893.00/7680
Memorandum by the Secretary of State of a Conversation With the Portuguese Minister (D’Alte)
The Portuguese Minister called on me and asked what the condition was in China. I told him that conditions were not good, especially [Page 640] along the Yang Tze River; that the Cantonese army had captured Hankow and Hanyang and were now besieging Wuchang; that the latter was a walled city and so far as I have been advised, it had not yet been captured. He wanted to know whether, if one of our gunboats were fired on, we would return the fire. I told him they had only been fired upon once or twice. Two soldiers had been wounded and I understand they returned the fire and they probably would in the future. He said their concession at Macao, south of Canton, had been fired on and they had returned the fire. I told him that I understood that all of the Powers represented at Peking who were interested in China had agreed that they would not compel their merchant ships to refuse search; that they did not approve it and there was no recognition of the Cantonese as legal belligerents and, therefore, no recognition of their right to search merchant vessels. Nevertheless, if the merchant vessels insisted they would rather be searched and comply with the orders than to have a convoy, we did not feel like objecting to it or compelling them not to comply but this is no recognition of the Cantonese right of search. He said that if they fired on other warships and on the concessions, he wondered if it would not be best for all the Powers to unite and return their hostilities or oppose the attack. I told him I doubted if there was any necessity for the Powers to unite; that each one was there with its own gunboats and forces in order to protect their citizens and I doubted very much if the Cantonese would go to the extent of bombarding concessions; that I thought the firing on these ships was a desultory firing by lawless Chinese soldiers who took pot shots for the fun of it. He said that he believed that was true. I am under the impression that he wished to be informed as to our view as to joint action. He did not press the matter and I did not give him any encouragement nor did I answer his inquiry other than to say I did not think it was necessary.