Chapter 17

The desire to advance a degree towards the assurance of intimate relations and greater friendship has caused us to accept with pleasure the kindly and gracious invitation of President Díaz to visit Mexico--a visit which shall remain a source of pleasure during all of my life, and during which I have received proofs of friendship and kindness and generous hospitality beyond anything I expected, and for which I beg you, citizens of Mexico, to kindly accept my sincerest gratitude.

RESPONSE OF SEÑOR LICENCIADO DON JOSÉ IVES LIMANTOUR

MINISTER OF FINANCE

You have come to this country with the assurance, often reiterated and always received with applause, of close and sincere brotherly feeling between our two countries, the permanence of which is guaranteed by our common ideals and our mutual respect.

Your mission challenges our warmest sympathy. Voices more authoritative than mine have informed you of this fact, and the attitude of the Mexican people is its corroboration. You have been the apostle of a grand idea, the most vital, perhaps, of any affecting the international politics of this continent and assuredly the only one capable of harmonizing the interests and the hearts of all the inhabitants of the New World. This idea consists in laying down, as the invariable basis for the relations of the countries of America with one another, the sacred principles of justice, and the territorial integrity of each one of them.

Such being the pledge which we have from your lips, and feeling confident that the immense majority of your countrymen endorse the declaration to that effect made by you during your memorable journey of last year, and during the journey that is now in progress, we welcome you as one welcomes a loyal and disinterested friend, without the mental reservation that one sometimes feels in clasping the hand of the great, and moved by the hope of thus contributing, in the best manner possible, to us, towards the realization of an aim that is commended by a high and enlightened patriotism.

Mexico's course for the future is clearly marked out, at any rate as far as human foresight can safely reach. Her geographical situation and the conditions governing the international politics of America assure her, as long as the views which you have proclaimed with a conviction so sincere, predominate in your country, the tranquillity in her international relations which she needs in order to devote herself to intellectual culture and to the development of her abundant and varied natural resources, while at the same time offering hospitality to all well-meaning persons who bring here their contingent of industry and civilization. With a program such as this, it has been easy--and will be still more easy in the future--to regulate our conduct towards you, the citizens of the great nation beyond the Río Grande. You will always be welcome, as it is right and proper that useful and agreeable neighbors who give proofs of their desire to be on good terms and to coöperate in all of the works of progress, should be; and I believe that you are quite convinced that both out of interest and good-will, the Mexican people will offer you every facility that may enable you to take an active part in the social and economic development of this republic.

It is far from my thoughts, at the present moment, to extol the virtues and the good qualities of my countrymen. I may be permitted, however, as a minister of finance, to say a few words in regard to one or two economic facts that have an important bearing on business relations.

Mexico, at the present time, as you well know, is not a country exclusively engaged in mining and farming, but also carries on an extensive commerce and possesses fairly prosperous manufacturing industries. There are many lines of activity demanding industry, intelligence, and capital, and there is an ample field for the utilization of all elements of that nature coming to us from abroad. But a point which all persons interested in Mexico's business affairs will do well to realize is the honesty and prudent habits which characterize mercantile transactions in this country. "Booms" and "bluffs" are exotic plants which can with difficulty be acclimatized here, and speculative combinations rarely enter into the calculations of the merchant.

A single example will suffice to illustrate the characteristics to which I am referring. In that period of stress from 1892 to 1894 when the country, after suffering the loss of several harvests in succession and the ravages of a severe epidemic, was further tried by sudden depreciation of silver, which in the course of a few months cut the gold value of our currency in half, every one thought that the economic constitution of the nation would not be able to withstand shocks so repeated and formidable; and yet we continued to meet our debts with religious punctuality and it was noted with surprise that not a single failure of importance occurred in any part of the republic.

We may be charged with undue timidity, with slender experience, in certain methods that are common elsewhere in the initiation of business undertaking. But these deficiencies and others which no doubt are ours will not debar us, let us hope, from being permitted to join the grand onward march of humanity, and particularly of that portion of the human family inhabiting the New World, towards higher conditions of physical and moral welfare.

Gentlemen, let us raise our glasses to the health and happiness of our distinguished guest and his most estimable family. Let us drink to the hope that his countrymen, taking to heart the gospel which he has proclaimed throughout the length and width of America, may become the firmest guarantors of lasting peace between the two nations, consolidated by warmth of mutual regard and the continued growth of common interests.

