lation to the Far East. At one moment he represents himself as
speaking the voice of "Manchukuo", at another moment as express-
ing the views of an American citizen. Rumor runs, and we have some
pretty clear evidence, that he has close contact with the Japanese
Embassy. He himself states that he purchases his liquors (which
he dispenses liberally) through the Embassy; and we have some pretty
clear evidence that he prepares confidential memoranda for the Japa-
nese Ambassador. Much of his time and effort he devotes to dis-
cussing with newspaper men of various nationalities, and with Army
and Navy officers and other people who go to his cocktail parties,
problems not only of "Manchukuo" but of Japanese-American
relations.
   We of course assume that the Japanese Government is his real
employer.
  It is in our opinion, an anomaly, not befitting the dignity of any
regime, political or of other character, that "Manchukuo" places
in our
capital a hired "counselor" claiming "official" connection
with the
Foreign Office of that regime, a man who enters the United States by
virtue of his American citizenship, one who probably would have
been denied admittance to this country had he claimed status as a
"Manchukuoan" and as an official "representative" of
"Manchukuo",
and who, under cloak of his American citizenship, engages in active
political propaganda on behalf of a foreign political entity.
  It is not, so we believe, by taking advantage of peculiar technical-
ities such as prevail in this case that worthy ends in international
relations may best be served.
  It is our opinion that no useful purpose can be served by agitation
at this time of the question of the attitude of the United States toward
or with respect to "Manchukuo" and that effort by paid propagandists
in the United States to agitate this question-and in so doing con-
stantly to criticize the American Government-operates as an irritant
rather than as something beneficial in American-Japanese relations.
We were inclined at the outset to look upon Rea's presence here with
tolerance and to take toward his activities an attitude of indifference,
but as they have developed, with increasing boldness and manifest im-
propriety, we began to think them definitely prejudicial to the cause
of improving relations between Japan and the United States. We
suspect (and we have some circumstantial evidence) that Rea was
active in launching the newspaper stories in February last that the
American Government was seriously considering recognizing "Man-
chukuo". That little campaign defeated its own ends, but it was a
"nuisance". All of this sort of thing runs contrary to our principle
of trying to "let sleeping dogs lie". During later months, Rea
has
been fairly quiet; but he is constantly sowing, among Americans



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