500.A12/41: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Bancroft)
19. Reference your telegrams February 20. Day before yesterday the Japanese Chargé d’Affaires remarked that there had been a good deal appearing in the press in regard to the calling of another arms conference, and that naturally his Government was much interested in these reports.
I said that I was glad the opportunity had arisen to tell him just what had taken place, as the situation has been considerably magnified in the newspaper reports. A few days ago Mr. Austen Chamberlain, in the course of a conversation with Ambassador Kellogg, had mentioned the possibility of another arms conference and had indicated the willingness of the British Government to take part; that was all there was to it. It was recognized that a conference would probably have to be confined to proceeding with limitation of naval craft in view of the unlikelihood of doing anything in regard to land armament. Mr. Chamberlain suggested further that an invitation extended by the President would be received favorably by the other powers. The conversation between Mr. Chamberlain and the Ambassador was most informal. Mr. Kellogg telegraphed me the substance of it, and I then instructed him to inquire if Mr. Chamberlain had a definite basis for belief that invitation would be welcomed [Page 8] by the naval powers, and particularly whether any different attitude could now be expected on question of auxiliary craft which had arisen between France and Great Britain. From the conversation that followed it appeared that Mr. Chamberlain’s suggestion had been general and that there was nothing very definite to go upon. A question on this matter had been asked in the House of Commons, to which Mr. Chamberlain had replied that there had simply been conversations.
I told the Chargé that the attitude of this Government remains unchanged, that it had always wished to go forward when an opportune time should have arisen with the proposals it had made at the Washington Conference in 1922, but that it had feared that difficulty which had then prevented an agreement in regard to auxiliary craft still remained. I said that I understood that the viewpoint of the Japanese Government is very much the same as our own and that it is ready to proceed in event that there is any appearance of reasonable expectation of an agreement. I added that I regretted only that these reports had made it appear that some special negotiation was going on with Great Britain when none was. There was nothing more than these conversations in which Mr. Chamberlain had brought up the matter, in addition to fact that for a year or so there had been such general and informal talks with other interested Governments as had taken place with Government of Japan on this matter.
Although the Chargé has doubtless reported this conversation, you may take occasion to assure yourself that situation is fully understood by Japanese Foreign Office. It is not necessary for me to assure you that I am aware of danger of appearing to work with other powers in disregard of Japan. This has neither been done nor intended. Press publicity has tended to give great definiteness to what is entirely nebulous at this time and has been the more embarrassing to me because of difficulty of making any effectual denial without running the danger of chilling public interest and sympathy for the further plans of naval limitation which it is still our wish to bring about.