861.77 Chinese Eastern/383
The Minister in China (MacMurray) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 11.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to a despatch No. 2006, of August 31, 1929, from the American Consul at Harbin to the Legation, copies of which were sent directly to the Department,76 reporting the suggestion of Mr. A. Maffei, the Italian Consul at Harbin, that the Harbin Consular Body offer their good offices to the Soviet and National Governments, in an attempt to bring about an adjustment of the Chinese Eastern Railway dispute. In reply to the American Consul’s request for the Legation’s views concerning the Italian Consul’s proposal, Consul Hanson was telegraphically instructed, on September 5th, that, pending further instructions from the Department, he should be guided by the instructions contained in the Department’s telegram No. 231, of July 13, 3 [1] p.m., to the Legation. Such instruction had been repeated to Consul Hanson in the Legation’s telegram of July 15, 5 p.m., and was to the general effect [Page 315] that any participation by the American Consul in an attempt to adjust the Sino-Russian dispute over the Chinese Eastern Railway was deemed inexpedient by the Department.
I have [etc.]
- Not printed.↩