Any other nation may accept this treaty and become a party thereto, by signing a
copy thereof and depositing the same with the Government of the United States ;
whereupon the said Government shall communicate this fact to the other contracting
parties.
690 Z\K pan^Bmcrican Conference : H|.">pen^iJ.
In testimony whereof the luuiersigned plenipntentiaries have hereunto aftixed their
signatures and seals.
Done in the city of Washington, in copies in English, Spanish, and Portu
guese, on this zSth day of the month of April, one thousand eight hundred and
ninety.
Juan Fr.\nxisco Vel.arde, Jacinto Castellanos,
For the Republic of Bolivia. ^ For Salvador.
James G. Bi.aine,
J. M. P. C.WVMANO, Pqj. ^,^g United States of America.
For the Republic of Ecuador. (gigned .-.fter April 28, .890, on receipt of
Fernando Cruz, instructions.)
For the Republic of Guatemala. Salvador de Mendonc^a,
,T -, For the United States of Brazil.
Hannibal Price,
For the Republic of Haiti. N. Bolet Peraza,
Jost Andrade,
Jeronimo Zelaya, ■' ^ , ,, . J o
For Honduras ^°'' ^''^ United States of Venezuela.
H. GuzmAn, Alberto Nin,
For Nicaragua. For the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.
II. — recommendation to EUROPEAN POWERS TO ACCEPT ARBITRATION.
The Internatio7ial Amei-ican Conference Resolves : That this Conference, having
recommended arbitration for the settlement of disputes among the Republics of Amer-
ica, begs leave to express the wish that controversies between them and the nations of
Europe may be settled in the same friendly manner.
It is further recommended that the government of each nation herein represented
communicate this wish to all friendly powers.
III. — RECOMMENDATION OF THE CONFERENCE REGARDING THE RIGHT OF CONQUEST.
Whereas the International American Conference feels that it would fall short of
the most exalted conception of its mission were it to abstain from embodying its pacific
and fraternal sentiments in declarations tending to promote national stability and
guarantee just international relations among the nations of the continent : Be it there-
fore
Resolved, That it earnestly recommends to the Governments therein represented
the adoption of the following declarations :
First. That the principle of conquest shall not, during the continuance of the
Treaty of Arbitration, be recognized as admissible under American public law.
Second. That all cessions of territory made during the continuance of the Treaty
of Arbitration shall be void, if made under threats of war or the presence of an armed
force.
Third. Any nation from which such cessions shall be exacted may demand that
the validity of the cessions so made shall be submitted to arbitration.
Fourth. Any renunciation of the right to arbitration made under the conditions
named in the second section shall be null and void.
9. RECOMMENDATION ADOPTED BY THE PAN-AMERICAN CON-
FERENCE ON APRIL 10, iSgo, IN FAVOR OF RECIPROCITY
TREATIES.
The Committee on Customs Union has made a careful study of the questions sub-
mitted to its consideration by the International American Conference, in reference to
forming a customs union among the several nations of this continent.
IRecommenOation In iFavor of IReciprocitv. 691
It is generally understood by customs union the establishing among the several na-
tions of a single customs territory, to wit, that the nations forming the union shall col-
lect import duties on foreign goods, under substantially the same tariff laws ; divide
the proceeds thereof in a given proportion, and mutually receive, free of duty, their
respective natural or manufactured products.
The acceptance of this plan would demand, as a previous requirement, a change
in the fundamental laws of the countries accepting the union. Even after they were
ready to make such changes, a great many other difficulties, almost insurmountable,
would have to be overcome ; as, for instance, fixing the representation of each nation
at the international assembly empowered to frame a common tariff and amend it in the
future. The territorial extent, the populations, and the national wealth differ so much
among the American Republics that if these conditions should be taken as the basis of
representation at said assembly, the small States would not have sufficient protection
for their interests ; and, if all the nations were admitted as sovereign on an equal foot-
ing, the large ones would be insuftciently protected. It might be necessary, to obviate
this difficulty, to create two bodies, one representing the population and the other the
States, in the manner in which a like problem was solved in the Constitution of the
United States of America. But this step would, in the opinion of the committee, re-
quire a partial sacrifice of the national sovereignty of the American nations, and more
radical changes in their respective constitutions than in its judgment they are willing
to accept.
