711.94/746
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Castle) of a Conversation With the Japanese Chargé (Saito) on November 14, 1932
Mr. Saito said that he had nothing particular to say, but that he wanted to tell me about a letter he had had from a man high up in the Japanese Government who is a good friend of my friends Count Makino, Baron Shidehara and others. (I am sorry to say that I doubt the existence of a letter.)
Mr. Saito began by saying how much all the Japanese liked Mr. Grew. I said that this seemed to me perfectly natural, since Mr. Grew was not only a very able man, but a very friendly man who liked people and was quick to see their good points. Mr. Saito said that he felt Mr. Grew [Page 345] was doing fine work in Japan to calm down the feeling there against this country; that his correspondent had informed him that the Government had ordered the newspapers to stop their anti-American agitation, that as a result of this the feeling toward the United States was growing rapidly better; he said that the Japanese appreciated the fact that the Department of State, since the publication of the Lytton Report, had not made any public statements critical of Japan. I pointed out to Mr. Saito that, after all, the Lytton Report was made to the League, that although we were very interested in it, we, nevertheless, felt that it was a matter for the League to act upon and that it was not in our province to say anything about it until the League should act; that we were, of course, through our silence, avoiding any possible implication that we were trying to influence the League. Mr. Saito said he was very glad to know this and that his Government would be glad to know that we were not directing the League as to what it might do. I told him it was nonsense to think any such thing because we were not in the habit of interfering with the internal workings of an organization of which we were not a member.
Mr. Saito then came to the purpose of his call, which purpose he had intended to hide under talk about other things. This was, of course, that the presence of the fleet in the Pacific was a continual irritation to the Japanese; he said that his correspondent failed to understand why a great nation like the United States should find it necessary to keep the fleet in the Pacific as a threat to Japan. I told him that his correspondent had no right to use the last phrase in the statement, that there was no reason whatever to think that the fleet was threatening Japan and that it seemed childish on the part of Japan to make anything out of it. Mr. Saito hastened to say that his correspondent had said that it was childish of Japan to take this attitude, but that, nevertheless, he felt it would be very quietening to the childish minds in Japan if the Atlantic fleet were sent to the Atlantic or, even if two or three ships were sent; that it would immediately improve the situation in Japan. I told him that the disposition of the fleet was a matter for this Government to decide, that if the Navy preferred to keep it in the Pacific, which was incidentally a very great saving of money, I did not see where Japan had any right to complain. He said he entirely realized this, that he was merely mentioning the fact because his correspondent had mentioned it as something that would improve the atmosphere if some of the ships came to the Atlantic.
We parted on amicable terms.