893.77 Manchuria/139
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 9, 1939.]
Sir: With reference to the Department’s instruction 1509 of May 28, 1938 on the subject of the failure of the South Manchuria Railway and its subsidiary organizations to discharge certain obligations to American nationals and firms, I have the honor to enclose herewith translation of a note from the Japanese Foreign Office under date of December 15, 193837 in response to the Embassy’s inquiry of June 16, 1938.
When the Embassy received the Department’s instruction, information with regard to failure of payment of pensions had already come [Page 488] to the Embassy from the Embassy at Peiping, on the basis of which this Embassy had addressed a third person note to the Japanese Foreign Office on June 16, 1938. The discretionary authorization contained in the Department’s instruction was therefore not immediately availed of, the Embassy deciding instead to await reply of the Japanese Foreign Office. In the months which have intervened, the Foreign Office has repeatedly assured the Embassy that a reply would be received within a week’s time, and in consequence further action was postponed.
The Foreign Office’s reply raises a question of fact with regard to the court decision cited, and the Embassy will make inquiry into the matter before taking further action.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed. The note stated that the pensions in question were discontinued under a regulation that pensions would be terminated if the recipient resided over a year in any place outside the Soviet Union or China and that the decision of the courts mentioned in the Embassy’s note was given in 1927 prior to the application of this regulation and therefore was considered to have no connection in this case.↩