File No. 847/152–153.
Immediately after the ceremony a reception was held by the President for
the diplomatic and consular corps in the Government Palace, during the
course of which Mr. C. E. Mallet, the British minister resident and
acting dean, made a short address of congratulations and good wishes,
which was responded to by His Excellency. The members of the diplomatic
corps thereafter went to the Executive Mansion to pay respects to Madame
Obaldia. Late in the afternoon I called alone on Dr. Amador and his wife
at his private residence. He leaves soon for Jamaica, to be gone two
months.
I am sending under separate cover inclosure No. 1, three copies of the
addresses delivered by the president of the National Assembly and the
President of the Republic, respectively, at the inaugural ceremonies,
and inclosure No. 2, a translation of the latter’s discourse as it
appeared in a local newspaper of the Obaldia party.
[Inclosure.]
President Obaldia’s Speech.
Mr. President of the National
Assembly, honorable deputies:
In taking the solemn oath that I will obey the constitution and laws
as President of the Republic, I accept the responsibility that the
supreme office imposes upon me. My oath gives true expression to my
unswerving determination to devote myself to the service of my
country, with abnegation and with loyalty, so that I may show myself
worthy of the high honor conferred upon me by the manhood of the
generous people of Panama.
I recently had occasion to publicly manifest my deep satisfaction at
the unusual but so felicitous event, that the transmission of power
among us should at last take place in the legitimate, pure, and
irrevocable manner, which you, Mr. President, have so rightly
praised; because thereby the credit of the Republic institutions
which we have given ourselves is enhanced, the principal cause of
our internal discords is removed, and a bright horizon of faith and
hope is unfolded to the patriots of Panama, who until now have
yearned in vain for the exercise of their rights and the
safeguarding of their public liberty.
I shall ever be the stanchest supporter of these political
achievements which are redeeming, and in which you rightly pride
yourself with our fellow citizens.
As an earnest of the sincerity of my words, I offer the example of my
whole life, and can point specially to the recent events which
culminated in my elevation to the presidential chair. You will see
that never did I solicit office or accept unworthy means to gain
selfish ends, neither would I submit to indecorous humilitations to
insure my success. Permit me to assert that the citizen
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who acts thus can never be
a menace to the rights and liberties that the nation has placed
under his care.
It is particularly gratifying to me that you, in the name of this
high assembly wherein sit representatives of every section of our
country, should recognize and declare as you have done that I do not
owe my election to official favor, nor to courtesan intrigues, nor
to corrupt methods, nor to dishonorable compromises which would
limit my ability to do good and wither my moral power to fulfil the
supreme duties laid upon me as head of the executive government. It
is that I am persuaded, Mr. President, that the official favor which
those who aspire to the public power seek is the ordinary form of
imposition, and he who figures on thus elevating himself, builds
upon fragile foundations and submits to conditions that are
incompatible with the character and independence of worthy men.
The participation of Governments in electoral contests is according
to some a measure of tranquility; but this tranquility, sir, which
nowise differs from the lethargy of servitude, is so odious to me
that I prefer a thousand times the dangers which an excess of
popular liberty may bring. In this case, however, liberty can not
degenerate into demagogism, “the eternal danger of democracy”
according to the happy expression of Castelar, but it becomes as a
healthful respect of public opinion, the free manifestation of which
should be protected by all just men.
The forces which have elevated me to the highest seat in the nation
are those which normally and legitimately should preponderate in a
free country, and this alone banishes all thought of illegal acts or
irregular transactions. My deepest obligation, that from which I
will never swerve, is to remain faithful to my public promises oft
reiterated, spontaneously and solmenly, or what is the same thing,
to be true to my own ideas to which I owe the high distinction
conferred upon me and which guaranty has further strengthened my
conscience as an honest man.
Notwithstanding this, those who persist in refusing to recognize the
supremacy invested by right in the majority in every Republic have
attempted to deny all merit to the elements which combined to bring
about my triumphs in the elections, and they have even rashly
affirmed that my success is due primarily to the will of the
Government of the United States, and that the known attitude of that
Government, the ally and friend of our nation, was the result of
weaknesses and damnable compromises injurious to the interests of
our country.
This, gentlemen, is the time to emphatically declare that these
charges, subversive of my dignity as a Panaman and to my honesty as
a magistrate, are utterly devoid of any truth. Never have we in any
way approached the United States that they should take the position
it adopted in our electoral contest considering it compatible with
its treaty rights. Truly we may say that it is not the actions of
the people of Panama, but the conduct of the personnel of its
Government, which brought about the attitude assumed by the United
States during our campaign; and it is precisely for this reason that
our country has derived noght but benefit from their action which
insured the respect of suffrage, the triumph of the people’s will,
and the reawakening of public confidence.
I am convinced, Mr. President, of the imperious necessity for our
country to turn over a new leaf. It is necessarily essential above
all else that the nation’s affairs should have preference over mere
politics, in order that the labors of the executive may bear fruit.
The government of the people is, as science and experience teaches,
eminently a practical question. To be successful in the task of
administering national interests the diligence and caution required
by ordinary business transactions is essential, and for this reason
the best governments are those which devote themselves with the
greatest zeal and give stability to the matters intrusted to their
care.
In politics, is is most important that we should strive to conserve
public order, as this is the greatest of benefits; without it there
is no possibility for profitable work; but as peace among us is
guaranteed more by the sound sense, industrious habits, and
patriotism of the people of Panama than by virtue of any
international agreement, I may rest assured that public tranquility
will not be disturbed. The régime of laws and order which I propose
to maintain will also contribute to this end, as it will eliminate
every reasonable cause for subversive impulses.
