I cannot help but feel that the position this Government has taken
with regard to the questions raised in your memorandum will be found
entirely acceptable by your Government, and I would urge again, as I
have before, that all possible steps be taken to expedite the
termination of these negotiations, particularly in view of the
current discussions in Congress concerning these bases and the
possibility of misunderstandings and questions arising which would
be entirely avoided by the prompt settlement and conclusion of the
terms of the leases and the agreements under which the bases will be
operated.
I am enclosing the memorandum referred to.
[Enclosure]
The Department of
State to the British
Embassy
Memorandum
In its memorandum of February 26,86 the British Embassy raises the
following questions with respect to the negotiations concerning
the lease of naval and air bases:
(1) That the United States is demanding jurisdiction over all
persons, including British subjects, as regards security
offenses committed within the territories concerned, and as
regards all offenses committed within the leased areas. It is
stated that the exercise by our authorities of jurisdiction over
all persons, whether American or not, in respect of offenses
committed within the leased areas, would not seem to be
essential to the proper defense of the bases.
In a telegram dispatched to London on February 26,87 the American
negotiators were authorized to say that the Government of the
United States would not exercise jurisdiction over British
subjects, except as regards offenses committed within the leased
area affecting the safety of the area or the security of the
United States, that is to say, offenses of a military character,
including treason, sabotage, espionage, or any other offense
relating to the security and protection of the United States
bases, equipment, or other property, or to the operations of the
Government of the United States under the power
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of the lease. This jurisdiction was
further limited to offenses committed within the leased areas
where the offender is apprehended therein.
It is believed that this undertaking fully meets the views set
out in the British memorandum.
(2) The memorandum also raises the question regarding harbor and
light dues to be paid by American vessels using the bases. It is
contended that American public vessels should not have greater
exemption than is now granted to similar ships of the Royal
Navy.
As to this, it must be borne in mind (1) that British public
vessels of the types corresponding to United States public
vessels which it is proposed to charge harbor dues, probably use
ports in most of these outlying possessions only on infrequent
occasions, and (2) that from the point of view of the British
Government, it is largely a matter of taking money out of one
pocket and putting it in the other. Consequently, the payment of
harbor and light dues would be a matter of little consequence to
the British, whereas American public vessels would be using the
bases constantly, not only in carrying supplies, but in entering
and departing for purposes of maneuver, et cetera. To require
these ships to pay dues on an equal footing with ships of the
Royal Navy would mean that American public vessels might be
paying large sums of money into the local treasury for the use
of a leased base which under the agreement they would have a
perfect right to use without charge. Moreover, it has been
pointed out to the British that the United States will construct
and maintain lights, buoys, and other aids to navigation, and
that all these facilities will be available to British
ships—public and private—without charge.
It is not clear from the British contentions whether some
reasonable contribution by American public ships to the upkeep
of local aids to navigation is contemplated or whether this is a
matter of raising new revenue.
There will be no increased cost in the upkeep of existing
navigation facilities due to the use of local waters by American
public vessels. If new revenue is the point at issue, it is easy
to understand how the expenses involved in the use of these
bases would amount to considerable sums annually and to huge
sums over a period of 99 years.
No exemption of vessels other than those of the United States
Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Coast and Geodetic Survey is
requested. As a matter of fact, there would be an increase of
revenue of this type in each territory in which a base is
located by reason of the fact that additional American vessels
and perhaps foreign vessels will go to those territories with
supplies and materials for use in the construction and operation
of the bases. This additional revenue
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will undoubtedly be considerable and is an
additional argument against the taxation of these four
categories of public vessels. Moreover, the amounts spent by the
United States in supplying increased aids to navigation and
harbor improvements will be considerable. These are points which
seem to have been overlooked by the British Government.
Furthermore, the British Government seems to have overlooked the
statement in the exchange of notes between the Secretary of
State and Lord Lothian87a wherein it
is stated that:
“His Majesty’s Government will make available to the
United States for immediate establishment and use naval
and air bases and facilities for entrance thereto and
the operation and protection thereof”
and that
“All the bases and facilities referred to …88 will be … free from all rent and
charges other than such compensation to be mutually
agreed on to be paid by the United States in order to
compensate the owners of private property for loss by
expropriation or damage arising out of the establishment
of the bases and facilities in
question.”
No one ever thought of charges on United States Government
vessels for the privilege of entering and departing from these
bases. The idea of payment of such charges is entirely negatived
by the statement that the bases shall be “free from all rent and
charges other than compensation to private property owners”.
Obviously, if there is a requirement for payment every time a
ship enters or departs from one of these bases, the use of the
bases is not free from charges.
(3) The British memorandum also states that the United States
negotiators have made no proposals to meet the British request
in regard to the United States coastwise shipping laws and
facilities for British ships in the leased areas.
The American representatives in London have told the British
negotiators that the United States coastwise laws would not
extend to these bases but that under existing law all materials
for the use of the army and navy, except under certain
conditions, must be carried in American vessels. These excepted
conditions are, among other things, lack or non-availability of
American vessels, excessive costs, et cetera, under which
conditions provisions of the law may be waived by the
President.
Concerning the use of the base facilities by British ships, the
American representatives in London have stated that such
facilities will be available to British commercial vessels on
the same terms and conditions upon which they are available to
United States commercial vessels.
[Page 75]
(4) It is also stated in the memorandum that the broad argument
that it is wished to urge, is one in favor of the instructions
to the United States delegates being such as to enable them to
treat the matters under discussion on a wide basis from the
defense aspect and to take fully into account interests of the
territories and their inhabitants.
Throughout the course of the negotiations in London the attitude
and spirit of the Government of the United States toward the
discussion of the terms of the leases and the agreements under
which the bases will be operated have been entirely within the
framework of the broad purposes of the Governments of the United
States and Great Britain, as expressed in the basic exchange of
notes. Every consideration has been given at all times to meet
in as far as possible the desires of the local territories, but
it must be said that many of the points which have caused delay
in the discussions have referred to matters in which apparently
it has been the desire of the local authorities to have
provisions inserted which would circumscribe the rights
considered by the United States Government as necessary and in
accordance with the principles laid down in the exchange of
notes of September 2, 1940.
The Naval Affairs Committees of the two Houses of Congress, and
individual members of the Senate and of the House of
Representatives, have already raised the question as to whether
the United States will be required to pay any kind of charges in
connection with the use of these bases and have been told that
the Government of the United States does not anticipate being
subjected to any kind of charges. It would be unfortunate if the
British Government, by a continuation of the discussion of such
matters as customs, harbor, and light dues, should cause these
Committees to gain an unfavorable impression at a time when the
American Government is doing its utmost in an effort to be of
assistance in the world situation.
Washington, March 1, 1941.
