File No. 763.72112/361a
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Page)
Washington, October 1, 1914, 3 p.m.
[Telegram]
226. Department’s cable September 28, Declaration of London.2 In discussion between Counselor of Department and British Ambassador, latter said he agreed order in council practically made foodstuffs absolute contraband which was contrary to British traditional policy as well as that of United States; that immediate cause of order has been the introduction through Rotterdam in first days of war of quantities of food supplies for German army in Belgium and that it seemed absolutely necessary to stop this traffic. The Counselor said some other means might be found to accomplish the [Page 239] desired purpose either by persuading the Netherlands to place an embargo upon foodstuffs and other conditional contraband or to agree not to reexport such articles. The Ambassador said he thought this would be much the better way and he believed it could be done. He added that the chief anxiety now was in regard to shipments of copper, petroleum, and also Swedish iron and that British Government was stopping vessels with such cargoes and purchasing them. He suggested that possible difficulty created by order in council could be removed by rescinding it, and by adding to the list of absolute contraband petroleum products, copper, barbed wire, and other articles of like nature almost exclusively for war purposes. The Counselor said that these suggestions seemed worthy of consideration as a means of avoiding the order in council which would certainly menace good relationship if it became a subject of discussion by the press; and that the order itself menacing commercial rights of neutrals in violation of international law would undoubtedly cause irritation, if not indignation, thus changing the present sentiment of American people.
The Ambassador appreciated the consideration shown by the President in taking up the matter informally and not lodging a formal protest against the order in council.