Executive Order No. 3360–A, November 29, 1920, Canceling Cable Permit Issued to the Deutsch-Atlantische Telegraphengesellschaft20

Whereas the Deutsch-Atlantische Telegraphengesellschaft, a German corporation having its principal office and place of business at Cologne, Germany, was granted a permit by the President of the United States, dated May 27, 1899, whereby said Company was granted permission to lay, construct, land, maintain and operate telegraphic lines or cables on the Atlantic coast of the United States to connect Borkum-Emden, Germany, and the City of New York, touching at the Azores, upon certain conditions which had been accepted by the Company in a letter dated May 13, 1899;21 and

Whereas the said Deutsch-Atlantische Telegraphengesellschaft thereafter laid two cables as aforesaid, upon the conditions set forth in said permit; and

Whereas the said cables were cut in May, 1915, between the United States and the Azores, and were thereby rendered useless for communication purposes, and a portion of one of said cables was thereafter removed and transferred to Halifax, Canada, by the British authorities, and the other cable is temporarily in the possession of the French Government, and a permit issued on August 23, 1917, authorized a change in the landing point of this cable so that it lands at Manhattan Beach, Long Island, New York; and

Whereas it is desirable to cancel the permit issued to the Deutsch-Atlantische Telegraphengesellschaft on May 27, 1899, since operation of cables laid under it has ceased; and

Whereas said permit of May 27, 1899, provided in Article XI for its revocation and termination in the following terms:

“That the consent hereby granted shall be subject to any future action by the Congress or by the President, affirming, revoking or modifying, wholly or in part, the said conditions and terms on which said permission is given.”

Now, therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and in accordance with the provision contained in Article XI of the said permit of May 27, 1899, hereby revoke, cancel, annul and terminate the said permit issued to the Deutsch-Atlantische Telegraphengesellschaft on May 27, 1899, and declare that hereafter it is null and void and of no effect whatsoever.

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This Order is made without prejudice to applications that may hereafter be filed by German concerns. The permit issued by me on August 23, 1917, to the French Government shall not be affected by this order.

Woodrow Wilson
  1. Copies of this order were communicated, Nov. 29, to the delegations to the Conference.
  2. For correspondence regarding the issuance of the cable permit to the Deutsch-Atlantische Telegraphengesellschaft, see Foreign Relations, 1899, pp. 310 ff.