811.73/234
Memorandum by Mr. P. L. Boat of the Office of the Third Assistant Secretary of State (Merle-Smith)
My Dear Mr. Merle-Smith: Mr. Peterson of the British Embassy came in this morning to talk about the Western Union landing at Miami and the movements of the British ship Colonia.
He stated that instructions had been given to the master of the Colonia to report to his vice-consul at Miami, and that the master had replied that he would comply with these instructions. He then stated that he had cabled the Foreign Office in London a detailed account of the case.
He seemed somewhat perturbed by the prominence the case has been given in the press in New York … making it appear that the American Government was preventing an attempt on the part of the British to land an English cable. I told him that you had consulted the British Embassy in the matter, because of the fact that the Colonia is a British ship and we felt that we could not presume to in any way intercept or attempt to regulate the movements of a British ship in this case, outside of our territorial waters, and that it was properly the function of the British Embassy to deal with its nationals in this matter; that we greatly appreciated the courteous action of the British Government in instructing the cable ship to cease all operations and report to the vice-consul at Miami; that this was a matter which might easily be seized upon by troublemakers, both in this country and abroad, just which apparently had been done this morning in New York, if it went any further; that we felt that it was to the advantage of everyone concerned to hold open such questions of cable landings until after the Preliminary Conference on Communications, and that we felt sure that the British Government would be inclined to cooperate with us to prevent any unnecessary discussions from arising between their nationals and ours in a case of this kind.
I added that we had every intention to be firm with the Western Union and see that the President’s orders were not defied. I explained that the Western Union apparently intended to order the Colonia to lay a cable from Barbados to connect with the cable which extends from Halifax to Havana, thus establishing a roundabout connection to the United States from Barbados, either through Key West or Halifax. (I showed him exactly how this would come about on the map).
I told him that we might be inclined to question the propriety of such a step on the part of the Western Union as it would [Page 691] effectively create a link between the United States and a foreign country, and that the particular link—United States–Barbados—had not been contemplated or authorized when the Key West to Havana cables were laid; that the British telegraph companies from Halifax to the United States would be placed in the position of completing this link—Barbados–United States–via Halifax—and that while they might possibly form a link in this system if they desired to do so, I did not know whether or not the British Government would desire to have them form a link in this system, inasmuch as it would be, in a way, contrary to the spirit of the President’s orders that the Western Union should not be allowed to create a physical connection between Barbados and the United States.
I added that we had no intention of taking any steps with regard to the Colonia, and that we left the matter of her further movements entirely to the discretion of the British Embassy.
Mr. Peterson then said that the Embassy had been greatly pleased with the Secretary’s announcements which appeared in this morning’s Washington papers, putting the matter in its proper light; that he very well understood our attitude in the matter and appreciated our action in advising the British Embassy, and that he would at once telegraph to his Government recommending that pressure be brought to bear, either on the owners or the charterers of the Colonia to have her ordered to return to British waters at once and remain there until a decision had been reached regarding the Western Union’s permit to land a cable, and that, failing action on the part of the owners or charterers, he felt certain that the British Government would itself issue the necessary orders to the ship to oblige her to return to British waters before entering into any cable operations and remain there; and that the British vice-consul had been instructed to see that the Colonia cease all activities with regard to cable laying until definite instructions with regard to the Colonials future course had been received from the Foreign Office.
Mr. Peterson’s attitude was extremely cordial and plainly indicated that the Embassy had every intention of cooperating fully with the State Department in order to avoid any further action in the matter which might be contrary to the President’s desires.