893.48/1225: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 25—11:05 a.m.]
706. Tientsin has raised the point that the Department’s 161 of August 19 to Nanking authorizes the expenditure of funds on behalf of destitute Americans only when such destitute citizens are being sent to the United States and that the Department has not authorized the expenditure of funds to assist destitutes to nearby places of safety.
It is my understanding that the Department’s 161 was based upon the premise that in the case of citizens who were destitute half way measures would not suffice and that the Government was therefore prepared to make it possible for such citizens to return to the United States. As I interpret the instruction under reference it was not intended to preclude the granting of any assistance to destitute citizens which might properly be accorded to nondestitute citizens. The Department’s 235, September 1163 would seem to support this view but I should appreciate specific confirmation.
- Not printed.↩