Reasons for Taking Post

I RETURNED TO England on leave on May 1937. Towards the end of the year I was asked by the Foreign Office if I would go to Mukden on my return and it was intimated to me that, if I wished, I could refuse. The truth was that Mukden was a thankless task and though an officer would be scarcely likely to refuse it if the appointment meant promotion, he would think twice before accepting if he were already Consul-General. Indeed, a junior of mine had been offered the post and had turned it down while the officer I was being asked to replace on his transfer to another post, was also a junior of mine. None the less, much to the surprise of my friends, I accepted the transfer to Mukden.

I had, of course, my own reasons for so doing. For one thing the Foreign Office had sugared the pill by putting the offer in the form of an appeal and, though I realised this, I did not think it wise to reject it for this reason. As a matter of general principle, I have never made a request for a post or intrigued against a disliked appointment. For this attitude I take no credit: the post that looks attractive from a distance often proves the reverse in actual experience and vice versa. But I think that my main reason for accepting Mukden was the desire to see what I could do in a difficult post. Mukden appealed to the spirit of adventure that is present in all of us. In other words, it was its very difficulties that attracted me: I wanted to see if I could save or salvage some of the vestiges of British interests in Manchuria.

Anomalous Position

Great Britain has never, of course, recognised the existence of the new state of Manchukuo. In theory, Manchuria is still part of China and Consular appointments are notified, if at all, to the Chinese Government. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander: the government of Manchukuo does not recognise British Consuls, who have officially no standing at all. Carried to its logical conclusion, the theory of non-recognition would mean that the non-recognising country would not send Consuls or, if it did, that the ostracised country would not allow them to function.