Tokyo, Apr. 15. "An amicable settlement of the Tientsin silver question is very near, as a result of a conversation between Mr. Masayuki Tani (Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs) and Sir Robert Craigie (British Ambassador) on Saturday morning, but the exact date Of the settlement cannot be given," declared that Foreign Office spokesman at the press conference today, according to a Japanese report.
Replying to a foreign correspondent, he said all minor details of the issue were exhaustively discussed by Mr, Tani and Sir Robert, but pointed out that the latter had to refer the matter to his Government for instructions.
The European war, the spokesman added, had nothing to do with the silver question, which was not an important issue, The problem had, however, various technical phases which required careful consideration.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.