The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-06-29
Trading in Enemy Currency
Menace to Our Power,
New York Court Rules
SUIT OVER MARKS
FAILS OF HEARING
Depletion of Gold Supply and Blow to
Credit for Mere Promises-Prepos
ferrous to Strike with One Hand and
Feed with Other.

NEW YORK, June 29-Contracts ex
ecuted in the United States for the sale
or purchase of German currency or
notes of the Kaiser government are
not only Illegal, but they may even
constitute treason on the ground that
they tend to aid the enemy, according
to decision rendered in the city court
by Justice Allen.
In dismissing a suit brought by Jacob
Khannengeeser against Adolph Israelo
| WITT, his former partner in the money
brokerage business, in which he sought
to recover 1920 alleged to have been
given the defendant on account for So,
| 600 German marks, Justice Allen said:
| eff during this war German paper
money may be sold in this country and
exchanged for our gold and our food
and raiment and munitions of war,
| then Germany s resources and conse-
quent resistance to our national efforts
against her will be measured very
| largely by the capacity of her printing
presses and her ability to find those in
| this country willing 20 give these ma
| terial things, all essential to her prose
cution of the war, in exchange for mere
promises to pay.
| ''Our gold supply might thus be de
pleted and our national credit impaired
and our material resources rendered
available to those against whom our
army and navy are contending with all
of the force at the nation S command.
II would be preposterous for a nation to
1 l. - a.,
thus feed and strengthen him with the
other.
1.-The contracts involved also tend to
make it to the interest of the purchaser
to support the cause of Germany in or
der to avoid loss through t further de-
cline in her currency. Indeed, | think
that the transactions furthered by
these contracts are of such a nature
and that their inevitable effect is such
that if they had been engaged in by cit
liens of the United States il is seri-
Gus question whether they would have
! rendered themselves amenable to 3
charge of treason.
; If the contracts had provided foi
. the sale and delivery of bonds OF the
i Imperial German Government, the evi
" tendency of the transactions would bt
more readily apparent, and l cannot sec
:, | any difference, in principle, between
transactions in paper money OF tina
| government, one form Of its promis,
to pay, and bonds of that government
: another form of its promise to pay.
; In each instance, money of tn
: United States, carrying its faith an'
: credit and backed by our legal tende
: acts, would be exchanged for mere pa
!" per tokens of value. having no wortl
beyond the faith and credit of the Ger
man imperial government. Moreover
the contracts tend to encourage tn
importation of money from German,
If or from some neutral country wit
which she is in communication and thu
to foster trade with an alien enemy
at They also tend to make it to the inter
= est of the purchaser to support tn
Is cause of Germany in order to avoid los
es through further decline of her clu
IN rency.
Id .Since commercial intercourse be
tween citizens of belligerent eountrie
II is prohibited, both by the rules of IN
to ternational usage and under the con
ce mon law, a fortiori, it cannot be tolel
i'll ated between aliens trading upon on
m soil when the direct or ultimate effect o
IN their transactions is to aid an
strengthen an enemy in whose over
is throw the national might is enlisted.
81 Under the contracts il was allege
on that Israelowitz was to have deiivere
n. to Khannengeeser $4,000 German mark
to at 70 cents for each four, and the +,
IN naming $4,000 at 60 IL cents for eac
an four. The decision is expected to pr
of a stop to any attempts at simila
he trafficing.
ed -----------
de aluminium production IN the Unite
Stntno tnt,lnd 90 nnn 900 mounds last Nna