New Britain herald., 1919-05-20
ENEMY WEALTH PAYS
 MILLION IN TAXES
Custodian Collects S1,654,5S9- Administrators, S7OO,OOO,0O0

over by the alien property custodian, office during the sixteen months il was directed by A. Mitchell Palmer now United States attorney general according to a report of that official covering his tenure of office from his appointment in October, 1917, to February, 1919, inclusive.
 The mum Der of separate trusts be- ing administered by the office at the time the report was made was 2,296 with an aggregate valuo of $502,- 946,724.75. About 5000 of these cases were covered by reports in which the administration had not reached the stage of valuation. It was estimated that when the entire number of trusts reported were opened on the books and the road justin ent of values consequent upon appraisal were completed, the total of enemy property in the hands of the custodian would be $700, ,000,0O0
 The amount of governm ent funds expended during the sixteen months was approximately $1,000,000. Thus the cost of administering nearly 53,- 900 trust estates of q, total value of $700, 900, 900. located in every state in the Union and in the insular pos sessions, was only about one-seVenth Of one per cent of the principal of the trust estates for a period of six teen months, a record of economical administration never approached by any trust company in the world
 Administration Costs Nothing
 In a sense, the alien property GUS todian's office has cost the govern ment nothing, for through it's actiVi- ties unreported and concealed in come and excess profits taxes amount ing to $1,634, ,539.78 were collected from corporations and other taXpay- CTS controlled by the enemy. Had it not been for the activities of this office and the close scrutiny of the affairs of all corporations with which the enemy had any connection, it is not likely that any of these taxes would have been revealed to the gov ernment or collected by it. The amount thus collected is more than 60 per cent greater than the entire cost of operating the affairs of the office.
 Wherever possible, after taking over enemy corporations, the alien property custodian made them a part of the country'S war machine. Rep resentatives of the office were in- structed to give the government first call on products of these corpora tions, and many of the most impor- tant articles needed in the conduct of the war were partially supplied in this way. When the armistice was signed, the alien property custodian was supplying the government with naagnetos for aeroplane and automo- bile motors, cloth for uniforms. medi- cines, surgical instrum ents and dress tngs, telesc engineering instru- ments, essentials for the manufac- ture of gas masks, glycerin for high explosives, and various other prod ucts. In some instances plants that were seized were running 100 per cent capacity on war supplies.
 Instead of being a mere conserva- tor of enemy property, the alien property custodian's office was made a fighting force in the war Ger many very promptly recognized this as also that her economic existence on this continent was being destroyed and made bitter protest through off cial channels. Of this protest, Mr. Palmer's report says:
 Germany's Plans Spoiled.
 When 1t is recalled that Ger many's great hope for the future lay in the industrial conquest of this con tinent-a conquest which she be- lieved in 1914 she was in a fair way to accomplish---it will readily be seen with what dismay her financial and commercial interests must have viewed the sudden and direct offen- sive which was designed to forever loosen the grip which she had ob- tatned upon American industry and commerce"
 MT. Palmer predicts that American citizens whose property has been taken in enemy countries will present their claims for allowance to this governm ent, which will see that they are properly reimbursed. The United States, he says, will hardly he ex- pected to pay these losses out of it's own funds when 1t has at hand more than sufficient property belonging to German subjects whose claims against the United States will doubtless be provided for by their own goyorn- ment in the same manner.
 By the simple process of offset ting and adjusting these claims be- tween the United States and the all lied nations on the one hand, and the Central Powers on tho other, each government will have sufficient prop srtY belonging to the enemy to pro- vide for the claims Of It's own na- tionals. These would be no actual confscation under this plan. for each government would pay the claims of it's own subjects and have the prop erty of enemies with which to pay them.
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