393.115 Andersen, Meyer and Co./22: Telegram
The Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 13—3:40 p.m.]
274. Reference my No. 245, March 28, 4 p.m.,46 and previous messages regarding Kiukiang mill property of Andersen, Meyer and Company. As American gunboats are leaving April 15th for Hankow we endeavored without success to obtain pass for American employee of Andersen, Meyer and Company to proceed to Kiukiang. I called on my Japanese colleague this morning regarding the matter but he was either unwilling or unable to discuss it and even after consulting one [Page 314] of his staff officers would say no more than that passes could not be issued for Kiukiang and there is no discrimination amongst nationalities.47
At the same interview I took up the cases of Aldunate, a Seventh Day Adventist missionary, and Mrs. Berntsen and son who desire to return to Hankow. The former is head of his mission at Hankow and the latter are wife and son of an American businessman. They were refused landing permits for Hankow although they were to transship on American gunboats. The Japanese Consul General assigned no reason for the refusal of landing permits but his staff officer stated that the military and naval authorities refused to sanction the return of these Americans to Hankow for the reason that when they left there several months ago they signed declarations that they would not return. It is not entirely clear here what declarations they signed at Hankow in Japanese or English but the form used here by the Japanese authorities in connection with passes on Japanese transports simply carries a statement that transportation to return to Shanghai cannot be guaranteed by the Japanese authorities. I pointed out that we were not asking for Japanese transportation in these cases but were furnishing American transportation and whether or not these persons signed declarations at Hankow I could not recognize any right of the Japanese authorities to refuse to permit them to land there. We have done all that we could directly with the Japanese Consulate General and indirectly through our naval authorities with the Japanese naval authorities to obtain issuance of landing permits for these Americans but without success and I am not disposed unless so instructed by the Department to send these Americans by gunboat and force the issue of their landing at Hankow.
At the same conference I brought up for discussion four other important cases, namely: (1) China Foreign Trade Corporation case (see my 250, March 29, 7 p.m.48); (2) Palmetto Presbyterian Mission’s property at Soochow occupied by Japanese armed forces (see my despatch number 2011, February 16 this year48); (3) and (4) attacks by Japanese soldiers on Miss Avett and Mr. J. E. Jackson (see my 173, March 3, 1 p.m.48). These cases had been outlined to the Secretary of the Japanese Consul General by a member of my staff over a week ago when an appointment was made for me to discuss these specific cases. However, the Japanese Consul General was obviously totally unfamiliar with all of them except the first named and showed no disposition to be helpful or to interest himself in them.
[Page 315]For the confidential information of the Department, this is characteristic of his attitude in reference to all matters which I have taken up with him personally. He is apparently unwilling to inform himself regarding them and not disposed to discuss them. Such results as we do obtain are only by persistent contact by my staff officers with officers of the Japanese Consulate General. The Japanese Consul General is apparently prepared only to deal personally with those matters which may further Japanese designs and interests.
Repeated to Peiping, Chungking, Tokyo and Hankow.