811.30 Asiatic Fleet/138
Memorandum by the Secretary of State
During the call of the Japanese Ambassador he referred to the position of the American Scouting Fleet in the Pacific, saying that it had been stated that it was there because the Secretary of State had insisted that it be kept there. I replied that the Fleet was there because the Commander-in-Chief directed that it be there; that I was not the Commander-in-Chief but I could say that it was the sound policy of our country to normally and under general conditions keep our Fleet together inasmuch as we had two seacoasts to protect on two separate oceans, separated by the Isthmus of Panama; that further, I would not be frank if I did not admit that last winter when the Japanese began attacking Shanghai and no one knew how much further the trouble might spread, I was very thankful that the Fleet happened to be in the Pacific, although it was there only for the purpose of the regular maneuvers. The Ambassador said he wanted to assure me that it would be impossible for Japan to think of attacking the Philippines or Hawaii. I said I was glad to hear that; that I did not believe they would, but that last winter when this situation existed there were many wild rumors about it and I had even been told by a responsible British statesman when I was in Geneva that their Ambassador had reported that Hong Kong, itself, might be attacked. The Ambassador [Page 198] was manifestly surprised at this and said that he didn’t believe that there was any chance of Japan doing such a wild thing as to get into a war with this country or with Great Britain which would certainly destroy Japan.