Eureka Reporter | 1909-11-19 | Page 8 | Meetings of American Presidents Section

NM avel HAT the un ted states a and d alex ico leo are daily practicing the les E sons of peace is shown in the T thousands thousand of miles of practically i unguarded border which half a century ago demanded thousands of troops for prOtect protection ln if any additional guarantee was needed it was shown in the recent exchange of visits between president taft of the united states and president diaz of mexico it required a special concession from the mexican congress in order that the illustrious mexican might cross the border to grasp the hand of the man who has been honored with the highest of the united baates president taft set aside precedent and crossed over into mex ico to return the isit and the many pleasing incidents con cou necked nith his brief sojourn on foreign soil emphasized the friendly relations that exist between the two countries there haie been meetings in the past between betheen presidents of american republics chien were fraught with much of historic significance to the people they represented great affairs of state hae hane been discussed in this manner with consequences of great benefit to the countries involved in the j jear ear 1822 the port of tr G ecuador was the scene of one of the ica bolivar the most notable events in the history of amer liberator of the northern tor thern provi provinces rices and san martin the liberator of the southern brov inces met er for a conference that decided the de detiny detilly tilly of south america bolivar was certain that his bis genius mould be rewarded by the honor of the election to the first presidency of the country to which he had gh en freedom san martin had he but asked it could I 1 have become the elected head of a 7 a cyse TWO new now nation san martin withdrew however the war against spain had still months to run before a constitution could be made effective and there fore this holed hoj ed for first meeting of presidents was have been only a dream that might history shows that th struggle for liberty continued for a generation beyond the elections of the first presidents in many of the republics of america early meetings may have taken place between some of them for the purpose of informal discussion uon tion concerning unsettled policies of cons titu and government but there are scant evidences of any such personal perso al communication one meeting however is recorded which was fruitful fruit of results that inal encee the future develon ment of the region of the raier rn er plate this occurred in the year 1865 at that time the war in paraguay had reached a crisis the ille argentine republic uruguay Ll fuguay and brazil had decided to combine forces against president lopez of paraguay but at the moment harmony of action had been lacking because of incie finiteness of purpose among the three rep blics it was tl it en that president flores of uru guay crossed cro sed to buenos aires to confer with pres dent bartolome Dar mitre of tha th argentine republic he was das receded in state but the council was one for military tie deliberation liberation rathe than for official and diplomatic ceremony the braz lian ilan minister was called to this meeting and the e three agreed upon an all off ensile and defensive alliance the cor consequences of which are see in the na dional boundaries of to day in disturbances of this nature a president was apt to be not only the constitutional but also the actual corn com mandarin man derin in hief of the army of his country experience on the field was an essential factor for success in the chair A tar off reflection of the glories of cleav might have been the ambition of many of these leaders if the strong love tor for constitutional republicanism had not held them and the people in check meetings of american presidents therefore have in the great majority of cases taken place as a matter of ne and to strengthen the ties of friendship chic i 1 must as time passes draw closer to each other the blies of the new world their purpose has been alto gether one of peace A notable instance of such a confer ence is shown by the meeting held at corinto on august 40 21 1904 whon the presidents of nicaragua honduras and fe alvador and a special delegate from the president of guatemala GLat emala ol with the express intention of foster ing by all i honorable ono rable means the peace of cen aral america the four governments thus rep resented lesen ted manifested manifest pd a decided moral resolve to harmonize the ambitions of each for the good of all steps like this lead to beneficial ances and undoubtedly the sympathetic expression of 0 regard between these ne ghiors made easi r the brilliant peace conference held by the five republics cs of central america under secretary Secie tary roots guidance in the closing months of 1907 cariti central at AL america merica probably leads in the i urn her ber of cases when presidents have grasped i or 01 e another by the hand and d among ahr themselves bv oral communication affairs fairi af and policies tl ti ey were elected to guard it id ih not a long journey from one capital to another and between contiguous seaports the distance di stance Is so clort sl ort tint that informal meetings are easy eaby of accomplishment the president of kahador and tl q president of guatemala have more than once excl doged personal greetings in fact gen barr darr os while chief execl tive of guatemala Giat emdia emala was an attentive host for tl e lents tents of costa rica and of honduras during ta two 0 adm visited him the presidents of costa rica and of nicaragua Mcara gua once met on the frontiers of the cs es and so rap adly are the means of communication be ing extended in this century that undoubtedly many similar meetings will be arranged in the future tor for the benefit of this central american confraternity with the growing demand tor for mutual un der standing and the absence of all that dan ger which has so frequently attended the visits of turo rulers outside the confines of their own nations these international visits are becoming more and more frequent some times they are of an informal nature the president traveling in his private capacity and being welcomed a as a foreign guest simply some years ago president Zaid ivar of salva dor came to the united states and was received as befitted his position president igle bias sias of ol costa rica just before his brother en the naval aval academy at annapolis trav cled incognito through the united states and wai ag entertained by president MeRi mckinley tiley in washington Nas hington he has always looked back upon that event with a kindly memory many years before that however gen barrios while president of guatemala visited the in RIM aa 47 I 1 A 3 k ca 4 k e ine fine republic bv the president of brazil in 1900 gen julio A roca was in his