893.001 L 76/3: Telegram
The Minister in China (Schurman) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 15—1:27 p.m.]
262. My telegrams numbers 261, June 14, 4 p.m.;51 260, June 13, 7 p.m. Following formal note 14th from Foreign Office:
“I have the honor to state that His Excellency, President Hsu Shih-ch’ang, has, on account of illness, announced his resignation from office by a Presidential mandate dated June 2nd, a copy of which communicated to Your Excellency. The House of Parliament, the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the High Provincial authorities, both military and civil, the various provincial assemblies and the various provincial educational, agricultural, labor and commercial organizations, have surrounded President Li Yuan-hung with requests to come to Peking and assume the duties of the office. On July 11th President Li arrived in Peking and assumed the duties of President of the Republic and
“I have the honor, Mr. Minister, to communicate the above to you and to request that you inform the American Government thereof.”
Note discussed today at a meeting of the diplomatic body which had been called to consider request for release $500,000. Draft of identic reply to be considered at special meeting of the diplomatic [Page 718] body 20th, interval being used to notify home Governments. Following views expressed by different Ministers today.
- 1.
- Li Yuan-hung’s Presidency constitutionally on exactly the same basis as Sun Yat-sen’s.
- 2.
- Li has been set up by military dictator Wu Pei-fu.
- 3.
- Impossible to predict permanence for his government.
- 4.
- Li’s government is again functioning and Chinese people acquiescing.
- 5.
- Non-recognition of Li would injure cause of unification and help Sun Yat-sen.
- 6.
- If Li recognized care should be taken not to recognize any breach of continuity of [apparent omission] or invalidate acts of preceding government.
Numbers 4 and 6 were my suggestions.
That Li’s government should be recognized or accepted in spite of all objections that might be made seemed the universal sentiment. If Ministers do not receive contrary instructions from their Governments they may adopt procedure I suggested today, namely, merely acknowledge the receipt of note and attend Li’s reception end of next week.
Sun Yat-sen has issued statement posing as defender of constitution as against “the militarists in North China” and demanding for the protection of Nation two conditions: (1) punishment of men now confessing their crime who, in 1917, effected dissolution of Parliament; (2) guarantees against future dissolution of Parliament and protection against militarism by organizing half of the troops into labor battalions under their own officers on terms of a fair living wage and reasonable hours of work.
- Not printed.↩