The American republics are at this moment tightening their traditional
bonds at a congress of fraternity whose importance has been indicated by
the presence of our illustrious guest, who passes across the continent
as the herald of the civilization of a great people.
The world's conscience being awakened by the progress of public thought,
the members of the family of nations are trying to draw closer together
for the development of their activities, without fetters or obstacles,
under the olive branch of peace and the guaranty of reciprocal respect
for their rights.
International conferences are a happy manifestation of that tendency,
because, in the contact of representatives of the various states,
hindrances and prejudices are dissipated, and there is shown to exist in
the collective mind a common aspiration for the teachings of liberty and
justice.
America gives a recurring example of such congresses of peace and law.
As each one takes place it is evident that the attributes of sovereignty
of the nations which constitute it are displayed more clearly; that free
government is taking deeper root, that democratic solidarity is more
apparent, and that force is giving way more freely to reason as the
fundamental principle of society.
The congress of Rio de Janeiro has that lofty significance. Its
material, immediate consequences will be more or less important, but its
moral result will be forever of transcendent benefit--a new departure
and a step in advance in the development of liberal ideas in this part
of the American Continent.
Mr. Secretary of State, your country has taken gigantic strides in the
march of progress until it occupies a position in the vanguard. It has
set a proud and shining example to its sister nations.
As in the dawn of their emancipation it recognized in them the
conqueror's right to stand among the independent states of the earth, so
likewise it later stimulated the high aspiration to establish a
political system representing the popular will, now inscribed in
indelible characters in the preambles of American legislation.
The Argentine Republic, after rude trials, has completed its
constitutional regime, gathering experience and learning from the great
republic of the North.
The general lines of our organization followed those of the Philadelphia
convention, with the modifications imposed by circumstances, by the
irresistible force of tradition, and by the idiosyncrasies peculiar to
our race. The forefathers who drafted the Argentine constitution were
inspired in their work by those who, to the admiration of the world,
created the Constitution of the United States.
Many of our political doctrines are derived from the writings of
Hamilton, Madison, and Jay; the spirit of Marshall and Taney are seen in
the hearings of our tribunals; and even the children in our schools,
where they learn to personify the republican virtues, the love and
sacrifice for country, respect for the rights of man, and the
prerogatives of the citizen, speak the name of George Washington with
that of the foremost Argentines.
Our home institutions being closely united and the shadows on the
international horizon having disappeared, the Argentine Republic can
occupy itself in fraternizing with other nations; and, like the United
States, she aspires to strengthen the ties of friendship sanctioned by
history and by the ideal philanthropy common to free institutions.
Your visit will have, in this aspect, great results. We have invited you
to visit our territory in order to link the two countries more
intimately; and your presence here indicates that this noble object will
be realized, inspired as it is by the convenience of mutual interests
and the sharing of noble aims.
You are a messenger of the ideals of brotherhood, and as such you are
welcome to the Argentine Republic.
I salute you, in the name of the Government and the people who have
received you, as the genuine representative of your country, with that
sincere desire for friendship which is loyally rooted in the national
sentiment of Argentina.
Gentlemen: To the United States of America; to its illustrious
President, Theodore Roosevelt; to the Secretary of State of North
America, Honorable Elihu Root!