File No. 406/66.
The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Rockhill.
Washington, August 2, 1907.
Sir: In acknowledging the receipt of your dispatch, No. 631, of June 3 last, which describes the initiation of negotiations for a proper copyright agreement with China, and with which are inclosed copies of your note of April 23 to the Prince of Ch’ing and of the reply of the foreign office thereto, dated June 1, the department is constrained to express some surprise at the blunt reply of the Chinese Government, which appears to have shown no spirit of accommodation and no inclination to a fair-minded consideration of the merits of the case.
Your dispatch, No. 659, of June 29, the receipt of which is also acknowledged, would seem, however, to give good ground for the hope that at a somewhat later date the conditions will be more favorable for the resumption of these important negotiations, to which, at the proper time, the efforts of the legation should again be vigorously directed. It is hoped that the return of Sir Chentung may, among other factors, serve to improve the disposition of the Wai-wu-Pu in regard to this matter.
I am, etc.,