Office of the Historian

File No. 811.741/37

The British Chargé d’Affaires (Barclay) to the Secretary of State

British Embassy,
Washington, August 14, 1914.

No. 280]

Sir: I have the honour to recapitulate briefly the various points advanced by me in the course of conversations which I have had during the past few days with you and the Counsellor of the Department of State and in which I supported the contention of His Majesty’s Government that the use of the wireless stations at Sayville and Tuckerton for messages of an unneutral nature should not be reestablished.

1.
The two wireless stations in question are under the direct control of the German Government and messages intercepted before the censorship was established indubitably show that they were in constant communication with German warships.
2.
Information conveyed by wireless differs vastly from that conveyed by cable. A wireless message, from the very moment it is despatched, is spread in countless directions and is conveyed to any number of ships over a wide area. A cable message can only be delivered at one well-known point. That point of destination is a tangible one and the enemy are at perfect liberty to attack it and cut off communications.
3.
It would appear that the German Embassy contends that it is cut off entirely from communication with its Government. His Majesty’s Embassy understands, however, that there are still cable routes open to them, via Italy, for instance. But even if this were not the case, the cutting of German cables is a perfectly legitimate act of war, which the German Embassy cannot expect it to be the duty of a neutral to redress.
4.
The further contention of the German Embassy that it is being discriminated against and that a cable message is on the same footing as a wireless message is incorrect. A cable message cannot reach a warship. Any information which might be conveyed as to the movement of ships by cable takes a considerable number of hours to reach its destination. When information is ultimately sent to the ships, this information reaches them from the territory of the [Page 673] belligerent (by means of relays from Europe, which again take time—a matter of vital importance) and not direct from the territory of a neutral. A wireless message, on the other hand, sent from the Sayville or the Tuckerton stations is not only direct but immediate information conveyed to ships, merchantmen and warships.
5.
In short, the two German wireless stations above mentioned are in a position to impart direct and immediate information to the German fleet, to the great danger of British shipping, and render United States territory a base for direct military operations against their enemies.

I have [etc.]

Colvillle Barclay