793.94/2542: Telegram
The Consul at Geneva (Gilbert) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 9—9:15 a.m.]
289. Department’s 119, October 27, 7 p.m. With respect to communiqués issued by the Secretary General and by the Chinese and Japanese (either independently or through the Secretariat), I am following and will continue to follow unless otherwise advised the policy of transmitting this information to the Department under the following system:
- 1.
- By telegraph (a) full texts (or summaries of essential points when the document is largely a repetition of previous statements) of all communications which fit in any way into the network of the current negotiations, or which, in my opinion may be cited at some future time in the negotiations; (b) usually full texts, occasionally summaries, of all military information from neutral sources.
- 2.
- By mail all communications not falling under the foregoing. Examples this type of communiqué are recent long and highly contradictory statements on the part of the Chinese and Japanese respecting the Nonni Bridge fighting. I assume that in respect to this incident, for example, your information direct from Tokyo and Peiping is much more satisfactory.
I am making the foregoing clear as I am aware that the American press representatives here are at times telegraphing to their home papers many communiqués which I do not touch upon in my telegrams and I desire the Department to know under what conditions this occurs.74
- The Department, in its telegram No. 129, November 10, 3 p.m., replied “Approved.”↩