311.5654 Wilhelmina/4
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State (Long)
The Chinese Ambassador3 came in at my request. I presented to him the situation as we understood it in regard to the S. S. Wilhelmina. The Ambassador telephoned to his Counselor to refresh his memory about certain phases of it and after he had discussed it with the Counselor he said that this was not an isolated instance but one of a category which they were now making an effort to liquidate. There had been called in London, under the auspices of the British Government, a conference to discuss the attitude of the British, Dutch, and other governments as regards Chinese members of the crew. The crew in the case of the Wilhelmina had been signed on at a rate to be paid in Hong Kong dollars. They now found themselves in the United States and the payoff to them was worth three American dollars a month. The conditions aboard the vessel were very unsatisfactory. The Chinese Consul reported about it and the Embassy was kept advised but not very recently. At the first there had been some dispute about the title to the vessel, it having been claimed that it was of Chinese registry. An inquiry was made in China and it developed that she had been of Chinese registry but was not now so considered. The principal problem was a local one and the Chinese members of the crew had appealed to the Consul for protection and for an amelioration of their condition. The Ambassador hoped that the conference at London, now proceeding, would result in a general understanding which would prevent cases like this from happening. He did not know what he could do in this case as long as the dispute was one of the treatment and condition of labor of the crew which from any standard he thought must be considered of a very inferior order. His prime object and that of his Government was to do everything they could to promote the war effort. As part of their policy each ship should be kept busy in the war effort. He had taken the position some weeks ago that this dispute [Page 43] should be adjusted with the principal thought that the vessel should be used for war purposes. However, the attitude of the owners or the representatives of the owners who had offices in San Francisco, was such as to prevent any kind of settlement. The Ambassador realized the situation of the United States Government in its desire to have vessels moving at sea rather than sitting in port. He was quite sympathetic and was willing to cooperate to the fullest extent. He said he would make an investigation immediately and request his Counselor to report and see if there was some basis upon which there might be a settlement of this if possible ahead of the decision to be arrived at in London. Incidentally, he said that the Dutch owners had refused to participate in the conference in London and said that they were awaiting the decision to determine whether or not they would conform. Consequently, the decision in London might not affect this vessel because of the attitude of the Dutch owners. The Ambassador had believed that this vessel was still the property of private Dutch owners, their representative having an office in San Francisco, and had not heard that the vessel had been expropriated by the Crown. Their contacts had been through their Counsel with the Dutch owners or the persons who had been the owners and whom they still consider to be the persons responsible for the vessel.
However, he will request a report on the conditions and will communicate with me and see if some solution can be arrived at.
- Hu Shin.↩