Evening star., 1943-12-19


There are two possible courses:
The Government could act as g
broker cit holds title to much of it now
sell it out, put the money in a bank
account, and then apportion the pro-
ceeds to all Americans who have claims
against Axis countries. The plan might
pay out only so cents on the dollar
Still, it would be so cents.
Or, the Government, as it did the last
time, could try to preserve the principle
Of immunity of private property" and
turn back enemy assets to the original
owners, whether to the German Reichs-
bank, to Mr.. Koeppfel of Munich, Mr.
Horoshi of Yokohama or Baron Kalaszy
Of Budapest. on reciprocity basis.
The choice is not simple
The Government has announced no
policy as yet. 1t probably won't until
peace settlements are under way.
The decision is important beyond
what Americans would gain from TAX
ing over enemy assets here. 1t would
most likely determine how American
assets. held in the Axis countries. would
be treated. The question hinges on
what we stand to gain or lose
Take Census of Holdings.
Up to this point there has been no way
of determining this. Other major in
vesting countries have taken censuses
of their assets abroad The United
States never did until this year Now
the Treasury's Bureau of Foreign Funds
Control is doing just that; getting a
statement from every one-corporation
and individual alike-on what they hold
abroad, no matter where it is.
It's the first such census in American
history. 1t is not taken specifically as
a preparation for all American program
of demanding reparations from the Axis
1t won't even serve as a registry of
claims should we demand reparations.
It is merely a precaution against all
the moves which may come up at the
conference table; to afford the American
delegation all the information it may
need on American holdings all over the
world.
But it does come along as the debate
has started here over what to do with
Axis capital caught here by the war,
and American capital caught overseas.
Considered a Precedent.
The United States Chamber of Com
merce, through its Foreign Commerce
Committee has said we must preserve
the immunity of enemy private prop
erty as a precedent for the treatment
of American property held overseas"
That is, if we don't seize German, Japa-
nese, Hungarian, Rumanian, Bulgarian
assets here, it is presumed they will
turn back, or compensate for, American
power plants, railroads, bank accounts
over there.
The National Foreign Trade Council
agreed in principle at Its October con-
vention, asking that all treaties written
AS result of the peace recognize the
"inyiolability Of private property" 1t
asks that American property in Axis
territory be restored, substituted or
given adequate compensation"
The National Manufacturers Associa-
ton has not yet expressed itself, but its
office here believes NAM will meet the
policy of the other two organizations.
There is an offshoot of this idea,
voiced privately now in business circles;
a plan whereby Axis countries would be
forced to restore with their own labor
and money anything they have de-
Stroyed That is if Axis armies wrecked
an American bank. an American owned
railroad terminal or auto factory, the
Axis government in the area would re-
store the plant as it was before the
war and then turn it over to the Ameri-
can owners.
Seize and Sell Plan.
On the other hand-and opposed-is
the first bill introduced into Congress
on the subject, by Representative w.
Gearhart of California
His bill. in its essentials, provides:
l. That the Alien Property Custodian
sell all enemy property in this country
and place the money In separate ac-
counts for each country.
2. That those accounts be used to pay
Americans who have lost property in
enemy countries. That is, an American
who had lost property in Japan could
make claim for whatever percentage
payment is possible out of the dollars
which would be accumulated through
sale of japanese property here That
might be healthy sum, since japanese
holdings in California ran into the many
millions.
3, That enemies who thereby lose their
property here be repaid by their home
governments under such a provision
written into the peace treaty.
Even before the initial Gearhart bill
comes up for Congressional considera-
ton. the author has decided to substitute
an amended copy covering more than
10000 enemy patents now held by the
Alien Property Custodian.
Gearhart would permit the custodian
to sell the patents, but only to thor
oughly reliable bona fide citizens of this
country. with the further provision that
they could only be resold to another
American citizen
Divided After Last War.
He hopes to avoid the occurrences fol-
lowing the last war, when patents held
here by people with seemingly American
names were resold and showed up in
five or six years as the property again
of Germans
Gearhart bases his bill on a study
made by two international lawyers,
Harold G. Aron and Frederick w. Eisner,
who published their findings recently in
the Bankers Magazine.
Aron and Eisner reminded us that