893.515/1188
The Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hornbeck) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary: The Consul General at Shanghai has sent me the memorandum here attached.49
It occurs to me that it might be wise for this Department to have a more complete knowledge than has been given us by the Treasury of the conversations held between Mr. Morgenthau and Mr. K. P. Chen a few weeks ago. There is reason to believe that there was more agreed upon than is indicated by and in the press release which the Treasury made and the press release which the Chinese Government made. It would be altogether warrantable for the Secretary of State to ask the Secretary of the Treasury for texts of any agreements or agreed-upon memoranda that may have been signed or initialed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the representative of the Chinese Government (Ministry of Finance).
At the same time, it is realized that there might in some situations be advantage inherent in the fact that the Department of State could disclaim knowledge of the fact of the contents of any such agreements. I lean toward the view, however, that the balance of advantage would be on the side of our having adequate knowledge of the facts.
I submit this statement without recommendation.50