79
2.
the first steps towards improvement always roused strong opposition and undue speculation had to be
avoided. It was, I thought, for this reason as well
as owing to genuine necessity of fuller consultation of
other Governments concerned that a pause in Tientsin discussions had been necessary, particularly as economic
questions involved were of the greatest complexity. I knew however that it was the desire of His Majesty's
Government that discussions should be resumed at
appropriate moment and I would like to know whether it was General Abe's intention to continue policy of preceding Government in attempting to settle outstanding difficulties one by one with a view to a real improvement
in our relations. General Abe replied emphatically in the
affirmative. He said that he considered it most un-
fortunate that it should have been necessary to break off
Tientsin discussions which had meant so much to future of
Anglo-Japanese relations. He agreed however with a
remark of mine that it would be a mistake to renew discussions
officially until we had discovered by preliminary sounding that some acceptable compromise could be found and he would be interested to learn, when the time came,
whether
I had any concrete suggestions to make with this end in
view.
I replied that I would think the matter over carefully and hoped to be able to discuss it again with His Excellency at an early date.
R. Ends.
I then observed that I had been encouraged to find that His Excellency's views and mine in regard to future procedure appeared to harmonize so closely but
I /