File No. 6655/1.
Ambassador Leishman to the Secretary of State.
Constantinople , July 12, 1907 .
Sir: In reply to your instructions No. 217, of the 10th ultimo (file No. 6655), with regard to the detention of two typewriters shipped in transit to Persia by the Turkish custom officials at Trebizond, I have the honor to state that this particular difficulty has now been remedied and the two machines forwarded to Tabriz on May 23 last, the shipping agent at Trebizond giving a guaranty that they would be delivered outside of the Ottoman Empire.
The difficulty arose, however, from the fact that the typewriters were in Arabic-Turkish characters and as such violated the official regulations directed against the employment of such machines on the ground of their being utilized for the publication of revolutionary literature. No printing presses can be established in this country without official permission and continued inspection thereof, and the restriction of typewriters are due to the fear that they may be substituted for printing presses in being utilized for the circulation of forbidden literature.
I have, etc.,