Evening star., 1941-03-31
Rome Also Slow
To Reoct;; Seventy
Vessels Held
BY the Associated Press.

tied up in American waters
spread to Central America today
when their crews set fire to a
German and an Italian vessel IN
Costa Rican waters.
The ships were the German
freighter Eisenach and the Ital-
ian liner Fella, anchored at
Punta Arenas. The crews were
arrested.
This development followed yester-
days seizure by the United States
Coast Guard, Army and Navy OF
more than 100000 tons of Italian,
German and Danish shipping docked
at widely scattered ports. More than
70 vessels were taken into protective
custody" after a discovery was made
that at least 20 of the % italian
ships had been badly damaged by
their crews.
(At a press conference at Fort
Jackson, S. c., today, President
Roosevelt, who is en- route to
Washington, indicated that he
personally had ordered seizure OF
the axis ships. Asked directly If
it had been done at his SPECIFIC
order, he told reporters he
thought they could make certain
assumptionsD
Official reaction was slow in COM
ing from Berlin and Rome, although
release on the subject was
being prepared in the German
capital. In New York, Italo E.
Verrando, general manager of the
Italian Line in the United States,
said that Everybody knew that the
United States was going TO seize the
ships for use as planned The pre-
arranged plan" he said, has been in
the offing for some time"
Held Discussed "for Months"
They (American officials have
been talking about it for months, y
Mr.. Verrando declared, and all that
remained was to find legal way to
do it,
The Italian Embassy in Washing
ton, he added, would study the legal
ity of the action.
Authorities in Rome withheld COM
ment, but observers predicted the
eventual reaction would be strong.
The Italian radio questioned the
truth of the seizure reports, assert
ing that since no confirmation had
been received the reports might be
"another instance of British propa-
eanda."
The hroadcaster said, however.
that if the action were true, it would
surprise us because, being unjusti-
fed, it would appear to be inspired
by motives far from peaceful" He
added that if the italian crews had
intended to sabotage the ships they
already would have had opportunity
to do So"
Normandie May Be Taken Over.
Unnamed Federal officials in New
York were quoted as saying that
although no order had been issued
1t was quite possible" that the Gov
eminent would take over the S60,-
100000 French liner Normandie and
five French freighters tied up in
New York.
In Berlin. it was said the
German governments attitude
probably would be made known
later today.
1.-The matter is probably OF
prime historical significance" au-
thorized quarters said.
Germany will certainly not
regard American action in respect
to Italian and German ships as
an act of friendship" an au-
thorized spokesman said. The
whole idea of what is and is not
private property Is shaken by
the United States action, the
commentator said, declaring that
the ships belonged not to govern
ments but to private firms0
Treasury officials here said no
ships of other nationalities had been
seized, but declined to discuss the
possibility of other seizures. They
added that they would not give ad-
vance notice of such seizures.
When the Danish ships were
seized, two Icelandic vessels berthed
in New York were not disturbed,
although Iceland has the same King
as Denmark No official explanation
was given, but 1t was pointed out
that while Denmark is occupied by
the Germans. Iceland has been oc-
eupied by the British.
Following up yesterdays seizures,
the Navy today took under protec-
hive custody four Danish ships in
Philippine waters. The four, ag-
eregating 23.80O tons, were the Ger
trude Maersk, Crete Maersk, Hulda
Maersk and Marchen Maersk.
Violent Protest Expected.
That a violent axis protest would
be forthcoming was taken for
granted in informed quarters, and
the belief was that the dramatic
events of the week end had brought
relations between the United States
and the axis powers close to an open
rupture.
lIC uldSUCL VI OIlC lldildIl slip
called the step IAN act of war"
In London an authoritative
source said Britain was graft
fed" over the United States
action in placing Italian, Ger
man and Danish ships in pro-
tective custody. This source
said such steps were highly de-
sirable because of the present
shortage of merchant shipping
and prospects of greater short
age by the end of the war;
Freezing of Axis Credit.
The summary action in taking
over the merchant shipping reused
conjecture as to whether the United
States was planning to use the ves-
sells or to turn them over to Britain
Responsible quarters, however,
considered it unlikely that any i'm
mediate plans existed. They
thought that eventually the bottoms
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