Address of welcome of Señor don Demóstenes Arosemena, Governor of Colon Province, on the arrival of the Secretary of State at Colon, February 27, 1912.
Mr. Secretary: As the representative of my country’s Government in this part of the Republic, the honor of offering you a cordial greeting upon your arrival on our shores in the name of the nation devolves upon me.
The Panaman nation, to whom you are well known, greets in you an eminent statesman of a nation which marches in the vanguard of the civilization and progress of the American continent, and it highly appreciates the visit of so distinguished a guest.
Panama, to whom you are especially persona grata, regards as an honor the presence of so illustrious a representative of the great American Union, which, in an hour of trial for the Isthmians, fearlessly assumed before the world an obligation which it has fulfilled, and will no doubt in the future most loyally fulfill, of guaranteeing and maintaining the sovereignty and independence of the youngest Republic of this continent, and 400,000 Panamans are at this moment hoping that upon leaving our shores you will carry with you as agreeable a memory of the country as your visit will doubtless leave in their breasts.
Welcome, Mr. Secretary, to this Republic, which gladly contributes to the aggrandizement and prosperity of your country with the only thing possible—with its territory.