File No. 861.77/566
The Ambassador in Japan (Morris) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9.14 a.m.]
The Minister for Foreign Affairs to-day1 handed me the following revised plan for the supervision of the Chinese Eastern and Trans-Siberian Railways:2
[Page 289]for the supervision of the chinese eastern and the trans-siberian railways in the zone in which the allied military forces are now operating
1. The general supervision of the railways in the zone in which the Allied forces are now operating shall be exercised by a special inter-Allied committee, which shall consist of representatives from each Allied power having military forces in Siberia, including Russia, and the chairman of which shall be Russian.
The following board[s] shall be created to be placed under the control of the inter-Allied committee:
- (a)
- Technical board consisting of railway experts of the nations having military forces in Siberia for the purpose of giving advice and assistance in the matter of technical administrative and economic management of all the railways in the said zone;
- (b)
- An Allied military transportation board for the purpose of coordinating military transportation under instructions of the proper military authorities.
2. The protection of the railways shall be placed under the Allied military forces, while the management of the railways shall be left in the hands of Russians. At the head of each railway shall remain a Russian manager or director with the powers conferred by existing Russian law. These Russian officials shall, as far and as readily as possible, follow the advice and accept the assistance of the technical board.
3. The technical board shall act through a president elected by a majority of the members of the board and who may, with the approval of that board, appoint assistants and inspectors in the service of the board chosen from among the nationals of the powers having military forces in Siberia to be attached to the central office of the board. He may assign, if necessary, the corps of railway experts to the more important stations. In assigning railway experts to any of the stations, interests of the respective Allied powers in charge of military protection of such stations shall be taken into due consideration. He shall distribute the work among the clerical staff of the board whom he may appoint in his discretion.
4. The clerical staff of the inter-Allied committee shall be appointed by the chairman of the committee, who shall have the right of distributing the work among such employees as well as of dismissing them.
In substituting this plan the Minister of Foreign Affairs assured me that it was offered with the distinct understanding that Stevens should be made president of the technical board and if approved by my Government, the Government of Japan and the military authorities would sincerely cooperate to make it effective.
In comparing this plan with the one agreed to at Vladivostok it will be observed that it differs in two main particulars:
- 1.
- It provides for supervision and assistance rather than control. I realize that this will be distasteful to Stevens who has been insistent [Page 290] that if he is to be made responsible he should have absolute authority. I recognize the force of this contention but I think that the change is wise in view of the suspicions aroused by the idea of control. In practice I believe that the difference will disappear and that the modified wording better expresses our own general attitude toward Siberian problems.
- 2.
- It changes Stevens’s position from that of general manager with power to choose his staff to that of president of the technical board which shall consist of one representative each from the nations having military forces in Siberia. Again the difference in practice is small and the method of naming Stevens is only a more tactful one. It certainly obviates the disadvantage pointed out by the Department of military designation or confirmation.
The other changes seem to me of minor importance.
Speaking generally I believe the plan will work in practice and should be tried. It will give Stevens a position of great influence, the moral effect of which in China and Siberia will be valuable; it will certainly improve the present intolerable conditions; it will offer immediate employment to the Railway Service Corps; and most important of all it will establish our position that the Russian railways should not pass under the control of any single nation.
I of course recognize that its success depends on the future attitude of the Japanese authorities. In this connection the hopeful factor is the effort of Hara1 and his colleagues to limit the activities of the General Staff. Our acceptance of the modified plan will I believe greatly strengthen their hand.
If the Department feels justified in approving this compromise, I submit for consideration the following procedure: that the Department authorize me to advise the Minister for Foreign Affairs informally of our Governments concurrence and suggest that the modified plan be forwarded to Ishii as the Japanese Government’s reply to your note to him; that the other Governments involved be notified of our agreement with Japan and of the understanding that Stevens shall be selected as president.
In the meantime and if the plan is approved, would the Department consider favorably my returning to Vladivostok for a short period to cooperate with Stevens and the Allied representatives in arranging the details necessary to put the agreement into effect? I believe it would be helpful if he could go with Admiral Rogers on the Brooklyn so that the Admiral, General Graves, Stevens and I could confer on the entire situation.