File No. 763.72111/628
The Italian Ambassador ( Macchi di Cellere ) to the Secretary of state
Washington , November 6, 1914.
[Received November 9.]
[Translation]
No. 1837]
Mr. Secretary of State: By note of August 13 last the Royal Embassy had the honor to inform your excellency that under a Royal decree of the 6th of that month the limit of territorial waters, for the purposes of neutrality, had been set at six nautical miles, and certain special rules were laid down for the delimitation of such territorial waters in bays, bights, and gulfs in accordance with Article 2 of the said decree. In a subsequent note of September 8 the Royal Embassy quoted for your excellency’s due information the text of the provisions contained in the said article of the Royal decree. Your excellency was pleased to acknowledge the said communications by your notes of August 17 and September 19.1
Whether because of the fact that the limits of the marginal sea are not regulated by international conventions or general rules of international law—thus leaving every state at liberty to fix them within the sphere of its own sovereignty without subjecting its decision to the recognition of the other states—or because of the fact that no comment was made by your excellency on the Royal Embassy’s communications, His Majesty’s Government knows that no objections are made by the Federal Government to the six-mile limit set by us on our territorial waters for the purposes of neutrality.
Yet, with a view to removing any possible uncertainty, His Majesty’s Government would be very thankful for a declaration which would explicitly convey acceptance by the Federal Government of the decision as adopted. And, in compliance with instructions I have just received on the subject, I have the honor to apply to your excellency’s tried courtesy for such a declaration.
Most earnestly thanking your excellency therefor in advance, I take [etc.]
- Not printed.↩