"The idea of the creation of an international bureau, or agency, representing the Republics of the Western Hemisphere, was suggested to the delegates accredited to the International American Conference held in Washington in 1889-90, by the conference held at Brussels in May, 1888, which planned for an international union for the publication of customs tariffs, etc. … On March 29, 1890, the International American Conference, by a unanimous vote of the delegates of the eighteen countries there represented, namely: The Argentine Republic, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela, provided for the establishment of an association to be known as 'The International Union of American Republics for the Prompt Collection and Distribution of Commercial Information,' which should be represented at the capital of the United States by a Bureau, under the title of 'The Bureau of the American Republics.' This organ, so to speak, of the independent governments of the New World was placed under the supervision of the Secretary of State of the United States, and was to continue in existence for a period of ten years, and, if found profitable to the nations participating in its advantages, it was to be maintained for successive periods of ten years indefinitely. At the first session of the Fifty-first Congress of the United States, that body, in an 'Act making appropriations for the support of the Diplomatic and Consular Service, etc.,' approved July 14, 1890, gave the President authority to carry into effect the recommendations of the Conference so far as he should deem them expedient, and appropriated $36,000 for the organization and establishment of the Bureau, which amount it had been stipulated by the delegates in the Conference assembled should not be exceeded, and should be annually advanced by the United States and shared by the several Republics in proportion to their population. … The Conference had defined the purpose of the Bureau to be the preparation and publication of bulletins concerning the commerce and resources of the American Republics, and to furnish information of interest to manufacturers, merchants, and shippers, which should be at all times available to persons desirous of obtaining particulars regarding their customs tariffs and regulations, as well as commerce and navigation." _Bulletin of the Bureau of American Republics, June, 1898._ A plan of government for the International Union, by an executive committee composed of representatives of the American nations constituting the Union, was adopted in 1896, but modified at a conference held in Washington, March 18, 1899. As then adopted, the plan of government is as follows: