File No. 861.77/308
The Ambassador in Japan (Morris) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 1, 2.05 p.m.]
Stevens received advices from Emerson that German prisoners were now armed at Irkutsk and Chita and that without aid of armed force he could only place four railway units instead of seven as [Page 224] planned. Stevens was therefore compelled to hold at Nagasaki one half of the contingent and only one hundred and four men are now on their way to Harbin for service on Chinese Eastern Railway. In a conversation with Minister for Foreign Affairs last night he again, and with great earnestness, emphasized the seriousness of the Siberian situation and the necessity of immediate decision by Allied powers as to policy. He expressed fear that if Germans control Petrograd they will at once send orders to destroy bridges and tracks of Trans-Siberian [Railway]. Stevens agrees that such action is likely and would seriously cripple any future movements in Siberia. Reports confirmed that freight is now moving west on Amur Railway.