811.114 Median/1
The British Ambassador (Howard) to the Secretary of State
Sir: I have the honour to inform you that Mr. Frederick Watson, His Majesty’s Consul-General at Philadelphia, has drawn my attention to a system recently initiated whereby the Coast Guard Service detain and search British steamers in Delaware Bay and at various points in the Delaware River. The details of this system are set forth in the enclosed letter of protest which Mr. Charles Lawrenson, master of the British S. S. “Median” addressed to the Philadelphia Manager of the International Mercantile Marine Company on December 17th last,65 and also in the three annexed affidavits of Mr. Henry Williams, Mr. Tom Makin and Mr. Alfred Ernest Bailey,66 respectively master and chief officer of the British steamship “Manchester Corporation” and master of the British steamship “London Mariner” from which it appears that these bona fide vessels forming part of a regular established service to Philadelphia, carrying passengers and merchandise, have been subjected, as a result of the action of the Coast Guard Service, to a loss of as much as two days in their sailing schedule. In the case of the “Manchester Corporation”, I would also call attention to the fact that on the evening of November the 27th last, the Chief Officer of the United States Coast Guard boat No. 103 apparently caused a gun to be trained on the vessel at the time when [Page 993] it was executing a turn in the channel at a point where the Pilot considered it unsafe to stop, and, furthermore, that on October the 1st last the Coast Guard Officer who then detained and searched the same vessel removed the ship’s certified manifest against the protest of the master and failed to observe his promise to return it by the time the “Manchester Corporation” entered at Customs at Philadelphia.
In bringing the foregoing cases to my notice Mr. Watson points out that, quite apart from the serious loss of time involved, the practice of United States Coast Guard boats in detaining steamers for search iii the narrow channel of the Delaware will inevitably lead to a grounding of one of these vessels on some future occasion with resulting prejudice to the British shipping interests concerned.
In these circumstances, I have the honour to enquire whether it is essential in the public interest that the local United States Coast Guard should detain for search and place under convoy bona fide British vessels proceeding up the Delaware River which will in any event be examined at the Customs upon arrival in the port of Philadelphia, and whether, unless absolute necessity demands it, the competent United States authorities could not see their way to discontinue a practice entailing loss of time and inconvenience and fraught with serious risk to the vessels concerned.
I have [etc.]