Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 6, 1910

File No. 23905–1.

Chargé Whitehouse to the Secretary of State.

American Legation,
Caracas , March 31, 1910 .

No. 530.]

Sir: I have the honor to inclose you herewith copies and translations of the program of the ceremonies in connection with the celebration of the centennial of the independence of Venezuela.

I am, etc.,

Sheldon Whitehouse.

[Inclosure.—Translation.]

Gen. Juan Vicente Gomez, Provisional President of the United States of Venezuela.

In fulfillment of the provisions of the executive decree of April 19, 1909, the project submitted to the Government of the Republic by the centennial board being approved; and whereas the 19th of April, 1910, completes the first centennial of the events which history considers as initial to the independence of South America, I decree:

• Article 1. The ceremonies commemorative of the centennial of the independence of Venezuela will begin on April 19, 1910.
• Art. 2. The national pantheon will be reconstructed in a form worthy of its high purpose.
• Art. 3. There are created—(1) the Military Academy of the Republic; (2) the National Nautical School; (3) a normal school; (4) a botanical garden.
• Art. 4. There will be constructed—

  1. A steel dry dock in Puerto Cabello to meet the necessities of the national fleet and the national and foreign merchant marine.

  2. A building for the national library.

  3. A fireproof building for the principal office of public registry and national archives.

  4. A building for surgical operations in the near vicinity of the Hospital Vargas and independent of its main building.

  5. A national post-office and telegraph building.

• Art. 5. In conformity with the legislative resolution of August 4, 1909, the census of the nation is to be taken.
• Art. 6. The house where Simon Bolivar was born, in the city of Caracas, having been acquired for the nation by popular subscription, shall be reconstructed with all fidelity possible to the form it had in 1783. There shall be established in the old mansion the Bolivar museum, and its walls shall be dedicated to narrating in fresco painting or on canvas the life of the father of the country.
• The positions of director of the national pantheon and of the Simon Bolivar house will be long-term appointments, and for their discharge there will be named preferably the descendants of distinguished liberators or veterans of the army of the Republic worthy of the honorable charge.
• Art. 7. There shall be erected in the gardens of the independence driveway of the capital of the Republic the busts of Jose Maria Espana, Francisco Salias, Gen. Jose Felix Ribas, Manuel Gual, and Jose Cortes de Madariaga.
• Art. 8. Commemorative inscriptions shall be fixed in the places and edifices celebrated in the annals of the 19th of April, 1810, 5th of July, 1811, and of the patriotic society of that epoch.
• Art. 9. The following congresses will solemnize the commemoration of the centennial:

  1. A municipal congress, composed of one delegate for each illustrious council of the Republic.

  2. The first Venezuelan congress of medicine.

• Art. 10. The Governments of the Latin-American Republics shall be invited to a conference to be held at Caracas, to celebrate an international telegraphic convention, by which the telegraphic communication between said Republics is to be established and regulated.
• Art. 11. The Governments of the Republics of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia shall be invited to concur at the formation of the first Bolivar congress, which shall be held at Caracas on the first five days of July, 1911, to treat of matters of common interest of all kinds.
• Art. 12. The following contests are established:

  1. Of rural industry, for the products of agriculture and “cria” of the country, best prepared for home consumption or for exportation, such as honey, wax, cheese, butter, feculæ, and various cottons, oils of all classes, sugar, fiber, etc., as well as the utensils and machines employed in preparing them, always provided that they be invented or improved upon in Venezuela.

  2. Of horticulture and floriculture, for the most varied and complete collections of vegetables and flowers cultivated in the federal district, especially when they proceed from the primitive plants of the country that have been improved by cultivation.

  3. Of zoology, for notable specimens of stock animals raised or capable of being raised in the country, and of animals whose feathers or skin may be industrially useful.

  4. Of fine arts, in conformity with the determination of the academy of that branch. Art. 13. Let two expositions be organized:

  1. An exposition of national fine arts, of objects of historical interest and photographs of memorable sites, models, and natural beauties of the country.

  2. An international exposition of school furniture and articles useful in teaching, destined to call attention to the models most adequate to the schools and institutions of learning in the Republic.

• Art. 14. Let the exploration commission provided for in the executive disposition of March 29, 1909, be organized.
• Art. 15. The atheneum of Caracas is established.
• Art. 16. Let the grounds of the hippodrome in the Avenue El Paraiso be acquired, which shall be used for the contests of zoology, floriculture, horticulture, and rural industries.
• Art. 17. The following works shall be printed or reprinted at the expense of the nation:

  (a) The Diary of Bucaramanga.

  (b) Supplement of the “Memorias del General O’Leary” (Vol. IIII), and the correspondence of the liberator (1829–1830).

  (c) Defense of the liberator by Don Simon Rodriguez.

