Evening star., 1948-02-19
CordeU Hull
CHAPTER XXI.

Tokyo on January ~, 1941, that the
Peruvian envoy there said to him
he had heard from many quarters
including q Japanese one, "that q
surprise mass attack on Pearl Har-
Dor was planned by the Japanese
military forces in case Of trouble
between Japan and the United
States; that the attack would in
volve the use Of all the, Japanese
military facilities"
The Peruvian said to Grew he
was prompted to pass this on be-
cause 1t had come to him from
many sources, although the plan
seemed fantastic. On the following
day we communicated the contents
of the cable to the War and Navy
Departments.
It was at about this time and in
these circumstances that two Cath
olic priests, Bishop James Edward
Walsh, superior general of the
Catholic Foreign Missionary So
ciety, at Maryknoll, N. Y, and
Father Drought, returned to the
United States from Japan. They
reported that they had talked to
many highly placed Japanese, in
cluding Matsuoka; they realized
that relations between the two
countries were strained and that
worse might follow, and they had
a laudable desire to do whatever
they could as private citizens to
avert the prospect OF war.
They contacted on the one hand
Postmaster General Frank G.
Walker, one of the most prominent
Catholics in the administration, and
on the other several members Of
the Japanese Embassy.
Contacts Permitted.
The President and agreed that
Bishop Walsh and Father Drought,
along with Postmaster General
Walker, could continue their con-
facts with the Japanese Embassy
on q purely private basis and seek
to reduce. to writing what the Japa-
nese had in mind. We felt, how
ever, that we ourselves could not
take any action until the new Japa-
nese Ambassador, Admiral Kichi-
saburo Nomura, arrived in Wash
ington. +
Ambassador Nomura paid his first
call on me on February IL. He
was tall, robust, in fine health, with
an open face, differing consider
ably in physique from the average
Japanese. credit Nomura with
having been honestly sincere in
trying to avoid war between his
country and mine.
I held my first extended CONVEX
sation with Nomura on March 8
in my apartment at the Carelton
Hotel. This was the first OF some
40 or so conversations between us
until Pearl Harbor. They were in
variably at night, in the study of
my apartment, first at the Carle-
ton and then at the Wardman Park
Hotel.
During the course Of these dis
cussions many blunt words were
spoken pointblank, but our voices
never rose from the level Of q con-
versational tone. Nomura was very
gentlemanly. AS between us per-
sonally, relations were amicable.
Our first several conversations
were limited to ourselves. Later
they embraced my advisers and
Nomura's.
q The informal conversations con-
Quoted by Bishop Walsh, Father
Drought and Postmaster General
Walker with Japanese representa-
tives, including Ambassador No
mura, reached a head on April 9.
On that day I received from them
draft proposal on which the par
ticipants had agreed. During the
next few days I went over this
carefully with the experts on Far
Eastern affairs of the State De-
partment.
Disappointed in Proposal.
AS we studied the proposal, our
disappointment was keen.> It was
much less accommodating than we
had been led to believe it would
be, and most of its provisions were
all that the ardent japanese i'm
perialists could want.
After our Far Eastern experts and
I completed our examination of the
proposals sent me through Post
master General Walker, concluded
that, however Objectionable some of
the points might be, there were
others that could be accepted as
they stood and still others that
could be agreed to it modified. I
felt no opportunity should be over
looked that might lead to broad
scale conversations with Japan. I
therefore asked Nomura to see me
in my apartment at the Wardman
Park Hotel, to which I had recently
moved.
T mentioned to Nomura that I
had received the unofficial pro-
posals for a settlement between our