File No. 300.115/13324b

The Counselor for the Department of State ( Polk ) to the Commercial Adviser of the British Embassy ( Crawford )

My Dear Sir Richard : Referring to previous negotiations for the uninterrupted shipment of German and Austrian goods lying in neutral ports, I beg to enclose herewith a list which gives such details [Page 516] regarding these shipments as I understood to be desired by your Government.1 The details include the names of the American importers and of the German and Austrian vendors, the respective marks of the various packages, the total value of each lot, the names of the warehousemen or storage companies with whom the goods are stored, and remarks, where appropriate, concerning particular pertinent facts.

In giving consideration to the particular cases involved, the Department has adhered strictly to the arrangement which was informally agreed to by us at our conference on the subject on August 6 last, namely, that only the release of importations would be considered that were actually in a neutral port and paid for prior to April 7 [6], 1917, the date of this country’s declaration of war against Germany.

Practically all the information indicated in the list in reference, except that relating to payment and the names of the vendors, was received from the American Legation at The Hague. Necessarily in many cases the values corresponding to the several shipments are approximations only, but they are believed to be as accurate as the circumstances allow.

The question of payment, where not previously determined in the course of earlier consideration of exceptions to the provisions of the order in council of March 11, 1915, has been carefully investigated in each case, and the list I am now recommending for release embraces only those cases of whose payment there is reasonable certainty. There have been found certain cases payment for which is alleged by the owners, but about whose payment there appears to be reasonable doubt. I have reserved these cases for a later list in order that their consideration may not prejudice prompt action upon the cases first named. I have dealt with these doubtful cases in another letter of this same date, to which I respectfully invite your attention.1

As this manner of concluding the question of these detained goods has been agreed upon in principle, I hardly feel it necessary to emphasize my interest in having the first list accepted and the goods corresponding thereto released at the earliest moment possible. The owners of these goods are daily importuning the Department’s good offices in hastening the release of the shipments, urging in this connection the practical consideration that the shipments consist largely of holiday merchandise whose value to them would be greatly enhanced by their receipt for timely distribution to the local markets before Christmas. Further, the present uncertainties in the matter [Page 517] of transportation between Holland and this country gives added weight to the anxiety to the owners of the goods lest they arrive too late for sale this year.

I might note that the total approximate value of the detained goods at Rotterdam as reported by the Legation at The Hague is $3,956,056 (M. 684,210; Kr. 44,970; Fl. 9,413,258). The list transmitted herewith embracing the cases recommended for release, aggregates $1,725,260. The cases which are reserved for later consideration represent a value of $1,474,300.

For convenience, conventional values of the several foreign denominations used have been employed in arriving at the foregoing values in dollars rather than the rates of exchange currently prevailing in the several eases: marks, $0,238; florins, $0,402; kronen, $0,202; francs, $0.20.

I am [etc.]

Frank L. Polk
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