Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1914, Supplement, The World War

File No. 840.48/123

The Minister in Belgium (Whitlock) to the Secretary of State

American Legation,
Brussels, undated.
[Received August 10, 1914, 3 a.m.]

[Telegram]

Belgian Government states that it can see no occasion for entering into formal agreement with other powers to refrain from interference with vessels chartered for sole purpose of conveying to United States citizens who are detained in Europe through derangement of shipping. The Government considers that these ships are clearly covered by Article 4 of eleventh convention Hague, relative to certain restrictions to the exercise of the right of capture in maritime war.

Whitlock