793.94/4351
The Under Secretary of State (Castle) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary: Monsieur Henry telephoned from the Embassy to read a telegram in answer to that sent by the Ambassador last night on the subject of representations in Tokyo. The telegram said that Martel had already been instructed to make verbal protest to the Foreign Office along with his British colleague on the subject of the use of the International Settlement as a base of operations. As soon as the telegram from Washington arrived, stating that the British did not intend at the moment to make another protest, Martel was instructed to go ahead and make a verbal protest independently.
It is clear that the wording of your note is not necessarily to be used and there seems to have been no instruction to consult with Forbes. The question now to be decided, therefore, is whether Forbes should be instructed once more to make a verbal protest in line with the text we sent him and in view of the imminence of a drive in the vicinity of Shanghai.