validly possessed under the laws existing at the time of its acquisition that the conduct of activities in helpful cooperation are possible. Each State may have its code of laws in accordance with its conception of domestic policy, but rights acquired under its laws by citizens of another State it is under an international obligation appropriately to recognize. It is the policy of the United States to support these fundamental principles.

Fourth-It is the policy of this Government to make available its friendly assistance to promote stability in those of our sister republics which are especially afflicted with disturbed conditions involving their own peace and that of their neighbors. It is the desire of the United States to render this assistance by methods that are welcomed and which are consistent with the general policies above stated. For example, in the case of the Central American republics, it has been our constant endeavor, in the interest of the maintenance of their integrity and sovereignty, to facilitate by our good offices such agreements between themselves and such measures of security and progress as will favor stable and prosperous conditions. This has been the object of the conferences of Central American republics, and at the last conference, held in Washington in December, 1922, an important advance was made. It is not too much to say that if the treaties and conventions then formulated and signed are ratified and carried into effect there will be no probability of further serious disturbances in Central America, and these republics, favored with vast natural resources, will enter upon an era of tranquillity and will enjoy opportunities of almost unlimited prosperity.

In promoting stability we do not threaten independence but seek to conserve it. We are not aiming at control but endeavoring to establish self-control. We are not seeking to add to our territory or to impose our rule upon other peoples.

Fifth-The United States aims to facilitate the peaceful settlement of difficulties between the Governments in this hemisphere. This policy has had notable illustration in our

own relation to our neighbor on the north, the Dominion of Canada, which is justly proud of its position in "the community of nations known as the British Empire." We have a boundary with Canada, including that of Alaska, of about 5,500 miles unfortified. Through arbitration we have disposed of such serious controversies as those relating to the Behring Sea fisheries rights, the Alaska boundary, and the North Atlantic coast fisheries. We have an International Joint Commission for the purpose of investigating and reporting upon questions relating to boundary waters and other questions arising along the boundary between Canada and the United States. Our one hundred years of peace furnish a shining example of the way in which peoples having an inheritance of bitterness and strife have been able to live in friendship and settle all their differences by peaceable methods.

With respect to the Latin American republics it is our policy not only to seek to adjust any differences that may arise in our own intercourse but, as I have said, to extend our good offices to the end that any controversy they may have with each other may be amicably composed. We are seeking to establish a Pax Americana maintained not by arms but by mutual respect and good will and the tranquilizing processes of reason. We have no desire to arrogate to ourselves any special virtue, but it should constantly be recognized that the most influential and helpful position of the United States in this hemisphere will not be that of the possessor of physical power but that of the exemplar of justice.

In connection with this aim, it is gratifying to note that the treaties between the United States and other countries providing for commissions of inquiry, in the interest of full investigation and consideration of causes of difference before resort to hostilities, and the similar treaty concluded in February 1923, between the United States and the republics of Central America, formed the basis of the conclusion at the Santiago conference for a general treaty for the submission to commissions of inquiry of controversies arising between the American republics.

Sixth-In seeking to promote peace, as well as to aid in the reduction of unproductive expenditures, this Government has sought to encourage the making of agreements for the limitation of armament. Through our treaty with the great naval powers we have limited our capital ships, and we have voluntarily reduced our land forces. One of the treaties negotiated at the Central American conference provides for the limitation of armament on the part of the Central American republics. At the recent Santiago conference it was not possible to reach an agreement between the other Latin American States upon this subject, but undue importance should not be attached to this failure. I have recently pointed out that whether we have regard to the total active armies in the world, or to the total organized forces in the world, we have in this hemisphere, including the United States and Canada, but six per cent. of the whole. Moreover, the discussion at Santiago did not reveal points of view that must be considered to be utterly irreconcilable. On the contrary, it may be hoped that in the fortunate absence of all causes of serious controversy, and for the purpose of avoiding unnecessary outlays, a basis of agreement to limit armament may yet be reached.

Seventh-The policies which have been described are not to secure peace as an end in itself, but to make available the opportunities of peace; that is, to open the way to a mutually helpful cooperation. This is the object of the Pan American conferences. These will be increasingly helpful as they become more and more practical. The object is to create the opportunity for friendly contact, to develop a better appreciation of mutual interests and to find particular methods by which beneficial intercourse can be aided. This bears directly upon the facilitation of exchanges, the protection of health, the promotion of education and commerce and the developing of all the necessary agencies for disseminating information and for improving means of communication. With peace assured and apprehensions allayed, it will inevitably be found that there is less diversity of interest than had been supposed and

that there is an ever-widening opportunity for working together for the common good.

Eighth-It should also be observed that in our commercial relations the United States is seeking unconditional mostfavored-nation treatment in customs matters. Prior to the beginning of the present year preferential tariff rates had for about twenty years been conceded by Brazil to certain imports from the United States. This had been an anomalous feature of our tariff relations, since the general policy of this Government has been neither to give or to seek customs preferences. In view of the adoption of the tariff act of 1922, section 317 of which authorizes the President to declare additional duties upon the products of any country that may discriminate against the commerce of the United States, it was felt that this Government could not longer with consistency ask the Brazilian Government to grant to goods of the United States rates which were lower than those which were accorded to similar imports from other countries. In making known, in January last, its determination no longer to seek the renewal of preferential treatment, this Government explained to the Government of Brazil, that its policy henceforth would be to seek from Brazil as well as from other countries, treatment for goods from the United States as favorable as might be accorded to the products of any third country. Notes have been exchanged with Brazil embodying this policy. The Government is contemplating the negotiation of new commercial treaties with Latin American countries or the modification of existing treaties in harmony with the most-favored-nation principle, excepting, however, as in the case of the exchange of notes with Brazil, the special treatment which the United States accords or hereafter may accord to Cuba, in view of our special relations with that republic, and to the commerce between the United States and its dependencies and the Panama Canal Zone. Not only does the Monroe Doctrine not mean that the United States has a policy of seeking in the Latin American republics economic advantages denied to other countries but it is not the general policy of the United

States to seek preferential rights. The commercial treaties which it is proposed by this Government to negotiate with the Latin American countries are, with respect to the principles involved, substantially like those which it is sought to negotiate with European Governments.

Ninth-We have certain special policies of the highest importance to the United States.

We have established a waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans-the Panama Canal. Apart from obvious commercial considerations, the adequate protection of this canal-its complete immunity from any adverse control-is essential to our peace and security. We intend in all circumstances to safeguard the Panama Canal. We could not afford to take any different position with respect to any other waterway that may be built between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. Distrbances in the Caribbean region are therefore of special interest to us not for the purpose of seeking control over others but of being assured that our own safety is free from menace.

With respect to Cuba, we have the special interests arising from our treaty and our part in the securing of her independence. It is our desire to see her independence not weakened but safeguarded and her stability and prosperity assured. Our friendly advice and aid are always available to that end.

I have sketched briefly these affirmative policies of the United States in this hemisphere. We rejoice in the progress of our sister republics and at the enhanced prosperity which is at their call. The Monroe Doctrine stands, as it has always stood, as an essential part of our defensive policy, but we are no less but rather more interested in the use of the opportunity which it created and has conserved. We desire no less than they themselves the independence, the peace and progress of all the American republics, and we seek to enjoy to the fullest extent possible the blessings bestowed by the spirit of confraternity, those mutual benefits which should result from our intimate association and our common political ideals.