The Secretary of State to the Secretary of Labor (Wilson)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st ultimo, in which you refer to a note addressed to this Department on July 13 last, by the British Ambassador, regarding the matter of the reentry into the United States by British subjects who, after enlisting in the British Army, had been discharged therefrom and who have sought to return to this country, their passage money having been furnished by the British Government. You point out that it is impossible to make a definite answer to the Ambassador’s inquiry, each case having to be considered individually in accordance with the circumstances thereof.
I have the honor to say, in reply, that this Department is of the opinion that in each case it should be determined before entry whether the person under consideration has been actually discharged from the army of the belligerent, and whether he is destined to some point in the United States or intends to pass through the United State to Canada. If he is not discharged, or if he intends to go to Canada, the matter should be brought to the attention of this Department, as the neutrality of the United States might be involved.
In this relation I enclose for your information a copy of a note addressed to the British Ambassador by this Department on Decernber 23, 1915.1
I have [etc.]