Evening star., 1943-08-01

a forgiving mood like that of 1928, when
1t ordered the restoration of 30 per cent
of all German property.
1t Is possible that terms of the peace
settlement will be generous in respect to
enemy assets held by the United Ma
tons. American individuals who have
bought stock in subsidiaries of German
cartels operating in this country may be
tempted by lavish bids to resell to the
original owners. This transaction oc-
CURED on so large scale after World
War that an attorney Of the Depart
ment of Justice recently made this caiis-
tic pronouncement: THE Allies won the
war, but I. G. Farben won the peace"
One action Of important effect was
taken by the Antitrust Division of the
Department of Justice, before Its In
vestigations were halted for the dura-
ton by the Army and Navy. Under
threat of criminal prosecution, various
American corporations which were as
sociates of German cartels signed con-
sent DEGREES pledging themselves to
breach all contracts with their alien
partners In addition, such American
companies were forced to release to in
dustry in general their backlog of mo-
nopolistic German patents. including the
formula for synthetic rubber The de-
partment plans to resume its antitrust
activities the moment peace arrives.
The United States today Is far better
prepared for economic battle than 1t was
25 years ago. Its position as q creditor
hA ~ oy,A-
tai before 1899 placed billions of foreign
wealth in easy reach. The good neigh
Dor policy of the Roosevelt administers
ton has lately borne fruit in Latin
American cooperation such as could
not have been anticipated even a few
months ago.
No Delay This Time.
President Wilson was so tardy In set
ting up his Office of Alien Property Gus
todian that it did not get into operation
until after the armistice. There was only
rudimentary exchange control instead
of the present foreign funds control in
the Treasury Department, which went
to war six months before Pearl Harbor
and unleashed redoubtable arsenal OF
weapons against the Axis. New also is
the Office Of Economic Warfare, for
merly the Board of Economic Warfare.
which provides shock troops and COM
mando units in "the war behind the
war"
Above all, the German strategy Of
economic penetration has been studied
| closely for five years, and should now
| have few secrets for American experts.
| 1t was in 1898 that the Antitrust Division
| of the Department Of Justice launched
major campaign against American
associates of foreign cartels. The mass
| of information unearthed was supple
mented at hearings of the Senate Com
mittee on Patents. Valuable contribu-
tions to the body of knowledge were
added by the Temporary National Eco
1 nomic Committee and the Truman Com
| mittee.
I Spearhead agencies, such as DEW. APO
and FFC, have reared breed of ruth
less, adroit and tough-flbered civilian
warriors who are now veterans of many
an encounter with the best champions
of the Axis. A steel ring has been forged
around the United States and to a large
degree about the Western Hemisphere.
The front-line establishments and their
chieftains are the Foreign Funds Con-
| troll of the Treasury, Assistant Secretary
| John w. Pehle, the Office of Economic
| Warfare and the Office of the Alien
| Property Custodian, Mr.. Crowley and
the Antitrust Division of the De-
| partment of Justice, which did spade
work for the campaign under former
Assistant Attorney General Thurman w.
| Arnold
In close touch with them are the fol-
| lowing organizations, with their leaders
The Office of Strategic Services of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Brig. Gen. William
j. Donovan; Military Intelligence, Mai.
Gen. George v. Strong; the Once of
Naval Intelligence, Rear Admiral Harold
c. Train: the War Production Board,
Donald M. Nelson; the ONCE of Price
Administration, Prentiss M. Brown, and
the Office of the Co-ordinator of Inter-
American Affairs, Nelson A. Rockefeller.
Work Well Together.
There is no centralized command for
the 10 divisions of the economic warfare
army, but they are declared to work to-
gether efficiently enough on an informal
basis. Communication among the vari-
Gus headquarters is constant, and in
formation gained by one is swiftly
| passed on to the Others
The pioneer emergency establishment
was the Treasurys Foreign Funds Con-
troll, which was set up on April 10, 1910,
for the purpose of making futile any
duress exercised by Germany upon ma
tionals of subject countries who had
assets in the United States. Operations
for IA months were simply protective.
Payment orders on bank balances were
blocked to safeguard the owners from
Nazi extortion. The agency passed over
| to the aggressive on June Ia. l94l. when
German and Nazi assets were frozen.
Identical measures with regard to Japan
followed on July 26
| The next agency to be created was the
| Economic Defense Board, on January
| 30, l941. Ten days after Pearl Harbor
the name was changed to the Board of
| Economic Warfare. Up to April l3.
| 1912, its powers were strictly advisory.
| On that date the board was advanced to
| the firing line by an executive order con-
| ferring broad new powers. In addition
| to clearing and licensing all private ex-
! ports, it was charged with responsibility
for the procurement and production OF
all imported articles necessary both to
the ri1yil;