The Grenville Clark-Edgar Snow Correspondence

Author(s): Kenneth E. Shewmaker

Source: Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 45, No. 4 (Nov., 1976), pp. 597-601
Published by: University of California Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3638104 .
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Notes and Documents
The GrenvilleClark-
Edgar Snow Correspondence

Kenneth E. Shewmaker

ofthehistory
Theauthoris a member in Dartmouth
department
College.

ON MARCH 26, 1963, GrenvilleClark wrote Edgar Snow seeking

his advice on how to establishcommunicationswiththe leaders of the
People's Republic of China. Clark therebyinitiateda correspondence
of considerable interestto scholarsof American-EastAsian relations.
The correspondence, whichconstitutespartof the large collectionof
Grenville Clark Papers in Baker Library at Dartmouth College, is
valuable for an understanding of many aspects of Sino-American
affairsfrom 1963 to 1967 and provides significantinsightsinto the
thinkingof the correspondents.'
A tirelesscrusader forworld peace throughworldlaw,Clark (1882-
1967) had been devotingnearlyall of his timesince 1944 to a plan for
revisingdrasticallythe United Nations Charterin order to establisha
world federation under which total disarmamentcould be achieved
and policed.2 Convinced that there had to be "complete national dis-
armamentby all nationsor else none" (Clark to Snow, Nov. 30, 1965),
he was anxious to promotea dialogue withthe world'smostpopulous
nation. Accordingly,Clark sought out the one Americanwho at the
time had access to the governmentof the People's Republicof China.

'For a descriptionof the Clark Papers, see Ruth N. Wight,"The Papers of Grenville
Clark," Dartmouth College LibraryBulletin,IX (Nov. 1968), 57-61. In order to secure
access to the Clark Papers, certain parts of which are open only on a restrictedbasis,
one may write to Mr. Edward C. Lathem, Librarian of the College, Baker Library,
Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
2'On Clark's life and activities,see Robert H. Reno, "GrenvilleClark, 1882-1967,"
ibid.,55-57; and Norman Cousins and J. GarryClifford,eds., Memoirsofa Man: Gren-
ville Clark (New York, 1975), 3-29.

597

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598 PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW

Until President Richard M. Nixon made his historicvisitto China, as

John S. Service has observed,Edgar Snow was the "chiefcontact"that
the Chinese Communistshad withthe Americans.From 1949 until
his death in 1971, Snow occupied a unique position in the non-
relations between China and the United States. As author of the
classic Red StaroverChina,he was the outstandingAmericanwriteron
China, and he also had the trustand admirationof such Chinese
leaders as Mao Tse-tung and Chou En-lai.3 His firstwife, Helen
Foster Snow, believes that he was probably"the only foreignfriend
Mao Tse-tung ever made," and as an old friend,Mao allowed him
privilegespossessed byno otherWesternjournalist,holdingextensive
conversations with him in 1936, 1939, 1960, 1965, and 1970.4
Contained in six file folders, the Clark-Snow materials consist
mainlyof privatecorrespondence betweenthe two men. In addition
to the approximately seventy-five lettersexchanged between 1963
and 1967, the collection includes postcards, transcriptionsof tele-
phone conversations,and duplicates of articlesand speeches. It also
includes copies of Snow's communicationsto such organizationsas
the Committee for a Review of Our China Policy and to various
individuals, such as George Hatem and Mao Tse-tung. Snow's letter
to Mao of May 10, 1963, introducingClark to the Chairman,provid-
ing an appraisal of the climateof opinion in the United Statestoward
China, and recommending that the Chinese allow the eminent
cardiologistDr. Paul Dudley Whiteto visitthe People's Republic,is of
special interest.Persuaded that the "nondiscourse"between Peking
and Washington was enhancing the danger of conflict,Snow ex-
pressed his conviction"thatdifferencesbetweenthe twocountriescan
never be settled by war but that war can 'settle' both peoples for
good-in a bad way."
Snow's letter to Mao is contained in the firstfolder,which deals
mainlywithwhat Clark called an attempt"to open a desirablecrack"
in Sino-American relations (Clark to Snow, June 20, 1963). While
attending a medical conferencein Moscow in the summerof 1962,
White and Alexander J. Haddow, a leading Britishauthorityon
cancer, had received invitationsfrom Huang Chih-shih,a Chinese
heart specialist, on behalf of the Chinese Academy of Medical
Sciences to visitPeking the followingyear. Haddow's invitationwas
confirmed but White was told that his trip would not be possible
because of the unsatisfactory stateof Chinese-Americanaffairs.5As a

'John S. Service, "Edgar Snow: Some Personal Reminiscences,"China Quarterly, L

(April-June 1972), 209-219.
4Helen Foster Snow to the author, April 1, 1965.
'Alexander J. Haddow, "GrenvilleClark,"in Cousins and Clifford,eds., Memoirs
ofa
Man, 232-233.

