Evening star., 1919-04-20
HUN LOSES HIS GRIP
ON INDUSTRY IN u. S.
Enemy-Owned: Property Taken Over as
War Measure to Have Vital Bearing
on Peace-Time Trade.

many agricultural products. publish
ing newspapers. operating "A trust
company. mining and smelling lead
zinc, copper and silver; making steel
ana iron products. managing ice
plants: real estate concerns: manu-
featuring chocolate, pianos. machin-
cry. chemicals, dyestuffs. medical sup.
plies. drugs. munitions. woolens. silks
and cotton goods and laces: dealing IN
art works; importing and exporting
all KINDS OF goods and commodities.
and, briefly. there is hardly a line o.
industry IN which some one of these
companies is not engaged. Ii should
be explained, however. that the Ger
mans intriguing IN American indus
try appear to have specialized in met
, ais. chemicals. dyestuffs. textiles and
trading corporations.
Some of these plants during the war
lad 100 per cent production on gov
ernment orders, and ten plants alone
! turned out more than $4,000, 900
worth of war supplies.
Germany's great import avenue into
the United States has been taken from
her and sold to the United States goy-.
. eminent. This is the Hambur.
American and North German Lloyd
docks on the Hudson river at New
York and at st. Thomas in the Virgin
Islands. The sale price was 81 7.0oe 900.
| These former enemy-owned docks
have been used as embarkation Lc.: =
for the United States in the proSocl
lion of the war They are the ial -css.
and best equipped docks for .ee.,,i
liners in all the United States A$
long as this strategic point renis .ue.i
in German control the door wa opeG
to Germany the moment after Ink
eeclalation of peace to renew ccni '.
n,erc'ai warfare against the Jniie...
States.
Enemy Army on U. s. Soil.
IT will be seen that tie proper res
! scld bJ the custodian of alien propert,
Were hostile. They constituted Ger
niany's great industrial army o.
American soil. They were the fsrs'
f1uns lines of advance for her kultur.
and SO great had they become with.
The opening of the world war that ir-
has row become perfectly plain thas
Hermany lived in high hopes 0. the
assistance which would come to her
from the organization which She haa
built up on this side Of the Atlan'ie
| These investments were largely in in
duStrieS which, while accepting The
hospitality of American laws tc ~.
come American corporations. were'
never in fact Americanized.
In many cases the factories, ware,
houses and Offices OF these enemy-owiietr
! concerns were mere spy centers before
| America entered the world war, am
/ would have been nests OF sedition il nos
promptly seized
! The selling of these properties and tie
coincident Americanization of formerly
German-owned industries was accom-
panied by fair notice that while the
United States proposes after the war to
account for the proceeds of such sale or
! enemy property. the sales are absolute
| the properties themselves are separated
from their former enemy owners 70,
| ever. y
Germany's great hope for the future
was in the industrial conquest OF this
! continent. What then, was the oisniav
of her financial and commercial interests
when this Quaker administrator. by a
sudden and direct offensive, loosenec
forever the grip that Germany had dur
ing half century been Tightening upon
American industry and commerce?
/ The great, permanent good that VIII
come to this country from the AmSri-
canization Of these enemy-owned Cor
Germs can hardly be visioned. Here 10
what the former custodian Of alien prol,-
erty. now Attorney General, who wifi
eventually be again I'm charge of this
business when the President transfers
the after-war accounting to the Depart :
ment Of Justice. under authority OF if..
Overman act, says: