494.11 L 25/6
The Secretary of State to Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of July 27, 1923,77 in which you request to be advised of the status of the case of Lieutenant Warren H. Langdon, Chief Engineer Officer of the U. S. S. Albany who was shot by a Japanese sentry at Vladivostok, Siberia, while returning to his ship on the night of January 8, 1921, the injury resulting in the death of the officer on the following day. You state it to be your understanding that the Navy Board recommended reparation in the sum of $85,000.
On March 19, 1923, the American Embassy at Tokyo was instructed to take up with the Japanese Government the matter of securing pecuniary indemnity in the sum of $40,000 for the surviving relatives of Lieutenant Langdon to reimburse them for the loss sustained due to his untimely death. Considering the circumstances under which Lieutenant Langdon was killed, his usefulness, expectancy of life and financial prospects and the dependent state of his aged parents, this Department together with the Navy Department felt that the sum of $40,000 would constitute a just and reasonable reparation. The sum of $85,000, so far as I am aware, was never recommended.
The presentation of this claim was deferred, pending the settlement, by this Government, of claims presented by the Japanese Government, for the deaths of two Japanese subjects; one, Uratake by name, was accidentally killed by an American soldier in Honolulu, and the other, Saito by name, was killed during the operations of the Mexican Punitive Expedition. Congress appropriated $5,000 to settle the Uratake case, but did not act upon the Saito claim, as it appeared that Saito had been engaged in selling alcoholic beverages.
No report has been received from the Embassy at Tokyo with regard to the developments in this case and the Department has requested the Embassy to submit an immediate report as to its present status. The Department will not fail to communicate with you further when this report is received.
I have [etc.]
- Not printed.↩