Chargé Wilson to the Secretary of State .

[Extract.]
No. 441.]

Sir: In connection with my dispatch No. 437 of the 12th instant on the subject of the opening of Manchuria, I have the honor to inclose herewith translations of editorials from leading Japanese newspapers commenting upon the steps taken to that end by the Government of Japan.a

It will be noted that the papers quoted express satisfaction at the prospect of the opening of Manchuria to foreign commerce. They point out the rapid growth of Japanese trade in that region since the war and the advisability of utilizing cheap foreign capital on the one hand and the greater experience of the Chinese in exploiting the Manchurian markets on the other, if Japanese merchants are to hold their own in the competition that is sure to follow.

The newspapers also refer to the pressure reported to have been brought to bear upon Japan by foreign powers in this connection, and the Nichi Nichi, in its editorial of the 11th instant, comments upon the possibility of misunderstanding among the powers as to Japan’s real purposes in relation to Manchuria. It points out that the far better policy for Japan is to fulfill to the letter her pledges regarding the opening of Manchuria and, by placing the region within the sphere of the complex interests of all the powers, to prevent any monopoly of privileges.

The Asahi remarks that the opening of Antung, Tatungkou, and Mukden is after all only the fulfillment of agreements suspended temporarily on account of the war. The new state of things calls for further action, and the journal urges the Government to hasten the opening of the six cities mentioned in the Japan-China supplementary agreement that are now within the lines of the Japanese occupation as the quickest and surest means of securing the early opening of the other ten cities that are within the lines of the Russian occupation, and thus to complete the opening of Manchuria so strongly desired by the powers.

I have, etc.,

Huntington Wilson.
  1. Not printed.