Office of the Historian

File No. 763.72112/515

The British Ambassador (Spring Rice) to the Secretary of State 1

British Embassy,
Washington, December 22, 1914.
[Received December 23.]

No. 441]

I have the honour to inform you that I am in receipt of a telegram from my Government stating that circumstances have been brought to their notice which have convinced them of the necessity of not allowing resinous products to be freely imported by the enemy countries and it has accordingly been decided to add to the list of absolute contraband the heading “resinous products, camphor and turpentine (oil spirit).”2

I have [etc.]

Cecil Spring Rice
  1. For a statement by the Secretary of state that the information conveyed in the British Ambassador’s note of December 22 “is received with profound regret” and reserving “for future communication the objections which this Government may have to the action of the British Government in listing resin and turpentine as contraband of war,” see the Secretary’s note to the British Ambassador, December 24, post, p. 371. ↩
  2. The announcement of this action provoked widespread demonstrations from the American interests affected by it. Telegrams and letters urging some action to avert the effects of this “most serious blow to one of the South’s greatest industries” were received from governors, senators and congressmen, chambers of commerce, and firms and individuals throughout the Southern States.↩