Mr. Iddings to Mr. Hay.
Rome, February 12, 1904.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt on February 11 of your telegraphic instruction of February 10. The ambassador being absent, I immediately called upon the minister for foreign affairs, Signor Tittoni, and informed him of your suggestions. The minister said he approved heartily of all that the United States proposed—that the neutral powers should use their good offices to persuade Japan and Russia to respect the neutrality of China, and that it would be desirable to localize and limit the area of hostilities as far as possible, so as to avoid disturbance among the Chinese populations. As to sending instructions in this sense to Italian representatives in Petersburg, Tokyo, and Peking, he would give a definite reply as soon as he had heard the views of the cabinets in Berlin, London, and Paris.
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I have, etc.,