The Washington herald., 1918-09-17
PALMER TELLS
OF HIS WORK
Alien Property Custodian S
Efforts Meet Success,
Holland Says.

As soon as possible after his ap-
eeintment by the President as Alien
Property Custodian. A. Mitchell
Palmer took the necessary oath and
subscribed to II so that the document
could be placed on fle. But when he
sought the proper ONCE in which to
place this oath he could ind none
Az the Attorney Generals Office he
vas told that they knew nothing
about It, At other important Depart
ments he was in like manner turned
away so that At last he determined
to 20 10 the White House. The legis-
ation which created his once pro-
vtdes that he shall report only to tire
President and II occurred 70 Mr.
Palmer that thu Executive office
might after all be the proper place
in which to plscn on record hts sub
scrtbel oath. u was received at the
White Houss although the intimation
was that this was done as a matter
Of favor rather than in pursuance Of
law. There the cath Is now de-
rosiIed
Yesterday Mr.. Palmer spoke infor-
rnally and in running narrative Of his
work to q small group OF friends who
entertained him at luncheon in New
York. That he has a sense Of hunor,
well developed. was demonstrated by
his narration Of his experience in at
tempting to find the proper place to
deposit his subscribed oath OF Office.
But he also has a serious and excel
lently thought-out comprehension Of
the responsibilities. which the Presi-
dent placed upon him. when his ap-
pointment as custodian OF alien prop
erty was made. II Ia less than a year
ago that Mr.. Palmer took up this re-
sponsibility, having only the vaguest
idea Of the things which he was ex-
peSted to do. When he opened his
ONCE he was the only occupant Of II
and IL was necessary for him to Sc
cure as soon as possible a competent
stan OF assistants and subordinates.
Today he has under his direction a
little over 500 assistants. including the
clerical force. and this number may
be increased in view of the magnitude
Of the achievements secured in the
past six or eight months and the
further magnitude OF those which he
expects to be able to report within a
few months.
What He Did First.
After organizing his clerical force
AOuub II "
work out a plan by means Of which
ne could secure information respect
nz allen property owners in the
Cnited States. He said TO his friends
yesterday that after briefly studying
The problem he decided that it was
essential that alien property owners
be divided into two classes. The first
class was 10 consist OF individual
aliens who were owners Of stocks or
other securities. It seemed for a
time as though it might be difficult
to learn who these individual alien
property owners were and where they
hved- One of the methods adopted
BY Mr.. Palmer in order to discover
these alien property owners was the
sending Of confidential communica-
tons to many thousand American
lawyers in the hope that from some
Of these there could be obtained the
fnforrnation he desired. This method
proved to be fairly successful. Others
have been adopted whereby the entire
country has been and is now being
connbed with intent to discover indi-
vidusl alien owners Of stocks, bonds,
or other property.
The Alien Corporation.
The second class Of alien property
owners should, Mr.. Palmer believed,
include all OF the industrial. financial
or other Incorporated bodies or part
nerships which really were of Ger
man association and whose property
was in the possession of corporate
Industrial or partnership aliens. the
methods adopted to ferret out the
class OF alien property owners have
been successful Although not yet
5ave all Of the property owners Of
this class been recognized and their
property taken over by Mr.. Palmer
Already Mr.. Palmer has in his pos
session allen property secured by him
since his appointment last fall Of the
aggregate amount in money Of a lit
tie over six hundred million dollars,
The number Of alien property owners
COW discovered by him is almost
thirty thousand.
Mr.. Palmer said that il Is his pur-
pose TO hold the money which repre-
sents the property OF individual
aliens in stocks, bonds and real es.
tate until after the war. He spoke
Of this holding as in the nature of