811.04418/706
The Secretary of State to Senator Key Pittman
My Dear Senator Pittman: The South African Minister and the Canadian Minister39 have called at the Department and, in conversations, have invited attention to provisions of Section 2 of the neutrality bill which are causing anxiety to their respective governments.40 What they have to say seems to me to be of sufficient significance from the point of view of our own national interest to warrant my passing it along to you for such consideration as you may deem appropriate.
The South African Minister pointed out that, although the amendment to Section 2 proposed by you and Senator Connally would permit American vessels to transport mail, passengers, and commodities to belligerent ports of the Western Hemisphere south of thirty degrees north latitude and to belligerent ports in the Pacific or Indian Ocean including the China Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Arabian Sea, they would still be prohibited from carrying mail, passengers, and commodities to belligerent ports in the South Atlantic Ocean. He had particularly in mind Capetown and other South Atlantic ports of the Union of South Africa. He felt that to exclude American vessels from touching at these ports while they were permitted to touch at belligerent ports considerably less distant from Europe constituted a discrimination against his country. I note that, in your proposed amendment, the line thirty degrees north latitude is made the southern boundary of the area in the Atlantic Ocean within which American vessels may not carry on trade with belligerent ports in the Western Hemisphere. Might it not be possible to meet the Minister’s objection by carrying that line across the Atlantic to Africa? Thus, American vessels could continue to carry on trade not only with Capetown and other Atlantic ports of the Union of South Africa [Page 680] but also with French and British Colonial ports lying farther to the north but still many thousands of miles from Europe.
The Canadian Minister directed his remarks particularly to the provisions of Section 2 relating to the passage of title. He pointed out that, although the proposed exceptions to the provisions of section 2 (c) exempt transportation of mail and personal effects of individuals “by American vessels on or over lakes, rivers, and inland waters bordering on the United States” or “by aircraft on or over lands bordering on the United States”, there is no exemption for transportation of mail or personal effects of individuals by automobile, autobus, or train between the United States and Canada. Thus, although American citizens desiring to enter Canada in furtherance of trade and commerce or as tourists could freely carry with them their personal effects if they were to cross the Great Lakes or travel by plane, they would have to divest themselves of all right and title to an automobile before crossing with it into Canada and to any personal effects which they might wish to transport by automobile, autobus, or train. He feared that, were the bill enacted into law in its present form, it would not only interfere seriously with ordinary travel and ordinary commercial intercourse between the United States and Canada but would entirely disrupt the important traffic by rail which is ordinarily carried on between Detroit and Niagara Falls across Southern Ontario and between the Provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick across the State of Maine. These provisions would also interfere seriously with the common practice of American companies of shipping to wholly-owned subsidiary sales organizations in Canada.
I take it that your proposed amendment to Section 2 (f), which was printed in the Congressional Record for October 20,41 was prepared with a view to dealing with some of these points raised by the Canadian Minister.
Sincerely yours,
[The Neutrality Act, passed by the Congress, was approved November 4, 1939; 54 Stat. 4.]
- Ralph W. Close and Loring C. Christie, respectively.↩
- Similar protests with reference to certain provisions of the proposed joint resolution were also received from the Irish Legation, October 25, the Danish Legation, October 27, the Netherland Legation, October 30, and the Finnish Legation, November 2, 1939; none printed.↩
- Vol. 85, p. 645.↩