RECEPTION AT THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL
Speech of Doctor Federico Elguera
Mayor of Lima
September 10, 1906
The citizens of Lima welcome you and are glad to have you amongst them.
You arrive at the capital of Peru, after visiting the leading cities in South America and receiving the greetings so justly due the great American nation and your own personal merits.
You are an ambassador of peace, a messenger of good will, and the herald of doctrines which sustain America's autonomy and strengthen the faith in our future welfare.
The wake left by the vessel which has brought you hither serves as a symbol, indicating union, fraternity, and friendship between the northern and southern states of this continent.
You have been able to form a general opinion as to the present state of the political, economical, and social development of Latin America. You also know now what her resources are and to what conditions the growth and progress of this southern continent are due.
After visiting prosperous countries, whose peaceful labor on behalf of civilization has not been disturbed by the sorrows of war, you reach a land where once flourished the greatest empire which ever arose in America.
You have arrived at the ancient metropolis of Spanish America; you are now at the heart of a nation which attracted the world's attention in former days on account of its greatness and the treasures it possessed—a nation which fought the final battles for independence; and, more important than all, a country which, having been shaken and convulsed by dissension, has risen once more to a life of well-being through a supreme effort of will and a firm belief in its future.
The Peru you are visiting is not only the country of olden times, which tradition has made known for its fabulous wealth, but it is a modern country, versed in the principles of order, industry, and labor.
Nations which live exclusively on the wealth given them by nature make no effort to become greater, nor do they consider their future welfare, but perish, crushed by those whose envy and greed they excite.
On the other hand, those countries whose prosperity is based on the principles of justice, trade, and peace attain success and incite others to follow, contributing thus to the great work of universal civilization.
Unfortunately, this peace, based on those principles, must be sustained abroad, following the example of the Old World, by the acquisition of elements of warfare only useful for the destruction and ruin of men and progress, wasting the national vitality and prosperity, earned by dint of the labors of the citizens and the products of the resources that nature has given.
To change this system for another which will insure to our nations the tranquil possession of what lawfully belongs to them, allowing them to devote their efforts fearlessly to their own advancement, is the noble work to which the endeavors of the great nation which has risen up in the New World should be directed, just as the sun rises in the celestial dome to give light, heat, and life; to maintain the equilibrium and prevent the collision of lesser stars.
Such ideals of civilization and fraternity have always guided the conduct of Peru, whose influence and predominance in other times enabled her to watch over justice, to render assistance to the weak, to fight oppression, and to defend the rights of America.
For this reason we heartily sympathize with the doctrines you proclaim; for this reason we extend to you, with sincere regard, the hand of friendship; for this reason we feel satisfaction and pride when we behold the marvelous progress of your country.
When nations succeed in reaching the degree of prosperity at which yours has arrived they do not excite envy, but emulation; they do not inspire fear, but confidence.
Ere long the vigorous arm of your people will tear away the strip of land which still keeps us apart; and in the union of the two oceans surrounding our hemisphere may we hope that the spirits of Washington and Bolívar will watch the maintenance of peace and justice and follow the destinies of the republics they created.
Mr. Root, may the days you are about to spend amongst us be happy and agreeable, and may their memory ever accompany you, as ours will ever retain the grateful impression of your visit.
Reply of Mr. Root
I beg you to believe that I appreciate most highly your kind welcome and the friendly terms with which you have greeted me. I did not feel as though I were coming among strangers when I entered Peru; I do not feel that I am treading on unknown soil when I set foot upon the streets of your famous and historic city. I think no city in the world, certainly no city in the western hemisphere, is better known in the United States of America then the city of Lima. Almost every schoolboy in the United States has read in the books of our own historians the story of the founding of this city. We all know the wonderful and romantic history of your four centuries of life; we all know the charms, the graces, and the lovable qualities of your people.
We know that you are the metropolis of a people who carry the art of agriculture to the highest degree of efficiency, a people frugal, industrious, and of domestic virtue. We have seen with gratification that you are becoming also the metropolis of a people capable of winning from your mountains the inexhaustible wealth they contain, the metropolis of a great mining people; and within the past few years we have rejoiced to see that you are also on the road to become the metropolis of a great manufacturing people.
We have read, too, the story of your struggles—first for independence, then for liberty, then for justice and order and peace; and with the memory of our own struggles for liberty and justice, with the experience of our own trials and difficulties, rejoicing in our own success and prosperity, Mr. Mayor, the feeling of sympathy and rejoicing in your success in overcoming the obstacles that have stood in your way, in your growth in capacity for self-government, in the continuing strength of all the principles of justice and of order and of peace, is universal in my country and among my people.
So I come to you not to make friends, but as a friend among friends. I thank you with all my heart, both for myself and for my people, for the kindness of your welcome and for what I know to be the sincerity of your friendship.