THE PAN-AMERICAN CONFERENCE OF 1889. INTRODUCTION. The meeting in Washington in October, 1889, of a Congress in which all the American States were represented was an event of great moment and concern, not only to the United States, but to every one of the nations of this hemisphere. In that way the project originated by Bolivar, immediately after the independence of the Spanish colonies in America, of forming a confederation among all the American nations for their mutual advancement, was partially realized. It is therefore of great importance to record what took place in that Conference, as I am sure it will not be the last one, and a knowledge of the circumstances attending the same and of its main discussions and decisions will be of great use in future meetings. It is now nearly ten years since that meeting took place, and the idea has been suggested of calling a similar conference, as it is thought proper that the American nations should convene to consult among themselves on subjects affecting their common interests and welfare at least once in every ten years. I thought that an impartial, conscientious, and concise analysis of what took place in that Conference presented by a Spanish-American delegate, especially from the point of view of the Latin-American nations, which is not quite fully understood in the United States, would be of great interest to all concerned, and especially so to this country, and with such object in view I wrote a paper which appeared in the September and October numbers of 1890 of the North American Review, of New York, under the heading of "The Pan-American Conference." I now reprint this paper substantially as it was then published; but giving only a few more details about the way in which the Act of May 24, 1888, which convened the Conference, originated, and about other points of personal interest, and rectifying a statement regarding Mr. Henderson, Chairman of the United States delegation to the Conference, which appeared in the original article, and which was not exactly fair to him. This edition of the paper gives me also the opportunity of mentioning what have been so far some of the permanent results of the Conference. I have thought it advisable also to append the principal documents which are referred to in the paper, as the Act convening the Conference, a full list of the delegates, a list of the committees, and the text of the project of arbitration, and another against conquest, reported by the Committee on General Welfare, which finally ended in a Treaty of Arbitration, signed by most of the delegates to the same on April 19, 1890, and several other important documents bearing on the results of the Conference. I published this paper almost immediately after the Conference adjourned, and when Mr. Blaine and all the members of the Conference were not only living, but had fresh in their memory the events that happened in the same, and when Mr. Blaine was yet Secretary of State. With the exception of Mr. Henderson, to whom I have already alluded, neither Mr. Blaine nor any one of the delegates in any manner, directly or indirectly, intimated to me or to anybody else, to my knowledge, that there was any misstatement or misunderstanding on my part about the incidents which I had commented upon, and this shows very clearly to my mind that my statements were correct. Complete information on this subject will be found in the following official publications of the proceedings of the Pan-American Conference: Ist, a volume of 906 pages, containing the Minutes, signed by the President and the two Secretaries, of the seventy meetings held by the Conference, under the title of Minutes of the International American Conference in English and Spanish, 1890. 2d, a publication in four volumes entitled International American Conference, printed by the United States Government under the direction of the Executive Committee and by order of the Conference, approved March 7, 1890. Volumes I. and II. of said publication contain the reports of the committees and discussions thereon; Vol. III. contains the narrative of the tour of the delegates through the United States, descriptions of places visited, and reports of addresses delivered; and Vol. IV. an historical appendix, beginning with the Congress of Panama of 1826, and subsequent movements toward a conference of American nations. And 3d, a volume containing the recommendations approved by the Pan-American Conference. sent to Congress by President Harrison, each with a special Message, accompanied in every case by a report of Mr. Blaine as Secretary of State. In some cases, as in regard to reciprocity treaties, Mr. Blaine wrote a full report, going into details of the subject, and in others he merely prepared a letter of transmittal. The following is a complete list of the subjects recommended by the Pan-American Con ference, as communicated by President Harrison to Congress, with the dates of his Messages in the chronological order in which they were sent, all of which are bound in one volume : Inter-Continental Railway, President's Message to the Senate, May 19, 1890. International American Bank, President's Message to the Senate, May 27, 1890. Senate Ex. Doc., No. 129, Fifty-first Congress, Ist Session. Customs Regulations, President's Message to the Senate, June 2, 1890. Senate Ex. Doc., No. 135, Fifty-first Congress, Ist Session. Reciprocity Treaties, President's Message to the Senate, June 19, 1890. Senate Ex. Doc., No. 158, Fifty-first Congress, 1st Session. Colombian Exposition, President's Message to the Senate, July 2, 1890. Senate Ex. Doc., No. 173, Fifty-first Congress, Ist Session. Postal and Cable Communications, President's Message to the Senate, July 2, 1890. Senate Ex. Doc., No. 174, Fifty-first Congress, Ist Session. Sanitary and Quarantine Regulations, President's Message to the Senate, July 11, 1890. Senate Ex. Doc., No. 176, Fifty-first Congress, Ist Session. Patents and Trade-Marks, President's Message to the Senate, July 11, 1890. Senate Ex. Doc., No. 177, Fifty-first Congress, 1st Session. International Monetary Union, President's Message to the Senate, July 12, 1890. Uniform System of Weights and Measures, President's Message to the Senate, July Uniform Code of International Law, President's Message to the Senate, July 14, 1890. Uniform Treaties for the Extradition of Criminals, President's Message to the Senate, July 15, 1890. Senate Ex. Doc., No. 187, Fifty-first Congress, Ist Session. Erection of Memorial Tablet, President's Message to the Senate, July 15, 1890. Senate Ex. Doc., No. 188, Fifty-first Congress, 1st Session. Plan of Arbitration, President's Message to the Senate, September 3, 1890. Senate Ex. Doc., No. 224, Fifty-first Congress, Ist Session. THE PAN-AMERICAN CONFERENCE OF 1889. Although the idea of assembling a congress in which all the American nations should be represented was not a new one-as it had originated in South America with its liberator, Bolivar, after the Spanish colonies had accomplished their independence, and was put into effect by his calling in 1826 a congress to meet at Panama, a project very heartily supported in this country by Henry Clay, then Secretary of State Mr. James G. Blaine can be properly considered as the originator in the United States of the movement which resulted in convening the International American Conference which met in October, 1889. He proposed it in 1881, when he served as Secretary of State for the first time, under President Garfield's Administration, but reduced to narrow limits the object of such a conference: namely, to the negotiation of an agreement for the purpose of settling by arbitration all differences that might arise between the American nations. The change of Administration which soon afterwards took place, in consequence of the assassination of President Garfield, caused this idea to be abandoned, as at that time it had not been well received. Chili was then engaged in a war with Peru and Bolivia, and some thought that the proposed conference was an attempt to interfere in that difficulty. Mexico also received it very coolly, for she had then a boundary question pending with Guatemala, and Mr. Blaine had proposed that the President of the United States should arbitrate thereon; but, unfortunately, in making that offer, he had expressed an opinion unfavorable to the rights of Mexico, which were based on undeniable historical facts; and for this and other reasons the proposal was not then accepted. Act Convening the Conference.-The idea remained latent in this country, however, and it was revived by President Arthur, who, coming from the commercial metropolis, and being in close association with the mercantile community, thought of adding a commercial feature to the original proposition, and sent a Commission to the several other Republics to ascertain how another invitation would be received, and to ask suggestions as to the topics that might be considered at a conference of |