File No. 300.115/13034a
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain ( Page)
5169. Foreign Office is now considering a recommendation from British Embassy that all German and Austrian goods consigned to firms in this country be released provided (1) they are paid for, (2) they are now at a neutral port, and (3) application for their passage through the blockade shall have been filed with the British Embassy prior to November 1, 1915. Upon fuller consideration of matter it is realized that inasmuch as former requirements did not embrace filing of proof of payment as a condition of release of goods, to do so now would be to institute an entirely new procedure and require reopening of cases in such a way as to cause both Governments much trouble through the series of inquisitions that will be demanded. As a result of an informal discussion the British Embassy and the Department are in agreement that the suggested procedure ought to be avoided and that an arrangement should be substituted releasing all goods at neutral ports, leaving the question of delivery and payment therefor, if not already effected, to the provisions of the Trading with the Enemy Act now pending before Congress and whose passage seems practically assured. The British Embassy, however, feels indisposed to interpose at this stage of the Foreign Office’s consideration of the case a proposal which reverses its former recommendation on the subject, but has suggested that you might personally advance and urge the substitution proposed without prejudicing the general question. Considering the Embassy’s and the Department’s joint desire to dispose of the entire matter with as little regard to detail as possible, you are requested to follow this suggestion as vigorously as possible, assuming full responsibility for the Department’s acquiescence in the substitute proposal in case the point is made that the Department has agreed to the plan now under consideration. This matter of importance as Congress is being urged to investigate.