Address of the Special Mission to the retiring President, José M. Gómez, and the reply of President Gómez.

MR. PRESIDENT: Acting in accordance with the wishes of the President of the United States, we are present today as an evidence of the intimate and friendly interest of the American people and their Government in the welfare and prosperity of Cuba. We take pleasure, therefore, in extending to you the good wishes of the people of the United States and the sincere compliments of their President that you have maintained and are handing over to your successor a Government of law and order and a form of republican government which the people of the United States will be glad to see develop and prevail to the lasting good of the Cuban nation.

President Gómez replied as follows:

MR. MINISTER: I am very much gratified to hear from your excellency's lips in your quality as Chief of the Special Mission sent by the President of the United States of America in courteous reciprocation of that which I had the satisfaction of sending to Washington upon the occasion of a similar event, the gracious remarks which, in expressing the wishes and sentiments of the great citizen who is now the head of the American nation wisely and gloriously to guide its des tinies, are the assurance of the noble interest which the people and Government of the United States of America so sincerely feel for the happiness and prosperity of the Cuban nation and the security of its republican institutions.

In transferring within a few hours hence the Presidency of the Republic to my illustrious successor, nothing can be more pleasing to me than the solemn and encouraging remarks which you have just made, and I pray your excellency will convey to President Wilson my grateful appreciation as a Cuban and my sincere wishes for his personal welfare and for the enduring prosperity and greatness of the American nation in the deserved and unalterable affection of her other sisters of this hemisphere, for the good of humanity and the glory of civilization.

Mr. Beaupré then introduced his colleagues and staff. Informal conversation followed and finally, champagne being served, President Gómez proposed a toast to the President and people of the United States, their progress, prosperity and peace. Mr. Malone proposed the health of the President of Cuba and the welfare of the Cuban people. The party then returned to Habana.

May 20. At 9:45 the Special Mission and staff, accompanied by Commander Scales of the U. S. S. Prairie, repaired to the Senate Chamber to witness the inauguration of Vice President Varona. Seats were reserved in front row. After this ceremony the Special Mission, staff, etc., went to the Palace, where they were received by President Gómez, and remained in conversation with friends till

noon.

The following congratulatory telegram from the President of the United States to the incoming President was received by General Menocal:

The President to the President of Cuba.

THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, May 20, 1913.

Upon this anniversary of the independence of the Cuban nation and the occasion of Your Excellency's inauguration, permit me to add to the message of cordial friendship conveyed by the Ministers of the United States on Special Mission my own sincerest felicitation, and also to extend my best wishes that this Government's sister Republic of Cuba may, under your administration, have great prosperity. Pray accept my own cordial wishes for your continued health and happiness.

File No. 837.001M52/10.

WOODROW WILSON.

File No. 837.001M52/16A.

To this General Menocal replied:

The President of Cuba to the President.

[Translation.]

HABANA, May 20, 1913.

It has been for me special cause of congratulation, after the delivery of the noble message of cordial friendship by the Ministers of the United States on Special Mission, to receive the telegram by which Your Excellency sent me your sincere felicitations and wishes for the success of my administration and the prosperity of Cuba. Profoundly grateful to Your Excellency, I renew to you my sentiments of cordial friendship and my aim to have the ties that bind Cuba to the United States drawn closer and closer.

Accept, Excellency, my sincere wishes for your health and happiness.

MENOCAL.

At noon General Menocal arrived to take the oath of office. President Gómez made a short speech turning over his office; General Menocal replied, and the oath of office was administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. President Menocal and General Gómez then repaired to a balcony overlooking Palace Square to receive the acclamations of the crowd. Colonel de la Torriente then took oath as Secretary of State. During the ceremonies the Special Mission and staff occupied a reserved enclosure immediately in front of the dais on which the President, retiring President, Supreme Court, etc., were standing.

On returning from the balcony, President Menocal retired with his Cabinet for a short consultation, after which he returned to the State Room and passed through to the Red Room. He thereupon despatched an aide-de-camp to invite the attendance of the Special Mission of the United States of America. On entering the Red Room, Mr. Beaupré in a few words informed President Menocal of the object of the mission:

Address of the Chief of the Special Mission to the President of Cuba, Mario G. Menocal.

MR. PRESIDENT: It is my distinguished honor to hand to Your Excellency the letters by which the President of the United States accredits me and my colleagues on special mission near your Government. At the same time I beg to extend to you our sincere congratulations and our good wishes for the welfare of your Government.

My colleague Mr. Malone will deliver to Your Excellency a personal message of congratulation and good will from the President of the United States, whose close friend and representative he is. The terms and significance of this message afford sincere gratification to me and to my colleagues.

He then presented the letter accrediting him and his colleagues: Letter of credence from the President, accrediting the Special Mission to the President of Cuba.

