File No. 763.72112/8835
The Acting Secretary of State to the British Ambassador on Special Mission ( Reading )
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note No. 588 of May 29, 1918, informing me that your Government, [Page 922] at the request of the Admiralty, proposes to add “citric acid and citrates” to the list of British absolute contraband.
After consultation with the departments of this Government concerned with this matter, I take pleasure in stating that the competent authorities of this Government, understanding that “citric acid” is recognized as the active principle of lime juice, which is included in the naval ration of some governments as an anti-scorbutic, and that the “citrates,” or some of them, are classed as drugs or medicines useful to the armed forces as well as to the general population, regard “citric acid and citrates” as included in the contraband list set forth in Instructions for the Navy of the United States Governing Maritime Warfare, June, 1917.
Accept [etc.]