893.5045/170: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in China (MacMurray)
192. The Chinese Minister called upon me on the 5th instant to state that he had received instructions from his Government to say to me that his Government could not see any need for the proposed judicial inquiry into the Shanghai matter in view of the fact that the guilt of the Chinese students had been passed upon by the Mixed Court and the responsibility of the police evidenced by the testimony of Everson at the same trial, and that the question of the responsibility of the Municipality had been gone into by the Commission sent to Shanghai by the Diplomatic Body and by the Chinese Government. I explained to the Chinese Minister that this Government did not desire to delay the settlement of the Shanghai matter in any way, that it had given full authority to its Legation in Peking to deal with this matter, that the proposal for a judicial inquiry had come from the British Government and that we had consented to it on the understanding that a Chinese jurist should be appointed to the judicial commission or that the Chinese Government be given an opportunity to appoint one. I stated that I could not see any reason why such a judicial inquiry should not be held if the Government desire it as it would be a public inquiry into the facts and would not interest itself in any negotiations between the Powers and the Chinese Government relating thereto.