3. What makes Timothy Good so credible as a researcher?
First, it is important to define credible --
cred·i·ble : offering reasonable grounds for being believed From www.merriam-webster
As a threshold matters, Mr. Good does not come across as a crank, obviously he is well educated and well spoken, and held a job for 20 years that is very competitive to secure: he worked as a professional violinist. Other factors that, in my opinion, add to his credibility are –
1.Mr. Good writes and publishes books which require a significantly greater investment of time and effort than would, for example, writing a blog and one assumes an author of a book would be less willing to sacrifice credibility than would a potentially anonymous writer of a blog. 2. Mr. Good is not benefitting financially in an out-sized way from his publications and efforts. 3. Mr. Good is often cited as a reputable source by experts in the field. 4. I cannot identify bias or judgment in his choice of wording. 5. Mr. Good’s writings evidence consistency and 6. Mr. Good’s depth and breadth of knowledge evidence the tremendous energy he has put into his research which further suggests that he is genuine.
* * * * * * *
Three quotes:
1. "While flying with several other USAF pilots over Germany in 1957, we sighted numerous radiant flying discs above us. We couldn't tell how high they were. We couldn't get anywhere near their altitude."
"While working with a camera crew supervising flight testing of advanced aircraft at Edward's Air Force Base, California, the camera crew filmed the landing of a strange disc object that flew in over their heads and landed on a dry lake nearby. A camera crewman approached the saucer, it rose up above the area and flew off at a speed faster than any known aircraft."
---NASA astronaut, L. Gordon Cooper.
I’ve always enjoyed this quote. The man was well-trained and well educated and was selected in a very competitive program to be an American astronaut; the gate-keepers he faced would only let someone through if they had the “right stuff.” The man had nothing to gain by his willingness to speak the truth, and indeed, had all too much to lose.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Monday, July 18, 2011
Monday, September 6, 2010
hawk 553.haw.0098 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
The Stag in the Ox-Stall
A Stag, roundly chased by the hounds and blinded by fear to the danger he was running into, took shelter in a farmyard and hid himself in a shed among the oxen. An Ox gave him this kindly warning: "O unhappy creature! why should you thus, of your own accord, incur destruction and trust yourself in the house of your enemy?' The Stag replied: "Only allow me, friend, to stay where I am, and I will undertake to find some favorable opportunity of effecting my escape." At the approach of the evening the herdsman came to feed his cattle, but did not see the Stag; and even the farm-bailiff with several laborers passed through the shed and failed to notice him. The Stag, congratulating himself on his safety, began to express his sincere thanks to the Oxen who had kindly helped him in the hour of need. One of them again answered him: "We indeed wish you well, but the danger is not over. There is one other yet to pass through the shed, who has as it were a hundred eyes, and until he has come and gone, your life is still in peril." At that moment the master himself entered, and having had to complain that his oxen had not been properly fed, he went up to their racks and cried out: "Why is there such a scarcity of fodder? There is not half enough straw for them to lie on. Those lazy fellows have not even swept the cobwebs away." While he thus examined everything in turn, he spied the tips of the antlers of the Stag peeping out of the straw. Then summoning his laborers, he ordered that the Stag should be seized and killed.
The Hawk, the Kite, and the Pigeons
The Pigeons, terrified by the appearance of a Kite, called upon the Hawk to defend them. He at once consented. When they had admitted him into the cote, they found that he made more havoc and slew a larger number of them in one day than the Kite could pounce upon in a whole year.
Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease.
A Stag, roundly chased by the hounds and blinded by fear to the danger he was running into, took shelter in a farmyard and hid himself in a shed among the oxen. An Ox gave him this kindly warning: "O unhappy creature! why should you thus, of your own accord, incur destruction and trust yourself in the house of your enemy?' The Stag replied: "Only allow me, friend, to stay where I am, and I will undertake to find some favorable opportunity of effecting my escape." At the approach of the evening the herdsman came to feed his cattle, but did not see the Stag; and even the farm-bailiff with several laborers passed through the shed and failed to notice him. The Stag, congratulating himself on his safety, began to express his sincere thanks to the Oxen who had kindly helped him in the hour of need. One of them again answered him: "We indeed wish you well, but the danger is not over. There is one other yet to pass through the shed, who has as it were a hundred eyes, and until he has come and gone, your life is still in peril." At that moment the master himself entered, and having had to complain that his oxen had not been properly fed, he went up to their racks and cried out: "Why is there such a scarcity of fodder? There is not half enough straw for them to lie on. Those lazy fellows have not even swept the cobwebs away." While he thus examined everything in turn, he spied the tips of the antlers of the Stag peeping out of the straw. Then summoning his laborers, he ordered that the Stag should be seized and killed.
The Hawk, the Kite, and the Pigeons
The Pigeons, terrified by the appearance of a Kite, called upon the Hawk to defend them. He at once consented. When they had admitted him into the cote, they found that he made more havoc and slew a larger number of them in one day than the Kite could pounce upon in a whole year.
Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
tenements 993.ten.00030 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
At last, after five days, an end was put to the conflagration at the foot of the Esquiline hill, by the destruction of all buildings on a vast space, so that the violence of the fire was met by clear ground and an open sky. But before people had laid aside their fears, the flames returned, with no less fury this second time, and especially in the spacious districts of the city. Consequently, though there was less loss of life, the temples of the gods, and the porticoes which were devoted to enjoyment, fell in a yet more widespread ruin. And to this conflagration there attached the greater infamy because it broke out on the Aemilian property of Tigellinus, and it seemed that Nero was aiming at the glory of founding a new city and calling it by his name. Rome, indeed, is divided into fourteen districts, four of which remained uninjured, three were levelled to the ground, while in the other seven were left only a few shattered, half-burnt relics of houses.
It would not be easy to enter into a computation of the private mansions, the blocks of tenements, and of the temples, which were lost. Those with the oldest ceremonial, as that dedicated by Servius Tullius to Luna, the great altar and shrine raised by the Arcadian Evander to the visibly appearing Hercules, the temple of Jupiter the Stayer, which was vowed by Romulus, Numa's royal palace, and the sanctuary of Vesta, with the tutelary deities of the Roman people, were burnt. So too were the riches acquired by our many victories, various beauties of Greek art, then again the ancient and genuine historical monuments of men of genius, and, notwithstanding the striking splendour of the restored city, old men will remember many things which could not be replaced. Some persons observed that the beginning of this conflagration was on the 19th of July, the day on which the Senones captured and fired Rome. Others have pushed a curious inquiry so far as to reduce the interval between these two conflagrations into equal numbers of years, months, and days.
It would not be easy to enter into a computation of the private mansions, the blocks of tenements, and of the temples, which were lost. Those with the oldest ceremonial, as that dedicated by Servius Tullius to Luna, the great altar and shrine raised by the Arcadian Evander to the visibly appearing Hercules, the temple of Jupiter the Stayer, which was vowed by Romulus, Numa's royal palace, and the sanctuary of Vesta, with the tutelary deities of the Roman people, were burnt. So too were the riches acquired by our many victories, various beauties of Greek art, then again the ancient and genuine historical monuments of men of genius, and, notwithstanding the striking splendour of the restored city, old men will remember many things which could not be replaced. Some persons observed that the beginning of this conflagration was on the 19th of July, the day on which the Senones captured and fired Rome. Others have pushed a curious inquiry so far as to reduce the interval between these two conflagrations into equal numbers of years, months, and days.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
illness 662.ill.0116 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
A.D. 20-22
Without pausing in her winter voyage Agrippina arrived at the island of Corcyra, facing the shores of Calabria. There she spent a few days to compose her mind, for she was wild with grief and knew not how to endure. Meanwhile on hearing of her arrival, all her intimate friends and several officers, every one indeed who had served under Germanicus, many strangers too from the neighbouring towns, some thinking it respectful to the emperor, and still more following their example, thronged eagerly to Brundisium, the nearest and safest landing place for a voyager.
As soon as the fleet was seen on the horizon, not only the harbour and the adjacent shores, but the city walls too and the roofs and every place which commanded the most distant prospect were filled with crowds of mourners, who incessantly asked one another, whether, when she landed, they were to receive her in silence or with some utterance of emotion. They were not agreed on what befitted the occasion when the fleet slowly approached, its crew, not joyous as is usual, but wearing all a studied expression of grief. When Agrippina descended from the vessel with her two children, clasping the funeral urn, with eyes riveted to the earth, there was one universal groan. You could not distinguish kinsfolk from strangers, or the laments of men from those of women; only the attendants of Agrippina, worn out as they were by long sorrow, were surpassed by the mourners who now met them, fresh in their grief.
The emperor had despatched two praetorian cohorts with instructions that the magistrates of Calabria, Apulia, and Campania were to pay the last honours to his son's memory. Accordingly tribunes and centurions bore Germanicus's ashes on their shoulders. They were preceded by the standards unadorned and the faces reversed. As they passed colony after colony, the populace in black, the knights in their state robes, burnt vestments and perfumes with other usual funeral adjuncts, in proportion to the wealth of the place. Even those whose towns were out of the route, met the mourners, offered victims and built altars to the dead, testifying their grief by tears and wailings. Drusus went as far as Tarracina with Claudius, brother of Germanicus, and had been at Rome. Marcus Valerius and Caius Aurelius, the consuls, who had already entered on office, and a great number of the people thronged the road in scattered groups, every one weeping as he felt inclined. Flattery there was none, for all knew that Tiberius could scarcely dissemble his joy at the death of Germanicus.
Tiberius Augusta refrained from showing themselves, thinking it below their dignity to shed tears in public, or else fearing that, if all eyes scrutinised their faces, their hypocrisy would be revealed. I do not find in any historian or in the daily register that Antonia, Germanicus's mother, rendered any conspicuous honour to the deceased, though besides Agrippina, Drusus, and Claudius, all his other kinsfolk are mentioned by name. She may either have been hindered by illness, or with a spirit overpowered by grief she may not have had the heart to endure the sight of so great an affliction. But I can more easily believe that Tiberius and Augusta, who did not leave the palace, kept her within, that their sorrow might seem equal to hers, and that the grandmother and uncle might be thought to follow the mother's example in staying at home.
The day on which the remains were consigned to the tomb of Augustus, was now desolate in its silence, now distracted by lamentations. The streets of the city were crowded; torches were blazing throughout the Campus Martius. There the soldiers under arms, the magistrates without their symbols of office, the people in the tribes, were all incessantly exclaiming that the commonwealth was ruined, that not a hope remained, too boldly and openly to let one think that they remembered their rulers. But nothing impressed Tiberius more deeply than the enthusiasm kindled in favor of Agrippina, whom men spoke of as the glory of the country, the sole surviving off spring of Augustus, the solitary example of the old times, while looking up to heaven and the gods they prayed for the safety of her children and that they might outlive their oppressors.
Without pausing in her winter voyage Agrippina arrived at the island of Corcyra, facing the shores of Calabria. There she spent a few days to compose her mind, for she was wild with grief and knew not how to endure. Meanwhile on hearing of her arrival, all her intimate friends and several officers, every one indeed who had served under Germanicus, many strangers too from the neighbouring towns, some thinking it respectful to the emperor, and still more following their example, thronged eagerly to Brundisium, the nearest and safest landing place for a voyager.
As soon as the fleet was seen on the horizon, not only the harbour and the adjacent shores, but the city walls too and the roofs and every place which commanded the most distant prospect were filled with crowds of mourners, who incessantly asked one another, whether, when she landed, they were to receive her in silence or with some utterance of emotion. They were not agreed on what befitted the occasion when the fleet slowly approached, its crew, not joyous as is usual, but wearing all a studied expression of grief. When Agrippina descended from the vessel with her two children, clasping the funeral urn, with eyes riveted to the earth, there was one universal groan. You could not distinguish kinsfolk from strangers, or the laments of men from those of women; only the attendants of Agrippina, worn out as they were by long sorrow, were surpassed by the mourners who now met them, fresh in their grief.
The emperor had despatched two praetorian cohorts with instructions that the magistrates of Calabria, Apulia, and Campania were to pay the last honours to his son's memory. Accordingly tribunes and centurions bore Germanicus's ashes on their shoulders. They were preceded by the standards unadorned and the faces reversed. As they passed colony after colony, the populace in black, the knights in their state robes, burnt vestments and perfumes with other usual funeral adjuncts, in proportion to the wealth of the place. Even those whose towns were out of the route, met the mourners, offered victims and built altars to the dead, testifying their grief by tears and wailings. Drusus went as far as Tarracina with Claudius, brother of Germanicus, and had been at Rome. Marcus Valerius and Caius Aurelius, the consuls, who had already entered on office, and a great number of the people thronged the road in scattered groups, every one weeping as he felt inclined. Flattery there was none, for all knew that Tiberius could scarcely dissemble his joy at the death of Germanicus.
Tiberius Augusta refrained from showing themselves, thinking it below their dignity to shed tears in public, or else fearing that, if all eyes scrutinised their faces, their hypocrisy would be revealed. I do not find in any historian or in the daily register that Antonia, Germanicus's mother, rendered any conspicuous honour to the deceased, though besides Agrippina, Drusus, and Claudius, all his other kinsfolk are mentioned by name. She may either have been hindered by illness, or with a spirit overpowered by grief she may not have had the heart to endure the sight of so great an affliction. But I can more easily believe that Tiberius and Augusta, who did not leave the palace, kept her within, that their sorrow might seem equal to hers, and that the grandmother and uncle might be thought to follow the mother's example in staying at home.
The day on which the remains were consigned to the tomb of Augustus, was now desolate in its silence, now distracted by lamentations. The streets of the city were crowded; torches were blazing throughout the Campus Martius. There the soldiers under arms, the magistrates without their symbols of office, the people in the tribes, were all incessantly exclaiming that the commonwealth was ruined, that not a hope remained, too boldly and openly to let one think that they remembered their rulers. But nothing impressed Tiberius more deeply than the enthusiasm kindled in favor of Agrippina, whom men spoke of as the glory of the country, the sole surviving off spring of Augustus, the solitary example of the old times, while looking up to heaven and the gods they prayed for the safety of her children and that they might outlive their oppressors.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
religion 662.rel.004 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
he historical documents referring to Christ's life and work may be divided into three classes: pagan sources, Jewish sources, and Christian sources. We shall study the three in succession.
I. PAGAN SOURCES
The non-Christian sources for the historical truth of the Gospels are both few and polluted by hatred and prejudice. A number of reasons have been advanced for this condition of the pagan sources:
* The field of the Gospel history was remote Galilee;
* the Jews were noted as a superstitious race, if we believe Horace (Credat Judoeus Apella, I, Sat., v, 100);
* the God of the Jews was unknown and unintelligible to most pagans of that period;
* the Jews in whose midst Christianity had taken its origin were dispersed among, and hated by, all the pagan nations;
* the Christian religion itself was often confounded with one of the many sects that had sprung up in Judaism, and which could not excite the interest of the pagan spectator.
It is at least certain that neither Jews nor Gentiles suspected in the least the paramount importance of the religion, the rise of which they witnessed among them. These considerations will account for the rarity and the asperity with which Christian events are mentioned by pagan authors. But though Gentile writers do not give us any information about Christ and the early stages of Christianity which we do not possess in the Gospels, and though their statements are made with unconcealed hatred and contempt, still they unwittingly prove the historical value of the facts related by the Evangelists.
I. PAGAN SOURCES
The non-Christian sources for the historical truth of the Gospels are both few and polluted by hatred and prejudice. A number of reasons have been advanced for this condition of the pagan sources:
* The field of the Gospel history was remote Galilee;
* the Jews were noted as a superstitious race, if we believe Horace (Credat Judoeus Apella, I, Sat., v, 100);
* the God of the Jews was unknown and unintelligible to most pagans of that period;
* the Jews in whose midst Christianity had taken its origin were dispersed among, and hated by, all the pagan nations;
* the Christian religion itself was often confounded with one of the many sects that had sprung up in Judaism, and which could not excite the interest of the pagan spectator.
