893.102S/1876
The Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 6.]
Sir: With reference to my despatch No. 2414 of August 9, 1939,72 in regard to Japanese demands on the Shanghai Municipal Council, and, particularly, the demand that the (Japanese) Special Deputy Commissioner of Police be recognized as the second ranking officer of the police administration and entitled to act as Commissioner of Police when the Commissioner is absent, I have the honor to report that following the rejection by the British and one American member of the Council of the suggested reply to the Japanese outlined in my despatch No. 2414, the British Consul General appears to have reported to the British Ambassador and in consequence I was informed on the late afternoon of August 10, 1939, that the British members of the Council had altered their view, were now prepared to deal with [Page 70] the matter in the manner which had been suggested, and, the Japanese Counselor of Embassy having asked for an informal meeting with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Council and the American and British Consuls General, such a meeting would be held on the afternoon of August 11, 1939.
I attended the meeting, at which the Japanese Counselor of Embassy was informed by the Chairman of the Council that the Council had considered the Japanese request concerning the Special Deputy Police Commissioner and that they have gone as far as it is possible for them to go, by declaring that the Council is prepared to recognize the Special Deputy, along with other Deputy Commissioners, as “eligible to be selected” as Acting Commissioner, but that “he will not be considered for selection during the continuance of present hostilities”, and that the selection of an Acting Commissioner is entirely a matter for the free choice of the Council which is in office at the time the selection has to be made.
Mr. Morishima, the Japanese Counselor of Embassy, referred constantly to the new situation which will obtain at Shanghai in the future when the Japanese will expect a much larger voice in the Settlement. For the most part his arguments and statements were ignored.
The Council proposed at first that it would be willing to arrange that the Japanese Deputy Commissioner be eligible for selection “after the conclusion of the present hostilities”, but in response to Mr. Morishima’s proposal that such eligibility be now recognized with the understanding that, for the time being, it would be voluntarily waived, the amendment was made that the Japanese Special Deputy will be recognized as now eligible but “he will not be considered for selection during the continuance of the present hostilities”.
Mr. Morishima said that he was not able to accept the proposal at this time, as he must consult the other interested Japanese authorities. He wished to obtain from the Council an assurance that the matter of the designation of a second ranking officer of the police would be studied by the Council for decision in the future—there now being no definite “second in command”, all Deputy Commissioners being eligible for selection. The Chairman of the Council insisted that he could not bind future Councils, and while the Japanese might, if they wished, indicate that they would study the matter and present it again to the Council in future, the present Council in office is unable to bind its successors that the proposal will be considered. Occasion was taken to emphasize that “eligibility for selection” does not confer any “right to selection”, the matter being one entirely within the discretion of the Council at the time when an Acting Commissioner is “selected”.
It has been interesting to me to note the complete volte-face of the British members of the Council when the matter reached the British [Page 71] Ambassador; and to observe the almost complete submission of these Britons to the dictates of their authorities.
It is my understanding that the British Embassy took the same view that I have repeatedly advanced in my conversations with my British colleague and with the Chairman and officers of the Council, that is, that if there is to be a breakdown in the discussions between the Council and the Japanese authorities it should be chargeable to the Japanese side, and that the record should show a consistently reasonable, fair, and equitable approach to all problems by the Council, a reasonable disposition to consider reasonable Japanese aspirations, and, particularly, an avoidance of any possible show of discrimination on the basis of nationality or racial prejudice.
I enclose copy of the Council’s informal memorandum73 on this matter as amended and handed to Mr. Morishima at the meeting on August 11, 1939.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed. Mr. Gauss reported that he had attended a meeting of the Municipal Council and had suggested “that the reply to the Japanese should be conciliatory; that it should be pointed out that when the Special Deputy Commissioner of Police was appointed his position was understood to be ‘special’; that while it was understood that he should be close to the Commissioner and should advise that officer, particularly in police matters of interest to the Japanese, there was no provision that he should be second in rank to the Commissioner; that, the question having now been raised, the Council would be willing to specify that the Special Deputy Commissioner might, along with the other Deputy Commissioners, be eligible for selection as Acting Commissioner; but that the Council could not go beyond this and bind succeeding Councils by an undertaking that the (Japanese) Special Deputy Commissioner should be the second ranking officer of the police and serve as Acting Commissioner during the absence of the Commissioner.” (893.102S/1875)↩
- Not printed.↩