File No. 861.77/593

The Consul General at Irkutsk ( Harris ) to the Secretary of State 1

[Telegram]

255. At invitation of Ustrugov, Minister of Ways of Communication, and Klyuchnikov, Minister for Foreign Affairs,2 I attended conference with them to-day concerning railway. It is the earnest desire of these men to place the railway in the hands of Stevens and they can not understand why the obstacles thereto are not overcome. They can not see why there should be any obstacles at all, as [they] wish to see the plan agreed between Stevens and [them] two months ago carried into effect at once. If there is anything our Government can do in this matter, I strongly urge that some action be undertaken at once, for this is the mainspring to any attempts on our part or that of Allies to assist Siberia. This question [Page 301] must first be solved above all others. There are at present available 3,000 engines and 90,000 ears, but a large per cent of them are tied up through hopeless congestion of traffic, and Russian railway men admit that they are powerless to solve the problem. It is also essential that the inter-Allied railway commission should settle in Omsk instead of Vladivostok. Have discussed this matter with Montgomery Schuyler, former diplomatist, now here, and he agrees with me that something must be done at once in railway question. Please telegraph me Department’s views.

Harris
  1. Sent via the Legation in China.
  2. Officials of the Kolchak government.