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Show mSeIT UNDER DISCUSSION TWENTY-ONE REPUBLICS OF WESTERN HEMISPHERE REPRESENTED REPRE-SENTED AT CONFERENCE. President Wilson in Message From Sick Room Declares That Pan-America Pan-America Seeks No Selfish Purpose in Assisting Reconstruction. Washington. Marked by the presence pres-ence of leading financiers and business busi-ness men of the twenty-one republics of the western hemisphere, the second sec-ond pan-American financial conference opened here on January 19 for the consideration of international problems prob-lems arising from the return of peace. President Wilson from his sick room sent a message of greeting to the ministers min-isters of finance and other prominent visitors, declaring that pan-America sought no selfish purpose in assisting world reconstruction, and would regard It as a privilege to fulfill the obligations obliga-tions imposed by the great advantage enjoyed by the peoples of these republics. repub-lics. Secretary Lansing brought out the same idea in addressing the delegates when he said the Americas accepted the burdens thrust upon the new world by the war, and would press forward confidently to the better days of the future. Welcoming the visitors to the building build-ing of the Pan-American Union, where the general sessions are being held, John Barrett, director general, spoke of the tmion's moral influence in "preserving "pre-serving peace and building up commerce." com-merce." Secretary Glass, president general of the conference, occupied the chair at the opening session, which was followed fol-lowed by an informal luncheon given by the federal reserve board and the United States section of the international interna-tional high commission. |