It is at least certain that neither Jews nor Gentiles suspected in the least the paramount importance of the religion, the rise of which they witnessed among them. These considerations will account for the rarity and the asperity with which Christian events are mentioned by pagan authors. But though Gentile writers do not give us any information about Christ and the early stages of Christianity which we do not possess in the Gospels, and though their statements are made with unconcealed hatred and contempt, still they unwittingly prove the historical value of the facts related by the Evangelists.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
quote 339.quo.099 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
3. "I've been convinced for a long time that the flying saucers are interplanetary. We are being watched by beings from outer space."
---Albert M. Chop, deputy public relations director, NASA, True Magazine , Jan. 1965.
This quote was new to me. Clearly, however, the man had the necessary training to appreciate the phenomenon and worked in an environment where he must have had the requisite knowledge of actual facts and, again, he had nothing to gain and potentially plenty to lose by speaking the truth.
---Albert M. Chop, deputy public relations director, NASA, True Magazine , Jan. 1965.
This quote was new to me. Clearly, however, the man had the necessary training to appreciate the phenomenon and worked in an environment where he must have had the requisite knowledge of actual facts and, again, he had nothing to gain and potentially plenty to lose by speaking the truth.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
cathedral uu.8 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Jean Colarusso moved to La Jolla with her husband and three children in 1973 and visited Casa de las Pobres in Tijuana. For 25 years she has worked with the poor by adopting and educating families. On her visits to Mexico she brought supplies and assisted in providing medical care. She convinced UCSD Medical School to send medical students and local doctors to donate time; a priest donated land and Jean raised the money to build the clinic that continues today.
For over 20 years Jean has worked with Sister Antonia at the La Mesa Federal Penitentiary in Tijuana. She built a TB Sanitarium and workshop where inmates are able to sell wood carvings. She made mattresses from newspapers and taught schools to keep the prison supplied. In 1998 Jean met a Nigerian priest who asked for help building a boarding school for orphan boys. By selling the bricks, she was able to complete the structure. The Bishop of Nigeria took notice of her talents and asked her to help finish a Cathedral started 20 years earlier. From Jean’s sale of imaginary bricks, the Cathedral was done by January 2006.
Through her fundraising, over 100 Nigerian children call the Holy Family Children’s Center home. St. Kazito Minor Seminary is the only secondary school in Nigeria with internet. The Norween Walsh program to help Widows now has over 50 residents: the co-op raises over 200 chickens, sewing machines allow the women additional income. Jean is helping to double the size of an abandoned Nigerian church and will build another HIV center and hospice in a country with the highest rate of AIDS. A girl’s boarding school in Ida is also under construction.
For over 20 years Jean has worked with Sister Antonia at the La Mesa Federal Penitentiary in Tijuana. She built a TB Sanitarium and workshop where inmates are able to sell wood carvings. She made mattresses from newspapers and taught schools to keep the prison supplied. In 1998 Jean met a Nigerian priest who asked for help building a boarding school for orphan boys. By selling the bricks, she was able to complete the structure. The Bishop of Nigeria took notice of her talents and asked her to help finish a Cathedral started 20 years earlier. From Jean’s sale of imaginary bricks, the Cathedral was done by January 2006.
Through her fundraising, over 100 Nigerian children call the Holy Family Children’s Center home. St. Kazito Minor Seminary is the only secondary school in Nigeria with internet. The Norween Walsh program to help Widows now has over 50 residents: the co-op raises over 200 chickens, sewing machines allow the women additional income. Jean is helping to double the size of an abandoned Nigerian church and will build another HIV center and hospice in a country with the highest rate of AIDS. A girl’s boarding school in Ida is also under construction.
Monday, May 10, 2010
control 332.con.003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
talks were... had a very humane nature, because at first there were shots exchanged on the various fronts, and the Egyptians said, "Look, we're sorry, but it's hard for us to control every singunit in our army. If someone, some nut, starts shooting, please disregard it." They made many, very human requests. They were in a terrible situation; their morale was very low; they made many requests. We agreed to most of them. It was a very respectful atmosphere: we respected each other. But there were these requests, the Egyptian generals' requests, who were trying to care for their soldiers, and afraid that it would develop into a war again. And concessions on both sides... we finally managed to reach an agreement on separation of forces and cease-fire.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Paleoparadoxia 775.pa 7 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Paleoparadoxia is a member of a small family of large, herbivorous marine mammals that inhabited the northern Pacific coastal region during the Miocene epoch (20 to 10 million years ago). It ranged from the waters of Japan, to Alaska to the north, and down to Baja California, Mexico. Paleoparadoxia had cousins, Desmostylus, Cornwallius, Vanderhoofius, and an ancestor called Behemotops . This entire family has been terminally extinct for the last 10 million years; they have no living descendants.
Friday, April 16, 2010
unfolded 338.unf.001001 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Moshe Dayan belonged to a new generation of tough home-grown military commanders. Born in 1915 to Shmuel Dayan (member of the first Knesset) in Degania near the Sea of Galilee. In 1935, he joined the Haganah in his teens, and in 1941 he lost an eye in an Allied operation against the forces of the French Vichy Government in Lebanon. During the 1948 war, his battalion captured Ramla and Lydda, and he later became the governor of Jerusalem. He held several positions in the Israel Defense Force as a chief of staff and a minister of defense during the 1967 war. When Ben-Gurion was the Prime Minister of the "Jewish state", he was regularly consulted on defense issues. Besides his military career, he also was a farmer, a secret poet, an amateur archaeologist, a politician, and a statesman, who usually spoke briefly and to the point.
Famous Quotes
Moshe Dayan stated his opinion regarding his anti-infiltration policy in the early 1950s:
"Using the moral yardstick mentioned by [Moshe Sharett], I must ask: Are [we justified] in opening fire on the [Palestinian] Arabs who cross [the border] to reap the crops they planted in our territory; they, their women, and their children? Will this stand up to moral scrutiny . . .? We shoot at those from among the 200,000 hungry [Palestinian] Arabs who cross the line [to graze their flocks]---- will this stand up to moral review? Arabs cross to collect the grain that they left in the abandoned [term often used by Israelis to describe the ethnically cleansed] villages and we set mines for them and they go back without an arm or a leg. . . . [It may be that this] cannot pass review, but I know no other method of guarding the borders. then tomorrow the State of Israel will have no borders." (Righteous Victims, p. 275)
In the mid-1950s, Moshe Dayan was anxious to initiate a "preventive" war against Egypt to neutralize the modernization of its army, according to Moshe Sharett's diary:
"Moshe Dayan unfolded one plan after another for direct action. The first---what should be done to force open blockade of the Gulf of Eilat. A ship flying the Israeli flag should be sent, and if the Egyptians bomb it, we should bomb the Egyptian base from the air, or conquer Ras al-Naqb, or open our way south of Gaza Strip to the coast. There was a general uproar. I asked Moshe: Do you realize that this would mean war with Egypt?, he said: Of course." (Iron Wall, p. 105)
Famous Quotes
Moshe Dayan stated his opinion regarding his anti-infiltration policy in the early 1950s:
"Using the moral yardstick mentioned by [Moshe Sharett], I must ask: Are [we justified] in opening fire on the [Palestinian] Arabs who cross [the border] to reap the crops they planted in our territory; they, their women, and their children? Will this stand up to moral scrutiny . . .? We shoot at those from among the 200,000 hungry [Palestinian] Arabs who cross the line [to graze their flocks]---- will this stand up to moral review? Arabs cross to collect the grain that they left in the abandoned [term often used by Israelis to describe the ethnically cleansed] villages and we set mines for them and they go back without an arm or a leg. . . . [It may be that this] cannot pass review, but I know no other method of guarding the borders. then tomorrow the State of Israel will have no borders." (Righteous Victims, p. 275)
In the mid-1950s, Moshe Dayan was anxious to initiate a "preventive" war against Egypt to neutralize the modernization of its army, according to Moshe Sharett's diary:
"Moshe Dayan unfolded one plan after another for direct action. The first---what should be done to force open blockade of the Gulf of Eilat. A ship flying the Israeli flag should be sent, and if the Egyptians bomb it, we should bomb the Egyptian base from the air, or conquer Ras al-Naqb, or open our way south of Gaza Strip to the coast. There was a general uproar. I asked Moshe: Do you realize that this would mean war with Egypt?, he said: Of course." (Iron Wall, p. 105)
Saturday, April 10, 2010
uncovers 338.unc.001 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Through counseling, his psychologist slowly uncovers the man's internalized grief. A boutique pastry chef's goal, to take over her rival's business, results in an introspective revelation. A young couple with a difficult 10-year-old son must confront their strained marriage. Two bodyguards of a diplomat, immigrants and best friends, gradually come to a crossroads of conflicting views. A long-lost childhood friend sparks a surprising change in the life of a senior citizen living a monotonous routine. The storylines never really cross each other, but each carries an emotional resonance that interlocks more than the streets and avenues of New York. With beauty and complexity The Great New Wonderful describes the subtleties of closure. Leiner moves the film at an intimate pace, alternating between storylines gracefully and uses the natural talents of the cast to the fullest. The incredible ensemble cast quietly and elegantly portrays people in transition-embarking on their own great new wonderfuls.
Monday, March 29, 2010
ascertaining 88.asc.881 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
In early February 1987, Heidnik found reason to punish Sandra Lindsay when he caught her trying to move the plywood that covered the pit. The punishment was severe. She was forced to hang from a roof beam by a single handcuff attached to her wrist for several days. During this time, her condition deteriorated and she refused to eat. Still believing her to be pregnant, Heidnik tried to force feed her pieces of bread. Towards the end of the week, even though she was vomiting and running a high fever, Heidnik continued to force feed her, often jamming food into her mouth and holding her mouth shut until she swallowed. The next day she lost consciousness. When Heidnik couldn't rouse her, he became angry and unlocked the handcuffs, dropping her to the ground. He told the others that she was faking and kicked her into the pit and left her there while he served up ice cream for everybody and left. When he returned, he lifted Lindsay out of the pit and checked her pulse. She was dead.
After telling the girls that she had probably choked, he carried Sandra's body upstairs. A short time later, they shuddered with horror when they heard the unmistakable whine of a power saw. Their horror later turned to revulsion when one of Heidnik's dogs walked into the basement carrying a long meaty bone and proceeded to devour it in front of the terrified girls. Investigators would later reveal that Heidnik had ground up Lindsay's flesh using a food processor, and fed it to his dogs and the captives mixed with dog food. To dispose of the remaining parts of the body, he cooked them on the stove.
In the days following Sandra's death, the girls began to notice a sickening stench that filled the entire house. Eventually, it would become so bad that Heidnik's neighbours complained to the police. After several such calls, a patrolman was sent to the house to make inquiries but left after Heidnik assured him that the smell was caused by an overcooked roast dinner.
Following Sandra's death, Heidnik's behavior became increasingly bizarre. He urged the girls to inform on each other with the promise of better conditions for those who complied. During this period, the girls devised a plan to attack Heidnik and escape but the plan never came to fruition. Jacqueline would later testify that the attack never occurred because Josefina told Heidnik what they were planning.
Convinced that the girls were constantly plotting against him, Heidnik devised a plan of his own to prevent them from leaving. After cuffing each girl hand and foot, he hung them from a beam and gagged them. Then, taking several different sizes of screwdrivers, he gouged inside their ears in an attempt to deafen them. He believed that if they could not hear, they would be unable to hear him coming. The only one he didn't touch was Josefina.
Later when Deborah Dudley began to cause trouble, he unchained her and took her upstairs. When they returned, Deborah was unusually quiet and solemn. After Heidnik had left, the others asked her what had happened. Stammering with fear, she told them that Heidnik had taken her into the kitchen and showed her a pot he had on the stove. Inside it was Sandra Lindsay's head. He then opened the oven and showed her part of Sandra's ribcage that he was roasting. Opening the fridge, he pointed to an arm and other body parts that he had wrapped in plastic and told her that if she didn't start obeying him, she would be next.
Within a few days, Deborah had recovered her composure and continued to defy Heidnik's attempts to "tame" her. As an added incentive to obey, Heidnik added a new punishment to his already cruel bag of tricks, his own version of electric shock treatment. His method was simple. He stripped the insulation from one end of an electrical extension cord and plugged the other into a socket. Then, turning on the power, he would hold the bare wires against each of the girl's chains and watch with detached amusement as they wriggled and danced to escape the current. As before, Josefina was exempt from punishment.
As the weeks passed, Heidnik began to treat Josefina as more of a partner than a captive and spent more and more time with her alone. So much so that, on March 18, when Heidnik decided to punish the others, he enlisted Josefina to help him. The shock treatment was again employed with one added feature, water. After drilling airholes in the plywood cover, Heidnik ordered Josefina to fill the pit with water. The three other women, still in chains, were then pushed down into it before the cover was replaced and weighted down with bags of dirt. As they sat shivering with cold and fear, the bare wire was pushed through one of the holes until it briefly touched one of the chains sending a jolt of electricity surging through all of them. The wire was then pushed into the hole a second time, making direct contact with Deborah's chain. Absorbing most of the voltage, Deborah screamed and shuddered uncontrollably before collapsing face down in the water.
Seeing their friend fall, Jacqueline and Lisa screamed until Heidnik removed the cover and dragged Deborah out. After ascertaining that she was dead, Heidnik calmly made sandwiches and told the women, "Aren't you glad it wasn't one of you." He then left for a few minutes and returned with a pen and paper. Handing it to Josefina, he ordered her to write the time and date at the top of the page. When she had done so, he made her write a statement detailing how she had assisted him to electrocute Deborah. He then ordered her to sign it before adding his own signature. Holding up the letter, he then told her: "If you ever go to the cops, I can use this as evidence that you killed Debbie." Satisfied that he had her completely under his control, he removed Josefina's chains and told her to go upstairs and change. It was the first time she had been completely dressed in four months. The following day, Heidnik returned to the basement and, after wrapping Deborah's body in plastic, placed it in the freezer and left.
After telling the girls that she had probably choked, he carried Sandra's body upstairs. A short time later, they shuddered with horror when they heard the unmistakable whine of a power saw. Their horror later turned to revulsion when one of Heidnik's dogs walked into the basement carrying a long meaty bone and proceeded to devour it in front of the terrified girls. Investigators would later reveal that Heidnik had ground up Lindsay's flesh using a food processor, and fed it to his dogs and the captives mixed with dog food. To dispose of the remaining parts of the body, he cooked them on the stove.
In the days following Sandra's death, the girls began to notice a sickening stench that filled the entire house. Eventually, it would become so bad that Heidnik's neighbours complained to the police. After several such calls, a patrolman was sent to the house to make inquiries but left after Heidnik assured him that the smell was caused by an overcooked roast dinner.
Following Sandra's death, Heidnik's behavior became increasingly bizarre. He urged the girls to inform on each other with the promise of better conditions for those who complied. During this period, the girls devised a plan to attack Heidnik and escape but the plan never came to fruition. Jacqueline would later testify that the attack never occurred because Josefina told Heidnik what they were planning.
Convinced that the girls were constantly plotting against him, Heidnik devised a plan of his own to prevent them from leaving. After cuffing each girl hand and foot, he hung them from a beam and gagged them. Then, taking several different sizes of screwdrivers, he gouged inside their ears in an attempt to deafen them. He believed that if they could not hear, they would be unable to hear him coming. The only one he didn't touch was Josefina.
