Americans resident in Buenos Ayres and in the Argentine Republic are
sensible of the honor you have done them by accepting their invitation
for this evening, and they appreciate most highly the courtesy of the
Argentine Government, whose distinguished guest you are, in allowing
them this coveted privilege. As Americans we welcome you to Buenos
Ayres, and it is our earnest hope that your visit here will bind more
closely the ties of friendship which unite the great republics of the
North and of the South, and that the knowledge you will gain of this
great country and of its magnificent resources will lead to more
familiar intercourse and to that good understanding which should exist
between nations governed by like principles, living under constitutions
framed in a like spirit, and having similar national aims.
This gathering is the result of a public meeting called immediately
after it was learned that you had accepted the invitation of the
Argentine Government to visit this city. It was a meeting typically
American, which had no dividing line on the question that our Secretary
of State was a man whom we would all delight to honor. The executive
committee of the North American Society of the River Plata was intrusted
with the arrangements. We believe you should know something of that
society. Organized only last November, it embraces in its membership
practically every American in Buenos Ayres. For its age, I am not afraid
to say that it is the most flourishing social organization that has ever
been established in this country. What is the object of the society?
Not, I conceive, such as will arouse antagonism or jealousy in the mind
of any man. As set forth in the preamble to its constitution, it is: "To
keep alive the love of country and foster the spirit of patriotism,...
and for such other purposes as will advance the interests of our
country, encourage and maintain friendly relations with the country of
our residence, and assist in promoting closer commercial union between
the United States and the countries of the River Plata."
It is an organization framed in the spirit of our beloved Lincoln, "with
malice toward none." The society has no political aim or purpose. It
plots for nothing but the well-being of all, and wishes for nothing less
than the prosperity of the home land and the land of our residence. Its
members are imbued with that spirit which is the characteristic
American attitude toward all nations and peoples, the spirit of "live
and let live." Apart from all that your visit may mean in international
comity, it means much to us here; for you, Mr. Secretary, are the very
living embodiment of the spirit to which I have referred, that broad
Americanism which does not seek to advantage itself by intruding on the
rights of others. Every speech made by you since leaving home has been
an inspiration to us, and has strengthened us in our determination to
live up to the principles upon which our society is founded.
But it is not alone the Americans in Buenos Ayres who have come here
tonight to greet you, and who have wished to do you honor. Your kinsmen
from across the sea are here in their hundreds, for when it became known
that such a reception as this was contemplated, the requests for the
privilege of joining with us were so great in number that the sincerity
of the English-speaking people could not be questioned, and the American
society welcomed the opportunity to invite as its guests as many of the
representative British and other English-speaking residents of Buenos
Ayres as this hall can hold; and there is represented here every
important public interest and private enterprise in this republic, and I
have the honor, in their name as well as in the name of your countrymen,
to assure you that you are in the house of your friends.
I have told you, Mr. Root, what your countrymen feel about your coming
here; I have referred to the cordial sympathy shown by the
English-speaking residents; and it is with feelings of genuine pleasure
that I now make reference to the attitude of the Argentine Government
and the Argentine people. This reference will not be my personal view
alone; it is the expression of the feelings of representative Americans
in this city which has been voiced at every meeting we have held within
the past few weeks. The Argentine people are, and wish to remain, the
friends of the United States. Our committees have had the privilege of
holding interviews with high officials of the government, with various
committees of the leading citizens; and we have been convinced of the
genuine nature of the reception prepared for you. This is too proud a
nation to pretend that which it does not feel, and the history of Buenos
Ayres will convince any student that this city has never been afraid to
speak out, to applaud or condemn as its judgment dictated. The
government officials have been sincerely cordial, and they have not been
content merely to express their wish to give us every friendly help;
they have, apart from their own magnificent preparations, given the
Americans here material assistance.
The world owes much of its progress to opposing views, and the
healthiest nations have the strongest political parties taking differing
views upon questions of national policy, and these parties reach the
public by means of the newspapers. The Argentine Republic is not an
exception, but I doubt if there has ever been a theme upon which the
press of this country has been so united as that honor should be shown
to you. I speak for Americans when I say that in the Argentine Republic
we have found a home where absolute freedom is ours,--freedom in every
walk of life; freedom for conscience; freedom to live, move, and have
our being as God and our own wills may lead us. There are Argentines
here tonight who are not one whit behind us in their enthusiasm for you
and for all that you represent, and there is a group here of Argentines
who have graduated from American colleges, who wish to say to you that
next to their own country they revere the United States of America. You
now know, Mr. Root, what friends you have before you, and we all bid you
welcome, thrice welcome, to Buenos Ayres.