[Message of the President, Don Ricardo Jiménez, to the Congress, May 1, 1912.]

[Extract—Translation.]

At the beginning of March we were the object, on the part of the Government of the United States of America, of a mark of great distinction. Its Secretary of State, His Excellency Mr. Ph. C. Knox, made us a visit of courtesy and friendship. His affability, the cordiality of his words, the satisfaction given by his speeches and the direct knowledge that he now possesses of ourselves and our conditions will guarantee the frank relations of the two Governments and the permanence of the close relations that have been constant in the past and will be more closely woven in the future, with the opening of the Panama Canal.