Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1915-02-08
PAGE FORWARDS
REPORT TOBRYAN
ON FLAG INCIDENT
Bases II on Stories Told by
Passengers-U. S. Action
Is Not Indicated.
GREAT BRITAIN UPHoLDs
RUsE BY THE LUsITANIA
Report That Captain Dow Act
ed Under Admiralty lnstruc-
tions-Lack of Precedents.

| Ambassador Page made report to
| Washington on the use Of the Ameri-
can flag by the steamship Lusitania-
Mr.. Page has received no report from
the British government and bases his
communication on the stories Of
American passengers on the Lusi-
tania to members of the staff Of the
American embassy.
Under consideration" was secre-
tary Bryan's response to questions on
the purpose of the state department
in regard TO both the Lusitania Incl
dent and the German declaration Of
a. war zone around the British Isles.
There are some indications that the
! department is contemplating the
treatment of both subjects in one
| general note or statement similar to
Secretary Bryan's recent letter 70
Senator Stone.
| LONDON, Feb. s.-Walter Haines
Page, the American ambassador IN
London, today forwarded 10 the state
! department at Washington a report
on the Lusitania flag incident. The
/ ambassador in his report informally
reviews the alleged use of the Amer
| ican flag by the Cunard liner on en-
/ tering Liverpool harbor Saturday
morning, as was related to the mem
J bers of the embassy staff by Amer
/ leans who had crossed the Atlantic
! on the vessel.
| Mr.. Page has not communicated
with the foreign office concerning the
/ inc dent, and as yet no official COM
| municat tons concerning the use of the
American flag byl Britisk vesse
| have passed between the American
and British governments.
] AS the Lusitania carried $40 cabin
passengers, many of them prominent
Americans, who have a wide acquint-
| ance in London, the news Of the flag
! incident spread rapidly In the hotels
| and clubs, until II has become almost
the sole topic of conversation.
! The British government stoutly
ma 'ntains that the captain of the
! Lusitania was not ordered by gov
ernment officials to use neutral nag
j WASHINGTON. Feb. Spending a
consideration of the report forwarded
to the state department by Ambae-
sador Page there were no oficfal
statements OF how the American gov
ernment regarded the incident.
Naval officers recalled that the
| navy regulations permit a warsh p
TO fly another flag tnan its own, but
specifically provide it must be hauled
down and the ships own nag must
be hoisted before a shot is fired.
! There are many incidents in naval
| history where that has been done,
| the latest being the German sea
rover Emden. which hoisted the
| japanese flag just before making q
| daring raid at Penang. Experts in
naval procedure recalled no case,
| however. where a merchantmen was
| involved.
American Hoisted Jap Flag.
1t was recalled in naval circles here
| today that when Captain Glass, COM
| manding the cruiser Charleston. on
| his way TO the Philippines with con-
voy of troops, stopped and captured
| Guam. he ordered the Japanese nag TO
| be flown on his flag ship and on the
ships of his hotilla. He signalled
| this message to the steamers Aus
tralia, Peking and Sydney. merchant
ships under charter to the govern
ment in use as troop ships:
| Passing signal station at Guam,
Charleston will hoist Japanese colors;
| other vessels same or none"
| The deception wss aided by the fact
| that the Charleston was similar in ap-
| pearance to the Japanese cruiser Ms
niwa.
All the authorities of international
/ Law and the manual In use at the
! naval war college Justify the use Of
other flags on. warships. The navy
! war college manual says:
THE regulations of the United
! States navy state that the use OF a
foreign flag to deceive an enemy is
! H4fT ha
! hauled down before gun is fired.
and under no circumstances is an ac-
| ton to be commenced or battle
fought without the display OF the ma
tional ensign"
Lack Of Precedent.
The records Of international law.
however, contain few instances in
which the use of a foreign flag on
merchantmen has come into a ques-
ton, one instance, though not in time
| of war, came up during the term of
/ Secretary Sherman in the state de-
partment, in which the London Board
| of Trade interviewed to stop improper
| display of United States flag. These
are Secretary Sherman's words:
"A line of steamers plying between
! England and the United States under
| the British flag has for some years
/
| Jack as its house flag. Upon inquiry
being made by the ambassador IN
| London the British Board of Trade
! intervened in virtue OF authority In
| matters of shipping and navigation,
/ and I am just informed that the line
| i'm question has been constrained to
/ adopt another distinctive house nag"
| In May. 1908 the American minister
TO Brazil brought to the notice OF the
Brazilian government the fact that a
Brazilian line Of sailing vessels was
using a house flag resembling one
of the forms of the national ensign
of the United States. The complaint
was referred to the navy department
of Brazil, and the American minister
was subsequently informed that the
Brazilian firm owning the vessels in
question had ordered another flag "a
| be substituted for that which had
been in use.
Chairman Stone of the Senate for
eign relations committee, a White
House caller today, said that in his
opinion the flying of the American
/ flag by the Lusitania was an i'm
proper use OF the flag" Senator
Stone added that 1t would be pos
sible for Congress to adopt a resolu-
tion protesting against the incident.
but that he thought 1t a matter ia
be handled entirely by the executive
branch of the government.
In 1900, however, a naval regulation
was issued at the instance of Rear
Admiral Stockton. head OF a board
revising the code, absolutely pro-
hibiting the use of either neutral or
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