Gratitude

A huge album, containing thousands of Japanese signatures, was sent to the U. S. State Department as a "testimonial of gratitude and friendliness" toward the U. S. people for their help at the time of the Great Earthquake (TIME, Sept. 17).

The memorial, to which the signatures were appended, read in part:

"Words fail us to express our feelings of deep thanks for the sympathy you showed us on the occasion of the recent seismic disaster. Not only are the citizens of Tokyo and other cities and towns who were stricken by the calamity unfeignedly grateful for your humane help and compassion, but the whole Japanese people shares the feeling. We have been impressed more than ever by the fact that all men are brothers throughout the world and cannot refrain from offering you our sincere thanks.

"The desire to convey to you our gratitude for your cordial friendship has long animated the minds of the citizens of Tokyo and, besides undergoing the present hardships, the citizens are busily occupied in preparing against the approaching cold of winter. They have not, therefore, so far had an opportunity to carry their desire into effect."