Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1919, Volume I

893.51/2089

The AmericanGroup to the Acting Secretary of State

New York, January 3, 1919.
[Received January 4.]

Sir: This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of December 18th, 1918, in regard to sending to China a representative of “The American Group” and will advise you that the matter has been carefully considered by The American Group. We have decided to send Mr. John Jay Abbott of the Continental and Commercial Trust and Savings Bank of Chicago, a member of “The American Group”, to investigate and report upon financial conditions in China. Mr. Abbott proposes to leave in the near future. We expect on Monday to make a brief public announcement of Mr. Abbott’s departure, in the form which has, we understand, already been approved by Mr. Long.⁶⁶

With renewed assurance [etc.]

J. P. Morgan & Co.
For “The American Group”

66. Breckinridge Long, Third Assistant Secretary of State.