File No. 761.94/104
Ambassador Guthrie to the Secretary of State
Tokyo, July 16, 1916, 3 p.m.
I have just learned that Baron Ishii read to the British Ambassador the provisions of the new Russo-Japanese treaty agreed upon but not published. These relate to the transfer of about 75 miles of railroad from Changchun as far as the second Sungari station; fishing rights on coast of Manchuria heretofore reserved exclusively by Russia; right of navigation on Sungari River. As this river belongs to China there is a further provision that China is to be squared.
Points included in communication made to British Ambassador have been published in Japanese newspapers with the statement that, although they have been agreed upon in principle, publication has been delayed because some of the conditions affecting transfer of railroad and the consent of China to the grant of the Sungari River had not yet been obtained. From present information it would appear that conditions of transfer have been agreed upon and the agreement signed, leaving the question with China to be squared with her. I am informed that British Ambassador believes that the whole treaty has been sent to London from Petrograd and is satisfied British trading rights are not affected. Terms officially announced [Page 437] are more specific but do not go much beyond, if at all, the terms of Convention of July fourth, 1910. An official publication of the treaty has been made in the Official Gazette identical with terms stated in my telegram of July 7, midnight. The convention strengthens Japan’s position somewhat, but so far as I have yet learned there is nothing which directly affects American rights. The communication to the British Ambassador inclines me to the belief that there is nothing else held back.