Mr. Hay to Mr. Porter.

[Circular telegram.]1

The Chinese minister has communicated telegrams to me from the viceroys of Nanking and of Liang Ha, who say that the five provinces under their control are at peace and that they are both determined and perfectly able to preserve order and to prevent any outrages upon foreigners within their jurisdiction. He begs that the United States for their own part will telegraph to the American admiral not to send any military or naval forces into the Yangtse Kiang so long as no disturbance of order takes place in those provinces, and that we will consult with other powers and request them to pursue the same course of action. I have replied that the Government of the United States has no disposition to send either military or naval forces into any Chinese provinces where the Government shows its ability and its determination to preserve order and to protect foreigners in their lives and rights, and my belief that these intentions are shared by the other powers. You will please communicate to the minister of foreign affairs the purport of the above conversation.

Hay.
  1. The above telegram also sent to United States representatives at Berlin, London, St. Petersburg, and Tokio.