Mr. Dudley to Mr. Hay.
Lima, Peru, March 25, 1904.
Sir: The efficiency of our Navy in the promotion of good international relations has been very happily illustrated in a visit to Peru, which ended to-day, of a portion of the Pacific Squadron under Rear Admiral Henry Glass. He arrived at Callao on the 9th instant, bringing with him, beside the flagship New York, the Boston, the Bennington, and the Concord. During their fortnight’s stay the Admiral and his officers were treated with the highest distinction by all classes of Peruvians, and with an added cordiality so manifestly genuine as to leave no doubt in their minds of the especial friendliness [Page 693] of Peru toward the United States. * * * Given the existence of this excellent good feeling, the squadron came in a very real sense, as the Peruvian foreign minister expressed it in offering a banquet in honor of the visitors, to vivify the friendship and sympathy felt in Peru for the Government and people of the United States.
I abstain from the quite superfluous task of specifying any of the numerous functions and many interchanges of social amenities, concluding with a reception on the New York yesterday afternoon, which followed in the train of this naval visit, and leave it to continue as a pleasant memory at Lima and Callao for a considerable time to come. I take especial satisfaction, however, in mentioning the call of Admiral Glass, with the captains and staff of the squadron, upon President Candamo on the 15th instant, and the visit which the President, accompanied by his cabinet and military household, made to the flagship in the afternoon of the 19th instant. Upon the former occasion I, of course, presented our officers; and on the second I was abstracted upon the President’s motion from my perhaps more proper place in the Admiral’s launch, as a passenger to the New York, to become a member of the Presidential party. The President was charmed with his reception. He did not omit to express his high appreciation of the United States, and referred to the fact that he has one son at Cornell and another in one of our preparatory schools.
In conclusion, I respectfully suggest the desirability, if practicable, of sending American men-of-war more frequently to the west coast of South America.
I have, etc.,