811.114 Hillfern/129: Telegram
The Ambassador in Belgium (Morris) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 20—4:10 p.m.]
28. Referring to the telegrams May 19, 10 a.m., and May 19, 10 p.m.,11 from the American Consulate General at Antwerp regarding steamship Hillfern, the Embassy addressed a note yesterday morning to the Belgian Foreign Office urgently requesting the latter in view of all the circumstances of the case rigorously to apply the pertinent Belgian laws and regulations, especially excise laws, to inflict whatever fines or punishment are possible under Belgian law and to prevent the shipment of the alcohol in question which is undoubtedly destined for smuggling into the United States. Sussdorff called [Page 413] on the Secretary General of the Foreign Office yesterday afternoon and emphasized the importance of the Belgian Government taking action which in the future would serve as a deterrent to the use of Belgian ports as a base of smuggling operations against the United States. Sussdorff and Maitre Gilon, the Embassy’s lawyer, had a conference this morning with officials of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance and of the Marine Department.
The Belgian officials all insist it is impossible under Belgian law to prevent the departure of the Hillfern with the cargo of alcohol. They state that they cannot prevent shippers of the alcohol from storing it in a Government warehouse under the control of the customs but that they will refuse permission to the shippers to store the alcohol in a private warehouse. Maitre Gilon is endeavoring to persuade the procureur général to proceed against the Hillfern because the latter gave a false destination in its clearance papers.
In an after lunch conversation which I had with the Belgian Prime Minister today he reaffirmed his desire to cooperate fully with the United States Government and his inability under the present Belgian law. He again emphasized the fact that it would be useless for him to endeavor to stop liquor traffic here until the surrounding countries especially Holland have legislation preventing the use of their ports for smuggling operations.
- Neither printed.↩