The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador (Spring Rice)
My Dear Mr. Ambassador: I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your personal note of November 24, 1916, in which, with reference to the Embassy’s communication on the subject dated September 30, 1916,1 you advise me that you have received a despatch from Viscount Grey to the effect that he has been in communication with the competent departments of His Majesty’s Government in regard to this Department’s request that steps be taken to prevent, after September 26, the passage of wounded and discharged British soldiers through the United States to Canada.
You add that Viscount Grey authorizes you to state that His Majesty’s Government will endeavor to meet the wishes of this Department in the matter, but that they hold that the passage of such soldiers through the United States was perfectly legitimate so long as it was not formally and publicly prohibited by the Government of the United States.
In reply I beg to say that as the exigencies of the war can not be in all cases foreseen, my Government must be free to exercise its right to take such steps as may be necessary to meet them as they arise without first giving preliminary, formal, and public notice of its action. In the present case of the passage of discharged and invalided soldiers, however, the attitude of my Government has long been known to your Government from our past correspondence on the subject, and I am pleased to be advised by you that His Majesty’s Government will endeavor to meet the wishes of this Government in this respect.
I am [etc.]