John Bassett Moore to Woodrow Wilson

The Japanese Ambassador advises us informally that his protest is ready but doubts whether he shall present it at once or defer its presentation until the arrival of the Secretary of State in Washington. In view of the fact that the Secretary is hastening back from California in order that he may confer with you on the situation there, the Ambassador seems to feel that it might be appropriate to defer the filing of his protest until the Secretary shall have returned. The Secretary will, as I understand, arrive in Washington on Wednesday night or Thursday morning. I think that the Ambassador would be disposed to wait and would feel no difficulty in waiting if it were certain that Governor Johnson’s promise to allow a “reasonable time” would embrace an opportunity for the Secretary to confer with the Ambassador and also with yourself. On this point the Secretary’s telegram to you of May 4th from Yuma, Arizona, is not explicit. He says: “I think Governor will delay signing until I reach Washington. He has promised a reasonable time and he knows I desire to confer with you when I reach Washington.”Would you deem it proper to telegraph to Governor Johnson and ask him whether he will delay action upon the bill till you shall have had an opportunity to confer with the Secretary on his return to Washington? If so, the Ambassador might without formally presenting his protest communicate it to us personally and unofficially so that we may know what he will say when he comes to the point of actually making a protest.
If you should not feel disposed to communicate with Governor Johnson, the Ambassador would, I suppose, feel obliged to file his protest immediately, since he could not justify himself to his own government if any delay on his part should result in Governor Johnson’s signing the bill without having been made acquainted with the objections of Japan..