File No. 893.001Y9/24
Minister Reinsch to the Secretary of State
Peking , July 5, 1916 .
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that on the 1st instant, during my temporary absence from Peking, President Li Yuan-hung’s private secretary, Mr. Kuo, called at the Legation and stated to the Secretary of Legation that President Li, having been advised by telegraph by the Chinese Minister at Washington that President Wilson had personally attended a memorial service for the late President Yuan Shih-kai, had instructed him to make known to the Legation the President’s appreciation of that action; and he added that President Li interpreted it not merely as a formal act of courtesy to the memory of President Yuan, but as an indication of President Wilson’s personal interest in China; and he requested that this message be conveyed to the proper quarter. In undertaking to communicate this message in behalf of President Li, Mr. MacMurray expressed his appreciation of the interpretation placed on the action of President Wilson, who is, in fact, understood to feel a particularly keen personal interest in the welfare of China.
I have [etc.]