If by customs union is meant the free-trade between the American nations of all
their natural or manufactured products, which is, properly speaking, unrestricted reci-
procity, the committee believes it is in principle acceptable, because all measures look-
ing to the freedom of commerce must necessarily increase the trade and the deveioj)-
ment of the material resources of the countries accepting that system, and it would in
all probability bring about as favorable results as those obtained by free-trade among
the different States of this Union.
But while the committee believes that such a union is at present impracticable as
a continental system, among other reasons because the import duties levied on foreign
trade constitute the main sources of revenue of all the American nations, and such of
them as are not manufacturing countries would thus lose more or less of such revenue,
on which they depend in a great measure to defray their national expenses ; while the
manufacturing countries, such as the United States of America, would have to aban-
don, at least partially, the protective policy which they have adopted to more or less
extent, and they do not seem yet prepared to change that system. Besides, a reci-
procity treaty mutually advantageous between two contiguous countries might prove
onerous if extended to all as a continental compact, especially as the products of many
of the American Republics are similar. Therefore, while these obstacles are in the
way, it seems premature to propose free-trade among the nations of this hemisphere.
But although it is not easy, in the opinion of the committee, to reach at once un-
restricted reciprocity, that end might be obtained gradually and partially. The first
and most efficient step in that direction is the negotiation of partial reciprocity treaties
among the American nations, whereby each may agree to remove or diminish their re-
spective import duties on some of the natural or manufactured products of one or more
of the other nations in exchange for similar and equivalent advantages, as, if the
mutual concessions were not equivalent, the treaties would soon become odious, and
could not last but for a limited time, and would discredit the system. If after this has
been tried for some reasonable time a good result should follow, as it is to be expected,
the number of articles on the free list might be enlarged in each case, from time to
time, until they attain, through the develoimient of the natural elements of wealth,
other sources of revenue or an increase of the existing ones, which would allow the
692 Ubc paii^Hmerican Conference : BppenMj.
contracting nations to reach unrestricted reciprocity or a free-trade among some or all
the American nations.
KECOMMENOATION OF THE CONFERENCE.
Therefore the committee proposes :
To recommend to such of the Governments represented in the Conference as may
be interested in the concluding of partial reciprocity commercial treaties, to negotiate
such treaties with one or more of the American countries as it may be in their interest
to make then., under such a basis as may be acceptable in each case, taking into con-
sideration the special situation, conditions, and interests of each country, and with a
view to promote their common welfare.
10. RECOMMENDATION OF THE PAN-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Ari'ROVED ON FEBRUARY 26, 1898, ON RAILWAY
COMMUNICATION.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RAILWAY COM.MUNICATION.
The International American Conference is of the o])inion :
First. That a railroad connecting all or a majority of the nations represented in
this Conference will contribute greatly to the development of cordial relations between
said nations and the growth of their material interests.
Second. That the best method of facilitating its execution is the appointment of
an international commission of engineers to ascertain the possible routes, to determine
their true length, to estimate the cost of each, and to compare their respective advan-
tages.
1 hird. That the said commission should consist of a body of engineers of whom
each nation should appoint three, and which should have authority to divide into sub-
commissions and appoint as many other engineers and employees as may be considered
necessary for the more rapid execution of the work.
Fourth. That each of the Governments accepting may appoint, at its own ex-
pense, commissioners or engineers to serve as auxiliaries to the sub-commissions charged
with the sectional surveys of the line.
Fifth. That the railroad, in so far as the common interests will permit, should
connect the principal cities lying in the vicinity of its route.
Sixth. That if the general direction of the line cannot be altered without great
inconvenience, for the purpose mentioned in the preceding article, branch lines should
be surveyed to connect those cities with the main line.
