WHEN I was called upon to speak on this Pan American day, the words with which Milton begins his Areopagitica came to my mind:

"They who to States and Governors of the Commonwealth direct their Speech, High Court of Parliament, or wanting such access in a private condition, write that which they foresee may advance the public good; I suppose them as at the beginning of no mean endeavor, not a little altered and moved inwardly in their minds; some with doubt of what will be the success, others with fear of what will be the censure; some with hope, others with confidence of what they have to speak."

I am reminded too, that Milton had unbounded faith in reason's power to transform the world, and it seems to me that the world is beginning to look askance at this belief. We are inclining more to Burke's distrust of "the fallible and feeble contrivances of our reason."

We have met here in honor of a day which associates our countries.

Self-glorification savors of smugness and repugnant, yet it has, too, a good side in that it lifts the heart to the contemplation of ideals that at times are brushed aside in the humdrum of everyday life. This day signifies that the nations of this continent, even though transitory differences have occasionally arisen, are imbued with the feeling that they constitute, as it were, a family with traditions, interests, and aspirations common to all.

Address delivered on April 14, 1947 at the City Hall, San Francisco, before a large audience including the Mayor of San Francisco, the Latin American consuls general, and many other dignitaries.

The association of our countries, which came into being more than fifty years ago, is surely a spiritual labor on which we can look back with a little pride. Its existence shows that great and small, weak and strong, can live together, side by side, in friendship and mutual respect. To acknowledge that there are great and small, weak and strong, is a concession that must, unhappily, be made to the stark reality of power in its material aspect. The ineluctable fact remains, however, that notwithstanding unequal distribution of wealth and power, our countries have in the course of years drawn closer to one another. This may fill us with hope and confidence for the future. There have been setbacks and backslidings in our common endeavor to live peaceably amongst ourselves on this continent, yet our creed is manifest and perhaps finds its most eloquent expression in the resolution with regard to arbitration, of the Pan American Conference held at Rio de Janeiro, in 1906, which enjoined upon the delegates of the American Republics to the Second Conference to meet at The Hague, to endeavor to secure there "the celebration of a general arbitration convention so effective and definite that, meriting the approval of the civilized world, it shall be accepted and put in force by every nation." I say this even though Ambrose Bierce defined international arbitration as the substitution of many burning questions for a smouldering

one.

Lest in emphasizing what we have succeeded in accomplishing we may appear complacent, or to have fallen into the sin

of self-righteousness, it is fitting that we recognize with a humble heart, that our countries have been blessed with many advantages when we compare them with others. What we have attained is not all of our own making, nor have we, in all certainty, always administered to the best of our abilities the heritage which we received. While we may rejoice in our blessings, which are many, there is no place for overweening pride-rather is the present a time for all of us to look with understanding, compassion, and respect, to the nations from which we spring and which are suffering so grievously.

Toynbee, the great English historian, in his outstanding work A Study of History has put forth the thesis that a deciding factor in the surge and passing of civilizations is the response or failure to respond to a challenge. It would seem that our civilization finds itself now in one of these moments when it must respond successfully or fail. The association of our republics must be part of that response and an example to that greater family of nationsthe United Nations-whose dolorous birth pangs we are witnessing with anxiety and the hope which cannot be eradicated from the poor human heart.

To end these words I will quote from a letter written in 1787 by Thomas Jefferson, then Ambassador to France: "As a North American, I firmly believe that my country not only wants, but also needs an independent, strong and friendly Brazil, to

carry out in the southern portion of the hemisphere the mission that is ours in the northern. Our two nations, united by a sincere friendship, would not only maintain peace throughout the western hemisphere, but would form, with other countries of America, a bloc capable of resisting any aggression from outside." There should be no need to state that in quoting the above there is no thought in me to any pretensions of hegemony for Brazil in the south of the continent.

At a moment in history when, as a consequence of faulty and unassimilated economic and social theories, we are confronted with a dire threat to the dignity of man, of the individual man, whichwith all the admitted drawbacks of the industrial process-is the greatest achievement of our civilization, the thought of Jefferson looking towards the union of the countries of this continent is timely and consoling. Distrust amongst the nations of the world has, in the final analysis, been at the root of the age-long succession of wars and conflicts. Two thousand years ago Virgil wrote, Nusquam tuta fides-Nowhere is there faith on earth.

The day which we are commemorating symbolizes our endeavor to build and keep trust amongst ourselves. This trust we must conserve and foster, remembering that it is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.