File No. 763.72114/3602

The Assistant Attorney General ( Warren) to the Assistant Secretary of State ( Phillips)

My Dear Mr. Phillips: I have received your letter of October 9, 1917,1 enclosing memorandum by Mr. Grew relative to the status of German prisoners of war. I will give this my careful consideration, and after conferring with others here in the Department who are [Page 180] now interested in the questions presented, I will endeavor to have a personal conference with you and Mr. Grew.

Incidentally, I desire to point out that this Department takes the position that alien enemies arrested and detained under the President’s proclamation of April 6, 1917, are not “prisoners of war,” and have not and should not be given the status of “prisoners of war.”

Yours cordially,

Charles Warren
  1. Not printed.