sec see ond end term as president of the argen tine republic he had served his country long and faithfully in many positions of trust and was recognized in europe where he had traveled ex ten as one of the most capable men of his generation dr campos cu UM jiw K V h x W W f t I 1 kev V ft 0 it A I 1 RV 9 AW abw cars as united states and so cordial was his recep lion don here that his g vern ment made this event the subject of a communication to the government of the united states A former pr eident of the united states wis was also a traveler into a foreign land al at though it was at the time a favorite subject of arg meat ment whether he stepped on foreign soil in november 1906 president roosevelt Hoo sevelt mide his trip of inspection to panama he ile was formally received by bv pres dent amador by officials of the government and informally he met the president of panama on several occasions subsequently what mient be called a return visit of presidents was made shortly after this by pres dent amador of panama who came to the united states in november 1907 he was not in good health however and could not receive the attention which would otherwise have been given him What whatever eier meeting took place bt between him and president roosevelt was of the simplest possible nature tace occasions have not lacked in ceremony although in most case it has been the lal ial traveling in a quasi private capac ity rather than the representative of a nation who was the recipient of the honors bestowed by a nation upon a distinguished guest al though the personality of a president has always been a factor in his reception the cere mony morly has been doubly imbres im ine when he has been formally and by premed tation invited to visit a foreign country and a different people from his own such visits have been rare even everi in america and when thel the occur are of more than passing interest especially in latin america too where the people take delight in ceremony and where their artistic in appreciates the value of the event an occasion of this kind becomes a wonderful agent in increasing friendship and mutual un standing der it is pi therefore to record two brilliant instances of the meeting of two great presidents of american republics arranged as an affair of state and ca ned ried out with all the pageantry for which the acnes were so well fitted reference is made tu t the visit paid to the president of brazil by t I 1 president of the argentine republic in august 1899 and to the return visit baj pa 1 to the pre lorit lo rit of the argen 4 salles had bad assumed the presidency of brazil in 1898 I 1 his ils early life had been passed under the empire but the spirit of the age had fired his re publican sm and despite all the trad eions of an hereditary aristocracy he had devoted his genius and his energy to the establish ment and perpetuation of the new republic the argentine republic Pe public and brazil ha have long beedon been on fr endly footing but sepa rated as their capitals are by 1 1000 miles of ocean or by an equal number of miles of almost forest they have not always been able abl to find opportunity to meet in intimate friend friendship hip for this reason and be cause the times seemed fa for expressions of personal and national regard these visits were arranged beav between een the two nations it was the first time in the history of cf south america that an official visit was paid by one president of a republic to mother another A squadron of the navy escorted president roca to rio janeiro where the brazilians were lavish in their hos vitality pita lity the city was en fete tor for days and the enthusiasm of the people was the best evidence of the success of the hitherto un tried event the argentine republic not to bo be outdone in a display of hospitality and friendship trade even een moie mole elaborate prepa rations for the visit of president cam pos salles the following year buenos aires v vas as decorated in all the perfection of which that beautiful city is capable the people demonstrated that their friendship and hos vitality pita lity was as sincere and spontaneous as that of the r neighbors and the impressions of good will left on each other ho however neer much it may be foi founded on sentiment have un carried far reaching consequences in the hearts of the citizens of these two republics visits of courtesy of an informal nature ate are becoming more and more frequent as good f ip spreads from nation to nation an in tance well ir point is seen in the pro poked call at rio de janeiro brazil of dent montt of chile who will pay his respects to the president of drazic brazil when he returns from europe early in the coming year ale Me tings on the boundary between nations are of a somewhat different character and cannot from the very ery nature of the locality be surrounded adith ath the elaborateness of cere mony attainable in a nation nations s capital they have a worldwide world wide significance however since they show that ien lel s can shake hands across the border and that what they I 1 ke to do in brotherly affe affection tion the neighboring people will do also another good result of such a meeting is the direct benefit upon the people of the region through which a pres dent travels for it brings him into touch with many persons and conditions he might not see otherwise wie and carries evidence to all alike that he is their executive official as well as that of the residents of the capital of the nation consequences 0 great benefit for foi in stane stan e followed tl e meeting in id 1899 between president roca ot of the argentine republic and president preside rit errazuriz ot of chile in the strait of magellan they dis die cussed practical affairs the administration of t their air respective resPect he offices and the mutual relation of their governments to the people peoples s welfare but more than that the visit furnished an object les son to each president ot of the needs and require ments of the growing territory through which he had to pass the inhabitants of the south and southwestern united states never cease to be grateful for the presidential visit paid to them in 1901 new orceals s although once the capital of a vast territory acquired by a president of the united states years before had never seen a head ot of the nation until president me ale kinley came this trip was continued with equally lasting benefits through texas new mexico arizona and california it was in el paso texas that a meeting had been ar ranged between president mckinley and pres ident diaz of mexico but the poor health of HP wm IT rn bi al mt 11 ao f the latter prevented him from making such long journea away from his home and in h stead he delegated several high officials the mexican government to meet and gre president McKin lyon on the international across the rio grande connecting the tw republics