OCR Text |
Show ABUSE OF THE FLAG OF A NEUTRAL The Manchester Guardian takes the right view of the abuse of a neutral flag by the British That papers while asserting ihat British ships possessed pos-sessed the right, under International usage, to t fly the American flag, or any other flag, in time of stress, yet resorting to that ruse Is somewhat humlliatlng and. if made a practice, will placeiall neutral shipping under suspicion That is a most sensible opinion and one that should appeal to the English themselves There is not a particle of doubt as to the British right, and still the English Eng-lish are. open to criticism on the broad grounds of fair play. When tlje German raider Emden steamed InVo Penang harbor, disguised dis-guised as aiJapanese ship and flying the flag of 'Japan, foreign comment accepted the trick as permissible, but rather shady. Though a Russian and Japanese tship were sunk, neither eountrv made complaint. So today, while the English ship are free, to-raise the Stars and Stripes when In a zone of danger, English valor and self-reliance would be maintained main-tained at a higher standard, if that deception were not practiced. The United States government should protest to Great Britain, pointing point-ing out that an injustice Is being done our shipping. |