File No. No. 763.72112/3680
The Secretary of State to the Fidelity and Casualty Co. of New York ( Frank E. Law, Vice President)
Sir: The Department has received your letter of May 23, 1917,1 wherein you state that the question has arisen whether your company has the right to make payments to beneficiaries in Germany under the workmen’s compensation and other policies, and that you would like to be advised in this relation.
In reply you are informed that the existence of war between the United States and Germany is regarded as making illegal all commercial intercourse between residents of the two countries. Therefore, the payment of funds to German beneficiaries in Germany apparently could not, during the continuance of the present conditions, legally be made by you, either directly or through the agency of the Swiss Consul at New York.
As bearing on the general question of commercial intercourse with the enemy, the Department may refer you to Moore’s International Law Digest, volume 7, page 237, et seq.
I am [etc.]
Assistant Secretary
- Not printed.↩