File No. 861.77/503
The Ambassador in Japan (Morris), temporarily at Vladivostok, to the Secretary of State
[Received October 1, 3.55 a.m.]
The following is a summary of railway negotiations to date:
In regard to the Chinese Eastern Railway, after several long talks with Horvat, yesterday noon for the first time he assented in principle to the American proposals and at my suggestion Stevens and he have arranged a meeting to discuss details.
The method which Stevens and I propose to submit first to General Horvat and then if approved by him to the Allied representatives is that the senior military authorities shall take over the military protection of the railways within their jurisdiction and shall name Stevens as Director General of Operation. At the same time an Allied advisory committee shall be created consisting of one representative of each of the powers which have dispatched troops to Siberia and the chairman of this committee shall be a Russian. Stevens will undertake to report to and advise with this committee at regular intervals but the actual control of operation shall remain wholly in his hands.
In regard to the Trans-Siberian Railways the practical problem is even more complicated. The factors to be considered are:
- 1.
- Ustrugov, who claims jurisdiction as the last legally appointed director of the Trans-Siberian Railway lines. He is vigorously opposing any action which would prevent him from regaining any of his former authority. I have seen him several times and while he presumes to speak for the remnants of the personnel of the previous administration whose cooperation is necessary to Stevens I believe that his claims are unjustified and can be ignored.
- 2.
- The Czech representatives whose forces are now actually protecting the lines. They will welcome Stevens’s cooperation in organizing the system but are not in any position to give more than passive support.
- 3.
- The Omsk provisional government so called; and the Ufa conference of all Russia which has grown out of it. For practical purposes they may be treated as one group. Their representative, the provisional president, Mr. Vologodski, is here. Prince Lvov, former Premier of Russia, who strongly sympathizes with this movement, is with him and I have conferred at great length with both of them. While holding that the all-Russian government has [Page 271] succeeded to the rights of the former Russian Government in the Siberian Railways they do not press this technical contention but point out most earnestly that any action in reference to the railways which ignores their existence would greatly injure their whole movement and might wreck it. They do not ask for recognition but only for an opportunity to take some formal initiative which would show to the elements supporting them that Stevens was acting with their knowledge and consent and thus had the support of the only existing organ of Siberian public opinion. Their first suggestion was that they should write to me formally requesting that Stevens take over the operation of railways. I objected to this suggestion as carrying with it implications which might be embarrassing. As an alternative it was suggested that such a letter might be addressed to Stevens himself as the agent of the Russian people. This suggestion commends itself to my judgment; it would represent some expression of Russian opinion, would be addressed to an agent of the Russian people and not to a representative of our Government, and would help to soften any subsequent military order which might be necessary to place Stevens in control.
I do not consider the Omsk government very significant. Judging only from many conversations with representative Russians the political situation does not show promise permanent success for any constructive movement. The advent of Allied forces had led to the hope among former officials, civil and military, that they will now regain the power and influence they had before the revolution. The attitude of these officials indicates that they will be relentless in their endeavor to suppress all liberal or moderate movements. Possibly nothing but their inevitable failure will bring them to reason. I can see no objection, however, to an appeal from the Ufa representatives of the Omsk government for Stevens’s aid.
It is my present intention to remain here and endeavor to complete the negotiations as promptly as possible and continue the investigation of economic and social conditions in Siberia. I hope to forward this week for the Department and the War Trade Board suggestions for immediate economic assistance and also a summary of the conclusions reached in consultation with Y.M.C.A. and Red Cross representatives as to the limits of social work this winter.
If the negotiations can be concluded within a reasonable time I should like to go westward before venturing to submit report on political conditions. Would the Department approve my inviting Mr. Crane to accompany me on such a journey?