Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-06-20
GERMAN CONTROL. OF
FUR INDUSTRY ENDS
Last Tentacie of Teuton Power
IL That Line Is
Rooted Cut.

Washington. ID. C.-Aaothec :entacle
If German contro. IN American indus
Try has been severed by y. Mitchell
Palmer. the alien property custodian.
Under ARRANGEMENTS now being COM
il"tcd the custodian and the Fur Mcr-
chants tredi: association Of New York
viiy, the interests of the German fur
haronS of Leipzig will bc purchased by
American merchants and the money
paid turned into the United States
treasury 20 he held until the end OF
thc war Cor :he Germans involved.
In announcing today the forced re-
;iremcnt of German interests in the in
dnStrN. MIR. Palmer saiu even rough
estimates of the enemy holdings can
not be made until ain the fur dealers
nave reported balance due the Ger
mans.
III may be stated. however" said tho
custodian, that the negotiations just
completed will root out forever the last
German dollar invested in the fur bust
ness in this country. turn loose tho
Nmerican furrier from the control of
the Leipzig Cabai and establish n great
new Industry here in America.
some of the larger firms which have
already readjnsted their holdings UNI
der the agreement of the government
are the Theoder, Thorer company. eau
dig X Blum and NJ. :. Elias jr.. Inc.
among the best known fur houses on
lhis side of the Atlantic. Many others
are in process OF readjustment, includ-
tlS otto Erler company, Fuchs d Co..
Inc. and icisenbach Brothers,.
Before the war the trade of Amert-
can turriers was practically nothing but
a collecting and shipping agency for the
Germans. Almost every pelt taken by
American trappers had to so to Leipzig
before il could be sold. Leipzig dress
ers and djers were the best in the
world. None could compete with them.
Although London was the worlds mar
ket. by reason of the pioneer work OF
the old hudson Bay mpa and far
sighted English commission houses,
three-quarterS of the fur shipped to
London from America, Russia. and even
China went. after their auctions. direct
To Leipzig for dressing and dyeing.
n Leipzig each year after the fur
was prepared and the German mer-
chants had fixed the price for tina
chase as much as three-tifths of the
entire fur produced for manufacture
into garments. although in so doing
they We're forced To pay the original
cost. Plus the expense of dressing and
dyolng, plus Il handsome profit for the
Germans, plus Il 80 per cent duty before
they got them back nome. They were
constantly either indebted to the Ger
mans or completely under their dom
nation" 4
Nh. iSiiflcr Salu American IuT Oyc-
ing houses now are operating In New
York and that in ST. Louis the attempt
has been made successfully to due seal
skins. which previously had never been
lone outside OF Leipzig and London.
Fur auctions also nave been undertaken
successfully both III St. Louis and New
York.
when the war is over" Mr.. Palmer
concluded, Germany will again buy
American furs, but these goods will be
bought in the American market this
firne from American f"os and they
will be American dressed and dyed, and
! prepared for European consumption.
The unnatural trade conditions which
forced Americans to ship certain furs
abroad. to buy them back and to re-
ship them to America will have dis
loser"