Evening star., 1945-08-31
Text of HuIFs and Stimson|s Letters

FOLLOWING is the tert OF the
letters exchanged bettDeen Cor
dell Hull, then Secretary OF
State, and Secretary OF War
StimSon in connection ,Dith the
Pearl Harbor investigation:
From Mr.. Hull, dated Septembe
%, 1914:
My Dear Mr.. Secretary:
The receipt is acknowledged of tn,
War Departments letter of Septem
ber IA, 1914, in which it is requested
that there be brought to Mr.. Grew
attention the fact that he may b,
requested to appear as a witness be
fore the board which has been di
rected by the War Department t.
ascertain and report the facts relat'
ing to the japanese attack upor
Hawaii on December 7. 194l. TIL,
board also requests that the Secre.
tary of State furnish certain speci.
fed information.
In accordance with the War De-
partment's request, Mr.. Grew ha'
been informed that the board ma,
desire his presence, as witness, ant
he has indicated that he will b'
prepared to place himself at thu
boards disposal in this matter.
With regard to the allegation tha
on November 26, 1941, an ultimatun
was delivered to Japan by the United
States and that this was done not.
withstanding a joint recommends
tion to the President by Gen. Mar
shall and Admiral Stark that nj
ultimatum of any kind should b,
made to Japan, the facts are as fol
lows:
On November 20, ls41, the Japa.
nese representatives presented to m,
a proposal, the text of which will bs
found on pages 755-756 of the For.
eign Relations of the United States.
Japan. 1931-1941, volume II, ant
also on pages 801-S02 of Peace ane
War.
Provisions of Proposal.
That proposal called for supplying
by the United States to Japan of a!
much oil as Japan might require
suspension by the United States O.
freezing measures, discontinuance b,
the United States of aid to China
and Cooperation" between tn,
United States and Japan with (
view to securing the acquisition O
those goods and commodities which
the two countries need In Neither
lands East Indies"
1t contained a provision that ia
pan for her part would shift he
armed forces from Southern Indo
China to Northern Indo-China, bu
placed no limit on the number O.
armed forces which Japan nigh
send to Indo-China and made M
provision for withdrawal of the sale
forces until after either the restora.
ton Of peace between Japan ane
China or the establishment of ar
equitable" peace in the Pacific area
1t contained no provision for re-
version by Japan to peaceful courses
While there was provision agains
further extension of Japan's armes
forces in Southeastern Asia and the
Southern Pacific Except Indo
China, there was no similar pro-
vision which would have prevented
continued or fresh Japanese aggres-
sive activities In any of the regions
OF Asia lying to the north of Indo
China-for example, China and tn,
Soviet Union.
The japanese spokesman at ono,
began pressing for an early reply
At the same time Japan's armee
forces were advancing into new po'
sitions IN areas adjacent to the Phil.
ippines, the Netherlands East Indies
Malaga and Thailand. The seriou,
possibilities of the situation becam,
matter of common discussion ir
high official circles both civilian anc
military of this Government.
Reviewed Situation.
On November Is, at q meeting O,
the war council, at which the high.
est officers of the Army and tn,
Navy were present, I reviewed thu
situation and I indicated that til.
question of our national defense
from that point on should be espe.
cailly the concern of the Army anc
the Navy.
Although hope of reaching an &C.
ceptable solution of issues with the
japanese government had practical
ly vanished, on the principle that
no effort should be spared to test
and exhaust every method Of peace.
full settlement, and in the belief
that, if the tragedy of an attack by
Japan should eventuate, the people
Of this country would wish to know
what this Government had beer
willing to discuss with Japan as q
basis for an agreement which might
be expected effectively to preserve
and foster peace in the Pacific and
in the Far East, I communicated
on November 26 to the japanese
spokesmen-who were urgently call
ing for a reply to their proposals
of November 20-what became the
last of this Governments counter.
proposals.
This Governments communica.
tion Of November 26 above referred
to Is the document mentioned ir
the third paragraph of the Wa,
Departments letter wherein it Il
stated that the board has before
it and has considered the memoran.
dunn Of the Secretary Of State te
the Japanese Ambassador in Wash.
ington, dated November 26, 194l.
1t will be noted that in that docu-
ment 1t is stated, with reference tc
the Japanese proposal of November
20 that "the Government of the
United States believes that the
adoption Of such proposals woulo
not be likely to contribute to the
ultimate objectives of insuring peace
under law, order and justice in the
Pacific area, and 1t suggests that
further effort be made to resolve
our divergences Of views in regard
to the practical application Of the
fundamental principles already
mentioned"
Ultimatum Denied.
It will be noted also that the
paragraph Immediately following
that passage reads as follows:
with this object in view the