JJNITED states and LATIN AMERICA LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS Y LA AMERICA LATINA ADDRESS DISCURSO delivered by pronunciado por The President of the United States El Presidente de los Estados Unidos October 27, 1913 Octubre 27, 1913 before the en el Southern Commercial Congress Congreso Comercial del Sur held at celebrado en Mobile, Ala., U.S. A. Mobila, Ala., E.U.A. PAN AMERICAN UNION John Barrett, Director General FRANCISCO J. YANES, Assistant Director Washington, D. C. U.S. A. UNION PANAMERICANA John Barrett, Director General FRANCISCO J. YANES, Subdirector Washington, D. C. E.U.A. UNITED STATES AND LATIN AMERICA Address Delivered by the President of the United States, October 27, 1913, Before the Southern Commercial Congress, Held at Mobile, Alabama, U. S. A. Your Excellency^ Mr. Chairman : It is with unaffected pleasure that I find myself here to- day. I once before had the pleasure, in another Southern city, of addressing the Southern Commercial Congress. I then spoke of what the future seemed to hold in store for this region which so many of us love and towards the fu- ture of which we all look forward with so much confidence and hope. But another theme directed me here this time. I do not need to speak of the South. She has, perhaps, acquired the gift of speaking for herself. I come because I want to speak of our present and prospective relations with our neighbors to the south. I deemed it a public duty, as well as a personal pleasure, to be here to express for myself and for the government I represent the welcome we all feel to those who represent the Latin American states. The future, ladies and gentlemen, is going to be very different for this hemisphere from the past. These states lying to the south of us, which have always been our neighbors, will now be drawn closer to us by innumerable ties, and, I hope, chief of all, by the tie of a common under- standing of each other. Interest does not tie nations to- gether. It sometimes separates them ; but sympathy and understanding do unite them, and I believe that by the new route that is just about to be opened, while we physic- ally cut two continents asunder, we spiritually unite them. It is a spiritual union which we seek. LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS Y LA AMERICA LATINA Discurso Pronunciado por el Presidente de los Estados Unidos el 27 de Octubre de 1913, en el Congreso Comercial del Sur, Ce- lebrado en Mobila, Alabama, E. U. A. Excelentisimo Senor Gobernador; Senor Presidente: Estoy sinceramente complacido de hallarme entre vosotros. Ya una vez tuve el placer de dirigirme al Con- greso Comercial del Sur, en otra ciudad del Sur, y hable entonces de lo que el futuro parecia guardar para esta region, que tanto amamos algunos y al porvenir de la cual dirigimos todos la mirada con tanta fe y esperanza. Esta vez me ha inspirado otro tema. No tengo para que hablar del Sur ; esta region ha adquirido sin duda el don de hablar por si misma. He venido porque quiero tratar de nuestras relaciones presentes y futras con nuestros vecinos del Sur. Considero como un deber publico, a la par que un placer personal, hallarme aqui para expresar en mi nombre y en el del Gobierno que represento la bienvenida que todos ofrecemos a los representantes de los paises latinoame- ricanos. El porvenir, Senoras y Senores, sera para este hemisferio muy diferente de lo que fuera en epocas pasadas. Esas naciones que quedan al Sur de nosotros y que han sido siempre nuestros vecinos se nos acercaran mas por medio de innumerables vinculos, y espero que sea el mayor de todos la mutua buena inteligencia. El interes no une las naciones entre si. A veces las separa, pero la simpatia y la mutua inteligencia las une, y creo que por medio de esa nueva ruta que esta al abrirse, aun cuando fisicamente sepa- ramos dos continentes, los unimos moralmente. Es la union por el espiritu lo que buscamos. 4 I wonder if you realize, I wonder if your imaginations have been filled with the significance of the tides of com- merce. Your Governor alluded in very fit and striking terms to the voyage of Columbus; but Columbus took his voyage under compulsion of circumstances. Constantinople had been captured by the Turks and all the routes of trade with the East had been suddenly closed. If there was not a way across the Atlantic to open those routes again, they were closed forever, and Columbus set out, not to discover America, for he did not know that it existed, but to dis- cover the eastern shores of Asia. He set sail for Cathay and stumbled upon America. With that change in the out- look of the world, what happened? England, that had been at the back of Europe with an unknown sea behind her, found that all things had turned as if upon a pivot and she was at the