The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1942-01-26


Edison macho; his mar
riage to a Kansas City gal, the for
mer Marguerite Liggett; the magni-
ficence of his Shanghai home on
Hog Island, Nassau. People know
who he is now, but the what he is
and the how he got that way make
this fabulous character the No.
mystery man of the present war, the
equal of Sir Basil Zarahof In the
last war.
The U. S. Department of State
has clamped down a tight lid on its
reasons for putting Wenner-Gren
on the blacklist. But enough of the
Wenner Gren record can be revealed
to explain why the finger Of sus-
picion has been placed on this 60
year-old tycoon The real story of
Wenrer-Gren is the story of his
rise to international Importance.
STARTED WITH CLEANERS
In 1919, with a reported capital
of $4,000, he organized the Elec-
trolux Vacuum Cleaning Company
of Sweden. A year ago the parent
company in Sweden was listed as a
$50 million concern. First Electro
lux models were introduced in the
U. S. about 1924. For five years or
SO parts we're made in Stockholm,
but the company has made all its
American models in its Connecticut
factory since 1888.
About 1OOc yyooror <,n,.oI
oped new mechanical refrtgera-
tor which was supposedly offered to
his friend, Alfred P. Sloan. While
General Motors was heSita ting, the
rights were sold to Servel, Inc Wen
ner-Gren took an interest in the
company and by later acquisitions Of
stock gained controlling interest.
Since 1887, however, he has not been
listed as a director of either Servel
or Electrolux, or the parent Elec-
trolux company in Sweden. He has
presumably retired from active
management and his connection
with these firms Is in no way in
volved with his bla existing, nor are
the American firms themselves
blacklisted or under any suspicion.
IRONS IN MANY FIRES
1t is as European operator that
Wenner-Gren has gained most OF
his wealth and fame.
For one thing, he is one of the
successors to the late lamented Ivar
Kruger When that match kings
palace Of match boxes collapsed,
Wenner-Gren is supposed to have
picked up many of the matches.
For another thing, Wenner- Gren
at one time had a dominant in
terest in Forens Aircraft and in the
Bofors anti-aircraft guns which are
even Tow being manufactured for
U. s. forces in a U. S. plant. Orig
inal patents on this gun were sup
posedly held by Krupp i'll Germany
hot the connection-but were ac-
quired for the Swedish company
through Wenner- Gren negotiations.
In some way that only a lifelong
student of European power cartels
could explain, the Wenner- Gren in
terests are also interlocked with
those of Sofina, leading public utility
of Sweden. Sofina before the war
was linked with other European
power interests. One of them,
known in the United States as the
Morse Electric Nitrogen Company, in
which Wenner-G ren was prominent,
has been identified in financial cir
Giles as an I. G. Farbenindustrie af-
filiate. I. G. F.. is of course the Ger
man dye trust, perhaps the most
powerful cartel in the world, with
direct connections to the Nazi gov
eminent.
MONOPOLIST OF PAPER
1t is as the Swedish pulp king"
that Wenner-Gren comes into most
of his influence and wealth. Wen
ner-Gren holdings of Swedish tim
Der lands are tremendous. From
the cumberland comes wood pulp for
paper, and right with it, electric
power. Swedish papermakers have
been largely dependent on Wenner-
Gren pulpWOod. The Scandinavian
paper industry being dominant
business throughout the world, Wen
ner-Gren's position as the fountain
head of that industry led him ma
turally to efforts TO organize a
world wide paper cartel or trust. The
idea was that this paper monopoly
would control production and dis
tribution after the pattern of the
totalitarian corporation.
Wenner-G apparently dreamed
of carrying this idea even further.
At the convention of the Interna-
tional Chamber of Commerce held
just before the war broke out in Eu-
rope, this Swedish capitalist pro-
posed the idea of a world dominated
by giant cartels. Economists refer
to this system as a truly HitleriaD
conception.
In spite of this, Wenner-G ren has
stated that the totalitarian scheme
of things represents retreat from
reason and that he is firm be-
lever in progressive democracy and
the future of the Americas. He
made this statement publicly after
being accused of association with
Ben Smith and w. r. Davis as fl
nanciers of U. S. appeasement
groups.