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

File No. 763.72112/2556

The Minister in the Netherlands (Van Dyke) to the Secretary of State

No. 472

The Hague, May 16, 1916 .
[Received May 31.]

Sir: I have the honor to report that upon receipt of your cabled instruction No. 311, of May 11, I immediately began the investigation of the information which the Department has received in regard to the apparent discrimination of the Netherlands Oversea Trust against the American trade with the Netherlands in coffee. I found abundant reason to believe that the information is correct and that the charge against the Oversea Trust is a true bill.

On Saturday, May 13, I had a personal conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and brought the facts to his attention and told him that I had been instructed to protest as strongly as possible against the alleged action of the Oversea Trust. On Monday, the 15th, I sent to the Foreign Office a formal protest, of which a copy is herewith enclosed.

It will be observed from the wording of this protest that the undetermined status of the Oversea Trust in its relation to the Netherlands Government, still causes a certain difficulty in dealing directly and definitely with this subject, as has been the case with other matters of the same kind; for example, the question of the shipments of gold from the United States, which was discussed in my cablegrams No. 552, of April 11, and No. 559, of April 14, and in my despatch No. 457, of April 25.¹

The Oversea Trust is technically a private corporation; but as a matter of fact it has now come to exercise practically governmental functions in the promotion, the restraint, and the direction of trade. Its contracts with the British Government place it effectually under the control of that Government. I am informed on good authority that it now has goods consigned to it to the value of many millions of florins, which are at present lying in Rotterdam and which it is unable to deliver to its clients because of orders received from London.

So far as the questions of American trade with Holland which arise here are concerned, I do not believe that it will be possible to arrive at any definite or satisfactory solution of them through the Netherlands Foreign Office, until we have a clear statement and definition of the relation of the Netherlands Government to the Oversea Trust in its virtual control of Dutch marine commerce.

I have [etc.]

Henry van Dyke

[Enclosure]

The American Minister (Van Dyke) to the Netherland Minister of Foreign Affairs (Loudon)

The Hague, May 15, 1916 .

Excellency: I have the honor to advise your excellency that my Government has received information that the Netherlands Oversea Trust has within a month authorized consignments to it of the following shipments of coffee: Fifteen thousand bags from Brazil, ten thousand from Venezuela, five thousand from Africa, twenty thousand from London, ten thousand from Havre. During the same period of time it has declined to accept consignments of coffee from the United States, except small shipments in transit from Central America and for the Dutch Army. After investigation here I have good reason to believe that this information is correct. I beg to bring the resulting situation to your excellency’s serious and prompt consideration.

If it were simply a private firm of coffee merchants which refused to accept shipments of coffee from the United States, the matter would be comparatively unimportant. But the Netherlands Oversea Trust at present virtually controls the whole marine import trade of the Netherlands. Its refusal to accept consignments practically cuts off the entire coffee trade of the United States with the Netherlands, while it permits that trade to continue with England and France (which are not coffee-producing countries), as well as with Brazil, Venezuela, and other coffee-producing countries. In these circumstances the case assumes the aspect of a commercial discrimination against the United States in favor of other nations, made by a corporation which is presumably responsible for its conduct to the Government of the Netherlands.

My Government has instructed me to make a distinct and vigorous protest against this apparent discrimination.

In bringing the matter thus officially to your notice, I embrace the occasion [etc.]

Henry van Dyke

1. None of these printed.