front of Europe; and since then all the tides of energy and enterprise that have issued out of Europe have seemed to be turned westward across the Atlantic. But you will notice that they have turned westward chiefly north of the equator and that it is the northern half of the globe that has seemed to be filled with the media of intercourse and of sympathy and of common understanding. Do you not see now what is about to happen? These great tides which have been running along parallels of lati- tude will now swing southward athwart parallels of latitude, and that opening gate at the Isthmus of Panama will open the world to a commerce that she has not known before, a commerce of intelligence, of thought and sympathy, be- tween North and South. The Latin American states, which to their disadvantage, have been off the main lines, will now be on the main lines. I feel that these gentlemen honoring us with their presence today will presently find that some part, at any rate, of the center of gravity of the world has 5 Me pregunto si llegais a daros cuenta cabal, si vuestra mente esta penetrada de lo que significan las corrientes del comercio. Vuestro Gobernador hizo alusion en terminos tan justos como sabios al viaje de Colon; pero Colon em- prendio el viaje por fuerza de las circunstancias. Constan- tinopla habia sido capturada por los Turcos y todas las rutas comerciales que conducian al Oriente se habian cerrado repentinamente. Si por el Atlantico no habia un medio de volver a abrir esas rutas, quedarian cerradas para siempre. Colon no salio a descubrir America, porque ignoraba que existiese, sino a descubrir las playas orientales de Asia. Se dio a la vela con rumbo a Catay, y tropezo con America. Debido a este cambio en el futuro del mundo, ique sucedio? Inglaterra a las espaldas de Europa con un mar desconocido por detras, se encontro con que todo habia girado como sobre un eje y que se hallaba f rente a Europa, y desde en- tonces todas las corrientes de energia y espiritu de empresa que han partido de Europa parecen haberse dirigido al Occidente atraves del Atlantico. Notareis que se han di- rigido al occidente del Ecuador y principalmente al norte de este, y que es la mitad septentrional del globo la que ha parecido saturarse en el medio en que se desarrollan el trato, la simpatia y la comun inteligencia. iNo veis ahora lo que estaba proximo a suceder? Esas grandes corrientes que han venido encauzadas entre pa- ralelos de latitud, hoy tomaran rumbo al sur, atravesando esos mismos paralelos, y al abrir las puertas en el istmo de Panama, se abrira el mundo a un comercio que antes no habia conocido; comercio de inteligencia, de pensamientos y simpatias entre el norte y el sur. Las naciones latino- americanas que, con desventajas para si, se hallaban fuera de las vias principales, quedaran entonces dentro de ellas. Estoy convencido de que estos caballeros que hoy nos hon- ran con su presencia, veran pronto que por lo menos una 6 shifted. Do you realize that New York, for example, will be nearer the western coast of South America than she is now to the eastern coast of South America? Do you realize that a line drawn northward, parallel with the greater part of the western coast of South America, will run only about one hundred and fifty miles west of New York? The great bulk of South America, if you will look at your globes (not at your Mercator’s projection), lies eastward of the continent of North America. You will realize this when you realize that the Canal will run south- east, not southwest, and that when you get into the Pacific, you will be further east than you were when you left the Gulf of Mexico. These things are significant, therefore, of this, that we are closing one chapter in the history of the world and are opening another, of great, unimaginable significance. There is one peculiarity about the history of the Latin American states which I am sure they are keenly aware of. You hear of “concessions” to foreign capitalists in Latin America. You do not hear of concessions to foreign capi- talists in the United States. They are not granted con- cessions. They are invited to make investments. The work is ours, though they are welcome to invest in it. We do not ask them to supply the capital and do the work. It is an invitation, not a privilege ; and states that are obliged, because their territory does not lie within the main field of modern enterprise and action, to grant concessions are in this condition, that foreign interests are apt to dominate their domestic affairs : a condition of affairs always dan- gerous and apt to become intolerable. What these states are going to see, therefore, is an emancipation from the subordination, which has been inevitable, to foreign enter- prise and an assertion of the splendid character which, in spite of these difficulties, they have again and again been 7 parte del centre de gravedad del mundo se ha movido. ^Os dais cuenta de que Nueva York, por ejemplo, se hallara mas cerca de la costa occidental de Sud-America de lo que se encuentra de la oriental? ^Os dais cuenta de que una linea paralela a la porcion mas grande de la costa occidental de Sud-America, pasara a cosa de ciento cincuenta millas al oeste de Nueva York? La mayor porcion de Sud-America -—si examinais un globo terraqueo, no la proyeccion de Mercator — queda al este del Continente de Norte America. Cuando hayais visto que el Canal se extiende al Sudeste y no el Sudoeste, y cuando llegueis al Pacifico, os dareis cuenta de que os encontrais mas al este que cuando salisteis del Golfo de Mexico. Todo esto significa que estamos cerrando un capitulo en la historia del mundo y abriendo otro, de grande, inconmensurable significacion. Hay una particularidad en la historia de los paises latino- americanos de que estoy seguro ellos se dan cuenta cabal. Ois hablar de “concesiones” hechas a capitalistas extranje- ros en la America Latina. No ois que en los Estados Unidos se hagan concesiones a capitalistas extranjeros. No se les hacen concesiones; se les invita a hacer inversiones. La obra es nuestra, aun cuando se reciba con agrado lo que inviertan en ella. No se les pide que aporten el capital y hagan el trabajo. Se les hace una invitacion; no se les concede un privilegio. Los paises que por no hallarse dentro del campo mas- fertil de la empresa y la accion modernas se ven obligados a hacer concesiones, se encuentran en esta situacion: que los intereses extranjeros pueden llegar a dominar sus asun- tos internos, estado de cosas siempre peligroso y que corre el riesgo de hacerse intolerable. Lo que estos paises han de ver, pues, es la emancipacion de una subordinacion a empresas extranjeras que ha sido inevitable, y la imposiciorr able to demonstrate. The dignity, the courage, the self- possession, the self-respect of the Latin American states, their achievements in the face of all these adverse circum- stances, deserve nothing but the admiration and applause of the world. They have had harder bargains driven with them in the matter of loans than any other peoples in the world. Interest has been exacted of them that was not exacted of anybody else, because the risk was said to be greater; and then securities were taken that destroyed the risk, — an admirable arrangement for those who were forc- ing the terms! I rejoice in nothing so much as in the pros- pect that they will now be emancipated from these condi- tions, and we ought to be the first to take part in assisting in that emancipation. I think some of these gentlemen have already had occasion to bear witness that the De- partment of State in recent months has tried to serve them in that wise. In the future they will draw closer and closer to us because of circumstances of which I wish to speak with moderation and, I hope, without indiscretion. We must prove ourselves their friends and champions, upon terms of equality and honor. You cannot be friends upon any other terms than upon the terms of equality. You cannot be friends at all except upon the terms of honor. We must show ourselves friends by comprehending their interest, whether it squares with our own interest or not. It is a very perilous thing to determine the foreign policy of a nation in the terms of material interest. It not only is unfair to those with whom you are dealing, but it is degrading as regards your own actions. Comprehension must be the soil in which shall grow all the fruits of friendship, and there is a reason and a com- pulsion lying behind all this which is dearer than anything else to the thoughtful men of America. I mean the develop- 9 del esplendido caracter que, a pesar de esas dificultades, han sabido demostrar una y otra vez. La dignidad, el valor, la reserva contenida, el respeto propio de los paises de la America Latina, sus conquistas en faz de todas estas ad- versas circunstancias, solo merecen la admiracion y el aplau- so del mundo. For lo que a emprestitos se refiere, han sido, mas que ningun otro pueblo del mundo, victimas de nego- cios leoninos. Se les han hecho pagar intereses que ningun otro hubiera pagado, so pretexto de que el riesgo era mayor, y luego se han exigido garantias que destruian el riesgo — .jnegocio admirable para los que obligaban la aceptacion de seme j antes condiciones! Nada me contenta mas que la es- peranza de que se emanciparan ahora de esos gravamenes, y nosotros deberiamos ser los primeros en ayudar esa eman- cipacion. Creo que algunos de los senores aqui presentes han podido comprobar que el Departamento de Estado en los ultimos meses ha tratado de servirles en