File No. 656.119/214
The Netherlamd Minister ( Van Rappard) to the Secretary of State
Memorandum
The Netherland Minister presents his compliments to the Honorable the Secretary of State and has the honor to inform him that according to information received by him from his Government, and which tallies with what he learned on this side, the United States desire an alteration in one of the most essential conditions of the agreement which was drawn up in London between the representatives of the United States, the Allied Governments and the Netherlands, viz., that the ships which the Netherland Government put at the disposal of the Allied cause should not navigate within the so-called war zone.
This change of attitude would greatly endanger the conclusion of the said agreement as the Netherland Government cannot accept [Page 1409] the proposed alteration, and would moreover have a most unfavorable effect on the public opinion in Holland.
It must be borne in mind that out of the entire Netherland transatlantic fleet of about 1,350,000 tons, about 425,000 tons have been put at the disposal of the United States under the so-called provisional agreement, whilst about 525,000 tons carry products from the Netherland Indies to America and the British Indies, about 85,000 tons are immobilised in Allied ports and 300,000 tons in Netherland ports. Not a single ship is allowed to carry cargoes for the use of the Netherlands whereas 1,000,000 tons work on behalf of the Allied cause.
The enormous service which is rendered in this way has already had a very serious effect on the relations between Holland and Germany, which can at any moment cut Holland off from the North Sea, and no other compensation is asked than that its ships shall not be forced to navigate within the war zone.
This condition cannot be unacceptable to the Allies and the United States, as the ships which Holland puts at their disposal can replace ships belonging to them and which can then be used within the war zone. On the other hand, if Holland allowed its ships to be used in that zone, its international position would become altogether untenable.
It is for this reason that it is most urgently requested that the Government of the United States will use all its influence to have the condition maintained that the said Netherland ships shall not be used within the war zone.