Great Falls daily tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1895-1921, 1919-03-17
Alien Custodian Circum-
vents F fictitious Stock
Transfers.
TWO AMERICAS GR|PPED
IN COMBINES TENTAC[Es
Octopus Driven Back
and Wall of Ameri-
canism Erected"

Washington, March 16.-Germany'
control of the zinc and lead markets of
the world and her tremendous interst
| in other metals was shown by a report
today of the alien property custodian to
| have been broken in larger part by the
| release of American, Mexican and South
American mines and smelters from the
dominance of German owned corpora
tions.
An the metal concerns in the United
States which were controlled IN Ger
many have been either disbanded or
Americanized, and the report declares
ut is believed that the German influ-
ences in our metal markets have been
completely eliminated"
Never a great producer of metals,
Germany nevertheless weled tremendous
power over markets by the fact that
hr three great metal combinations acted
in concert in the purchase of ore and
the establishment Of smelters, aided, by
unlimited credit from German banks
which financed the sales of huge quanti-
ties of metals, thereby influencing
prices. At the outbreak of the European
war, the report said, each member of
the triumvirate had branch In the
United States, the American Metal COM
pany. representing the Metallgesellschaft
of Frankfurt, l. Vogelstein & Co.. rep
resenting A. Aaron Hirsh und Sohn and
Beer, Sondheimer & Co. representing the
German syndicate of the same name.
Years Profits $4,000, 900.
An idea of their extent may be had
from the statement that their combined
profits in 1916 amounted to $12,OOO,O 900
of which $7.OO0,0OO was made by the
American Metal company
When the American property custo-
dian began investigating American bust.
ness in this country he found frequent
attempts to transfer stock to supposed
Americans in an effort to circumvent
seizure by the government. The efforts
were useless and in the case of Beer,
Sondheimer & Co, the transfers were
declared void and the entire business
was turned over. to the custodian.
Disposition naw has been decided up
on in all three cases of the metal com
panies. Beer. Sondheimer Il Co. is in
process of liquidation including its sub
salaries, the National Zinc company,
Norfolk Smelling company and Cuba
Copper Leasing company. and it was said
the stock would go only into American
hands.
The company's control over important
Hotation patents also had been destroyed.
Voting Trusts Created.
Control of Vogelstein & Co. has been
assumed by the custodian for five years
by means of a voting trust in which the
custodian names two Of three trustees,
and the firm agrees not to resume rela-
tons with its German connections in
that period.
This arrangement was devised because
Vogelstein is an American citizen and
it has not been possible to learn the ex-
act interest of A. Aaron Hirsch und
Sohn in the Vogelstein assets.
BY agreement between the custodian
and American stockholders of the
American Metal company, all Of the
stock has been put in voting trust. for
five years, with the custodian holding
certificates of 34644 shares owned by
enemy aliens out of total Of 10000.
The enemy owned shares will be sold to
Americans.
''The German metal octopus the re-
port concludes, 'had spread his tentacles
across the ocean and over the United
States into Mexico and South America,
but for the present and for all time, it is
hoped. he has been driven back and
wall Of Americanism erected. which. it is
hoped, he will never be able again to
scale"