White House Press Release, Address of President Harry S. Truman before the Brazilian Congress

133 1313 HOLD FOR RELEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 5, 1947 359 CONFIDENTIAL: The following address of the President to be delivered before a joint session of the Brazilian Congress at Rio De Janeiro, MUST BE HELD IN STRICT CONFIDENCE UNTIL RELEASED. NOTE: Release is automatic at 3:00 P.M., E.D.T. (4:00 P.M., Rio De Janeiro time). The same release applies to all newspapers, radio commentators and news broadcosters. PLEASE GUARD AGAINST PREMATURE PUBLICATION OR ANNOUNCEMENT. CHARLES G. ROSS Secretary to the President PRESIDENT DUTRA, MR. PRESIDENT OF THE CONGRESS, SENATORS AND DEPUTIES: I am deeply grateful for the invitation to appear before the Congress of this great Nation whose history is SO entwined with that of the United States. Speaking as one who has come to executive position from legislative halls, I am all the more appreciative of the honor you have extended to me. The Legislature of a democratic country is identified with the people themselves. This must be so if the tree of responsible self-government is to blossom fully and bear rich fruit. Brazil is justly proud of a history of government by free men. I salute the Congress of the great Brazilian nation and I extend my best wishes to the noble people which it represents. The ties between the United States and Brazil have always been close. It is not too much to describe our relations as those of "lifelong friendship. Your declaration of independence was brief, but just as challenging PS was ours. The cry of independence, uttered on that famous September 7, 1822, told the world that the time had come when Brazil was to be governed by its own people and for their own welfare. I am happy to recall that the United States was the first of the nations of the world to recognize the new independent State. We were not troubled by the fact that it took the form of an empire, + for the foundations of the empire were democratic. The constitution which was adopted two year S later was the expression of the ideals of free government, not whose of absolute monarchy. The history of Brazil in many respects parallels that of the United States. Both are nations which have carved civilizations out of the wilderness. Both have been endowed with great natural resources and both have been developed by people whose dominant motive was freedom. If I am happy that the United States was the first to recognize the new nation of Brazil, I am equally happy that it was to the United States that Brazil turned for support in its struggle for independence. The alliance which Brazil proposed to us was a singular mark of confidence. It was the beginning of our historical friendship which I have described as "lifelong". The long reign of the great Dom Pedro II put Brazil among the leading democratic netions. Americans of today know him well, for you have engraved his noble features upon a postage stamp which comes to the United States with every mail from Brazil. We recall with pleasure that he was the first monarch to visit the United States, when he came to the exposition at Philedelphia in 1876 which marked the centenary of our independence. OVER