File No. 763.72111/4395
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Treasury ( McAdoo)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of December 30, enclosing the report of the collector of customs at the port of Baltimore, concerning the French S. S. L’Erdre, which arrived at that port on December 27 with armament mounted on board.1
This Department has observed that the armed ships arriving at American ports are in many instances commanded by men of naval experience, and that the gun is served by naval gunners, members of the naval reserve of the respective governments, or “demobilized” members of the Navy. I should be grateful therefore if you would issue instructions to the various collectors of customs to add to their list of points now covered by their reports on armed vessels the additional point whether, in case such naval men form part of the [Page 544] complement of the vessel, they are in the service or pay of the government of the vessel’s nationality.
In the case of the French S. S. L’Erdre, you are informed that this Department perceives no objection to the clearance of the vessel so far as the armament is concerned, provided the gunners are not in the service or the pay of the French Government, and that the collector of customs has received from the French Consul General at Baltimore a formal assurance in writing that the gun will be used only for defensive purposes. If, however, the gunners are in the pay of the French Government, clearance should be withheld and the conditions of the service of these men on the L’Erdre reported to this Department for further consideration.
I have [etc.]
Third Assistant Secretary
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