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Statement at New York Before Sailing

November 7, 1936

UR delegation to the Inter-American Peace Conference is sailing today with earnest hope for placing the relations of this hemisphere upon a firmer basis of mutual trust and cooperation than ever before. There is good ground for this confidence. A strong feeling of mutual understanding prevails throughout the hemisphere, and there is a growing realization by the peoples of the twenty-one American republics of their common interest in the peaceful and orderly progress of civilization.

The great Republic of Argentina has extended an invitation to the other twenty American republics to meet in Buenos Aires to consider, in accordance with the suggestion of President Roosevelt, the means whereby peace may best be safeguarded. Although substantial progress has already been made by the establishment of conciliation and arbitration tribunals and in other methods of the pacific settlement of international disputes, much remains to be done. Our delegation will make every appropriate endeavor to carry forward the work already started and to strengthen the structure of peace.

The depressed economic conditions which have weighed heavily upon us all are gradually being dis

sipated. Economic conditions are improving. Trade is increasing and business is better. But we must continue our efforts to push forward for economic progress and rehabilitation. Healthy economic conditions are essential for sound, peaceful relations between nations. The progress of each depends more and more upon the progress of others, and by mutual efforts there can be built a prosperous and contented community which is one of the best assurances for the maintenance of peace.

Personally, I am looking forward with particular pleasure to revisiting South America. I have happy memories of my trip to the Montevideo Conference in 1933, and I expect to renew the many cordial friendships which were there established. But beyond personal considerations, I welcome with all my heart this new opportunity to collaborate with my colleagues of the other republics in furthering the cause of peace. We go on this mission with humble hearts and a resolute spirit, confident that further constructive action can and will be taken looking to the elimination of the scourge of armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere.

Statement at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 1936

N REVISITING the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro

IN

I am indeed glad to renew in the name of the people

of the United States of America the high hopes that I expressed on the occasion of my last visit three years ago. My hope has not proven vain that the common objectives and aspirations of our two republics would find fruitful expression in even closer bonds of cordiality between our two peoples.

It is, furthermore, a special pleasure for me to renew my personal friendships with your great leaders. It is my firm belief that, through such cordial and sympathetic relations, the traditional good-neighborliness between our two countries has been and will be strengthened and made more secure.

In Brazil, as in my own country, there exists the conviction that international peace depends in a large measure upon economic peace and well-being and that economic progress and rehabilitation is one of the best assurances for the maintenance of peace, not only in the Americas but in the whole world. In the negotiation of a reciprocal trade agreement with the United States, which has led to increased trade and better relations between our two sister republics, the great Republic of Brazil has tangibly demonstrated these beliefs.

As I said during my previous visit: "Peace must be our passion." We go to this conference with even greater conviction that no thinking peoples can choose other than the road to peace based upon economic understanding. The prize for which we are all striving is the permanent peace, mutual understanding, and economic well-being of the peoples of all the Americas.

I am confident that by mutual understanding and cooperation with our sister republics of this hemisphere, a milestone in the progress of international relationships will be reached, not only on this continent but in the world.

Address at a Banquet Given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, November 19, 1936

I

AM glad that there is opportunity for this visit with you on my way south. I appreciate the warmth of your welcome and am moved by the friendliness that surrounds us.

The American delegation, for which I speak, travels toward Buenos Aires with the sense of being only one of numerous groups of pilgrim brothers moving together with a common thought, and not as a diplomatic mission bent upon some exclusive national aim.

It is no ordinary occasion that draws together the representatives of the twenty-one American republics at Buenos Aires. We are followed by high hopes of all the peoples of a great continent. No immediate difference among us necessitates our gathering. No prevailing fear or profound mistrust compels us to maintain our guards one against the other. There are no deep hatreds among us such as might thwart our impulse to be friends. We are not animated by calculations of special advantage such as might cleave us apart.

Purposes of another kind draw us together. We are impelled by the wish to make known and effective the beliefs and desires which we have in common. We are responding to our need of declaring and carrying for