793.94/1007
Memorandum of the Third Assistant Secretary of State (Long)
Mr. Debuchi asked me today what exactly was meant by the words “immediate assurance” contained in the note from Mr. Lansing to him concerning the Shantung clause of the Treaty.49 He wanted to know also why the answer must be immediate. I told him that if the President had relied upon the assurance of the Japanese Representatives in Paris and it now developed that they were not authorized by their Government to make such statements or that the Government did not know that they had made them—in which case the President should be immediately advised in order that he might not find himself longer in an embarrassing position. I told him further that the Foreign Relations Committee was dealing with the Treaty and would report it next week and that the President might care to take the matter up with them immediately.
He asked further what else might be done by the President than consult The Foreign Relations Committee. I told him that he might feel it incumbent upon him to take the matter up again in Paris.
- See supra.↩