763.72111/1938
The Secretary of State to
President Wilson
Washington,
April 2, 1915.
My Dear Mr. President: I enclose a memorandum
from Mr. Lansing in the case of the S. S. Pisa. I
think he has made as strong a case as the facts permit.
With assurances [etc.]
[Enclosure]
Memorandum by the Counselor for the Department of
State (Lansing) of
an Interview With the Counselor of the German Embassy (Hatzfeldt), April 1,
1915
Prince Hatzfeldt called to ask about the clearance of the S. S. Pisa from New York.
I told him that after a thorough investigation of the case and
sympathetic consideration from the German standpoint the Government
had reached the decision that the vessel should not be cleared.
He asked me the reasons for this decision.
I replied that it was primarily because the Pisa was intended to carry fuel and supplies to German
warships for the purpose of carrying
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on hostile operations and not for the purpose
of returning to their home port, that this was admitted. I pointed
out that the principle, on which the privilege of obtaining fuel and
supplies from neutral ports was based, was that the warship intended
to return home, and that no such pretense was made in this case. I
further said that the furnishing of supplies to warships proceeding
on a warlike expedition or intending to continue hostilities on the
high seas was contrary to that principle, and made the neutral port
furnishing supplies a base of naval operations, which was contrary
to Article 5 of Hague Convention XIII (1907).57 I cited the cases of the
refusal of coal by Great Britain to the French fleet in the North
Sea in 1870 and of a similar refusal to the Russian fleet proceeding
from the Baltic to the Far East during the Russian-Japanese war.
I also said that it was admitted the port of destination was
fictitious and tainted the application for clearance with fraud.
Prince Hatzfeldt asked me if this decision was final. I replied that
it was.
