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tial progress in building up in this hemisphere an international order based upon peace, confidence, and a consideration for the welfare of all its peoples. We should spare no effort to consolidate the gains made and to assure the continuance and safeguarding of our American system. I am confident that under the wise and statesmanlike guidance of the Government of Peru the Eighth International Conference of American States will mark another significant milestone in the progress toward inter-American solidarity and understanding.

I look forward with the greatest pleasure to renewing friendships with those with whom I have been privileged to work at previous conferences and to making new friendships. We are seeking common objectives on the general and fair assumption that what is for the common good will be to the advantage of each of us. It is in that spirit that, with the sympathy and support of all of our peoples, we may hope to carry forward our program of cooperation, consultation, and friendship.

Radio Address From Lima, December 8, 1938

T IS a special pleasure for me to participate

I

in this broadcast with my good friend, Dr.

Carlos Concha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, and Chairman of the Peruvian delegation to the Eighth International Conference of American States, and to express to him my warm thanks for his cordial words of welcome. Dr. Concha and I worked together at the InterAmerican Conference for the Maintenance of Peace held at Buenos Aires in December 1936, and I am happy to have the privilege of collaborating with him again to carry forward the program of inter-American cooperation and consultation which means much to both of us. Dr. Concha is no stranger to the United States. He has taught at one of our large universities and at one of our smaller colleges. He is held in highest esteem by his many friends in the United States and has done much to strengthen

those ties of understanding and friendship which unite our two countries.

Many of us in the United States fail to realize the significant and interesting historical background of our neighbors to the south. Here in Peru, for example, there were ancient civilizations before the days of Spanish colonization. The latest of these was that of the Incas, which prevailed from about the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. The empire of the Incas covered a vast territory from the north of Ecuador to the central valley of Chile and from the Pacific coast inland to the Bolivian plateau and the upper Plata Valley. The capital was at Cuzco, a city which remains one of the most interesting spots in the world. This Inca civilization, which had reached a high stage of development before white settlers had come to North America, was a truly remarkable one. Its government was a government of law. Public administration was efficient and provided for a fair and speedy administration of justice. Social organization and institutions were highly

developed and were designed to serve the common welfare of the people. The Incas had constructed a system of highways that rivaled the roads of the ancient Roman Empire, and a regular post service was maintained over this highway system. There are few finer examples anywhere in the world of craftsmanship in masonry construction than those still to be seen in Cuzco and other centers of the old Inca civilization.

The sixteenth century witnessed the Spanish conquest of what is now Peru, and a new era commenced in the life of this part of the world. The capital was moved from Cuzco to Lima. Spanish institutions, culture, and language began to merge with those of the Incas. Pizarro laid the cornerstone of the famous old cathedral here in Lima on January 18, 1535. We who are here for the Conference will find time to appreciate the beauty and charm of the buildings which were constructed during colonial days. They are a part of the atmosphere of Lima which makes us feel the broad sweep of

history which has unfolded here during the centuries.

The colony of Peru prospered and grew rapidly during the first three centuries of Spanish rule. The viceroyalty of New Granada was separated from the viceroyalty of Peru in 173940, as was the viceroyalty of La Plata in 1776. Progress continued throughout the eighteenth century, but new forces were at work-forces which resulted in the independence of the South American nations during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Tomorrow, the opening day of the Eighth International Conference of American States, is the one-hundredand-fourteenth anniversary of the battle of Ayacucho which assured the independence of Peru.

There were fundamental similarities in the motives which prompted the struggle for independence on the part of all of the peoples of the Western Hemisphere. The growth of liberalism, opposition to commercial restrictions and to burdensome taxation, the increasing influ

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