An item dated The Hague, Netherlands 11th October referred to a statement of the Dutch Department for Foreign Affairs which was informed by the Dutch representative Washington, USA that the US cabinet officially announced that no ships underway to European neutral countries which shared borders with Germany was allowed to coal bunker in the USA. The result was that Dutch ships returning from the Indies and South America could not bunker in any American harbour unless the American Export Council approved that their cargoes were allowed to be transported to the Netherlands. While it was also not possible to bunker coal in South Africa were the communication lines between the Netherlands and her colonies cut off. Negotiations between the Dutch and American cabinets led yet not to a solution.
