The Secretary of State to the British Chargé d’Affaires (Barclay)
Memorandum
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Britannic Majesty’s Chargé d’Affaires and acknowledges the receipt of his memorandum of August 11, 1914, communicating a telegram received by him from the Foreign Office stating that the Germans are scattering contact mines indiscriminately in the open waters of the North Sea without regard to the consequences to merchantmen, thus rendering these waters perilous to the shipping of all nations, and that in view of the methods adopted by Germany the British Admiralty [Page 456] hold themselves at liberty to adopt similar measures in self-defense, thus increasing the dangers to navigation in the North Sea.
It is not stated in the memorandum whether the contact mines are floating or anchored, but it is presumed from the expression “scattering contact mines indiscriminately” that it was the intention to convey the idea that the mines referred to are floating mines.
The limitation placed upon the use of floating contact mines by Article 1 of the Hague convention of 1907 relative to the laying of automatic submarine contact mines is that they shall become harmless within one hour after being laid.
The Secretary of State is loath to believe that a signatory to that convention would wilfully disregard its treaty obligation, which was manifestly made in the interest of neutral shipping.
All restrictions upon the rights of neutrals upon the high seas, the common highway of nations, during the progress of a war, are permitted in the interests of the belligerents, who are bound in return to prevent their hostile operations from increasing the hazard of neutral ships in the open sea so far as the exigencies of the war permit.
If an enemy of His Majesty’s Government has, as asserted, endangered neutral commerce by an act in violation of the Hague convention, which can not be justified on the ground of military necessity, the Secretary of State perceives no reason for His Majesty’s Government adopting a similar course, which would add further dangers to the peaceful navigation of the high seas by vessels of neutral powers.
The Secretary of State, therefore, expresses the earnest and confident hope that His Majesty’s Government may not feel compelled to resort, as a defensive measure, to a method of naval warfare, which would appear to be contrary to the terms of the Hague convention and impose upon the ships and lives of neutrals a needless menace when peaceably navigating the high seas.