Evening star., 1941-03-31


might be placed in the inter- -Ameri-
gan trade, thereby making it pos
Eible to release the equivalent in
American tonnage to Britain.
A kindred topic of speculation was
whether the temporary freezing"
od the ships might presage the long
considered freezing" of axis credits
here.
German and Italian capital, it is
reported. has been quitting the
country at an accelerated rate re-
gently in anticipation OF some such
action
Aid to Britain Short of War.
Secretary of State Hull indicated
In response to inquiries at press
conference that there was no in
tention of informing the Italian and
German governments through dip
lomatic channels of reasons for
taking over the ships and the Gov
ernment'S intentions, remarklng
that he believed the action speaks
more effectively than words.
Anal disposition of the vessels. He
said the seizures followed months
of discussions among various Gov
ernment departments on action in
the event of sabotage.
Asked if the action could be con-
sidered as taking the United States
nearer to war. Mr. Hull said the
Government had been pursuing a
course of all aid short of war to
Great Britain and other countries
fighting aggression. and that so far
as he knew that formula still was
being followed.
He added that he had not heard
any one question the absolute legal
fly of the ship seizures in the light OF
the evidence of sabotage and at
tempted sabotage.
Asked if the statement by one of
the Italian ship captains that orders
to wreck the ships had gone out
from the naval attache in the italian
Embassy here were being investigat-
cd, the Secretary said that all phases
OF the matter were receiving atten-
tion.
He said he had not heard the pos
ssbility of taking over French ships
m American ports discussed.
30 Are AXIS Ships.
The ships were seized by the Coast
Guard, Navy and Army in a rapid
fire series of week ehd operations
from New England to the Gulf
Coast, the Pacific Northwest and the
Philippines. There we're two Ger
man ships. % Italian and SO of Dan
ish registry.
Capt. Ranise ErnesJo of the Ital-
Ian freighter Mongolia, taken over
at Houston, Tex said he had re-
eeived orders from the Italian naval
sttache here to destroy the ma
ei1inery of his ship.
The masters of some Italian YES
sells, however, manifested no sur
prise when the Coast Guard details
came aboard, as if they had been
expecting just such visitation.
1--WE don't know anything about
that" q spokesman at the italian
Embassy here said when asked if
orders had gone out to the Italian
ship captains to sabotage their YES
sells. He said the embassy was
awaiting information" including
reports from Italian consuls as to
what actually happened to the ships,
before making any statement.
Other Americas May Follow Suit.
He Imagined" a protest would be
made when information now being
gathered is completed.
A Danish Legation spokesman
said he hoped newspapers would
stress the Governments explanation
chat Danish ships were taken over
as protective measure against the
danger of sabotage from outside and
not from any fears that the Danish
crews would damage their own ves-
sels. He added that in view OF
these circumstances no protest was
expected from his government.
officials here were of the opinion
that there was good ground for the
belief that other American nations
would follow the example of the
United States in taking over the
axis shipping which has used their
har'bors as sanctuaries since the
start Of the war.
II was pointed out that other
hemisphere countries long have been
considering steps to get control of
sasch idle tonnage.
Chile took the lead in mid Feb
ruary by seizing three Danish cargo
ships. Other American countries
have indicated disposition to take
similar action, but were believed to
have waited on a decision by the
United States.
Germany has about 40 ships in
Latin American ports and Italy con-
Eiderably fewer.
The Government here was believed