File No. 300.115/11239a
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Page)
Sir: There is enclosed a copy of a brief prepared by the Mitchell-Bissell Company, of New York City, and the enclosures thereto with reference to the urgent need of further supplies of porcelain guides of German origin for the use of the American textile industry.1
There are also enclosed an affidavit of John R. Mitchell, of the Mitchell-Bissell Company, a form application also under oath, together with the exhibits thereto and a list of orders for porcelain guides which the Mitchell-Bissell Company has been unable to fill due to its inability to obtain further supplies of these guides from Germany.1 You will note that efforts have been made to arrange for the manufacture of these guides in this country, but without success.
You are instructed to present the information contained in the brief of the Mitchell-Bissell Company and the enclosures thereto to the Foreign Office and unofficially endeavor to obtain assurances of non-interference with the shipments of porcelain guides as indicated by the enclosed orders to the value of approximately 100,000 marks from the Porzellanfabrik zu Kloster Veilsdorf, Veilsdorf, Sachsen-Meiningen, Germany. As these porcelain guides were not ordered prior to March 1, 1915, your unofficial request for assurances of noninterference with their shipment is not based on any existing arrangement with reference to the submission of applications for goods ordered prior to March 1,1915, but upon the broad basis of the urgent need of American industries.
I am [etc.]