Mr. Conger to Mr. Hay.
(Mr. Conger states that representatives of the powers will reply to inquiries of Chinese plenipotentiaries as to withdrawal of troops from Peking, places for military occupation between the capital and the sea, numbers of legation guards, etc.; that these questions must be dependent upon the willingness and promptness of the Chinese Government in executing our demands, which must not only be accepted but executed.
The foreign ministers do not agree upon persons to be specified for death penalty. Under instructions from his Government, the British [Page 359] minister insists upon death penalty for all mentioned in the decree, adding Tung Fu-hsiang and Yü Hsien. Believing the death penalty impossible for Tuan, Lan, and Tung, the United States, Russian, and Japanese ministers will not demand it.
Mr. Conger is of the opinion that if the British minister joins them the others will do so.)