763.72112/982½
President Wilson to the Secretary of State
My Dear Mr. Secretary: These notes by Mr. Lansing are admirable and convincing; but they lead only to debate, and debate with the British Government (which for the time being consists of the War Office and the Admiralty) is at present of no practical avail.
Inconsistencies in the Order and inconsistencies between the Order and Sir Edward Grey’s note accompanying it are neither here nor there, as it seems to me; neither is the lack of the ordinary forms of notice of blockade. We are face to face with something they are going to do, and they are going to do it no matter what representations we make. We cannot convince them or change them, we can only show them [Page 289] very clearly what we mean to be our own attitude and course of action and that we mean to hold them to a strict responsibility for every invasion of our rights as neutrals. In short we must make them understand that the discretion which their officials are vested with must be exercised in such a way that the extraordinary “blockade” they are instituting will not in fact violate our rights as neutral traders on the seas.
Take an instance (in the field of argument). It is true that a previous Order in Council adopted all the Declaration of London except the portions defining contraband, as a temporary code of warfare at sea; but that previous Order did not constitute an agreement with any other nation. It was a piece of domestic legislation; and a subsequent Order no doubt repeals it so far as it is inconsistent with it. So that line leads nowhere, I fear.
If, then, we speak only to the facts, is not this our right course? Ought we not to say, in effect: You call this a blockade and mean to maintain it as such; but it is obvious that it is unprecedented in almost every respect, but chiefly in this, that it is a blockade of neutral as well as of belligerent coasts and harbours, which no belligerent can claim as a right. We shall expect therefore that the discretion lodged by the Order in Council in the administrative officers and courts of the crown will be exercised to correct what is irregular in this situation and leave the way open to our legitimate trade. If this is not done we shall have to hold you to a strict accountability for every instance of rights violated and injury done; but we interpret Sir Edward Grey’s note to mean that this is exactly what will be done.
Note, by the way, the sentence in Page’s despatch58 in which he says that they will heed none of our arguments, but that they will be careful not to offend us in act.
Note, also, that, as a matter of fact, our export trade shows no sign of slackening and that there is little left, by the action of Germany herself (See Gerard’s recent despatch59 and several preceding) for us to trade with Germany in. Our cotton ships bring nothing away on their return voyage.
I hope that Mr. Lansing will be kind enough to try his hand at a note such as I have indicated, and then we can get together (perhaps all three of us?) and put the thing into a shape that will thoroughly hold water (and exclude it, too, as a maritime paper should).
Faithfully Yours,