File No. 300.115/1834
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State
London, December 18, 1914.
[Received 9:50 p.m.]
[Telegram]
No. 1297]
I have just received the following memorandum from the Foreign Office:
The United States Government have made representations to His Majesty’s Government on behalf of the owners of cargo on board the German S. S. Schneefels which was captured when on a voyage to the United State and has not been condemned as prize of war at Gibraltar.2 The cargo owners are extremely anxious that in order to avoid the difficulties and expense attending on the transshipment of their cargo at Gibraltar, the ship should be sent on with her cargo to her original port of destination in the United States. His Majesty’s Government, being anxious to assist the United States citizens interested [Page 387] so far as possible, have placed themselves in communication with those representing their interests and have now practically completed the necessary arrangements for enabling the ship to complete her voyage and to deliver the cargo to the owners at the port of destination, although this ship having been condemned as good prize to the Crown is now the property of His Majesty’s Government. The voyage on which she will proceed is, of course, a purely commercial voyage taken in the interests of the American cargo owners and His Majesty’s Government feel confident that in these circumstances the Schneefels will not when in United States waters be subjected to any disabilities which might attach to a public ship. While His Majesty’s Government do not suggest for one moment that the United States Government have any intention of applying such disabilities to the Schneefels, they feel that as the completion of her voyage to the American port to which she was bound could not have been arranged without the consent of His Majesty’s Government, the United States Government will be willing to assure them that no difficulties of the nature indicated will be raised during the stay of the ship in United States waters.
- Previous correspondence on this case not printed.↩