693.002/650
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
The Chinese Ambassador called upon his own request. He seemed very optimistic about the fighting in China and the future possibilities [Page 708] of success. He desired to discuss our interest in an attitude towards the British-Japanese arrangement relative to the Chinese customs organization. I said that we had been giving all phases of the matter every attention; that the fact we were not signatories to the arrangements but only interested in securing certain of the customs receipts did not place us in the same attitude as a signatory, but that we had been giving the matter every practical attention in the light of our situation; that we had earnestly insisted from the beginning on the preservation of the integrity of the Chinese customs organization. I said that if he desired to go into any details he might talk with Mr. Hamilton and Dr. Hornbeck, which he said he would be glad to do.