Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1936, The Far East, Volume IV

893.51 Con. Ob. Ault and Wiborg/13

The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State

No. 110

Nanking, March 5, 1936.
[Received April 6.]

Sir: In reference to the debt owed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Peiping to the Ault and Wiborg Company, I have the honor to state that the Embassy, under date of January 6, 1936, received a letter from the Ault and Wiborg Company (Far East) enclosing a copy of its letter of January 5, 1936 to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which contained a statement of the outstanding indebtedness. The Company desired that the Embassy continue its efforts to bring about a settlement of this account. There is enclosed herewith a copy of the Company’s letter of January 6, 1936.⁷³

I took this matter up on March 2, 1936 with Mr. Chang Ch’un, Minister for Foreign Affairs, having given him advance notice of my intention to do so.

A memorandum of my conversation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs is enclosed.⁷⁴ There is enclosed, also, a copy of a letter on this subject, written by the Counselor of Embassy at Nanking, to Dr. Hsu Mo, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, on January 27, 1936.⁷⁴

It will be noted from the memorandum of conversation that the Minister for Foreign Affairs had written to the Ministry of Finance, urging that the debt be settled, but had not received a reply. The Minister for Foreign Affairs stated, erroneously, that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing had been closed. He also stated that the Bureau had a great number of debts, and that he did not know what plans had been undertaken in regard to these debts.

In this connection, I have the honor to refer to the Embassy’s despatch No. 84, of November 13, 1935, from Peiping,⁷⁴ on the subject “Nishihara Loans”,⁷⁵ in which I had the honor to report that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was reorganized and had recently resumed operations after a stoppage lasting through the summer months, and that the Ministry of Finance had authorized the Bureau to make an arrangement for the repayment of a loan of Yen 2,000,000.00 negotiated with the Peking Government in 1918 by Mr. Nishihara⁷⁶ on behalf of Japanese banks; the amount to be repaid, including interest, was Yen $4,500,000.00 payable in three hundred equal monthly instalments.

In his conversation with me the Minister for Foreign Affairs did not mention these facts and, I assume, was ignorant of them.

The Embassy will continue to press this matter with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the hope of bringing about the payment of the debt to the Ault and Wiborg Company.⁷⁷

Respectfully yours,

Nelson Trusler Johnson

73. Not printed. The indebtedness amounted to a total of U. S. $48,556.27.
74. Not printed.
74. Not printed.
74. Not printed.
75. See Foreign Relations, 1918, pp. 122–123, 130–133, 147–148, and 155–159.
76. Kamezo Nishihara, Japanese banking group representative at Peking for 1918 loan negotiations with the Chinese Government.
77. The Ambassador in China in his despatch No. 1421, October 5, 1937, reported as follows: “A reply dated July 5 was received from the Director of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving that as the amount owed to Messrs. Ault and Wiborg and various other concerns by the Bureau was extremely large the Bureau at the moment was unable to take any action with a view to liquidating the indebtedness.” (893.51 Con. Ob. Ault and Wiborg Co/15)