393.1111 Stam, John C./20: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in China (Gauss)
397. Your No. 599, December 25, noon, and previous telegrams from the Legation and Nanking, in regard to the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Stam.
- 1.
- In view of the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. and Mrs.
Stam, particularly the seeming negligence of the local authorities
which led to the capture of the Stams by communists and the failure
to date of the Chinese Government to take effective steps to remove
the bodies to Wuhu and to capture and punish the murderers, the
Department desires that the Legation, unless it perceives objection,
address a formal note to the Minister for Foreign Affairs making, as
under express instruction from the American Government, strong
representations in regard to the atrocity along the following lines:
The American Government cannot avoid taking a serious view of the capture and subsequent execution by alleged Chinese communists of Mr. and Mrs. Stam, American missionaries. According to available information, on December 6 the Chinese who committed the outrage occupied the district city of Tsingteh where the Stams resided and on the following day carried them, together with a number of Chinese, westward to Miaoshou about 15 miles away, at which place at about 10 a.m., December 8, the Stams were executed by decapitation. Although their bodies were encoffined by Christian friends and placed on a hillside near Miaoshou, the local authorities, on the ground that the Tsingteh area had been reoccupied by communists on December 15, professed their inability to comply with the request made on December 14 by the American Government’s representative at Nanking that the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Stam be removed to Wuhu. It appears that the local authorities not only failed to take necessary precautions and provide adequate protection for these unfortunate Americans but that since their death no serious effort has been made to capture and punish the persons who committed this barbarous crime. The American Government confidently expects that the Chinese Government will immediately take such measures as may be necessary and adequate to ensure the prompt capture and punishment of all persons who participated in the murders and that it will arrange at once for the removal of the bodies of the deceased to Wuhu. The American Government further makes full reservation of its rights under the treaties and international practice.
- 2.
- The Department desires that Peck deliver this note in person to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, accompanied by an oral statement emphasizing this Government’s concern over the apparent indifference of the Chinese Government to this outrage, and pointing out that the commission of this barbarous crime within 150 miles of the capital and the failure of the Chinese Government to make possible the removal of the bodies of the victims and to capture and punish the perpetrators have created a most unfortunate impression throughout the United States. He should also state that, in the opinion of the Department, this case should be brought urgently to the personal attention of General Chiang Kai-shek with a strong recommendation that the Government of China demonstrate its abhorrence of these detestable crimes and its determination and ability to punish the murderers, and that, when the perpetrators of the crimes have been apprehended, punishment commensurate with the crimes be publicly administered at the place where the murders were committed. Peck should also suggest the desirability of appropriate participation of the Chinese Government in the funeral service after the bodies of the victims have been removed from Tsingteh.
- 3.
- The Legation and Peck should continue to press this case vigorously and, if warranted, should make as soon as practicable further investigations especially in regard to the capture of the Stams and the conditions then existing in the Tsingteh area.