Alde-Mempire His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom are wholly unable to accept the account of the recent incident off Nemours given by the French Government in their note to the United States Oovernment dated April 1st. 2. The French Government complain: (1) That the convoy was attacked by British warBhlps. The interception of merchant ships is a legitimate exercise of belligerent rights and cannot be described as an attack. The French Admiralty will by now have learnt from the Commanding Officer of the French escort that no shot was fired by any British warships against any vessel in the convoy although they would have been fully Justified in doing so to compel obedience to their orders. On the contrary, His Majesty's Government must enter the strongest protest against the unprovoked attack made by the French shore batterieB upon the British light forces wnilst lawfully engaged in exercising belligerent rights. (2) That the incident took place "in waters considered to be French according to a notification made some time ago to British Admiralty". The French Oovernment appear to refer to their notification that if British warships navigated within twenty miles of the French coast, they would be liable to attacic. The French Government are well aware that such a notification is without any justificatjon in Inter- national l,aw and that His Majesty's Government have repeatedly stated that they cannot recognise it as having any effect. If the reference is to waters within the three mile limit, His Majesty's Government would/ -2- would remind the French Government that ae they stated in paragraph 3 of their note dated March 5th, they are unable in existing circumstances to regard Prance as either fulfilling the obligations or entitled to the rights of a neutral state. (3) That French ships were carrying foodstuffs destined in part for Algeria. The interception and diversion of merchant ships for the control of contraband is a well-established right of a belligerent and the particular nature of a ship's cargo cannot alter a belligerent's right to satisfy himself that a cargo is not contraband. In any case His Majesty's Government cannot accept the proposition that foodstuffs are an innocent cargo or that .Algeria is an innocent destination. The French ?.'avy in their prize .Manual, issued under the authority of Admiral Darlan, are instructed that foodstuffs are conditional contraband and supplementary instructions, issued in 1939, provided that conditional contraband was to be seized under precisely the same conditions as absolute contraband, namely whenever destined for enemy ports or for neutral ports habitually used as transit ports for goods consigned to the enemy. The French Government have thus in the past fully subscribed to the doctrine that the contraband nature of a cargo is determined by its ultimate destination, ports in Metropolitan France would clearly be obnoxious destinations for conditional contraband within the instructions in French Prize Manual; but His Majesty's Government have in addition ample evidence that the German and Italian Governments are requisitioning a substantial proportion of all supplies reaching France. The industries of France/ France are moreover directly engaged in producing war materials for Germany. Algerian ports are known to His majesty's Government to be ports of shipment and trans-shipment for all foras of contraband goods destined for metropolitan France and they must therefore regard with the deepest suspicion cargoes consigned to those ports. His Majesty's Government had evidence that one of the ships in the convoy inter- cepted off Nemours loaded 3»CC0 tons of rubber from Indo-China for Marseilles. They have since learnt that thi6 rubber was unloaded at Casablanca, no doubt with the intention that it might be transported overland to Algeria without the risk of interception. The French Government have thus little reason to express surprise that His Majesty's Government gave orders for the Jnterception of this particular convoy. 3* His majesty's Government do not lightly order the interception of French ships but only upon the gravest evidence that the Frt.nch mercantile n.arine is actively engaged in carrying war supplies for the benefit of their enemies. Hie Majesty's Government were bound to ta&e note of the fact that under Article II of the Armistice between Prance and Germany and Italy the resumption of French sea-borne trade was conditional upon the authorisation of the German or Italian Governments. They had no doubt upon what terms French merchant ships would again be permitted to put to sea. These misgivings could not fail to be increased when early last September before any French inerchant ship had yet been intercepted by British warships the French merchant ships parsing through the Straits of Gibraltar were provided with escorts. -'4- Finally when the first French merchant ships were intercepted it was revealed that the French Admiralty had issued orders that they should avoid examination by scuttling. His Majesty's Government could then only assume that the Frencn mercantile marine was operating in the German interest and under German direction. U« It is therefore hardly a matter lor surprise that His Majesty's Government find it necessary to take energetic action to stop the leak in the blockade resulting from attempts "by Pr' nch merchant ships to obtain an immunity from examination which is not enjoyed by any neutral state. The French Admiralty are well aware of the attitude of His Majesty's Government concerning the visit and search of vessels in convoy and they therefore court incidents with British warships when they send convoys through the Strsits of Gibraltar under escort with orders either to escape interception or to scuttle themselves. His Majesty's Government reiterate that it is their earnest desire to put an end to all causes of friction between the British and French Navies and they welcome the good offices of the United States in achieving this object. But the French Government will appreciate that no arrangement will be satisfactory to His Majesty's Government which is not based upon the full recognition that French merchant ships, equally with ships of neutral countries, must submit to the exercise of legitimate belligerent rights. BRITISH KfcBASSY, WASHINGTON, D. C, iiay ?ndtf 1941^