811.114 Great Britain/441½
The Secretary of the Treasury (Morgenthau) to the Counselor of the British Embassy (Osborne)31
My Dear Mr. Osborne: Your letter of January 31st, 1935, has been received. Thank you for the information contained therein.
With regard to the notification of our Consul General in London of departure of vessels with cargoes of alcohol for any port adjacent to the United States, we are much interested in such departures due to the activity now prevailing in smuggling operations. We will appreciate it if you will have the former practice of such notification resumed, not only from your ports in Great Britain with regard to sailings to any port in the Western Hemisphere, but also from your possessions in the Western Hemisphere to any other port west of the Azores. In addition to shipments of alcohol as such we would also appreciate having included shipments of compounds of alcohol, such as wood stain, ink and similar combinations which permit of extraction of alcohol, and which, our experience shows us, come under the head of “interesting” cargoes. With regard to shipments from the [Page 411] United Kingdom direct to the Western Hemisphere, we would also appreciate information as to such shipments to intermediate ports of call in Europe on freight routes to this side of the water.
It will be satisfactory if your Customs authorities communicate the above information direct to our Consular representatives instead of by the alternative method you mention.
Very sincerely yours,
- Copy furnished to the Department of State by the Treasury Department.↩