The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-09-14
ALIEN ENEM|ESN|AY .
! HELP FINANCE WAR
FOR UNITED STATES
dividends Otherwise Payable To
Foreign Stockholders Held
In United States
LIBERTY BONDS" FOR
;HACkFELDS IN GERMANY
Secretary Of Treasury May In
vest Future Dividends In
United States Securities

= NN.tal . H.Ftn. n
q German stockholders Of Hackfeld b
Company and the various Hackfeld
plantations and companies win become
heavy. investors in Liberty Bonds and
other United States securities issued
> TO raise funds for the prosecution Of the
war against Prussianism, when the
Trading With the Enemy Bill be.
comes law. After the war the monies
or the securities will be paid over to
such stockholders with the acerAed In.
terest, but meantime Uncle Sam will
loan the dividends and the accruing in.
terest TO himself. ...
When the Trading With the Enemy
Bill shall become a law, what will be
it's effect upon Haekfeld 4 Company
and the various other companies in the
Territory in which the same stockhold
ers are largely interestedf This is a
question that Is asked almost every
time the pending bill, which passed
the senate Wednesday, is mentioned in
Honolulu. 1t is known that Hackfeld
& Company is made up largely Of stock.
holders of the class known as alien
enemies and that the same is the case
with plantations for which the com
pany is agent. '''
Company Is Not Affected
From the text of the proposed law,
copies of which have been received
in Honolulu, it would appear that 1t
win have no direct effect upon the com
panies themselves but will have effect
upon the resident alien enemy
stockholders, those citizens of and res
idents in the country Of any of the
Central Powers. Such stock will be
taken over and administered by an Of.
icial to be known as the alien property
ustodian. The duties and powers Of
his official are to be prescribed by the
secretary of commerce, but he must
turn over the money which he receives
TO the secretary Of the treasury who
will invest it and keep it invested in
United States bonds and United States
certificates of indebtedness, under such
rules as he, the secretary of treasury,
with the approval of the President, shall
prescribe. .'' Is.
Haekfeld & Company is a corporation
Incorporated under the laws of Hawaii,
and as such is an American corporation.
The fact that its stock il so largely
held by resident citizens of an enemy
country appears in no wise to affect
On the other hand the proposed law
will have decided effect upon the for.
eign Hackfelds and other nonresident
German stockholders, for they will re.
eeive no income from the properties
in which their money is invested here
until after the war, when this bill be.
comes a law.
Hagens Talks Of Bill
}. +. G. Hagens of Hackfeld & Com.
pany was seen by The Advertiser yes.
terday and talked freely on the subject
of the pending measure and the effect
on the Hackfeld & Company interests.
This is an American corporation,
said Mr.. Hagens, Gas much an Ameri.
can as any corporation can be since il
owes its existence and creation as
corporation TO the laws of Hawaii and
the United States. Under those cir,
cnmstances the custodian would not un
dertake TO take over the business of
the corporation or any similar ones.
This is as / read the law '.
ION the other hand, the situation of
the foreign stockholders is different,
for those of them who are not citizens
of this country but Of the Central Pow,
ers. The custodian would, as L under.
stockholders, invest the dividends which
he receives for them on such stock,
keep all such dividends invested, and,
when the war is ended account for them
TO such stockholders and pay over to
them all received in the period of his
custody with the accrued interest. Il
From a careful reading of the
copies of the law that have reached
me, that Is the conclusion / have
reached
How About Meetings i
The proposed law provides that the
names Of alien enemy Stockholders shall
be stricken from the list, permanently
or temporarily, and this provision opens
some interesting possibilities for the
Hackfeld corporations.
p, When the times for annual meetings
come, will II be possible for the com.
panies to secure a majority of the stock
Of the company required to transact
Will the custodian be represented at
such meetings and if so will he take |
any part in the management of tho
coinpanies7 .t'""
The law says he shall administer the |
property which he received and this |
would seem to mean that he shall rep
resent the stock or have it represented |
at the stockholders meetings; in other
words, that the United States, through |
him, would for the time be as much |
\ stakeholder in. Haekfeld 4 Company
as any others,--as a matter of fact be
the largest stakeholder.
1t will be necessary for the secretary
OF commerce to formulate rules and
regulations for such administration of
the stock. 80 ri, ~