256 ONE WORLD : TWO WARS

including the setting up of monopolies which ruined the business of
various American interests. It seemed to me difficult to explain these
monopolies and other restrictions as due to military necessity. The
Minister said that in wartime it became necessary to control com-
modities and that the monopolies and other handicaps could be
explained on this basis. I countered, however, with the observation
that many of these measures gave the American Government and
people the impression that they were intended to be permanent and
that I would welcome concrete evidence to the contrary.

Admiral Nomura repeated the assurances given me by his pre-
decessors that the Japanese forces in China have not the slightest
intention to drive out American interests and that they have the
strictest orders to the contrary. He said that our commercial problem
in China should be dealt with both in Tokyo and in the field and he
requested that American officials in the field should keep in close
touch with local Japanese officials.

Admiral Nomura said that the cases both of bombings of American
property and insults to American citizens were decreasing. In
Pakhoi and Nanning, for instance, he has heard of no damage to
any American property in that area. Constructive measures were
also being taken to facilitate American commerce, as in the case of
shipments of wood oil from Hankow and of lace and drawnwork
from Swatow. The Minister was thus in a position, he said, to point
out that possible measures were being taken in line with the valuable
suggestions which I had made at our last meeting. He appreciated
my honest desire to improve relations and by way of reciprocating
this attitude he was now studying with the proper authorities such
measures as could properly be taken.

Admiral Nomura expressed the regret that while he and I were
making joint efforts to improve relations these efforts were being
injured by the sometimes too-liberal expressions of opinion by im-
portant people in the United States, including statements with regard
to a possible embargo against Japan,

At this point I called his attention to the freedom of the American
press and of public discussion. I said that experience had taught
us that measures to control the utterances of the press or of in-
dividuals often defeated their own object by causing an intensification
of those utterances. I added that the public statements of individuals
outside the Government, even though those individuals might be in
close touch with the Government, did not necessarily represent the
Government's views. The Minister smilingly observed that the same
situation, especially with regard to the press, obtained also in Japan.

The Minister then said that he desired to present certain figures
to meet some of my representations in our last conference and my
concrete proposals for the settlement of pending questions. He said
that the list of cases which I had presented to him had been care-
fully analysed and a resume drawn up on the basis of available
documents. He thereupon handed me an informal document in