793.94/2277
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Castle)
The Japanese Ambassador came to see me this morning, Sunday, to say that he had heard from Tokyo that Japan was withdrawing its opposition to having Gilbert sit in at the meeting of the League, reserving, however, its position on the juridical point as to whether under the Covenant of the League an outsider could be asked in without unanimous consent. Mr. Debuchi said rather ruefully that he realized this was an eleventh hour decision after the harm had been done. He then said that his telegram further stated the regret of Baron Shidehara that the Foreign Office spokesman had made the statement he did. He told me, however, that he was coming to the Department to tell this to the Secretary officially and added that he had merely told me in this unofficial way as I might want to tell the Secretary in advance of his official call.
I asked the Ambassador whether there was not a certain significance in a statement in the press, which was given no importance, that there was to be a meeting on Monday in Tokyo between Baron [Page 231] Shidehara, General Minami, Prince Saionji, Count Makino and others to discuss the Manchurian situation. The Ambassador said that he felt this meeting was of vital importance on account of the standing of the men who were to take part and that he felt its influence would be very far reaching.
(Prince Saionji and Count Makino are certainly the two outstanding men of Japan so far as influence with the Emperor and on the Republic is concerned. Both, furthermore, are thoroughly pacific, both were of great help to me77 during the negotiations in London of the Naval Treaty78 and although I could not telegraph the information so definitely to London, I ceased to have any fear that Japan would refuse to make a treaty after being told by these two gentlemen that Japan must and would participate.)
- Mr. Castle was Ambassador in Japan December 11, 1929–June 30, 1930.↩
- For correspondence concerning the London Naval Conference of 1930, see Foreign Relations, 1930, vol. i, pp. 1 ff.↩