893.00/8685
The British Ambassador (Howard) to the Secretary of State
Sir: I have the honour to inform you that I am today in receipt of a communication from His Majesty’s Government informing me that His Majesty’s Minister at Peking has on his part thought it his duty to warn His Majesty’s Government that there is serious danger lest a situation should arise at Peking similar to that which developed in 1901. The Commandants at Tientsin take an equally grave view of the position and demand that the international forces at Tientsin and Peking should be raised to a figure of 25,000.
His Majesty’s Government have undertaken the main burden of the defence of the settlement at Shanghai. It is not reasonable, therefore, to expect that they should, in addition, assume an equal burden in the North, and they have instructed His Majesty’s Representative that unless effective international cooperation can be secured, he must make arrangements, in case of necessity, for the evacuation by the [Page 109] British of both Peking and Tientsin. His Majesty’s Government realise the serious consequences of such a decision for other nations, as well as for Great Britain, and it is with the greatest reluctance that they have brought themselves to contemplate it as inevitable unless Japan and the United States are prepared to do their share in the defence of common interests against the danger which threatens all equally.
In bringing the above information to your notice, I am instructed to invite an, expression of the views of the United States Government regarding the present situation at Peking and Tientsin and the measures which should be taken to meet it. In this connection, I have the honour to add that, according to advice received by His Majesty’s Government, the Commandants’ figure of 25,000 men quoted above is an under-estimate and reinforcements of two divisions would be required to hold Tientsin and its lines of communication. His Majesty’s Government as their contribution to such forces might possibly be able to make available the one brigade at present under orders for China, but this brigade cannot arrive before the middle of May and its disposition on arrival must be governed by the circumstances obtaining at that time.
I have [etc.]