Office of the Historian

693.002/507: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss)

Washington, February 23, 1938—5 p.m.

159. Your 252, February 12, 8 p.m. The Commissioner’s letter of October 22 would seem to afford a superficial basis for an assertion that the failure of the Tientsin Customs House to remit its quota for the servicing of foreign obligations secured on the Customs revenue was the result of the Commissioner’s own decision.

Please confer with your British colleague and, having in mind the manner in which the text of the letter became known, telegraph the Department whether information is available which would make the record reflect the true situation in regard to remittances. All reports received indicate to the Department that the letter represents part of an arrangement forced upon the Commissioner by the Japanese.

Please repeat this telegram and your reply to Hankow and Tokyo.

Hull