BUDDHIST LEAGUE DIRECTOR RETURNS TO JAPAN WITHOUT SEEING PRESIDENT
New York City (JFK+50) On July 13, 1924, The Associated Press reports the Director of the Buddhist Salvation League returned to his home yesterday "without even asking an interview" with President Calvin Coolidge.
Dr. Sentaro Honda of Japan dispatched a letter to Mr. Coolidge stating that "commiseration* for the President's grief (in the death of his son) made it impossible for him to intrude."
The Director had traveled 8000 miles "to deliver a message of friendship from his league to President Coolidge."
According to The New York Times, Dr. Honda had sought to appeal to the President, as the head of a Christian nation, "to do everything possible to place the relations between the United States and Japan on a high spiritual plane."
*commiseration is the demonstration of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of another person
SOURCES
"Comes 8,000 Miles To See Coolidge; Courtesy Foils," The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., July 13, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"Long Trip To See Coolidge In Vain," The New York Times, July 13, 1924, www.nytimes.com/