BANQUET OF THE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SPEECH OF LICENTIATE IGNACIO MARISCAL

October 7, 1907

Your presence amongst us as our illustrious guest is an event which will leave a mark in the history of Mexico, for yours is not only the visit of a most distinguished American, but also of the best representative, without the usual credentials, of a great government and a great people. The fact that your visit aims at no diplomatic business, except the tightening of the bonds of friendship between our two countries, has made it the more important and congenial to all Mexicans. Some years ago we had here other prominent and representative Americans, such as General Grant and the Honorable William H. Seward, who came as friendly visitors wanting to know Mexico personally and be known by us. Their flying visits did a great deal of good in promoting official and popular relations, for they tended to a real sisterhood between the two republics of North America. Yours, sir, will complete that most important international work, since your high personality is eminently qualified, especially under the present circumstances, to increase the admiration and respect of all my thinking fellow-citizens for the country of Washington, Lincoln, and Grant.

We know, sir, as the whole world knows, the considerable part you have taken in the peace-promoting, civilizing foreign policy of President Roosevelt, and we fully appreciate your frequent, unequivocal demonstrations of amicable feeling toward our government and our people. For that reason you have been cordially welcomed by us as a friend coming among true friends. May your brief sojourn in this country leave you a souvenir as pleasant as the one it has already engraved in our memory and our hearts.

Seeking to show you our sincere esteem and regard, I propose a toast to your honor, not as a ceremonious courtesy, but as a really heartfelt sentiment:

"Brindemos, Señores, por nuestro ilustre huésped, el Honorable Señor Elihu Root."

MR. ROOT'S REPLY

It is my happy fortune to reap where others have sown and enter into the fruits of others' labors. When Mr. Seward and General Grant visited Mexico, your people, sir, were little known to the people of the United States. The shadow of a war still recent in the memory of men hung over the relations that existed between the two countries, the shadow of a war which, thank Heaven, would now be impossible. The commanding personality of General Grant made his warm friendship for Mexico the beginning of a new era of feeling and appreciation on the part of the people of the United States; and now I come in response to the kind and hospitable invitation of your distinguished President, not to mark out the pathway to friendship, but as the representative of an existing feeling of friendship on the part of my countrymen.

I have been deeply appreciative of all the delicate courtesy, the warmth of friendship and hospitality which have welcomed me and my family here. But I was not surprised. It is but in conformity with all the relations which have existed between the department of foreign affairs of Mexico and the department of foreign affairs of the United States, since you, sir, have held your present eminent position.

I wish not merely to express grateful appreciation for the kindness I have received here, but to express the same sentiment for all that you have done and all you have been in the relations between the two countries. The unvarying courtesy, the genuine and sincere desire for the reasonable and friendly disposal of all questions that have arisen between the two countries, which have characterized the office of foreign affairs of Mexico have been a great factor in bringing about the happy relations that now exist. And we may say, with gratification, that there are no questions between Mexico and the United States which can give the slightest apprehension or cause the slightest concern as to their easy and satisfactory adjustment.

Of course, between two countries with so long a common boundary, whose citizens are passing to and fro, whose citizens are investing money, each in the country of the other, questions are continually arising; but the all-important element for the decision of every question, the good understanding, kindly feeling, and the habit of conducting relations upon the basis of reason and friendship, practically disposes in advance of all questions which can arise.

I suppose it is impossible to read the history of any country without feeling that the mistakes in its history have been the result of a shortsighted, narrow view on the part of its statesmen, its rulers, its legislators, under the influence at a particular time of particular local conditions.

We can all of us look back in the history of our own country and of other countries and see how we now, with a broader view and free from the prejudices of the hour, would settle questions and solve difficulties in a far more satisfactory way.

I suppose that the true object which should be held before every statesman is so to deal with the questions of the present that the spirit in which they are solved will commend itself to the generations of the future.

I think, sir, that the government of Mexico has attained that high standard of statesmanship to an extraordinary degree. It certainly has done so in its relations with the government of the United States; and as a result of the reasonable and kindly way in which we have been treating each other for these past years we behold not merely the fact that of your $240,000,000 of foreign trade, two-thirds of your exports are purchased by the United States and two-thirds of your imports are purchased from the United States; not merely that of your vast exports to the United States, notwithstanding our high protective policy, nine-tenths are free from all duty; not merely that $700,000,000 of capital of the United States has been invested in your thriving and progressive enterprises, so that, while for three centuries and a half the people of Mexico were hiding their wealth under the ground to keep it from being taken away from them, now for a quarter of a century you have been taking out from under the ground a wealth far surpassing any dreams of avarice in the days of old. But more than all that, there has grown up and is continually developing between the people of the two countries a knowledge of each other, an appreciation of each other, a kindly feeling toward each other, which make for the perpetuity of good government in both countries and for the development of all the finer and better qualities of citizenship in both countries; which will help both of us to advance along the pathway of progress; which will make every school in Mexico in which the future government and rulers of this vast land are being trained a better school, and make every school in the United States a better school; which will make every officer conscious of being one of a community of nations, conscious of having in his charge the good name of the country which is known to the people of the whole continent, a better officer than he would be if he were responsible only to his narrow community. As the result of these kindly relations we see two happy, progressive, prosperous nations; and, sir, it is my sincere hope that following the footsteps of the great Americans you have named, through your kindness and hospitality I may be able to add my little contribution toward this great work of national benefit and of international advancement in the cause of liberty, justice, and humanity.