Seventh. That for the purpose of reducing the cost of the enterprise the existing
railways should be utilized as far as is practicable and compatible with the route and
conditions of the continental railroad.
Eighth. That in case the results of the survey demonstrate the practicability and
advisability of the railroad, proposals for the construction either of the whole line or
of sections thereof should be solicited.
Ninth. That the construction, management, and operation of the line should be
at the expense of the concessionaires, or of the persons to whom they sublet the work
or transfer their rights, with all due formalities, the consent of the respective Govern-
ments being first obtained.
Tenth. That all materials necessary for the construction and operation of the
TRccommen^atlon on Bmerican /IDonctar\? "Qnion. 693
railroad should be exempt from import duties, subject to such regulations as may be
necessary to prevent the abuse of this privilege.
Eleventh. That all personal and real property of the railroad employed in its
construction and operation should be exempt from all taxation, either national, provin-
cial (State), or municipal.
Twelfth. That the execution of a work of such magnitude deserves to be further
encouraged by subsidies, grants of land, or guarantee of a minimum of interest.
Thirteenth. That the salaries of the commission, as well as the expense incident
to the preliminary and final surveys, should be assumed by all the nations accepting,
in proportion to population according to the latest ofticial census, or, in the absence of
a census, by agreement between their several Governments.
Fourteenth. That the railroad should be declared forever neutral for the purpose
of securing freedom of traffic.
Fifteenth. That the approval of the surveys, the terms of the proposals, the pro-
tection of the concessionaires, the inspection of the work, the legislation affecting it,
the neutrality of the road, and the free passage of merchandise in transit, should be
(in the event contemplated by article eighth) the subject of special agreement between
all the nations interested.
Sixteenth. That as soon as the Government of the United States shall receive
notice of the acceptance of these recommendations by the other Governments, it shall
invite them to appoint the commission of engineers referred to in the second article, in
order that it may meet in the city of Washington, at the earliest possible date.
Juan Francisco Velarde. H. G. Davis.
E. A. Mexia. Fernando Cruz.
Jer6nimo Zelaya. Jacinto Castellanos.
Andrew Carnegie. Carlos Martinez Silva.
Jos6 Andrade. J. M. P. CaamaSo.
F. C. C. Zegarra. E. C. Varas.
Manuel Quintana. J. G. do Amaral Valente.
Jose S. Decoud. H. GuzmXn.
II. MR. BLAINE'S REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT, CONTAINING THE
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL AMERICAN
CONFERENCE OF APRIL 7, 1890, ON AN AMERICAN INTERNA-
TIONAL MONETARY UNION.
Department of State,
Washington, July 10, iSgo.
The President :
The International American Conference, recently in session at this capital,
adopted the following report :
" The International American Conference is of opinion that great advantages
would accrue to the commerce between the nations of this continent by the use of a
coin or coins that would be current at the same value in all the countries represented
in this Conference, and therefore recommends —
" (i) That an international American monetary union be established.
" (2) That as a basis for this union an international coin or coins be issued which
shall be uniform in weight and fineness, and which may be used in all the countries
represented in this Conference.
" (3) That to give full effect to this recommendation there shall meet in Wash-
694 XTbe pan=Hmcrican Gonterencc : BppcnMy.
ington a commission composed of one delegate or more from each nation represented
in this Conference, which shall consider the quantity, the kind of currency, the uses it
shall have, and the value and proportion of the international silver coin or coins, and
their relations to gold.
" (4) That the Government of the United States shall invite the commission to
meet in Washington within a year from the date of the adjournment of this Conference."
It was hoped and expected by the Conference that the recommendations would
be transmitted to Congress with a recommendation that the several nations interested
be invited to send delegates to a meeting of the international American monetary
union at Washington on the first Wednesday of January next ; that authority be
granted for the appointment of three delegates on the part of the United States, and
that an appropriation be made to meet the necessary expenses.
Respectfully submitted.
James G. Blaine.