Later when Deborah Dudley began to cause trouble, he unchained her and took her upstairs. When they returned, Deborah was unusually quiet and solemn. After Heidnik had left, the others asked her what had happened. Stammering with fear, she told them that Heidnik had taken her into the kitchen and showed her a pot he had on the stove. Inside it was Sandra Lindsay's head. He then opened the oven and showed her part of Sandra's ribcage that he was roasting. Opening the fridge, he pointed to an arm and other body parts that he had wrapped in plastic and told her that if she didn't start obeying him, she would be next.
Within a few days, Deborah had recovered her composure and continued to defy Heidnik's attempts to "tame" her. As an added incentive to obey, Heidnik added a new punishment to his already cruel bag of tricks, his own version of electric shock treatment. His method was simple. He stripped the insulation from one end of an electrical extension cord and plugged the other into a socket. Then, turning on the power, he would hold the bare wires against each of the girl's chains and watch with detached amusement as they wriggled and danced to escape the current. As before, Josefina was exempt from punishment.
As the weeks passed, Heidnik began to treat Josefina as more of a partner than a captive and spent more and more time with her alone. So much so that, on March 18, when Heidnik decided to punish the others, he enlisted Josefina to help him. The shock treatment was again employed with one added feature, water. After drilling airholes in the plywood cover, Heidnik ordered Josefina to fill the pit with water. The three other women, still in chains, were then pushed down into it before the cover was replaced and weighted down with bags of dirt. As they sat shivering with cold and fear, the bare wire was pushed through one of the holes until it briefly touched one of the chains sending a jolt of electricity surging through all of them. The wire was then pushed into the hole a second time, making direct contact with Deborah's chain. Absorbing most of the voltage, Deborah screamed and shuddered uncontrollably before collapsing face down in the water.
Seeing their friend fall, Jacqueline and Lisa screamed until Heidnik removed the cover and dragged Deborah out. After ascertaining that she was dead, Heidnik calmly made sandwiches and told the women, "Aren't you glad it wasn't one of you." He then left for a few minutes and returned with a pen and paper. Handing it to Josefina, he ordered her to write the time and date at the top of the page. When she had done so, he made her write a statement detailing how she had assisted him to electrocute Deborah. He then ordered her to sign it before adding his own signature. Holding up the letter, he then told her: "If you ever go to the cops, I can use this as evidence that you killed Debbie." Satisfied that he had her completely under his control, he removed Josefina's chains and told her to go upstairs and change. It was the first time she had been completely dressed in four months. The following day, Heidnik returned to the basement and, after wrapping Deborah's body in plastic, placed it in the freezer and left.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
clarifying 22.cla.002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
In childhood, and to some degree in the present, I had an overwhelming fear of doctors and dentists with their bright lights and sharp tools. Fear was my constant companion-fear of the darkness, of windows, of being alone in a church, the outdoors, and of parked aircraft-that I imagined would come to life along with the occupants.
I learned early on not to admit my true fears to adults as they would very quickly tell me that space aliens did not exist. If I persisted I was punished. Of the many events occurred in my childhood two events stand out-one of which was explored through the use of regression.
The first one is a partial memory of encountering a male and female alien couple when I was approximately seven years of age. One night I was coming home from visiting my grandmother who lived nearly adjacent to us. As I reached the halfway point I saw two figures standing behind the fence. My heart began to race as these were my night visitors-not outwardly different from one another but one male and one female. They did not speak aloud but they called me to come to them. In horror I shouted I would not and tried to run the rest of the way home calling them monsters. The next thing they uttered I have not forgotten to this day. They told me that they were my "real parents" and that I should go with them. I have little memory of what happened after that however I like to think that I ran and made it home.
My next clear memory was of seeing the ghost of my grandmother shortly after her death when I was twelve. This memory was further explored with the use of hypnosis and proved to be far different than the screen memory I had of the event. In the morning my family and I had attended my grandmother's funeral and then all the relatives went to my grandparent's home for a gathering. I remember feeling uncomfortable with all of the emotional and grieving adults and I went into a bedroom to get away from them and perhaps take a nap. I entered the room and shut the door behind myself but in a few seconds I realized I was no longer alone. In the corner of the room was a floating figure that I thought was my grandmother's ghost.
Upon clarifying the memory I was able to see that the figure appeared far different than my grandmother-no hair, large black eyes that slanted, very thin arms, and pale whitish-gray skin. Frightened, I clung desperately to the door handle in hopes of escape. (I had always thought that I had fled after seeing that ghostly figure but that proved to be untrue.) The figure moved toward me and stared at me with enormous black eyes. It told me to come with it. I initially objected and resisted, but I uncontrollably went with the alien.
During the regression the saddest moment was when I realized that I no longer had my hand on the door handle and there was no possibility of escape. I was taken to a small waiting UFO and had procedures performed that included a sexual-gynecological procedure at my young age of twelve. I was returned to the bedroom and forgot most of the details other than I saw something frightening that I believed was a ghost. When I found my mother she indicated angrily that people were looking for me and that I was upsetting everyone with my talk of ghosts. Events of this type were interspersed throughout my childhood-sometimes clear and sometimes not at all.
I learned early on not to admit my true fears to adults as they would very quickly tell me that space aliens did not exist. If I persisted I was punished. Of the many events occurred in my childhood two events stand out-one of which was explored through the use of regression.
The first one is a partial memory of encountering a male and female alien couple when I was approximately seven years of age. One night I was coming home from visiting my grandmother who lived nearly adjacent to us. As I reached the halfway point I saw two figures standing behind the fence. My heart began to race as these were my night visitors-not outwardly different from one another but one male and one female. They did not speak aloud but they called me to come to them. In horror I shouted I would not and tried to run the rest of the way home calling them monsters. The next thing they uttered I have not forgotten to this day. They told me that they were my "real parents" and that I should go with them. I have little memory of what happened after that however I like to think that I ran and made it home.
My next clear memory was of seeing the ghost of my grandmother shortly after her death when I was twelve. This memory was further explored with the use of hypnosis and proved to be far different than the screen memory I had of the event. In the morning my family and I had attended my grandmother's funeral and then all the relatives went to my grandparent's home for a gathering. I remember feeling uncomfortable with all of the emotional and grieving adults and I went into a bedroom to get away from them and perhaps take a nap. I entered the room and shut the door behind myself but in a few seconds I realized I was no longer alone. In the corner of the room was a floating figure that I thought was my grandmother's ghost.
Upon clarifying the memory I was able to see that the figure appeared far different than my grandmother-no hair, large black eyes that slanted, very thin arms, and pale whitish-gray skin. Frightened, I clung desperately to the door handle in hopes of escape. (I had always thought that I had fled after seeing that ghostly figure but that proved to be untrue.) The figure moved toward me and stared at me with enormous black eyes. It told me to come with it. I initially objected and resisted, but I uncontrollably went with the alien.
During the regression the saddest moment was when I realized that I no longer had my hand on the door handle and there was no possibility of escape. I was taken to a small waiting UFO and had procedures performed that included a sexual-gynecological procedure at my young age of twelve. I was returned to the bedroom and forgot most of the details other than I saw something frightening that I believed was a ghost. When I found my mother she indicated angrily that people were looking for me and that I was upsetting everyone with my talk of ghosts. Events of this type were interspersed throughout my childhood-sometimes clear and sometimes not at all.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
examiner 55.exa.003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
The Dallas police had no idea what had begun when they collected the body of a murdered prostitute on December 13, 1990. She was found in plain sight on the 8800 block of Beckleyview in the Oak Cliff neighborhood, according to the Dallas Morning News. The kids who first saw her thought they'd stumbled across a mannequin. Instead, it was the nearly nude body of a dark-haired woman, lying face-up, wearing only a T-shirt and shot in the back of the head with a .44-caliber bullet. In footage shown on HBO's "Autopsy" program, there was blood on her face and shirt.
Dallas Morning News logo
Dallas Morning News logo
Detective John Westphalen took over the case and learned from another officer that the victim had been Mary Lou Pratt, 33 (another source says 35), a known prostitute who worked that area. On "Autopsy," the area was described as a hangout for drug dealers, drug addicts, and prostitutes. (Matthews and Wicker indicate that Lee Harvey Oswald retreated to a movie theater here after shooting President Kennedy.) To the police that day, the murder just seemed like one of the routine risks of the shady business of prostitution. Yet it was soon discovered that this one went beyond the reactive type of killing from anger or over money. There was something more deviant about it.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire, the medical examiner, was going over the body to ascertain the cause and manner of death when she placed her hands on the dead woman's face and prepared to look at the condition of the eyes. She touched the stiffening lid and pushed it open. To her surprise, she saw only muscle and gore. No eye. In fact, it appeared that the eyeball had been removed with surgical care, and not merely gouged out in anger with someone's thumbs. Moving to the other eye, she opened the lid and saw the same thing. This killer had removed both eyes without making much of a mark on the lids and apparently had taken them with him.
Dallas Morning News logo
Dallas Morning News logo
Detective John Westphalen took over the case and learned from another officer that the victim had been Mary Lou Pratt, 33 (another source says 35), a known prostitute who worked that area. On "Autopsy," the area was described as a hangout for drug dealers, drug addicts, and prostitutes. (Matthews and Wicker indicate that Lee Harvey Oswald retreated to a movie theater here after shooting President Kennedy.) To the police that day, the murder just seemed like one of the routine risks of the shady business of prostitution. Yet it was soon discovered that this one went beyond the reactive type of killing from anger or over money. There was something more deviant about it.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire, the medical examiner, was going over the body to ascertain the cause and manner of death when she placed her hands on the dead woman's face and prepared to look at the condition of the eyes. She touched the stiffening lid and pushed it open. To her surprise, she saw only muscle and gore. No eye. In fact, it appeared that the eyeball had been removed with surgical care, and not merely gouged out in anger with someone's thumbs. Moving to the other eye, she opened the lid and saw the same thing. This killer had removed both eyes without making much of a mark on the lids and apparently had taken them with him.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
responsible 88.res.03 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
But is their evil vanquished, even now?
A grisly list of cult-related crimes remains unsolved in Mexico. From prison, Sara Aldrete told reporters, "I don't think the religion will end with us, because it has a lot of people in it. They have found a temple in Monterrey that isn't even related to us. It will continue." Between 1987 and 1989, police in Mexico City recorded 74 unsolved ritual murders, 14 of them involving infant victims. Constanzo's cult is suspected in at least 16 of those cases, all involving children or teenagers, but authorities lack sufficient evidence to press charges.
Referring to those cases, prosecutor Guillermo Ibarra told reporters, "We would like to say, yes, Constanzo did them all, and poof, all those cases are solved. And the fact is, we believe he was responsible for some of them, though we'll never prove it now. But he didn't commit all of those murders. Which means someone else did. Someone who is still out there."
A grisly list of cult-related crimes remains unsolved in Mexico. From prison, Sara Aldrete told reporters, "I don't think the religion will end with us, because it has a lot of people in it. They have found a temple in Monterrey that isn't even related to us. It will continue." Between 1987 and 1989, police in Mexico City recorded 74 unsolved ritual murders, 14 of them involving infant victims. Constanzo's cult is suspected in at least 16 of those cases, all involving children or teenagers, but authorities lack sufficient evidence to press charges.
Referring to those cases, prosecutor Guillermo Ibarra told reporters, "We would like to say, yes, Constanzo did them all, and poof, all those cases are solved. And the fact is, we believe he was responsible for some of them, though we'll never prove it now. But he didn't commit all of those murders. Which means someone else did. Someone who is still out there."
Saturday, January 30, 2010
handlebars 33.han.001 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
The Clark family bounced around Connecticut and New Jersey as Hadden was growing up, rarely staying in any place for more than a year. Hadden's father, who had both an MBA and a PhD in chemistry, never seemed satisfied with his employers, always searching for more money.
Bradfield was a handful from the start and became involved with drugs as a teen. Though he would receive two university degrees, and be highly thought of in the new world of computers, the Clark genes would be his downfall. In 1984, during a night of drinking and drugs, he would murder his date, a beautiful 29-year old woman named Patricia Mak. After banging her head against a brick cinderblock and strangling her, he would cut up her body into 11 pieces in his bathtub, cook part of her breasts on his barbecue grill, eat them, and then stuff the remaining body parts into plastic bags. Like Hadden, he intended to bury the body, but grew remorseful, attempted suicide, and then called the police. He received 15-years-to-life and is still serving time at Pleasant Valley State Prison in California.
Geoff, the youngest brother, would have other problems. After earning a degree in microbiology at Ohio State University, he married a childhood sweetheart and the two made their way to the Maryland suburbs of Washington where a position at the Food and Drug Administration awaited. They settled into a quiet house on Sudbury Road in Silver Spring and had three children before the marriage turned ugly and divorce actions were filed. Marcia accused Geoff of physically abusing her twice and he was convicted of one of the charges, earning a suspended sentence.
Born Evil
If the three other Clark children had difficulties in their lives, with Bradfield eventually committing the ultimate offense, they paled alongside Hadden. He seemed to have been born evil and liked to hurt people. Children usually ran the other way when he showed up and those who dared cross him often found their family dog or cat deposited on their doorstep, decapitated.
Once, when Geoff and Hadden were learning to ride their bikes without hands, Hadden grabbed his handlebars and deliberately rammed his brother. Geoff hit the sidewalk headfirst and began bleeding profusely from the head. Hadden hurried home to tell his mother, Flavia.
"There's been an accident," he told her, but don't worry the bike's okay." He didn't mention his brother's injuries.
"My brother's sense of reality was always a little askew," Geoff said, years later.
Flavia Clark at first blamed her son's strange behavior on a bad forceps delivery. Then she thought he had cerebral palsy and took him to an expensive clinic. His father had no such illusions. After a few drinks, he began to refer to his son as "the retard." Since Hadden was the second child, and the couple had wanted a girl, his mother often dressed him in frilly girl's clothing. A taste for female clothing was implanted in him as was the name Kristen—his mother addressed him by that name when she was drunk.
Bradfield was a handful from the start and became involved with drugs as a teen. Though he would receive two university degrees, and be highly thought of in the new world of computers, the Clark genes would be his downfall. In 1984, during a night of drinking and drugs, he would murder his date, a beautiful 29-year old woman named Patricia Mak. After banging her head against a brick cinderblock and strangling her, he would cut up her body into 11 pieces in his bathtub, cook part of her breasts on his barbecue grill, eat them, and then stuff the remaining body parts into plastic bags. Like Hadden, he intended to bury the body, but grew remorseful, attempted suicide, and then called the police. He received 15-years-to-life and is still serving time at Pleasant Valley State Prison in California.
Geoff, the youngest brother, would have other problems. After earning a degree in microbiology at Ohio State University, he married a childhood sweetheart and the two made their way to the Maryland suburbs of Washington where a position at the Food and Drug Administration awaited. They settled into a quiet house on Sudbury Road in Silver Spring and had three children before the marriage turned ugly and divorce actions were filed. Marcia accused Geoff of physically abusing her twice and he was convicted of one of the charges, earning a suspended sentence.
Born Evil
If the three other Clark children had difficulties in their lives, with Bradfield eventually committing the ultimate offense, they paled alongside Hadden. He seemed to have been born evil and liked to hurt people. Children usually ran the other way when he showed up and those who dared cross him often found their family dog or cat deposited on their doorstep, decapitated.
Once, when Geoff and Hadden were learning to ride their bikes without hands, Hadden grabbed his handlebars and deliberately rammed his brother. Geoff hit the sidewalk headfirst and began bleeding profusely from the head. Hadden hurried home to tell his mother, Flavia.
"There's been an accident," he told her, but don't worry the bike's okay." He didn't mention his brother's injuries.
"My brother's sense of reality was always a little askew," Geoff said, years later.
