714.00/5–1854
Memorandum by the Assistant Legal Adviser for International Claims (English) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Holland)
I have considered the question of recommending that Congress be asked immediately to enact legislation providing that when there is reason to believe that a vessel within the area defined in Article 4 of the Rio Treaty of 1947, is carrying elements of atomic or hydrogen bombs or other implements of war, which may be used in such a way as to endanger the peace of America [or in the alternative, in such a way as to endanger the security of the United States or its possessions or the Canal Zone],1 the President be authorized to take measures to stop, divert and detain such vessel.
I am inclined to think that the matter of procuring legislation with respect to vessels carrying elements of atomic or hydrogen bombs should be most carefully considered before recommending its enactment. While legally, it might be justified on grounds of the national security, it is to be borne in mind that such legislation would create a precedent for similar action by other Powers with respect to shipments which might be made by the United States at least to some of the NATO or other countries.
If the present shipments of implements of war bound for a Central American country, constitute an imminent threat to the security of the United States, the United States could seize or detain the vessels, taking the consequences of charges of violation of the freedom of the seas, violation of the sovereignty of the country in whose port they might be found, and even of a risk of war.
If the present shipments of implements of war constitute merely a threat to the peace of the Hemisphere, affecting the sovereignty or political independence of an American State, the pertinent provisions (Arts. 6 and 8) of the Rio Treaty of 1947 should be invoked.
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