GREAT AND GOOD FRIEND: Desiring to manifest the intimate interest of the United States in the welfare of the Cuban Nation and to emphasize the close and special relationship between the two countries, I have made choice of Arthur M. Beaupré, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to Cuba, Brigadier General Enoch H. Crowder, Judge Advocate General of the Army, and Dudley Field Malone, Third Assistant Secretary of State, three of our distinguished citizens, as my special representatives, each with the

File No. 837.001M52/17.

rank of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, on the occasion of the inauguration of Your Excellency to the Chief Magistracy of the Republic of Cuba.

I have entire confidence that they will render themselves acceptable to Your Excellency in the distinguished duty with which I have invested them.

I therefore request Your Excellency to receive them favorably and to accept from them the assurance of the high regard and friendship entertained for Your Excellency and the Government and People of Cuba by the Government and People of the United States, and of my best wishes for your personal welfare and the prosperity of the Republic over which you have been called to preside. Your Good Friend,

By the President:

W. J. BRYAN,

Secretary of State.

WASHINGTON, May 14, 1913.

WOODROW WILSON.

Mr. Malone then read the President's greeting, as follows:

Address in behalf of the President, by Mr. Malone, Minister on Special Mission, to the President of Cuba.

Mr. PresidenT: We congratulate you on this significant occasion, when, following a closely contested election and an orderly and peaceful transfer of power from the party hitherto in control to an opposition party, you come to preside over the destinies of the Cuban people. This orderly transmission of authority is most gratifying and seems to indicate that the Cuban people have successfully undergone one of the severest tests of republican government.

We bring you a cordial message of good will and encouragement in the duties which now fall to you, and we wish to express the hearty sympathy of the American people with every element of good government in Cuba. It is the wish and purpose of the President of the United States and of the Government which he represents to support firm and just government as against all elements 'of disorder.

As was stated by President Wilson in March last in his declaration of the

policy that would be followed by the United States in its relations with its

sister republics in the western hemisphere,' one of chief objects of his administration will be to cultivate their friendship, to deserve their confidence, and to promote in every proper and honorable way the interests which are common to our respective countries.

The President earnestly desires the most cordial understanding and coöperation between the United States and Cuba. He believes that such coöperation is possible only when supported at every turn by just government based upon law. upon the consent of the governed, and upon public conscience. He will seek to make these principles and a firm opposition to all arbitrary or irregular force the basis of our mutual intercourse.

The American people are the friends of peace and can have no sympathy with those who seek to seize the power of government in order to advance their personal ambitions. There can be no lasting peace in such circumstances. As friends who prefer the interests of peace and honor, the protection of private rights and respect for the restraints of constitutional provisions, mutual respect must continue to be the foundation of the friendship which exists between us. The United States has nothing to seek in Cuba except the lasting interest of the people, the security of popular government and the development of such personal and commercial relations between Cuba and the United States as will redound to the profit and advantage of both and interfere with the right and liberties of neither.

In reiterating to you, Mr. President, these friendly assurances of the President of the United States, we desire to emphasize the earnestness and sincerity with which the people and the Government of the United States, as represented by their President, desire that the future of the Cuban nation shall be one of uninterrupted advance toward peace, prosperity and security. Our message is one of cordial friendship and felicitation. May Cuba, under your guidance, rise yet another stage upon her progress towards settled peace, happiness and contentment.

General Menocal replied as follows:

Reply of President Menocal to the Address by the Minister on Special Mission. [Translation.]

MESSIEURS ENVOYS EXTRAORDINARY AND MINISTERS PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON SPECIAL MISSION: It is a high honor to me to receive from the hands of your excellencies the letters of credence by which the President of the United States accredits you on special mission near my Government, and, while expressing my deep appreciation of your sincere congratulations, I pray for your personal weal.

In receiving from one of you-from Mr. Malone-the personal message of congratulation and good wishes from the President of the United States, whose close friend and representative he is, I cannot refrain from asking you to inform your Président that the terms and significance of his message are the source of the greatest satisfaction to me and to my Government.

It is indeed a source of gratification to all who feel an interest in the future of the Cuban Republic, that, following a closely contested election in which both sides invariably showed profound respect for the laws, the transmission of power from the party hitherto in control to the party whose candidates triumphed at the polls and which, in cooperation with me, will henceforth govern Cuba, should have been accomplished in a manner so orderly and peaceful. The Cuban people have shown by this impressive act, so satisfactorily carried out a few minutes since, that they have successfully faced one of the most difficult trials of the republican form of government which we enjoy.

The happy fact that all the inhabitants of Cuba, and particularly their political organizations, have contributed to this normal transmission of the powers of government which your excellencies have just witnessed leads us to hope that the hearty sympathy which your excellencies express to me in the name of the American people with every element of good government in Cuba may never need be translated into the necessity for material support of the firm and just government which all Cubans, without distinction of political creed, now hope we may ever enjoy. The remarks which you have just delivered in the name of the United States persuade me and all Cubans, to an even greater degree than ever before, that the nation which so decisively contributed to the birth of the Cuban Repúblic has not for a single moment wavered in its interest in the welfare of our people.

