Pan-American conference.
By act of the United States Congress in 1888 arrangements were made for a conference at Washington between representatives of the United States and other countries in America. The conference assembled accordingly, Oct. 2, 1889, and was attended by envoys from Brazil and from Spanish America generally, as well as from the United States. Secretary of State Blaine presided. The delegates made a tour through the country, and settled down to work at Washington in November. Such subjects as banking, monetary union, commercial extension, and arbitration were discussed. In April, 1890, ten of the nations signed an international arbitration treaty. Secretary Blaine, who was deeply interested in the matter and in the extension southward of the United States' interests, recommended an intercontinental railway.President McKinley, in his message to Congress in 1899, suggested that the various American republics, constituting the International Union, be invited, at an early date, to hold another conference, and that it be held in the capital of one of the countries that had not already enjoyed that honor.
Mr. William C. Fox, chief clerk of the bureau of American republics, in a statement of the purposes of the conference, says:
The Mexican government took up this suggestion at once, and it has officially invited the states comprising the union to attend a conference to convene in the capital city of Mexico, commencing Oct. 22, 1901. The acceptance of the invitation by all the nations has been assured, and the meeting of the plenipotentiaries promises to be one of great moment.
After all that has gone before, the congress in the city of Mexico will convene under the most pleasant auspices. Its programme has been so mapped out as to include many of the subjects treated at the previous conference, as well as such new ones as may be submitted to it. But, above all, it will be an international occasion of the first importance dedicated to intercontinental friendship, peace, and prosperity. As Mr. Mariscal, the minister of foreign affairs of Mexico, has aptly said, in reference to it: “Not forgetting that civilization came to us from Europe, and that the great interests of humanity are one, we must confess that in America there are special interests and closer bonds between her inhabitants, with fewer international complications to secure the welfare of her peoples.”
