The Washington herald., 1922-05-24
PALMER EXPLAINS
BOSCH MACNETOC
SEIZURE and SALE.
Asserts Stock Brought
$3.50, 900 More Than
Declared Value.
DEFENDS ACTION
Chemical Foundation Is Big
Achievement for u. s.
Welfare, He Says.

A. Mitchell Palmer, former Attor-
ney General, in a letter to Philip P.
Campbell. chairman of the Rules
Committee of the House. urging
passage of the Woodruff resolution,
said:
The Congress should know not
only the disposition made of the
German property but the character
snd purposes of the interests now
trying to recover that property.
The BdSch Magnetic Company
was German to the core. Before
we entered the war its management
violated our neutrality, in the mos,
Infamous fashion. Its officers sought
to conceal its true ownership be-
hind camoufage of German
American stockholders. They finally
made sworn report, however. de-
claring all the stock to be enemy
owned and / thereupon took charge
of the company.
Valued at x3,5OO, 900.
I'm the Investigation as to Its
ownership, Otto Helms, represent
ing the German owners, declared its
value to be s3.500.000. Its stock was
finally sold through my direction
at an open public auction sale. after
wide advertisement, for S4.l5O.0O0 to
the highest bidder. representing a
syndicate of more than 100 Amer
lean bankers, who organized a new
corporation to make the business a
100 per cent American enterprise.
THE sale was approved, after
careful investigation. both as to
adequacy of price and character OF
purchasers, by the advisory sales
committee, the investigation and
report having been made by the
two leading members OF that COM
mittee, Otto T. Barnard. chairman
of the board of the New York Trus,
Company, and George L. Ingraham
former chief justice OF the appel
late division of the Supreme CourI
OF New York The sale was regu.
lar in every respect and the init.
nations of fraud and crime in con.
nection herewith do a serious in
justice to many patriotic Americans
who were earnestly engaged in per.
forming a service for their coun-
try in ridding American business
of the menace of German control
during the war.
Took Over 5000 Patents
The Chemical Foundation is a
non-profit corporation. formed for
the purpose of taking over nearly
5000 American patents owned BY
Germans in the chemical industry
which patents had originally been
| taken out by Germans for the pur.
pose of making il impossible fol
the chemical industry to develop In
this country. The result of thai
policy was seen in the early days
of the war when it became appar.
ent to the world that the DONNA.
ton OF the chemical industry was
on the Rhine and its. by-products
high explosives and poisonous
gases. almost worked the wreck OF
civilization.
To-day. by reason of the Alier
Property Custodian's plan of Amer.
icanizing these German patents anC
distributing them to American pro.
ducers through a semi-public insti.
tuition like the Chemical Founda.
ton. having for its purpose only the
development of the chemical sci
ence in America, it has become ap.
parent that the world can never
again be caught in the clutches
of German control of the chem
ical industry.
Brands Charges False.
Il have no hesitation in saying
that the biggest achievement of the
Alien Property Custodian for the
benefit of our country and its fu-
ture welfare and security was the
formation of the chemical founda-
tion and the sale of these German
patents to IT. The Germans rec
ognize its transcendent Importance
and would now resort to any device.
to set aside that sale and have the
patents restored finally to their
German owners, in the hope that
they could thus again dominate the
chemical industry of the world.
Their present plan seems to be
to discredit in the public mind by
wide publicity of false charges
every act of the Alien Property
Custodian and thus persuade the
government of the United States.
either through the Congress or
through executive departments, to
take such action as will restore to
Germany the strangle-hold upon
American industry an dcommerce in
many important lines of industry
which the Alien Property Custodian
loosened as part of the govern
ment's policy in prosecuting the