File No. 611.479/98 The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] AMERICAN EMBASSY, London, December 23, 1914, 6 p. m. [Received 8.30 p. m.] 1326. Your 815, December 22. I have presented same but British Government awaits our answer to proposed arrangement, see my 1199, December 6.1 AMERICAN AMBASSADOR: File No. 611.51L9/15 The Ambassador in France (Sharp) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] AMERICAN EMBASSY, Paris, December 24, 1914. [Received 11 p. m.] 403. Department's 257, November 11.2 French Government authorizes export chrome ore New Caledonia provided seller gives bond at customhouse, port of departure, to be released by French consul at New York upon arrival shipment. SHARP File No. 611.419/107 The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] AMERICAN EMBASSY, London, December 28, 1914, 6 p. m. [Received 10 p. m.] 1351. Your 838, December 26 [24], and 839, December 26, and [819], December 23.3 I have presented same, but I have little hope of success till an answer is received to the proposed working arrangement which the British Government means to cover this and other difficulties caused by embargo. PROJECTS OF COOPERATION WITH OTHER AMERICAN STATES FOR THE PROTECTION OF NEUTRAL TRADE File No. 763.72112/335a The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) [Telegram] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 8, 1914. 490. The Argentine Government is desirous of obtaining information in regard to the course pursued by the United States in cases of contraband cargoes which have been seized or detained by the British authorities, and requests unofficially that its Minister at London may hold informal conversations with you on this subject. At the instance of the Argentine Minister, therefore, you may advise him entirely unofficially as to the course followed by the United States in its representations to Great Britain regarding seizures and detentions of contraband. LANSING File No. 763.72112/372a The Acting Secretary of State to the Argentine Minister (Naón) DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 9, 1914. MY DEAR MR. MINISTER: In compliance with your request of to-day to be informed as to the position of the United States in the matter of detentions by British authorities of vessels carrying alleged contraband of war, I would advise you that this Government has stated its position in reference to vessels detained, pending the receipt of guaranties regarding the non-exportation of their cargoes, in order that His Britannic Majesty's Government might not labor under the misapprehension that the United States admitted the propriety of their action. This Government stated that under the existing rules of international law and usage the neutral owner of articles on a neutral vessel bound to a neutral port, which articles under certain conditions might acquire the character of contraband, is not responsible for their future disposition by the government of the neutral port of their destination, or by the person to whom they are bona fide consigned in the ordinary course of trade. The treatment which such goods may receive after delivery to the consignees in a neutral country is a matter between the belligerent government investigating the shipment and the neutral government concerned, for which a bona fide shipper should not be made to suffer. In the opinion of this Government, the belligerent right of visit and search requires that the search should be made on the high seas at the time of the visit and that the conclusion of the search should rest upon the evidence found on the ship under investigation and not upon circumstances ascertained from external sources. That evidence, in the view of this Government, should make out a prima facie case to justify the captor in taking the vessel into port. To take vessels into custody and send them into a port of the belligerent without prima facie evidence to impress the cargo with the character of absolute or conditional contraband constitutes, in the opinion of the United States, a justifiable ground for complaint by a neutral government, and a basis for a legal claim for damages against the belligerent government which has detained the vessel for the purpose of inquiry through other channels as to the ultimate destination of the cargo, or as to the intended action of the government of the neutral country of destination. This Government therefore reserved on behalf of its citizens interested in any such vessels or cargoes the right to hold His Britannic Majesty's Government responsible in damages, and requested that this method of detention be discontinued, and that visit and search of vessels be made at sea with the greatest expedition possible under the circumstances. I am [etc.] ROBERT LANSING File No. 763.72112/357 The Argentine Minister (Naón) to the Secretary of State [Translation] ARGENTINE LEGATION, Washington, November 9, 1914. [Received November 10.] MR. SECRETARY: In confirmation of the conversations that I have had the honor to conduct with your Department relative to the means of dealing with the obstacles and injuries inflicted upon Argentine interests, in this case identical with those of the United States, by the British Government's interpretation of conditional contraband and by the detention of neutral vessels carrying cargoes consigned to neutral countries, I have the pleasure of expressing to your excellency the gratification with which the Argentine Government would see the establishment of a close understanding between our two Governments upon the maintenance of a doctrine which would best protect their common interests and upon a method of procedure