Flavia Clark at first blamed her son's strange behavior on a bad forceps delivery. Then she thought he had cerebral palsy and took him to an expensive clinic. His father had no such illusions. After a few drinks, he began to refer to his son as "the retard." Since Hadden was the second child, and the couple had wanted a girl, his mother often dressed him in frilly girl's clothing. A taste for female clothing was implanted in him as was the name Kristen—his mother addressed him by that name when she was drunk.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
convinced 2004 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
athleen Grundy's sudden death on June 24th 1998 came as a terrible shock to all who knew her. A singularly active 81-year-old, she was well known to the people of Hyde. A wealthy ex-mayor, she had energy to burn and was a tireless worker for local charities until the day of her death.
Her absence was noted when she failed to show at the Age Concern club. There, she helped serve meals to elderly pensioners. Because the wealthy widow was noted for her punctuality and reliability, her friends suspected something was wrong.
The Grundy home
The Grundy home (CAVENDISH PRESS/UK)
When they went to her home to check up on her, they found her lying on a sofa. She was fully dressed, and dead.
They immediately called Dr. Shipman.
He had visited the house a few hours earlier, and was the last person to see her alive. He claimed the purpose of his visit had been to take blood samples for studies on aging. Shipman pronounced her dead and the news was conveyed to her daughter, Angela Woodruff.
The doctor told the daughter a post mortem was unnecessary because he had seen her shortly before her death.
Following her mother's burial Ms. Woodruff returned to her home, where she received a troubling phone call from solicitors. They claimed to have a copy of Ms. Grundy's will.
A solicitor herself, Angela's own firm had always handled her mother's affairs - her firm held the original document lodged in 1986. The moment she saw the badly typed, poorly worded paper, Angela Woodruff knew it was a fake. It left 386,000 pounds to Dr. Shipman.
"My mother was a meticulously tidy person," she later told the Shipman trial, 'the thought of her signing a document which is so badly typed didn't make any sense. The signature looked strange, it looked too big. The concept of Mum signing a document leaving everything to her doctor was unbelievable.'
"It wasn't a case of 'Look, she's not left me anything in her will."' she later said.
Initially, she wondered if Shipman was being framed. But after interviewing witnesses to the "will," she reluctantly concluded the doctor had murdered her mother for profit.
It was then she went to her local police. Her investigation results ultimately reached Detective Superintendent Bernard Postles.
His own investigation convinced him Angela Woodruff's conclusions were accurate. Of the forged will itself, Postles was to later say, "You only have to look at it once and you start thinking it's like something off a John Bull printing press. You don't have to have twenty years as a detective to know it's a fake. Maybe he thought he was being clever — an old lady, nobody around her: Look at it; it's a bit tacky. But everyone knew she was as sharp as a tack. Maybe it was his arrogance..."
Now Det. Supt Postles had the oldest motive in the world — greed — to justify his future actions.
Her absence was noted when she failed to show at the Age Concern club. There, she helped serve meals to elderly pensioners. Because the wealthy widow was noted for her punctuality and reliability, her friends suspected something was wrong.
The Grundy home
The Grundy home (CAVENDISH PRESS/UK)
When they went to her home to check up on her, they found her lying on a sofa. She was fully dressed, and dead.
They immediately called Dr. Shipman.
He had visited the house a few hours earlier, and was the last person to see her alive. He claimed the purpose of his visit had been to take blood samples for studies on aging. Shipman pronounced her dead and the news was conveyed to her daughter, Angela Woodruff.
The doctor told the daughter a post mortem was unnecessary because he had seen her shortly before her death.
Following her mother's burial Ms. Woodruff returned to her home, where she received a troubling phone call from solicitors. They claimed to have a copy of Ms. Grundy's will.
A solicitor herself, Angela's own firm had always handled her mother's affairs - her firm held the original document lodged in 1986. The moment she saw the badly typed, poorly worded paper, Angela Woodruff knew it was a fake. It left 386,000 pounds to Dr. Shipman.
"My mother was a meticulously tidy person," she later told the Shipman trial, 'the thought of her signing a document which is so badly typed didn't make any sense. The signature looked strange, it looked too big. The concept of Mum signing a document leaving everything to her doctor was unbelievable.'
"It wasn't a case of 'Look, she's not left me anything in her will."' she later said.
Initially, she wondered if Shipman was being framed. But after interviewing witnesses to the "will," she reluctantly concluded the doctor had murdered her mother for profit.
It was then she went to her local police. Her investigation results ultimately reached Detective Superintendent Bernard Postles.
His own investigation convinced him Angela Woodruff's conclusions were accurate. Of the forged will itself, Postles was to later say, "You only have to look at it once and you start thinking it's like something off a John Bull printing press. You don't have to have twenty years as a detective to know it's a fake. Maybe he thought he was being clever — an old lady, nobody around her: Look at it; it's a bit tacky. But everyone knew she was as sharp as a tack. Maybe it was his arrogance..."
Now Det. Supt Postles had the oldest motive in the world — greed — to justify his future actions.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
profiler 11.pro.0004 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Sedgwick County Sheriff Mike Hill, who worked on the 1978 probe, said, "It's sad to say the only way that we'll ever find out who this individual is will be we'll have to have a victim." Nevertheless, Stewart hopes that some day a beat cop will stumble onto the BTK still savoring his press clippings or souvenirs.
FBI Profiler John Douglas in the book Obsession has a chapter on the BTK strangler. It is the chapter called "Motivation X". Within the book, Douglas states that there were no defensive wounds found on any of the victims, assuming that the killer used a gun to control them. He further stated that the killer's letters to the police had so much detail that he is convinced that the perpetrator had taken his own crime scene photos in order to have a keepsake of the crime to fantasize about later.
Douglas states that the killer used police lingo in his letters - Douglas thinks he may actually be a cop, or may impersonate a cop - he probably reads detective magazines and may have even bought a police badge. He would attempt to insert himself in the investigation. He would be tempted to brag or leave hints about what he had done.
Douglas states that the killer was in all probability a loner, inadequate, in his 20s or 30s, might possibly have an arrest record for break-ins or voyeurism, but probably no actual rapes.
Douglas further states that the perpetrator may have stopped killing because he is in jail for something else, or a mental hospital, may have died, or maybe he injected himself so closely into the investigation, he got scared. It is even a possibility that the memories and photographs are enough for him to contain his obsession.
FBI Profiler John Douglas in the book Obsession has a chapter on the BTK strangler. It is the chapter called "Motivation X". Within the book, Douglas states that there were no defensive wounds found on any of the victims, assuming that the killer used a gun to control them. He further stated that the killer's letters to the police had so much detail that he is convinced that the perpetrator had taken his own crime scene photos in order to have a keepsake of the crime to fantasize about later.
Douglas states that the killer used police lingo in his letters - Douglas thinks he may actually be a cop, or may impersonate a cop - he probably reads detective magazines and may have even bought a police badge. He would attempt to insert himself in the investigation. He would be tempted to brag or leave hints about what he had done.
Douglas states that the killer was in all probability a loner, inadequate, in his 20s or 30s, might possibly have an arrest record for break-ins or voyeurism, but probably no actual rapes.
Douglas further states that the perpetrator may have stopped killing because he is in jail for something else, or a mental hospital, may have died, or maybe he injected himself so closely into the investigation, he got scared. It is even a possibility that the memories and photographs are enough for him to contain his obsession.
Monday, November 16, 2009
tradition 9.tra.992 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Dracula's head was said to be brought back by the Turks to Constantinople, where Sultan Mehmed, Dracula's old enemy, exhibited it above the city gates: testimony to Allah's triumph over the evil European Empire.
The Ottoman nation would refuse to relinquish their claim to Romania for centuries after this story ends. It would not be until the year 1878 that Romania, with the assistance of the Romanovs of Russia, Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire was able to shake off the Turks for good. "The revival of a Romanian political and national sentiment took place," explains the Romanian Travel Service. "A national bourgeoisie emerged, which struggled for the...unification of the separate states into a single nation...(Romania) was raised to the rank of Kingdom in 1881."
*****
The Countess Ilona was invited by King Matthias to live in the Hungarian Court with her two sons after Dracula's demise. In 1508, Dracula's oldest son, Vlad, made a strike for the throne of Wallachia, but was beaten back by another relative named Mihnea who claimed to be an illegitimate son of Dracula's early days. Probably because he wanted to avoid a scandal that could hurt his mother, Vlad conceded.
If this Mihnea was lying about his bloodline, he certainly did a good job trying to act like the man he claimed was his father. The moment he set his posterior on the throne, the impalings began. But, this time the principality of Wallachia was ready. They rebelled in worthy numbers and the beast they called Mihnea the Bad was sent packing for the hills.
In the meantime, the legitimate Dracula family waned. Only Vlad lived to maturity. Of his two sons, only one married. From that point the number of direct male heirs dwindled. By the mid-1700s, the last of the Draculas was living in (where else?) Transylvania, along the infamous Borgo Pass.
Of Dracula's contemporaries, Matthias Corvinus reigned until 1490, continuing to fight the Turks as well as European Bohemia, which wanted its own king. A Renaissance man, he was a true patron of the arts. Says the Columbia Encyclopedia, "His library at Buda, the Corvina, was one of the finest in Europe."
Stefan Bathory continued to rule Transylvania for some time. His great niece, Elizabeth, was the one who would make history books, however. Countess Bathory, a vain and rather neurotic lady, believed that bathing in blood would preserve her youth. She was proven wrong, but not until she drained more than 300 women of the red stuff. For her endeavors, she was aptly named "Countess Dracula".
*****
Where Dracula is buried is unknown. The friars at Snagov transcribed that they interred him at the foot of the altar in the chapel. But when historical archaeologists in the early 1930s removed the marble slab that was supposed to be covering the Impaler's grave, they encountered an empty six-foot pit that looked like someone at one time may have been buried there. This revelation gave rise to...well, that Dracula may have risen from the grave, after all! Bela Lugosi was still fresh in the mind of the Western World, having just appeared in the black-and-white movie version of the Stoker novel, and headlines had a field day!
Several years later, a headless skeleton was uncovered behind a large stone towards the rear of the church. Because the bones were wrapped in rotting rags that science has proven were once rich-fabric vestments, like those a prince in the 1400s would have worn, many believe that Dracula's earthly remains had been found. One strong argument in their behalf is that the faded cloak covering the shoulders indicates it had once been a vibrant wine red — the royal color of the Dragon's family.
With no better theory to disprove this, the skeleton is considered to this day to be that of the mighty and fearsome Vlad Tepes, Dracula. Researchists here and there aren't convinced and studies for and against continue to be penned.
Tongue in cheek, Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally in Dracula — Prince of Many Faces, quip, "The determined vampirists will of course reply that he never died and that his spirit will haunt us perpetually." In fact, they more soberly point to an old Russian Orthodoxy tradition that claims because Dracula "forsook the truth and the light and accepted darkness," he would never rest in peace. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Strange as it might seem to us, a large percentage of peasant stock residing in the Transylvanian Alps still believe in vampires and ghouls that rise from their graves. Religious ceremonies are enacted at certain times of the year, as on Walpurgis Nacht, the Night of the Devil (May 1), when evil is said to have sway over the world.
As Count Dracula tells British solicitor Jonathan Harker in the novel, "This is Transylvania and Transylvania is not England. Our ways are not your ways, and there shall be to you many strange things. Indeed, from what you have told me already, you know what strange things there may be."
The Ottoman nation would refuse to relinquish their claim to Romania for centuries after this story ends. It would not be until the year 1878 that Romania, with the assistance of the Romanovs of Russia, Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire was able to shake off the Turks for good. "The revival of a Romanian political and national sentiment took place," explains the Romanian Travel Service. "A national bourgeoisie emerged, which struggled for the...unification of the separate states into a single nation...(Romania) was raised to the rank of Kingdom in 1881."
*****
The Countess Ilona was invited by King Matthias to live in the Hungarian Court with her two sons after Dracula's demise. In 1508, Dracula's oldest son, Vlad, made a strike for the throne of Wallachia, but was beaten back by another relative named Mihnea who claimed to be an illegitimate son of Dracula's early days. Probably because he wanted to avoid a scandal that could hurt his mother, Vlad conceded.
If this Mihnea was lying about his bloodline, he certainly did a good job trying to act like the man he claimed was his father. The moment he set his posterior on the throne, the impalings began. But, this time the principality of Wallachia was ready. They rebelled in worthy numbers and the beast they called Mihnea the Bad was sent packing for the hills.
In the meantime, the legitimate Dracula family waned. Only Vlad lived to maturity. Of his two sons, only one married. From that point the number of direct male heirs dwindled. By the mid-1700s, the last of the Draculas was living in (where else?) Transylvania, along the infamous Borgo Pass.
Of Dracula's contemporaries, Matthias Corvinus reigned until 1490, continuing to fight the Turks as well as European Bohemia, which wanted its own king. A Renaissance man, he was a true patron of the arts. Says the Columbia Encyclopedia, "His library at Buda, the Corvina, was one of the finest in Europe."
Stefan Bathory continued to rule Transylvania for some time. His great niece, Elizabeth, was the one who would make history books, however. Countess Bathory, a vain and rather neurotic lady, believed that bathing in blood would preserve her youth. She was proven wrong, but not until she drained more than 300 women of the red stuff. For her endeavors, she was aptly named "Countess Dracula".
*****
Where Dracula is buried is unknown. The friars at Snagov transcribed that they interred him at the foot of the altar in the chapel. But when historical archaeologists in the early 1930s removed the marble slab that was supposed to be covering the Impaler's grave, they encountered an empty six-foot pit that looked like someone at one time may have been buried there. This revelation gave rise to...well, that Dracula may have risen from the grave, after all! Bela Lugosi was still fresh in the mind of the Western World, having just appeared in the black-and-white movie version of the Stoker novel, and headlines had a field day!
Several years later, a headless skeleton was uncovered behind a large stone towards the rear of the church. Because the bones were wrapped in rotting rags that science has proven were once rich-fabric vestments, like those a prince in the 1400s would have worn, many believe that Dracula's earthly remains had been found. One strong argument in their behalf is that the faded cloak covering the shoulders indicates it had once been a vibrant wine red — the royal color of the Dragon's family.
With no better theory to disprove this, the skeleton is considered to this day to be that of the mighty and fearsome Vlad Tepes, Dracula. Researchists here and there aren't convinced and studies for and against continue to be penned.
Tongue in cheek, Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally in Dracula — Prince of Many Faces, quip, "The determined vampirists will of course reply that he never died and that his spirit will haunt us perpetually." In fact, they more soberly point to an old Russian Orthodoxy tradition that claims because Dracula "forsook the truth and the light and accepted darkness," he would never rest in peace. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Strange as it might seem to us, a large percentage of peasant stock residing in the Transylvanian Alps still believe in vampires and ghouls that rise from their graves. Religious ceremonies are enacted at certain times of the year, as on Walpurgis Nacht, the Night of the Devil (May 1), when evil is said to have sway over the world.
As Count Dracula tells British solicitor Jonathan Harker in the novel, "This is Transylvania and Transylvania is not England. Our ways are not your ways, and there shall be to you many strange things. Indeed, from what you have told me already, you know what strange things there may be."
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Chungking Investigates Rumors of Shansi Army Surrender
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire Chiang regime were in sympathy with this movement and were negotiating secretly with authorities in Shanghai.
