Evening star., 1939-10-29
Clear Duty to Return
Ship to American
Crew Is Seen
By BLAIR BOLLES.

The captured American freighter
City of Flint last night still was an
international will-o'- the -wisp on
the heels of State Department
communique which pointedly indi-
Gated the feeling that Soviet Russia
has acted in bad faith toward the
United States and that the Rus
slams and Germans apparently have
co-operated against American in
terests in the case.
A dispatch from the Associated
Press at Moscow, quoted Tass,
Soviet official news agency, report
ing the City of Flint had sailed last
night from Murmansk after repair
ing her engines The brief report
failed to say whether the freighter
was in command of the German
prize crew or whether the American
crew still was aboard.
All day yesterday German au-
thorities at Berlin reiterated that
the Flint was en- route to some Ger
man port, talked about convoy of
submarines and Warships running
through the British blockade and
hinted about action by a prize
court at Hamburg Despite this,
United States Charge d'Affaires
Alexander G. Kirk in Berlin re-
ported late yesterday afternoon he
had been advised informally by
the German government that the
Flint was at M,lrmanSk
Clear Duty to Return Ship.
In a resume of the case. the State
Department announced last night
that lit was the clear duty Of the
Soviet government to turn the City
of Flint over to the American crew.
The press communique added that
"this has been the major conten-
ton of the United States Govern
ment" in the matter of the Ameri-
can freighter, which was brought
into the Russian Arctic harbor of
Murmansk by the prize crew last
Monday.
Each person can Judge for him.
self" the Soviet action in the City
of Flint matter, the State Depart
ment acidly remarked.
The sharp statement was viewed
as a foundation for the report that
Ambassador Laurence A. Stein
hardt in Moscow may be recalled to
Washington to consult with Secre-
tary of State Hull and other high
officials on the matter. The Ameri-
can Government is indignant over
obstacles placed in its Ambassador
way by the Soviets in his search for
information.
The communique suggested fur
ther diplomatic representation while
1t refrained from announcing this
Governments course in dealing with
Moscow from now on in the City OF
Flint case. But it arranged chrono-
logically the story as reconstructed
from dispatches to the department
last week by Ambassador Stein
lnardt. in Moscow. and Charge
d'Affaires Kirk, in Berlin, and OBJ
served:
"It seems manifest that even if
It is assumed that the German
crew was proceeding legally prior
to the entry of the City OF Flint
into the harbor of Murmansk. the
known facts and circumstances sup
port the contention of the Amerl-
can Government that the German
crew did not at the time of entry
offer any reasonable or justifiable
grounds such as are prescribed by
international law for taking the ves-
sci into this port"
Prize Crew Interned.
First. said the communique, the
Russians interned the members OF
the German prize crew-in strict
accord with international law.
which forbids bringing prize into
a neutral harbor except to make
repairs, pick up supplies or escape
bad weather. Then the Russians
changed their tactics and released
the German crew with the ex-
PLANTATION that the ship had been
brought into Murmansk harbor be-
cause of defective machinery. The
American Government holds that
this explanation was made too
late.
Berlin advices on October 25 re-
ported that the ship had put into
Murmansk because it lacked proper
charts-presumably for taking it
into German waters The Russians
have never made reference to the
matter of the charts. The COM
munique observes:
The conclusion indicates
(See CITY OF FLINT, Page AID