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MARCH 25, i910
Mr. Bryan in Peru
Mr. Bryan and family wore the guests of the
city while in Lima, Peru, and a reception was
tendered by the mayor und city council. The
following speeches were delivered. Senor
Nicanor Carmona, acting mayor, delivered an
address 61 welcome which follows:
"Mr. Bryan: The honorable provincial council
of Lima is pleased to receive your visit and
feels itself honored therby; for it appreciates
your civic virtues, and is well acquainted with
your democratic principles. It knows, too, that
you are a decided defender of right and a cham
pion of justice.
For this reason, Mr. Bryan, the council, in
solemn session, has declared you an illustrious
guest of the city.
The provincial council of Lima is also appre
ciative of the nature of the study you ore mak
ing of tho South American republics, and is
sure that you will derive therefrom all the
advantage possible for so eminent a person and
of such position as yourself. In Peru, Mr.
Bryan, you will find riches which still lay hid
den in the bosom of our Sierras; you will find
virgin soil, begging with insatiable thirst, that
water, free from all obstacles come down from
the mountains, and turn it into flourishing
fields. For this reason, also, Mr. Bryan, we
are doubly glad that, as a' result of the study
you are making, you will take back to your
country the glad fact that in Peru there is
much yet to be done, that its people are anxious
for work, and, zealous in their efforts to advance
in every way, are striving to foment even mor.e,
if possible, their country's relations with that
noble country where you are no esteemed for
your virtues.
This explains, Mr. Bryan, why Peru so earn
estly desires the completion of the Panama
canal, that gigantic work which. your country
has begun, and which is the only one to achieve
success, notwithstanding the difficulties to be
overcome.
Not much time will pass when all obstacles
which now impede the common embrace of both
oceans being removed, their waters will join,
and we will begin a march along the lines of
civilization and progress, needed by this rich
and young country to reach the heights which
Providence has marked out for it.
In Peru, Mr. Bryan, we need peace and tran
quility. In Peru we desire that this peace and
tranquility contribute its part to the general
welfare. For this reason we earnestly long for
internal content, peace with our neighbors and
closer relations with the great country to which
you belong, as one of its noble sons.
It has been said, Mr. Bryan, by a' great man,
that to hope (confidently) and to wait is the
integral element of human wisdom. We hope
and wait tranquilly in the knowledge that all
we may expect to accomplish will be gained by
work, and by a union with your great and
powerful country which, with all good reason,
recognizes you as one of its highest models.
The provincial council of Lima, Mr. Bryan,
has elected that you wear this emblem, the
coat' of arms of this crowned city of the kings,
and that you will keep it as a remembrance
thereof.
MR. BRYAN'S SPEECH
Mr. Bryan spoke as follows:
Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, Gentle
men: I am very grateful to your mayor for
the courteous welcome which he has extended
and for the fellcltious words which he has em
ployed In extending that welcome. I have long
cherished the desire to visit the city of Lima,
the republic of Peru, and the other countries of
South America, and my expectations have been
more than realized by what I have seen and '
heard since my arrival in your midst, and the
deep interest that I have always felt in the sister
republics of Central South America has been
increased by the cordiality of tho welcome that
has been extended.
I can assure you, Mr. Mayor, you members of
the city council, and citizens of Peru that I fully
reciprocate the very kindly sentiments that have
been expressed and I not only hope, but pray,
that the very friendly relations that exist today
between the United States and Peru will not
only continue, but become more and more inti
mate as the years go by.
I might give many reasons for this. One of
the reasons why we feel so deeply interested in
the future of these countries is, that we are at
tached to them by the strongest bonds that can
bind man to man. I might describe our rela
tion with the countries of Europe by saying
that we are cousins, but the republics of South
The Commoner.
America stand almost in tho position of our
children, for it was tho examplo of tho United
States that gave tho inspiration and furnished
the stimulus that has covered Central and South
America with republican forms of government.
And tho fact that our example has led you to
establish such forms of government attaches
us to you by tho most tender, tho most sacred
ties, and I can agree with the mayor when ho
says that the canal will bring us together and
increase our acquaintance with each other.
Geography Is a tyranical science. It either
holds us together or it separates us by dis
tance which we can not destroy, and yet man
has it in his power to affect even geography,
and tho great nation of which I am citizen is
attempting now to do something to change tho
conditions that wo found, to alter tho geog
raphy of the western hemisphere. Two great
oceans have been separated by a narrow strip
of land and our country is to be the minister,
the official, if I may so express it, to unite
the two oceans, and when this waterway across
the Isthmus is completed great ships can come
from our country to yours and cut tho time
more than half in two. When people can take
a boat at New York or along the Atlantic coast
and reach Lima In ten or eleven dayB, there
will be more people from our country who will
come down here, and more people from your
country will visit tho United States, and, as
most of the differences of opinion arise out of
misunderstandings, the possibility of misunder
standings will be removed by better acquain
tance the one with the other. Our merchants
and manufacturers will come down here to
learn what you need that they can supply, and
your young men will, in increasing numbers,
visit the United States that they may learn there
what may be useful to their country. If I mis
take not, these young men, leaving Peru and
visiting the United States will be like bees that
issue forth in the morning, searching for honey
wherever it can be found, and at eventime re
turn with it to enrich the hive. Let me hope
that your young men will come In increasing
numbers to our colleges, to tho universities of
our great cities, and to our great prairies and
learn there what we are glad to tell you when
we come here, namely, that there is not in the
heart of the people of the United States a hos
tile thought or sentiment for any other part
of the world. We are not looking for lands to
conquer; we are not looking for subjects any
where; we have a great territory which God has
abundantly blessed. We are, indeed, thankful
to all the world for the contributions that have
been made to our growth and greatness. I as
sure you of the good will of the people of tho
United States, and I assure you that that good
will rests upon a substantial and permanent
foundation.
