File No. 763.72113/379
The Acting Secretary of State to the Belgian Minister ( De Cartier)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note No. 1295 of June 20, 1917, with reference to the systematic plundering carried on by German troops in Belgian and French territory, and in which you state that you have been instructed by the King’s Government to request the Government of the United States to take certain retaliatory and confiscatory measures in connection with German property in this country.
In reply I have the honor to inform you that although the Government of the United States deeply sympathizes with the injuries which have been suffered by Belgium at the hands of Germany, it is felt that this Government, in view of the declaration of the Administration that private enemy property would not be confiscated, can not accede to the request of the King’s Government.
Accept [etc.]