Tokyo learned that the Nationalist Chinese had been waiting anxiously for the outcome to Japanese-American negotiations; for there had even been rumors to the effect that Chiang Kai-shek himself would sign a reconciliation with Japan if the United States would but give the word. This statement, according to the Japanese, was attributed to the fact that the Chinese people had suffered through four years of war and were now faced with civil strife. Since the Japanese believed that the Chinese war could have but one ultimate victor, it was only natural for the Chinese to hope that Japan and America would successfully conclude negotiations and that peace between the two Oriental nations might be achieved.[1348]
On October 6, 1941 Tokyo compiled an analysis of a report on the internal conditions of the Chungking forces. This message sent to Washington revealed that Chungking winter offensive of the previous year had failed and that the fourth period of preparations for a spring offensive was underway. In lieu of an out and out frontal attack, it seemed that Chiang Kai-shek was following a special strategy of propaganda to create confusion behind the lines and to promote partisan warfare. According to Japanese reports, the entire front was divided into eleven sectional fronts. The Chungking army consisted of 292 divisions, 200 of these being under direct control of Chiang Kai-shek. Recent investigations by the Japanese army had revealed that of these divisions manpower and equipment had declined 70 to 80%. Special note was made of the deterioration of qualifications for officers based on an examination of 2,500 prisoners. The examination had revealed that 500 had never finished primary education and only 62 of the total were graduates of colleges.[1349]
The survey showed that 1,500,000 recruits were needed annually to replenish the 200 divisions of the first line. Japanese authorities appeared amazed that Chinese front line commanders should have been given false battle reports from Chiang's headquarters. As in many cases these leaders were told that the Japanese army had been damaged excessively. These reports were greatly exaggerated. The Japanese believed that Chinese officers were refusing to obey orders from Chiang Kai-shek. Of 16,200 prisoners who were asked why they were not satisfied with the war of resistance against Japan, it appears that the majority complained of pay difficulties while others believed that the longer they continued resisting Japan, the more susceptible to communism they would become. The fact that there had been an increase of forces surrendering to the Nanking regime only emphasized the fact that Chinese officers were undecided as to the merits of continuing the war of resistance.[1350]
564. Proposal for Four Power Drive Against Japan Is Rejected by Moscow
Another suggestion of the Chungking leader met defeat at the Kremlin when a scheme to use Anglo-American-Soviet meetings in Moscow for disrupting Japanese-Russian relations in order to turn all four nations against Japan was rejected. The Russian Ambassador, Alexander Smenovich Panyushkin, had objected to the publication of an editorial about to be published in a Chungking paper. This editorial had dealt with the promotion of the above-mentioned scheme, and after Ambassador Panyushkin pointed out that it too clearly portrayed the real situation between China and Russia, the article was never published.[1351]
565. Tokyo Analyzes China's Financial Crises
As Tokyo explained the Chinese economic situation on the bases of intelligence summaries in a dispatch to Washington on October 2, there was an urgent need for financial and eco-
[1348] III, 1056.
[1349] III, 1057.
[1350] III, 1058.
[1361] III, 1053.
[275]
nomic assistance to the Chungking government. Since expenditures were expected to reach 15,000,000,000, Japanese analysts predicted that 12,000,000,000 would have to be paid by the banks of China by printing additional tender. Considering the fact that Chinese banks were already expected to issue 5,000,000,000 over the sum currently in circulation, nothing but bankruptcy could possibly result within ten months unless foreign loans were obtained.
The purchase of bonds had not solved the situation, which had been growing steadily worse since April 1941; and as a result, by October 2, the Chiang regime was rapidly putting into effect the following:
(1) "The transference of the finances of the Chiang regime to the capital (this is to be carried out from October; thereafter, all expenses in the province will be met by revenue from the provinces only).
(2) "The collection by the Chungking Government of rice revenue and the payment in kind of rice revenue at the ratio of one yuan to one "sito". Half of the revenue will consist of the unhulled rice. This will go into effect from September 16.
(3) "Issuing of ryo shoku koken (regarding this, the Government will issue an order on September 4 with 30,000,000 goku of stored rice as a basis. The purchase is to be made in installments during a period of five years, 30% by means of legal tender and 70% by means of "koken").
(4) "The establishment of government monopolies, (Sales monopolies of tea, salt, wine, tobacco, sugar, and matches are being planned).
(5) Absorption of funds from Shanghai and Hongkong (the tendency at present is for funds to blow back from the interior)."[1352]
566. United States Representatives Arrive in Chungking to Solve Economic Problems
In support of these negotiations and in the interest of the financial and military position of Chungking, Major General John Magruder, head of the United States Army commission to China, and his party of six arrived in Hongkong from Manila October 5[1353] and flew to Chungking on October 9. Apparently there was a total of thirty representatives, of which thirteen, including British Finance Counselor Hall-Patch, and Special Envoy Chen Kuang-fu, had already arrived by mid-September in Hongkong where they were to be joined by Mr. Fox, the American Financial Adviser to Chiang Kai-shek, and were to meet with the currency delegation commission.
The advance party supposedly had completed arrangements for an observation tour of key industrial and military areas. It was scheduled that, following the tour, some members would remain in Chungking and others would be posted at various fronts for a considerable length of time to keep Chungking authorities advised of practical methods for meeting the critical situation faced by the Nationalist government. In preparation for any crisis these representatives would study military supply as well as Japanese army tactics. In addition, they would assist in improving Chinese air fields. Apparently, shortly after the American party reached Chungking, Russian representatives would also arrive in the Chinese capitol to discuss the possibility of a Japanese attack upon Russia.
Also, in order to discuss all points of the problem of military cooperation with British and American authorities, Chinese representatives were dispatched to the Philippines.[1354]
The presence of Henry Francis Grady, the United States Economic expert and presidential adviser at Hongkong, who on October 10, 1941 was returning to America, had indicated to the Japanese that the United States was investigating methods of obtaining raw materials for military purposes. At this time tungsten and hog bristles, among other materials, were being
[1352] III, 1054.
[1353] III, 1059.
[1354] III, 1060-1061.
[276]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
delivered secretly to Hongkong by airplane as well as being transported along the Tumen Route. Apparently the United States was also planning to send large transport planes of four to seven ton capacity to increase such traffic.[1355]
567. U.S.S. President Coolidge Unloads Troops and Tanks at Unidentified Chinese Port
On October 8, 1941 a circular dispatch originating in Shanghai revealed that a member of the crew of the U.S.S. President Coolidge had stated that his ship had been convoyed by a cruiser and an armed tanker from Manila to an unidentified port in China where they unloaded 54 tanks and 2400 men. According to the Japanese report, local American naval authorities had banned the publication of this activity.
American ships sailing from the United States to Siberia were soon to be armed. Inquiries made by Japanese in Shanghai had divulged that each ship's armament would consist of four 14-centimetre guns and an armed guard crew of one officer and twenty four enlisted men.[1356]
568. Japan Believes American Loan Is Reason for Visit of United States Representatives
On October 9, 1941 Major Philip Cochran, an American representative, accompanied by Sir Otto Niemeyer, director of the Bank of England, arrived in Hongkong by clipper from Manila with three other members of the American military mission who were en route to Chungking.[1357]
According to another Japanese spy report, the purpose of at least one of the visiting American parties was to consider the loan of $200,000,000 to Chungking to bolster Chiang Kai-shek's finances. One group was also to investigate Chungking's financial situation and was to include an English and an American member, cognizant of international treaty policies, to service as financial advisors to the Generalissimo.[1358]
569. Japan Promotes the Establishment of Independent Mohammedan Area
A Peking dispatch on October 8, 1941 revealed that for three years the Nipponese had beer conniving with an influential Mohammedan leader, Ba Tei Ken, from the Kansu and Ninghc area, for the establishment of an armed and completely independent Mohammedan territory Contributions for this project in conjunction with the military authorities were garnered from interested patrons who made payment to Counsellor Watanabe, the Japanese representative in Nanking.[1359]
570. Japan Anticipates Peace on China Front
Having captured the Lunghai Railway and designated it as the border line between North and Central China, Japanese experts reported that by October 7, 1941 they had materially strengthened their control over North China. Not only had they created a greater dependency upon Japan, but by capturing Ting-Chou simultaneously with Changsha they had struck a profound blow to Chungking. With such progress being made, they were convinced that establishment of peace along the entire front was not far from realization. It was also agreed that there would be no withdrawal from the captured territories, as such a move would be giving Chungking material for propaganda.[1360]
[1355] III, 1062.
[1356] III, 1063.
[1357] III, 1064.
[1358] III, 1065.
[1359] III, 1066.
[1360] III, 1067.
[277] [278 blank]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
PART C—JAPANESE DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
(l) Japanese-Nanking Relations
In the months following the official recognition of the Peoples' Government by Germany and the Axis-controlled countries of Europe, Tokyo supervised a reorganization of the political and economic systems then in existence at Nanking.
571. New Bank Notes Pay Custom Taxes
Among the major problems confronting Nanking at this time were the stabilization of its currency and the payment of debts. As a means of partially alleviating this financial condition, on August 8, 1941, the Japanese Finance Bureau ordered that the payment of customs taxes on salt and sugar be made in new bank notes after September 1, 1941. Japan had been continually advocating such a measure; therefore it did not come as a surprise to Chinese officials and no objections were anticipated. In the meantime a committee made other decisions on the future currency policy to be maintained.[1361]
572. Nanking Clarifies Its Duties Toward China Concessions
At the same time that adjustments to the financial status were being effected, the Nanking government sought to clarify its political position in relation to China. On August 12, 1941, officials of the Nanking government requested that the Japanese Foreign Minister define more explicitly Nanking's duties toward Chinese concessions. From their current information the duties connected with the execution of concession policies appeared to be merely auxiliary and were to be performed by the officials in China. Under the rules and regulations of the East Asia Reconstruction Bureau which had been given to Ambassador Nabuyuki Abe, these auxiliary duties came under the supervision of the Japanese Prime Minister and therefore an attempt to interpret them in any but a traditional manner was not permissible.
However, now that the Peoples' Government had received official recognition, the authorities inquired whether Nanking's duties toward Chinese concessions were transferred to the cognizance of the Japanese Foreign Minister. If not, Nanking believed that the East Asia Reconstruction Bureau had been given too much authority in the interpretation of concession responsibilities. Yet, while Tokyo actually formulated Nanking's policies, for all outward appearances, the Peoples' Government appeared to arrive at a decision under is own initiative.[1362]
573. Ambassador Honda Asks to Retain His Present Status
Fearing that the various proposed plans for an overall reorganization of the Peoples' Government would effect his position as Japanese Ambassador to Nanking, Mr. Kumataro Honda requested that Tokyo authorities influence Wang to reconsider any tentative change in his present official status. Because of the close contact he maintained with the developing situation in southern China, Ambassador Honda believed that he would be of more immediate value to Nanking if allowed to remain on duty in China.
In transmitting the record of this conversation to Nanking on August 14, 1941, the Japanese official in Tokyo pointed out that Ambassador Honda would be difficult to replace in the Japanese government. Therefore, if Ambassador Honda could be used effectively in the revised administrational set-up of Nanking, it was requested that he not be transferred. At
[1361] III, 1068.
[1362] III, 1069.
[279]
the same time, however, Tokyo realized that if President Wang Ching-wei considered the matter past reconsideration, then Ambassador Honda was not to agitate for reinstatement through other sources.[1363]
The afternoon of August 14, 1941 President Wang stated his decision regarding Ambassador Honda's position by explaining that any change in the administrative system inevitably necessitated a transfer of certain Foreign Office officials. No one would be replaced until definite replies of acceptance were received from respective successors. However, it was definite that Ambassador Honda would be reclassified in accordance with the new policies set forth by the Peoples' Government.[1364]
574. Japanese Offices in Central China Received New Code
During these governmental changes in Japanese controlled China, it was particularly important that security precautions be strengthened and strictly enforced. In order to supply various Japanese offices in Central China with the new Yoo code, Secretary Nishida of the Japanese Embassy at Nanking sailed aboard the Yawata Maru from Kobe on August 18, 1941. After arriving at Shanghai where Japanese officials were to facilitate his passage through the customs inspection, Mr. Nishida planned to spend several days there explaining the use of the new code system to the telegraphic office.[1365]
575. Nanking Fears Interception of Its Messages by Chungking
Japanese awareness of the necessity for safeguarding their communications was further evidenced on August 20, 1941. Fearing that their defective code system increased the danger of Chungking's interception and decryption of messages, Nanking proposed that its use be discontinued between Tokyo and Nanking. Instead, all telegraphic communications were to be sent simply in the customary telegraphic systems.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Foreign Office and the Minister of Communications conferred on the settlement of all problems connected with the transmission of code messages.[1366]
576. Nanking Army Refuses to Interfere with Problem Concerning Custom Officials
A few days later, on August 22, 1941, a political problem, undoubtedly proving the necessity for this increased security consciousness involved the Peoples' Government at Nanking. Apparently, the Nanking army had been offered some voice in the personnel questions affecting Japanese custom officials. But the Nanking Army Headquarters wired the North China army that in view of the present international situation, it preferred to leave such problems to Foreign Office officials. Therefore, the army was not to establish any group within the Special Affairs organization for the purpose of supervising customs.
Regarding the appointment of customs authorities, Nanking did offer one suggestion. Relying on information previously obtained from Peking, an official of the Peoples' Government proposed the exchange of Itaro Ishii and Mr. Koyamada in their respective positions.[1367]
577. Japan Negotiates Peace Terms with Shansi Army
About this same time Japan was concerned with another situation in which the political and military aspects were greatly related. In the early summer of 1941 the Peoples' Government conducted negotiations for the surrender of the Shansi army and the transfer of its allegiance from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's forces to those of Japan. However by
[1363] III, 1070.
[1364] III, 1071.
[1365] III, 1072.
[1366] III, 1073.
[1367] III, 1074.
[280]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
August 22, 1941, preparations for the terms of the peace treaty were still largely in the preliminary stages.
Nevertheless, the Japanese official in Peking, Mr. K. Hayashi, informed Tokyo that Mr. Yen Hsi-shan, Chief of the Military Commission and head of the Shansi army wished to sign an agreement with Japanese forces without delay. To complete the many necessary details, Mr. Tuchida, Staff Officer of the Japanese First Army, had arrived in Enan in the Shansi Province on August 19, 1941 in order to confer with the Chief of Staff Tsukiyama. Mr. Yen Hsi-shan was particularly anxious to complete negotiations with Japan because his faction had already severed connections with the central military authorities, and as a result about 10,000 troops of the Southern China Army had invaded territory under his domain.[1368]
578. Nanking Requests a Military Allotment from Japan
To meet the growing requirements for a standing army of its own, Nanking realized it would be necessary to obtain funds for training and equipment. Japan originally proposed extending a yearly allotment to the newly organized National government. Since the Nanking government lacked both military establishments for the proper training of its officers and sufficient weapons, President Wang suggested that the allotment for 1941 be used chiefly in alleviating these military deficiencies.[1369] Therefore, Nanking requested a 50,000,000 yen loan to cover the supply of military equipment. Although Major General Sadaaki Kagesa, acting Japanese military adviser, reduced the proposed loan to 10,000,000 yen before submitting it to the Foreign office through the General Army, he was in favor of using the money in this manner.[1370]
579. Japanese Consul Generals in China to Meet in Conference
In view of these numerous developments affecting Japanese-occupied China, the Foreign Minister initiated preparations for a conference of the Japanese Consul-Generals in China. That a definite date might be set for the meeting, Shanghai wired Tokyo on August 26, 1941 for further information. Unless more urgent matters interfered, Shanghai further suggested that an intelligence meeting, to be held about September 20, supplement the conference of the Consul-Generals.[1371]
The following day Minister Shinero Kuro Hidaka informed the head of the East Asia Bureau that the business and intelligence meeting was tentatively scheduled, pending the approval of the directors, for September 24 through September 26, 1941, in Nanking. After discussing the advisability of this meeting with the China Affairs Board, the director of the East Asia Bureau was expected to communicate with Minister Hidaka.[1372]
580. Japan Freezes Foreign Currency in Chinese Reserve Bank
One of the chief problems existing between Japan and the sections of China under its control evolved from a Japanese order freezing foreign currency in the Chinese Reserve Bank. To exchange the frozen funds into special yen currency would necessarily affect the reserve holding in the Japanese National Treasury since it would mean Japan's making good any loss the Chinese suffered by it. Therefore, on August 30, 1941 Tokyo definitely stated that no action would be taken to rescind the freezing measure.
