File No. 862.85/50
The Consul General at Rio de Janeiro ( Gottschalk) to the Secretary of State
[Telegram]
Rio de Janeiro,
April 12, 1917, 12 p.m.
[Received April 13, 6.30 a.m.]
[Received April 13, 6.30 a.m.]
The Federal Government decided to-day to take possession German shipping in all ports of the Republic, replacing their crews tomorrow by naval detachments. Measure tactfully described as merely preventive of possible self-inflicted damages by German crews.
Gottschalk