The Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Treasury (McAdoo)
, Washington, October 22, 1914.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge, with thanks, the receipt of your letter of the 15th instant, with which is enclosed a copy, of a communication from the collector of customs at Norfolk, covering a copy of a letter from the British Vice Consul at Newport News, calling attention to the supplies taken on board by the Italian S. S. Amistà , which supplies, it is suspected, are destined for the use of the enemies of Great Britain.
This Department concurs in the action taken by the Treasury Department in instructing the collector to clear the vessel unless satisfactory evidence is presented tending to show that the proposed clearance is not bona fide. In the meantime the Department has taken up the matter orally with the British Embassy here.
I have [etc.]