Nevertheless, the Japanese government realized that unless some of the conditions arising out of the freezing order were alleviated, the reserve bank's credit would suffer and its oper-
[1368] III, 1075.
[1369] III, 1076.
[1370] III, 1077.
[1371] III, 1078.
[1372] III, 1079.
[281]
ations might cease. Therefore, the officials of the Chinese Reserve Bank planned to confer on methods of relieving the situation.[1373] However, Japan was aware that the question could not be entirely settled by such a meeting since Tokyo officials desired to turn the problem into a situation advantageous to their own government. Furthermore on August 30, 1941 it was suggested that Nanking use this opportunity to force China to institute policies of exchange and loans which would increase its cooperation with, and dependency upon, Japan.[1374]
581. Shanghai Restrictions on Gasoline Impede Japanese Military Transportation
At the same time that it began strict enforcement of this freezing order against China, Japan was suffering under a similar measure imposed upon it by Shanghai officials. Before the order freezing Japanese assets and the passage of strict export rules had been put into effect at Shanghai, the Nanking Petroleum Guild purchased refined gasoline from the Shanghai Foreign Oil Dealers for distribution to Chinese and Japanese military officials and civilians. However, beginning August 28, 1941, the oil dealers prohibited the sale of Shanghai gasoline for redistribution to the interior with the result that Nanking's supply of petroleum was estimated to be sufficient for only one month.
Because this order impeded the transportation of principal commodities throughout occupied China, Nanking officials informed Tokyo on August 30, 1941 that in cooperation with military authorities, the Peoples' Government considered effecting counter-measures against Shanghai. In order to carry out such measures successfully, Nanking asked the Foreign Minister to inform the East Asia Development Company in central China regarding the existing situation.[1375]
582. Berlin Appoints German Officials in China
It was particularly important during this period of economic and political crisis that Japan reinforce its diplomatic relations with Germany. After Berlin's official recognition of Nanking, the German government and the Japanese Embassy conferred on the appointment of Germans to serve as honorary Chinese consuls and on the protection of German nationals in China. On September 1, 1941 the German Charge in Nanking informed Minister Hidaka of this discussion.[1376]
583. Shanghai Sets Date for Intelligence Meeting
With this steady progression of international affairs reaching a peak in September, Shanghai sent a dispatch to Tokyo on September 3, 1941 definitely scheduling a date for the Japanese intelligence meeting,[1377] which had been previously set for September 20, 1941.[1378] In order that the special intelligence official being sent from Moscow might attend, the meeting was to be held from September 29 to October 2, 1941.[1379]
A few days later on September 5, 1941, Mr. Hiroshi Hori sent word to Counselor Tashiro that the Consul Generals from Manchukuo, Tientsin, Peking, Hankow, Canton, Hongkong, Nanking and Shanghai would attend this intelligence meeting.[1380]
[1373] III, 1080.
[1374] III, 1081.
[1375] III, 1082.
[1376] III, 1083.
[1377] III, 1084.
[1378] III, 1078.
[1379] III, 1084.
[1380] III, 1085.
[282]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
584. Japanese Official Observes Conditions in North China
In the meantime Mr. Chu Min-yi, Nanking's Minister of Foreign Affairs, stopped at several cities in occupied China, including Tientsin and Peking, in order to report on the existing conditions in northern China when he returned to Japan, where he was unofficially connected with the Embassy. While on this trip, Minister Chu Min-yi was scheduled to visit Commander Okamura and possibly Director Shiozawa. Therefore on September 4, 1941, Nanking requested that the military authorities and liaison officials of the East Asia Development Company be instructed to assist him.[1381]
585. Japan Seeks Ratification of Treaty with Shansi Army
With preparations underway for meetings to consolidate Japan's political hold over its positions in China, the agreement confirming the surrender and incorporation of the Shansi army into the Nanking puppet forces neared completion. Secret information forwarded from Mr. Sakuji Hayashi on September 5, 1941, revealed that in order to clarify the understanding and to have it ratified, representatives of the Japanese and Shansi forces were to confer on September 8, 1941. Colonel Tadeo Hongo of the North China army, leaving for Taigen on September 11, 1941, was scheduled to present the details of the agreement.[1382]
Shortly after this conference, a dispatch to Tokyo disclosed that Mr. Matsutaro Tanabe, Chief of the General Staff of the Japanese North China Army, Mr. Sigezaki and Mr. Tsukiyama, Staff officers of the Japanese First Army, Mr. Tsuchida, Mr. Hayashi and the Governor of the Shansi Province had assembled to discuss the final plans with Shansi army officials represented by Mr. Chao Chen-shou. But in spite of the efforts made to reach a satisfactory arrangement at that time, numerous problems requiring settlement by a specially designated committee of Japanese and Chinese experts prevented the signing of a definite treaty. Questions involving the Northwestern Business concern and the Do Ho Railway were pending. More important still was the request of the Shansi army to have their forces increased to approximately 300,000 or more men fully equipped with military supplies and with funds.[1383]
However, since Japan intended to use this Chinese army mainly for its political rather than its military significance, it was doubtful if the Shansi forces would ever be actually re-enforced. For Japanese purposes the value of the proposed treaty lay in the effect it would have on both Mr. Yu Hsueh Chung, Governor of the Hopeh Province and member of the military commission of the Nationalist government, and on Mr. Fu Tsuo I, Chairman of the Suiyuan Province and Commander of the 37th Chinese division. Tokyo further hoped that the surrender of the Shansi army and its adoption of Japanese policies would influence the Chinese traders who had financial interests in the Shansi Province.[1384]
In view of Japan's motives, Japanese officials requested that Mr. Yen Hsi-shan formally announce the break with Chungking and the signing of the armistice agreement with Japan. But until the Shansi army had been distributed into the various sections to unite with Japanese forces and until the problems of the Central and Eighth Route armies had been settled, Mr. Yen Hsi-shan refused to publicize the forthcoming treaty.[1385]
Although the terms of the final agreement had not been decided upon, the Nanking government on September 12, 1941 informed Tokyo that over 1,000,000 yuan would be disbursed to the Shansi army. If this force went to war with China, President Wang Ching-wei intended to grant Commander Yen Hsi-shan the position of Chairman of the Military Council and Vice-Chief of the Nanking government.[1386]
[1381] III, 1086.
[1382] III, 1087.
[1383] III, 1088.
[1384] Ibid.
[1385] Ibid.
[1386] III, 1089.
[283]
586. Japan Extends Loan for Central China Operations
As negotiations with the Shansi army achieved satisfactory results, Tokyo meanwhile became concerned with other operations in China. After studying the expenditures necessary for central China, on September 9, 1941, the Japanese government decided to extend a 30,000,000 yen loan. Funds were obtained from foreign loans and reparation moneys that had been accumulating in the six affiliated banks in northern China since March 30, 1941 when Japan established the National government in Nanking. Although definite conditions for drawing on these funds were to be decided for each separate case, the Yokohama Specie Bank was responsible for lending the money. That part of the foreign loan money which was accumulated through the Shanghai Maritime Customs was held in Chinese currency as a special reserve fund of the six banks.[1387]
587. Japanese Official Reviews Chinese Reserve Bank Problem
Because of the large amount of money used in the extension of its war with China and the distribution of loans to Japanese-subsidized China, the Tokyo government realized the necessity of maintaining financial stability. For that reason, the problems arising from the freezing of the foreign currency in the Chinese Reserve Bank were given careful consideration.[1388] The delay in the business dealings of their bank inconvenienced the completion of Japanese transactions as well. Therefore, on September 11, 1941, Mr. Kazaro Aoki, the economic adviser to the Japanese Embassy at Nanking, went to Shanghai in order to check the effectiveness and adaptability of the proposed settlement plans. The East Asia Development Bureau was kept informed of all developments.[1389]
588. Nanking Ambassador to Leave for Post in Germany
While Nanking's economic and military problems occupied much of Japan's attention during this period, its diplomatic affairs were not neglected. As a result of the international situation, and by an agreement with the British government, Japan dispatched the Asama Maru from Yokohama on September 20, 1941 to pick up Japanese evacuees from Europe. Since the ship stopped at Lisbon, Tokyo seized this opportunity to suggest that Mr. Li Sheng-wu, Nanking's newly-appointed Ambassador to Germany, and his official party take passage aboard this ship.[1390] But the Asama Maru was not scheduled to dock at Shanghai; therefore, on September 9, 1941, the Japanese government advised that the Nanking Ambassador be prepared to embark at an appointed port.[1391]
Certain complications arose when Japan realized that in order to reach their posts in Germany and Italy from the port at Lisbon, the Nanking officials must necessarily pass through countries which had not recognized this Japanese state. For that reason Nanking became concerned over the possible difficulty of securing the proper visas.[1392]
Mr. Li Sheng-wu was apparently not ready to leave Nanking at this time. Therefore, on September 12, 1941, Nanking wired Tokyo that only members of the Ambassador's staff would sail aboard the Asama Maru.[1393]
[1387] III, 1090.
[1388] III, 1080-1081.
[1389] III, 1091.
[1390] III, 1092-1093.
[1391] III, 1093.
[1392] III, 1094.
[1393] III. 1095.
[284]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
589. Japan Concerned over Delay in Appointing Nanking Ambassador to Italy
Since these preparations were underway for sending the new Nanking Ambassador to Berlin, Mr. Yoshiro Ando, a counselor at the Japanese Embassy in Rome on September 12, 1941 called on Mr. Prunas, a member of the Italian Foreign Office, to inquire about Italy's delay in approving the appointment of a Nanking Ambassador. In reply Mr. Prunas blamed the numerous details relating to the establishment of the New Order in Europe. Furthermore, he assured Mr. Ando that the Italian government had no objections to such an appointment and would act on the matter immediately.[1394]
Apparently, however, no action had been taken by September 16, 1941; for on that date Nanking asked that Tokyo use its influence in procuring the necessary agreement with Rome in order that the new ambassador might sail with other officials of the People's Government aboard the Asama Maru.[1395]
The evening of September 17, 1941 the Japanese Foreign Office received a confidential report from the Italian government. Although the appointment was yet to be confirmed by the political council, Mr. Go Gai Sei[1396] would probably be named as Nanking Ambassador to Italy.[1397]
590. Berlin Appoints German Officials to Nanking
While Nanking arranged for the establishment of embassies in countries recognizing its government, the Axis nations reciprocated by sending diplomatic officials to Nanking. Since a regular German Ambassador could not be sent in the immediate future, on September 16, 1941, the Berlin government announced the appointment of Mr. Fischer as a German Charge d'Affaires.[1398] Although it was anticipated that a regular German Ambassador would not be stationed in Nanking for many months, on September 23, 1941, Tokyo disclosed that Mr. Henrich D. Stahmer expected to be given that position. In a discussion with Mr. Shun-ichi Kase, Mr. Stahmer stated that as soon as the necessary arrangements were effected, Berlin would publicize this decision.[1399]
591. Nanking Ambassador Delays Trip to Germany
Yet if Germany's official diplomatic relations with the Peoples' Government apparently progressed ahead of schedule, this did not hold true of Nanking's plans. Unforeseen circumstances forced the Nanking Ambassador to delay his own trip. Therefore, on September 25, 1941, Mr. Li Shen-wu informed Mr. M. Fischer, the German Charge d'Affaires, that for the time being a secretary was being sent to act in the capacity of commercial attache in Berlin.[1400]
However, in order to complete plans for the departure of other Nanking officials to Germany on September 25, 1941, Nanking asked to be kept informed of the Asama Maru's sailing schedule from Yokohama.[1401] By October 1, 1941, Nanking had completed the list of reservations that it desired to make aboard the ship. The diplomatic staff to be aboard included Minister Li and his daughter, Secretaries Tang and Feng accompanied by their families, and several other secretaries and attendants.[1402]
[1394] III, 1096.
[1395] III, 1097.
[1396] Kana Spelling.
[1397] III, 1098.
[1398] III, 1099.
[1399] III, 1100.
[1400] III, 1101.
[1401] III, 1102.
[1402] III, 1103.
[285]
592. President Wang Seeks Information on Japanese-American Relations
Although its activities were closely allied with and dependent upon these Axis-dominated countries, Nanking did not lose sight of the important effect that the Japanese-American situation would have on the Peoples' Government. For that reason when requested for an interview which would undoubtedly entail a discussion of these relations, President Wang asked Tokyo for advice regarding the attitude to be adopted. Mr. Wang recalled that Prime Minister Konoye had been pessimistic because of the unpromising turn in diplomacy. However, by the end of September, 1941, Mr. Wang hoped that subsequent developments had thrown a new light on the existing problems.
Particularly interesting to President Wang was the United States' stand on the Chinese incident. When interviewed, Mr. Wang insisted that his government did not object to United States' participation in a settlement of the Japanese-Chinese war providing that its peace proposals did not aim at the overthrow of Japan's New Order in East Asia.[1403]
593. Germany Appoints Pro-Japanese Diplomats in China
Meanwhile, Nanking-German diplomacy became increasingly favorable and by October 2, 1941, Berlin had chosen a new staff of pro-Japanese diplomats to serve in occupied China. As had been expected,[1404] Mr. Stahmer was appointed Ambassador to Nanking upon the personal recommendation of Chancellor Adolph Hitler who believed him capable of complete cooperation with Japan. Although engaged in diplomatic work since the establishment of the Ribbentrop office, the present appointment was Ambassador Stahmer's first as a foreign diplomat.
Because of his enthusiasm for the Tripartite alliance, Ambassador Stahmer was anxious to suppress the old type of German diplomat in China. However, certain officials believed that the type of German diplomacy previously characterizing relations with China was deep rooted and therefore would clash with the newly-appointed ambassador. Possibly for that reason, the German government chose other well-established officials to work with Ambassador Stahmer in administrating German affairs in Nanking. Mr. Erich Boltze, former counselor to the German Embassy in Tokyo, and Mr. Johannes Borchers, former Consul-General in New York, were transferred to the Embassy in China. Mr. M. Fischer became the German Consul-General in Shanghai.[1405]
594. Tokyo Arranges Reception for Nanking Officials Going Abroad
In order to raise the prestige of those Nanking officials reporting to their Embassies abroad, the Peoples' Government arranged with Tokyo on October 3, 1941 for a special reception to be given before the sailing of the Asama Maru.[1406]
Since the sailing schedule of the Asama Maru remained indefinite,[1407] the Japanese anticipated several days in which to continue instructing the Nanking staff on their duties in foreign countries.[1408]
595. Chungking Investigates Rumors of Shansi Army Surrender
Despite the efforts of the Shansi army to keep secret its peace negotiations with the Japanese forces, an intelligence report transmitted from Shanghai on October 13, 1941 revealed that the Chungking military committee was sending five spies to investigate the rumors that Commander Yen Hsi-shan had transferred his allegiance to the Nanking government. These spies were prepared to enter Nanking secretly by way of Hongkong and Shanghai.[1409] Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
[1403] III, 1104.
[1404] III, 1100.
[1405] III, 1105.
[1406] III, 1106.
[1407] III, 1107.
[1408] III, 1106.
[1409] III, 1108.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire Chiang regime were in sympathy with this movement and were negotiating secretly with authorities in Shanghai.
