500.A15A3/1766a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chairman of the American Delegation to the London Naval Conference13 (Davis)
32. During the discussions of the neutrality bill there have been at various times proposals to incorporate in the bill a prohibition of [Page 176] the use of American ports to armed merchant vessels during a war. The bill reported by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on January 28 contains no reference to armed merchant vessels. Several prominent international lawyers have brought forward the suggested prohibition from time to time and it is very possible that the suggestion will be made before the Senate Committee, whose hearings have not yet terminated.
It is the view of the Department that this is a matter which should properly be treated rather in an international convention than by inclusion in our domestic law. As the discussion of part IV of the London Naval Treaty14 is expected to receive the consideration of an international conference either during or after the meetings of the present London Naval Conference, it has occurred to us that the question of armed merchant vessels might appropriately be considered at the conference on part IV of the 1930 treaty. We would like your personal comment on this possibility only for our own consideration.
- Held December 9, 1935–March 25, 1936; see pp. 22 ff.↩
- Signed April 22, 1930, Foreign Relations, 1930, vol. i, p. 107. For correspondence concerning the signature of a procès-verbal relating to part IV of the treaty, see ante, pp. 160 ff.↩