Mr. Griscom to Mr. Hay.
Tokyo , December 31, 1903 .
(Mr. Griscom reports that he has to-day been informed by the Japanese minister for foreign affairs that the Japanese minister at Washington has presented to Mr. Hay a full account of the negotiations between Japan and Russia up to the 21st of December, when the Japanese Government referred back the reply of Russia, with a request for reconsideration. The minister for foreign affairs says the situation is extremely critical, and that the outcome depends entirely on the position Russia will take. He says also that Japan will not wait more than a reasonable time for a reply, as negotiations must not be protracted to the military advantage of Russia. He is most anxious that the Government of the United States appreciate the moderation and patience with which Japan has conducted the negotiations and repressed the public clamor for war. The whole tenor of his conversation implies that war is now almost inevitable.
Mr. Griscom states that he has reliable information to the effect that the Emperor’s advisers among the elder statesmen have changed within a week from a peaceable attitude to a firm stand, which the cabinet all along seem to have favored. When, on December 21, Russia was asked to reconsider her reply, the intentions of the Japanese Government were quite pacific. The council of ministers and privy council practically determined at the last meeting that if a satisfactory reply was not received from Russia by about January 4, an ultimatum would be sent fixing a definite time within which a reply would be expected. At the same meeting an emergency ordinance was passed authorizing the government to make almost unlimited expenditure for war purposes. War seems very imminent unless Russia recedes from her position.)