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 Notesand Documents 599

friend and also a patient of White's,Clark sought Snow's advice on

how to induce the Chinese to reconsider."Responding immediately,
Snow offeredto help in any way thathe could in opening up contact
with China, feelingthatthe "longer we refuseto face the realitiesof
power the more difficultit will be to make the ultimateadjustment
historydemands of us" (Snow to Clark, April 8, 1963). Althoughthe
Chinese refused to change their decision in 1963, in 1971 White
headed the firstAmerican delegation to tour the People's Republic.'
The record of the failure of 1963, however,constitutes,in Snow's
words, "a highlyinterestingdocumentarycase" of the travelproblem
(Snow to Clark, July 9, 1963). The file also contains still relevant
insights from Snow on how to communicate effectivelywith the
Chinese and to avoid closingdoors (see especiallySnow to Clark,June
23, 1963, and February 16, 1964).
Again enlistingthe support of Snow, in 1964 Clark himselftriedto
secure entryinto China in order to furtherthe cause of world peace.
Correspondence on Clark'sequallyabortiveeffortis scatteredthrough-
out three folders.The foldertitled"Miscellaneous Correspondence"
contains a letterby Clark to Snow dated November28, 1964, recount-
ing several unsuccessfulapproaches to the Chinese and requesting
Snow's assistance; the othertwo folders,labeled "Edgar Snow,China,
1964" and simply"Edgar Snow," containcorrespondencefrom1964
through 1966 and include letterson various subjects. Among the
topics dealt with are the production of Snow's documentaryfilm,
"One Fourth of Humanity," which Clark generously helped to
finance; United States policy toward China, Taiwan, and Vietnam;
Mao's views on the possibilityof total disarmament,which he dis-
missed in a conversation with Snow as "Utopian because the 'im-
perialists' would never" agree to it (Snow to Clark, Dec. 9, 1965); a
prophetic analysis by Snow of the probable evolution and conse-
quences of the Sino-Sovietdispute (Snow to Clark,April10, 1964). Of
particular interestin the collectionis a searing critiqueby Snow of
American reporting on China. With few exceptions, Snow wrote
Clark on August 21, 1964, the American press had "refused to
publish any reportsby eyewitnessesof the China scene except those
which confirmtheirown wishfulthinkingand self-deception."Snow's
assertion that for a decade the major organs of mass communication
in the United States had betrayedtheirresponsibilitiesby decliningto
provide the public with serious factual reportingabout the People's
Republic raises questions that should be tested by futurescholarly

"See Paul Dudley White, "Memories of GrenvilleClark as Patientand Friend," in

Cousins and Clifford,eds., Memoirsofa Man, 190-194.
7Cousins and Clifford,eds., Memoirsofa Man, 24-25.

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600 PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW

research.8Despite all his efforts,includinghis personal intervention

with Mao in Peking in 1965, Snow was unable to persuade the
Chinese to issue an invitationforClark to visitthe People's Republic
(see Snow to Clark, March 15, 1965). Six yearslater,Clark'sdaughter,
Mary Clark Dimond, did get to China, accompanyingPaul Dudley
White on his visit,and theredistributedcopies of the book her father
had writtenin 1958 withLouis B. Sohn of Harvard Law School, World
Peace throughWorldLaw."
Despite reservationsabout specifics,Snow himselfbecame increas-
inglysympatheticto Clark's ideas on total disarmamentunder world
law administered by an internationalfederation.The folder titled
"Second Dublin Conference, Edgar Snow," continues a dialogue
between them on the subject. In 1945, Clark had sponsored a con-
ference on world peace at his home in Dublin, New Hampshire,and
in 1965 the conferees met again to reassess the validityof their
proposals. Sending Snow a draftof the "Second Dublin Declaration,"
Clark solicitedhis views.Althoughhe gentlycautioned Clark that"we
must not assume that what seems true, logical and workablein our
country" may appear the same to others (Snow to Clark, April 14,
1966). Snow found himself in "general agreement" with Clark's
notions, with one significantexception-the problem of reconciling
an effectiveworld organizationto preventinternationalwars withthe
Marxistbeliefin the sovereignrightof revolutionaryforcesto change
intolerable regimeswithoutexternalinterference.How, Snow asked,
does world federalism"make the worldsafe forrevolutions"(Snow to
Clark, March 4, 1966)?
As the last folder containing a copy of Snow's lettersupporting
Clark's nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1967 suggests,their
differencesover specificsdid not detract fromwhat had developed
into a warm friendship.Snow even discussed Clark's plan withMao
and tried to enlist United Nations SecretaryGeneral U Thant's sup-
port for the Second Dublin Declaration (see Snow to Clark, Nov. 5,
1965). Perhaps Snow best summarized their relationshipwhen he
wrote Clark that "It is a most hearteningexperience to know you;
Christianitycannot be said to have failed altogether"(Snow to Clark,
Dec. 22, 1965).
The Clark-Snow correspondenceoffershistoriansa rich source of
informationabout China and the United States and is particularly
importantin documentingthe unique statusof Edgar Snow. A man
who felta "responsibilityto both China and America"(Snow to Mao,
a
For a thoughtfulcommentaryon the curious gap between firsthandreportson
revolutionsby men like Snow and HerbertMatthewsand the conventionalwisdomdis-
pensed by the national press at home, see James C. Thomson, Jr., "On Reporting
Revolutions,"NiemanReports(Summer 1975), 1, 21.
9Cousins and Clifford,eds., Memoirsofa Man, 24-25.

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 Notesand Documents 601

May 10, 1963), he was the only United States citizen capable of
surmounting the travel barrier in those frozen years from 1949 to
1971 and perhaps the only foreignerwho enjoyed a close personal
relationship with Mao Tse-tung. When Clark tried to facilitatehis
request for permissionto visitPeking by mentioningto the Chinese
ambassador to SwitzerlandthatSnow had been invitedtwicein recent
years, that diplomat simplyanswered that Snow "was the exception"
(Clark to Snow, Nov. 28, 1964).

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