PARÁ
Speech of His Excellency Augusto Montenegro
Governor of the State of Pará
In the City of Pará (Belem), at a Breakfast given by him to Mr. Root July 17, 1906
I will say but a few words in offering the health of Mr. Root, the very illustrious Secretary of State of the United States of North America. I regret exceedingly that Mr. Root should have only a few hours available to remain among us; but I know that his time is limited and that he cannot remain among us without inconvenience; however, I hope that these few hours which His Excellency has devoted to Pará will have been sufficient for him to carry away a good impression of this region. I also fervently hope that Mr. Root's visit may mark the beginning of a new era in the diplomacy of the two Americas, and that, if possible, it may contribute still further to a strengthening of the friendly ties which already bind the two republics together. I hope that Mr. Root will gather the very best impressions of the whole country from his other visits. I am certain that he will be received everywhere with that cordiality, hospitality, and affection which we proudly proclaim as being among the chief characteristics of the Brazilians. I drink to the health of Mr. Root and of the great and noble President of the United States of North America.
Reply of Mr. Root
I thank you most sincerely for your kind expressions and for your gracious hospitality. It is with the greatest pleasure that I have come to the great republic of Brazil, that I might by my presence testify to the high consideration entertained by the Republic of the North for her sister republic; that I might testify to the strong desire of the United States of America for the continuance of the growth of friendship between her and the United States of Brazil. Both of us—both of our countries,—have of recent years been growing so great and rich that we can afford now to visit our friends, and also to entertain our friends. Let us therefore know each other better. I am sure that the more intimately we know each other the better friends we shall be. I know that because I know the feelings of my countrymen, and I know it because I experience your whole-hearted hospitality.
It has been a delight for me to see your beautiful, bright, and cheerful city, which, with its people happy and giving evidence of well-being and prosperity, with its comfortable homes, with its noble monuments, with its great public buildings and institutions of beneficence, with its beautiful flowers and noble trees, justifies all that I had dreamed of in this august city of the great empire which reaches from the Amazon to the Uruguay.
I thank you for your reference to the President of the United States. His great, strong, human heart beats in unison with everything that is noble in the heart of any nation and with every aspiration of true manhood. Every effort tending to help a people on in civilization and in prosperity finds a reflex and response in his desire for their happiness. He is a true and genuine friend of all Americans, north and south. In his name I thank you for the welcome you have given me, and in his name I propose a toast to the President of the United States of Brazil.
PERNAMBUCO
Summary of Speech of His Excellency Sigismundo Gonçalvez
Governor of the State of Pernambuco
At a Breakfast given by him to Mr. Root, in the City of Pernambuco (Recife), July 22, 1906
His Excellency Sigismundo Gonçalvez, Governor of Pernambuco, said that he had never felt so strong a desire to speak English in order to express the satisfaction he felt at receiving the distinguished visitor, and after wishing the Secretary a very pleasant and prosperous voyage, proposed the health of President Roosevelt.[2]
Reply of Mr. Root
I regret in my turn that I cannot respond to you in the language of the great race which has made the great country of Brazil. I thank you both for myself and in behalf of my country for your generous hospitality and the friendship you have exhibited. It is the sincere desire of the President and of all the people of the United States to maintain with the people of Brazil a firm, sincere, and helpful friendship. Much as we differ, in many respects we are alike. Like yours, our fathers fought for their country against savage Indians. Like yours, our fathers fought to maintain their race in their country against other European races. It is a delight for me on these historic shores to come to this famous place, made glorious by such centuries of heroic, free, and noble patriotism. It is especially delightful for me to be welcomed here, where the cause of human freedom received the powerful and ever-memorable support of a native of Pernambuco, whose name is dear to me, Joaquim Nabuco—a name inherited from a distinguished ancestry by my good friend, your illustrious townsman, the present ambassador of Brazil to the United States. It is the chief function of an ambassador from one country to another to interpret to the people to whom he goes the people from whom he comes; and Joaquim Nabuco has presented to the people of the United States a conception of Brazilians, and especially of the men of Pernambuco, admirable and worthy of all esteem. He is our friend, and because he is our friend we wish to be your friends. I ask you to join me now in drinking to the health of the President of the republic of Brazil.