The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-02-28
SHIPPERS DON'T
 AGREE ON PLAN TO ARM VESSELS

NeW OrK, FeD. ZS-SWeeplng praise was given by many shipping men yesterday to President Wilson peaceful American merchant ships. Others said they would sail their ves- sells unarmed. None who commented on the Presidents address to Congress felt that his reference to American ships ''timidly'' keeping in port re- ferred to them. P. A. S. Franklin, president of the International Mer- cantile Marine Co.,, declined to make any statement regarding the American line vessels tied up here.
 It was learned that guns have been sent to the navy yard in Brooklyn which could be installed within AS hours on the American liners, St. Louis, St. Paul. Philadelphia and New York, the express vessels of the American line under the mail sub sidy, which were fitted for guns in the spanish-American war. There was a report that word from Wash ington had been received by the com pany to keep the vessels here, but no
 
 Some ship owners and agents said they gladly would accept guns from the government Others asserted merchantmen should be armed both fore and aft And still a few others said as far as they were concerned. they were satisfied td sail their vessels. unarmed.
 Armed Neutrality Puzzles.
 Some that advocated the armament proposition predicted that the insur- ance rates would be lowered on armed vessels. Rates yesterday to the United Kingdom dropped one-half per cent.
 But all were puzzled over the status of armed neutral merchantmen, or armed neutrality
 The questions arose in their minds as to when it would be lawful to re- .sort to the use of guns, if the right of visit and search should be ignored, and how close a. submarine should be permitted to get before it should be considered attacking.
 Howard E.. Jones, of the firm of James w. ElweH & Co.,, one of the oldest American shipping houses. said:
 We would sail our vessels whether they are armed or not. We have never stopped and never considered doing so. They are all at sea now.
 .'It seems to me the thing for Amer ican ship owners to do is to accept an offer of the government to arm mer- Presidents address,
 Oriental Navigation company, owners of the American steamship Orleans. which arrived at Bordeaux yesterf1av said:
 Don't Want to Make Test.
 We are going about our business, but we won't arm our ships until some one else tries the experiment. We don't want to put forth the test case It is a question of what the status of an armed merchantmen under neutral flag would be under international law and how the right of visit and search would work out. There is no precedent of arming a neutral vessel under such circum- stances"
 An official of the Globe Steamship Co.,, which owns the American steam ship Vigilancia, about to sail for Ha- vre, said that if it were decided necessary it's vessels would be armed, but thatNin the meantime they would be sent to sea unarmed. D. T. Warden, manager of the ship ping department of the Standard Oil Co, would not comment on the mess age. He merely pointed out that the vessels of the company's fleet are sailing and said they were only held up long enough for the company to determine what to do. HI. S. Quick of the Kerr Steamship Line, which sent the American steam ship Rochester off to Bordeaux, where she is expected today, said the company was going ahead with the sailing of it's vessels and that the Rochester will return here as soon as she un1oads her cargo.
 "As to the arming of our ships, we are simply awaiting developments" he | 1@I