[Enclosure]
Memorandum by the Vice Consul at Yokohama
(Hill)
Information Obtained From an
American Tourist Concerning Japanese Mandated Islands
Dr. Louis J. Lipset, a retired American physician 62 years old
(naturalized, Russian birth) living at Yokohama, has just returned
from a trip to Davao, on a steamer of the N.Y.K.,71 having visited both ways various islands of the
Japanese mandated group.
In response to my invitation, Dr. Lipset came for tea on February 14,
1933, bringing with him his notes and pictures of the trip, and, in
the course of conversation, remarked that he had learned from three
foreign residents of the islands that fortification thereof is
steadily progressing and has been carried on for over a year with
[Page 751]
the greatest possible
secrecy. He mentioned the following individuals from whom he had
obtained this information:
Mr. Tretanoff, a Russian who has lived in Yap for about seven years,
and who has with him at present his wife, two daughters aged 18 and
24, and a small baby son. Mr. Tretanoff is very poor, and, speaking
the native dialect well, makes his living recruiting native labor
for the Japanese. He is never allowed to accompany the laborers to
their work, but has learned from them that they are engaged in
building great stone walls and in mounting cannon behind low
elevations of land near the sea coast on the island of Yap.
Mr. Osmolosky, a Russian who owns a small store in Saipan and who has
a wife in Tokyo, gave similar information concerning Saipan and
Palau.
Father John (or Juan) Ponce, a Spanish Catholic priest who makes
frequent trips from island to island inspecting Catholic missions,
further, though very briefly, corroborated the foregoing
information.
The two Russians have been frequently urged by the police to leave
the islands, but have begged to remain on the basis of their being
very poor and having nothing to turn to elsewhere for their
livelihoods. However, they stated that they were being closely
watched, and that their mail was always opened by the Japanese
before they received it.
Dr. Lipset stated that the Yokohama office of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha
had urged him not to make the trip, stating that the hotel
accommodations and food were very poor, and that he would suffer
from the heat. He described the pronounced suspicion with which the
Japanese authorities in the islands viewed his visit, his baggage
having been thoroughly searched on several occasions, his pictures
examined, and a policeman having accompanied him almost continuously
during his stay. However, he was courteously treated. Part of the
time he traveled with an Englishman, an artist, who made a number of
sketches and paintings of the islands, and who was also regarded by
the authorities with much suspicion.
The information given herein, the result of the interview with Dr.
Lipset, should be regarded primarily as the casual observations of a
tourist who at no time had in mind any definite ideas of
investigation. It is believed, however, that it is worth while to
report his remarks, as of possible interest in the corroboration of
other accounts.
Much information could probably be obtained from Father Ponce, who,
it is understood, occasionally comes to Japan. The Catholic Mission
authorities should know when his next visit will take place.
Dr. Lipset has written up an extensive account of his journey,
[Page 752]
somewhat in the form of a
diary, in which he sets forth his impression of the islands, the
native population, and the various trips he took therein. He also
has about fifteen snapshots. This material apparently does not
contain anything of a confidential nature, and is probably of little
value, but, if desired, it can be very easily and casually obtained
for a few days.
