893.00 Nanking/108
The British Ambassador (Howard) to the Secretary of State62
Sir: I have the honour to inform you that I am in receipt of a communication from His Majesty’s Government, notifying me that [Page 202] His Majesty’s Representative at Peking, after consultation with his United States, French, Italian and Japanese colleagues, has recommended that he be authorised to present to Eugene Chen, through His Majesty’s Consul at Shanghai, an identic note of the following tenor:
“On April the 11th the Representatives of the United States, British, French, Italian and Japanese Governments presented in identic notes certain terms for the prompt settlement of the situation created by outrages against their Nationals committed by Nationalist troops at Nanking on March the 24th.
“To these identic notes the Nationalist authorities have not returned an identic reply but have answered each one separately and in varying terms calculated rather to serve propagandist ends than to terminate the incident which has arisen. Not one of the demands made has been accepted unequivocally by the Nationalist authorities. Reservations have been attached to the acceptance of each one.
“The terms presented in the identic notes of April the 11th were not proposals open to discussion but basic demands which the Powers concerned are determined shall be carried out. Only after the Nationalist authorities have signified with a plain and unqualified affirmative that they are prepared promptly and completely to comply with these terms, can any discussion regarding details take place.
“Unless, therefore, the Nationalist authorities state unequivocally and without delay that they intend to proceed to the integral fulfillment of the terms presented, the Governments concerned will be obliged to concert in such measures as may be necessary to obtain compliance.”
His Majesty’s Government point out to me that the last sentence of the proposed identic note cited above clearly presupposes that the five Governments approving the despatch of the reply in these terms to the communications addressed to them by Eugene Chen on the subject of the Nanking outrages are prepared in the last resort to concert active measures to enforce their demands for redress by the application of sanctions.
On the understanding that this is the view and intention of the other Governments, and that they will all instruct their representatives at Peking to reply in these terms to the Cantonese Government through their Consuls at Hankow, His Majesty’s Government have notified His Majesty’s Representative at Peking that he is authorised to join in the step contemplated.
In bringing the above information to your notice I am desired, on instructions from His Majesty’s Government, to express the hope that the United States Government, for their part, will issue similar instructions to their Representative at Peking.
I have [etc.]