  (d) History of Venezuela, documents and supplement, by Francisco Javier Yanes.

  (e) Contemporaneous History of Venezuela, by Dr. Gonzalez Guinan.

  (f) Book of Acts of Congress of 1811.

  (g) First edition of Physical and Political Map of Venezuela, scale to the millionth.

  (h) Plan of Caracas in 1810.

  (i) Patriotic Songs (1810–1850).

  (j) Acts and Works of First Venezuelan Medical Congress.

  (k) Musical Compositions of Manuel L. Rodriguez.

  (l) The Centennial Book, with the story of the commemoration, results of the contests, etc.

• Art. 18. On December 17, 1910, anniversary of the death of Simon Bolivar, solemn funeral services shall be celebrated in the Holy Metropolitana Church.
• Art. 19. Let the following monuments be erected:

  1. A monument dedicated to the glory of Antonio Ricaurte in the same place he heroically died in San Mateo.

  2. In commemoration of the meeting that took place in the town of Santa Ana for the adjustment of the war between Gens. Bolivar and Morillo, and of the prayer of the latter that a monument would be raised on the spot where both chiefs embraced; let a prismatic column be raised in Santa Ana on which shall be placed with appropriate inscriptions the stone set up by the republican and royalist officials to mark the memorable site.

• Art. 20. There is created a medal commemorative of the first centennial of the Republic of Venezuela.
• Art. 21. The Republics of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, our sisters in the glory of the liberating epic poem, will be especially invited.
• Art. 22. For the purpose of constantly showing that the emancipating revolution neither did nor could sever the bonds that unite Venezuela to the mother country, let there be communicated to the Government of the Spanish nation the pleasure with which Venezuela would see her represented in the ceremonies to which the present decree refers.
• Art. 23. In recognition of the services lent to the cause of the independence by Great Britain and Haiti, let the Governments of these two friendly nations be also specially invited to assist in the commemoration of the centennial.
• Art. 24. The order of the ceremonies will be, with special programs, as follows:
• April 19, 1910.—Opening of the contests indicated in article 25; installation of the central board of the national census; initial ceremony of the reconstruction of the national pantheon; initiation of the work of the building for the national library; laying of the corner stone of the building for surgical operations.
• June 24, 1910.—Opening of the work for the building for the office of registry and national archives; initial ceremony of the work of the mail and telegraph building.
• July 5, 1910.—Opening of the Military Academy and Nautical School; inauguration in La Guaira of the wireless telegraph; promulgation of the verdicts settled upon in the contests to which article 25 refers.
• July 24, 1910.—Solemn delivery to the nation of the house where the liberator was born.
• October 28, 1910.—Opening of the contest of rural industries; installation of the atheneum.
• December 9, 1910.—Inaugural session of the telegraphic conference of the Latin-American Republics.
• December 17, 1910.—Solemn funeral honors to the liberator in the Holy Metropolitana Church.
• December 19, 1910.—Inauguration of the Avenue “19 of December”; opening of the school-furniture exposition.
• January 1, 1911.—Inauguration of the national library building; inauguration of the surgical operation building; installation of the normal school.
• April 19, 1911.—Installation of the capital of the congress of municipalities; inauguration of the national pantheon; opening of the contest of floriculture and horticulture; inauguration of the building for the office of the principal registry and national archives; inauguration of the post and telegraph building; opening of the fine arts exposition.
• June 24, 1911.—Installation of the first Venezuelan Medical Congress; opening of the zoological contest; inauguration of the “Carabobo “monument in the independence driveway; opening of the fine-arts contest.
• July 1, 1911.—Installation of the first Bolivar Congress.
• July 5, 1911.—Placing of the book of the acts of the congress of 1811 in the coffer destined for this purpose and the solemn handing over of the key of said coffer to the President of the United States of Venezuela; closing of the first Bolivar Congress; dedication of the house where the liberator was born; inauguration of the steel dock in Puerto Cabello; inauguration of the busts and monuments.
• July 24, 1911.—Inauguration of the Bolivar Museum.
• Art. 25. The competitive contests for the projects and sketches of the works prescribed in articles 2, 4, 8, 19, and 20 of this decree, and for the coffer and key required by the decree of January 1, 1910, shall be opened by special resolutions on the 19th of April, 1910.
• Art. 26. The minister of finance and public credit will solicit the additional credit required for the execution of the present decree and of the entertainments and solemnities consequent thereto.
• Art. 27. All former dispositions contrary to this decree are-revoked.
• Art. 28. The attendant resolutions to this decree will be issued by the respective federal departments.

Given, signed, sealed with the seal of the Federal Executive, and countersigned in the Federal Palace in Caracas, March 19, 1910, the one hundred and fifty-second.

[Here follow signatures of President and cabinet ministers.]