in Mexico in 1901-02, occupied many months, with much time wasted in an unregulated and fruitless discussion, the Third Conference at Rio exhibited much of the facility in the practical dispatch of business which characterizes permanent deliberative bodies, and completed its labors within the period of six weeks originally allotted for its sessions.

Quite apart from the specific value of the conclusions reached by the conference, the example of the representatives of all the American nations engaging in harmonious and kindly consideration and discussion of subjects of common interest is itself of great and substantial value for the promotion of reasonable and considerate treatment of all international questions. The thanks of this country are due to the Government of Brazil and to the people of Rio de Janeiro for the generous hospitality with which our delegates, in common with the others, were received, entertained, and facilitated in their work.

Incidentally to the meeting of the conference, the Secretary of State visited the city of Rio de Janeiro and was cordially received by the conference, of which he was made an honorary president. The announcement of his intention to make this visit was followed by most courteous and urgent invitations from nearly all the countries of South America to visit them as the guest of their Governments. It was deemed that by the acceptance of these invitations we might appropriately express the real respect and friendship in which we hold our sister republics of the southern continent, and the Secretary, accordingly, visited Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Panama, and Colombia. He refrained from visiting Paraguay, Bolivia, and Ecuador only because the distance of their capitals from the seaboard made it impracticable with the time at his disposal. He carried with him a message of peace and friendship, and of strong desire for good understanding and mutual helpfulness; and he was everywhere received in the spirit of his message. The members of government, the press, the learned professions, the men of business, and the great masses of the people united everywhere in emphatic response to his friendly expressions and in doing honor to the country and cause which he represented.

In many parts of South America there has been much misunderstanding of the attitude and purposes of the United States toward the other American republics. An idea had become prevalent that our assertion of the Monroe Doctrine implied, or carried with it, an assumption of superiority, and of a right to exercise some kind of protectorate over the countries to whose territory that doctrine applies. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Yet that impression continued to be a serious barrier to good understanding, to friendly intercourse, to the introduction of American capital and the extension of American trade. The impression was so widespread that apparently it could not be reached by any ordinary means.

It was part of Secretary Root's mission to dispel this unfounded impression, and there is just cause to believe that he has succeeded. In an address to the Third Conference at Rio on the thirty-first of July--an address of such note that I send it in, together with this message--he said:

We wish for no victories but those of peace; for no territory except our own; for no sovereignty except the sovereignty over ourselves. 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, and we deem the observance of that respect the chief guaranty of the weak against the oppression of the strong. We neither claim nor desire any rights or privileges or powers that we do not freely concede to every American republic.

These words appear to have been received with acclaim in every part of South America. They have my hearty approval, as I am sure they will have yours, and I cannot be wrong in the conviction that they correctly represent the sentiments of the whole American people. I cannot better characterize the true attitude of the United States in its assertion of the Monroe Doctrine than in the words of the distinguished former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Doctor Drago, in his speech welcoming Mr. Root at Buenos Ayres. He spoke of--

the traditional policy of the United States, which, without accentuating superiority or seeking preponderance, condemned the oppression of the nations of this part of the world and the control of their destinies by the Great Powers of Europe.

It is gratifying to know that in the great city of Buenos Ayres, upon the arches which spanned the streets, entwined with Argentine and American flags for the reception of our representative, there were emblazoned not only the names of Washington and Jefferson and Marshall, but also, in appreciative recognition of their services to the cause of South American independence, the names of James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Richard Rush. We take especial pleasure in the graceful courtesy of the Government of Brazil, which has given to the beautiful and stately building first used for the meeting of the conference the name of "Palacio Monroe." Our grateful acknowledgments are due to the Governments and the people of all the countries visited by the Secretary of State, for the courtesy, the friendship, and the honor shown to our country in their generous hospitality to him.