693.002/984
The Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss) to the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)41
Sir: With reference to my despatch of January 13, 1940,42 I have now the honor to report that the Japanese interference in the matter of the appointment of Captain F. L. Sabel, an American citizen of Finnish birth, to head the Marine Department of the Chinese Maritime Customs, appears to have abated and the order of the Inspector General of Customs appointing Captain Sabel as Acting Coast Inspector has been duly promulgated and Captain Sabel has assumed his duties. I should mention here that it is the practice in the Chinese Maritime Customs to make the initial appointment in an “Acting” capacity; the substantive appointment usually follows later more or less as a matter of course.
The Japanese, according to my information, have also relaxed their pressure for a “compromise” arrangement in the nature of the appointment of a Japanese as “Co-Inspector”. I understand that proposals have been made for the appointment of Japanese to other key positions in the Marine Department, but these proposals are not being pressed vigorously at this time.
The assignment of Captain Sabel to head the Marine Department undoubtedly results from the firm refusal of the Inspector General to yield to Japanese pressure for the appointment of a Japanese, and the early intervention of this Consulate General through the Japanese Minister-at-Large, Mr. S. Kato, to check the Japanese interference with the Sabel appointment before the Japanese should have advanced their demands in the matter to a point where as a matter of “face” they would have been unwilling to recede from their position.
It may be of interest to record that while Captain Sabel is an American citizen, registered at this Consulate General, he was unknown to me; he is a quiet, retiring person, not widely known in the American community. I was not aware that an American was serving as Deputy Coast Inspector in the Marine Department of the Customs. Captain [Page 718] Sabel’s appointment to head the Department was made by the Inspector General of Customs on the basis of seniority, experience and fitness for the post. Captain Sabel did not make himself known to me until after his appointment had been held up by the Japanese Chief Secretary of the Customs, and after I had intervened with Minister Kato following the receipt by me of information from an authoritative source as to what was taking place to interfere with the appointment.
Respectfully yours,