The standard and observance of justice should bring about the definite disappearance of the disagreements which may have caused separation among the South American countries, just as family quarrels are effaced on the exhibition of a just and generous sentiment of sincere brotherhood and harmony which vibrates throughout this continent as an intense aspiration of the American soul, and as a noble ideal of concord and of justice.
It is never too late to recognize what is right and to proceed with rectitude. My memory suggests an important event some few years back in the history of the relations between Peru and the United States, described most correctly by the representative of your government as one of those most worthy of note in the annals of diplomacy. I refer to the serious question which arose in 1852 between our respective countries relative to the Lobos guano islands, when the United States held that they did not belong to the territory and sovereignty of Peru, and that as they had been occupied by American citizens your country would uphold these parties in the work of exploitation; but as soon as the Government of the United States, after a lengthened and lively controversy, became convinced of the right which Peru had on her side, it at once spontaneously put an end to the question by a memorable note of its Secretary of State, recognizing the absolute sovereignty of Peru over those islands and declaring that "he makes this avowal with the greater readiness, in consequence of the unintentional injustice done to Peru, under a transient want of information as to the facts of the case."[3]
When powerful nations, laying aside the instruments of oppression and violence which they have in their hands, rise to such a height of moral elevation, universal respect and sympathy will form the unfading halo of their grandeur.
And thus it happened with the United States of America; and Peru has now the honor once more to express its thanks for the generous friendship and constant interest with which the United States have always paid attention to everything affecting the welfare and progress of our country.
Peru, which is the depositary of the secrets of wondrous and unknown civilizations; which possesses great historical traditions; which was long ago the metropolis of this continent, and then a Spanish colony; which has an enormous extent of territory, with the most varied and wonderful climates and wealth; after grievous domestic and foreign vicissitudes, has firmly taken in hand the great work of its reorganization; has acquired the knowledge of its public and private duties; has given vigor to its character and to its spirit of enterprise; has founded industries and labor centers; has fostered agriculture, mining, and commerce; is using every effort to foster public instruction, increasing the number of schools throughout the country and giving civic education to its children; constructing railroads and public works of national and future interest; opening the minds and intelligence of its people to the currents of culture and modern progress, and endeavoring to establish a solid and well-directed public administration; her fiscal revenues, her trade, and the general capitalization of fortunes have reached in a few years an extraordinary development which demonstrates the potentiality of the country. Enjoying public peace, she is using every effort to maintain a policy of frank understanding and friendship with all nations, and sustains the principle of arbitration for the solution of all her international controversies, thus giving evident proof of the rectitude of her sentiments, and that the only settlements which she defends and to which she aspires are the honorable settlements dictated by right.
These ideas are likewise yours, Mr. Root. And I invite you, gentlemen, to unite with us in expressing the hope that the principles proclaimed by our enlightened guest, to whom we today offer the homage of our respect and sympathy, may everlastingly rule in America.
Reply of Mr. Root
I should be insensible, indeed, were I not to feel deeply grateful for your courtesy, your hospitality, and your kindness; nor can I fail to be gratified by the words of praise which you, Mr. Minister, have spoken of my beloved country, and by the hearty and unreserved approval with which you have met my inadequate expression of the sentiments the people of my country feel toward their sister republics of South America. The words which you have quoted, sir, do represent the feelings of the people of the United States. We are very far from living up to the standards which we set for ourselves, and we know our own omissions, our failings, and our errors; we know them, we deplore them, and we are constantly and laboriously seeking to remedy them; but we do have underneath as the firm foundation of constitutional freedom, the sentiments which were expressed in the quotations which you have made.
No government in the United States could maintain itself for a moment if it violated those principles; no act of unjust aggression by the United States against any smaller and weaker power would be forgiven by the people to whom the government is responsible.
Mr. Minister, my journey in South America is drawing to a close. After many weeks of association with the distinguished men who control the affairs of the South American republics, after much observation of the widely different countries I have visited, it is with the greatest satisfaction that I find, in reviewing the new records of my mind, that the impressions with which I came to South America have been confirmed—the impression that there is a new day dawning, a new day of industry, of enterprise, of prosperity, of wider liberty, of more perfect justice among the people of the southern continent.