Tokyo learned that the Nationalist Chinese had been waiting anxiously for the outcome to Japanese-American negotiations; for there had even been rumors to the effect that Chiang Kai-shek himself would sign a reconciliation with Japan if the United States would but give the word. This statement, according to the Japanese, was attributed to the fact that the Chinese people had suffered through four years of war and were now faced with civil strife. Since the Japanese believed that the Chinese war could have but one ultimate victor, it was only natural for the Chinese to hope that Japan and America would successfully conclude negotiations and that peace between the two Oriental nations might be achieved.[1348]
On October 6, 1941 Tokyo compiled an analysis of a report on the internal conditions of the Chungking forces. This message sent to Washington revealed that Chungking winter offensive of the previous year had failed and that the fourth period of preparations for a spring offensive was underway. In lieu of an out and out frontal attack, it seemed that Chiang Kai-shek was following a special strategy of propaganda to create confusion behind the lines and to promote partisan warfare. According to Japanese reports, the entire front was divided into eleven sectional fronts. The Chungking army consisted of 292 divisions, 200 of these being under direct control of Chiang Kai-shek. Recent investigations by the Japanese army had revealed that of these divisions manpower and equipment had declined 70 to 80%. Special note was made of the deterioration of qualifications for officers based on an examination of 2,500 prisoners. The examination had revealed that 500 had never finished primary education and only 62 of the total were graduates of colleges.[1349]
The survey showed that 1,500,000 recruits were needed annually to replenish the 200 divisions of the first line. Japanese authorities appeared amazed that Chinese front line commanders should have been given false battle reports from Chiang's headquarters. As in many cases these leaders were told that the Japanese army had been damaged excessively. These reports were greatly exaggerated. The Japanese believed that Chinese officers were refusing to obey orders from Chiang Kai-shek. Of 16,200 prisoners who were asked why they were not satisfied with the war of resistance against Japan, it appears that the majority complained of pay difficulties while others believed that the longer they continued resisting Japan, the more susceptible to communism they would become. The fact that there had been an increase of forces surrendering to the Nanking regime only emphasized the fact that Chinese officers were undecided as to the merits of continuing the war of resistance.[1350]
564. Proposal for Four Power Drive Against Japan Is Rejected by Moscow
Another suggestion of the Chungking leader met defeat at the Kremlin when a scheme to use Anglo-American-Soviet meetings in Moscow for disrupting Japanese-Russian relations in order to turn all four nations against Japan was rejected. The Russian Ambassador, Alexander Smenovich Panyushkin, had objected to the publication of an editorial about to be published in a Chungking paper. This editorial had dealt with the promotion of the above-mentioned scheme, and after Ambassador Panyushkin pointed out that it too clearly portrayed the real situation between China and Russia, the article was never published.[1351]
565. Tokyo Analyzes China's Financial Crises
As Tokyo explained the Chinese economic situation on the bases of intelligence summaries in a dispatch to Washington on October 2, there was an urgent need for financial and eco-
[1348] III, 1056.
[1349] III, 1057.
[1350] III, 1058.
[1361] III, 1053.
[275]
nomic assistance to the Chungking government. Since expenditures were expected to reach 15,000,000,000, Japanese analysts predicted that 12,000,000,000 would have to be paid by the banks of China by printing additional tender. Considering the fact that Chinese banks were already expected to issue 5,000,000,000 over the sum currently in circulation, nothing but bankruptcy could possibly result within ten months unless foreign loans were obtained.
The purchase of bonds had not solved the situation, which had been growing steadily worse since April 1941; and as a result, by October 2, the Chiang regime was rapidly putting into effect the following:
(1) "The transference of the finances of the Chiang regime to the capital (this is to be carried out from October; thereafter, all expenses in the province will be met by revenue from the provinces only).
(2) "The collection by the Chungking Government of rice revenue and the payment in kind of rice revenue at the ratio of one yuan to one "sito". Half of the revenue will consist of the unhulled rice. This will go into effect from September 16.
(3) "Issuing of ryo shoku koken (regarding this, the Government will issue an order on September 4 with 30,000,000 goku of stored rice as a basis. The purchase is to be made in installments during a period of five years, 30% by means of legal tender and 70% by means of "koken").
(4) "The establishment of government monopolies, (Sales monopolies of tea, salt, wine, tobacco, sugar, and matches are being planned).
(5) Absorption of funds from Shanghai and Hongkong (the tendency at present is for funds to blow back from the interior)."[1352]
566. United States Representatives Arrive in Chungking to Solve Economic Problems
In support of these negotiations and in the interest of the financial and military position of Chungking, Major General John Magruder, head of the United States Army commission to China, and his party of six arrived in Hongkong from Manila October 5[1353] and flew to Chungking on October 9. Apparently there was a total of thirty representatives, of which thirteen, including British Finance Counselor Hall-Patch, and Special Envoy Chen Kuang-fu, had already arrived by mid-September in Hongkong where they were to be joined by Mr. Fox, the American Financial Adviser to Chiang Kai-shek, and were to meet with the currency delegation commission.
The advance party supposedly had completed arrangements for an observation tour of key industrial and military areas. It was scheduled that, following the tour, some members would remain in Chungking and others would be posted at various fronts for a considerable length of time to keep Chungking authorities advised of practical methods for meeting the critical situation faced by the Nationalist government. In preparation for any crisis these representatives would study military supply as well as Japanese army tactics. In addition, they would assist in improving Chinese air fields. Apparently, shortly after the American party reached Chungking, Russian representatives would also arrive in the Chinese capitol to discuss the possibility of a Japanese attack upon Russia.
Also, in order to discuss all points of the problem of military cooperation with British and American authorities, Chinese representatives were dispatched to the Philippines.[1354]
The presence of Henry Francis Grady, the United States Economic expert and presidential adviser at Hongkong, who on October 10, 1941 was returning to America, had indicated to the Japanese that the United States was investigating methods of obtaining raw materials for military purposes. At this time tungsten and hog bristles, among other materials, were being
[1352] III, 1054.
[1353] III, 1059.
[1354] III, 1060-1061.
[276]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
delivered secretly to Hongkong by airplane as well as being transported along the Tumen Route. Apparently the United States was also planning to send large transport planes of four to seven ton capacity to increase such traffic.[1355]
567. U.S.S. President Coolidge Unloads Troops and Tanks at Unidentified Chinese Port
On October 8, 1941 a circular dispatch originating in Shanghai revealed that a member of the crew of the U.S.S. President Coolidge had stated that his ship had been convoyed by a cruiser and an armed tanker from Manila to an unidentified port in China where they unloaded 54 tanks and 2400 men. According to the Japanese report, local American naval authorities had banned the publication of this activity.
American ships sailing from the United States to Siberia were soon to be armed. Inquiries made by Japanese in Shanghai had divulged that each ship's armament would consist of four 14-centimetre guns and an armed guard crew of one officer and twenty four enlisted men.[1356]
568. Japan Believes American Loan Is Reason for Visit of United States Representatives
On October 9, 1941 Major Philip Cochran, an American representative, accompanied by Sir Otto Niemeyer, director of the Bank of England, arrived in Hongkong by clipper from Manila with three other members of the American military mission who were en route to Chungking.[1357]
According to another Japanese spy report, the purpose of at least one of the visiting American parties was to consider the loan of $200,000,000 to Chungking to bolster Chiang Kai-shek's finances. One group was also to investigate Chungking's financial situation and was to include an English and an American member, cognizant of international treaty policies, to service as financial advisors to the Generalissimo.[1358]
569. Japan Promotes the Establishment of Independent Mohammedan Area
A Peking dispatch on October 8, 1941 revealed that for three years the Nipponese had beer conniving with an influential Mohammedan leader, Ba Tei Ken, from the Kansu and Ninghc area, for the establishment of an armed and completely independent Mohammedan territory Contributions for this project in conjunction with the military authorities were garnered from interested patrons who made payment to Counsellor Watanabe, the Japanese representative in Nanking.[1359]
570. Japan Anticipates Peace on China Front
Having captured the Lunghai Railway and designated it as the border line between North and Central China, Japanese experts reported that by October 7, 1941 they had materially strengthened their control over North China. Not only had they created a greater dependency upon Japan, but by capturing Ting-Chou simultaneously with Changsha they had struck a profound blow to Chungking. With such progress being made, they were convinced that establishment of peace along the entire front was not far from realization. It was also agreed that there would be no withdrawal from the captured territories, as such a move would be giving Chungking material for propaganda.[1360]
[1355] III, 1062.
[1356] III, 1063.
[1357] III, 1064.
[1358] III, 1065.
[1359] III, 1066.
[1360] III, 1067.
[277] [278 blank]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
PART C—JAPANESE DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
(l) Japanese-Nanking Relations
In the months following the official recognition of the Peoples' Government by Germany and the Axis-controlled countries of Europe, Tokyo supervised a reorganization of the political and economic systems then in existence at Nanking.
571. New Bank Notes Pay Custom Taxes
Among the major problems confronting Nanking at this time were the stabilization of its currency and the payment of debts. As a means of partially alleviating this financial condition, on August 8, 1941, the Japanese Finance Bureau ordered that the payment of customs taxes on salt and sugar be made in new bank notes after September 1, 1941. Japan had been continually advocating such a measure; therefore it did not come as a surprise to Chinese officials and no objections were anticipated. In the meantime a committee made other decisions on the future currency policy to be maintained.[1361]
572. Nanking Clarifies Its Duties Toward China Concessions
At the same time that adjustments to the financial status were being effected, the Nanking government sought to clarify its political position in relation to China. On August 12, 1941, officials of the Nanking government requested that the Japanese Foreign Minister define more explicitly Nanking's duties toward Chinese concessions. From their current information the duties connected with the execution of concession policies appeared to be merely auxiliary and were to be performed by the officials in China. Under the rules and regulations of the East Asia Reconstruction Bureau which had been given to Ambassador Nabuyuki Abe, these auxiliary duties came under the supervision of the Japanese Prime Minister and therefore an attempt to interpret them in any but a traditional manner was not permissible.
However, now that the Peoples' Government had received official recognition, the authorities inquired whether Nanking's duties toward Chinese concessions were transferred to the cognizance of the Japanese Foreign Minister. If not, Nanking believed that the East Asia Reconstruction Bureau had been given too much authority in the interpretation of concession responsibilities. Yet, while Tokyo actually formulated Nanking's policies, for all outward appearances, the Peoples' Government appeared to arrive at a decision under is own initiative.[1362]
573. Ambassador Honda Asks to Retain His Present Status
Fearing that the various proposed plans for an overall reorganization of the Peoples' Government would effect his position as Japanese Ambassador to Nanking, Mr. Kumataro Honda requested that Tokyo authorities influence Wang to reconsider any tentative change in his present official status. Because of the close contact he maintained with the developing situation in southern China, Ambassador Honda believed that he would be of more immediate value to Nanking if allowed to remain on duty in China.
In transmitting the record of this conversation to Nanking on August 14, 1941, the Japanese official in Tokyo pointed out that Ambassador Honda would be difficult to replace in the Japanese government. Therefore, if Ambassador Honda could be used effectively in the revised administrational set-up of Nanking, it was requested that he not be transferred. At
[1361] III, 1068.
[1362] III, 1069.
[279]
the same time, however, Tokyo realized that if President Wang Ching-wei considered the matter past reconsideration, then Ambassador Honda was not to agitate for reinstatement through other sources.[1363]
The afternoon of August 14, 1941 President Wang stated his decision regarding Ambassador Honda's position by explaining that any change in the administrative system inevitably necessitated a transfer of certain Foreign Office officials. No one would be replaced until definite replies of acceptance were received from respective successors. However, it was definite that Ambassador Honda would be reclassified in accordance with the new policies set forth by the Peoples' Government.[1364]
574. Japanese Offices in Central China Received New Code
During these governmental changes in Japanese controlled China, it was particularly important that security precautions be strengthened and strictly enforced. In order to supply various Japanese offices in Central China with the new Yoo code, Secretary Nishida of the Japanese Embassy at Nanking sailed aboard the Yawata Maru from Kobe on August 18, 1941. After arriving at Shanghai where Japanese officials were to facilitate his passage through the customs inspection, Mr. Nishida planned to spend several days there explaining the use of the new code system to the telegraphic office.[1365]
575. Nanking Fears Interception of Its Messages by Chungking
Japanese awareness of the necessity for safeguarding their communications was further evidenced on August 20, 1941. Fearing that their defective code system increased the danger of Chungking's interception and decryption of messages, Nanking proposed that its use be discontinued between Tokyo and Nanking. Instead, all telegraphic communications were to be sent simply in the customary telegraphic systems.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Foreign Office and the Minister of Communications conferred on the settlement of all problems connected with the transmission of code messages.[1366]
576. Nanking Army Refuses to Interfere with Problem Concerning Custom Officials
A few days later, on August 22, 1941, a political problem, undoubtedly proving the necessity for this increased security consciousness involved the Peoples' Government at Nanking. Apparently, the Nanking army had been offered some voice in the personnel questions affecting Japanese custom officials. But the Nanking Army Headquarters wired the North China army that in view of the present international situation, it preferred to leave such problems to Foreign Office officials. Therefore, the army was not to establish any group within the Special Affairs organization for the purpose of supervising customs.
Regarding the appointment of customs authorities, Nanking did offer one suggestion. Relying on information previously obtained from Peking, an official of the Peoples' Government proposed the exchange of Itaro Ishii and Mr. Koyamada in their respective positions.[1367]
577. Japan Negotiates Peace Terms with Shansi Army
About this same time Japan was concerned with another situation in which the political and military aspects were greatly related. In the early summer of 1941 the Peoples' Government conducted negotiations for the surrender of the Shansi army and the transfer of its allegiance from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's forces to those of Japan. However by
[1363] III, 1070.
[1364] III, 1071.
[1365] III, 1072.
[1366] III, 1073.
[1367] III, 1074.
[280]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
August 22, 1941, preparations for the terms of the peace treaty were still largely in the preliminary stages.
Nevertheless, the Japanese official in Peking, Mr. K. Hayashi, informed Tokyo that Mr. Yen Hsi-shan, Chief of the Military Commission and head of the Shansi army wished to sign an agreement with Japanese forces without delay. To complete the many necessary details, Mr. Tuchida, Staff Officer of the Japanese First Army, had arrived in Enan in the Shansi Province on August 19, 1941 in order to confer with the Chief of Staff Tsukiyama. Mr. Yen Hsi-shan was particularly anxious to complete negotiations with Japan because his faction had already severed connections with the central military authorities, and as a result about 10,000 troops of the Southern China Army had invaded territory under his domain.[1368]
578. Nanking Requests a Military Allotment from Japan
To meet the growing requirements for a standing army of its own, Nanking realized it would be necessary to obtain funds for training and equipment. Japan originally proposed extending a yearly allotment to the newly organized National government. Since the Nanking government lacked both military establishments for the proper training of its officers and sufficient weapons, President Wang suggested that the allotment for 1941 be used chiefly in alleviating these military deficiencies.[1369] Therefore, Nanking requested a 50,000,000 yen loan to cover the supply of military equipment. Although Major General Sadaaki Kagesa, acting Japanese military adviser, reduced the proposed loan to 10,000,000 yen before submitting it to the Foreign office through the General Army, he was in favor of using the money in this manner.[1370]
579. Japanese Consul Generals in China to Meet in Conference
In view of these numerous developments affecting Japanese-occupied China, the Foreign Minister initiated preparations for a conference of the Japanese Consul-Generals in China. That a definite date might be set for the meeting, Shanghai wired Tokyo on August 26, 1941 for further information. Unless more urgent matters interfered, Shanghai further suggested that an intelligence meeting, to be held about September 20, supplement the conference of the Consul-Generals.[1371]
The following day Minister Shinero Kuro Hidaka informed the head of the East Asia Bureau that the business and intelligence meeting was tentatively scheduled, pending the approval of the directors, for September 24 through September 26, 1941, in Nanking. After discussing the advisability of this meeting with the China Affairs Board, the director of the East Asia Bureau was expected to communicate with Minister Hidaka.[1372]
580. Japan Freezes Foreign Currency in Chinese Reserve Bank
One of the chief problems existing between Japan and the sections of China under its control evolved from a Japanese order freezing foreign currency in the Chinese Reserve Bank. To exchange the frozen funds into special yen currency would necessarily affect the reserve holding in the Japanese National Treasury since it would mean Japan's making good any loss the Chinese suffered by it. Therefore, on August 30, 1941 Tokyo definitely stated that no action would be taken to rescind the freezing measure.
