Memorandum from the Russian Embassy left at the Department of State December 28, 1905.

The Russian embassy is requested to obtain an exhaustive list of articles of the laws of the United States as well as of treaties contracted by the United States Government with foreign countries bearing upon the subject of—

1.
The rights of belligerents toward each other, and
2.
The rights and duties of neutrals in time of maritime war.

It would be also highly desirable to obtain copies of the texts of these laws and treaties (with the exception of such well-known documents as the Paris declaration of 1856 or that of The Hague of 1899), and particularly in extenso copies of the rules regulating maritime prizes.