Official proceedings of the annual meeting: 1923

I2

OPENING SESSION

vain, and among all peoples, whatever differences may exist or complaints be voiced,
it is fully realized that here, if anywhere, will be sure response to the cry of need. I
mention this because it is well to recognize that there is this feeling, what has happily
been called a "ground swell" of popular good will toward this country. We may count
upon it in our efforts at peaceful settlements and we owe it to the endeavors of the sort
which you have so effectively organized. You are the apostles of peace because you
carry the gospel of friendship and helpfulness.
You know how earnestly we have sought to maintain the most cordial relations
with our sister republics to the south. Our national policies have furnished an opportunity for their development secure in independence and in immunity from foreign
intrigue. All know, except those among us who unfortunately suffer from mental
indigestion and are unable to assimilate facts and those who find pleasure in libeling
their country, that we have cherished no imperialistic designs and desire to see all our
neighbors strong and just, with unimpaired sovereignty and constantly increasing
prosperity. But I question if the efforts of this government for one hundred years have
accomplished as much to promote understanding and good will in Latin America as the
recent well-directed endeavor of American philanthropists in combatting disease and
thus directly contributing to human welfare. When the American forces of medical
science stamp out pestilence, when American skill safeguards the very foundation of
healthful activity, they create a sense of gratitude and friendship which will do more
to remove distrust and to draw our peoples together in a mutually beneficent co-operation than any possible political pronouncement. It is one thing to address governments; it is quite another, and much more difficult, to reach the heart of peoples, but
this must be done if we are to be of aid in removing the causes of strife. The same
results follow our efforts for public health throughout the world. The field of co-operation in resisting the spread of disease, in fostering child life, in promoting hygiene, in
controlling the production and distribution of narcotic drugs, in promoting scientific
research, and in strengthening educational foundations affords a vast opportunity for
effort congenial to the American spirit, in every way consistent with American tradition, and worthy of all the skill and intelligence which we can give.
We need these humanitarian activities not only to promote international good will
by helping others, but in order to help ourselves and to increase our own capacity for a
sound and helpful influence in international relations. We need among our own people
the unifying influence of humanitarian work in which all races represented in our population co-operate to secure common ends. There are those who speak of American
co-operation in international affairs as though we were of one mind and had one voice.
When there is a dominant American interest or a supreme issue transcending racial
differences, we have displayed a most gratifying degree of unity and an extraordinary
power of concentrated effort. But when there is no such dominant issue and questions
involving foreign political interests arise, we exhibit, because of our racial divisions, not
simply the normal divergences of opinion always to be expected in a democratic community, but the viewpoints, controversies, and rival interests of European countries.
We have large groups organized among our people in the interest of what they respectively call "their country," which, however, is not ours. They range themselves in
antagonistic forces according to the groupings of the old world and try to bend American policy to particular foreign interests. This is undoubtedly the natural result of