FAREWELL SUPPER GIVEN BY MR. ROOT

SPEECH OF MR. ROOT

October 7, 1907

On the evening of the day of the banquet of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the lower terrace of the castle where a series of apartments had been assigned to his party, Mr. Root gave a farewell supper to the members of the Government, the diplomatic corps, the Entertainment Committee, and numerous other Mexican notables.

This is the last opportunity I shall have in the City of Mexico to express to you my gratitude and keen appreciation for all your very great kindness to us during our visit to Mexico.

I came here with my mind filled by the idea of two countries, the United States of America and the United Mexican States, rather an abstract and cold conception. Gradually there has emerged from the sea of faces that I looked upon on entering Mexico, one by one, a group of lovely women and of fine and noble gentlemen, and beside the conception of two countries becoming more and more friendly to each other, there has come a realization that I have gained new friends--a most grateful and most delightful thing. I shall never forget you, my friends; I shall never forget your courtesy and your kindness, and I know I can say the same for Mrs. Root, and I beg to offer a toast to the personnel of the administration of President Díaz, a personnel which is more delightful and will be met with more pleasure than it was possible for me to conceive before coming here, and as I leave you I shall feel that with my limited Spanish, which consists of not more than a half a dozen words, I have, however, the most valuable words in the language in being able to say: "Hasta luego."

RESPONSE OF SEÑOR CORRAL

Señor Ramón Corral, Vice-President of the Republic, made the following response to this farewell address:

Since you have set foot on our soil we have had occasion to observe the high and well-merited opinion which you entertain of our president, General Porfirio Díaz, and of his splendid and statesmanlike achievements, and if to this be added your own well-known merits, your lofty character, and the sagacious, yet kindly notice you have taken of all that you have seen, no wonder that you have won, not our admiration, not our respect, not our good-will, for all these were yours already, but something more intimate, something that dwells deeper in the recesses of the heart--our affection.

Henceforth, sir, in addition to your high claims as an illustrious statesman and wise administrator, you have from us the endearing title of friend, a friend who appreciates us with fairness, who will rejoice at our future triumphs in the arena of progress, who will lament our misfortunes, who will applaud our victories and will encourage us in our discomfitures.

For some time past, especially since you undertook the noble task of proclaiming justice and righteousness as the basis for the relations of the republics of America with one another, we have followed with the liveliest interest your glorious career, of which the goal is the promotion of ideals of human fraternity. We have admired you, we have applauded you as one applauds the eloquence of wise and good men. But henceforth a current of profound sympathy will flow between you and us, and our admiration and applause will reach you, quickened by the vibrations of our enthusiasm.

Soon you will return to your own country, that splendid country where everything is great from the cataclysms of nature to the manifestations of freedom. Our most fervent desire is that you may take away an impression of Mexico and of her people as agreeable and affectionate as that which you leave behind, and that, in justice toward us, you will tell those among your countrymen who do not yet know us, that ours is a civilized nation, working out its greater welfare, educating itself intellectually, living and desiring to remain in peace with itself and in peace with all who respect its rights,--in a word, living up to its mission as a free and honorable community. Tell your President that in Mexico we appreciate and applaud his great and noble efforts in behalf of his country and in behalf of the peace of other nations, and that when his name is pronounced by us, it is pronounced with expressions of respect and homage for his good qualities.

Receive, sir, these words, which are the expression of sentiments that are sincere, as a new demonstration to yourself and to your distinguished family of our feelings of esteem and our desire for your happiness.

