611.94231/56
Memorandum by the Acting Secretary of State
The Japanese Ambassador called to see me this morning at my request. The Ambassador said that he would like to know what [Page 269] decisions this Government might have reached with regard to the cargoes which were on the ships waiting to enter American ports, and whether these cargoes would be “frozen”, I said that I had nothing further that I could say to the Ambassador with regard to these ships other than what I had already stated to him, and that with regard to the question of the cargoes specific and individual licenses would have to be applied for to the Treasury Department, which would reach a decision in each case in accordance with the policy of this Government and upon the merits of the individual application.
The Ambassador then said that the reason why he had always had such great admiration for the United States was because he believed that in our dealings with other countries we pursued a policy which was “fair and square”. He said that while he recognized the question was one solely for our own determination he had nevertheless hoped that greater “leniency” would be shown with regard to the cargoes on these ships. To this I replied that I appreciated what the Ambassador said concerning the policy of my Government and that I believed that the Ambassador’s remarks to the effect that American policy was “fair and square” were entirely accurate. I said I felt that in the specific instance to which he referred our policy had been entirely in line with our traditional policy in that regard. I said further that I wondered if the Ambassador felt that the policy of Japan towards American interests in the Far East during the past four years had been equally “fair and square”. Somewhat to my surprise the Ambassador burst into a loud laugh and said, “You have me there”. He said that he feared that Japanese policy had not been one to which that phrase could be properly applied.