File No. 763.72112/1087
The Consul General at London (Skinner) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 6.]
Sir: Continuing my telegram of April 16 in regard to detained cargoes and the desirability of centralizing certified copies of manifests in London in the same manner as documents relating to claims,1 I have the honor to report that I met Admiral Slade on the 19th instant for an informal discussion of the difficulties of various ships, now in British ports. Admiral Slade, I may remark, is a member of an important interdepartmental committee now dealing with war detentions, and his influence I believe to be very great, if not predominant in these questions. After dealing with the subject immediately in hand, I stated to the Admiral that existing conditions, under which the British Government was interrupting all innocent American commerce with neutral countries without undertaking to provide any definite remedies which would enable unobjectionable commerce to be carried on, were entirely unacceptable and in this he fully agreed. I then inquired whether the proper authorities would be able to indicate their intentions respecting given ships, if provided with contents of manifests transmitted by cable, to which he replied that undoubtedly they would. He appeared to be quite gratified with this idea, intimating that with the facts set forth in the manifests before them, the authorities could in many eases arrange for the uninterrupted transit of ships going to neutral countries and as to other ships, they would have ten days to two weeks in which to adjust matters of controversy. Even when the British authorities would be unable to consent to the dispatch of a vessel, they could at least direct it to proceed to a port of actual discharge instead of being taken into Kirkwall or Stornoway, where, under existing conditions, ships remain days and even weeks before-sent with a prize crew to a commercial port for discharge of cargo. Admiral Slade assured me that he would use all his influence to [Page 383] obtain the prompt adoption of any working rules based on the foregoing, or something similar.
I took advantage of the conversation to point out that innumerable ships were now in British ports, and although even from a British point of view the owners of cargo were entitled to compensation, no steps, apparently, had been taken to adjust their claims promptly. It seemed to me, therefore, that any working arrangement respecting future business must also include an immediate settlement with cargo owners whose goods were delayed in this country. I reminded him that in the case of the Wilhelmina , a ship openly dispatched to a German port by newcomers in the business, the British Government had undertaken to make cash settlement, and with this precedent before us, it was scarcely to be expected that we would be satisfied when traders engaged in commerce to neutral countries since many years were required to go into the prize court and bear all the expenses and delays of the ordinary procedure. I called Admiral Slade’s particular attention to the circumstance that food ships dispatched to neutral countries prior to the proclamation of the order in council of October 29, 1914, were still being dealt with and that the cases would not be called in the prize court until June 7, and that even upon that date it was by no means certain that the trial would take place.
Admiral Slade was scarcely less affirmative than myself in stating that these were matters which should not be, and only could be, because of the thousands of details with which the Government was trying to deal. As I have already remarked, this conversation was entirely devoid of an official character. I even stated to Admiral Slade that I was by no means sure that the American Government, which stood squarely upon its rights under international law, might not feel inclined to enter upon a working agreement which might seem, perhaps, to give a shadow of sanction to the orders in council. This point the Admiral fully understood.
I think it of importance, however, that our right to carry on our ordinary commerce with Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Holland is recognized, and that at least one high official is disposed to be helpful in developing practical rules under which it may be carried on.
I have [etc.]