PLACE
Whatever the result of the meetings to be held at Portsmouth navy yard, Portsmouth itself and the towns in its vicinity will be more famous than ever before . . . Portsmouth is in the world's eye and is likely to remain there for weeks to come. -- Portsmouth Herald, August 2, 1905
New York, Sagamore Hill, and Oyster Bay
Komura, seated, and members of the Japanese delegation en route to the United States. Harper's Weekly.
Sagamore Hill where President Roosevelt met separately with the Russian and Japanese envoys prior to the conference. Richard Candee collection.
The three main venues of the Peace Conference: Washington, Oyster Bay, and Portsmouth.
Komura arrived in New York on July 25, and two days later he and Takahira visited Roosevelt at Sagamore Hill, the summer White House on Long Island. Roosevelt urged the Japanese to moderate the demand for an indemnity, the cost of the war that the Japanese felt they were entitled to as a result of their victories.
Witte came to New York a few days after Komura. While Komura had traveled directly from Japan by ship to Seattle and train to New York, Witte had gone from St. Petersburg to Paris to consult with the French about a loan. He was told that France might provide funds to pay for an indemnity; it would not support a loan to continue the war. After Witte learned in France that the Japanese planned to insist on the indemnity, he arrived in New York with low expectations for a treaty.
Witte, with cane, and Rosen to his left, with the Russian delegation en route from France to New York. Harper's Weekly.