File No. 763.72111/4745
The Secretary of State to the British Embassy
Memorandum
With reference to the British Embassy’s memorandum of March 23, 1917, communicating the request of the British Government, that, in the present circumstances, the publication of information regarding the sailings of Allied vessels be withheld until at least seven days have elapsed after the departure of the vessels, the Department of State advises the British Embassy of the receipt of a letter of April 3, 1917, from the Secretary of War, in response to a letter from the Department of State requesting official confirmation of the understanding of the Department of State that information regarding the cargo and destination of vessels passing through the Panama Canal is no longer made public.
The Secretary of War states that it has been decided by the Panama Canal authorities, as a precautionary measure, to omit from the Panama Canal Record the weekly and monthly reports of traffic, and to suppress generally data which indicate the bulk and direction of traffic through the Canal and its terminal ports and might assist hostile movements against it. It is added, however, that the statistical records will be kept as before, and that whenever it is deemed advisable to resume their publication summaries will be prepared to cover the period during which publication shall have been omitted.