occupied your high position. Among them any distinction on the
ground of their merits would be fated to be unjust; a few names,
however, that shine more vividly in history, such as those of Jefferson,
Monroe, Webster, Clay, Seward, and Blaine--the latter the creator of
these conferences--suffice to show abroad that the United States have
always been as proud of the perfection of the mould in which their
Secretaries of State have been cast and as zealous in this respect as
they have been in the case of their Presidents. We fully appreciate the
luster added to this conference by the part you take in it tonight. It
is with sincere gratification that we welcome you. Here, you may be
sure, you are surrounded by the respect of our whole continent for your
great nation; for President Roosevelt, who has shown himself during his
term of office, and will ever remain, whatever position he may choose to
occupy in public life, one of the leaders of mankind; and for yourself,
whose sound sense of justice and whose sincere interest in the welfare
of all American nations reflect the noblest inspiration that animated
the greatest of your predecessors.

This voyage of yours demonstrates practically to the whole world your
good faith as a statesman and your broad sympathy as an American; it
shows the conscientiousness and the care with which you wish to place
before the President and the country the fundamental points of your
national external policy.

You are now exploring political seas never navigated before, lands not
yet revealed to the genius of your statesmen and toward which they were
attracted, as we are all attracted one to another, by an irresistible
continental gravitation. We feel certain, however, that at the end of
your long journey you will feel that, in their ideals and in their
hearts, the American republics form already a great political unit in
the world.

SPEECH OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE

HONORARY PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE

I beg you to believe that I highly appreciate and thank you for the
honor you do me.

I bring from my country a special greeting to her elder sisters in the
civilization of America.

Unlike as we are in many respects, we are alike in this, that we are all
engaged under new conditions, and free from the traditional forms and
limitations of the Old World in working out the same problem of popular
self-government.

It is a difficult and laborious task for each of us. Not in one
generati