Mr. Hay to Mr. White.
Washington, December 12, 1902.
(Mr. Hay, referring to the pro-memoriab of the Imperial German embassy of December 20, 1901, stating that the proposed pacific blockade of Venezuelan harbors “would touch likewise the ships of neutral powers, inasmuch as such ships, although a confiscation of them would not have to be considered, would have to be turned away and prohibited until the blockade should be raised,” directs Mr. White to say to the British Government that the United States adheres to the position taken by it in relation to the Cretan blockade in 1897 [see Foreign Relations, 1897, p. 255], and therefore does not acquiesce in any extension of the doctrine of pacific blockade which may adversely affect the rights of states not parties to the controversy, or discriminate against the commerce of neutral nations; and that the Government of the United States reserves all of its rights in the premises.)
- Printed Foreign Relations, 1901, p. 196.↩