li neriCa and Axis Ships The United States coastguards, acting on
the direct orders 01 President Roosevelt, have taken into " protective custody " all Italian, German and Danish vessels in American ports. It had been discovered that the crews of many Italian vessels la'd up in harbour have been systematically destroying their raachmety, in some cases burning out essential parts with acetylene torches, in others placing combustible material on bwrd so that the ships could easily be set on fire. Action was taken in accordance with a statute of the last war aimed at preventing damage to ports by the sabotage of ships. The Italian and German crews have been sent ashore under arrest. but the Danes are being subjected to much looser detention. The Governments of Mexico and other South American countries are reported to have taken similar preventive measures. The German Government has, of course, protested—in a second Note, after the rejection of the first—but it is clear that the United States has acted strictly in accordance with its legal rights. As to the possible future of these ships, that is another question. Their captains and crews have abused hospitality, and broken the law by attempting to scuttle their ships, to the danger of the ports they were in—crimes which the Government might think entitled it to dispose of the ships as it thought fit.
