dermine the democratic institutions established in this hemisphere. We have declared that any such threats would be matters of common concern to all of us and have expressed our determination to make our solidarity effective. We have agreed to coordinate our respective sovereign wills by the procedure of consultation, each country acting independently in its individual capacity as an equal sovereign state. Beginning with the enunciation of the principle of solidarity in the Anti-war Pact, we have piece by piece built a structure of continental solidarity. We have stated in clear-cut language our determination to maintain and defend our principles against any intervention or outside interference which may threaten us, and we have pledged ourselves to consult with one another if confronted with such threats. We have taken this action in the recognition that American institutions and the absolute sovereignty of each and every country is a necessity for all of us.

An unprecedented feeling of solidarity has been exhibited by the acts and utterances of

each and every delegate, including the visiting Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, who echoed the views of all when he said:

...

American solidarity, Gentlemen, is a fact that nobody can or will doubt. All and each one of us is ready to sustain and prove this solidarity, in the face of any danger which, from wherever [sic] source, might threaten the independence or sovereignty of any state of this part of the world. it is not only the piece of land which we would defend in a sacred union. We are prepared to repel with the same tenacity, by means of concordant measures of a preventive character, or by combined direct action, anything that implies a threat to the American order, any introduction of men or ideas that reflect and tend to establish in our land and in our spirits ideas foreign to our idiosyncrasies, ideals in opposition to ours, regimes against our liberties, theories dangerous to the social and moral peace of our people, political fanaticisms and fetishisms which cannot prosper under the skies of America.

I have here quoted words which were on the lips of all delegates alike from the day of their arrival at the Conference. Some even desired

a military alliance, which my Government has at no time favored.

We have also reaffirmed in this Conference our faith in peace and justice for all men by our declaration of a program of principles indispensable to world-order and peace. These we proclaim, support, and recommend to all nations.

If there be any who have not grasped the achievements of this Conference let me again ask them to lift up their eyes and look at the political turmoil, strife, and poverty which curse so many parts of the world and which threaten to cast their baneful influence over the continents of America, and then to look by way of contrast at the solidarity, unity, and peaceful objectives proclaimed by this Conference.

We have all lived through a decade in which many declarations and agreements have proven of little efficacy. We all know that what counts most is the clarity and steadiness of the spirit and the will that commands and guides us. I am sure that you will all return to your countries, as I shall return to mine, with great assurance as regards the will and the spirit pre

vailing in the American states and that all of us are determined that our countries shall continue to make their full contribution to the purpose of our declarations.

All of us reach out, I know, toward peaceful and fruitful relations with all the rest of the world. Each of us has lines of sympathy and interest that traverse the globe more finely than the lines of latitude and longitude. Our bonds are strong with all who seek peaceful friendship and who respect those principles of democracy, tolerance, and equality by which we live. The principles of conduct which we have adopted and are carrying out in our relationships with each other are equally open as a basis of relationship with all other countries. It cannot be fairly said that we are trying to shut ourselves off in a hemisphere of our own; any such effort would be futile. But it can be fairly said that the principles of conduct upon which the countries of this hemisphere have chosen to stand firm are so broad and essential that all the world may also stand upon them.

Speaking for my country, we seek universal recognition and support for them. Were they adopted over all the world, a great fear would end. The young would see their future with more certainty and significance. The old would see their lives with more peaceful satisfaction.

The book of history is never closed. Already the tasks ahead are all too plain. We still must seek untrammeled freedom of economic life so that men and nations freely exchanging the products of their hands and heads can attain their greatest economic well-being. We still need a world in which universally there is recognized the system of order under an international law so much respected that force is not needed, just as force is not needed to maintain the several sovereignties of the friendly nations here represented one against another.

There still is needed the moral crusade whereby the soul of everyone, even the humblest of our citizens, may be liberated and raised to its greatest capacity so that each of