793.94/4218: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Forbes)
55. Your 66, February 14, 9 p.m., second paragraph.
1. Both the British and the Italian Ambassadors here have reported to me that the five ambassadors in Tokyo concur in the view which you report as being held by the five.
It is my impression that, although ambassadors in Tokyo are in best position to know what is occurring in Japan, their information with regard to what is occurring elsewhere, especially at Shanghai, and with regard to the problems which have to be faced by their governments in relation to that situation, is necessarily limited and perhaps in some particulars far from accurate.
2. I should like to have, in support of the view under reference, a full exposition of the factors on which there is based the conclusion that the situation would be best served by a quiescent attitude of the various foreign governments for the present.