125.3516/12–2846: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 28—7:07 a.m.]
2192. Courier from Dairen has delivered to Embassy despatch in memo form prepared hastily by Benninghoff immediately prior to departure courier vessel from Dairen. Full text follows:
“On Thursday, December 12, this office received a repeat message from Shanghai to Tsingtao in which the ConGen at Tsingtao was [Page 1198] asked to arrange with ComSev Fleet for a monthly courier service to Dairen to leave Tsingtao not later than the 20th of each month. In that message it was stated that on the present trip the courier would be accompanied by a representative of the Texas Co. As this office had no knowledge then that the ComSev Fleet would acquiesce in that request, the Soviet authorities in Dairen were not then informed.
On Saturday, December 14, a short message was received stating that an unarmed naval vessel would leave Tsingtao on December 17 arriving in Dairen, the following morning, bringing a courier and a Standard Vacuum representative and a small amount of supplies. Acting on that message, the ConGen early Monday morning, December 16, informed the Acting Soviet ConGen that the ship would arrive on the 18th with a courier and a Standard Vacuum representative possibly a Caltex representative.
When the ship finally docked shortly after noon on December 18, it was discovered that, in addition to Mr. Poole of the SVC, there were on board a correspondent and a photographer concerning whom no information had been received by this office previously.
The Soviet officials who boarded the ship and interviewed Commander Yates were told by him that there were on board a courier, Mr. Poole of the SVC and the two newspapermen mentioned above. During Commander Yates’ conversation with Soviet authorities it became clear that the officers, a major and a captain, were under instructions to permit the landing only of the courier and three naval officers including Commander Yates. These two officers were representatives of the local Soviet Commandant, Major Gen. Kozhanov. They stated that they had no instructions regarding the landing of other people, and that they would have to refer to higher authorities the desires of Mr. Poole and the two correspondents to go ashore.
It should be stated that before these Russian officers boarded the ship, the ‘immigration’ officer boarded this ship in the outer harbor and inspected Mr. Poole’s and the courier’s papers.
When the ship finally docked, therefore, the only persons who were allowed ashore were the courier and three naval officers. Mr. Poole and the two correspondents were awaiting information concerning their applications to go ashore.
Early the next morning, December 19, Mr. Patch, the American Vice Consul, was informed by telephone by the Acting Soviet Consul General that neither Mr. Poole nor the correspondents would be allowed ashore. A few hours later, about noon, the ConGen accompanied by Mr. Patch as interpreter called on Mr. S. N. Petrov, the Acting Soviet ConGen, to inquire as to why American citizens, especially Mr. Poole, were not allowed to land in Dairen. Mr. Petrov disclaimed all responsibility in the decision, and in the course of a long conversation it developed that according to his understanding the Soviet military would not permit anybody except a diplomatic courier to land unless prior notification had been received through Soviet channels. The ConGen pressed the point, and asked that Mr. Petrov arrange for him an interview with the commandatur. Mr. Petrov thereupon telephoned the commandant’s office and was informed, in Russian of course, that the commandant was inaccessible because he was in Port Arthur. (There is a suspicion that this telephone conversation [Page 1199] was ‘canned’ and that it was arranged beforehand and that the commandant was in Dairen all the time.) The ConGen requested Mr. Petrov to use his good offices regarding Mr. Poole and the conversation terminated.
In view of the fact that the ConGen could not get in touch with the commandant, the highest local authority, he requested Commander Yates to delay the departure of his ship for up to 24 hours in order to enable him to make a second request for an interview with the commandant on the following day.
From early morning December 20 the ConGen endeavored to get in touch with the commandant through the Soviet ConGen, but without success. At about 2 p.m., on that day the ConGen accompanied by Mr. Patch called at the office of the commandant and was told that he was not there. Fifteen minutes later the ConGen called at the home of the commandant. The sentry at the gate was asked to inform the commandant that the American ConGen was at the gate and wished to speak to him. The sentry went to the house to seek instruction. While the ConGen and Mr. Patch were standing in the street awaiting the return of the sentry, the same major who boarded the ship 2 days before drove up in a car and went into the commandant’s house. About 5 minutes later he came back to the gate, and informed the ConGen and Mr. Patch that the commandant was ‘not at home’. (Despite the fact that the general’s voice had been heard in the meantime instructing the sentry to refuse entry to everybody.) The major pulled out his watch and said that permission had originally been granted to the ship to remain for 48 hours and that already that period had expired by about 1 hour. The major was very rude and brusque, for the first time in the 8 months’ experience of the ConGen in Dairen, and further parley seemed useless. The ConGen and Mr. Patch thereupon went back to the office and as rapidly as possible collected the personnel of the ship who were ashore, asked them to go back aboard, and requested Commander Yates to leave the port.[”]