File No. 763.72111/1681
The Secretary of State to the Lake Torpedo Boat Company
Your telegram February 20 and letters February 21.1 Press report appears to refer to complaint of German and Austrian Ambassadors regarding submarines supposed to be in course of construction by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Department is advised, however, by Mr. Schwab that such is not the case, and that the submarines now being built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company are not being built for delivery during the war, and that the corporation would adhere to Mr. Schwab’s assurances that no submarines would be built in the corporation’s works in the United States for delivery during the war. We appreciate the sentiment expressed in your letter and trust that you will continue to be guided by the feeling of the President that it is really the duty of Americans in the spirit of the rules of neutrality laid down by the Alabama claims decision to prevent submarines being shipped from this country, even in parts. This is the suggestion which was made to Mr. Schwab in November last when the case first arose and which he has stated he would follow.
- Letters not printed.↩