861.77/673

The Japanese Ambassador (Ishii) to the Acting Secretary of State

Sir: I have the honor to present to you, under instructions, a plan for the supervision of the Chinese Eastern and the Trans-Siberian Railways in the zone in which the Allied forces are now operating and to request that you will be good enough to let me know whether it is acceptable to the Government of the United States.

Accept [etc.]

K. Ishii
[Enclosure]

Plan for the supervision of the Chinese Eastern and the Trans-Siberian Railways in the zone in which the Allied military forces are now operating

(1) The general supervision of the railways in the zone in which the allied forces are now operating shall be exercised in a special inter-allied committee which shall consist of representatives from each allied power having military forces in Siberia including Russia and the chairman of which shall be a Russian.

The following boards shall be created to be placed under the control of the inter-allied committee.

(a)
A technical board consisting of railway experts of the nations having military forces in Siberia for the purpose of administering the technical and economic management of all railways in the said zone.
(b)
An allied military transportation board for the purpose of co-ordinating military transportation under instructions of the proper military authorities.

(2) The protection of the railways shall be placed under the allied military forces. At the head of each railway shall remain a Russian manager or director with the powers conferred by the existing Russian law.

(3) The technical board shall elect a President to whom shall be intrusted the technical operation of railways. In matters of such technical operation the President may issue instructions to the Russian officials mentioned in the preceding clause. He may appoint assistants and inspectors in the service of the board chosen from among nationals of powers having military forces in Siberia to be attached to the central office of the board and define their duties. He may assign, if necessary, corps of railway experts to more important stations. In his assigning railway experts to any of the stations, interests of respective allied powers in charge of [military protection of34] such stations shall be taken into due consideration. [Page 240] He shall distribute work among the clerical staff of the board whom he may appoint at his discretion.

(4) The clerical staff of the Inter-allied Committee shall be appointed by the chairman of the committee who shall have the right of distributing work among such employes as well as of dismissing them.

(5) The present arrangement shall cease to be operative upon the withdrawal of foreign military forces from Siberia and all the foreign railway experts appointed under this arrangement shall then be recalled forthwith.

  1. See telegram to the Ambassador in Great Britain, Apr. 15, 7 p.m., p. 260.