ese particular. En el porvenir se acercaran mas y mas a nosotros por cir- cunstancias que deseo mencionar con moderacion, y espero que sin indiscrecion. Debemos probar que somos sus amigos y campeones, en terminos de igualdad y honor. No se puede ser amigo, si no hay igualdad; no se puede ser amigo en absoluto, si no existe el honor. Debemos probar que somos sus amigos, que comprendemos sus intereses, aunque estos y los nues- tros no se avengan. Es muy peligroso fijar el rumbo de la politica extranjera de una nacion por el interes material. No solamente es injusto para aquellos con quienes tratamos, sino degradante por lo que a nuestras acciones respecta. La mutua inteligencia es el terreno abonado donde deben crecer todos los frutos de la amistad, y detras de todo esto existen una razon y una fuerza mas caras que todo para los pensadores de America. Me refiero a la expansion de 10 ment of constitutional liberty in the world. Human rights^ national integrity and opportunity as against material in- terests, — that, ladies and gentlemen, is the issue which we now have to face. I want to take this occasion to say that the United States will never again seek one additional foot of territory by conquest. She will devote herself to show- ing that she knows how to make honorable and fruitful use of the territory she has; and she must regard it as one of the duties of friendship to see that from no quarter are material interests made superior to human liberty and na- tional opportunity. I say this, not with a single thought that anyone will gainsay it, but merely to fix in our con- sciousness what our real relationship with the rest of America is. It is the relationship of a family of mankind devoted to the development of true constitutional liberty. We know that that is the soil out of which the best enter- prise springs. We know that this is a cause which we are making in common with our neighbors because we have had to make it for ourselves. Reference has been made here today to some of the na- tional problems which confront us as a nation. What is at the heart of all our national problems? It is that we have seen the hand of material interest sometimes about to close upon our dearest rights and possessions. We have seen material interests threaten constitutional freedom in the United States. Therefore, we will now know how to sym- pathize with those in the rest of America who have to contend with such powers not only within their borders but from outside their borders also. I know what the response of the thought and heart of America will be to the programme I have outlined, because America was created to realize a programme like that. This is not America because it is rich. This is not America be- 11 la libertad constitucional en el mundo. Los derechos humanos, la integridad nacional, la oportunidad, contra los intereses materiales es, Senoras y Senores, el problema a que debemos hacer frente. Quiero aprovechar esta ocasion para decir que los Estados Unidos jamas volveran a buscar un pie de territorio por conquista. Se empenaran en demostrar que saben como hacer uso honorable y prove- choso del territorio que poseen, y sera uno de sus deberes de amistad el vigilar por que bajo ningun concepto los in- teres materiales hayan de supeditar la libertad humana y la oportunidad nacional. Digo esto no porque abrigue el menor pensamiento de que haya quien lo ponga en tela de juicio, sino unicamente para fijar en nuestras conciencias cuales son nuestras verdaderas relaciones con el resto de la America. Son las relaciones de una familia de la humani- dad que se dedica al fomento de la verdadera libertad cons- titucional. Sabemos que ese es el campo que da mejores frutos, sabemos que esta es una causa que hacemos en comun con nuestros vecinos, porque hemos tenido que hacerla para nosotros mismos. Hoy se ha hecho referenda aqui a algunos de los proble- mas nacionales c[ue confrontan al pais. iQue es lo que existe en el fondo de todos nuestros problemas nacionales? Que hemos visto a veces la mano de los intereses materiales proxima a caer sobre nuestros derechos y propiedades mas queridos. Hemos visto que los intereses materiales amenazaban la libertad constitucional en los Estados Unidos. Asi, pues, hoy sabemos como simpatizar con los que en el resto de la America tienen que luchar contra esas fuerzas, no solamente dentro de sus fronteras, sino tambien fuera de ellas. Se como el cerebro y el corazon de America responderan al programa que he delineado, porque America fue creada para resolver un programa de ese genero. Esta no es America porque seamos ricos; no es America porque 12 cause it has set up for a great population great opportuni- ties of material prosperity. America is a name which sounds in the ears of men everywhere as a