693.113 (Manchuria) Petroleum/85
The Chargé in China ( Gauss ) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 25.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Mukden Consul General’s despatch to the Legation, No. 45, January 24, 1935,72 in regard to the [Page 879] revised procedure for testing the quality of oils imported into Manchuria, copies of which were supplied directly to the Department, and to enclose a copy of the Legation’s instruction in reply of January 29, 1935.73
The Consul General reported having received a letter from Mr. Kato, the Director of the Bureau of Commercial Affairs of the Foreign Office, announcing a revised procedure for testing the quality of oils imported into Manchuria, and requested the Legation’s instructions as to the desirability of making a simple and informal reply thereto.
As the Consul General stated that the revised procedure was not one calculated to remove the discriminative features previously existing, the Legation expressed the belief that he might appropriately reply to Mr. Kato’s letter in a personal letter omitting all titles wherein he might express his appreciation of Mr. Kato’s efforts in behalf of the foreign oil companies, and at the same time his regret that it had not been possible to revise the procedure in a manner which would actually remove the disadvantages under which those companies continue to operate. It was also suggested that Mr. Ballantine express to Mr. Kato his hope that something further may be done toward ameliorating this situation, pointing out to him that, as evidenced by the continued excessive importations of “light oil” under the lower classifications of the tariff, the new procedure plainly affords no relief to the foreign oil companies.
A copy of the Legation’s instruction referred to has been supplied to the Embassy at Tokyo for its information.
Respectfully yours,