Speech of His Excellency José Romeu
Minister for Foreign Affairs
At a Banquet given by him to Mr. Root, August 10, 1906
When, after plowing through the waters of the Caribbean Sea and running along the eastern coast of Brazil the North American cruiser Charleston entered the magnificent bay of Rio de Janeiro, I had the opportunity of sending to the illustrious representative of the United States, who today is our distinguished guest, a telegraphic greeting on the occasion of his arrival in South America and expressing the desire that his arrival might be the beginning of an era of fraternity and intercourse advantageous to all the nations of the American Continent.
The words of the telegram, the significant reply of the Secretary, and the very eloquent words he delivered before the Pan American Congress at Rio de Janeiro, are not a mere act of international courtesy; they are, in my judgment, the expression of the popular sentiment. They constitute the aspiration of all America. They express, at the least, the fervent desires of the Uruguayan people and of its Government, who see in the visit of the illustrious Secretary of State the foreshadowing of progress, of culture, and fraternity, which will bring the peoples closer together, contributing to their prosperity and to their greatness, through which they may figure with honor in the concert of civilized nations.
These sentiments, as is well known, have been increasing with the events that have made a vigorous people of the great northern republic, capable of preponderating in the destinies of humanity on account of the enterprising genius of all its sons, on account of the irresistible force of its energies and of its abundant riches; and, very especially, on account of its redeeming influence of republican virtues, a characteristic mark of the Puritan and the other elements which organized the Federal Government on the immovable base of liberty, justice, and democracy.
The pages of history show that the ideals of its own Constitution, like every great and generous ideal, passing over the distance from the Potomac to the banks of the River Plata, penetrated immediately to the farthest corner of the American Continent. There soon afterwards arose a new world of free countries where the undertakings of Solís or Pizarro and Cortés will initiate a civilization destined to prosper in the life-giving blast of liberty and in the vigorous impulse which democracy infused into the old organizations of the colonial régime. The example of the United States and its moral assistance animated the patriots.
Put to the proof in the memorable struggle for emancipation, its fortitude and its heroism overturned all obstacles until the desired moment of the consolidation, by its own effort, of the independence of the American Continent. Indeed, the influence of the United States in the diplomatic negotiations which preceded the recognition of the new nationalities, and the chivalrous declaration which President Monroe launched upon the world, contributed efficaciously to assure the stability of the growing republic. Its development and its greatness were, from that instant, intrusted to the patriotism of its sons, to the fraternity of the American peoples, and to the fruitful labor of the coming generations.
In spite of such social upheavals, which bring with them the ready-made collisions of arms, the antagonism of interests, and the struggle of ideas—inherent factors of every movement of emancipation—the nations of the new continent should not, nor will they, ever forget that from Spanish ground Columbus's three-masted vessel—a Homeric expedition—set forth, founders of numerous peoples and flourishing colonies, leaving in our land mementos, languages, customs, sentiments and traditions, which the evolutions of the human spirit do not easily obliterate. From noble France and its glorious revulsion against the remnants of feudalism arose the declaration of the rights of man and equitable ideas, which are faithfully portrayed in our democratic institutions. Italy, Germany, and Spain send to America a valuable contingent of their emigration. The currents of commerce and progress were at one time, and they are at the present time, largely fomented by the shipping and the capital of Great Britain. From the foreign office of that nation, among all the powers of old Europe, came the first disposition toward the recognition of American independence. All these circumstances are bonds which tie us to the European countries, but which do not hinder, nor can they hinder, our relations with the great northern republic, as with all those of Latin origin, always being cordially maintained, strengthened, and increased toward the ends of highly noble and patriotic progress, developing a world policy of wise foresight, tending to consolidate the destinies of the American countries.
Difficulties, soon to disappear, due to distance and lack of rapid and direct communications, have impeded the active interchange between the United States and this country, barring which no reason exists why their social and commercial relations may not be extended with reciprocal advantages.