Toast of the President at a Dinner Given in His Honor by President Nardone of Uruguay

Mr. President of the National Council of Government:

I deeply appreciate your gracious remarks. I interpret your words as an expression of the abiding friendship which happily exists between the peoples and governments of Uruguay and the United States.

My associates and I are grateful for this opportunity to be with you and Senora de Nardone, and this distinguished company of Uruguayans. We sincerely thank you for your hospitality, which has enabled us to know you better and to appreciate at firsthand the admirable, warm qualities of Uruguay's people and their leaders.

This has been a deeply moving experience--one that has stirred us profoundly, not only because of its warm human quality, but because we know that this expression of friendship is a recognition of our common love of liberty and justice, our common devotion to representative government, our common conviction that all men, in their sonship, are endowed with dignity and inalienable rights.

It was here in Montevideo, more than a quarter of a century ago, that the policy of nonintervention in the affairs of other nations was formalized and thus became a living reality. Our governments have, even in adversity, honorably, persistently, and consistently adhered to this policy. Our dedicated hope is that our example will be noted and emulated by all the nations of this earth.

Bearing in mind our shared ideals and purposes, Mr. President, I lift my glass to you and to the Uruguayan people while expressing the hope that we may find even more effective methods for cooperative progress toward peace, freedom, and ever-rising levels of human well-being.