File No. 811.741/11
The British Chargé d’Affaires (Barclay) to the Secretary of State
No. 253]
Sir: His Majesty’s Government have reason to believe that the wireless telegraph stations at Sayville, Long Island, and at Tuckerton, New Jersey, which are owned by the Telefunken Wireless Company of the United States and the High Frequency Machine Company of Berlin, respectively, have now had their controlling power purchased by the firm of Siemanns and Halske of Berlin, who are under subsidy of the German Government.
Both stations are powerfully equipped. The first station has in fact frequently been used in the past few days by the German Government to convey messages from Berlin to their warships, the Dresden and the Carlsruhe, now off the American coast, while the Tuckerton station is provided with a system also capable of reaching the North Sea. It therefore follows that these stations, so long as they are controlled by the German company in question, subsidized as it is by the German Government, are intelligence bureaux for that Government, being in a position to give military and other information such as may cause the greatest prejudice and injury to Great Britain and her interests.
Under instructions from His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs I have the honour to state that His Majesty’s Government are of opinion that the duty of impartiality should prevent neutrals from allowing belligerents to establish such bureaux on neutral territory, and they would urge upon the United States Government the desirability of their placing their own officers in charge of the above-mentioned stations so as to ensure equal treatment as between the belligerents or to close those stations until further notice.
Sir E. Grey is confident that the United States Government, animated as they are by the sincere desire of discharging their duties [Page 668] of strict neutrality, will concur in the contention of His Majesty’s Government that the existence of such stations in neutral territory under the direct control of a belligerent is contrary to the principles of impartiality which pertain to those duties.
I have [etc.]