811.73/246
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Navy (Daniels)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of August 9, 1920, in which you request an expression of the opinion [Page 695] of this Department as to what disposition is to be made of the Robert Clowry, which is carrying the shore end of the submarine cable proposed to be run between Miami and Barbados. You state that “if the tug is permitted to proceed to Key West and place the cable it now has on board in the company tank at Key West, there develops a situation in which the Western Union Telegraph Company has at its immediate disposal a length of cable which can be quickly run from a point on the Florida coast out to sea and beyond the three mile limit.”
In reply I have the honor to state, that it is my opinion that pursuant to the President’s directions the landing of the cable in question either at Miami or at Key West should, by appropriate means, be prevented by the Navy Department.
I have [etc.]