The event even surpassed my expectations. I
cannot too strongly express my appreciation of the generous courtesy the
Japanese showed the officers and crews of our fleet; and I may add
that every man of them came back a friend and admirer of the Japanese.
Admiral Sperry wrote me a letter of much interest, dealing not only with
the reception in Tokyo but with the work of our men at sea; I herewith
give it almost in full:
28 October, 1908.
Dear Mr. Roosevelt:
My official report of the visit to Japan goes forward in this mail, but
there are certain aspects of the affair so successfully concluded which
cannot well be included in the report.
You are perhaps aware that Mr. Denison of the Japanese Foreign Office
was one of my colleagues at The Hague, for whom I have a very
high regard. Desiring to avoid every possibility of trouble or
misunderstanding, I wrote to him last June explaining fully the
character of our men, which they have so well lived up to, the
desirability of ample landing places, guides, rest houses and places for
changing money in order that there might be no delay in getting the men
away from the docks on the excursions in which they delight. Very few of
them go into a drinking place, except to get a resting place not to be
found elsewhere, paying for it by taking a drink.
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