Correspondence with American citizens, firms, and organizations whose interests were affected by the proclamations and orders of belligerent governments regarding contraband and trade with enemy countries—Action on particular commodities

[From the beginning of the war in Europe, many communications reached the Department of State from private citizens and their political representatives: inquiries as to their rights and duties; requests for action in behalf of their interests, both general and particular; protests against measures of the belligerent governments prejudicial to American business; claims for redress of injuries. The volume of this correspondence is so immense that only limited selections from it can be printed. In each case where such [Page 271] correspondence comes into question, in this section and in others, an effort is made to include the most illustrative and representative documents.]

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