442 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 742 



President transmitted the invitation to 

 Congress, accompanied by a commenda- 



join in and to be represented by delegates at the 

 Pan-American Scientific Congress, which is to as- 

 semble under its auspices at the capital city of 

 Santiago during the ten days beginning December 

 25, 1908. The work of the congress will compre- 

 hend nine sections, devoted, respectively, to pure 

 and applied mathematics, physical sciences, nat- 

 ural sciences, engineering, medicine and hygiene, 

 anthropology, jurisprudence and sociology, peda- 

 gogics, and agriculture and animal industry. 



Latin-American scientific congresses were held 

 in 1898 at Buenos Aires, in 1901 at Montevideo 

 and in 1905 at Rio de Janeiro. Growing out of 

 these previous conferences the congress of 1908 

 will be for the first time Pan-American. It will 

 study and discuss many great subjects in which 

 all the American republics have in common special 

 interests; and its aim is to bring together the 

 best scientific thought of this hemisphere for the 

 scrutiny of many distinctively American problems 

 and for an interchange of experience and of views 

 which should be of great value to all the nations 

 concerned. 



It is therefore eminently appropriate that the 

 United States should be adequately represented at 

 this important First Pan-American Scientific Con- 

 gress and should embrace this opportunity for 

 cooperation in scientific research with the repre- 

 sentatives of the other American republics. It is 

 worthy of consideration that, in addition to the 

 purely scientific interests to be subserved by such 

 a congress and in addition to the advantages 

 arising from an interchange of thought and the 

 intercourse of the scientific men of the American 

 countries and the good understanding and friendly 

 relations which will be promoted, there are many 

 specific relations arising from the very close inter- 

 course between the United States and many Latin- 

 American countries, incident to our expanding 

 trade, our extending investments, and the con- 

 struction of the Panama Canal, which make a 

 common underartanding and free exchange of opin- 

 ion upon scientific subjects of great practical 

 importance. 



To make our representation possible I have the 

 honor to recommend that the Congress be asked 

 to appropriate the sum of $35,000, or so much 

 thereof as may be necessary, to enable the United 

 States to send a number of delegates correspond- 

 ing to the number of sections into which the 

 congress is to be divided, together with a secretary 



tory message.^ In due course the invita- 

 tion was officially accepted, and a liberal 

 sum appropriated for the purposes of the 

 congress. The committee of organization 

 also extended invitations, through the 

 Department of State at Washington, to a 

 number of universities and other institu- 

 tions and societies. As a result a large 

 delegation was accredited to the congress. 

 The membership of the delegation and the 

 institutions represented are as follows: 



Government Delegates 

 L. S. Rowe, University of Pennsylvania. 

 Paul S. Reinsch, University of Wisconsin. 

 Hiram Bingham, Yale University. 

 A. C. Coolidge, Harvard University. 



and disbursing officer, and to pay other necessary 

 expenses. 



Inasmuch as it is desired that all communica- 

 tions or scientific works to be presented to the 

 congress be received before September 30, it is 

 much to be hoped that provision for the participa- 

 tion of this government may be made at an early 

 date and that the appropriation be made imme- 

 diately available. 



Respectfully submitted, 



Elihu Root 

 Department of State, 



Washington, December 19, 1907. 

 To the Senate and House of Representatives: 



I transmit herewith for the consideration of 

 the respective Houses of the Congress a report of 

 the Secretary of State representing the appro- 

 priateness of early action in order that in response 

 to the invitation of the government of Chile the 

 government of the United States may be enabled 

 fittingly to be represented at the First Pan-Amer- 

 ican Scientific Congress, to be held at Santiago, 

 Chile, the first ten days of December, 1908. 



The recommendations of this report have my 

 hearty approval, and I hope that the Congress 

 will see fit to make timely provision to enable 

 the government to respond appropriately to the 

 invitation of the government of Chile in the send- 

 ing of delegates to a congress which can not fail 

 to be of great interest and importance to the 

 governments and peoples of all the American 

 republics. 



Theopobe Roosevelt 

 The White House, 



December 21, 1907 



