793.94/9260
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 9.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my telegram No. 199 of July 14, 5 p.m., in paragraph six of which I presented views with regard to the attitude of the American Government in the event of organized hostilities between China and Japan resulting from the current North China Incident.
In view of the constantly changing situation, my telegraphic reports on the incident had necessarily to be rapidly drafted and despatched, [Page 256] and in reviewing them it occurred to me that in one or two instances my thoughts could have been more happily phrased. In the paragraph mentioned of the above-cited telegram, we stated that protests against Japanese should be made only in certain circumstances, including instances when American citizens and property are molested, but we should have added “or other rights”, as it was not our intention to suggest or to imply that there has been any change in our view that the American Government should protest in the event of violation of any treaty to which it is a party.
The violation of a treaty to which we are a signatory involves American rights; protest must be made. But the method and manner of the protest or protests are important. Common sense dictates that there is no use in spurring the aggressor still further to injure those rights as a direct or indirect result of our unnecessarily irritating and aggravating the situation.
Respectfully yours,