793.94/1890
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Castle) of a Conversation With the British Chargé (Osborne), September 24, 1931
Mr. Osborne came to the Department at my request so that I could tell him our attitude toward the Manchurian situation. He told me that he had been instructed by his Government to call and ask about it in any case.
I told him that, of course, we wanted to be of any possible assistance to the League of Nations and certainly did not want to interfere with anything they were doing. I pointed out, however, that it was possible that Lord Robert Cecil, who seemed to be representing Great Britain, being a man who was always in favor of international action, might have neglected to consider oriental psychology in his proposal of a commission of investigation. I told him that we felt that such a commission might be of great importance at the proper time, but that we were very much opposed to any move which might inflame the nationalistic spirit of Japan and unite the people of the country behind the militaristic element rather than the civilian element. I told him that I thought we ought all of us to support Baron Shidehara to the limit. Mr. Osborne said that he quite understood this and that it seemed to him that our attitude was entirely wise. I told him also that we felt, knowing the attitude of the Japanese and Chinese, that if there could be direct conversations this would be undoubtedly the wisest method of settlement, but if this were not possible or if these conversations amounted to nothing we should hope that the matter might be arranged under the terms of Article Eleven and later articles of the Covenant of the League since both Japan and China, in signing the Covenant, had agreed to accept the jurisdiction implied. I told Mr. Osborne that we also felt that the matter should be continued by the League since the League had begun already, but that even if this were not successful there remained the specific treaties of 1923 [1922] and the Kellogg Pact. I told him, however, that we hoped and believed that the Japanese were already trying to get themselves out of an uncomfortable position.