715.1715/907: Telegram
The Special Representative of the President (Corrigan) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6 p.m.]
7. The formal meeting of the Mediation Commission at 10:00 this morning was inaugurated by President Leon Cortes of Costa Rica. There were four speeches of some 20 minutes each: One by the President of the Republic welcoming the Commission; one by the President of the Commission is [in] reply and welcoming the delegations of Honduras and Nicaragua; one by Doctor Silverio Lainez, first Honduran delegate and one by Doctor Manuel Cordero Reyes, first Nicaraguan delegate. All of the speeches displayed a spirit of complete [Page 104] Central American fraternalism and desire for peace. Complimentary reference was made to George Washington and Simon Bolivar, as the initiators on the American continent of the principles of democracy and international cooperation, to Elihu Root and James Buchanan in connection with the Central American Court of Justice, to Chief Justice Hughes for his work in the field of international law in the Americas, and to the advancement of these measures for the avoidance of war and the promotion of international justice in the Buenos Aires Conference initiated by President Roosevelt and Secretary Hull.
It was the feeling of all who took part that in this solemn opening session the mediatory task of the Commission was well begun.