793.94/2923
Memorandum by the Secretary of State
The French Ambassador called and translated to me a telegram he had received from his Foreign Office. It was in substance to the effect that the French and the British had decided to send representatives to Chinchow as observers (the French representation consisting of M. Lepis, who was Consul at one of their consulates in that neighborhood, and a Commandant F., whose name I did not catch), and that M. Briand would appreciate it if we would send our observers as a demonstration of common action in that neighborhood, which might impress the Japanese.
The Ambassador then told me that the Japanese had proposed a Commission of Study (investigation) to inform the Council as to the problems which existed between China and Japan in respect to Manchuria and that this commission was to have no mandate to intervene in negotiations nor to supervise military action; that Sze had acceded in principle but had renewed his request for evacuation; and that other members of the Council had sought to restrict the activities of the Commission.
As to the first proposition, I told the Ambassador I was a little confused by the different suggestions made to me to send observers to Manchuria; that the Chinese had invited us to send observers of Japanese occupation and we had said we would do so as soon as such request was agreed to by both sides and therefore the evacuation became a practical and imminent possibility. The Ambassador said this was not his present request; that his was for representatives to go to the points of imminent danger in Manchuria so as to observe the respective merits of the two sides and thus to serve as observers of facts. He said he also thought that the presence there of observers from France, [Page 543] Britain and America, would tend to influence considerably the Japanese and Chinese.