of the problem of peace against war and placed our Republic in the van, and he is to rank in history with the greatest benefactors of his race. The crime of war is inherent-it gives victory not to the nation that is right but to that which is strong. As I speak there comes to me a new poem, The New Age. I quote two verses When navies are forgotten And fleets are useless things, When the dove shall warm her bosom Beneath the eagle's wings, When memory of battles At last is strange and old, When nations have one banner And creeds have found one fold, In all God's worlds shall cease In the conquest which is service, With the words of Washington, the father of our country, in my heart: "My first wish is to see the plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth," I now join in dedicating this home of the Bureau of the American Republics to the highest of all its missions, the abolition of the crime of killing man by man as a means of settling international disputes. PRESIDENT TAFT. The President of the United States, William H. Taft, said: It is now nearly two years since my predecessor, Mr. Roosevelt, laid the cornerstone of this building and there testified to his interest, and the interest of the people whom he represented, in its construction and in its meaning. He added something to the enjoyment and interest of the occasion by differing somewhat from him who had made the occasion possible, Mr. Carnegie, as to the method by which peace should be obtained. But that they both were earnest and strenuous and determined to have peace, there was no doubt. I esteem it a great honor to the United States of America that the twenty other American Republics have consented that the home of the Bureau of American Republics should be here and upon this soil. As the elder sister of our twenty sisters, we take pride in the primogeniture. We are anxious to have each member of the family know that we believe in absolute equality in the family, and that there is nothing of preference which we insist upon because we are older, and, for the time being, can count more noses. The Bureau of American Republics was established, or suggested at least and carried into being, by that great Secretary of State, James G. Blaine. It has been made most effective by another great Secretary of State, Elihu Root. I am entirely relieved from embarrassment in this presence and at this function by being innocent of any direct official association with the Bureau of American Republics or the magnificent organization that we are here to commemorate, and, therefore, I can be impartial and comment on the fitting things that this occasion suggests. Elihu Root believes in architecture and the preservation of all forms of beauty, and, as a lover of that, he went in with enthusiasm to persuade Mr. Carnegie that this was the method of promoting peace, and at the same time to erect here a beautiful monument to art. His speech to-day was as perfect in its way as the architecture of this building. It is further fitting that this building should have been made possible by that man who is the most conspicuous man out of official life in the bringing about of universal peace. I wish to congratulate our sister republics upon the marvelous progress that they have made in the last two decades—in material advancement, and in that without which either spiritual or material advancement is impossible, in peace, in the stability of their government, in the consciousness that it is the annals of a peaceful, happy country that are tiresome. The few instances of disturbed countries that remain are being made less in number by the wonderful progress and prosperity of those who preserve the stability of their government by the peaceful rule of the majority. It goes without saying that in the foreign policy of the United States its greatest object is the preservation of peace among the American Republics. And it goes also without saying that the organization of the Bureau of American Republics, and the making of this family of American Republics, are events that tend more than anything else to the preservation of that peace, for we twenty-one republics can not afford to have any two or any three of us quarrel. We must stop. And Mr. Carnegie and I will not be satisfied until all nineteen of us can intervene by proper measures to suppress a quarrel between any other two. Of course, we are not all philanthropists, as Mr. Carnegie is, and we have an additional interest in the Bureau of American Republics and in the cultivation of good-will between the twenty-one republics in that we hope each of us may profit by the trade which will be promoted by our closer relations. This is the centennial year of many of the twenty-one republics, and it is very fitting that the building which represents their closer union should be dedicated in this year. There is only one other happy feature of the occasion to which I wish to refer, and that is the absolute fitness for the making of this Bureau a success, of Mr. John Barrett. He was born for it, and I hope he will continue to make it more and more useful as the years go on. For the present Secretary of State, I want to say-and I speak with modesty, because he and I are in the same administration-there is nothing that this Government can do to promote the solidity of the union between the twenty-one republics that meet here in this building in joint ownership, that he is not willing and anxious to do. And, if I have any influence with the administration, I propose to back him to the full in carrying this policy out. BISHOP HARDING. Right Reverend Bishop Alfred Harding, of Washington, delivered the following benediction: O Lord, our heavenly Father, the high and mighty Ruler of the Universe, who dost from Thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth, we invoke Thy blessing upon this temple of peace and upon the great purposes for which it has been builded, and upon those into whose hearts Thou didst put the thought, and to whom Thou hast given grace and power, faithfully to fulfill the same. We ask Thy blessing upon Thy servant, the President of the United States, and all others in authority in this land, and upon the Presidents and Rulers of our Sister Republics in this New World, that all their deliberations and actions may be guided to the promotion of unity, peace, and concord among the nations, and that the work of the Bureau of the American Republics may promote among the people of this continent and all nations "peace on earth, good will towards men." And may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight. Through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. GOVERNING BOARD OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION ARGENTINE REPUBLIC BOLIVIA BRAZIL CHILE COLOMBIA COSTA RICA CUBA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ECUADOR GUATEMALA HAITI HONDURAS MEXICO NICARAGUA PANAMA PARAGUAY PERU SALVADOR UNITED STATES URUGUAY VENEZUELA (March, 1911) Señor Don Rómulo S. Naón, Minister Plenipotentiary Señor Don Jacinto L. Villegas, Chargé d'Affaires. Señor Don Alberto Yoacham, Chargé d'Affaires. Señor Don Francisco de P. Borda, Minister Plenipotentiary. Señor Don Felipe Pardo, Minister Plenipotentiary. ex officio of the Board. Señor Doctor Alfredo de Castro, Chargé d'Affaires. Señor Don P. Ezequiel Rojas, Minister Plenipotentiary. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS JOHN BARRETT, Director General of the Pan American Union. FRANCISCO J. YÁNES, Assistant Director and Secretary of the Governing Board. |