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  4. Document 293

862i.73/15

The Secretary of State to the Japanese Ambassador ( Shidehara )

The Secretary of State refers to the memorandum of September 15, 1921, with regard to the provisional use of the Naba–Yap–Guam cables, pending the repair of the dislocation which has recently taken place in the existing Tokyo–Bonin cable at a point near the Bonin Islands, which was left by His Excellency the Japanese Ambassador with the Secretary of State and in the desire to meet the wishes of the Japanese Government in the matter, has the honor to suggest that the temporary operation be arranged on the following terms:

1.
Pending the repair of the Tokyo–Bonin cable, which shall be undertaken immediately upon the improvement of atmospheric conditions in April or May next, the Naba–Yap–Guam cables shall be used as auxiliaries to the Tokyo–Bonin-Guam cable for the transmission of messages between Japan and the United States.
2.
The Naba and Yap ends of the cable are to be operated by the Government of Japan and the Guam end by the Government of the United States.
3.
Particulars relating to the cable service are to be arranged directly between the two Governments or between their representatives or agents in charge of the operation of the cables, subject to the approval of the two Governments.
4.
The cables shall be operated for the financial account of the five Principal Allied and Associated Powers. In accounting for such operation, the income, after deducting operating expenses, shall be apportioned in accordance with the final disposition to be made of the cables.
5.
The consent of the Governments of Great Britain, France, and Italy to the use of the cables, as herein provided, shall be secured.
6.
The present arrangement may be terminated upon thirty days notice by either Government to the other.
7.
In the event that by joint agreement service should be resumed over the Yap–Menado cable, there shall be joint operation at Yap.
8.
The present arrangement is entirely without prejudice to any ultimate agreement which may be reached with regard to the disposition and working of the former German cables radiating from Yap.

Washington , September 28, 1921 .