793.94 Advisory Committee/46
The Under Secretary of State (Phillips) to the Secretary of the Treasury (Woodin)
My Dear Mr. Secretary: Under date June 12, 1933, the Secretary General of the League of Nations transmitted to me a copy of a circular prepared by the Advisory Committee of the League,30 in whose deliberations Mr. Hugh E. Wilson, American Minister to Switzerland, participated as a representative of the American Government, relating to various measures involved in the non-recognition of “Manchukuo”, a new political régime which has been set up in Manchuria, China. Among the measures dealt with in this circular there is one which relates to the currency of “Manchukuo”, as follows:
“After considering the currency question, the Advisory Committee has arrived at the conclusion that a domestic currency is created by a domestic law, and is actually utilised in the same way as any other object of value that is bought or sold in the international market. The Committee thinks it inexpedient to propose that Governments should pass legislation prohibiting transactions in ‘Manchukuo’ currency, but it desires to call the attention of countries which have an [Page 408] official foreign exchange market to the desirability of taking any useful measures in order not to admit official quotations in ‘Manchukuo’ currency.”
In replying to the Secretary General, I informed him under date September 20, 1933,31 inter alia as follows:
“In reply I am happy to inform you that the views of the American Government with regard to the principle of non-recognition remain unchanged and that the American Government concurs in general in the conclusions arrived at by the Advisory Committee.”
So far as I am aware the Treasury Department has not published anything in relation to or in quotation of “Manchukuo” currency, but, in order that our policy in the future in this regard may be in accord with the recommendation of the Advisory Committee in which this Government has concurred, I shall appreciate your taking whatever steps may be necessary to ensure that the Treasury Department will not, without consulting this Department, publish anything relating to “Manchukuo” currency.
I am sending a similar letter to the Federal Reserve Board.32
Sincerely yours,
- For text of the letter of June 12, see Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. i, p. 120; for text of the circular, see League of Nations, Official Journal, Special Supp. No. 113, p. 10.↩
- Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. i, p. 122.↩
- Assurances were received by the Department in reply to both letters (793.94 Advisory Committee/56, 57).↩