File No. 763.72112/723

The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State

No. 835]

Sir: Referring to the Department’s telegram No. 871 of January 2, inquiring whether the term “Resinous products,” in the Royal proclamation of December 23 last,1 was intended to include “rosin” proper and at the same time requesting to be informed of the reason for which the British Government had decided to declare these products to be contraband of war, I have the honor to enclose herewith a copy of a note I have received from the Foreign Office, setting forth the reason for which. His Majesty’s Government had decided to declare these products to be contraband of war, and upon which my telegram No. 1576 of to-day2 was based.

I have [etc.]

Walter Hines Page
[Enclosure]

The British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Grey) to the American Ambassador (Page)

No. 8983/15]

Your Excellency: In the note which you were so good as to address to me under date of the 4th ultimo your excellency enquired whether the term “resinous products,” in the Royal proclamation of December 23 last, Schedule 1, No. 5, was intended to include “rosin” proper and at the same time you requested to be informed Of the reason for which His Majesty’s Government had decided to declare these products to be contraband of war.

I have the honour to make the following statement to your excellency in reply:

Spirits of turpentine are the raw material of synthetic camphor which is chemically identical with the natural camphor of Formosa. Camphor was known before the war to be used in Germany for the manufacture of certain gunpowders and this has been proved since by the analysis of the powder in captured German cartridges. Turpentine is also used in the manufacture of special shells with luminous flight at night and marked by smoke in the daytime.

Finally, rosin and colophane can be used for binding shrapnel bullets together and also in the composition of shells and incendiary bombs.

The addition of the above articles to the contraband list necessitated the inclusion of all resinous products as being their raw material.

[Page 202]

I trust that the above statement will convince your excellency that His Majesty’s Government have been actuated by important military considerations in making this addition to their list of contraband and I can assure you that they much regret any inconvenience which may be caused thereby to United States citizens.

I observe that your excellency refers to the unofficial letter addressed by His Majesty’s Ambassador at Washington to the Counsellor of the State Department under date of November 1 last, in which his excellency stated that His Majesty’s Government had at that time no present intention of interfering with turpentine and rosin, and that your excellency says that American shippers have relied upon this assurance which has now been departed from. I feel that I cannot better answer this part of your excellency’s note than by forwarding to you the enclosed copy of correspondence on the subject which has passed between Sir C. Spring Rice and the United States Secretary of State.1

I have [etc.]

[File copy not signed]
  1. Foreign Relations, 1914, Supplement, p. 269.
  2. Not printed.
  3. The Secretary’s note of December 24 and the Ambassador’s note of January 1 are printed in Foreign Relations, 1914, Supplement, pp. 371 and 379.