393.11/604: Telegram
The Consul General at Hankow (Lockhart) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 18—11:10 a.m.]
Legation number 21, April 17, 3 p.m. There now remain at Hankow 73 Americans of whom about 33 are sleeping in the consulate living quarters at night and 38 on Standard Oil Company vessels and remainder near consulate. Two women remain, Miss Arndt, a missionary who is unable to persuade her father to leave, and Mrs. Prome, the editor of the Peoples Tribune, the Nationalist propaganda organ, who has absolved me from all responsibility for her safety. With precautions taken, the evacuation of the remaining Americans should be accomplished without difficulty in case of further emergency.
While the radical wing of the Kuomintang is thoroughly entrenched here, it is not unlikely that the raids on Communist headquarters in Shanghai and Canton will have their influence here and that some such attempt may be made at Hankow to suppress the Communists or at least to curb their activities. There is unquestionably a growing anti-Communist faction which at the moment lacks leadership and courage. This sentiment is the outgrowth of weeks of terrorism and oppression and is bound to assert itself if the present ruthless methods continue.
At Changsha within the last few days many Chinese, estimated from 30 to 40, having foreign business affiliations, have been wantonly killed by the Communists.
Legation informed.