File No. 763.72112/2390
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State
No. 3223
London,
March 14, 1916
.
[Received March
31.]
Sir: With reference to the Department’s
instruction No. 3197 of February 8, and to previous correspondence,
relative to the shipment of fruit from Mediterranean countries and
Portugal to the Netherlands without consignment to the Netherlands
Oversea Trust, and the desire of the Government of the United States
that the same privileges be extended to American fruit as those
granted to fruit from Spain and other Mediterranean countries, I
have the honor to enclose herewith, for the information of the
Department, a copy of a note which has been received from the
Foreign Office in reply to the representations of the Embassy in
this connection.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure]
The British Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs (Grey) to
the American Ambassador (Page)
No. 42414/X
London,
March 13, 1916
.
Your Excellency: In reply to the
memorandum which you were so good as to address to me on the 2d
March regarding the shipment of fruit from the Mediterranean
countries and Portugal to the Netherlands, I have the honour
[Page 504]
to state that the
concession whereby fruit from the Mediterranean countries and
Portugal might be shipped to the Netherlands without consignment
to the Netherlands Oversea Trust was originally made to the
Trust acting on behalf of Dutch trade in return for the
advantages which the arrangement with the Trust accorded to His
Majesty’s Government.
The concession in question was extended to Spanish fruits not as
a concession to the Spanish Government but as a further
concession to Dutch trade as carried on by a Dutch steamship
company—the Royal Netherlands Steamship Company—and because
Spain being a Mediterranean country and the privilege applying
to Mediterranean countries, His Majesty’s Government could not
fairly exclude Spanish fruits from the concession.
I would, however, observe that there has been no question of
cooperation on the part of the Netherlands Government in this
matter. The whole arrangement was concluded with the Netherlands
Oversea Trust and no agreements have been negotiated with the
Netherlands Government on the matter.
I would add that all dried fruits are now excluded from the
concession and must be consigned to the Netherlands Oversea
Trust in future, and that the extent to which fresh fruits from
the Mediterranean may be shipped to Holland free of consignment
to the Trust by the Dutch steamship line in question has been
considerably curtailed as the result of further negotiations
with the Netherlands Oversea Trust and the steamship
company.
I have [etc.]
[File copy not signed]
