The Secretary of State to the German Ambassador ( Bernstorff )
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 18th instant in which you enclose a clipping from the New York Herald of August 14 in regard to the construction of certain speed boats by the Greenport Basin and Construction Company of Greenport, New York, which you think are apparently being constructed for belligerent powers.
I have the honor to say in reply that the matter has been investigated and it is reported that the use to which these boats are to be put is not known. In the absence of proof of intent of hostile purpose for which the craft are to be employed, their manufacture is not regarded as in contravention of the neutrality laws of the United States.
Accept [etc.]