Nevertheless, the Japanese government realized that unless some of the conditions arising out of the freezing order were alleviated, the reserve bank's credit would suffer and its oper-
[1368] III, 1075.
[1369] III, 1076.
[1370] III, 1077.
[1371] III, 1078.
[1372] III, 1079.
[281]
ations might cease. Therefore, the officials of the Chinese Reserve Bank planned to confer on methods of relieving the situation.[1373] However, Japan was aware that the question could not be entirely settled by such a meeting since Tokyo officials desired to turn the problem into a situation advantageous to their own government. Furthermore on August 30, 1941 it was suggested that Nanking use this opportunity to force China to institute policies of exchange and loans which would increase its cooperation with, and dependency upon, Japan.[1374]
581. Shanghai Restrictions on Gasoline Impede Japanese Military Transportation
At the same time that it began strict enforcement of this freezing order against China, Japan was suffering under a similar measure imposed upon it by Shanghai officials. Before the order freezing Japanese assets and the passage of strict export rules had been put into effect at Shanghai, the Nanking Petroleum Guild purchased refined gasoline from the Shanghai Foreign Oil Dealers for distribution to Chinese and Japanese military officials and civilians. However, beginning August 28, 1941, the oil dealers prohibited the sale of Shanghai gasoline for redistribution to the interior with the result that Nanking's supply of petroleum was estimated to be sufficient for only one month.
Because this order impeded the transportation of principal commodities throughout occupied China, Nanking officials informed Tokyo on August 30, 1941 that in cooperation with military authorities, the Peoples' Government considered effecting counter-measures against Shanghai. In order to carry out such measures successfully, Nanking asked the Foreign Minister to inform the East Asia Development Company in central China regarding the existing situation.[1375]
582. Berlin Appoints German Officials in China
It was particularly important during this period of economic and political crisis that Japan reinforce its diplomatic relations with Germany. After Berlin's official recognition of Nanking, the German government and the Japanese Embassy conferred on the appointment of Germans to serve as honorary Chinese consuls and on the protection of German nationals in China. On September 1, 1941 the German Charge in Nanking informed Minister Hidaka of this discussion.[1376]
583. Shanghai Sets Date for Intelligence Meeting
With this steady progression of international affairs reaching a peak in September, Shanghai sent a dispatch to Tokyo on September 3, 1941 definitely scheduling a date for the Japanese intelligence meeting,[1377] which had been previously set for September 20, 1941.[1378] In order that the special intelligence official being sent from Moscow might attend, the meeting was to be held from September 29 to October 2, 1941.[1379]
A few days later on September 5, 1941, Mr. Hiroshi Hori sent word to Counselor Tashiro that the Consul Generals from Manchukuo, Tientsin, Peking, Hankow, Canton, Hongkong, Nanking and Shanghai would attend this intelligence meeting.[1380]
[1373] III, 1080.
[1374] III, 1081.
[1375] III, 1082.
[1376] III, 1083.
[1377] III, 1084.
[1378] III, 1078.
[1379] III, 1084.
[1380] III, 1085.
[282]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
584. Japanese Official Observes Conditions in North China
In the meantime Mr. Chu Min-yi, Nanking's Minister of Foreign Affairs, stopped at several cities in occupied China, including Tientsin and Peking, in order to report on the existing conditions in northern China when he returned to Japan, where he was unofficially connected with the Embassy. While on this trip, Minister Chu Min-yi was scheduled to visit Commander Okamura and possibly Director Shiozawa. Therefore on September 4, 1941, Nanking requested that the military authorities and liaison officials of the East Asia Development Company be instructed to assist him.[1381]
585. Japan Seeks Ratification of Treaty with Shansi Army
With preparations underway for meetings to consolidate Japan's political hold over its positions in China, the agreement confirming the surrender and incorporation of the Shansi army into the Nanking puppet forces neared completion. Secret information forwarded from Mr. Sakuji Hayashi on September 5, 1941, revealed that in order to clarify the understanding and to have it ratified, representatives of the Japanese and Shansi forces were to confer on September 8, 1941. Colonel Tadeo Hongo of the North China army, leaving for Taigen on September 11, 1941, was scheduled to present the details of the agreement.[1382]
Shortly after this conference, a dispatch to Tokyo disclosed that Mr. Matsutaro Tanabe, Chief of the General Staff of the Japanese North China Army, Mr. Sigezaki and Mr. Tsukiyama, Staff officers of the Japanese First Army, Mr. Tsuchida, Mr. Hayashi and the Governor of the Shansi Province had assembled to discuss the final plans with Shansi army officials represented by Mr. Chao Chen-shou. But in spite of the efforts made to reach a satisfactory arrangement at that time, numerous problems requiring settlement by a specially designated committee of Japanese and Chinese experts prevented the signing of a definite treaty. Questions involving the Northwestern Business concern and the Do Ho Railway were pending. More important still was the request of the Shansi army to have their forces increased to approximately 300,000 or more men fully equipped with military supplies and with funds.[1383]
However, since Japan intended to use this Chinese army mainly for its political rather than its military significance, it was doubtful if the Shansi forces would ever be actually re-enforced. For Japanese purposes the value of the proposed treaty lay in the effect it would have on both Mr. Yu Hsueh Chung, Governor of the Hopeh Province and member of the military commission of the Nationalist government, and on Mr. Fu Tsuo I, Chairman of the Suiyuan Province and Commander of the 37th Chinese division. Tokyo further hoped that the surrender of the Shansi army and its adoption of Japanese policies would influence the Chinese traders who had financial interests in the Shansi Province.[1384]
In view of Japan's motives, Japanese officials requested that Mr. Yen Hsi-shan formally announce the break with Chungking and the signing of the armistice agreement with Japan. But until the Shansi army had been distributed into the various sections to unite with Japanese forces and until the problems of the Central and Eighth Route armies had been settled, Mr. Yen Hsi-shan refused to publicize the forthcoming treaty.[1385]
Although the terms of the final agreement had not been decided upon, the Nanking government on September 12, 1941 informed Tokyo that over 1,000,000 yuan would be disbursed to the Shansi army. If this force went to war with China, President Wang Ching-wei intended to grant Commander Yen Hsi-shan the position of Chairman of the Military Council and Vice-Chief of the Nanking government.[1386]
[1381] III, 1086.
[1382] III, 1087.
[1383] III, 1088.
[1384] Ibid.
[1385] Ibid.
[1386] III, 1089.
[283]
586. Japan Extends Loan for Central China Operations
As negotiations with the Shansi army achieved satisfactory results, Tokyo meanwhile became concerned with other operations in China. After studying the expenditures necessary for central China, on September 9, 1941, the Japanese government decided to extend a 30,000,000 yen loan. Funds were obtained from foreign loans and reparation moneys that had been accumulating in the six affiliated banks in northern China since March 30, 1941 when Japan established the National government in Nanking. Although definite conditions for drawing on these funds were to be decided for each separate case, the Yokohama Specie Bank was responsible for lending the money. That part of the foreign loan money which was accumulated through the Shanghai Maritime Customs was held in Chinese currency as a special reserve fund of the six banks.[1387]
587. Japanese Official Reviews Chinese Reserve Bank Problem
Because of the large amount of money used in the extension of its war with China and the distribution of loans to Japanese-subsidized China, the Tokyo government realized the necessity of maintaining financial stability. For that reason, the problems arising from the freezing of the foreign currency in the Chinese Reserve Bank were given careful consideration.[1388] The delay in the business dealings of their bank inconvenienced the completion of Japanese transactions as well. Therefore, on September 11, 1941, Mr. Kazaro Aoki, the economic adviser to the Japanese Embassy at Nanking, went to Shanghai in order to check the effectiveness and adaptability of the proposed settlement plans. The East Asia Development Bureau was kept informed of all developments.[1389]
588. Nanking Ambassador to Leave for Post in Germany
While Nanking's economic and military problems occupied much of Japan's attention during this period, its diplomatic affairs were not neglected. As a result of the international situation, and by an agreement with the British government, Japan dispatched the Asama Maru from Yokohama on September 20, 1941 to pick up Japanese evacuees from Europe. Since the ship stopped at Lisbon, Tokyo seized this opportunity to suggest that Mr. Li Sheng-wu, Nanking's newly-appointed Ambassador to Germany, and his official party take passage aboard this ship.[1390] But the Asama Maru was not scheduled to dock at Shanghai; therefore, on September 9, 1941, the Japanese government advised that the Nanking Ambassador be prepared to embark at an appointed port.[1391]
Certain complications arose when Japan realized that in order to reach their posts in Germany and Italy from the port at Lisbon, the Nanking officials must necessarily pass through countries which had not recognized this Japanese state. For that reason Nanking became concerned over the possible difficulty of securing the proper visas.[1392]
Mr. Li Sheng-wu was apparently not ready to leave Nanking at this time. Therefore, on September 12, 1941, Nanking wired Tokyo that only members of the Ambassador's staff would sail aboard the Asama Maru.[1393]
[1387] III, 1090.
[1388] III, 1080-1081.
[1389] III, 1091.
[1390] III, 1092-1093.
[1391] III, 1093.
[1392] III, 1094.
[1393] III. 1095.
[284]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
589. Japan Concerned over Delay in Appointing Nanking Ambassador to Italy
Since these preparations were underway for sending the new Nanking Ambassador to Berlin, Mr. Yoshiro Ando, a counselor at the Japanese Embassy in Rome on September 12, 1941 called on Mr. Prunas, a member of the Italian Foreign Office, to inquire about Italy's delay in approving the appointment of a Nanking Ambassador. In reply Mr. Prunas blamed the numerous details relating to the establishment of the New Order in Europe. Furthermore, he assured Mr. Ando that the Italian government had no objections to such an appointment and would act on the matter immediately.[1394]
Apparently, however, no action had been taken by September 16, 1941; for on that date Nanking asked that Tokyo use its influence in procuring the necessary agreement with Rome in order that the new ambassador might sail with other officials of the People's Government aboard the Asama Maru.[1395]
The evening of September 17, 1941 the Japanese Foreign Office received a confidential report from the Italian government. Although the appointment was yet to be confirmed by the political council, Mr. Go Gai Sei[1396] would probably be named as Nanking Ambassador to Italy.[1397]
590. Berlin Appoints German Officials to Nanking
While Nanking arranged for the establishment of embassies in countries recognizing its government, the Axis nations reciprocated by sending diplomatic officials to Nanking. Since a regular German Ambassador could not be sent in the immediate future, on September 16, 1941, the Berlin government announced the appointment of Mr. Fischer as a German Charge d'Affaires.[1398] Although it was anticipated that a regular German Ambassador would not be stationed in Nanking for many months, on September 23, 1941, Tokyo disclosed that Mr. Henrich D. Stahmer expected to be given that position. In a discussion with Mr. Shun-ichi Kase, Mr. Stahmer stated that as soon as the necessary arrangements were effected, Berlin would publicize this decision.[1399]
591. Nanking Ambassador Delays Trip to Germany
Yet if Germany's official diplomatic relations with the Peoples' Government apparently progressed ahead of schedule, this did not hold true of Nanking's plans. Unforeseen circumstances forced the Nanking Ambassador to delay his own trip. Therefore, on September 25, 1941, Mr. Li Shen-wu informed Mr. M. Fischer, the German Charge d'Affaires, that for the time being a secretary was being sent to act in the capacity of commercial attache in Berlin.[1400]
However, in order to complete plans for the departure of other Nanking officials to Germany on September 25, 1941, Nanking asked to be kept informed of the Asama Maru's sailing schedule from Yokohama.[1401] By October 1, 1941, Nanking had completed the list of reservations that it desired to make aboard the ship. The diplomatic staff to be aboard included Minister Li and his daughter, Secretaries Tang and Feng accompanied by their families, and several other secretaries and attendants.[1402]
[1394] III, 1096.
[1395] III, 1097.
[1396] Kana Spelling.
[1397] III, 1098.
[1398] III, 1099.
[1399] III, 1100.
[1400] III, 1101.
[1401] III, 1102.
[1402] III, 1103.
[285]
592. President Wang Seeks Information on Japanese-American Relations
Although its activities were closely allied with and dependent upon these Axis-dominated countries, Nanking did not lose sight of the important effect that the Japanese-American situation would have on the Peoples' Government. For that reason when requested for an interview which would undoubtedly entail a discussion of these relations, President Wang asked Tokyo for advice regarding the attitude to be adopted. Mr. Wang recalled that Prime Minister Konoye had been pessimistic because of the unpromising turn in diplomacy. However, by the end of September, 1941, Mr. Wang hoped that subsequent developments had thrown a new light on the existing problems.
Particularly interesting to President Wang was the United States' stand on the Chinese incident. When interviewed, Mr. Wang insisted that his government did not object to United States' participation in a settlement of the Japanese-Chinese war providing that its peace proposals did not aim at the overthrow of Japan's New Order in East Asia.[1403]
593. Germany Appoints Pro-Japanese Diplomats in China
Meanwhile, Nanking-German diplomacy became increasingly favorable and by October 2, 1941, Berlin had chosen a new staff of pro-Japanese diplomats to serve in occupied China. As had been expected,[1404] Mr. Stahmer was appointed Ambassador to Nanking upon the personal recommendation of Chancellor Adolph Hitler who believed him capable of complete cooperation with Japan. Although engaged in diplomatic work since the establishment of the Ribbentrop office, the present appointment was Ambassador Stahmer's first as a foreign diplomat.
Because of his enthusiasm for the Tripartite alliance, Ambassador Stahmer was anxious to suppress the old type of German diplomat in China. However, certain officials believed that the type of German diplomacy previously characterizing relations with China was deep rooted and therefore would clash with the newly-appointed ambassador. Possibly for that reason, the German government chose other well-established officials to work with Ambassador Stahmer in administrating German affairs in Nanking. Mr. Erich Boltze, former counselor to the German Embassy in Tokyo, and Mr. Johannes Borchers, former Consul-General in New York, were transferred to the Embassy in China. Mr. M. Fischer became the German Consul-General in Shanghai.[1405]
594. Tokyo Arranges Reception for Nanking Officials Going Abroad
In order to raise the prestige of those Nanking officials reporting to their Embassies abroad, the Peoples' Government arranged with Tokyo on October 3, 1941 for a special reception to be given before the sailing of the Asama Maru.[1406]
Since the sailing schedule of the Asama Maru remained indefinite,[1407] the Japanese anticipated several days in which to continue instructing the Nanking staff on their duties in foreign countries.[1408]
595. Chungking Investigates Rumors of Shansi Army Surrender
Despite the efforts of the Shansi army to keep secret its peace negotiations with the Japanese forces, an intelligence report transmitted from Shanghai on October 13, 1941 revealed that the Chungking military committee was sending five spies to investigate the rumors that Commander Yen Hsi-shan had transferred his allegiance to the Nanking government. These spies were prepared to enter Nanking secretly by way of Hongkong and Shanghai.[1409] Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
[1403] III, 1104.
[1404] III, 1100.
[1405] III, 1105.
[1406] III, 1106.
[1407] III, 1107.
[1408] III, 1106.
[1409] III, 1108.
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