PUEBLA

SPEECH OF GENERAL MUCIO P. MARTÍNEZ

GOVERNOR OF PUEBLA

At a Banquet at the Municipal Palace, October 9, 1907

A poetic tradition of our aborigines has been kept, and still lives--transmitted from generation to generation of the races that people our wooded mountains and smiling plains; this tradition teaches us that to illustrious guests, above all to those who come like you as messengers of peace on earth and good-will to men, should be offered as an emblem of sincere and respectful affection, the richest of fruits, the handsomest of flowers, and the most delicious of dishes.

A reception such as the one now being given to your excellency and those nearest and dearest to your heart, must be, no doubt, inferior in magnificence to the welcome tendered to such illustrious guests in other countries; but believe me, none has ever surpassed our sincerity, because Mexico, as it is the first to admire brilliant careers in politics, in science, in art, in industry, and in commerce, takes pleasure in offering you its most cordial attentions with no other desire than to make your stay in this republic as pleasing as possible and to show you that this country is an ardent admirer of yours and takes pleasure in calling itself a sister of the United States not only because of geographical contiguity, but also because of the liberty and freedom of its institutions.

I therefore pray that your excellency accept this humble repast as a token of the most affectionate hospitality tendered you by me in the name of the people of Puebla, and I beg you to convey to the illustrious President of the American Union the brotherly regard we all have for him.

REPLY OF MR. ROOT

I am greatly pleased by this delicate hospitality which is like the traditional hospitality of the Mexican nation. I shall personally convey to President Roosevelt the message of cordial welcome and good-will shown by this city, and it will undoubtedly contribute to further the good work undertaken by President Roosevelt to uphold justice and protect the rights of humanity. I shall also bring to President Roosevelt's attention the assurances of this country to protect the happiness and prosperity of the people. I cannot help remembering that when foreigners came to Puebla in hostile manner they were shown that Puebla knows how to defend its rights. It is also pleasing to me to see the ability of the Mexican people to govern themselves: nations like Mexico and the United States which have given proof of this ability may well boast that they belong to those which form the vanguard of modern civilization.

ORIZABA

SPEECH OF SEÑOR D. TEODORO A. DEHESA

GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF VERA CRUZ

At a Luncheon at the Cocolopan Factory, October 10, 1907

In your honor, and as a testimony to your personal worth and sterling character, as a representative of the great American people, I take particular pleasure in tendering to you this lunch. The occasion gives rise to the thought that your Washington and our Hidalgo were the instruments chosen for planting the sacred tree of national independence now so deeply rooted in our respective countries, and which has brought forth the fruit of liberty to nourish the people of the United States and Mexico.

Here in Orizaba you have seen, Mr. Secretary, some evidences of the material advances made by our country, which to a man of your broad views and lofty ideals I must believe are pleasing. These are blessings that we owe to peace. Those two great statesmen and lovers of peace--Roosevelt and Díaz--are one in desire and endeavor to preserve peace, not only to secure its benefits for their own people, but to extend its beneficent sway over the whole American continent.

Such a purpose commands the respect and admiration of the world. I invite all present to join me in drinking to our illustrious and most welcome guest, whom we all so much admire for his many distinguished qualities--extending to him and to his charming family our best wishes for health and happiness.

REPLY OF MR. ROOT

This cordial welcome has not been a surprise to me, as I already knew of the qualities of the Governor of Vera Cruz. By this time, I have become accustomed to the hospitable character of the Mexicans; but notwithstanding this, it has been very pleasing and gratifying to me to receive these demonstrations from the people of Vera Cruz whose frankness of disposition is well known. I appreciate your words very highly, Mr. Governor, and I thank you for them as I do the residents of Orizaba.

It is but right for you Mexicans to remember Washington, as it is for us Americans to remember Hidalgo and the other heroes of Mexican history together with our own. I firmly believe that Mexico has passed beyond the state in which civil dissensions devastated this fortunate country, and that in the future there will be no door open to internal strife, thanks to the wise administration and foresight of the great statesman Porfirio Díaz.

How true it is that the beautiful and the useful can be combined: here in Orizaba I find the proof of this truth, as in the midst of the natural beauty of the scenery offered by the exuberant vegetation and the lovely peak crowned with snow--the proud sentinel of the state of Vera Cruz--stand as signs of progress the important factories we have just visited.

Mr. Governor, I feel grateful for the frank reception of which I have been the object, and I hope that Mexico will continue to progress and develop as well as the United States, and that both nations will render mutual assistance to each other and avail themselves of the prosperous or unprosperous occurrences adopting the one or the other as lessons of experience for humanity in order to demonstrate to natives and foreigners the excellences of the republican form of government.

GUADALAJARA

SPEECH OF GOVERNOR AHUMADA

October 14, 1907