Evening star., 1942-04-14
American Business
Held Hands With
Hitler Bone Says
Reputed G. {. Link
To Krupp in Patent
Pool Cited ot Heorinq
Earlier Story on Page A-I.)

tEAFlscf StOfy on rage ALL
BY tho Associated Press.
Leading American businessmen
seem to have been holding hands
with Hitler" before United States
involvement in the war, Chairman
Bone of the Senate Patents Commit
tee observed this afternoon after
hearing testimony that the General
Electric Co. and the German Krupp
interests were allegedly linked In q
vast patent pool that has had the
effect Of . war production bottle
neck.
Senator Bones remarks were made
while John Henry Levin, special
assistant to the Attorney General,
was teStifyins and after he had re-
ferred to q General Electric Co.
agreement with other German con-
cerns dividing world business terri
tory.
Holding Hands" With Nazis.
When Mr.. Levin spoke of the
business world division, Senator
Bone broke in with:
While the Senate and the House
were industriously damning Hitler
and calling down the wrath of the
deity on his head, these gentlemen
were going along doing business
with him. Our leading business
lights seem to have been holding
hands with him" '.fF
Mr.. levin, who has charged that
General Electric and its subsidiaries
entered into a patent pool arrange
ment with German interests invoiV-
ing cemented tungsten carbide. a
notwithstanding material. said that
the substance had been known to the
trade for many years and probably
was utilized to build Big Bertha, "
the huge long-range German gun
used to shell Paris during the last
war. He said original German
licences in this country included the
Union Wire Die Corp, Thomas Pros
ser g. Son, Firth-Steriing Steel Co.
and Ludlum Steel Co.
Vital 70 Machine Teols.
Later he said General Electric
worked out its own tungsten patents
and pooled these with Krupp, and
then through exercise of its power
to fix prices one by one eliminated
or placed under strict control, these
other sources of supply"
Mr.. Levin said that tungsten car
bide probably was the hardest sub
stance known to man except for
diamonds and a few other rare
tungsten compounds This was why,
he added, it was vital to the ma
chine tool industry, and especially
in war production.
Mr.. Levin testified that the Gen.
eral Eectric-Krupp patent agree
ment extended from 1928 down un-
til the latter part of 1910 and said
it resulted in monopolizing the
American market. limiting American
production of such hard metal COM
position and tools containing same,
cutting of American imports and
exports. dividing up world markets
between American and German in
terests by cartel arrangements, per-
mitting since 1896 the Krupp Co. of
Essen, Germany, to decide who
should become American manufac-
turers, and the fixing and maintain
ing of unconscionable and prohibi-
tive prices throughout the
United States"
Competitions Frozen Out.
Mr.. Levin said that at first both
the German and American firms
thought of selling the hardening
product at about $50 a pound but
that General Electric raised prices
far above this level and eventually
was able to freeze out all compet-
itors.
Documentary evidence shows that
as late as December, 1899, after the
outbreak of the present war, the
American companies were making
plans to extend their agreement
with Krupp until after 1850, date
which would be long after the date
at whicn the most important pat
ents would have expired" Mr.
Levin testified.