Evening star., 1939-10-27
Lacking Information,
Roosevelt Is Silent
On City Of Flint
Evudes Direct Answer
On Treatment Of
steinhordt
BY the Associated Press.

SfeInn0rdt
By the Associated Press.
President Roosevelt said today he
lacked sufficient new information fol
comment on the seizure of the
American freighter City of Flint by
Germany.
Asked why Laurence A. Stein
hardt, American Ambassador to
Moscow, had been unable to FIND
out when, where and to whom the
vessel had been released, the Chief
Executive replied it was a long
way from Moscow, the Soviet capi.
tai, to Murmansk, the Arctic port
where the freighter was taken by
the Germans.
Reports from Moscow last night
that the freighter had been permit
ted to sail from Murmansk under
the American flag had raised hopes
here that the United States had wor
a victory in a tense diplomatic
struggle.
However, officials were keeping
their fingers crossed, especially in
view OF German news agency dis
patches implying that a German
crew was in command of the ship
when she departed
There was believed to be a pos
sibility that the ship might be flying
the American flag and still be in the
possession of the Germans. There
would be precedent for the German
crew raising the American colors
under such circumstances. 1t was
recalled that in the World War
formal instructions to the United
States Navy said that in case a
neutral ship was taken by an Ameri-
can vessel the flag of the neutral
should be kept flying until a COM
petent court adjudged the vessel a
lawful prize
Crew Aboard at Tromso.
Most recent authentic word on the
status of the crew came last night
from Norway in a communication tt
the State Department from Mrs. J
Borden Hartman. American Min
lister to that country. Mrs. Harri-
man reported that the American
Consul at Bergen, Maurice P. Dun
lap, had informed her the Ameri-
cans were aboard and we'll wher
the ship sailed from Tromso under
German prize crew last Saturday
The information was obtained, i,
was explained. from the captain OF
the British freighter Stonegate
whose crew was picked up bv the
City of Flint after their ship was
sunk in the Atlantic.
Secretary of State Hull formally
demanded yesterday that Russia
turn the vessel over to this Gov
ernment while Germany marshalled
arguments to show the craft was
legally German prize of war.
The nub of the dispute was
whether the German raider which
captured her violated international
law by sending her into the Russian
Arctic port of Murmansk. Mr.. Hull
IN his formal demand on Russia
LOOK the position that a prize of
war could be sent into a neutral
port only IN case of unSeaWorthiness
stress OF weather or want of supplies
Germans Counter Claim.
The Reich came right back with q
claim that the vessel had suffered
sea damage" That was the reason
she was taken to Murmansk, said
memorandum presented by the
German foreign office to Alexander
G. Kirk, American Charge d'Affaires
Asked what the damage consisted
OF, the foreign Office replied in
formally that it lacked details on
that point, but that such damage
would include lack of charts aboard
the City of Flint with which to
navigate the waters through which
she had to proceed.
When Mr.. Kirk reported this last
observation to Washington, there
was some raising of eyebrows here
The view was expressed that the
City of Flint undoubtedly had charts
to find her way to her original
destination in the British Isles;
that she could not be expected to
have charts of the Arctic Ocean
and that presumably the raider had
charts which might have been used
Contraband Is Acknowledged.
There appeared to be no argyll
ment about Germany's action ir
stopping the ship and taking pos
session of her Berlin announced
that quantity of contraband was
found aboard; Secretary Hull has
acknowledged this.
In the memorandum handed tc
Charge d'Affaires Kirk in Berlin
the German foreign Office said i,
had received no news of any in
jury to any member of the Amer
ican crew of the City of Flint.
Secretary Hull said the Amer
lean position regarding the freight
er, as communicated to Moscow and
Berlin, was based on a decision
by the United States Supreme Court
during the World War and on ar
ticle 81 in The Hague convention
of 1907.
Both precedents were to the ef-
feet that neutral ports may not be
used as havens for prizes of war
captured by belligerents. Only ex-
ception would be in emergency cir
cumstances of brief duration.