File No. 893.51/2028
The Chargé in China ( MacMurray) to the Secretary of State
Your September 27, 3 p.m.1 Consortium bankers and their Legations have replied to the Ministry of Finance in the sense indicated [Page 159] in my telegram October 5, 10 a.m., in spite of the fact that on 5th instant the bankers also submitted a memorandum criticizing the gold currency project as premature and impracticable. This action nevertheless appears to have had an unexpectedly bad effect as the Minister of Finance and his clique have at any rate professed to inquire into [interpret?] it as a complete withdrawal of the protest against the gold currency scheme and are believed to be hurrying negotiations for the loan of eighty million yen from the Bank of Chosen.
This precipitates a crisis in which our protest may be helpful and as authorized by your August 21, 3 p.m., I am reiterating the reservation as to the American interest in any project of currency reform.
- Not printed.↩