893.01/74
The Secretary of State to President Wilson
My Dear Mr. President: I enclose a memorandum which the Chinese Minister read to me today stating it to be a confidential and personal communication from his Government.33
It would appear from this that the Chinese Government had decided to establish a monarchical form of Government. Whether this determination was reached prior to the protest by Japan and the entente powers it is impossible to say, but in view of the usual delay of the Chinese in presenting communications of this sort I assume that this telegram came through before Japan and the other powers had acted.
I declined to give the Minister any opinion upon the matter, saying that I would take it under consideration. I assume that you have seen Minister Reinsch’s telegram of midnight yesterday which deals with this subject.
Faithfully yours,