811.114 Bodo/86
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Norway (Biddle)
Sir: The receipt is acknowledged of your despatch No. 55, of December 3, 1935,84 in regard to the threatened use of the Norwegian steamship Bodo in connection with the smuggling of alcohol into the United States.
The despatch has been read with interest and a copy thereof has been forwarded to the Secretary of the Treasury for his information.
The Bodo arrived at St. Pierre on December 17, 1935, and on December 19 began unloading 9,000 cases of alcohol for which a customs declaration had been filed by “American House”, owned by J. B. LeGasse and Company. The remaining alcohol was unloaded on December 21 and, after discharging its cargo of coal, the Bodo expected to leave St. Pierre on Monday, December 23, or the following day.
The Secretary of the Treasury expressed his gratification orally to an officer of this Department recently that the alcohol cargo on the Bodo was not unloaded on the high seas, as the consignees had undoubtedly intended it should be. This happy result was due to the prompt and efficient action taken by you and the members of your staff and by Consul Higgins, of the Consulate General at Oslo, as well as by the representatives of this Government in Antwerp.
You and Mr. Jefferson Patterson, of your staff, are hereby commended for your effective handling of this case.
A separate instruction84 is being addressed to Consul Higgins, commending him for his energetic cooperation in this matter.
The prompt action taken by the Norwegian Government and the cooperation of the captain and of the owners and agents of the Bodo in [Page 446] preventing their vessel from being used in this nefarious traffic is most gratifying to this Government and you may, in your discretion, convey a message in the above sense to the appropriate Norwegian authorities and to the owners and agents of the Bodo.
Very truly yours,