Niagara Falls peace conference

The Niagara Falls peace conference, sometimes referred to as the ABC Conference, started on May 20, 1914, when representatives from Argentina, Brazil and Chile—the ABC Powers—met in Niagara Falls, Canada, for diplomatic negotiations in order to avoid war between the United States and Mexico, during the era of the Mexican Revolution.^[1]^[2]

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History

There were increasing tensions between the two over the Tampico Affair of April 9, 1914 and the subsequent United States occupation of Veracruz of April 21, 1914 during the Mexican Revolution.^[3] The Mexican and U.S. governments had severed all diplomatic channels between one another.^[3] At the conference, Domício da Gama represented Brazil, Rómulo Sebastián Naón represented Argentina, and Eduardo Suárez Mujica represented Chile.

The United States was represented by Frederick William Lehmann, a former United States Solicitor General; and Joseph Rucker Lamar, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.^[4]^[1] On May 27, 1914 to celebrate their success, the ABC envoys and the U.S. and Mexican delegates to the conference attended a royal garden party given by the Duke of Connaught, the Governor General of Canada at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto.^[5]

On March 4, 1915, three South American diplomats received the Thanks of Congress and were awarded Congressional Gold Medals (P.L. 63-75, 38 Stat. 1228). The statute reads as follows:^[6]

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress to their excellencies be, and they are hereby, presented to their excellencies Señor [sic] Domício da Gama, Señor Rómulo S. Naón, and Señor Eduardo Suárez for their generous services as mediators in the controversy between the Government of the United States of America and the leaders of the warring parties in the Republic of Mexico. That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and requested to cause to be made and presented to their excellencies Señor Domicio da Gama, Señor Rómulo S. Naón, and Señor Eduardo Suárez suitable gold medals, appropriately inscribed, which shall express the high estimation in which Congress holds the services of these distinguished statesmen, and the Republics which they represent, in the promotion of peace and order in the American continent.

Attendees

Henry Percival Dodge, American.
Frederick William Lehmann, American.^[4]
Robert F. Rose, American from the United States Department of State.
Joseph Rucker Lamar, American.^[4]
Rómulo Sebastián Naón, Argentina.
Domício da Gama, Brazil.
Eduardo Suárez Mujica, Chile.

Images

Romulo S. Naon of Argentina and Robert F. Rose at the ABC Conference
Clifton Hotel, at the ABC Conference

References

^ ^a ^b Michael Small (2009). The Forgotten Peace: Mediation at Niagara Falls. University of Ottawa Press. ISBN 978-0-7766-0712-2.
^ "Bulletins from Peace Meeting Eagerly Read by the Crowds". New York Times. May 21, 1914. Retrieved 2014-01-03. 'Play Ball' sang out an irreverent voice as Frederick W. Lehmann and Justice Joseph R. Lamar, the two American delegates to the Niagara Falls peace conference, arrived here a few minutes before 3 o'clock this afternoon and went upstairs to the sun parlor for the opening session of the conference. ...
^ ^a ^b Small, Michael (2009). The Forgotten Peace: Mediation at Niagara Falls. Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa Press. p. 32. hdl:10393/19619.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Why Lamar And Lehmann Were Made Peace Delegates. How President Wilson Came to Select the Tall, Slim Judge and the Short, Stout Lawyer Who Are Passing on Huerta's Fate at Niagara Falls. What They Are Like and How They Entered the Public Service". New York Times. May 24, 1914. Retrieved 2014-01-03. When President Wilson was casting about for two men to represent the United States Government at the mediation conference on the Mexican situation, he made up his mind that an essential qualification of this Government's representatives was a masterful knowledge of law
^ "Governor General and Duchess Give Garden Party for Them in Toronto". New York Times. May 28, 1914. Retrieved 2011-01-10. A B C envoys and American and Mexican delegates to the Niagara Falls peace conference, together with their wives and daughters, secretaries and attaches, invaded Toronto today to attend the royal garden party given by the Duke of Connaught, Governor General of Canada; the Duchess of Connaught, Sir John Gibson, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and Lady Gibson.
^ The Statutes at Large of the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1915. p. 1228.