which would prevent the damage caused to the commercial interests of both countries by the British Government's present interpretation. With respect to the doctrine, my Government insists, as your excellency's Government has done in regard to the United States, that the rights and duties of the Argentine Republic and of its citizens in the present European war are perfectly defined by the rules and principles of international law, and it understands, therefore, being disposed, as it is, strictly to conform to those duties, that it must also protest in each particular case when its rights are encroached upon or their exercise interfered with by authorities in the service of His Britannic Majesty. Consequently, whenever an Argentine 2432-28-28 vessel with cargo consisting of native products and bound for a neutral port is detained, the Argentine Government will notify the British Government of its protest, of its denial of any right warranting such detention, and of its determination to hold the Government of Great Britain responsible for any damages which that detention may cause Argentine interests to suffer, and which will be made the subject of discussion when circumstances permit. With respect to the method of procedure, the Argentine Government is willing, as is the American Government, that such nonrecognition of said right of detention, after having been formulated in general terms to cover all cases, be argued separately in each case in an amicable manner, taking into consideration the special circumstances attendant thereon, in order to reduce said damages as far as possible, without prejudice to the presentation in each case also of the respective protest, if circumstances render it advisable. The Argentine Government likewise believes that, in furtherance of the effectiveness of the understanding between our two Governments, the Ambassador of the United States and the Argentine Minister at London should be instructed to keep each other informed of the progress of their respective representations in each case and to adopt uniform interpretations and methods of procedure. The proposed understanding might be definitely rendered formal by an acknowledgment of this note accepting the statements herein made. I understand, Mr. Secretary, that the foregoing constitutes an exact expression of our conversations on the position of the two Governments in the matter in question. I avail [etc.] R. S. NAÓN File No. 763.72112/356 The Minister in Peru (McMillin) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] AMERICAN LEGATION, Lima, November 10, 1914, noon. [Received 5 p. m.] I have received from the Minister for Foreign Affairs for transmission to the Department a memorandum deploring the interrup tion of the commerce of peaceful nations by the nations at war; it expresses the belief of the Peruvian Government that the moment has arrived for the American Republics to take joint action to guarantee the inviolability of their trade routes by keeping them in all their extent free from the effects of hostilities between belligerent naval forces. It has been communicated by Peru also to the Governments of the Argentine Republic, Brazil, and Chile. The text by the pouch. MCMILLIN File No. 763.72112/357 The Secretary of State to the Argentine Minister (Naón) DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 13, 1914. SIR: I have received your note of the 9th instant confirming the conversations which you have had at the Department relative to an understanding between the Argentine and the United States Governments upon the steps to be taken to prevent any damage which may be caused to the interests of either country by the interpretation placed upon conditional contraband by the Governments of Great Britain and her allies and by the detention of neutral vessels carrying cargoes consigned to neutral countries. The statement made by you of the position of your Government regarding the definition of the rights and duties of the Argentine Republic and of its citizens in the present war, and the intention of your Government to protest in each particular case when those rights so defined are interfered with by the authorities of His Britannic Majesty and of his allies, holding their respective governments responsible for any resulting damages, coincides with the attitude of this Government in this matter. As to the method of procedure in applying this policy the Department desires to state that inasmuch as the interests of the two Governments may not be identical in the same vessels and cargoes, it is understood to be impossible to make joint representations to the British Government in particular cases. This Government therefore understands that it is the desire of your Government to have representations to the British Government in these matters made separately but in harmony with each other, and that to this end the representatives of our Governments advise each other of the progress of their respective representations in each case. Upon this understanding the Government of the United States is gratified to inform you that it will cooperate with your Government in the matters herein mentioned. Accept [etc.] File No. 763.72112/683 W. J. BRYAN The Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs (Salinas) to the Chilean Minister at Washington (Suárez-Mujica) [Telegram] Santiago, November 13, 1914. by the Minister, November 17, 1914.] Our minister at Rio de Janeiro informs me that Chancellor Müller has requested of the British Minister the establishment of a neutral zone in the Atlantic from the American coast to the meridian of Cape Verde, in order to prevent the serious disturbances which have |