nd selfish devices of the lobbyist and
from the stolid indifference which characterizes a people willing to be
governed without themselves having a voice in government.

I congratulate you that you have come here to the nation's capital to
discuss and consider subjects which are properly of national concern;
that you have not come to ask the national government to do anything
which you ought to do yourselves at home in your separate states, but to
consider the exercise of the great commerce power of the nation, the
power which from the beginning of our government has been fittingly
placed in the hands of the national administration.

To my view we are advancing, and the whole world is advancing, in the
opportunities and in the spirit and method which create opportunities
for that kind of commerce which is profitable and beneficial to both
parties the world over. Our relations continually grow more reasonable,
more sensible and kindly with Europe and all the powers of Europe, with
our vigorous and growing neighbor to the north, with our rapidly
advancing and developing neighbors to the south, and with the nations
that face us on the other side of the Pacific. Little occasions for
controversy, little causes for irritation, little incidents of
conflicting interests continually arise, as they do among friends and
neighbors in the same town, but the general trend of international
relations is a trend towards mutual respect, mutual consideration, and
substantial good understanding.

Of course our relations to Europe, and our relations to the Orient, and
our relations to Canada have long been much discussed and are worthy of
discussion; but it seems to me that the subject which at this particular
time opens before us with more of an appearance, and just appearance, of
new opportunity than any other, is the subject of our relations to the
Latin American nations to the south. I am not going to detain you by any
extended discussion of that subject. I made a long--perhaps too
long--speech about it before the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress
at Kansas City a few weeks ago, and that has been printed in various
forms and some of you, perhaps, have seen it or will see it. The
substance is that just at the time when the United States has reached a
point of development in its wonderful resources and accumulation of
capital so that it is possible for us to turn our attention from the
development of our own internal affairs to reac