Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Address of the President to Congress December 4, 1917

File No. 832.461/3

Ambassador Morgan to the Secretary of State

No. 958

American Embassy,
Rio de Janeiro, July 11, 1917.

Sir: On July 5 the Embassy informed the Department by telegram that a further step toward affiliation with the cause of the Allies and of approximation toward the United States had marked the commemoration of Independence Day by the Brazilian Government.

At noon on July 4 the President of the Republic, accompanied by the Minister of Marine and the members of his military and civil household, a party of a dozen persons, visited the U. S. S. Pittsburg, the flagship of Admiral Caperton’s squadron. In the Admiral’s cabin toasts were exchanged between the Admiral and the President, over cups of Brazilian coffee, in the sense of the first enclosure to this despatch.

During the afternoon a contingent of marines and bluejackets, numbering about 2,600, composed of a portion of the crews of the four American, two British and one French cruisers in the harbor, and a considerable body of Brazilian marines and bluejackets, marched through the principal streets in the center of Rio de Janeiro, led by Admiral Francisco de Mattos, Commandant of the Brazilian Division of Dreadnoughts. The parade was reviewed by the President and the diplomatic representatives of the Powers represented in the contingent. The crowds were so great in the Avenida Central that the police were obliged to clear a way. Cheers and hand-clapping greeted the contingent while marching, and flowers were thrown upon them from balconies and windows. Our boys especially received a popular ovation which was as sincere as it was spontaneous. The photographs which accompany this despatch, as a second enclosure, indicate both density of the crowds and the good appearance of the men while marching.¹ Subsequent to the parade a numerously attended reception was held at the Embassy which was open to all comers.

On account of the parade, the usual sports and garden party were postponed until July 5, when, with the cooperation of Admiral Caperton’s sailors, the program was carried through successfully. The opinion of the oldest inhabitant is valuable in regard to the observation of national holidays. The testimony from that source is to the effect that Independence Day was never more heartily, more appropriately, or more gratifyingly commemorated than it was in the current year, in Rio de Janeiro.

I have [etc.]

Edwin V. Morgan

[Inclosure]

visit of the president of brazil to the u. s. s. pittsburg, flagship of admiral caperton, u. s. navy

The Admiral said to the President:

I feel highly honored by the presence of your Excellency on the flagship of the fleet which has come to bring a message of cordial friendship to the Government and the people of Brazil. I am delighted with your country and with your people, and I am sorry that my stay cannot be prolonged.

The President replied:

It gives me great pleasure indeed to come aboard this ship and bring my felicitation for the United States of America, in the first place; and for the Ambassador and the Admiral in the second. I regret that the officers cannot make a longer stay among the Brazilians with whom the officers and the men of the fleet have made a splendid impression. He added: It is common knowledge among my people that the enlisted men of the fleet appear to be of a very high class, and their comportment has been admired by everybody.

This exchange of courtesies was followed by the serving of coffee, in the Admiral’s quarters, as the national drink of Brazil and the Brazilian product which has done most toward the commercial approximation of the two countries. Allusion to this fact by the Admiral and the Ambassador appeared to be most pleasing to the President, and was followed by about twenty minutes of very cordial and friendly conversation.

1. Not reproduced.