Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 2, 1902
Mr. Wilson to Mr. Hay.
Santiago, January 3, 1902.
Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith copy and translation of an article published in El Mercurio (a daily paper of this city), giving an account of a testimonial to me as representative of the Government of the United States in Chile, upon New Year’s eve.
I also inclose herewith copy and translation of an editorial published in La Ley (a daily paper of this city), upon January 2. I have thought that these publications might be of interest to the Department as indicating the very excellent footing upon which our relations with this country are at the present time.
I have, etc.,
From El Mercurio, Santiago, January 2, 1902.
grand demonstration at the union club in honor of mr. henry l. wilson.
At the traditional supper with which the Union Club every 31st of December celebrates the coming of the new year, an imposing demonstration of regard was made on Tuesday last, in honor of the worthy representative of the United States, Mr. Henry L. Wilson.
Two large halls of the club were fitted up for the New Year’s supper, profusely illuminated with the electric light, and adorned with bamboos, palms, and beautiful flowers. At 12 o’clock precisely more than 400 people were seated around the tables, and the orchestra began its well-selected programme.
At that moment Mr. Wilson, who is a member of the club, arrived, in company with several of his friends, and took his seat at one of the tables. Everyone present at once stood up and cheered for Mr. Wilson, the President of the United States (Mr. Roosevelt), and the great North American Republic. The demonstration was spontaneous and a surprise. The American minister was greatly impressed as he listened to the speeches of several members, and responded in grateful language, expressing his thanks for the demonstration in his honor.
All then sat down again and the supper proceeded, while gaiety and harmony reigned supreme.
An hour afterwards, when the members of the club began to retire, it was suggested to accompany the American minister to his residence.
More than 400 people, walking two by two, followed Mr. Wilson to the legation, cheering him enthusiastically. There the minister briefly and courteously expressed his thanks for the demonstration, and the various groups then retired.
There were present at the New Year’s supper, besides one of the directors of the club, Don Enrique Larrain Alcade, two members of the cabinet, numerous members of Congress, several officers of the army, and a large number of distinguished gentlemen.
The demonstration in honor of the American minister is a beautiful social note in proof of the regard in which the people hold the representative of a great friendly nation, both in his official as well as his private capacity.
[Page 117]The Union Club, on December 31, gave expression to a general sentiment, publicly manifesting the respect and social consideration accorded on all sides to the worthy representative of the United States of America, Mr. Henry L. Wilson.
From La Ley, Santiago, January 3, 1902.
chile and the united states of america.
“Public opinion in America is favorable to Chile, in view of the justice on her side in insisting upon the observance of an agreement already signed (the Yañez-Portela protocols).”
We have taken the lines above quoted from a telegraph dispatch from the Havas Agency, dated the 1st instant.
That news confirms the elevated and friendly spirit with which our country is judged in the Great Republic of the North.
We ought to feel proud of the fact that the most powerful and progressive of nations sends us this fraternal and just message, which we Chileans—sincere friends and admirers of the land of Washington and Franklin, Lincoln and Farragut, Grant and Edison, McKinley and Roosevelt—receive as the most valuable evidence of international confraternity, and as the most authorized opinion in favor of the irreproachable policy of our foreign office.
It was not enough for our country to be conscious of its right and might. In order to be tranquil in these stormy moments in which our enemies employ against us all kinds of unfair weapons, we required to hear the honored an impartial opinion of the great powers—England, France, and Germany—and also the opinion of the Latin-American republics, which do not follow the adventurous and dangerous policy of Peru, Bolivia, and the Argentine; and, above all, the opinion of the giant nation which, to-day and to-morrow, is destined to cultivate intimate relations with the most conscientious and laborious of South American peoples.
We have mentioned the United States and Chile.
We already know the opinion, the learned and respected opinion, which all those countries have just expressed in the conflict originated by the Yañez-Portela protocols.
The opinion of all of them is favorable to us, and reveals the fact that, notwithstanding the active anti-Chilean propaganda, the enormous distance is recognized which separates the false apostles of arbitration from those who have loyally practiced it both with the powerful and with the weak.
We required only this to be able to look confidently forward to the future.
The lying diplomacy of the brave dancing masters of this continent has been unmasked.
It is a great victory, which fills us with legitimate satisfaction, and which will certainly make the drawers of the sword and the flatterers, Peru and Bolivia, meditate.
Chileans would be ungrateful and rude if they did not reciprocate, as we really do reciprocate, with most affectionate regard, the attitude of the noble peoples of Europe and America who honor us with their esteem.
Believing that we interpret the opinion and feeling of Chile, we express our most hearty thanks to those who, far beyond our frontiers, have understood and done us ample justice.
But let it be left on record that we direct these expressions of friendly acknowledgment more especially to the land which nurtured George the Great—that Washington of epic figure who was the progenitor of all the democracies of America.
Yes, all gratitude to the United States of America; to their press—the messenger of the universal conscience; and to President Roosevelt who, perhaps because in his veins runs the same blood of heroes which is being shed to-day in the battlefields of South Africa, knows how to appreciate the rectitude and courage of the first republic of the Pacific which never trembled at the threats of its enemies.
Thanks also to the Hon. Henry L. Wilson, to the distinguished diplomat who, on account of his fair and well-founded opinion, can at any time demonstrate to his Government that our country earestly desires to second the policy of peace, labor, and progress of the Great Republic of the North.
Here a shout parenthesis is proper.
It has been a piece of good fortune for our Government and for the Chilean people, in an hour of trial like the present, that the United States foreign office is represented here by such a man as the Hon. Mr. Wilson. This gentleman, who has so discreetly [Page 118] and ably interpreted the idea of Mr. Roosevelt, has maintained himself, with rare discretion and impartiality, in his proper position in diplomacy.
No one better than he can judge the acts of our foreign office in connection with Peru, Bolivia, and the Argentine. No one better than he is in a position to appreciate, even at a distance, the altitude of our plenipotentiaries in the Mexican conference, and to understand the affinities which, at the present moment, bind Chile to the United States with bonds of an entente cordiale which will be of great benefit to the nations of North, Central, and South America.
In conclusion, we hope that the Governments of the two Republics may appreciate the attitude of friends and allies de facto, as well as of convinced defenders of the cause of peace, which should be assumed, both now and in future, by the Yankees of the North, and their pupils and imitators, the Yankees of the South.