Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1916, Supplement, The World War

The British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Grey) to the Ambassador at Washington (Spring Rice)

[Telegram—Copy]

[Left at the Department of State, March 23, 1916 .¹]

Give verbal assurances that all armament on British merchant ships is intended solely for purposes of defence.

The case of Woodfield is going to be taken up separately later on and this will give an opportunity of giving an official assurance in writing that the orders were only defensive.

[File copy not signed]

1. Handed by the Counselor of the British Embassy (Barclay) to the Counselor for the Department, with the statement that the Ambassador should have given the assurances referred to on handing to the Secretary of State the memorandum accompanying his letter of March 23, 1916.