File No. 311.523/39
The Secretary of State to the Spanish Ambassador
Washington, April 11, 1916.
Excellency: The Department has received from the Navy Department a letter, dated the 8th instant, with an accompaniment of 31 Spanish flags which have been used for the past eight years by the commanding officer of the U. S. S. Southery at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in decorating on the National Decoration Day of the United States, the graves of the Spanish sailors who were buried at the Portsmouth Navy Yard.
The Acting Secretary of the Navy states that the Navy Department desires that these flags may be forwarded to you as a token of the regard in which the Spanish navy is held by the officers and men of the United States Navy.
I take great pleasure in forwarding the package containing the flags as an accompaniment to this note.
Accept [etc.]