File No. 893.51/1813
The British Ambassador to the Secretary of State
With reference to State Department memo of September 8,17 the British Embassy has the honour to state that in the Foreign Office telegram, the sense of which was communicated by the Embassy on August 21, Mr. Balfour suggested that in the event of the proposed representations to the Chinese Government proving without result, it would be a matter for consideration of the U. S. Government whether an American Group should not be placed in a position to participate in any advances required by the Chinese Government. This suggestion was communicated verbally and was not embodied in the written memorandum which dealt with the immediate question of granting the advances. It would seem to appear that the U. S. Government has not been informed of the failure of the representations and of the action proposed in consequence. The British Embassy has at once informed Mr. Balfour of the substance of the State Department’s memo of September 8, and hastens to communicate to the State Department in writing Mr. Balfour’s already expressed desire for U. S. co-operation.
Washington , September 9, 1917.
- Quoted in Department’s telegram No. 5399 to the American Ambassador at London.↩