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ence of the press and periodicals, and the insistence upon human rights-all were factors. These influences were at work in both the Spanish-speaking and English-speaking colonies of America. In this respect there is a very real, common background for all the American nations.

The modern Peru which has evolved through these centuries will without doubt continue to play the important role on the American Continent that it has played in the past. Its progress continues. The Government is carrying out a comprehensive program of highway and public-works construction which should be of great benefit to the country. This program is opening new productive areas and is stimulating Peru's economic progress. It will be of value in bringing about a greater utilization of the country's vast natural resources. It is a source of satisfaction to note that commercial interchange between Peru and the United States is a mutually profitable one and that the United States purchases a substantial amount

of Peru's exports and supplies a substantial proportion of imports into the country.

Peru always has taken an active part in interAmerican conferences and in the common effort to build up an international relationship in this hemisphere which is based upon those principles of freedom, individual rights, and justice, for which all of us have fought and which all of us are determined to defend. This hospitable city, therefore, is a most fitting place in which to carry forward our work.

It seems to me that there are three major fields in which this Conference may hope to strengthen and carry forward the work which we already have begun. The first has to do with the effort to secure peace throughout the world and, as a corollary, the preservation of our American institutions and of our system of international relations based upon the peaceful settlement of all international disputes. We are determined that peace shall be maintained on the American Continent, and we are in agreement that any menace to that peace is a

matter of concern to all of us. We shall seek to implement and make more effective the measures already adopted to that end.

The second great field in which we may take action is that of economic cooperation for the welfare of all the American peoples. The American republics have recorded their intention to develop their international trade upon the principle of equality of treatment and to eliminate excessive and uneconomic barriers to such trade. My conviction grows ever stronger that economic disarmament is one of the essentials for political stability and for a return to international relationships based upon a respect for law, order, and the faithful observance of obligations. It is a satisfaction to me to note that Peru has not imposed exchangeor import-control measures as a part of its economic and commercial policy. The American republics do not seek a regional solution for the economic problems confronting the world today. They recognize the interdependence of all nations of the world in these fundamental

questions and are eager to see the principles, to which they have adhered, adopted by all nations of the world.

The strengthening of international law is a third vital concern for all of us. The question is included in the agenda of the Conference and will receive the study and attention which its importance warrants. The contribution which the American republics may be able to make toward the strengthening of international law and toward revitalizing it as an effective force in international relations will be a constructive factor in the world situation. As we carry on this part of our work we will do so with the consciousness of the great loss we have suffered through the death of the eminent Peruvian jurist, Dr. Victor M. Maúrtua. Dr. Maúrtua was a member of the Committee of Experts on the Codification of International Law and his contribution in this field is an honor to his country, to his profession, and to the man himself.

When the Eighth International Conference of American States meets tomorrow, I am con

fident that it will work in that spirit of unanimity, friendship, and frankness which has marked inter-American relationships during recent years. The Conference furnishes a renewed opportunity for friendly consultation on questions of common concern, for the fair giveand-take in reaching solutions based upon the general principle that national interests are well served when the common good is cared for, and for broadening the foundations of that sympathetic understanding of each other's problems and lives upon which rests the structure of international relations.

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