793.94 Commission/36: Telegram
The Consul at Geneva (Gilbert) to the Secretary of State
[Received 7:09 p.m.]
26. Consulate’s 24, January 22, 9 a.m., paragraph 4. This telegram has been delayed owing to my desire to check certain points with Secretariat officials.
[Page 49](1) The competence of the Commission. The terms of reference and competence of the Commission were discussed at some length but no formal decisions were taken. It seems to be the general opinion of those present that the Commission was free to make its own decisions in regard to the scope of its investigations and in regard to its competence with respect to given questions as they arise, taking of course as a basis the terms of reference laid down in the Council resolution of December 10th and the accompanying explanatory declaration of the President of the Council. The feeling of the Commission in general was, however, that the resolution restricted the investigation to the relations between China and Japan and did not include the relations between these states and third countries. It was pointed out, however, that the Chinese and Japanese Governments will have the right to request the Commission to consider any question the examination of which it particularly desires. The Commission nevertheless would have full discretion to determine the questions upon which it will act and upon which it will report to the Council (see paragraph 5 of the President’s declaration to the Council commenting on the resolution of December 10).
During the discussion the question arose as to whether, in case of active hostilities between the two parties, the Commission might undertake measures to insure the cessation of hostilities. It was the general opinion that the Commission could not intervene directly and that its only course in such an eventuality would apparently be to exert its influence indirectly by reporting the matter immediately to the Council.
(2) Credentials. Each Commissioner will be given a “letter of mission” signed by the President of the Council. The Commissioners will each carry a diplomatic passport issued by their respective Governments, and Japanese and Chinese visas obtained.
(3) Choice of itinerary. On account of political inferences which might be drawn by the parties to the dispute the choice of itinerary was very carefully considered. If the Commission took the Trans-Siberian Railway they would arrive in the Far East by way of Manchuria. Since the Chinese Government is of the opinion that the efforts of the Commission should be directed principally to questions relative to Manchuria rather than to China as a whole, and, whereas Japan holds the contrary view and insists that the whole of China be included in the Commission’s investigation, if the Commission were to arrive in Manchuria and begin immediately its investigation on the spot the inference might be drawn that the Commission favored the Chinese thesis. On the other hand if the Commission passed directly through Manchuria and went to Tokyo the inference might be drawn [Page 50] that the Commission was partial to the Japanese viewpoint. By proceeding through the United States directly to Tokyo and passing from Tokyo to Shanghai and Nanking and only proceeding to Manchuria after having evidenced contact with the two Governments, any impressions of partiality would be obviated. In addition, to give further proof of impartiality, the Chinese assessor could be invited to join the Commission at Tokyo whereas the Japanese assessor would accompany the Commission to Nanking.
The route by way of the United States would in addition offer the advantage of allowing General McCoy to join the Commission in the United States and take part in its discussions on the way to the Far East. With these considerations in mind the Commission decided definitely to proceed by way of the United States.
(4) Itinerary. The four European Commissioners will sail from Europe on the 3rd, 4th, or 5th of February, the ship being shortly decided upon thus arriving in New York on the 8th, 9th or 12th of February. They will sail from San Francisco on February 25th on the Tatsuta Maru arriving at Yokohama on March 11th.
(5) Duration of inquiry. All estimates are based upon the inquiry extending over a period of 9 months including 15 days to be spent at a point chosen by the Commissioners to prepare their report.
(6) Status of assessors. From the discussion in the Commission it became evident that the status and role of the assessors is not entirely clear. It would appear from the discussions that the method of employing the assessors will have to be left to the Commission to decide according to circumstances of each case. It seems to be understood, however, that the assessors are not technically government representatives and their duties will be to give and check information. It was purposely provided that they should be paid out of the Commission’s budget and not directly by their respective Governments. It was also agreed that the Commission would be free at any time to consult the officials of the respective Governments and would not have to confine themselves to applying for information or views merely to the assessors. Moreover, it was pointed out that the assessors would not have the right to vote or take part in the deliberations of the Commission. The Commission would be free to call upon them either together or separately as circumstances might require. It was suggested, however, that in most cases it would probably be preferable not to confront the assessors or officials of the two Governments in order to avoid raising controversies.
(7) Experts. Drummond informed the Commission that the Secretariat has considered the possibility of needing three experts for juridical, railway and economic questions respectively. As for the [Page 51] juridical expert the Secretariat had arrived at the conclusion that Walter Young would be the best qualified person. He was, moreover, persona grata to the two Governments. He had already been approached on the subject by Dr. Crane and expressed the willingness to place his services at the disposal of the Commission for 6 months. He has not yet been definitely appointed.
