893.00/8565
The Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss) to the Minister in China (MacMurray)72
Sir: I have the honor to report that early on the morning of February 25th the Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council telephoned to the Senior Consul requesting on behalf of the Council that the Foreign, Powers extend military assistance in the defense of the Settlement and adjoining residential areas on account of the presence of large numbers of Chinese troops in this vicinity. He stated that he would follow his verbal request by a written communication, a copy of which reached me from the Senior Consul on February 26th. I enclose a copy.73
Upon receipt of the telephonic request from the Chairman of the Municipal Council, the Senior Consul notified the American, British, Dutch, Italian and Japanese Consuls-General, being the Naval Power Consuls at the port.
As the Senior Consul was unable to give me any detailed information as to the reasons for the request, I reached the Chairman of the Council by telephone and requested from him such information. He stated that with the arrival of Chang Tsung-chang’s Shantung troops at Shanghai and the presence here of large numbers of the troops of Sun Chuan-fang, the Council desired to have the boundaries defended.
He stated that no “state of emergency” had been declared, admitted that there was no disorder or threat of disorder inside the Settlement, and, in reply to my inquiry, stated that the Shanghai Volunteer Corps had not been called out, although it had been kept in a state of precautionary mobilization which required men to be available in uniform on short notice. The Chairman of the Council (Mr. Stirling Fessenden, an American citizen) told me that he was not interested in whether the Americans landed or not, since the British were apparently the only force who were prepared to defend the integrity of the Settlement.
The Japanese Consul General got into touch with me by telephone and told me that he was disinclined to land the Japanese forces, but proposed to consult the Japanese Admiral; he considered that it was unwise to establish the defense lines just when the Shantung Tupan’s troops began to arrive; the Shantung Tupan, he said, had always been disposed to protect foreign life and property, and there [Page 81] was no indication that there was any friction or probability of friction between the troops of the Shantung Tupan and those of Sun Chuan-fang. He considered that a landing at the moment would be an unnecessary affront to Chang Tsung-chang. I later learned from the Japanese Consul General that he was not disposed to request his naval authorities to land men to take up the Japanese position on the defense line; at least not for the present.
While it is, I believe, the usual custom in a situation such as the present for the consular representatives of the Naval Powers to confer and submit a joint request to their naval representatives, it soon became evident that no such course would be followed in the present instance, the British military forces having moved out to the British sector of the defense lines immediately the request was made by the Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council to the Senior Consul.
I am satisfied that the request of the Shanghai Municipal Council was made at the instance of the British authorities in order to afford some ground upon which the British forces might justify their occupation of the defense lines.
The British military forces are now occupying a defense line which runs along the western boundary of the foreign residential area outside the Settlement (along the branch line of railway connecting the Shanghai-Nanking and Shanghai-Hangchow lines), thence along the Soochow Creek, and the Settlement boundaries. Patrols and pickets with machine guns are on duty along this line. Barbed wire entanglements are being erected along the line, principally, if not entirely, along and on Municipal-owned roads.
The British Consul General approached the Japanese Consul General with reference to the Japanese intention concerning occupation of their sector of the defense line—being the triangular section outside the Settlement limits to the north, between the railway line which runs to Woosung and the Sawgin Creek—and upon learning that the Japanese did not at present intend to take up their line he inquired whether there would be any objection to the British stationing a force in that area “to protect British life and property.” Naturally, the Japanese Consul General could make no objection to this being done, and a small British force now occupies Hongkew Park, in what should be the Japanese sector of the defense line.
The Italians landed a small force—the Italian Consul General says one hundred fifty men, but that large a number has not yet been identified—and are occupying a small section of the defense line alloted to them by the naval commanders in connection with the defense scheme.
[Page 82]The Department is aware from naval reports that, in view of the instructions of the Americans in the matter of defense of the integrity of the Settlement, the defense scheme contemplates the use of the American forces within the Settlement boundaries for the suppression of disorders. So long as there was no disorder and no threat of disorder in the section to be policed or patrolled by the Americans, I could find no justification for a request to Admiral Williams to land the American forces, and while I informed him in detail of the request made by the Municipal Council, and of the action taken by the British and the Japanese authorities, I indicated at the same time that I could find no justification for requesting him to land all, or any portion, of the American forces at the moment.
The Dutch cruiser in port would be prepared if necessary to land a force of about one hundred fifty men for service similar to that which the Americans would be called upon to perform. The Netherlands Consul General is awaiting an American landing before requesting his forces to land.
The Japanese Consul General tells me that he is prepared to request his forces to land as soon as there is any apparent need for it, and meanwhile his naval forces are being strengthened by additional ships being ordered here from Japan. As a matter of fact, the Japanese have already landed some of their forces and quartered them in the Japanese naval club and elsewhere, but this fact is not generally known and the Japanese Consul General does not consider the men landed as a “landing force” assigned to duty, but simply indicates that the men have been put on shore since it is not convenient to retain them on board crowded naval ships in harbor. Only a few hundred of his forces are so landed.
There has, of course, been considerable criticism in the community of the failure of the American forces to land, but I do not consider that the action of the American authorities should be governed by local criticism, whether in American or other circles.
I do not condemn the British action in throwing out their defense lines; in view of the large number of Chinese soldiers in the vicinity, and the unfavorable reputation of the Shantung troops, I believe that, had no British force been here the Naval Power Consuls would have been justified in asking the naval representatives to put out small parties of patrols or pickets to guard against any sudden difficulty which might arise through any possible conflict between the Kiangsu and Shantung forces.
The problem of finding billets for the increasing number of British military units (there are now some seven thousand men here) has been a difficult one for the British authorities, especially since they have been restricted to British-owned property within the Settlement [Page 83] boundaries. With the establishment of the defense lines, however, upon the request of the Shanghai Municipal Council, the British troops are able to occupy Municipal property outside the limits of the Settlement, including the Jessfield Park, municipal schools and other properties on municipal roads in the western area, and Hongkew Park to the north of the Settlement boundary.
This difficulty in finding billets, and the desire of the British to have established themselves on definite lines before any possibility of the arrival of Nationalist forces around Shanghai undoubtedly were controlling factors in the action taken to induce the Municipal Council to request military assistance for the defense of the Shanghai Settlement and adjoining residential areas.
I have [etc.]