Discurso do Rio Amazonas

you are ready to _conlribule your part of endeavour, with your wonderful pioneering audacity, in the work of 1·e- . . construction· already begun. The sup- port of the Central Government will not fail you in any undertaking which benefits lhe community as a whole. Nólhing will stop us in this forward resolve which, in the twentieth centu– ry, is the chief task of civilised man :– to conquer and subdue the valleys of the large equatorial rivers, transfor– ming their blind force and their extra– ordinary fertility into disci:9lined ener– gy. The Amazon, under the productive impulse of our will and our labour will at last no longer be a mere chapter in the history of the counlry, and pla– ced on a levei with other great rivers, will be ranked as a chapter in the his– tory of civilization. The waters of the River Amazon are continental. Before reaching the ocean, they drag along its bed the thawed snows of the Andes, lhe hot waters of the central plateaux and the rushing torrenls of the mountainous regions of the north. It is the1·efore a river typi– cally American, by reason àf the exten– sicn of its hydrographic basin and the origin of this way in accord with its own emblem of fraternity, we shall he– re be able to reunite these sister nations to discuss and fix the bases of a conven– tion in which commom interesls may be adjusted and once more brought into evidence, as a worthy example, the spirit of solidarity which presides the relationshi:9 of lhe American peo– ples, always prone to c:>operation and pacific agreemenls. Gcntlemen : ' The affectionale rece!)tion which has been bestowed on me by you not only touches my heart, for I always knew you to be loyal and hospitable, but even more imporlant, strengthens my Brazilian sentimenls. Gone is the time when easy hallu- cinations, full of rich images aild pre– cious metaphors could be allowed to take the !)lace of the objective study of realily. To the modero man mere >con– lemplation - the consumption of ener– gy without finality - is interdicted, and on us, a young peo:9le, is laid the enormous responsability of civilizing and peopling millions of square milles of territory. He1·e in the northern ex– tremily of this land of ours, in the pre– sence of immense potential wealth which attracks and excites the covetous ambitions of absorption, grows the im– pression of that responsability which it is not possible to avoid or from which to esca9e. You are Brazilians and it is incumbent on Brazilians to be conscious of their duties at such a time as this which is about to decide our destinies as a na– tion. I therefore call on you to have faith and work confident and resolule for the ·agrandizement of our country . •