File No. 763.72114/2832
The Secretary of State to the Swiss Minister ( Sulzer)
Memorandum
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to the Minister of Switzerland, in charge of German interests in the United States, and has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a memorandum of July 28, 1917, from the Legation of Switzerland,1 inquiring as to the policy which the Government of the United States is pursuing towards German subjects in the United States who are either active members or reservists in the military establishment of the German Empire, and whether the Government of the United States purposes to intern these persons as prisoners of war, or whether they are to be allowed to retain their liberty, and under what conditions.
In reply the Secretary of State has the honor to inform the Minister of Switzerland that except crews of certain armed naval vessels now held as prisoners of war, active members of or reservists in the military establishment of the German Empire now in the territorial limits of the United States will be treated as regards internment on the same grounds as civilian enemy aliens residing within the same limits and only subjected to internment when their acts are in conflict with the rules of conduct laid down for alien enemies in the President’s proclamation of April 6, 1917, unless the national safety and public welfare shall require the Government to follow another course.
- Not printed.↩