861a.01/386: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Warren) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 11—10:56 a.m.]
162. Thomas telegraphs following from Chita, October 6, 3 p.m.
Prime Minister Nikiforoff has resigned and is going to Moscow. Kortpeneff is replacing him, having been sent from Moscow. It is believed that the Minister of the Interior, Petroff, is also to be removed on Moscow instructions.
[Page 862]Janson, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, has arrived in Chita. He declares that the break-up of the conference at Changchun was entirely due to the Japanese refusal to set a date for the withdrawal from Sakhalin Island prior to the settlement of the affair at Nikolaievsk and to refusal to discuss this matter before the signing of a general treaty. The Japanese expressed a desire during the conference to obtain Sakhalin either by purchase or by a long-term lease. If this cannot be done the Japanese wish the exclusive privilege of holding concessions in Russian Sakhalin. The demands meet a firm refusal from Russia, which will pursue an open-door policy if an active interest in the development of Sakhalin is shown by American capital. …