12. CENSURE OF A MEXICAN DELEGATE BY THE MEXICAN PRESS
AND A PROMINENT WRITER.
Senor Don Francisco Sosa, a prominent literary man of Mexico,
published in the third volume of La Revista Nacional de Ciencias y
Letras a biographical sketch of Senor Don Nicanor Bolet Peraza, a
delegate from Venezuela, in which he censured him and myself for not
having followed in the footsteps of the Argentine delegates in the
discussion before the International American Conference. He said
among other things the following :
As our countryman, Mr. Romero, has a great love for his native land, he vehe-
mently desires to see her great and prosperous ; but he has not been able to entirely
shake off the influence tlfat American habits have exerted on his mind. That is the
reason why, during the Conference, neither Bolet Peraza nor Romero were among
those who in round periods, with loud emphasis, and with the fire natural to the great
orators of Spanish America, united their efforts with the Argentine Delegates, Quin-
tana and Saenz Peiia, zealous guardians of the autonomy, and legitimate and sacred
rights of Latin America. To them, that is to say, to Bolet Peraza and Romero, the
fraternal feelings of this great Republic are above suspicion, and no fear should be
entertained, that, under the cloak of union, the stronger might dominate the weaker,
and quia dominat leo, become the arbiter of their destinies, the judge of their contro-
versies, in fine be their lord and master.
When Senor Sosa's paper came to my knowledge, I wrote to him,
on June lo, 1890, a letter in which I explained my conduct in the
Conference, and from which I insert the following extracts :
The opinions of the Latin-American Delegates were expressed in two different
ways. The first was during the excursion, to which they had been invited by the
Government of the United States, as its guests, and were received as such by all the
cities of this country that they visited ; and the second as representatives of their
Governments, at the International American Conference
In the first case, do you consider that it would have been proper and polite to
Censure of iflD. IRomero bv Senor Sosa. 695
make any comparison between what the Delegates were seeing here and what they
left in their countries, even if what they left at home was superior to what they found
here? The greater the advancement and progress of their respective countries, the
more impropriety there would have been to make reference to them under such
circumstances, as all comparisons are odious. The fact that we were Delegates did
not deprive us of the attributes of gentlemen, and when a gentleman invites another to
his house, and attends to him as his guest, it would be at least very poor taste on the
part of the person invited to expatiate to his host on the superiority of his own house-
hold, and on the condition of his own business affairs as compared with what he finds
where he is in the capacity of a guest. That is so very true, that the Argentine Dele-
gate himself, who was situated in a more advantageous position than ourselves, as I will
explain farther on, did not deem it proper to say a single word at several banquets and
receptions at which he was present.
Notwithstanding this, as I desired to avail myself of some opportunity to make
a few remarks before some one of the distinguished audiences of this country regarding
the commercial relations between Mexico and the United States, I read at the banquet
given by the " Spanish- American Commercial Union," of New York, on the 20th of
December, i8Sg, in honor of the Delegates, an address, which I suppose you may have
seen, as it was published in all the papers of that city, wherein, without offending any
one, and with the utmost moderation, as is shown by the fact that instead of being
censured it was well received by nearly all the newspapers of this country, I made some
remarks which can favorably compare in frankness and vigor with the speeches
delivered during the excursion and in the meetings of the Conference.
