Mr. Iddings to Mr. Hay.

[Telegram—Paraphrase.]

(Mr. Iddings acknowledges the Department’s telegram of September 221 and reports the reply of the Italian minister for foreign affairs as follows:

To part 1. The Italian Government has, on the whole, no objections to offer to the selection of Li Hung Chang and Prince Ching as plenipotentiaries. Up to the present time, however, the necessary factors to enable one to judge either as to the substantial sufficiency or as to the formal regularity of their full powers are lacking. The Italian Government deems it opportune that on these points verification and information shall be first awaited.

To part 2. It was replied to the three inquiries of the progress of the negotiations: First, that the Italian Government is disposed to consent to the withdrawal of its legation to Tientsin when the other powers interested give similar instructions to their representatives. To the second point the reply was in the sense of the Italian response to part 1 in this communication. To the third point the answer was that, negotiations being in progress between the various cabinets with a view to obtaining guarantees, the Italian Government expresses its confidence and desire that an agreement on this point may be reached, so that the negotiations for peace may proceed without delay.

[Page 359]

To part 3. The Italian Government has replied to the proposal of the German Government, giving its consent, on the whole, and declaring that it is disposed to send instructions to the Italian minister in Pekin to place himself in this respect in line with his colleagues as soon as they received analogous instructions from their own governments.)

  1. Printed, p. 305.