There is more altruism in the United States
than anywhere else in the world; the people of
the United States are doing more in an unselfish
way for the benefit of the human race than
any other people. If this seems boastful, I beg
you to put the statement to tho test and you
will find that there is scarcely a place in the
world that our people have not already unsel
fishly invaded, with no other purpose than to
raise the level of mankind and to carry help
and happiness to those who have been less
fortunate than ourselves.
I recognize that this welcome is extended by
the executive of the council of a great city and
I appreciate it the more because I recognize that
the city must play an increasing part in solving
the great problems of civilization. There are
many reasons for this. In the city extremes
are likely to be greater between wealth on the
one hand and poyerty on the other and .there
fore in the" city there are to be found the evils
that come from the arrogance of the rich and
from the destitution and desperation of the
poor. In the city even more than in the country
it is necessary that tho balance shall be held
so that exact justice may bo administered to
the' end that the rich may not forget the poor
and that the poor may not entertain unkind
feelings to those who are better off. Then, too,
there are greater temptations in the city; things
are done on a larger scale and as the tempta
tions are greater It requires strong character
and moral firmness to withstand these tempta
tions. But as these temptations are withstood
the moral character is strengthened. I am not
here to enter upon any discussion of the science
of government; I would not presume to .lay
down laws or- give lessons to those who have
so clearly manifested their ability to do well
the work that has been entrusted to their care;
I shall simply quote to you from the greatest
statesman that our country has produced and
say, in tho language of Thomas Jefferson, that
"tho art of government Is simply tho art of be
ing honest' and that "tho principles of right
and wrong aro so easily discerned that they re
quire not the aid of many councillors." This
is tho language of Jefferson, tho greatost of
constructive statesman. Ho simplifies govern
ment and brings it within our comprehension,
and what ho says is absolutely true. At tho
back of every abuse there is tho violation of
moral law and tho more I study the science
of government tho moro suro I am that my
mother taught me, when a boy, the secret of
good government when she taught mo tho ten
commandments, she taught mo all that it is
necessary for a man to know, for good govern
ment rests upon tho commandmont, "Thou shalt
not steal." I repeat that tho principles of right
and wrong aro so eaBily discorncd that they
require not the aid of any councillor; when ono
Is perplexed about a problem of government all
that Is nesessary is to do Justice.
Something has boon said about my being a
democrat. Yes, that is tho name that is applied
to mo in tho United States, and yet my friends,
I recognize that the word is not a partisan
word. Wo have a party in our country that
calls itself democratic and yet I would not
claim that our party monopolizes all tho democ
racy that there is In tho United States. I am
glad to say that in our country democracy is
so universal that no party can appropriate it,
and it is becoming moro and moro tho basis of
government throughout tho world. Tho leaven
is at work everywhere. A struggle is going on
between democracy and aristocracy. This strug
gle manifests itself in different ways in differ
ent countries but it is everywhere manifesting
itself. All over tho world tho idea of democ
racy is growing and the idea of aristocracy is
dying, and in the growth of tho ideals of democ
racy is tho hopo of tho world. Tho world is
making progress just In proportion as tho people
are made tho basis of government and tho
beneficiaries of civilization.
But pardon mo for speaking at length. I am
hero at the invitation of your mayor and council
to accept these words of welcome so kindly
spoken and to aBsure you that you have not,
even in your own country a more sincere well
wisher of Peru than I am. I acknowledge with
gratitude the honor done me by the city and
shall bo pleased to wear tho beautiful badge
presented. I shall rejoice over every triumph
that you achievo hero, and if you will pardon
tho exaggeration, I will add, when you cele
brate any victory that advances tho welfare of
your country, just listen and you will hear mo
shouting a little louder than you do.
Timely Quotations
Anthony Hlle, Curwensville, Pa. I submit
the following for your "Timely Quotations"
column:
111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay;
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied.
Goldsmith.
Charles Bright, Covington, Ind. In reply to
request for quotations will say that I think the
following should bo dinned into tho American
ear until it affects the American mind like Mark
Twain's "Blue Trip Slip" affects the mind of
the Mississippi pilot. Here it is: "We must
educate! We must educate! or we must perish."
John Qulncy Adams.
John A. Dwyer, Arlington, 111. As you re
quested some quotation serviceable to the Amer
ican people I inclose the following:
"We talk of the high cost of living and the
cost of high living, but unless there is a pro
portionate increase of wages to prices for some
breadwinners it looks like a question of no
living."
Section hands with a helpless family of six
or eight, drawing $1.35 per day, meat 20 cents
to 25 cents per pound; figure this out for your
self along with the high protective tariff and see
if there is any truth in tho above statement.
To all subscribers who renew their subscrip
tions to The Commoner during tho month of
March we will send the American Homestead
ono year, without additional cliargc. Tho two
papers will bo sent to different addresses upon
request.
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