File No. 763.72114/4043
The Secretary of State to the Swiss Chargé ( Oederlin)
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to the Chargé dAffaires ad interim of Switzerland, in charge of German interests in the United States, and referring further to his memorandum of August 26, 1918 (XXVIa–145),1 inquiring relative to the regulations adopted with reference to the forwarding of the personal belongings of interned alien enemies after their arrest to the place of internment, has the honor to state that the regulation requires that no money or other property belonging to, owing to, or held for an enemy or ally of an enemy shall be transmitted without the consent of the Alien Property Custodian.
[Page 315]In the case of interned alien enemies without dependents the Alien Property Custodian makes demand for property in excess of $500 in value, and in the case of interned alien enemies with dependents in this country, makes demand for any in excess of $5,000. It will thus be necessary in each case where the Chargé d’Affaires is desirous of forwarding personal property to interned alien enemies to refer the matter to the Secretary of State so that the consent of the Alien Property Custodian can be first obtained. This consent, so far as the Alien Property Custodian is concerned, will ordinarily be granted where the property is less than $500 in the case of interned alien enemies without dependents and less than $5,000 in the case of such persons with dependents in this country.
- Not printed.↩