Office of the Historian

File No. 863.852/12b

The Secretary of State to the Minister in Switzerland ( Stovall)

[Telegram]
Washington, April 14, 1917, 5 p.m.

515. For Ferruccio Schiavon, Lucerne [from Phelps]:

Have sold your seven1 and Tripcovich three. Owing to incompleteness of authorization, Tripcovich sale subject to direct confirmation. Antonio has cabled also authorizing sale of Martha, Virginia, Laura, Alice, and in case you need all your eleven free of any trade restrictions. Tripcovich should confirm this also. Only obstacle to our completing sales and collecting money is your Ambassador’s refusal to direct your consuls here to close registers which is present condition of buyers’ ability obtain American flag. Most important in order to avoid further dangerous delay that your officials here be instructed to act immediately. Suggest you try to obtain for us complete authority for Budapest, Morowitz. Reply by cable. Phelps.

Lansing
  1. The total purchase price was approximately $6,500,000. These seven ships were sold by the purchasers to the Shipping Board in May, 1917. For the, names of the ships see telegram of Mar. 20 from the Ambassador in Austria-Hungary, ante, p. 445.↩