File No. 763.72/7272
The Department of State to the British Embassy
Memorandum
By its communications of June 5 and August 13, His Britannic Majesty’s Embassy inquires whether the dry dock and repair shops at Balboa may be made available for the ships of the British Pacific [Page 1271] Squadron, and whether they may be supplied with coal, oil and stores as required; and whether transports carrying troops will be allowed transit facilities through the Canal.
There is enclosed a copy of the President’s proclamation of May 23, 1917, for the “Regulation, Management, and Protection of the Panama Canal and the Maintenance of Its Neutrality,”1 which appears to cover the inquiry of His. Majesty’s Embassy.
From this proclamation it will be observed that fuel and lubricants may be taken on board by vessels of a belligerent in the Canal in amounts sufficient to reach the nearest accessible port, not an enemy port, at which they can obtain supplies necessary for the continuance of the voyage. It is the Department’s opinion that if it is not possible for British vessels to obtain coal, oil, etc., in sufficient quantities at British ports other than those in England, British vessels could, under the proclamation, be allowed to take on sufficient amounts to reach ports in the British Isles.
As to the passage of transports through the Canal with troops, there is perceived to be no objection so long as the reasonable provision of the proclamation in regard to the embarkation and disembarkation of troops, munitions of war or warlike materials and the other provisions of the proclamation relating to passage through the Canal are complied with.
As to the use of the dry dock and repair shops at Balboa, it will be observed that the proclamation restricts the use of such facilities to cases of “actual distress.”
As the provisions of the proclamation in this respect and in others are based upon the treaties of the United States covering the status of the Isthmus and the diplomatic correspondence on the same subject with the countries concerned which, in a word, place upon the United States the duty and responsibility for maintaining the “neutrality” or “neutralization” of the Canal and its approaches, the Department of State regrets that, in its opinion, to allow the unlimited use of the dry dock and repair shops at Balboa by the British Pacific Squadron would be an infringement of the peculiar status of the Canal which the United States is under obligation to maintain. The Canal and its approaches, in the opinion of the Department, should not be made a rendezvous for belligerent ships or a base of naval equipment and repair.