Salt Lake Tribune | 1914-09-26 | Page 5 | Registry Changes Involves Precedent

REGISTRY CHANGES INVOLVE PRECEDENT Future Attitude of Neutral Governments Govern-ments May Be Fixed by-Outcome. by-Outcome. WASHINGTON, Sept: 25. Recognizing Recogniz-ing that an important precedent for the future will be involved, officials of the department of commerce, it was learned today, have not yet approved tho application appli-cation for the change from German to American registry of the steamship Sacramento, owned by the Sou t her u Pacific company, but formerly known as the Alexandria of tho Kosibos line, a German concern. State department officials are being consulted oefore the application is granted. Thus far changes in registry ave been almost entirely those in which the ownership of vescls has continued con-tinued in the hands of Americans. In the case of the Alexandria, however, a j prize court may eventually have to pa&s upon whether or not the transfer is bona fide. Solicitor Johnson of the state department depart-ment said today that the American government gov-ernment could not decide the question of the validity of any transfer and would only be broughr. into a discussion discus-sion of the question if an American owner failed to obtain justice in a foreign for-eign prize court. The case of the Robert Dollar, an American-owned vessel which attempted to change from British to American registry reg-istry while at Rio de Janeiro, is still a matter of diplomatic correspondence between the United States and Brazil, notwithstanding the fact that the owner withdrew his application for a change and sailed the vessel under her original flag. The American government, govern-ment, is desirous of knowing why the provisional registry granted by the American eonsul at Kio do .Taneiro was not immediately recognized, us this case uiyo may constitute a precedent ou the attitude "of neutral governments.