811.5654 Wilhelmina/3
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State (Long)
The Dutch Minister1 came in this morning at my request. We discussed the situation out of which the tie-up exists on the S.S. Wilhelmina. He said that the vessel had been owned by two Dutch subjects; that it had been chartered to the Japanese along with another vessel, the Beatrice; that the Beatrice was unreported and presumably in the hands of the Japanese; that the Wilhelmina had escaped along the northern route and had arrived in an Alaskan port; that the Dutch Government had sent to that port a Dutch officer who took charge of the vessel and requisitioned it in the name of the Crown; that the vessel had then been brought to Seattle.
After arriving at Seattle the crew were dissatisfied because they had been without pay for a long time. The crew were entirely Chinese. [Page 41] Because of the long voyage through the northern Pacific and efforts to escape the Japanese naval vessels there had been no opportunity for shore leave and they had not been able to pay them. Naturally they were dissatisfied. However, on arrival in Seattle they were approached by the Chinese Consul who began making trouble with the crew. The captain of the vessel is a Dutchman but all the others are Chinese, and the foreman of the crew refused to move the vessel from one berth to another without the permission of the Chinese Consul General in Seattle. The Chinese Consul General’s action was predicated upon an internal political situation in China. He did not recognize the authority of the Ambassador and would only take orders emanating directly from Chiang kai Shek.2 The Kuomintang on one side and the Communist elements in China on the other side created difficulty and a divided authority.
The Minister said that he would be very glad to see the vessel go to work immediately, but that he must protest at the thought that the American Government would requisition the vessel because it was the property of the Dutch Government and even requisitioned by them from its Dutch owner. It still flew the Dutch flag. He realized the obligation of the Dutch Government to use its vessels in the war effort and would be very glad to have this vessel proceed immediately but that it was blocked not by Dutch authority but by an irresponsible Chinese official.
It developed in the course of the Minister’s conversation that there was probably a flaw in the title to the vessel in so far as ownership by the Crown is concerned because the vessel had not complied with certain royal regulations in registering the change in Dutch East Indies. The vessel had not been in the Dutch East Indies and was unable to proceed there and report to the seat of authority in order to effect the details of the transfer of title from the private owner to the Crown.
I told the Minister that I was going to see the Chinese Ambassador and discuss the whole subject because it affected not only this particular vessel in one port but did affect other vessels with Chinese crews in different ports.
The Minister stated that the action of the Chinese Consul was not unrelated to the American Maritime Union and intimated that the consular officials were working in cooperation with certain representatives of American labor unions on the Pacific Coast.
I told the Minister that our principal concern was that vessels lying in American ports did not remain idle and that they get into the war effort. I stated that the Dutch Government as well as the United States Government was principally interested in the war effort and [Page 42] should do everything in their power to contribute, even down to the use of this one vessel.
While the Minister said very definitely that he would protest in case the vessel was requisitioned by the United States Government, it would appear that his protest might not receive the sanction of his Government—considering the circumstances.