793.94/5749b: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Edge)
10. I desire that you have a talk with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, along the following line:
I have had inquiries from a number of sources expressive of desire to know what is the American Government’s present attitude with regard to the Chinese-Japanese situation. Also, press reports from Geneva state that an impression exists or is being cultivated that the American Government has lost effective interest in the matter. These facts suggest the existence of doubt, which, although it surprises me, should, if it exists, be removed.
Toward removing any such doubt, I would say first of all: This Government’s view regarding the jurisdiction of the League and the support which the American Government should and did give was declared during the first week of October, 1931; our position toward subsequent developments in the Far East was declared emphatically and unequivocally in our identic notes of January 7, 1932 to China and Japan. Our views with regard to the status and the applicability of various treaties and the problem of peace were set forth in my letter to Senator Borah and various public utterances which I have made and which the President has made. The position of this Government as thus set forth has not changed and I have reason to believe will not be altered by the next administration.
The report of the Lytton Commission has confirmed our estimate of the facts and of principles to which the nations should give consideration. [Page 60] That report has been regarded in this country as an evidence of progress in the development of peace machinery. The American Government and people have been watching to see what the League will do with it.
It is my estimate that there is at present no warrant for further hope that efforts at conciliation may have in the near future any chance of success. The Japanese affirm that they intend to make no concessions from the positions which they have taken, both physical and political. They even ask that the world close its eyes and turn its back for an indefinite period and leave it to them to work out the situation in the Far East in their own way. They thus establish a clear-cut issue between themselves and the world. Disregard of this issue by the world would tend to nullify the whole effort which has been made since the World War to establish the principle of world interest and provide machinery for settling international disputes by pacific means. The issue at this moment is whether Japan shall be permitted not only to impose her will in the Far East by force but, in connection with so doing, to achieve a diplomatic victory over the whole world, especially the League of Nations. The world cannot put an end to the hostilities between Japan and China; nor can it cause them to begin at once negotiations for a peaceful settlement; but the League could, if it so chose, on the basis of the report of the Lytton Commission and in the light of its own Covenant, take a stand as regards facts and principles.
What the League may decide to do will of course be determined in considerable measure by the position taken by the French and the British Governments. There therefore rests upon those Governments a great responsibility.
The attitude of the American Government is well known. We remain prepared to give support, acting independently and through our diplomatic representatives, to such decisions and action as we may deem wisely to have been taken by the League.
It would be very helpful to me to know what are the views of the French Government. I am instructing you to express my views frankly as above, with the request that they be kept confidential, and to request on my behalf an expression of the French Government’s views, which I of course would keep confidential. I am likewise asking, at London, for an indication of the views of the British Government.
In what you may say to the Foreign Office, you should include, in substance, all of the above, and you should stress the point that I am not seeking to press upon the French Government my views, with which I feel that it is already thoroughly familiar, but am seeking to ensure against any doubt or misunderstanding and to obtain light [Page 61] with regard to its views. In order to make this very informal you may prefer to let Marriner take it up with a junior member of the Foreign Office. You should in any case leave no written memorandum.