711.942/284
Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg to the Secretary of State
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I wish to report to you regarding a conversation yesterday with the Japanese Commissioner General to the New York World’s Fair. He called unofficially at my office and in a purely, personal way we discussed the relationships between Japan and the United States.
[Page 580]I was impressed with the fact that the Commissioner (who is returning to Japan) is very eager that the abrogation of the Treaty of 1911 shall not terminate or impair or even shadow our friendly relationships between the two countries. I could not escape the conclusion from my conversation with him that a realistic approach to the Far Eastern situation on the part of all concerned might well produce a new treaty which would go far toward pacifying and stabilizing the Far Eastern situation. I realize that my caller could in no sense speak for or bind his Government—any more than I could mine—and he made no pretense of this nature. But I could not escape the feeling that his viewpoint—if at all contagious in Japan itself—should make effective progress possible in the negotiation of a new treaty.
I take the liberty of passing this comment along to you—in line with our previous correspondence on the subject—because of my deep conviction not only that the termination of our own old treaty should be followed by the creation of a new one, but also that there may lie in this field of diplomatic action the greatest and most spectacular contribution which we might make to the peace and the stabilization of the world.
With sentiments of great respect, and with warm personal regards and best wishes, I beg to remain,
Cordially and faithfully,