File No. 763.72112/2404
[Enclosure]
The British Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs (Grey) to the
American Ambassador (Page)
No. 48657/X
London,
March 22, 1916
.
Your Excellency: On May 11 last, I had the
honour to address to your excellency, as well as to the Spanish
Ambassador, a note enclosing lists of articles which His Majesty’s
Government would be prepared to accept as coming within the
description contained in Article 29 (I) of the Declaration of London
and therefore exempt from treatment as contraband of war on the
ground that they serve exclusively to aid the sick and wounded. I
had the honour, however, to make this statement conditional upon a
general agreement amongst the belligerent powers.
Nine months have now passed, and up to the present, His Majesty’s
Government have received no definite indication of the views of the
German, Austrian, or Turkish Government on the subject of these
lists. Meanwhile, the vague situation thus created has given rise to
some confusion, especially in regard to the shipment of medical
stores to Germany by the American Red Cross who, in pursuance of the
work of relieving suffering which they have carried on with such
signal energy and success since the beginning of the war, are
anxious to make use of every opportunity left to them by the course
of belligerent operations
[Page 946]
for sending the largest possible quantity of supplies to those
nations who are most urgently in need of them.
On the other hand, the Allied Governments who have identified
themselves with the policy of putting the greatest possible amount
of pressure upon Germany by the restriction of her supplies, cannot
admit that they are under any obligation to allow the passage into
enemy territory of supplies which have been excluded in every case
where a blockade of enemy territory has been established in the
past. His Majesty’s Government are not, indeed, forgetful of the
moral claim established in such matters by the development of
international thought since the conclusion of the Geneva convention,
but they do not feel that this claim, absolutely valid as governing
the action of opposing armies in the field, can apply in any but a
very limited degree to the general supply of articles necessary to
the health of a nation in arms, even though such articles may have
no other use than this.
His Majesty’s Government have therefore decided to clarify the
situation by definitely withdrawing the lists enclosed in my note
under reference which do not appear to have contributed in any way
towards a general agreement on this very difficult question.
I have [etc.]
For the Secretary of State:
Maurice de Bunsen
