of American unity, strengthening and making more friendly, if possible, the cordial relations existing between your Republic and ours. The sincere welcome you have received and the demonstrations of deference of which you have been the object by the Chief Magistrate of the nation, by all the important persons of his Government, and by the people in general, are unmistakable proofs that we have been impressed with your visit, which greatly honors us. We are certain that with your clear judgment you will be able to appreciate the progressive advance which our industries, our agriculture, and in general all the branches constituting our territorial riches are making under an era of peace wisely founded and maintained by the modest and equally patriotic citizen who guides the destinies of the Republic, General Juan Vicente Gómez. You have been able to observe, despite the briefness of your stay among us, the good will which animates the Chief Magistrate of the country toward all that tends to its aggrandizement, and in effect he is taking measures to the end that the proximate opening of the Panama Canal will find Venezuela in a truly prosperous condition, so that we may advance our great commercial interests. We drink, therefore, to the country of Washington and to its worthy representative. Reply of Mr. Knox. Mr. COLLECTOR: It will be a pleasing message, sir, that I will be enabled to carry to the President and people of the United States as the result of my visit to Venezuela. President Taft conceived in his mind that because of the early opening of the Panama Canal the relations of the United States to our neighbors on the littoral of the Caribbean Sea must necessarily be closer and more intimate. He believed that if he would send to you that officer of the Government of the United States who is charged with the duty and responsibility of our relations with foreign governments, the more intimate, direct, and personal acquaintance would be an advantage not only to us but he hoped also to them; and when I return I can cheerfully say to the President, and through him to the people of the United States, that in the great Republic of Venezuela from the moment my foot first touched its shores until the moment when I said to you my last farewell there has been nothing but kindness and hospitality, not only upon the part of the people but upon the part of your President, to whom you have referred, and who has been kindness itself to us all. File No. 033.1100 K77/131. The President of Venezuela to the President. [Telegram.-Translation.] MARACAY, VENEZUELA, March 25, 1912. Great has been my gratification and that of the Venezuelan people in receiving the visit of Mr. Knox, who bears to you my most sincere wishes for the happiness of the American nation and for your personal welfare. PRESIDENT GÓMEZ. File No. 088.1100 K77/128. The Minister of Venezuela to the Acting Secretary of State. [Translation.] LEGATION OF VENEZUELA, SIR: It affords me pleasure to enclose in this note a copy of the cablegram I have received from the Minister for Foreign Relations of Venezuela, and I beg you to have that copy laid before His Excellency the President of the United States. At the same time I cordially felicitate myself and the American Government on the very happy impression made on my country by the Honorable Mr. Knox's visit and the mutual benefits that will no doubt flow from it. I gladly [etc.] F. EZEQUIEL ROJAS. [Inclosure.] The Minister for Foreign Relations to the Minister of Venezuela. We have just taken leave of Secretary Knox. You will say to President Taft that Mr. Knox leaves with us pleasurable impressions and that it is our wish that our relations with that great nation may grow more and more cordial. MATOS. File No. 038.1100 K77. The President to the President of Venezuela. [Telegram.] THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, April 1, 1912. I am delighted to learn that Secretary Knox was received with such marked cordiality in Venezuela and to assure Your Excellency of my fervent hopes for your continued prosperity and that of Venezuela. WM. H. TAFT. File No. 088.1100 K77/128. The Acting Secretary of State to the Minister of Venezuela. No. 39.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 26th ultimo, transmitting a copy of a cablegram from the Minister for Foreign Affairs in regard to the visit to Venezuela of the Secretary of State, and requesting that it be laid before the President. In reply I beg to say that I have taken pleasure in conveying the communication of Señor Matos to its high destination. Thanking you for your note and its enclosure, and with cordial reciprocation of the friendly expressions which they contain, I avail [etc.] HUNTINGTON WILSON. File No. 023 1100 K77/166. The Minister of Venezuela to the Secretary of State. [Translation.] LEGATION OF VENEZUELA, EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to offer to your excellency my congratulations on the sentiments of American fraternity which inspired your recent visit to some of the countries on our continent and especially on the very good impression created in Venezuela by your excellency's visit. The pleasant remembrance of that visit will ever be treasured in my country as a new bond of friendship that must strengthen more and more the cordial relations existing between the Venezuelan nation and the great Republic of the United States. I avail myself [etc.] File No. 711.31/100. F. EZEQUIEL ROJAS. Message of the President of Venezuela to the Congress at the opening of its ordinary session, April 19, 1912. [Extract.] Recently we were visited by Mr. Philander C. Knox, Secretary of State of the United States of America. He came as a representative of the First Magistrate of that great Republic. We received him with cordiality and sincere affection, and with a solemnity befitting the high office with which he was invested. The Government of Venezuela and all the social, political, and industrial bodies gave to this visit the importance which distinguished it. For my part, I must declare that I have never entertained the slightest suspicion regarding the sovereignty of Venezuela. In the history of our relations with the great Republic of the North I find sincerity and benevolent collaboration; so that the visit of His Excellency Mr. Knox, on the eve of the inauguration of the Panama Canal, destined to draw toward the central part of America the mighty commercial current of the world, I consider as a cordial tightening of these important relations. File No. 711.81/101. Speech of the President of the Chamber of Deputies at the opening of the ordinary session, April 19, 1912. [Extract.] Among these official labors are most in evidence the sumptuous festivities of our Centenary of Independence, a solemn declaration to the world of the deep feeling common to the people and Government, neither of which fears but on the contrary both hoping much from the rapprochement with other countries and the most liberal interchange with all the nations of the world. The most expressive accentuation of this sentiment has been the cordial reception extended to that illustrious statesman, Mr. Knox, Secretary of State of the great northern sister Republic. He must have felt, in the very home of Venezuela, in the midst of the freest hospitality, that the idea of nationality lives and thrives in the soul of the nation. File No. 033.1100 K77/166. The Secretary of State to the Minister of Venezuela. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, April 25, 1912. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 18th instant in which you offer your congratulations to me on the sentiments of American fraternity which inspired my recent visit to certain of the Latin-American countries, and especially the good impression created thereby in Venezuela. Thanking you for your courteous note, I have the honor to say that the cordial reception I met with in your country will always be most agreeably recalled by me and it cannot fail to promote the good relations between the two Governments which we both sincerely desire to be strengthened. Accept [etc.] P. C. KNOX. File No. 033.1100 K77/180. The American Minister to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] AMERICAN LEGATION, In the annual message of the President to the Congress, delivered to-day, is a most cordial reference to your visit here and to the relations of the two countries. It was enthusiastically received. NORTHCOTT. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES AND CONGRESSES HELD IN THE UNITED STATES. NINTH INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS CONFERENCE. Held at Washington, D. C., May 7-17, 1912. [Report of the proceedings filed in the Bureau of Rolls and Library, Department of State.] TWELFTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF NAVIGATION. Held at Philadelphia, Pa., May 23, 1912. [Report of proceedings filed in the Library of Congress, TC 5 15, 1912f.] EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF APPLIED CHEMISTRY. Held at Washington, D. C. and New York, N. Y., September 4-13, 1912. [Report of proceedings filed in the Library of the Bureau of Chemistry, Department of Agriculture.] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MINE EXPLOSIONS. Held in connection with the above Congress at Pittsburgh, Pa., September 14, 1912. [For report of proceedings see Bulletin No. 82, Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior.] NINTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF HYGIENE AND DEMOGRAPHY. Held at Washington, D. C., September 16-October 5, 1912. [For report of proceedings see U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin 1913, No. 18, Whole No. 528.] 1365 |