File No. 195.1/150 The British Ambassador (Spring Rice) to the Secretary of State No. 362] BRITISH EMBASSY, [Received October 27.] SIR: I have the honour to transmit to you herewith in original a note addressed by His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the United States Ambassador in London, which was sent to this Embassy by mistake, on the subject of the case of the S. S. Robert Dollar. I have informed Sir Edward Grey by telegraph that I am communicating this note to you, and requesting him to furnish Mr. Page with a copy. I have [etc.] [Enclosure] CECIL SPRING RICE The British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Grey) to the American Ambassador (Page) No. 56807/14] FOREIGN OFFICE, London, October 10, 1914. YOUR EXCELLENCY: With reference to the memorandum which your excellency was good enough to communicate to me on the 6th instant containing a copy of a telegram from the Secretary of the State Department in regard to the transfer of the S. S. Robert Dollar from the British to the United States registry, I have the honour to state that instructions have been sent to the British authorities at St. Lucia not to oppose the transfer of this vessel when she visits the island. I take this opportunity to inform your excellency that there has been a misapprehension as to the attitude of His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires and His Majesty's Consul at Rio de Janeiro in connexion with the proposed change of registry at that port. Neither of these officials opposed the transfer, which was prevented, according to my information, by the Brazilian Government under Brazilian regulations; these are understood to be inspired by the desire to avoid raising of the difficult questions involved in such a transaction in time of war. I have [etc.] For the Secretary of State: A. LAW File No. 195.2/274 The Acting Secretary of State to the French Ambassador (Jusserand) DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 7, 1914. EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 22d ultimo, in which, with reference to the question of the transfer to American registry of the German vessels Standard and Chatham, you advise the Department of the intention of your Government to observe, in cases of this class, "the provisions of the Declaration of London of February 26, 1909, which, in Article 56, stipulates that under certain conditions a flag transfer effected by an enemy vessel during a war is to be held of no effect." In reply I have the honor to say that a translation of your note has been referred to the Secretary of Commerce for a statement of the facts relating to the ownership and transfer to American registry of the vessels in question, and that upon receipt of a reply from the Department of Commerce, your note will receive the further attention of the Department. Accept [etc.] ROBERT LANSING File No. 195.1/209 The Ambassador in Germany (Gerard) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] AMERICAN EMBASSY, Berlin, December 4, 1914, 10 p. m. [Received December 5, 10.30 p. m.] 1000. In answer to an inquiry addressed to the Foreign Office as to whether any objection would be entertained by the German Government to the employment of vessels formerly of British register transferred since the outbreak of the war to the American flag, pursuant to the provisions of the American law governing the registry of foreign-built vessels, for the importation of cotton direct to German ports and the exportation of return cargoes from such ports, the following answer has been received: According to the general principles of international law (compare also on this point Article 56 of the naval conference at London February 26, 1909) the transfer of British vessels to American register after the commencement of the war is not valid per se. The German Government, however, declares itself ready, under the proviso that its consent may be withdrawn at any time should it become necessary, to waive the invalidity of such change of flag in so far as [such] ships are employed exclusively in direct traffic between American ports on the one hand and German ports on the other hand for the importation into Germany of goods, particularly of cotton, as well as for the exportation from Germany in return of such articles as are consigned to the United States and are destined for use in the United States. It is advisable that each ship of this description be provided by the competent American authorities for each voyage with a certificate that such ship is to take a cargo destined exclusively for Germany in a direct course to a German port and on its return trip from here transport goods which are to be loaded only in Germany and are consigned to the United States and destined for use in the United States. Ship should further be furnished for each individual voyage between America and Germany with a safe conduct issued by the Imperial German Ambassador, Washington, on the strength of this certificate requesting German war vessels to allow ship to pass unmolested on this journey. GERARD CENSORSHIP OF THE CABLES BY BELLIGERENT GOVERNMENTS File No. 763.72/143 The Consul at St. Pierre (Kemp) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] AMERICAN CONSULATE, St. Pierre, August 5, 1914, 2 p. m. [Received 1.40 p. m.] Will you authorize protection as neutral property telegraph cables leased by the Western Union at this place? KEMP The Secretary of State to the Consul at St. Pierre (Kemp) [Telegram] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, August 11, 1914. Your August 5. Under generally accepted principles international law, submarine telegraphic cable between territory of belligerent and neutral may be cut by belligerents outside of territorial waters of neutral in course of military or naval operations; but if cable is not used to furnish military information or for other unneutral purposes, Department