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  4. Document 444

File No. 763.72112/380

The Ambassador in Germany (Gerard) to the Secretary of State

American Embassy,
Berlin, November 11, 1914.
[Received November 16, 8 a.m.]

[Telegram]

821. Your 514, October 28. Foreign Office informs me that under No. 27 of the German prize ordinance [of September 30, 1909], cotton and cotton yarn shall not be declared contraband. These goods cannot, therefore [as a matter of course], be taken from neutral vessels. The German Government will abide by this attitude as long as the enemy powers do not treat cotton and cotton yarn differently and the neutral powers do not acquiesce in such treatment.

Gerard