Evening star., 1947-11-09

Memos surged through the w
lated discovery. When they had sett
$4,000, 900 would be required before
the United States could hope to
have any appreciable production OF
synthetic or artificial substitutes.
The way in which the biggest in
dustrial Nation in the world was
euchred into this ridiculous and
helpless position is one OF the
charges against "a leading officials
of T. G. Farben, the German chemi-
cal trust, who are on trial before
an American military tribunal here.
Farben Officers Brazen
Standard Oil, six of its subsidi-
aries and three of its top executives
already have paid fines Of $4,000
each in United States courts for
their part in this unhappy picture.
They didn't admit their quilt, but
they didn't contest the action. Far
ben's officers have been more brazen.
They say they didn't do it.
American tieups with Farben
have been the cause for a whole
series of indictments and some
trials. In themselves, they are not
the basis for the accusations here.
It is the prosecution charge that
Farben, in effect, was waging eco
nomic war on behalf of the Nazis
and themselves years before the
armies actually crossed the Polish
border.
Not only rubber is involved, but
a host of other chemical develop
ments. One is atabrine, which the
GIs required most urgently to pro-
tect themselves against the jungle
killer, malaria. Another was modern
small arms ammunition. The Brit
ish wanted desperately to buy 1t
from the United States about the
time of Dunkirk They had to take
an inferior grade. Farben controlled
the patents.
Rubber Story Spectacular
The story of rubber, however, is
more spectacular and easier to fol-
low. From the documents introduced
here, 1t is briefly this:
Farben and Standard Oil entered
q slomen compact in 1929, dividing
the world between them. Farben
would be supreme in chemicals;
Standard in petroleum. Where these
two broad spheres rubbed shoulders,
as they did inevitably, there would
be further talks in the same spirit
of good will" which was recorded
at the time.
A year later, in 1880, joint COM
pany called "JASCO," owned half
by Standard and half by Farben,
was set up in the United States to
exploit such mutual fields. From
the first, artificial rubber was recog-
n1zed as one of them. And from the
first Farben was exceedingly canny.
Some of the moves that followed
have been described simply as sharp
or sherWd business. But the picture
that emerges from. the captured
documents is quite different. 1t Is a
picture of Farben playing with Its
American partners, leading them up
the primrose path, and leaving them
In the end exactly where they
wanted them-without the means
or the knowledgs to produce rubber,
or wage modern war.
The correspondence from the Pc
Rod is like something from another
world so far as the Americans are
coriserned-a world In which there
are no Hitlers, no wars, or other
unpleasantnesses, and in which
tank tracks are an excellent means
of disposing Of rubber but are un-
related otherwise to general policy.
Given Standard Processes
The American whose name ap-
pears most frequently is Frank A.
Howard, one of those subsequently
fined, who was president OF the
Standard Oil Development Co., and
has since retired. The Farben off,
cial most involved is Fritz Ter Nicer,
its leading technical director, and
one Of the defendants.
AS late as 1888 Howard was pro-
testing the good will of Farben to
the point where he turned over some
of Standards own processes. He
wrote his own excuses for Farben.
Certain difficulties still exist" he
said, which prevent our I. G,
friends from giving us full technical
information and proceeding in the
normal manner with the CONNER
cial development (of buna) in the
United States. 1t is to be hoped
that these difficulties will be sur
mounted In the near future"
Three years earlier conference
had occurred between Farben and
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