The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-01
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

just then reached the letter "T" in nam poorhouse where his mothers wanderings had ceased forever.
 Now I know it is fanciful in me to even pretend that the initials "A. M. P" of our distinguished guest, A. Mitchell Palmer, the attorney general of the United States, were bestowed upon him at his birth in token of the time wher they could stand for America's Mightiest Pickpocket
 l am sure, however, that William H. a reader of the immortal English novel. ist will be ready to confess from his exile in Holland that while Oliver Twist picked up by the Artful Dodger on Lon- don's streets, and carried to the den of Fagin the Jew, the pickpockets school, refused to steal, that A. Mitchell Palmer custodian of alien property had no such scruples and rifled his pockets in spite of his majesty's imperial chancellor and Potsdam guards.
 For If any servant of our government ever won high praise from an enem!' nation, surely A. Mitchell Palmer ought to be proud of the title conferred upon him by the Prussian militarists of the Official Pickpocket." l do not wish to botst but I had boyhood friend who when he grew into manhood had the biiItV tO purl0in Twin loose and actually sailed away from an eastern port with a well stocked private yacht, but as litter of real and personal property he was but 'piker alongside of the able Custodian of Alien Property.
 
 My friend sailed away in another mans pleasure craft, but A. Mitchell Palmer according to his own testimony, and he would not have made it, lawyer that he is if he had not been successful, for he unblushingly told the inside story of how he was able to take over the great Ham, burg American line, ships and terminals. in spite of the fact that the Kaiser him. company.
 
 I have read stories of sea encounters which were thrilling in the extreme, like the battle of Trafalgar when Nelson gave expression to a phrase which has become an inspirational. cry to every Anglo. Saxon who sails the ocean, England expects every man to do his duty A great cry but contrary to the agreement of the English to forever use the wore British after the union with Scotland An Irishman twitted Il Scotchman about it, but the Scot for once got the better of Pat by saying the reason of it was do it's duty without being called upon. thereby paying his countryman a deli cate compliment
 remember how anxious I was when the first news of the Jutland fight came flashing under the seas for it looked for the moment as if England's mighty navy had gotten the worst of it, but later II turned out that the British had fought doggedly but victoriously and told the truth about their losses while the proud Germany navy had turned tail and fled for safety, while at the same time givins to the world the news of great victory The truth, that is the full truth oi the disaster came out when the Germans had to turn over to their victors her entire fleet.
 AS momentous as was the great run ming sea fight between the British ana German proved to be, let us not forget that in losing her war vessels, she nlso had to give up to America the pride or her merchant marine. The story goes that when Herr Balln, the director of the Hamburg American line at last learned that Americas Great Pickpockef A. Mitchell Palmer had taken over his best ships and docks and sold them to the American government for S,5eooN that he made for the Emperor and went down on his knees to get him to sue for peace, but the power had passed from ,his hands, and so the German shipowner sought relief through suicide.
 It certainly was fun to hear the arch pickpocket as he stood before us at tho Allied Army dinner at the Tutwiler on Wednesday and smilingly told us of quietly gobbllng up all of Germans wire less stations in this country, and nothlnS shows better her determination to in' fluence American opinion than by get ting full control over the air. We ali remember how for months the Sayvills station heralded German victories. It was good to learn how at last it passed into the hands of our own navy.
 have been in court when pickpockets were on trial and it was hardly possiole for the solicitor to pick any informa" tion out of them, for as q class they are most secretive. but this was not ths case with Uncle Sams official one GA M. P," for he confessed to going down into Florida and taking over ss GOO. GOO saw mill, with shipping front on the bay, backed up by nearly quarter of a million acres of timber land. But to add insult to injury used his loot to bni1d American ships to fight the Ger mans.
 It would take too long to tell the whole story of how Germany had cornered com mercial chemistry in America by act ually buying up thousands of patents, and