File No. 763.72111/4540
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Treasury ( McAdoo)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of to-day’s date enclosing a copy of a communication, dated February 17, from the collector of customs at Norfolk, in regard to the British S. S. Oxonian which arrived at that port on February 13 with armament mounted on board.
In reply I beg to confirm my telephone conversation with your Department authorizing the clearance of the Oxonian upon the filing of the assurance by the British Consul at Norfolk that the gun is for defensive purposes only. The incident reported in the newspapers has been taken up with British Embassy at this Capital, and a statement has been filed by the British Ambassador, on the strength of which this Department is willing to waive further inquiry at this time, but it is understood that the case is not to stand as a precedent for future similar cases which are to be decided wholly on their individual merits.
I have [etc.]
Assistant Secretary