Norwich bulletin., 1912-05-17
To Help Boost
 Price of Coffee
AMERICAN MONEY TRUST LENT
 FINANCIAL AID.
PATRIOTIC FINANCIERs
Coffee Dealer, Testifying at Investisa-
 ton, Says That They Wanted to See Our Flag in Brazil-ExoitabIe Witness

Washington, May f6.-The first il- lustration of the activities of the sO- called money trust given to the house Investigating committee today was testimony that three New York bank ing institutions, the National City Bank, J. Pierpont Morgan and Com pany and the First National Bank, lent financial assistance to the gov ernment of Brazil to limit the output of coffee and maintain prices of coffee at a profitable figure for the benefit of Brazilian planters and American and European coffee dealers.
 Testimony of Coffee Dealer.
 This testimony came from Herman Sielcken of the New York firm of Crossman and Sielicken, large dealers in green coffee. MT. Sielclzen was on the stand more than three hours and his testimony was the first oral in formation given the committee, MT. Sielcken attributed to the Ma tional City Bank a patriotic motive for the Brazilian investment. He re- garded the loan by the bank as of great benefit to the United States and said the bank made the loan reluct- antly to exploit American trade with South America.
 Witness Gets Excited.
 Mr Sielcken was mildly excited at | .Ieveral points of his testimony, He ! questioned the propriety of the com mittee going into BraziPs affairs and l challenged the Attorney General of the United States and all the attorneys of the country to discover any illegal l 1ty in his actions as a coffee mer- | chant.
 My business has been pried into by i the attorney general and by grand l juries and my connection with this | valorizatiOn plan has been criticized directly and indirectly by the counsel for this committee" said Sielcken with some heat,
 Price of Coffee Too Low.
 The witness said that unless some | thing had been done to help the l planters of Brazil there might have 1 been a revolution. The price of coffee had become so low from over production that the Brazilian govern ment exercised its right to encourage | planters to diversity their crops He said that while tax was put on the 1 planting of coffee the Brazilian gov 1 srnment and the state of San PauIc Ed not try to prohibit the planting. Coffee Would Have Been Higher
 Anyway
 (Which would have been worst ! revolution in San Paulo or for the 1 consumers of this country to pay much more for all their coffee ?a i asked Samuel Unternayer, counsel foI the committee.
 You would have had to pay that anyhow" said MT. Sielcken.
 He argued that coffee would be still | higher if the valorization scheme had not been put into operation.
 Attributes It to Patriotism.
 Mir. Sielcken made statement tc the committee attributing to the Ma tinnal City Bank a display uf patriot ism and an earnest desire to encour. age the commerce of the United States with South America.
 They wanted to see our flag there,' he said.
 None of Our Business.
 Did Schroeder of London have tho same patriotic motive to place tho American flag in South American waters ?" asked MT. Untermayer. "IJiC the French, the German and the Bel. gium bankers have the same motive z
 Of course not" answered Mir. Slel. cken, "but 1t IS none of the bushes, of the United States to pry into thes, matters. What if England or som, other country would come over to ui and go into the South and try to 1inC out how the price of cotton is ken up? We would throw them out"