File No. 855.48/125
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State
London, December 28, 1914.
[Received December 29, 8 p.m.]
[Telegram]
1340. The Foreign Office informs me that the British naval authorities will undertake in the future to facilitate the voyage only of such charity ships to Rotterdam as contain whole cargoes of food for Belgian relief. It is important, therefore, that such ships should not contain other cargo, and to secure this protection all ships for Belgian relief must be reported by Lindon Bates, the commission’s representative in New York, to the British Ambassador in Washington. After conferring with Sir Cecil Spring Rice it might be advantageous to give this arrangement wide publicity because certain societies and committees continue to ship contributions of food in ships that carry other cargo.