793.94/8786
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hornbeck)
The memorandum brought in by the British Ambassador yesterday afternoon91 was handed to the Secretary by Mr. Hornbeck at 8:40 last evening.
The Secretary, in conference with Mr. Welles,92 Mr. Norman Davis,93 and Mr. Hornbeck, decided upon a reply which was drafted in the form of a memorandum, a copy of which is here attached.94
Mr. Welles read to the President the British Ambassador’s memorandum and the proposed reply. The President approved the proposed reply.
Mr. Hornbeck took to the British Ambassador the handwritten original of the reply thus decided upon. The British Ambassador read the memorandum very carefully. He then remarked: “This means, I would understand, that the American Government is not prepared to join in representations at Tokyo and at Nanking.” Under instruction, Mr. Hornbeck explained to the British Ambassador that it was fully the desire of this Government to cooperate with the British Government in the effort to discourage entry by the Japanese and Chinese upon serious hostilities, that is, effort to preserve peace; that this Government had already urged upon both the Japanese and the Chinese the importance of maintaining peace; that we hoped that the British Government would do likewise; that we intended [Page 161] to continue our efforts; and that we felt that cooperation on parallel but independent lines would be more effective and less likely to have an effect the opposite of that desired than would joint or identical representations through our representatives in Japan and in China along with representatives of Great Britain and other powers. The Ambassador then read the memorandum again, maintained silence for some time, and then, with a smile, said that he understood.
Mr. Hornbeck said that he felt that the Ambassador should know that throughout the conference at which this reply had been under consideration, there had been unanimity of view that cooperation between the British and the American Governments toward maintenance of peace was most desirable and that there had also been unanimity of opinion that the method of cooperation which we envisaged, as indicated in the memorandum, would be the most likely to produce beneficial and to avoid harmful effects in reference to the common objective. The Ambassador again read the memorandum and, with a smile, said that he greatly appreciated Mr. Hornbeck’s successful effort to effect, in response to the Ambassador’s earlier suggestion, this expedition in reply on the part of and by the American Government. Mr. Hornbeck thanked the Ambassador for his cooperation in having made possible the delivery of the reply at so late an hour in the day.
The conversation there ended.