Mr. Midzuno:
In receiving at your hands under the instructions of His Excellency Count Tadasu Hayashi, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Empire of Japan, the decoration of Commandeur of the most distinguished order of the Rising Sun, bestowed upon me by His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Japan, as a special token of his good will, I respectfully acknowledge my high appreciation of the honor, and shall always value the distinction as one of the greatest that could be conferred upon me. I shall ever regard it not alone as a flattering compliment to myself, and a recognition of such services as I have been able to render, but as an emblem of the friendly relations that bind Japan and the United States together in a bond of sympathy; and I trust that this tie of friendship will never be weakened. I at least will always endeavor to strengthen it.
I have long been intimately conversant with the affairs of Japan, and been deeply and sympathetically interested in the rapid and wonderful development of the Empire, and all the more so in consequence of my good fortune in having had the personal acquaintance, while they were in New York, of those two distinguished Japanese Statesmen, who are now Prince Ito and Viscount Kentaro Kaneko. Moreover, the correspondence that has passed between us since their return to Japan has only quickened my regard, and heightened my admiration for them and their Country. Both have proved themselves great in peace as well as war, and may the light of the Land of the Rising Sun never grow dim, and America and Japan be joined by their mutual interests in unbroken peace and concord forever.
With many thanks to His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor, for this great honor, and to His Excellency Count Tadasu Hayashi, as well as yourself, for your courtesy in the fulfilment of your duties, and for the evidences of your personal friendship for me, which touches me deeply, I assure you that my appreciation cannot be expressed in words.
This symbol of the Rising Sun indicates the coming of the day of greatness of your nation, and my fervent hope is that darkness may be unknown in your land.
In the midst of our festivities to-day there is a cloud, and I desire to express my deepest sympathy to the people of Japan in the loss of so many young lives in the disaster which visited them during the past week. Though dead, these young men still live as an example to others that a life given to country in time of peace deserves the same lasting glory as though given in battle.
I then requested the ladies and gentlemen to fill their glasses and rise and drink to the health of His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Japan.
The Consul General of Japan answered the toast as follows:
Mr. Clews, Ladies and Gentlemen:
As the local representative of Japan, I have the pleasure and honor to thank you for the toast to His Imperial Majesty, proposed by our esteemed Host and so heartily joined in by you all. It is high honor as well as great pleasure that I was in a position to personally present that high mark of honor to Mr. Henry Clews. But what makes me most happy is that this came in most opportune time, when the international horizon which was said to be more or less clouded for some time has become clear—so clear that even the yellowest journals of this country which are sparing no efforts to stir up anti-Japanese feeling among American people, can no more find any meteorological item for a pessimistic weather forecast. Now that all transient and incidental questions between your country and ours have been settled in an amicable way, now that your government, on behalf of your people, have gladly accepted our invitation to participate in the Grand Exposition to be held in Japan in 1912, and now that my fellow countrymen in Japan have most pleasant anticipation to welcome the officers and men of your mighty fleet of battleships in our beautiful ports, I hope and trust that the most friendly relations between two nations, which have existed and are happily existing, will be an everlasting one.