hopes that belligerents will not undertake to do so. BRYAN File No. 763.72/154 The Kirby Lumber Company to the Secretary of State [Telegram] Houston, Texas, August 5, 1914. Telegraph companies refuse to handle code messages for Porto Rico advising French cable New York to Porto Rico regulations demand plain language and full address. Must these revisions be complied with on messages from one part of United States to another? We, of course, considering Porto Rico United States territory and business in a sense interstate. KIRBY LUMBER COMPANY The Secretary of State to the Kirby Lumber Company DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, August 7, 1914. Subject your telegram receiving attention to end that ordinary code messages between United States and Porto Rico may not be refused. Great number of questions suddenly arising out of European war require time for adjustment. You will be advised. W. J. BRYAN File No. 841.731/18 The Western Union Telegraph Company to the Secretary of State1 WASHINGTON, August 11, 1914. SIR: Believing that the United States Government fully appreciates the desirability of removing every unnecessary bar to the development of this country's foreign business during the present serious European situation, it occurs to us that it may be consistently possible for our Government to make such representations to the British Government as will be calculated to admit of a more reasonable attitude with respect to censorship of cable messages by the War Office at London. By reason of unnecessary exactions in the way of full addresses and signatures to every message, no matter how innocent and innocuous its character, the capacity of the working Atlantic cables has been cut down just 50 per cent at this time when the demands upon the cables exceed their capacity, and there is the greatest public distress to learn of the whereabouts and safety of American tourists caught in Europe when the war broke out. The unusual requirement that in addition to being written in plain language, messages must bear a full address, including street and number, and be signed in the full name of the sender, has served to exactly double the number of words in the average message, which not only reduces the capacity of the cables in actual messages, as stated, but doubles the cost to the public without any possible apparent advantage to the military operations in England. It would seem to be apparent that a street and number in the case of well-known firms, such as the Cunard Steamship Company in Liverpool, or Messrs. Morgan, Grenfell and Company in London, and hundreds of other equally prominent firms, is wholly unnecessary, and that the character of a message which on its face is of a social nature, is not affected by the circumstance that it is signed "William" instead of "William Thompson Smith." Similarly, messages exchanged between the United States and Porto Rico, are not only subject to censorship, but come under the same stringent restrictions as other traffic, simply because this company's connection with Porto Rico is by means of English cables with Havana, which touch at Jamaica, and in disregard of the fact that the French Cable Company, whose cables land directly from the United States to Santiago and Porto Rico, offers an untrammeled channel for any messages hostile to British interests to be transmitted.2 Advices just received from the other side show also that the censors have forbidden this company to make any inquiries respecting the delivery of messages, insisting that such inquiries should be made in the form of private messages to be paid for by the senders and addressed to their correspondents, upon the theory presumably that inquiries made by the company might develop the fact that in certain cases the messages have been suppressed by the censors, but this fact 2 See the telegram from Kirby Lumber Company, ante, p. 503. would, of course, be equally developed by the paid inquiries referred to. It may seem illogical for the cable companies which would benefit from this regulation appealing therefrom, but so far as this company is concerned, we do not wish to be put in the position of appearing to take advantage of the situation in order to mulet the public. We have, of course, made our own appeal to the British authorities, through our representatives abroad, but without success. It is hoped, however, that if our Government will interest itself in the matter, some reasonable modification of the present regulations may be effected. I would be glad to be advised of the Department's action. H. T. TAFT File No. 763.72/154 The Secretary of State to the Kirby Lumber Company DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 1, 1914. SIRS Referring to this Department's telegram to you of August 7, 1914, regarding the refusal of code messages for Porto Rico, the Department is informed by the Western Union cable system that arrangements have been made whereby all code and other messages for Porto Rico are now accepted at all of the company's offices without restriction.1 I am [etc.] For the Secretary of State: File No. 841.731/18 The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) [Telegram] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, August 15, 1914, 5 p. m. The Western Union Telegraph Company has requested the Department to make such representations to the British Government as will admit of a more reasonable attitude with respect to censorship of cable messages by the War Office at London. The company claims that by reason of unnecessary exactions in the way of full addresses and signatures to every message, no matter how innocent its character, the capacity of the working Atlantic On August 14 the Kirby Lumber Company wrote that, while arrangements had already been made with the American companies for sending code messages, the French company continued to refuse them (File No. 763.72/459). |