File No. 763.72114/4160
The Secretary of State to the Swiss Minister ( Sulzer)
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to the Minister of Switzerland, in charge of German interests in the United States, and referring to a memorandum, dated September 25, 1918,1 from the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, inquiring what status has been accorded to the former employees of the former German merchant steamship companies who have recently been transferred from Hot Springs to Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., and what regulations will be applied in their case with reference to obligations of work, provision and manner of clothing, and amount of pay and nourishment, has the honor to inform the Minister that these men are held under a presidential warrant issued by the Attorney General and are in the custody of the War Department.
Although, except in certain individual cases, these men have not been ordered interned for the duration of the war, they are held in the same manner as interned alien enemies, subject to the regulations which apply to other men of this class. The commanding officer in charge of the War Prison Barracks at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., where these men are confined, has, however, stated that due to their being of a different character from the majority of the other alien enemies at Fort Oglethorpe, he has arranged to mess and quarter them apart from the others and to work them in separate gangs. The work required of these men is only such as is necessary for the maintenance and upkeep of their barracks and the walks, roads, and grounds generally which pertain thereto.
From the point of view of parole, these men will be treated precisely as they were when they were at the internment camp at Hot Springs in the custody of the Department of Labor, and while the officers will not be paroled, except in extraordinary cases where the officer is sick or where he has a dependent family in this country in such condition that the ordinary dictates of humanity require his release, the seamen will still be considered available for parole as employment is secured for them which they are willing to accept. In all respects, except as indicated above, these men will be treated precisely as other alien enemies interned for the duration of the war.
- Not printed.↩