File No. 763.72/3586
The Secretary of State to the Panaman Minister ( Porras)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 23d instant,1 in which you advise me that you have received a [Page 557] telegram from your Government asking you to telegraph whether the United States admits into its ports Italian merchant vessels armed fore and aft.
In reply I have the honor to say that up to this time no Italian vessel armed fore and aft has yet made application for admission to and clearance from a port of the United States, and the decision of the Government of the United States as to the treatment which will be accorded to an Italian vessel so armed would depend upon the facts presented in the case of each particular vessel. In two or three cases which have occurred of merchant vessels of other Entente powers entering American ports with guns under 6 inches mounted fore and aft, no objection to their stay and departure has been raised by this Government, if, upon investigation, the facts indicated that the vessels were armed for defensive purposes, and the proper consul at the port of entry of such vessels gave a formal assurance that the armament was for defensive purposes only. In this relation I have the honor to enclose for your information the Department’s announcements on this subject of September, 1914,1 and March, 1916.2
Accept [etc.]