Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-02
TO CITE IN NOTE
MISUSE OF FLAG
Representations to- Be In
Guided in U. S. Communica.
ton to Great Britain.

representations concerning the MIS-
use of the American flag by British
merchantmen will be included in the
gnera1 note which the United States
intends soon to send to Great Britain
covering restrNints Of American COM
merce in connection with the so-called
blockade
Secretary Lansing disclosed today
that the investigation being conducted
by the United States into cases of al
legged misuse Of the American flag to
deceive German submarine command
ers had not yet been completed, but
| that evide1ce in specific cases proba-
bly, will be called separately to the
attention of Great Britain. while the
general subject would be included in
| the new note.
Complete information concerning the
alleged misuse of the American flag
recently on British ships. apparently to
| avoid German submarine attacks, was
awaited today by Washington officials.
Thorough inquiry already has been
| instituted based upon official reports.
Ambassador Gerard, in Berlin, and
American consular representatives in
Great Britain have submitted affidavits
and other evidence tending to show
misuse of the American emblem. Some
Of the aff1davits state that in certain
cases the British admiraltys agents
! have advised masters of vessels to use
the American flag.
Issue Of Importance.
The issue is regarded as of great i'm
portance to the safety of ships really
entitled to fly the American flag. In
view Of the emphasis which is laid in
Berlin upon the dangers Of such a prac-
tice, Ambassador Gerard's information
on specific cases as obtained from the
| German government is being carefully
| investigated.
Germany in her proclamation of war
| zone announced that in view of the
| misuse of neutral flags it would not al
ways be possible to distinguish be-
tween craft entitled to fly neutral en-
blems and ships of belligerent ma
tionality. The use by the Lusitania OF
| the American flag while crossing the
| Irish sea to Liverpool was dealt with
| in the American note to Great Britain
dated February Is, which pointed out
the serious consequences which may
| result to American vessels and Ameri-
can citizens if practice is continued"
Would Make Britain Responsible.
While "reserving for future consid-
Grafton the legality and propriety OF
the deceptive use of the flag of neu-
trail power in any case for the pur-
pose of avoiding capture" this note
concluded as follows:
The government of the United
States, therefore, trusts that his
| majesty's government will do all In
their power to restrain vessels of Brit
| 1sh nationality from the deceptive use
Of the flag of the United States in the
sea area defined in the German declara-
| ton, since such practices would great
| ly endanger the vessels of a friendly
power navigating those waters and
would even seem to impose ON the
government of Great Britain a measure
| of responsibility for the loss of Ameri-
can lives and vessels In case of an at
| tack by a German naval force"
The British government, in its reply
dated February 10, claimed that mas.
| much as Great Britain always had per-
| mitted other countries to make use Of
the British flag in time of war, it would
be contrary to fair expectation" to be.
| grudge British ships the liberty to take
| similar action now, but added that the
| British government had mo intention
| of advising merchant shipping to use
foreign flags as general practice OF
| to resort to them otherwise than for
| escaping capture and destruction"
| Great Britain commended that an OBJ
| legation rests on a be1ligerent warsnIp
to visit and search before attacking
and If this were done belligerent ma
| tionality could easily be verified. Tine
| British note never was answered by
i! the United States and it is believed
| that evidence thus far gathered will
| be made the basis for a renewal Of the
| correspondence then begun.