synonym with individual opportunity because a synonym of individual liberty. I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty. But we shall not be poor if we love liberty, because the nation that loves liberty truly sets every man free to do his best and be his best, and that means the release of all the splendid energies of a great people who think for them- selves. A nation of employees cannot be free any more than a nation of employers can be. In emphasizing the points which must unite us in sym- pathy and in spiritual interest with the Latin American peoples, we are only emphasizing the points of our own life, and we should prove ourselves untrue to our own traditions if we proved ourselves untrue friends to them. Do not think, therefore, gentlemen, that the questions of the day are mere questions of policy and diplomacy. They are shot through with the principles of life. We dare not turn from the principle that morality, and not expediency, is the thing that must guide us and that we will never condone iniquity because it is most convenient to do so. It seems to me that this is a day of infinite hope, of confidence in a future greater than the past has been; for I am fain to believe that, in spite of all the things that we wish to correct, the nineteenth century that now lies behind us has brought us a long stage toward the time when, slowly ascending the tedious climb that leads to the final uplands, we shall get our ultimate view of the duties of mankind. We have breasted a considerable part of that climb and shall, pres- ently, — it may be in a generation or two, — come out upon those great heights where there shines, unobstructed, the light of the justice of God. 13 para una gran poblacion tengamos grandes oportunidades de prosperidad material. America es un nombre que suena en los oidos de todos como sinonimo de oportunidad indi- vidual, por ser este sinonimo de libertad individual. Pre- fiero pertenecer a una nacion pobre pero libre, que a una nacion rica pero que ha cesado de amar la libertad. No seremos pobres si amamos la libertad, porque la nacion que ama la libertad, se la da a cada individuo para que proceda de la mejor manera y haga sus mejores esfuerzos, y esto importa el libre uso de todas las esplendidas energias de un gran pueblo que sabe pensar. Una nacion de empleados no puede ser mas libre que una de amos. A1 hacer hincapie en los puntos que deben unirnos en simpatia e intereses morales con los pueblos latinoame- ricanos, tan solo acentuamos los de nuestra propia vida, y seriamos desleales a nuestras tradiciones si no fuesemos sus leaks amigos. No creais, pues. Sen ores, que las cues- tiones del dia son simplemente cuestiones de politica y di- plomacia. Estan empapadas de los principios de la vida. No debemos olvidar la doctrina de que es la moralidad y no la conveniencia lo que debe servirnos de guia y que nunca hemos de perdonar la injusticia porque es mas conveniente hacerlo. Creo que este es un dia de esperanza infinita, de confianza en un porvenir mas grande que el pasado ; porque estoy seguro de que, a pesar de cuanto queremos corregir, el siglo XIX, que dejamos atras, nos ha acercado mucho al dia en que, subiendo lentamente la via que nos conduce a la meseta donde terminara el viajk, lleguemos a tener la ultima idea de lo que son los deberes de la humanidad. Hemos ganado ya gran parte de las cuesta y llegaremos— -dentro de una o dos generaciones — a esa altura donde brilla, sin obstaculos, la luz de la justicia de Dios. T he Pan American Union is an inter- national organization and office main- tained by the twenty-one American Republics, controlled by a Governing Board composed of the Secretary of State of the United States and the Diplomatic Repre- sentatives in Washington of the other Ameri- can nations, administered by a Director Gen- eral and Assistant Director chosen by this Board and assisted by a staff of statisticians, compilers, trade experts, translators, editors, librarians and clerks, and devoted to the development of commerce, friendly intercourse and better acquaintance among all the Ameri- can Republics. 1 A Union Panamericana es una Insti- i tucion y oficina internacional soste- nida por las 21 Republicas americanas, regida por un Consejo Directive compuesto del Secretario de Estado de los Estados Unidos y de los Representantes Diplomaticos en Washington de las otras naciones ameri- canas. La administran un Director General y un Subdirector, elegidos por dicho Consejo, y auxiliados por un personal de estadisticos, recopiladores, peritos mercantiles, traductores, redactores, bibliotecarios y escribientes, y se consagra al desarrollo del comercio, las rela- ciones amistosas y un mejor conocimiento mutuo de todas las Republicas americanas. *■' !'»f. ■; ■ M ■ •■ ' <• . I