File No. 763.72/6428
The Minister in Uruguay ( Jeffery) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 13.]
Sir: I have the honor to advise that the American squadron of the Atlantic Fleet under the command of Admiral Caperton arrived in the port of Montevideo at 4 o’clock in the afternoon on July 10.
Extensive preparations had been made by the Government and the people of Uruguay.
Business was suspended and the people had gathered in great crowds to welcome the fleet as it came into port.
The oldest citizens here say that no other occasion in the history of the country has ever furnished such a spontaneous gathering of all the people.
The Admiral was literally taken by force from his staff of officers as soon as he arrived on shore and the officers of the staff came one by one to the American Legation where the Admiral was to begin his official duties. The soldiers and city police were unable to control the crowds and the Admiral was required to walk the greater part of the way from the port to the Legation, a distance of more than a mile, and surrounded by tens of thousands of people.
In front of the Legation the streets were packed with people and bands were playing everywhere.
The Admiral appeared upon the balcony of the Legation with Dr. Juan Zorrilla de San Martin, the noted Uruguayan orator, and the reception which he received can hardly be described. United States flags were flying everywhere and when San Martin would call upon the people to give their approval to the course which the United States had taken the answer would come back: “America! America! We do believe in America!”
It is estimated that 70,000 people heard San Martin.
I have heard it estimated that 200,000 people were in the streets and on their balconies and house tops during the day to show generally their approval of the action which the Uruguayan Government had taken in inviting the fleet to come to Montevideo.
Admiral Caperton has been most cordially received at Foreign Office, at the War and Marine Department, and by the President.
No effort has been spared by the Government to show its approval of the action of the United States in sending the squadron to Uruguay and the people everywhere endorse the action of the Government.
[Page 315]The officers of the squadron have won the esteem of the people generally and Admiral Caperton is the recipient of unprecedented honors. His sincere and tactful manner of discussing public questions and his generous endorsement of the democratic institutions of the Government have won the confidence and admiration of all.
The policy of American solidarity, which was made the foundation upon which the Government based its right to invite the fleet to this port, has become firmly fixed in the minds of the people and the people pride themselves upon the fact that the American nations are abundantly able to enforce this policy.
I have [etc.]
[For correspondence relating to the visit of the American squadron to Buenos Aires, July 25–31, 1917, see Foreign Relations, 1917, pages 5–8.]