893.00 Nanking/100
The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador (Howard)
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note No. 277 of April 20, 1927, in which you refer to your note No. 268 of the 18th instant. In the latter note you informed me of the attitude of the British Government toward the text of a new identic note which the diplomatic representatives of the British, United States, Italian, French and Japanese Governments at Peking had recommended that they be authorized to present to Eugene Chen in reply to the notes delivered by him to the representatives of the above mentioned Powers regarding the settlement of the situation arising out of the outrages on foreigners committed by Nationalist soldiers at Nanking on March 24. In the conversation which I had with you yesterday64 on this subject I explained to you the attitude [Page 207] of this Government and also told you of the instruction which had been sent to the American Legation at Peking.65 In your note under acknowledgment you state that the British Government has informed its representatives at Peking of its approval of the proposed terms of the identic note and that it has authorized him to join with the representatives of the other Powers concerned in the presentation of joint or identic notes and in making any minor modifications required to secure an agreement. You state that the British Government continues to assume that the five Powers will insist on the fulfillment of the terms which all were agreed in presenting, and that it considers that the character of sanctions to be applied in case of necessity could be separately discussed amongst them. You conclude by stating that the British Government for its part is prepared either to accept the identic note in question with the omission of the last sentence, or as it stands, leaving aside for the present the question of the eventual application of sanctions.
As explained to you orally yesterday this Government feels that nothing is to be gained by haste in the handling of this matter. Information received in Washington through agents of the Government of the United States as well as from the press indicates that the so-called Nationalist Government to which the original demands of the Powers were presented, and which was held responsible for the outrages at Nanking, has been disrupted by conflict between what are understood to be its moderate and radical elements. In view of the situation thus brought about this Government is not convinced that any good purpose would be served by further pressing the demands at this time upon Eugene Chen, especially when it seems questionable as to whether he and his organization have the authority over Nationalist military forces necessary to enable them to comply with the demands.
As regards the question of the application of sanctions, as I stated to you yesterday, this Government is not prepared at this time to apply sanctions nor is it prepared to consider the question now. It would appear to this Government to be very questionable as to whether sanctions could be applied at this time with any effectiveness in territory controlled by Chinese Nationalists, as sanctions would have to be applied against a divided group.
The Government of the United States believes that the demands which were presented to Eugene Chen were clear and direct and that no harm will come if the decision further to press them is not made until the Powers can be more certain as to the direction which events will take in China.
Accept [etc.]