Australian-eastern relations, 1934-1941

 
Component identifier:
Series 61
Content Summary:

Latham kept in touch with many of the officials and academics whom he met in Japan and China during the 1934 Eastern Mission and he was an advocate of closer economic and cultural relations between Australia and the two countries. He was president of the Melbourne branch of the Japan-Australia Society in 1935 and his deep interest in Japan was recognised when he was appointed the first Australian Minister to Japan in 1940.

Items 1-324 in this series consist of correspondence, dating from 1934-1940, dealing with the report of the 1934 Goodwill Mission, trade with China and Japan, an exchange of professors between Australian and Chinese universities, the establishment of a wireless service between Australia and Japan, Australian investment in the Chinese textile industry, F. M. Cutlack's book on the East and Chinese reactions to it, the formation of a branch of the Japan-Australian Society in Melbourne, an article by Latham on Australia and Japan in the Argus (20 April 1935), the Chinese press in Australia, a proposal to present a collection of Australian etchings to Japan, and the visit of K. Debuchi to Australia in 1935. The correspondents include K Hirota, the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, W. P. Chen and C. J. Pao, Chinese consuls in Australia, K. Murai the Japanese consul in Sydney, J. A. Lyons, E. Longfield Lloyd, H. J. Temperley, J. Leighton Stuart, and Sir Alexander Cadogan. Most of the letters date from 1934-1935.

Other papers include notes for speeches on the Eastern Mission; Latham's paper 'Australia and Japan'; Latham's review of F. Mourette's Social aspects of industrial development in Japan; a typescript 'Sports in Japan' and extracts from other publications; A. C. V. Melbourne's - Report on a visit to universities of China and Japan (1936); A. G. Coon's 'China's imports and exports of foodstuffs', Chinese Economic Journal (1934); and a few newscuttings from Australian and Japanese newspapers.

Comprises Files 1-9 (Items 1-452).

Immediate source of acquisition:
The bulk of the collection was presented to the National Library by Sir John Latham in December 1963, a few months before his death. In November 1974 the Library purchased some further papers from a secondhand book dealer. They comprised family letters and photographs, some diaries and papers relating to the High Court. These papers have been amalgamated into the original collection.

Access and use

Parent Restrictions:
Available for research. Not for loan.
Parent Terms of Access:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: