File No. 763.72111N83/59
The Chargé in Norway ( Schoenfeld ) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 21, 11.08 a.m.]
1038. My telegram No. 1037, August 20, 4 p.m. Following is the translated text of the note dated today handed to me by the Minister for Foreign Affairs this morning.
[Page 1779]Referring to your confidential note of the 15th instant, I have the honor to state:
It was with great concern that the Norwegian Government received the representation of the American Government, likewise a former representation from the British Government, that numerous reports exist which are said to furnish incontrovertible proof that German submarines pass through Norwegian territorial waters in violation of the Norwegian resolution of January 30, 1917.
After the receipt of the British representation and by reason thereof, the Government immediately caused steps to be taken to render still more effective the surveillance exercised in the waters round Utsire and to the north thereof.
Moreover, the Norwegian Government thought of asking the German Government for an explanation, but deemed that it should refrain from so doing owing to the confidential character of the British representation. The representation which you made to me in your note of the 15th instant is seen to be of the same character.
The Norwegian Government has received during the past few days reports from the naval authorities of cases which have occurred of the passage through or sojourn of foreign submarines in Norwegian territorial waters. As, obviously, these cases represent violations of the resolution of January 30, 1917, the Norwegian Government has found it necessary to notify this fact to the governments of all the belligerent powers who are known or who may be presumed to carry on operations of war in the waters which border on Norwegian territorial waters. The Norwegian Government has requested the foreign governments to institute special investigations with a view to ascertaining as quickly as [possible] whether any of their submarines have violated the resolution and to report the result of their investigations to the Norwegian Government. The Norwegian Government will then lodge the most energetic protest against such violations.
With reference to the statement of the American Government that the Norwegian Government has not insisted on impartial compliance with the Norwegian resolution in question, and that the measures hitherto adopted have only been nominal, and in view of the recommendation of the American Government to the Norwegian Government to take such new and effective measures as will effectually prevent the passage of German submarines through Norwegian territorial waters, the Norwegian Government desires to point [out] the following:
[The duties] imposed in time of war by international law on a neutral state in respect of its territorial waters consist, partly in the obligation that it shall prevent by all the means at its disposal any of the belligerents utilizing them for operations of war or as a base there [for], and partly in the obligation that it shall enforce upon all the belligerents equally the observance of the regulations it issues. No matter what may flow from these obligations, none of the belligerents is justified by international law in demanding that special measures be taken by the neutral state in its own territorial waters. The Norwegian Government is convinced that it has unquestionably fulfilled its obligations in respect of both the above [Page 1780] mentioned points. Just as its efforts since the commencement of the war have been directed towards the maintenance of an inviolable neutrality, so it is still its firm intention to maintain it in the future and to avoid any step which [may be] considered as a deviation from this attitude.
The above-mentioned resolution of January 30, 1917, which concerns the passage through and sojourn in territorial waters of submarines, is solely based on consideration of Norwegian interests and is obviously not intended to facilitate the war measures of one or other of the belligerents. Neither does it enjoin upon Norway any other obligation under international law than that of enforcing the resolution equally upon all parties concerned which the Norwegian Government, as already mentioned, is convinced that it has done. It cannot concede the right to any state to demand special measures in order to insure its observance.
It will, however, be calculated to call forth the serious consideration of the Norwegian Government if it be established that German submarines have utilized Norwegian territorial waters as a passage in violation of the said resolution. The Norwegian Government must request the American Government for more detailed information in regard to the cases which the latter has in mind relative to the appearance of German submarines in Norwegian territorial waters. The Norwegian Government would appreciate as complete information as possible, such as fuller [details] as to the time and place and the certainty that the submarines in question were German in each case, besides information as to the state of the weather.
When the Norwegian Government receives the information referred to from the American Government, it will immediately take into consideration [the measures] occasioned thereby in the interests of Norway and the Government might then feel called upon to take measures for sharper protection of Norwegian territorial waters. But it must definitely insist that it is its incontestable right by international law to determine for itself what measures should be taken in this respect.