File No. 763.72/3272
The Chargé in the Netherlands ( Langhorne ) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 9, 2.45 a.m.]
712. My 706 of the 4th.1 In a note just received from the Minister of Foreign Affairs he states that
there is no occasion in this instance for the Government of the Queen to follow the same line of action as the United States, in view of the fact that the attitude of the American Government, contrary to that of the Government of the Queen, logically results from the state of affairs created by the negotiations on this subject which have previously been conducted between the United States and Germany. … that the Government of the Queen has just addressed an energetic protest to the German Government on the subject of the new measure inasmuch as it seriously jeopardizes the principle of the freedom of the high seas as well as the laws of humanity.2