893.102 Tientsin/295: Telegram
The Consul General at Tientsin (Caldwell) to the Secretary of State
[Received 7:14 p.m.]
110. Before his departure from Tientsin yesterday Admiral Yarnell,82 accompanied by certain members of his staff, Lieutenant Colonel Hawthorne,83 and myself, called at the British Consulate General to obtain the latest information regarding the local situation, and to confer with the British military and naval authorities, who were there during the call, concerning steps that might be taken for the protection of foreign life and property in case of attempts of [Page 193] mobs to enter the British Concession for creation of disorder or in case mobs of persons already within the Concession should create disorder.
In the course of the conversation Admiral Yarnell stated that with a view to the protection of lives and property of Americans in the British Concession American Marines would be prepared to assist the British police and armed forces in repelling such mobs endeavoring to enter the British Concession and in quelling disorders created by any such mobs already in the Concession; that if Americans were in danger they would be given refuge in the Marine barracks; and that so far as capacity of the barracks permitted, British subjects in danger and who desired to do so could take refuge there.
Reference was made to previous joint defense plans and it was agreed that owing to changed conditions a revision should be undertaken. Lieutenant Colonel Hawthorne therefore conferred today with the British military authorities who expressed a desire that the United States Marines undertake responsibility for the defense of a specified sector on the border of the British Concession. In the opinion of Lieutenant Colonel Hawthorne and myself this would be inadvisable in view of all the prevailing circumstances.
Furthermore on endeavoring to devise a detailed plan by which the measures mentioned in yesterday’s discussion could be carried out both Lieutenant Colonel Hawthorne and I are forced to conclude that if conditions were such as to warrant the use of American Marines to repel a mob invading the British Concession or to quell mob disorder in the Concession those same conditions would inevitably require the concentration of American citizens and perhaps other foreigners at the Marine barracks and necessitate the presence there of the entire United States Marine Force of slightly over 200.
Lieutenant Colonel Hawthorne and myself consider that under present conditions and in view of the practical difficulties which could not be fully realized during the very brief conference yesterday any existing joint defense plan or plans should be considered as discarded and not replaced by any plan involving assigning to the American forces any specific sector for defensive purposes; that there should be merely an agreement that in case of need for Americans to take refuge in the Marine barracks those barracks would be open so far as their capacity permits to British subjects desirous of taking refuge there; and that if possible under the then prevailing circumstances the United States Marines would endeavor to assist Britons in reaching the barracks.
Under some circumstances the American Marines might participate in repelling mobs or quelling mob disorders in the British Concession but in view of the possibility of conditions here changing very rapidly [Page 194] it seems preferable to make no commitment concerning this matter beyond that given at the conference yesterday.
Lieutenant Colonel Hawthorne is informing Admiral Yarnell of the above views.
Repeated to Chungking, Peiping, Shanghai. Code text by air mail to Tokyo.