893.6363 Manchuria/143: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 2—12:17 p.m.]
44. Embassy’s 36, February 21, 7 p.m. transmitting a message on the Manchuria oil monopoly for the Standard-Vacuum Oil Company.
- 1.
- On February 28 Kurusu conveyed to the special representatives of the foreign oil interests through Sansom a further proposition offering to increase the monopoly’s immediate purchases of refined oil from the foreign oil companies promising a fixed percentage of the monopoly’s purchases of refined oil after the monopoly has been in operation for a time and the amount of competition ascertained and promising preference in the purchases of crude oil for the Manchuria Oil Company. He stated, however, that there was no prospect of allowing the companies to retain their selling organizations in Manchuria.
- 2.
- After discussion with ourselves and the British Embassies the
special representatives conveyed the following message to Kurusu
through Sansom on March 1:
“The companies hesitate to decline definitely to enter into obligations to the monopoly but they see little prospect of being able to depart from their principle of not supplying monopolies. Moreover, they feel that the Manchurian oil question being from their point of view part of the whole question of oil supplies they would prefer to postpone any further discussion until their return if it were then thought by the authorities that further discussions were desirable.”
- 3.
- Kurusu said that he gathered from this reply that the monopoly could not rely upon the established foreign oil companies for its supplies and that it would have to look elsewhere. Sansom denied any knowledge of what the foreign oil companies would do in the future.
Repeated to Peiping.