800.01 M 31/93b

The Secretary of State to the Japanese Ambassador ( Shidehara )

Memorandum

1. The Secretary of State is in full accord with the suggestion (in the first paragraph of the Memorandum of the Japanese Ambassador of September 22nd) that the provisions relating to missionaries in the proposed Convention between the United States and Japan should contain, in addition to express reference to schools as in Article 8 of the British “B” Mandate for East Africa, a clause similar to that which is found in the concluding paragraph of the same Article 8. The Secretary of State suggests, so as to meet both points, that the second and third paragraphs of Article 8 of the British “B” Mandate for East Africa should be incorporated in the proposed Convention, as follows:

“Missionaries of all such religions shall be free to enter the territory, and to travel and reside therein, to acquire and possess property, to erect religious buildings, and to open schools throughout the territory.

“The Mandatory shall, however, have the right to exercise such control as may be necessary for the maintenance of public order and good government, and to take all measures required for such control.”

2. In regard to the interpretation of the provision granting free access to all waters of the mandated islands, the Secretary is happy to state that he concurs in the construction proposed (in the second paragraph of the Memorandum) so far as is necessary to safeguard the collection of the customs revenues. It is therefore suggested that, when the Convention shall be signed, the clause providing that “the citizens and vessels of the United States should have free access to all waters of the mandated territories save as it may from time to time be necessary to close temporarily any place or port to quarantined vessels”, shall be clarified by an exchange of notes setting forth the understanding that this provision in the Convention should [Page 301] be construed to mean that, at those ports or islands where there are no Japanese Customs officials, American vessels may load or unload cargo only under such reasonable regulations as the Japanese Government may enact for the purpose of assuring the due collection of the customs revenues from the trade so conducted.