File No. 763.72111/2970
The Secretary of State to the German Ambassador (Bernstorff)
Excellency: In reply to your excellency’s note of the 10th ultimo (No. A 6235)1 inquiring as to what further information may have been gathered as the result of this Government’s investigation of the six gasoline motor-boats shipped from the port of Boston on board the steamship Bohemian, I have the honor to state that the Government’s investigation failed to show that these boats were prepared for armament or armed at the time of shipment, or intended to be armed within American jurisdiction for the purpose of carrying on hostile operations in behalf of one of the belligerents in the present war, or, further, that with a view to carrying out such a purpose they were to be armed on the high seas from other vessels sailing from American jurisdiction. This Government therefore felt that it was under no obligation in the maintenance of the neutrality of the United States to prevent the clearance of the Bohemian with these six motor-boats on board.
Accept [etc.]