The delegates of the Far Eastern Republic of Chita, in
Eastern Siberia, who are at present in Washington, published on Monday what purported to be correspondence between the French and Japanese Governments defining their common policy in Siberia and at Washington. The so-called Republic is controlled from• Moscow, where the documents were doubtless concocted. M. Sarraut assured Mr. Hughes that France had made no agreement with any Power in regard to Siberia. The leading Japanese delegates denounced the documents as forgeries. Whether there is any truth in the suggestion that France and Japan are working on parallel lines against the Bolsheviks and against disarmament is another question. The alleged despatches excited interest in America because they confirmed views that are widely held. The despatches may be mere fabrications, and yet the belief in a Franco-Japanese understanding may be perfectly correct. On the other hand, it is to the interest of the Bolsheviks to sow suspicions among the Allies and, if possible, to prevent the Senate from ratifying the Pacific treaty.
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