The Hawaiian gazette., 1918-04-16
Army Not Dealing
With Hackfeld
House At Present
One Of Chief Bidders For Furnish,
> Ing Of Supplies Makes No Ten
ders When Bids Were Last
Opened BY @0uarterfnasteP
Office Z 9siA' h8S

received by the quartermaster' Dc,
partment here from H. Hackfeld q
Company, is report which has reach
| ed The Advertiser. 1t is said this
| ruling has the sanction of army heads
and, as If in confirmation Of the
rumOrs, appears the fact that when the
last bids for supplies were opened by
the quartermaster' department there
were no bids from that firm although
1t is usually one of the bidders when
calls are sent ont by the department
for bids on needed supplies. AZ one
Of the main bidders it has always, in
the past, received the list of govern
ment requirements for which offers
were asked. The information given
The Advertiser comes from excellent
authority.
No Orders Issued
On the other hand it is said at the
quartermaster headquarters that no
order not to do business with H. Hack
! field & Company have been issued oil
though It is admitted that the depart
ment is "hOlding Off in dealings
With Hackfeld h Company until after
the meeting which is called to be held
IN Apri ~ when new directorate r.
to be chosen to meet the wishes of the
custodian of alien enemy property.
Under its present organization, and
II will be the same way after reorgani
l zatiOn until the enemy owned stock Is
held, the earnings on such stock will
after the war, go to Germans. and l.
Is assumed this fact has caused what
ever action the quartermaster' Is depart
ment has taken.
What the effect of the new legisla
ton on enemy property may be Oh
Hackfeld 4 Company may be judged
/ from an article relating to the seizing
of enemy owned property which was
received by mail from the Associated
Press last night and which follows:
| Now that congress has enacted law
| which provides that all the great Ger
man holdings of property and invest
ments in the United States shall be
sold to the highest bidder, the alien
| property custodian already invested
with probably the greatest trust funds
in the world, will undertake the task
of breaking up these outPOsts of Kul
4 tur which in the years gone by have
been nothing less than agencies Of the
German military and diplomatic sys
TEN.
1 The same law authorized the Presi
fIltnt to take title to the great German
steamship piers and wharves at Ho
boken, New Jersey. During the war
these will be used by the Army and
Navy. What will become of them AZ
4 terward had not been entirely planned
But the auction of German property
interests and investments will put on
the market Some Of the finest eggs'
held in America by many prominent
German statesmen and even by the
German Emperor. His holdings are
aid to be "gilt edge" and although
held in some cases through other per
sons, they are sure to be uncovered by
'rty custodian.
Combating every device to concea
German ownership in American con
'erns, probing into the facts regarding
every suspicious company, Belzin
wherever there is evidence of an enemy
llien ownership, the value of stock in
American corporations, so far takel
,ver by A. Mitchell Palmer, the alien
property custodian, is enormous.
Jarries Large Control
The possession of the stock in thes,
corporations carries with it the con
troll of large lumber companies, cP
ment concerns, brewery establishment
chemical works, trust institutions am
manufacturing plants Of all kinds. II
n of these, the alien property Gus
todian, having the majority of th'
stock, has placed a majority of direC
ors to represent the government dur
ng the period of the war and 80 lOnl
rfterward as may be necessary.
More than fifty large companies
angling in value as high as $l6O0ONO
'ach, are already under governmen
'ontrol In this way, and u heavy in
crest in many other concerns ha
,eeu taken over through the operations
# the alien property Custodian s office
rhe purpose is TO maintain and con
inue the product and development o
these corporations for the advance
ment of American Industries. Thor
,ugh and permanent Americanizatiol
of these corporate Industries is pro
posed under the power of sale given
" the amendments to the urgent de
iciency appropriation act.
Inquiries coming into the alien Gus
|
cate that the exact scope of this arm
# the government, with it's ramilica
ions not only throughout cOntinenta
United States but into Hawaii, tn
Philippines, Porto Rico, the Virgin Isl
ands and elsewhere, is not clearly un
ierstOod. 1t seems TO be a bit puzzlinl
to many how an American corporation
'xisting under the United States law
and doing business In the Unite
states, can be seized by the alien prop
rty custodian as if the corporation
we're an enemy alien. The custodin
frequently announces that he has al
pointed a board of directors of som
large American corporation, despite
the fact that there seems to be no pro
vision in what is known as the "Trad
ing with the Enemy Act" which give
him any such authority. This pro
cedmre, however, is simple, effectlv
and altogether regular.
The Trading with the Enemy Act
I under which the office of the ahr
r property custodian is created, require
- every corporation in the United state
n to transmit to him full list of it
, stock holders who are known to be, G
Il whom Il has reasonable cause to b,