893.51/2801: Telegram
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Davis) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 28—9:48 a.m.]
688. Referring to Paris Embassy’s 1056, April 26, 5 p.m., regarding consortium and penultimate paragraph of your 376 April 14, 9 p.m. Inasmuch as Foreign Office expresses a hope that British and American reply to Japanese may be made with least possible delay it transmits proposed draft of British note which will be delivered to Japanese Ambassador within two or three days. Foreign [Page 536] Office has impressed me with fact that although draft may undergo several minor changes in form it will read substantially as follows:22
His Majesty[’s] Government have received the further memorandum of the Imperial Japanese Government of April 14th, and after having given it their careful consideration have the honor to reply as follows:
His Majesty’s Government are much gratified to learn that the Japanese Government are prepared to accept the written assurance to which Lord Curzon declared his willingness to subscribe in his [note] to Viscount Chinda, of March 19th,23 and that, provided the other powers agree to give a similar assurance, the Imperial Government are willing to forego the request which they had made in their note of March 16th24 that the powers interested should accept the formula the wording of which had appeared somewhat ambiguous in character.
[The remainder of the draft note is, except for slight changes, mutatis mutandis, the same as that part of the Department’s memorandum of April 29 to the Japanese Embassy, beginning “As regards the two propositions”, printed infra.]
Paris informed.