Mr. Jackson to Mr. Hay.
Berlin, July 17, 1899.
Sir: Referring to my dispatches Nos. 948 and 952, which were forwarded by open mail on the 14th instant, I have the honor to inform you that proclamations prohibiting the importation of fresh beef from Belgium after the 15th instant have now been published in the official Reichs-Anzeiger from seven Prussian “Regierungs” presidents (Aachen, Dusseldorf, Osnabruck, Luneburg, Schleswig, Danzig, and Gumbinnen), from the ministries of the Grand Duchies of Oldenburg and Mecklenburg, and from the ministry of Alsace-Lorraine. A reference to the map will show that this practically closes the whole German frontier to fresh beef coming from Belgium either by land or water, and also that although no notice of prohibition may as yet have been made by the free cities of Bremen, Hamburg, and Lubeck, such notices have been made by the presidents of the Prussian provinces by which these cities are surrounded.
These proclamations are variously worded, most of them merely referring to the legal paragraphs under which authority is given for their issue. Several, however, as already stated, including that of the Oldenburg ministry, refer to the slaughtering of American cattle in Belgium and the danger that Texas fever might be introduced into Germany [Page 495] if the importation of meat from such cattle were permitted, and one, that of the Mecklenburg ministry, merely states that the prohibition is ordered at the instance (“auf Veranlassung”) of the chancellor of the Empire.
In view of the comparative insignificance of Belgium’s trade with Germany in fresh beef of her own production, and also of the present unsettled state of the country itself, it does not seem probable that any action will be taken by the Belgian Government in this matter in the immediate future. The action of the German Government has, however, a greater importance to us, in that it practically amounts to a warning to all countries which admit American beef or cattle that if they continue to do so they may expect to have the German market closed to their export of fresh beef, and this warning will have to be seriously considered by the Governments of Denmark and The Netherlands, at least.
I have, etc.,