File No. 763.72111/830
The Chargé d’Affaires in Argentina (Lorillard) to the Secretary of State
Buenos Aires, October 24, 1914.[Received November 27.]
No. 362]
Sir: In continuation of my No. 356, of September 30, 1914,1 with respect to Argentine neutrality in the actual European war, I have the honor to report that the representatives of the belligerent powers continue to complain of the manner in which the neutrality provisions are fulfilled by the Argentine authorities, especially with respect to navigation. Although the Argentine decree of neutrality, which was duly sent to the Department, ordered that the text of the Hague convention of 1907 should be strictly adhered to, the subordinate officials of the customhouse and captain of the port’s office have acted in very careless manner with the result that practically all merchant vessels have been permitted to depart with their bunkers full of coal and in some cases even with cargoes of coal, notwithstanding the orders of the Ministry of Marine that only [Page 691] enough coal should be carried to enable steamers to reach the first port of call. Furthermore, several merchant vessels, both British, German, and French, are alleged to have embarked arms, ammunition, and supplies, with the cognizance of the authorities, to be used by the war vessels of their respective countries, and in some cases it is known that they have converted themselves into auxiliary cruisers and commerce destroyers as soon as they reached the high seas. Merchant vessels of the belligerent nations have also been permitted to leave port on the same day and, on two or three occasions, at the same hour. The British Minister, who has only recently returned to his post, has been especially vigorous in his complaints to the Government against this state of affairs. All but three of the German merchant vessels which were laying in this port when the war began have left the Plate for unknown destinations and are known to have given supplies to German cruisers in spite of the close watch which British war vessels are supposed to be keeping in the South Atlantic.
Several wireless stations are known to be in operation by Germans in different points of the Argentine coast and, although they have been denounced by the British Legation, only one has so far been located and closed down by the Argentine authorities.
Owing to the difficulty which Austro-Hungarians and German subjects have experienced in returning to their respective countries, even on neutral vessels, many of them have attempted to procure foreign passports. Several have applied for passports from this Legation and a certain number secured Danish passports, which are alleged to be false. The largest number, however, have attempted to secure Argentine citizenship. The Constitution of Argentina declares that naturalization is obtained after a two years’ continuous residence in the country. The Federal court has, however, decided that the naturalization of subjects or citizens of the belligerent countries would be a violation of neutrality. The court held that the fact of conceding citizenship to such persons, thus recognizing and protecting them as Argentines, might signify in some cases the depriving of friendly nations of the men who ought to render military service to them, and in other cases it would perhaps make it difficult for them to recover contributions authorized by the state of war, apart from the abuses which might be committed by making use of the new citizenship as a safe-conduct, all of which might be interpreted as a violation of neutrality.
I have [etc.]