£00
Encl. 2 in Tokyo 58 Treaty,
1918.
SECRET.
Sir:
BRITISH EMBASSY.
TOKYO.
October 22nd 1918.
604
In reply to your Despatch No:3255/1915 of the 4th ins tant. I have the honour to inform you that, under instructions from the Army Council, a system of military control over passports has been established in Japan. The Military Control Officer has his office in the British Consulate General at Yokohama, and every application for a passport or a visa has to be submitted to him in the first instance, His Majesty's Consular officers in Japan being only authorised to issue pass- ports to British Subjects, or to visa those of British or other persons, after previously obtaining his endorsement.
As the instructions under which the Military Control! Officer acts are given him directly from the War Office I possess no statement of the reasons which influenced them in deciding upon this closer scrutiny of all applications for travelling facilities; but I may mention that far from desiring that any special relaxation should be introduced in favour of Japanese travellers, I had found it necessary, even before the inauguration
of this system, to instruct His Majesty's Consular Officers in Japan to notify the General Officer Commanding at Singapore of all applications for travel- ling facilities for Burmah, the Malay Peninsula, British North Borneo or Sarawak received from them. The movements of such persons desiring to visit India, were not reported to General Ridout, as they would pass through Singapore on their journey and so afford him an opportunity of noting their movements, but would not
remain
The Honoble:
CLAUD SEVERN
etc., etc., etc.
Government House,
Hong Kong