Office of the Historian

File No. 811.2222/13045

Certificate of Exemption from Military Service of Certain Citizens of the United States in Great Britain

General Certificate

Whereas, the Convention concluded on June 3, 1918, between the Government of the United States and the Government of Great Britain in respect to compulsory military service of the citizens or subjects of either party in the territories of the other, provides in Article III that:

“The Government of the United States and His Britannic Majesty’s Government may through their respective diplomatic representatives issue certificates of exemption from military service to citizens of the United States in Great Britain and British subjects in the United States, respectively, upon application or otherwise, within 60 days from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this convention, or within 30 days from the date when such citizens or subjects become liable to military service in accordance with Article I, provided that the applications be made or the certificates be granted prior to their entry into the military service of either country.

“Such certificates may be special or general, temporary or conditional, and may be modified, renewed, or revoked in the discretion of the Government granting them. Persons holding such certificates shall, so long as the certificates are in force, not be liable to military service in the country in which they are;”

And whereas, by an exchange of notes dated June 3, 1918, between the parties of said Convention in relation to Article I thereof, it is understood that the Government of the United States will exercise its right under Article III to exempt from compulsory military [Page 718] service in Great Britain all citizens of the United States in Great Britain outside of the ages specified in the laws of the United States prescribing compulsory military service for citizens of the United States.

Now, therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, by virtue of authority of Article III of said Convention, hereby certify, in the name of the Government of the United States, that all citizens of the United States in Great Britain outside the ages specified from time to time in the laws of the United States prescribing compulsory military service for citizens of the United States are and shall be exempt from compulsory military service in Great Britain.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[seal] Done in the District of Columbia this thirtieth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eighteen and of the independence of the United States of America the one hundred and forty-third.

Woodrow Wilson

By the President:
Robert Lansing
Secretary of State.