New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
PAGE SENDS REPORT
 ON ALLEGED USE OF $ FLAG BY LUSITAN|A
(Continued from First Pagc.)

however. contain few instances in
 which the use of foreign flag on
 a merchantman has come into a ques-
 tlon. One instance. though not in
 time of war, came up during the term
 offSecretary Sherman in the state de-
 partment, in which the London board
 of trade intervened to stop improper
 display of United States flag. These
 are Secretary Sherman's words: "A
 line of steamers plying between Eng
 land and the United States under the British flag has for some years past 1 used the United States union jack as It's house flag. Upon inquiry being made by the ambassador in London, the British Board of Trade inter- i Vened in virtue of it's authority in matters of shipping and navigation.
 and l am just informed that the limo
 In question has been constrained to
 adopt another distinctive house flag"
 In May, 1903. the Amercan minis
 ter to Brazil brought to the notice of
 che 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
 
 ter was subsequently, informed that
 the Brazilian firm owning the vessels
 in question had ordered another flag to be substituted for that which had been in use.
 Improper Use of F7ag.
 Chairman Stone of the senate for slgn relations committee. a White House caller today, said that in his opinion the flying of the American flag by the Lusitania was an improper use of the flag
 Senator Stone added that 1t would be possible for congress to adopt a 1 resolution protesting against the in- Gdent, but that he thought it mat ter to be handled entirely by the exec utiye branch of the government. Awaits American Action. London, Feb. 8, 12 noon.-The news of the arrival at Liverpool under the Am erican flag of the Cunard Line steamer Lusitania is given much space 1 in the English papers today. The information was received too late to permit of much editorial comment as yet, but enough has been printed to show that the incident is regarded as one of great importance. It is not { generally expected, however, that the
 British government will take further action unless Washington requests an explanation.
 Advice Doubtlessly Given. London, Feb. 8, 4:40 a. m.-While maintaining that it is impossible the admiralty could have given a secret order to merchant vessels to fly neu- ! tral flags, the Times naval correspon- dent admits it is quite neutral the '-1.-, to, hoist neutral flags or take any other pr6cautions to conceal their identity when passing through submarine-in- fested waters. He adds that such advice doubtless has been given. EIn 1900, however, a naval regua- l ton was issued at the instance of
 Rear Admiral Stockton, head of a
 board revising the code, absolutely 1 lpro rohibiting the use of either neutral
 or enemy flags for purposes of decep-
 ton. But very soon after the signing i of the order, and before it had found general circulation, the attention of | President Roosevelt vas drawn to it by some naval officers of high rank, who pointed out that it had been ! practiced from time immemorial and was perfectly legitimate warfare to
 make use of neutral flag to ap-
 proach either an enemy ship or his batteries or to run down prize, with the single condition that before a hos
 tile shot was fired the neutral flag
 must come down and the true stan
 dard be hoisted. President Roosevelt
 was moved by those arguments to
 rescind the new regulations, which
 gave place to the one now extant. Recalls Celebrated Case. A celebrated case of the successful use of a neutral flag during time of | war is a classic in naval history. It was that of the confederate sloop-of-war Oneida, which ap- ) preached Mobile harbor in 1862 un- l der the British ensign. Captain Preble in command of the federal blockading fleet caused blank shot to be fired across the Oneida's bow
 but not in time to prevent the con-
 federate vessel from running the
 blockade and entering Mobile harbor, where she found shelter under the i shore batteries.
 Captain Preble was dismissed from the naval service the ground that heshad not adopted sufficiently vigor- ous measures to stop the Oneida, but ~he was afterwards restored to the
 navy by action of the captain of the oneida, who, in disregard of his own
 personal safety and without waiting for a safe conduct from the federal l commanders, passed through the union lines and came to President 1 Lincoln at the White House to testify that Captain Preble had discharged his full duty under international law especially in view of a tender state of relations between the United States and Creat Britain