Mr. Hay to Mr. White.
Washington, March 20, 1900.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Choate’s dispatch No. 264, of the 26th ultimo, reporting his interview with Lord Salisbury on February 24 in relation to the seizure of American merchandise bound for South Africa.
The Department has not failed to observe the suggestion made to Mr. Choate by Lord Salisbury that—
an ultimate destination to citizens of the Transvaal, even of goods consigned to British ports on the way thither, might, if transportation were viewed as one “continuous voyage,” be held to constitute in a British vessel such a “trading with the enemy” as to bring the vessel within the provisions of the municipal law.
In view of the prospect of a practical solution of the question of the seizures along the lines arranged between Mr. Choate and Her Majesty’s Government, it is not deemed necessary for the Department to express at present either its assent or dissent to the said suggestion; but it would regret to have such an issue actually raised by the British Government, and it does not seem probable that it will be done, either on account of the seizures made in the future, or through the failure to consummate the settlement already arranged for the seizures which have been made.
I am, etc.,