If we now turn our attention to what the Delegates said at the meetings of the
Conference, it seems proper to state that there were two sets of Delegates : one com-
prising gentlemen who had no permanent position near this Government, but who
merely came to this country to stay during the meetings of the Conference ; and the
other comprising gentlemen who, besides being Delegates, were representatives per-
manently accredited, and who at the end of the sessions of the Conference would
have to stay here and continue discussing official matters of importance with the
Government of the United States, and whose duty it was to preserve cordial personal
relations with the members of this Government, not to jeopardize the success of
very important affairs of their respective countries. This second class of Delegates
could still be subdivided into two classes, the first of which comprised those who
represented countries that, owing to their being situated at the extreme southern
portion of the American Continent, with scarcely any commercial, political, or social
relations with the United States, and having no questions, affairs, or complications of
any kind, enjoyed greater freedom to express their opinions without reservation or
circumlocution, and who made free use of such freedom, in such a way that they
pleased even the most exacting ; and the second class was composed of representatives
of countries situated near the United States — and in one instance, of a country ad-
joining it throughout a large extent of territory, and connected by several trunk rail-
way lines, as is the case with Mexico — with intimate relations of every kind, who had to
look beyond the immediate results of the Conference, and who could not, through
misplaced patriotism or improper egotism, compromise not only the affairs pending
before the Conference but the more weighty ones that were daily being discussed
between their respective countries and the United States
A very well-known proverb says that " speech is silver but silence is gold," and if
this is not always true, it is so when prudence succeeds in overcoming a desire to ob-
tain a victory by words, merely, which is often only a temporary one. Be it as it
may, I think that in diplomacy especially, men are judged by their deeds and not by
their words.
696 Xlbe ipan^Hmerlcan Conference : BppenMj.
You think that the long residence of Mr. Bolet Peraza and myself in this country
renders us unable " to shake off entirely the influence exercised uj^on us by our long
residence in this country," and you imagine that on that account we have not been
" zealous defenders of the autonomy and sacred rights of Latin- America," and by in-
terpreting our minds you attribute to us the opinion that we believe that " the fraternal
feelings of this great Republic are above suspicion " and that " no fear should be en-
tertained that under the cloak of union the stronger might dominate the weaker, and
quia dominor leo, become the arbiter of their destinies, the judge of their con-
troversies, in fine be their lord and master."
I am very sure that if you were better informed regarding what took place at the
Conference, you would not have written those phrases, which are not only unjust, but
that have no foundation to stand upon.
13. M. ROMERO'S ANSWER TO SENOR PIERRA'S ATTACKS.
(From Las Novedades, New York, July 7, 1890.)'
In a letter signed by Mr. Fidel G. Pierra, dated at Washington, on March lo,
1890, addressed to the editor of La Nacion, of Buenos Ayres, published on the 4th of
May following, several assertions are made, some incorrect and some slanderous, regard-
ing incidents which occurred in the International American Conference, and more
especially respecting some of its Delegates. Had he referred to a matter of less
importance, I would not condescend to notice the utterances of a man so blinded by
his self-esteem that, not satisfied with the censure that he brought upon himself and
with having placed some Delegates in an unpleasant position, now wishes to avenge
his supposed grievances on others, although I am sure that his utterances cannot reach
the gentlemen he attempts to offend ; but as this incident refers to serious and grave
matters, in which the cordial relations and good understanding of all the American
nations are involved, I think it advisable, as an eye-witness of the events connected
with the Conference, to make some corrections of the letter already mentioned.
No wonder, then, that La Nacion, of Buenos Ayres, upon inserting that letter in
its columns, "leaves the responsibility of the article to its author," and that it does not
confine itself to this, but states that the time for fully judging the Conference is not
yet at hand, since, even supposing that it had not attained any material results, a thing
which cannot yet be known, it believes, and rightly, too, that the Conference must
produce moral results which must be, perforce, favorable.
Senor Pierra' s Personality. — I shall begin with the personality of Mr. Pierra.
This gentleman, who, owing to the fact that he had a commission house in New York,
and therefore something to lose, it would seem should act with some caution and
circumsjiection, has descended to a level upon which probably no person having a
mercantile or social position would like to place himself, for not only does he show
that he is as little loyal to a government he has served and from whom he has received
a salary, by revealing matters of which he probably had knowledge by virtue of his
office, but he attacks, without reason, the very persons who appointed him to perform
its duties.
' As Senor Pierra wrote and published his letter in Spanish, my answer to him
was also written in Spanish, and the one inserted here is a translation from the
original publication. My letter appeared in Las Novedades without any headings ;
but as it is somewhat lengthy and embraces several subjects, I thought it better, for