793.94/7141: Telegram
The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 2—7:38 a.m.]
330. Reference my telegram No. 325, June 29, 1 [2] p.m. The Mayor of Peiping stated last evening in confidence that 92 of the men who caused the trouble at Fengtai and on the armored train have been taken into custody; that among them are four retired Japanese military, one Korean and many men of Liu Kuei Tang and Shih Yu Shan; and that more than 20 men believed to be connected with the uprising have been arrested inside Peiping. He said that undoubtedly the men on the armored train expected others within the city to take simultaneous action that night but that the city authorities having had previous information took adequate measures to prevent such action. The Mayor further said that several hundreds of Japanese and Koreans had been arriving daily at Peiping prior to the trouble and that although many of them had been coming for the purpose of exchanging [banknotes?] for silver at Peiping banks and then taking the silver out of the country (a transaction which the Peiping authorities have now made difficult to effect) a considerable number came in the hope of profiting through the political turnover which the recent trouble might have caused. He stated that many of them are still in Peiping hoping to profit from a similar outbreak in the future and that martial law is being continued because the authorities hope thereby to make a complete survey of the situation and an improvement in regard to these armed undesirables: Japanese, Koreans and Chinese.
The Mayor further said that he expected an outbreak similar to the recent trouble before the end of the year, adding that such Japanese military as Doihara and Matsui are opposed to such tactics but that younger Japanese in Tientsin are working for it.
By mail to Tokyo and Nanking.