The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-18
GERMAN EFFORT TO
 CONTROL INDUSTRY
By HOLLAND

l Ah HIS informal talk to a few frienuS
 who were his hosts at a luncheon in this city day or two ago A. Mitchell Pal
 mer stated that he has now in his pos
 session as custodian of alien property
 aDout S6Oo,OoOOO0. All this has been se-
 cured since his appointment to the of- ice or custodian of alien property, an oi1ice which was created by an act of
 congress last year. But, Mir Palmer said,
 Sooo'ooooOo is only a little more than one
 half of the total amount which he ex-
 pects to secure and to hold in his pos
 session until after the war. He said to ms friends that his estimate is that the
 money value of the alien property held In the United States is not far from SlWooo0,OOO His organization is now so
 well perfected and the means which he
 nas adopted to secure information re-
 sPectlng alien property are so adequate tnat he IS convinced that within a few months there will be in his possession
 as custodian substantially all Of the ahen property held in the United States ana that this will amount to Sf 900, ,000,00U
 at least
 MT. Palmer's investigations led to the ulscoVery or an unsuspected method adopted by German capital and German
 interests for obtaining gradually but surely complete control of many import
 ant industries in the United States.
 Inese methods he spoke of as insidious,
 skiilfully planned and, in the majority
 or cases successfully adopted.
 To illustrate his meaning he said that
 he had discovered that when German | capital and German interests had in mlnd the establishment of an important lnuustfy ln the United States and one which would be able successfully to com 1 pete With any like American industry, la sklliful and competent man, com | parativeiy young, would be sent to the United States for the purpose of pro- noting the establishment of a new in
 dustry, for instance, the manufacture of l tools, and especially of chemicals and | drugs. This representative having or ganized company saw to it that at
 least 80 per cent of the capital stock
 was held usually under cover in Ger | many The man who promoted the in-
 dustry would himself hold perhaps with
 a few unsuspecting Americans, not more | than 2o per gent of the capital stock.
 This representative usually professed 1t
 to be his determination to make the | United States his home and MT. Palmer
 knew of cases where the representative
 had convinced Americans of his sim cerity by marrying an American girl. | Nevertheless the industries were Ger
 man, their management and attempt to control the markets were characteristic
 of secretive German methods.
 GERMAN INDUSTRIES
 The number of industries of this kind | which MT. Palmer has uncovered is large. But he has been especially impressed l by the secretive. cunning and yet auda- cious methods which have characterized the German attempt gradually but sure ly to entrench in the United States in 1 dustries really owned by Germany anI dominated by German methods.
 The discovery of these German meth ods has led MT. Palmer to the opinion that 1t is the wiser pact, because it is the safer part for him to offer for sale as he has already been doing in some instances, these industrial organizations. | taking pains that the purchasers shall | be Americans who have no pro-German tendencies. If he puts this plan into full execution there will be before the 1 end of the war transfer to exclusively I American capital of the German created | industries. ] MT. Palmer said that this is the first I time he has made this statement of his purpose t6 sell the German controlled in-
 dustries in the United States to- ex- clusively American capital He also had I a further purpose which he mentioned 1 for the first time in this informal talk.
 There are many Americans who have claims against citizens or corporations l in Germany Of course. these claims l have been held up since the beginning of the war There is suspicion that some of them have been confiscated by the German government since the United States entered the war.
 l Now MT. Palmer contemplates using l the money which he receives for the sale of these German properties to liqui- date the claims of American citizens against citizens or corporations in Ger many. He is of the opinion that in this way all of these claims can be liqui-
 dated speedily although of course Ameri- 1 can creditors will be compelled to of | fer satisfactory proof of the justice of their claims If this plan be carried
 out then within a few months alien property which has passed into MT. Pal l mer's possession will be used to pay American claims against Germany, so that when the time of peace discussion comes that claim will have no part in the discussion. German citizens and
 German corporations must in their own way and at home among themselves liquidate these claims if that can be done.
 At all events their property will be law
 fully used by MT. Palmer to pay Ameri- can claims.
 l