811.114/1634
The British Chargé (Chilton) to the Secretary of State
Sir: In connection with the United States regulations in regard to the carriage of liquor on foreign ships in United States territorial waters, I have the honour under instructions from His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to inform you that His Majesty’s Government understand that the United States authorities [Page 162] are allowing wine to be carried on Italian ships on east-bound voyages in accordance with the Italian medical laws and that this concession is being granted to the White Star Line S. S. Arabic which is in the Italian trade. It appears on the other hand that in similar circumstances in the case of the Cunard S. S. Tuscania which is due to leave New York for Naples on July 2nd with about two hundred and fifty Italian steerage passengers, the United States authorities have refused this concession and have thus prevented the Tuscania from complying with the Italian law under which her license to carry passengers is granted.
I have accordingly been instructed by my Government to draw your urgent and serious attention to this matter and to protest against this discrimination between British and Italian vessels and even between British vessels in the same trade.
I have the honour to ask you to be so good as to draw the urgent attention of the competent authorities to the circumstances explained above and I trust that through your good offices they will see their way to issue immediate instructions with a view to the accordance of the same treatment to the Tuscania as has already been granted to the Arabic and to Italian vessels in this matter.
I have [etc.]