File No. 300.115/10529
The Ambassador in Great Britain ( Page ) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 31, 8.15 a. m.]
5089. Your 3913,1 October 10, 5 p. m. I took up in a long conversation with Lord Robert Cecil, the Cabinet minister in whose department this matter falls, the whole subject of selling coal or refusing to sell it to American ships in the British West Indies. After explaining the inconvenience and losses to several ships, I asked him if the experience of the Pathfinder was to be regarded as indicating the fixed policy of the British Government. His reply was quite clear, in substance as follows:
There was no disposition and no wish on the part of his Government to cause any neutral ships loss or even inconvenience, least of all American ships. There was no policy based on such a purpose.
But the scarcity of ships and the abnormal cost of hauling, as well as the abnormal demand for coal caused by the war, made the available supply in such places as the West Indies precarious and therefore precious. The British Government was obliged to adopt the policy of conserving all its capital resources of every sort for its own use since nobody could see when the war would end or what unexpected uses for coal or any other commodity might arise. He would not say that no more coal would be sold to neutral ships in West Indian ports, but he would say that British ships must be given the preference and it might be necessary in the interest of coal economy to deny it to other ships.
He expressed regret at this probable necessity and assured me that any such action would be based not on a disregard of the convenience of American ships, but entirely on the economic necessities of the war. He did not say in so many words that he hoped American ships wishing to coal in the West Indies would make arrangements to do so at other than British ports, but this is a clear inference from his remarks.
Referring to your 3972, October 24, 6 p. m.,2 copies of all correspondence on this subject go by the next pouch.2