861.77/673
The Japanese Ambassador (Ishii) to the Acting Secretary of State
Washington, January 15,
1919.
Sir: I have the honor to present to you, under
instructions, a plan for the supervision of the Chinese Eastern and the
Trans-Siberian Railways in the zone in which the Allied forces are now
operating and to request that you will be good enough to let me know
whether it is acceptable to the Government of the United States.
Accept [etc.]
[Enclosure]
Plan 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 in 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 a Russian.
The following boards shall be created to be placed under the control
of the inter-allied committee.
- (a)
- A technical board consisting of railway experts of the nations
having military forces in Siberia for the purpose of
administering the technical and economic management of all
railways in the said zone.
- (b)
- An allied military transportation board for the purpose of
co-ordinating military transportation under instructions of the
proper military authorities.
(2) The protection of the railways shall be placed under the allied
military forces. At the head of each railway shall remain a Russian
manager or director with the powers conferred by the existing
Russian law.
(3) The technical board shall elect a President to whom shall be
intrusted the technical operation of railways. In matters of such
technical operation the President may issue instructions to the
Russian officials mentioned in the preceding clause. He may appoint
assistants and inspectors in the service of the board chosen from
among nationals of powers having military forces in Siberia to be
attached to the central office of the board and define their duties.
He may assign, if necessary, corps of railway experts to more
important stations. In his assigning railway experts to any of the
stations, interests of respective allied powers in charge of
[military protection of34] such stations shall
be taken into due consideration.
[Page 240]
He shall distribute work among the clerical
staff of the board whom he may appoint at 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 work among such employes as well as of dismissing
them.
(5) The present arrangement shall cease to be operative upon the
withdrawal of foreign military forces from Siberia and all the
foreign railway experts appointed under this arrangement shall then
be recalled forthwith.