The relations between the great and small nations of the earth cannot be enduring and cordial save as they are inspired in a common feeling of respect and justice and, principally, a willingness on the part of the strong to help the weak. Hence the great significance for Cuba of the assurance which you give in President Wilson's name that he desires the most cordial coöperation between Cuba and the United States and that he believes that such coöperation is possible only when supported at every turn by just government based upon law, upon the consent of the governed, and upon public confidence, wherefore he will seek to make these principles and a firm opposition to all arbitrary or irregular force the basis of our mutual intercourse.

The purpose of Cuba, and, in her behalf, of my Government this day inaugu rated, to maintain the most cordial relations with all the governments of the world necessarily leads her to cultivate by the most honorable and appropriate means the interests which are common to the peoples who inhabit this western hemisphere, destined to such a large share in the great civilization of which we form part. And in order that all may coöperate for the accomplishment of the purposes which President Wilson announced in his statements of last March, it is also indispensable that all shall feel that they are protected in their rights as truly free and independent peoples who while conscious of their rights are equally cognizant and mindful of their international obligations. Such are the bases of that mutual respect if it is to endure. This respect fortunately already exists, and I am more than ever confident that President Wilson and I will jointly strive to augment it-he as the head of one of the greatest nations of the earth, and I as the head of one of the smallest, but equal in our common sense of right and duty.

The United States has already given to the world palpable proofs of her great concern in the lasting interest of my people and Government; and therefore President Wilson and I will, I am sure, during the terms of our respective

administrations, find the means of developing, to a greater extent even than now, such personal and commercial relations between Cuba and the United States as will redound to the advantage of both countries and interfere with the rights and liberties of neither people.

I pray your excellencies will undertake to convey to President Wilson and the great and noble American people who did so much for Cuba in her days of greatest woe, along with our compliments, the most profound and cordial assurance of the sincere and loyal friendship of the Cuban people, of their Government, and of myself personally; and that at the same time you will express to President Wilson my best wishes for his personal happiness.

Mr. Beaupré presented his colleagues and staff; complimentary remarks were exchanged, and the Special Mission and staff retired. At 7.30 p. m. Mr. and Mrs. Beaupré gave a dinner at the Legation in honor of the newly appointed Secretary of State, Colonel de la Torriente. Besides the Special Mission and staff there were present Mrs. Torriente, Mr. Montoro, appointed Presidential Secretary, and Mrs. Montoro, Mr. Patterson, Sub-Secretary of State, and Mrs. Patterson, Doctor Desvernine, of the Cuban Special Mission to the inauguration of the President, and Mr. Rivero, Chief of same and Cuban Minister to Washington.

May 21. At 9 a. m. Mr. Malone repaired to the Caballería wharf to embark. Besides the other members of the Special Mission and staff, Mr. Torriente, Secretary of State, and Mr. Patterson, Sub-Secretary of State, were present to bid him good-bye. On arrival on board, Mr. Malone was rendered a Minister's salute.

President Menocal, desirous of expressing in the highest degree his appreciation of the sending of the Special Mission to his inauguration, attached on this day, his first in office, two officers as A. D. C. to the Special Envoys remaining in Habana: Captain de Cárdenas to Mr. Beaupré, Major Silva to General Crowder.

In the evening a gala performance was given at the Opera in honor of President Menocal, which he attended with the members of his family. The audience was large and brilliant and all the Cabinet, most of the diplomatic corps, and a great number of prominent Habanese were present. Two boxes were placed at the disposal of the Special Mission and the entire personnel thereof (except Mr. Malone) attended: Mr. and Mrs. Beaupré; General Crowder; Mr. Bell; Mr. Gibson; Colonel and Mrs. Slocum; Mr. Coxe; Major Silva; Captain de Cárdenas; Mr. Carrillo.

May 22. The only official function on this day was a banquet given by the Secretary of State and Señora de la Torriente at the Department of State to the Special Mission. Besides Mr. Beaupré, General Crowder and the staff of the Special Mission there were present the Vice President of Cuba; the retiring Vice President; most of the Cabinet and their wives; the retiring Secretary of State; the Sub-Secretary of State, and several Senators and Deputies; also the Mayor, the Speaker and the ex-Speaker-a thoroughly representative gathering of the most prominent people in official life in Cuba. There were no speeches.

May 23. General Crowder, accompanied by Mr. Bell, left on the P. & O. Mascotte for Key West. Mr. Beaupré and the staff of the Special Mission and the Legation were present to bid farewell to General Crowder, as well as the Secretary and Sub-Secretary of State of Cuba, several other officials, and a number of personal friends.