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Radio Address from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

November 19, 1936

HE 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.

We are followed by the 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. At Buenos Aires we shall seek the most effective and durable expression of this joint will to advance the ideals of peace between nations, government by the consent of the people, and esteem for human welfare as the basis of government.

We must live as a continent of nations in peaceful and equitable relations with each other. I am sure that all

the nations of this continent will respond to that vow. It is in the heart of each of us. We will seek further to define the means and conditions by which peace among us may be assured.

Despite the endless wars that have marked all the known past of the world, we must believe that the masses of people not only on this continent but elsewhere in the world will soon insist upon peace in international relations and be willing to live in a way that will bring peace. If we, the American republics, manifest this faith and purpose, if we show our willingness to ratify the pledges of peace between us, these events will be hailed everywhere. The people of those countries outside this hemisphere will not be heedless of our example; nor can we be heedless of theirs. For war anywhere in the world must disturb and threaten peace everywhere.

We are rightly proud of the democratic form of government in which we have made our history. We all know the occasional disadvantages and difficulties that such form of government encounters. We know that continued watchfulness and effort are essential to good democratic government. But to all of us, self-government, democratic government, has always been and remains an essential condition of the good life as we conceive it. Such government is government controlled by the people and dedicated to the advancement and peaceful welfare of the people. It is government which draws its strength from the development of the indi

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vidual under conditions of liberty; it is the form of ernment that looks to liberty to make men great and then trusts the greatness that liberty produces.

It is the mode of government, I believe, in which the ideals of peace are most naturally developed and sustained. The conceptions of brotherhood and equality that underlie the relations between the citizens of a democracy impart themselves to the shaping of relations between democracies.

If at Buenos Aires we can make all this plain; if we can show clearly enough our determination to remain at peace while being strong; if we can make it more difficult for those few who may be willing to use war as an instrument of self-advancement or national policy to have their way; if we can make it less likely that those whose lives would be given in war may be deceived as to the realities of war; if we can advance but a little the trade relations between us that serve our mutual welfare-if we can do any of these things, our meeting will justify itself.

Throughout the existence of Brazil and the United States, our relations have been blessed with uninterrupted peace and friendship. I hail the future of relations between all the countries of this hemisphere. In addition to the ideals of self-government and free government in which we have developed together, to the friendly adventures which have brought our peoples together in the past, to the exchange of products for life and work which goes on in the present, we now meet to

serve the future together in still another way. We meet to affirm joyously the wish of the republics of the American continent to live at peace, one with the other.

Statement at Santos, Brazil, November 21, 1936

T IS indeed encouraging to see the evidence of renewed business and general economic progress in

this great world commercial port of Santos. From this harbor flow products from your great country that play their part in the comfort and welfare of the entire globe.

It is chiefly through the development of economic wellbeing, and the continued strengthening of mutually friendly relationships, that commercial cities like Santos and São Paulo can contribute their full share toward building the structure of peace and understanding that will be an example and an inspiration to the whole world.

Since my last very pleasant visit to Santos our two countries have negotiated a reciprocal trade agreement which has already been instrumental in increasing our mutually beneficial trade relations. I am sure that Santos and São Paulo have enjoyed a generous share of the fruits of this agreement.