The Secretary of State to Senator Owen
Washington , August 25, 1914.
My dear Senator Owen : Replying to your letter of the 20th instant suggesting that the Department open negotiations through our ambassadors with Germany, France, and England and arrange for shipment of American raw cotton to these countries without its being regarded as contraband, I beg to say that under Article 28 of the Declaration of London certain articles may not be declared contraband of war; the first in the list is raw cotton.
While it is true that of the signatories to the declaration, which include the principal belligerents in the present war, the United States alone has ratified the declaration, Great Britain and Germany have already indicated by their notifications as to contraband that they purpose to adopt the provisions of the declaration as to the articles which will be considered by them absolute and conditional contraband, and inferentially they will not declare contraband the articles listed in Article 28.
As yet we have received no notification from France in the matter of contraband, but presume that that Government will follow the policy which is adopted by Great Britain.
In view of the foregoing it would not appear to be necessary to approach the governments, as you suggest, in relation to obtaining an arrangement for the shipment of raw cotton as non-contraband.
I enclose for your information the British and German notifications as to contraband.
I have [etc.]