File No. 861.00/2033
The Consul at Harbin ( Moser ) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 15, 9.48 a.m.]
Under the protection of assurance of my Japanese colleague that the views presented below were the sincere convictions of his government and himself I have reduced them to writing and secured his signature with that of the other Allied consuls. My principal motive was the hope of being able to use this as an antidote to the strongly anti-American campaign which has been commenced here by the Japanese who are endeavoring, by every means, to persuade the Russians to place all intervention in their hands. If the Department can approve its publication I believe it will prove of much value.
The following memorial was signed by all the Allied consular representatives to-day and telegraphed to their respective governments:
We, the consular representatives of the Allied powers at Harbin, being persuaded that the opinions of all classes in Russia and Siberia are faithfully reflected amongst the population of Harbin, and without any purpose of depreciating the authority or patriotic motives of any political faction now struggling in Russia and Siberia, do declare to our respective governments unanimous belief that:
- 1.
- The present situation in Siberia and European Russia is accomplishing political and social destruction of the Russian people, and is a menace to the cause of the Allies.
- 2.
- Russia and Siberia are being drawn irresistibly into the control of Germany.
- 3.
- The only possible means of restoring order and of assisting the Russian people to assured self-government, of defending Asia and of safeguarding the interests of the Allies, is the intervention of an Allied military force.
We believe that we speak for the great majority of the Russian people, when we express our unanimous conviction that military intervention by one power, alone, would be unwise; but that military intervention in which several or all of the Allied nations participated would be salutary and welcome.
We desire to place on record the fact that we are working in cooperation and confirm [conformity] one with the other, and that it is our firm belief that there is nothing in the kind of military intervention indicated, provided that such intervention is preceded by a declaration defining its aims, to justify apprehension that the sovereign rights, territory or interests of any nation concerned would be exploited at the expense of another, but that on the contrary such intervention would operate in the highest interests of Russia and of the Allied peoples.
In the hope that it may help to remove some of the misunderstanding and mistrust which are now being fostered both amongst the Russians and our own peoples, we respectfully submit for consideration the desirability of a communication to the press in the form of this declaration.
Dated and signed at Harbin, China, June 14, 1918.
N.
Sato
,
Imperial Japanese Consul General
H. B.
Sly
, C.M.G.,
His Britannic Majesty’s Consul
C. K. Moser
,
Consul of the United States of
America
Henry
Lepie
,
Vice Consul of France
I have telegraphed copies of foregoing to Tokyo, Peking, Caldwell, and Ambassador Francis.