Mr. King to Mr.
Sherman.
Legation of the United States,
Bangkok, May 10,
1898.
No. 2.]
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that on the
receipt of your telegrams of April 22 I immediately informed the foreign
office by letter of the blockade declared, and of the policy to be
pursued by the United States in the event of war between the United
States and Spain.
On the receipt of your telegram of the 26th of April, as I was to have my
audience with His Majesty the King that day, before I could reach the
Government through a letter addressed to the foreign office I embodied
the spirit of your telegram in my address to His Majesty, and on the
27th I sent a letter to the foreign office stating the content of your
telegram of the 26th, and expressing the hope that the neutrality of
Siam might be assured in the existing war.
With this I send you a copy of my address to the King, of my letter2 of the 27th to the
foreign office, and of the letter from the foreign office in reply to
the several papers I have already mentioned.
I have, etc.
Hamilton King,
Minister Resident.
[Inclosure.]
Foreign Office, April 30, 1898.
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to
acknowledge receipt of the letter of your predecessor dated the 23d
instant and of your letter dated the 27th instant. In his letter of
the 23d Mr. Barrett, in accordance with instructions of the
Secretary of State of the United States, notified me that, by
proclamation issued on the 22d instant, under resolutions of
Congress, duly approved on the 20th instant, His Excellency the
President of the United States announces a blockade of the coast on
the north side of Cuba, between Cardenas and Bahia Honda; also
Cienfuegos on the south side.
Mr. Barrett also informs me that, according to a later dispatch
received by you, the United States Government, in the event of
hostilities breaking out between that country and Spain, will not
resort to privateering, but will follow the recognized rules of
international law with regard to maritime trade.
Finally, in your letter of the 27th instant, you inform me that, by
an act approved by the President on the 26th of April, the United
States Congress has declared that a state of war exists between the
United States and Spain since and including April 21.
[Page 899]
I have taken due notice of these several communications, which I laid
before His Majesty the King, my august sovereign, and I am directed
to say in reply that, according to the wish expressed by you in the
name of your Government, His Majesty’s Government will assume a
strict neutrality during the existing war.
I avail myself of this occasion to express to you, Mr. Minister, the
assurance of my high consideration.
Devawongse,
Minister for Foreign Affairs
