File No. 861.00/3173
The Ambassador in Japan (Morris) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 7, 7.10 a.m.]
Consul Ray1 who has just arrived here informs me that about six thousand Japanese troops have occupied Verkhneudinsk. It is also reliably reported that Japanese troops have landed at Possiet Bay. An examination of the map would indicate that these last movements complete the Japanese military occupation of every possible entrance into Siberia and Manchuria. Verkhneudinsk is the junction of the [Mongolian] trade route with the Trans-Siberian Railway, and Possiet Bay is the terminal of the railway from Kirin.
Now that full military control has been thus established I presume that the General Staff will permit the Minister for Foreign Affairs to formulate the Government’s reply to our proposals for the operation of the Russian railways.
[Page 428]I called upon Viscount Uchida Monday evening to present the case of the Seoul Mining Co. and he introduced the subject of the railways. He expressed regret at the delay and said that the question was a difficult one because of the attitude of the military authorities and the sensitive state of public opinion. He gave no indication of what reply his Government would make.
- John A. Ray, formerly Consul at Odessa, en route to the United States.↩