File No. 763.72112/1802
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State
No. 2300]
London,
October 8, 1915.
[Received October 28.]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose herewith
for the information of the Department a copy of a note under date of
October 7, which has been addressed to the Embassy by the Foreign
Office in reply to a communication made to the British Procurator
General by the Consul General in London on September 27 in reference
to the cargo of the S. S. Vitalia
.1
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure]
The British Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs (Grey) to
the American Ambassador (Page)
No. 139821/15]
London,
October 7, 1915.
Your Excellency: I have the honour to
inform you that, in a letter dated the 27th ultimo and addressed
to His Majesty’s Procurator General in regard to the items of
the cargo of the S. S. Vitalia which have
been placed in the prize court, the United States Consul General
in London makes the following statement.
The great difficulty in this case is that under existing
arrangements you are requiring goods to be forwarded by
the Holland–America Line and have created a carrying
monopoly.
I am not aware of any grounds upon which this statement can have
been based; and I have the honour to request that your
excellency will be so good as to explain to Mr. Skinner that His Majesty’s
Government make no conditions as to the steamship lines by which
goods exported from America to Holland shall be carried, and
there is no provision of this nature in the existing arrangement
between His Majesty’s Government and the Netherlands Oversea
Trust.
If any conditions are made as to the carrying trade between
America and Holland, I understand that they would be made by the
Netherlands Oversea Trust with the principal Dutch shipping
lines engaged in carrying goods, consignment of which has been
accepted by the trust; and any such arrangements would be made
without consultation with His Majesty’s Government.
I have [etc.]
[File copy not signed]
