701.6211/372½
President Wilson to the Secretary of State
My Dear Mr. Ambassador [Secretary]: This is certainly an unfortunate time for these questions to have arisen. It is, of course, merely fortuitous that this arrest and seizure of papers should have come at about the same time as our last communication to the German Foreign Office,33 but it can be made to appear, by those whose interest and plan it is to disregard the truth, that we have already begun to cooperate with the Allies in breaking up conspiracies against them, as if we intended something more than a mere execution of our own laws and a mere protection of the United States against violations of her neutrality. But, however unfortunate the coincidence, we must insist upon our rights and exercise them.
I think you took the right course in calling upon the German Ambassador to examine the seized papers and declare which of them he claims as official. Probably it would be well to let him retain those which he thus designates. The rest should be retained.
It seems to me clear that no immunity can be claimed for von Igel for acts committed prior to his designation to the Department as an attaché of the Embassy.
[Page 99]A full statement of the circumstances of this case to the German Foreign Office ought surely to be conclusive of our rights in the premises; and I think that it would probably be wise to send such a statement to Gerard so that they may not get all their information and impressions from Bernstorff.
Faithfully Yours,