Washington, Aug. 25. is learned here that Mr. Sumner Welles, Assistant Secretary of State, will leave for Europe on August 25 in the Queen Mary.
This decision was reached after a long conversation with President Roosevelt yesterday. morning when he received instructions to inform interested powers of President Roosevelt's decision to maintain an open door policy in China.
Diplomatic circles state that the visit is of political importance. Mr: Welles is President Roosevelt's right hand man and is indispensable in Washington in moments of crisis. Mr. Welles has long been contemplating this trip, but has always been forced to put it off on account of the international situation. He will stay in Europe for four weeks, officially on holiday. He intends to visit the south-east of France and to remain a very short time only in London and Mr. Cordell Hull's statement last night is considered extremely important here because he insisted on the policy "of protection of American life, interests and. property in China" and said that the American Government intends to do all it can to end the war. It isnot expected, however, that Nanking and Tokyo will follow Mr, Hull's advice, but the importance of the statement lies in the fact that exposes the United States desire of firmly maintaining an open door policy in China which Japan had violated, following the Manchoukuo incident—Havas.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.