As to the railway expert, the Secretariat has not yet taken any steps but wished to leave the question to the Commission to decide whether such an expert would be necessary. If the decision were in the affirmative the Secretariat suggested the name of Colonel Hiam, Canadian, formerly member of the Communication and Transit Section of the Secretariat and now employed by the Canadian Pacific. He resides in British Columbia and would join the Commission promptly if chosen.
As to the economic expert the Secretariat had made no efforts to find one and had no candidate to propose. If the Commission judged it necessary to have the services of an economic expert it could either engage one in the Far East or request the Secretariat by telegraph to choose a qualified person after consulting the President of the Economic Committee.
(8) Compensation. Chairman of the Commission, 2,667 francs per month; Commissioners, each 2,000 francs per month. (This and all subsequent figures are in Swiss francs.)
(9) Allowances. Subsistence allowance, 80 francs per diem on land and 20 per diem at sea; outfit allowance, 1,000.
(10) Personal insurance. Each Commissioner is insured for 250,000 for a period of 10 months; this is a group insurance and each Commissioner must give his age and have a physical examination. In view of the “group” feature I do not know exactly how it will be adjusted in the case of General McCoy as time does not permit his sending a medical certificate to Europe. The Commission Secretariat is, however, considering this matter and will work out the best possible adjustment. I suggest that if he so desires he provide himself for possible use with a medical certificate commonly required by insurance companies.
(11) Baggage insurance. Insurance will be provided for the baggage of the Commissioners.
(12) Travel and traveling expenses. Travel arrangements will in normal cases be made for the Commission by the Commission Secretariat and all such expenses borne by the League. I suggest that General McCoy keep vouchers for expenses which he may incur as a Commissioner.
(13) Dress. Each Commissioner with military rank is requested [Page 52] to have with him a full dress which is essential for ceremonial occasions in Japan.
(14) Inoculation. It is desired that each Commissioner be inoculated against typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and smallpox and that he provide himself with pertinent certificates which may be required by local authorities in visiting certain areas.
(15) Mail address. The Commissioners’ respective diplomatic missions in Japan and China.
(16) Personal assistants. This question was discussed at some length. The general feeling was that the needs of the Commission respecting assistants had been adequately provided for by the League. I feel that this decision was based on an understandable desire to exercise the greatest possible economy on the part of the League. While it is true that reimbursement is envisaged from Japan and China, such reimbursement will be certainly long delayed and possibly difficulties may be encountered in obtaining it. Thus, in the meantime, the charges must be borne by the League. In the second place it is felt that the party should be as small as is consistent with accomplishing its work and in particular that the entire staff of the Commission [apparent omission] as a whole. The Commission felt that it could not object to any Commissioner taking with him at his own expense any male clerical assistants (for several reasons it would be impracticable for women employees to accompany the Commission), at the same time it was pointed out that any such assistants would be for the “personal” work of the Commissioner and would not be expected to work for the Commission. Two exceptions were however made. The Chairman of the Commission will be accompanied by a secretary (Astor) who is conversant with Chinese. Astor is however personally paying all of his own expenses. General Claudel said that he hoped to arrange to have the French Government detail a French medical officer to accompany him, whose services would also be available to the Commission. The Commissioners welcomed this suggestion as it was felt that the services of a doctor introduced a special element which had no bearing upon the arrangements which the League had already made for the staff of the Commission.
(17) With reference to the preceding paragraph I brought forward the matter of personal assistants merely as an inquiry on the part of General McCoy in line with Department’s number 14, January 18, 7 p.m.37 The Department’s number 19, January 21, 3 p.m., had not then been received. While I will be glad to discuss General McCoy’s views on this subject with appropriate League officials I hesitate, unless specially instructed, to take this matter up with the League as [Page 53] representing the views of an individual Commissioner. Now that the Commission is organized and General McCoy has become a member, it would seem to me that any views on this or other matters which he might desire to express might more properly be addressed by him direct to the Chairman of the Commission.
(18) Relations between Commission and Chinese and Japanese representatives. The Secretariat made known that Dr. Yen, who will represent China at the next session of the Council, had expressed the desire to have an interview with the Commission at Geneva and deliver a memorandum. The Commission decided that anyone was free to address a memorandum by mail to the Commission but that it would be inadvisable for the latter to hold interviews with official representatives of the two parties before their arrival in the Far East.
(19) In the United States. It will be noted that the itinerary described above provides for about 2 weeks in the United States. The Commission as a whole did not develop any plans for that period although informally some of them stated that they would visit Washington. Should General McCoy desire to make special arrangements for joining the Commission or should any questions respecting their stay in the United States arise, I feel that he could best take these matters up with Lord Lytton (who will be in England until sailing close [time?], through our Embassy in London.
(20) Each member of the Commission stated individually that he would not be accompanied by any members of his family.
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