500.A15A4/1762: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Acting Chairman of the American Delegation (Gibson)
301. Your 561, March 9, 8 p.m. Grew reports from Tokyo that as the quoted formal communication of the Japanese Delegation to the Disarmament Conference was published in Tokyo, he was able to discuss the matter informally and ostensibly on his own initiative with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The latter seemed surprisingly vague on the subject and merely said that the Delegation would continue to take part in the work of the Conference “so far as circumstances may permit” implying that the participation of the Delegation would not be merely nominal, but active. Count Uchida’s apparent unfamiliarity with the subject however conveyed the impression that the matter does not lie in his hands but with the Army and Navy authorities directly.
A reliable contact in the General Staff informed our Military Attaché62 that the General Staff is at present determined to permit no reduction whatever in the military machine. On the contrary, increases in personnel and equipment are expected to be made until the general situation in Manchuria and the specific situation in Jehol have become settled. The Naval Attaché63 has no recent information concerning the attitude of the Navy; he is, however, convinced that the Naval authorities are determined to make no concessions at Geneva.