PORTSMOUTH, N.H.  — It’s the 109th anniversary of the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War.

Gov. Maggie Hassan is taking part in a ceremony Friday marking Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day.

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt invited envoys of Russia and Japan to the United States to negotiate an end to the war. The peace conference was held at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in nearby Kittery  that summer. The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed at 3:47 p.m. on Sept. 5. Roosevelt won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

Speech presenting the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize to President Theodore Roosevelt

As the Nobel Committee meets today, the tenth of December, perhaps for the last time in this hall, to announce to the Norwegian Parliament its decision concerning the award of the Peace Prize, it is appropriate to recall that the Norwegian Parliament was one of the first national assemblies to adopt and to support the cause of peace. Twelve or fifteen years ago, Gentlemen, the cause of peace presented a very different aspect from the one it presents today. The cause was then regarded as a utopian idea and its advocates as well-meaning but overly enthusiastic idealists who had no place in practical politics, being out of touch with the realities of life. The situation has altered radically since then, for in recent years leading statesmen, even heads of state, have espoused the cause, which has now acquired a totally different image in public opinion. The United States of America was among the first to infuse the ideal of peace into practical politics. Peace and arbitration treaties have now been concluded between the United States and the governments of several countries. But what has especially directed the attention of the friends of peace and of the whole civilized world to the United States is President Roosevelt’s happy role in bringing to an end the bloody war recently waged between two of the world’s great powers, Japan and Russia2. On behalf of the Norwegian Parliament, I now present to you, Mr. Ambassador, the Peace Prize along with its insignia, and I add the request that you convey to the President the greetings of the Norwegian people and their gratitude for all that he has done in the cause of peace. I would also add the wish that this eminent and highly gifted man may be blessed with the opportunity of continuing his work to strengthen the ideal of peace and to secure the peace of the world.