894.00/621
The Consul at Dairen (Grummon) to the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)28
Sir: I have the honor to submit a summary of a conversation between Mr. Matsuoka, president of the South Manchuria Railway Company and Mr. Golubtsov, the Soviet Consul, held in the presence of the officers of this Consulate, at the Dairen Club, the evening of February 26th on the occasion of a dinner held in honor of Mr. Matsuoka.
At the time the conversation took place no definite information had been received as to the actual extent of the military rebellion in Tokyo. Rumors had been prevalent all day and there was even some doubt as to whether, under the circumstances, Mr. Matsuoka would appear at the dinner. The conversation reported below took place in the lobby of the Club prior to the dinner itself. It should be borne in mind that Mr. Matsuoka was talking to a Communist and used language which he probably considered would be intelligible to one versed in communist ideology.
Mr. Golubtsov asked Mr. Matsuoka what information he had in regard to the day’s events in Tokyo. The latter replied that his information, which he would not guarantee to be accurate, was that the Premier, the Minister of the Imperial Household, and the Finance Minister had been killed and that other members of the cabinet had been attacked. He stated that it was a revolution of the young army officers and that 3,400 troops had rebelled in Tokyo. The center of unrest was said to be the Third Regiment in Azabu, Tokyo, and the rebelling troops were believed to have taken possession of the building of the Colonial Ministry and made it their headquarters. All cabinet ministers who were still alive were reported to have taken refuge in the Imperial Palace.
[Page 732]The Soviet Consul asked if the rebellion was against the Emperor and Mr. Matsuoka replied that it definitely was not. “It is actually against capitalism,” he said. He went on to say that in the view of the young army officers all property in Japan belongs to the Emperor and the political parties and large business and financial houses had been diverting the wealth of the nation to their own ends. The only remedy is violence which will get rid of the politicians. Then Mr. Matsuoka added, “Maybe they are right.” Mr. Golubtsov asked if it was the intention of the rebels to abolish private property and Mr. Matsuoka then went into an interesting exposition of what he termed “moral communism” in Japan, as opposed to material communism as it exists in Russia. He said that the Japanese state could not be organized as if it were a machine as the spiritual side of the Japanese people must be given expression. Each nation must work out its salvation according to its own inner psychology. “We had a revolution about 70 years ago to throw out the Tokugawa Shoguns, perhaps the time has come for another revolution to overthrow the present rulers of Japan and again return the country to the Emperor.” The above statement is believed to be almost the exact words used by Mr. Matsuoka. Later, in answer to a question as to the danger of disorder spreading, Mr. Matsuoka said that if Prince Higashi-Fushimi29 and Prince Chichibu were called on, as they probably would be, the army would be kept under control.
The Soviet Consul made the comment later that he believed Mr. Matsuoka knew much more than he had told and that he would not be surprised if Mr. Matsuoka were called back to Tokyo to take a leading part in whatever new government is set up.
Respectfully yours,