File No. 893.77/1616
The Secretary of State to Minister Reinsch
Washington, September 27, 1917.
Sir: There is sent enclosed herewith for your information, by the hand of Mr. J. Donald C. Rogers, recently appointed a Secretary of your Legation, copies of correspondence between the Department of State and the British Embassy and between the Department and the American Embassy in London, relating to the protest of the British representative in China against a contract for the construction by an American corporation of a railway line in the Province of Hupeh, as reported by you in your telegram of July 14, 6 p.m.
The substance of your telegram was embodied in the memorandum of August 24, 1917, to the British Embassy. To this the Embassy replied on August 30 that the Department’s memorandum had been forwarded to London.
The reply of His Britannic Majesty’s Government was communicated, to the Department through the British Embassy in Washington in a memorandum dated September 7, but handed to the Department on September 8.
To this the Department rejoined in the memorandum of September 20.
You will be kept informed of the progress of these negotiations from which the Department hopes for a favorable result.
I am [etc.]