711.945/1051
The Secretary of State to the Japanese Ambassador (Hanihara)
My Dear Mr. Ambassador: I am gratified to receive your letter of the seventeenth instant with your frank and friendly explanation of the intent of your recent note in relation to the pending Immigration Bill. It gives me pleasure to be able to assure you that reading the words “grave consequences” in the light of their context, and knowing the spirit of friendship and understanding you have always manifested in our long association, I had no doubt that these words were to be taken in the sense you have stated, and I was quite sure that it was far from your thought to express or imply any threat. I am happy to add that I have deeply appreciated your constant desire to promote the most cordial relations between the peoples of the two countries.
With high esteem [etc.]