711.94/2624
Memorandum by the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)
I called on Admiral Toyoda this evening at six o’clock and carried out the instructions contained in the Department’s telegram No. 573, September 9, 11 a.m.6 I made it clear to the Minister for Foreign Affairs that the inquiries made were of an exploratory and preliminary nature and that further questions might emerge from additional study on the part of my Government of the proposals submitted by Japan. Admiral Toyoda listened carefully to my remarks and to the questions presented and answered that before giving me a reply he would examine the points in question.
The Foreign Minister told me that he did not have in his possession the text of the draft proposal delivered on September 4 by the Japanese Ambassador in Washington to the Secretary of State. The Minister and also Mr. Terasaki who attended the meeting said that they could not entirely understand question number one since they understood that the draft of September 4 did not supersede and cancel out any of the terms (as, for example, the use of good offices by the President of the United States in regard to bringing the hostilities between Japan and China to a close) on which previous agreement had been reached during the conversations in Washington. Admiral Toyoda and Mr. Terasaki both made it clear that their remarks in this connection were off the record and unofficial.
- Not printed; it directed the presentation of the statement, infra.↩