711.94/3–141
Memorandum by the Adviser on Political Relations (Hornbeck) to the Secretary of State
[Washington,] March 1, 1941.
Mr. Secretary: It seems to me that, were I in your place or that of the President, the first thing that I would ask of Mr. F[rank] W[alker] would be:
- 1.
- Who is this unnamed “Plenipotentiary Representative”?
- 2.
- If the Japanese Government really desires at this time to negotiate “for a settlement of all outstanding Far Eastern questions vis-à-vis the United States,” that Government could give this Government concrete evidence of that Government’s sincerity by itself nullifying the Japanese participation in the Axis alliance and itself desisting and abstaining from “further political or military aggression in the Far East.” If the Japanese Government were to do either or both of these things, there might be warrant in due course for the American Government to enter into negotiation with properly accredited representatives of the Japanese Government for a settlement of outstanding questions between Japan and the United States. Then, when questions between these two countries have been restored to a basis of reasonably assured amity, the question of the taking by the President of the United States of an initiative toward mediating the China–Japan conflict would be susceptible of a sympathetic consideration.
- 3.
- In my opinion, the fundamental weakness of the proposal made in this memorandum arises out of and revolves around the fact that the proposers do not take realistic account of Japan’s present policies and current practices nor of the policies and objectives and practices of the United States. The procedure which they propose is not adapted to the facts of the situation.