894.20211 Tachibana, Itaru/23: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
Tokyo, July 8,
1941—9 p.m.
[Received July 8—8:15 p.m.]
[Received July 8—8:15 p.m.]
959. Department’s 351, June 26, 4 p.m.76 Tachibana case.
- 1.
- I discussed directly with the Minister for Foreign Affairs today the points contained in the Department’s 345, June 20, 9 p.m.76 with special reference to the Matsuo case and I repeated the most emphatic representations on the subject of Matsuo’s situation and the background of his present position, urging strongly that the Minister, whose efforts have hitherto yielded no results, should get at the bottom of the matter and ascertain why and where his promised efforts to obtain a pardon for Matsuo were being impeded. He promised me that he would renew his efforts.
- 2.
- With regard to missionaries in Chosen, I showed the Minister the original Japanese text of the “proposed pledge to be signed by American missionaries in connection with prayer circular” received from the Consulate General in Keijo with his despatch of July l.76 The Minister acknowledged the childish and futile nature of the pledge and asked me to give [him?] the original text which he said he would send immediately to the Governor General, General Minami. The Minister gave every indication of annoyance at the nature of the pledge.
Paragraph 1 repeated to Taihoku, paragraph 2 repeated to Keijo.
Grew