File No. 763.72111/1161
The Secretary of State to the British Embassy
memorandum
The Department of State has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the British Embassy’s memorandum of December 12, 1914,1 in which, with reference to the memorandum from the Department of State, dated December 1 last,2 to the effect that the Treasury Department had been requested to refuse clearance to the Norwegian steamer Gladstone, now the Chilean, until the shippers or owners have [Page 650] clearly shown that her cargo would not be transshipped to war vessels at sea during her voyage, it is stated that the firm of Funch, Edye and Company refused to ship or to accept stores for this vessel from a Captain Suhern, who is stated to be acting in German interests, and that this refusal on the part of the firm named appears to indicate that in its view the intended voyage is not bona fide.
In reply to the British Embassy’s request to be informed whether the Treasury Department is in a position to state whether the shippers or owners have given the evidence required of them, the Department of State has the honor to say that it is advised that the Chilean left Newport News on December 16 last for Port Limon, bound for Chilean ports, and that the master and shippers have taken oath that the cargo will be discharged at the foreign port or ports to which it is consigned.