Hew York Tribune, Oot. 20, 1939 7 lOnsiders Ban on Armed Merchantmen Hull Says Decree Similar to That £or Submarines May Be Put in Effect From the B/fgfeTribune Bureau fl WASHINGTON, Oct. 19.—Cordell Hull, Secretary of "'state, indicated at his press conference today that the government was studying the [question of extending to armed merchant ships the provisions'; of President Roosevelt's proclamation barring submarines of nations en- gaged in the European war from .entering the ports or territorial waters of the united States. His statement was In answer to questions, as to why the President's I proclamation, Issued last night, had been- specifically directed against belligerent submarines and" had not niade'iany provision against the use of! American ports and waters by armed, merchant ships of bellig- Mr. Hull said that, while the Presidential decree. Issued under the authority of the neutrality, act,' dealt only with submarines*, atten- tion was being given to armed mer- chant ships. He said the govern- ment believed that a permanent polr Icy on armed merchant ships should be dealt with later, at a suitable tune. The provisions of the neutrality act would allow the President to extend the ban on the use of Ameri- can ports to merchant ships as well as submarines. Mr. Hull also emphasized the pro- visions of the Presidential proclama- tion against submarines which will not allow any submarine to come into American harbors because It has been damaged in a naval en- counter or needs fresh supplies. Mr. Hull said it was his under- standing of the proclamation that a submarine was not supposed tohave the ability to create conditions that would justify. its coming into an American harbor. He said that If the submarine ran out of provisions it would not be allowed to enter American ports because such mat- ters as food' should be taken into account by the submarine com- manders in the same manner In which individuals looked out for themselves from meal-to meal. The President's proclamation did not include an exact definition of American waters, but Mr. Hull said today that he considered the boun- dary meant In the proclamation to be the three-mile limit. The ques- tion was raised because at the recent conference of the twenty-one Ameri- can republics in Panama a neutral- ity belt of 300 miles around the Americas was discussed. According to the present laws, ships of belligerents are allowed to enter American ports but are not allowed to remain in them more than twenty-four hours except un- der special circumstances. A move to extend the ban on sub- marines to armed merchantmen was suggested today by senator Bennett Champ Clark, Democrat, .of Mis- souri, who said they should be treated as belligerent vessels. He said that during the World War President Wilson recognized an In- timate relationship between the su marine and the armed merchant craft. It was understood in official cir- cles that Latin-American republics might follow the American lead in barring -submarines from their waters to reinforce their neutrality, but Mr. Hull- indicated today that the United States government''had not yet been informed of such a move. /''Meanwhile the government an- nounced that six of the Army's fly- ing fortress bombers would be sent to Rio de Janeiro to take part In the services marking the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the republic of the United States of Brazil. The flight is another indi- cation of the government's good-will program toward the Latin-American nations. The planes will leave Langley Field, Va^ on Novell and will ar- rive in the Brazilian capital In time for the anniversary on Nov. 15. Maj. Gen. Delos C. Emmon, com- mander of the General Headquar- ters Air Force, will accompany the flight. The flight personnel will; con- sist of twenty-four other commis- sioned officers and twenty-four en- listed men. The planes will go to Rio de Janeiro by way of M*aml and the Canal Zone, Lima, Peru, and Asuncion, Paraguay.