REPORT OP THE SECRETARY. 89 



president and vice-president of the congress were the envoys of their respective 

 countries to Chile, thus giving to the congress a somewhat political aspect. This 

 aspect was also imparted in a measure by the naming of representatives of a 

 number of the governments in Chile as chairmen of the national delegations in 

 the congress. 



At 10 p. m. on Christmas Day the opening session was held in the spacious 

 Municipal Theater, and proved a most impressive ceremony. The President of 

 the Republic, Sefior Pedro Montt, was present, and addresses were made by 

 various officials of the congress and by chairmen of the various national delega- 

 tions. The address of Doctor Rowe, chairman of the American delegation, deliv- 

 ered in Spanish, was enthusiastically received.* 



a ADDRESS OF DR. L. S. ROWE AT THE OPENING SESSION. 



Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen : This congress possesses an his- 

 torical significance which it is difficult for us to appreciate at the present time. 

 It marks an epoch in the intellectual development of the American Continent. 



Complete isolation from one another has characterized the situation of the coun- 

 tries of this continent. This isolation has been one of the greatest obstacles to 

 progress. The failure to develop a spirit of intellectual cooperation has resulted 

 in a great loss of energy and has been one of the most important obstacles to 

 the solution of many problems which would long ago have been solved had we 

 been able to unite our energies and profit by each other's experience. The true 

 scientific spirit has a far deeper significance than the mere desire to conduct 

 investigations. It can not reach its highest expression if there exist petty rival- 

 ries or jealousies. For this reason the development of the scientific spirit con- 

 tributes so much to the growth of a true international fraternal spirit. A vig- 

 orous spirit of cooperation, developed amongst the scientists of the American 

 Continent, will enable us to destroy the last traces of the epoch in which the 

 words " stranger " and " enemy " were synonymous. 



The industrial development of the last century offers lessons of much im- 

 portance to the scientific world. A study of the economic growth of modern 

 countries clearly shows that the principle of competition is gradually giving way 

 to the principle of cooperation. 



The formation of trusts as well as the growth of trades' unions constitutes 

 the concrete expression of these new tendencies. The eighteenth century and a 

 considerable portion of the nineteenth were dominated by a spirit of individual- 

 ism. During more than four generations, it was taken for granted that human 

 progress is dependent on the struggle for existence and the conflict between indi- 

 vidual and individual. During the nineteenth century the application of bio- 

 logical principles to human society strengthened this idea. It is the mission of 

 the twentieth century to demonstrate that we must regard the principle of 

 cooperation rather than that of competition as the fundamental principle of 

 social progress. 



In this congress it is our high privilege to inaugurate a new epoch giving con- 

 crete form to the idea of intellectual cooperation. In the International Bureau 

 of American Republics we have a central organization admirably adapted to 

 contribute toward the realization of this idea. We need such a center in order 

 to place investigators in different portions of the American Continent in con- 

 tact with one another, and in order that the results of such investigations may 

 be made the common property of all the nations of America. 



In the name of the delegation of the United States of America, I desire to 

 express our sincere thanks for this opportunity to take part in the deliberations 

 of this congress. No better opportunity could have been offered to become ac- ' 

 quainted with our colleagues and fellow-investigators. The ties here formed 



