Reply of Mr. Yásquez, Minister for Foreign Affairs.

[Translation.]

Mr. Secretary: With enthusiasm I have transmitted to the President of the Republic the expressions of cordiality addressed by you to him and to Honduras.

The entire country will receive with satisfaction your friendly words, which reveal the wise policy of the acts of the Government of the United States.

The convention written on board the Marblehead, which put an end to a conflict among the States of Central America; the treaty of Washington, which stipulated the neutrality of Honduras and removed the dangers of fresh international disturbances; and the [Page 630] Puerto Cortes conferences, which extinguished the civil war recently kindled in our country—all through the amicable mediation of your country—prove that you are interested in our welfare, which naturally must emanate from peace, and that on all occasions you have advised us well.

At the very moment that you hear the tumult of our fruitless strife we hear your voice urging us toward concord and peace.

With such antecedents it is impossible for Honduras to welcome any malevolent propaganda which might disturb the relations it cultivates with the United States or the gratitude it owes to your Government.

On the contrary, we are endeavoring to make those relations even more intimate and to attract a useful immigration, which, by establishing business interests, will strengthen them day by day.

Honduras, sir, desires peace, a stable and lasting peace, in order to develop by means of salutary work all the elements of life which it has in abundance. Consequently, in order to attain this desired end, it must not look to those countries for inspirations which, more or less, have always lived under the scourge of war, but it must take its example from your Republic, which is rich, powerful, and great, owing to the peace and order so wisely maintained since the first days of its independence.

I bear special instructions from the President of the Republic to express these sentiments of frank cordiality and of the mutual interest of our countries. And both he and each one of us are deeply sorry that you have been unable to observe our country at closer range. Our land is essentially mineralogical and is likewise capable of growing productive plants of every zone; therein are forests rich in precious woods, rivers flowing over sands of gold. With your sagacious eye you would have seen the land where a people now debilitated by misfortune will soon be transformed, through the efforts of its sons, into a rich and prosperous nation by the fruitful agency of toil, and then you would have been convinced of the sincerity of our desire of peace.

With unfeigned regret we learn the news of your proximate departure. So numerous have been the demonstrations of cordiality with which you have distinguished us, and such the affection you have awakened in each one of us, that in pressing your hand for the last time we shall truly regret the separation.

We wish you, your family, and party a happy voyage, and it is a pleasure for me to assure you that we shall ever remember the happy moments when we had the satisfaction of having on our shore the cultured and distinguished Mrs. Knox and the trained diplomat who guides the destinies of the great Republic.