File No. 300.115/4766
The Secretary of State
to the Consul General at Hamburg (Morgan)
No. 397]
Washington,
September 7, 1915.
Sir: The Department has received your
despatch No. 315 of August 5, 1915, enclosing a copy and translation
of the decision rendered by the Hamburg prize court in the case of
the steamship Indian Prince.1
There is enclosed a copy of a letter which the Department has
addressed to all parties interested in the cargo of the vessel.
I am [etc.]
For the Secretary of State:
Wilbur J. Carr
[Enclosure]
The Secretary of
State to Mr.
James H. Hayden
Washington,
September 4, 1915.
Sir: Referring to previous
correspondence on the subject, you are informed that the
Department has received from the American Consul General at
Hamburg a copy of the decision of the German prize court in
reference to the claims of American owners of cargo on the
steamship Indian Prince, which was
captured and sunk on September 9, 1914, by the German auxiliary
cruiser
Kronprinz Wilhelm
. It appears from this decision that all claims for
indemnification on account of the loss of the cargo of this
vessel were dismissed, the prize court following its former
decision in the case of the steamship Glitra.
In view of several inquiries which have been received by it, the
Department deems it advisable to call to the attention of
interested parties at the present time the principle of
international law that a claimant against a foreign government
is not, as a general rule, entitled to diplomatic intervention
by his own government until he has exhausted the legal remedies
in the appropriate tribunals of the country against which he
makes the claim.
Concerning the reference by the prize court in its decision in
this case, which has presumably come to your attention, to
Article 13 of the treaty of amity and commerce which was
concluded between the United States and the Kingdom of Prussia
on July 11, 1799, and the apparent discrepancies between certain
English and French texts thereof, you are informed that this
treaty as originally signed was in both English and French and
that exact copies of the originals thereof, with the exception
of minor typographical errors, may be found in Volume 8 of the
United States Statutes at Large, pages 162–77. The English text
as therein printed is the same as that which was approved by the
Senate and proclaimed by the President of the United States.
I am [etc.]
For the Secretary of State:
Alvey A. Adee
