in America of August 29, 1919, a treaty between the United States
and Germany, which had never been denounced and was in full force,
provided that in case of war between Germany and the United States,
Germany should permit American owners of property in Germany, or
Americans doing business in Germany, to have nine months in which
to wind up their business affairs, to dispose of their property and
to take themselves unhindered out of Germany. And the United States
bound itself, of course, to give the same treatment to German aliens
doing business or owning property in America. This treaty agreement
was deliberately broken by the Custodian of Alien Property. Under
international law the duty of such a custodian is to take possession
of the property of alien citizens of an enemy country, administer
that property carefully, preserve it in good faith, and hold the
earnings of the property and the property itself ready for return to
the owners whenever peace shall come. “We want,” declares the paper,
“to keep the name and reputation of the American people so clean and
honorable that no American shall ever need to apologize either to
friend or foe.” (New York “American.”)
As a result of the confiscation of hundreds of millions of dollars’
worth of alien property, a sensational scandal developed, which
was aired in the House and Senate and had a perceptible bearing on
the defeat of the League of Nations treaty in the Senate. Among
other things, Palmer, ultimately appointed Attorney General, was
charged with having sold the great Bosch magneto works, valued at
$16,000,000, for $4,000,000, giving the preference to friends; and
Representative J. Hampton Moore, referring to Francis P. Garvan, Mr.
Palmer’s successor as Custodian, demanded to know: “Why the same
Frank P. Garvan, the distinguished criminal lawyer of New York, had
recently been elected to and accepted the presidency of the Chemical
Foundation, which has taken over all the German patents in the United
States for the manufacture of dye stuffs through an arrangement
with the Alien Property Custodian, A. Mitchell Palmer, now Attorney
General?”
In his speech of June 21, 1919, in the House, Mr. Moore named a
number of big trust operators and financiers, including Cleveland
H. Dodge, as having formed the Chemical Foundation and taking over
“4,500 patents which Mr. Palmer and Mr. Garvan, this distinguished
criminal lawyer from New York, the successor of Mr. Palmer as Alien
Property Custodian, found on file in the Patent Office, and which
they seized on the ground that they belonged to certain German
patentees.” (New York “Times,” June 22, 1919.)
Hardly a pretence is made by the administration that the seizure was
legal, and the death-blow to all such pretensions was delivered when,
in urging the ratification of the Versailles treaty by the Senate,
Senator Hitchcock, the administration’s Senate leader, declared:
Through the treaty we will get very much of importance....
In violation of all international law and treaties, we
have made disposition of a billion dollars of German-owned
property here. The treaty validates all that.
It is important that Americans should know the facts in the case,
however unpopular the narrative may be, in order that they may set
themselves right before the world, or at least be prepared for the
wave of prejudice which is bound to be excited by the remarkable
proceedings. Quoting Walter T. Rose, a prominent Chicago exporter
just returned from a tour of Europe, the New York “Sun” of November
28, 1919, said: “It is an unfortunate fact that hardly anywhere
in Europe does one hear good opinions of America and Americans.”
Mr. Rose gathered his opinions in France and England as well as
in central Europe. The course of the Custodian of Alien Property
establishes a precedent that, of course, will be heeded by those
associated with us in the war no less than by our late enemies. It is
a warning that the filing of patents and patented processes insures
no immunity from confiscation in the event of war, and a warning to
foreign investors to go slow in investing their money in industries
in the United States. To counteract this policy imposes a moral task
upon every citizen of the United States who holds the honor of his
country above a dollar. For we shall have flaunted in our faces this
passage from President Wilson’s address to Congress, April 2, 1917:
We shall, I feel confident, conduct our operations as
belligerents without passion, and ourselves observe with
proud punctilio the principles of right and fair play we
profess to be fighting for.... It will be easier for us
to conduct ourselves as belligerents in a high spirit of
right and fairness because we act, not in enmity of a
people or with a desire to bring any injury or disadvantage
upon them, but only in opposition to an irresponsible
government. We are, let me say again, the sincere friends
of the German people, and shall desire nothing so much as
the early re-establishment of intimate relations of mutual
advantage between us--however hard it may be for them, for
the time being, to believe this is spoken from our hearts.
In a hearing before a Senate committee investigating his acts as
Custodian, Mr. Palmer named as his advisory committee, Otto Barnard,
Cleveland H. Dodge, George L. Ingraham and Alex Griswold, Jr. He
asserted that he had seized 40,000 German properties. Upon his list
were the names of 32 Germans and Austrian-Hungarians interned as
enemy aliens, whose property was taken over by him. Their names and
the value of their property follows:
Carl Heynan, $487,748; Adolf Pavenstedt, $1,661,408; E. K. Victor,
$274,092; Edward Lutz, $117,865; Hugo Schmidt, $89,434; F.
Stallforth, $540,408; Ad. Fischer, $477,396; F. Rosenberg, $228,484;
Max Breitung, $46,006; Isaac Straus, $36,688; Franz Bopp, $31,782;
Adolf Kessler, $205,165; Robert Tumler, $48,655; Dr. Ernst Kunwald,
$26,456; Fritz Bergmeier, $28,651; Dr. Karl Muck, $82,181; Hans Cron,
$54,436; J. H. Beckmann, $120,360; Paul Lubeke, $30,930; Johannes
Schlenzig, $58,967; Max Reinhard, $52,433; Gunther Weiske, $138,255;
M. S. Barnet, $42,766; Heinrich Beckisch, $25,811; Frank H. Meyer,
$60,928; Arthur Richter, $50,012; Herbert Clemens, $53,813; Fritz
Materna, $40,000; William H. Steinmann, $32,768; Julius Pirnitzer,
$84,656; Desider W. B. de Waray, $200,166; C. F. Banning, $44,000.
Among the amounts confiscated was $3,000 left in the will of Mrs.
Louisa Manada, of Wyoming, for the care of blind soldiers in Berlin,
her home going to a hospital in this country.
Among those mentioned as placed in charge of enemy property by
the Custodian, in his report to the Senate, March 1, 1919, appear
the names of several prominent newspaper men and politicians: Don
C. Seitz, publisher of the New York “World,” and George McAneny,
publisher of the New York “Times,” two strong administration papers,
both of whom were trustees of the Bridgeport Projectile Company.
Mr. McAneny and Henry Morgenthau, former ambassador to Turkey, were
made trustees of the American Metal Company, another enemy concern.
Gavin McNab, of San Francisco, a leading Democratic politician of
California, was made a trustee of the Charles E. Houson Estate
Company, the Marvin Estate Company and the J. H. von Schroeder
Investment Company.
In the investigation Mr. Palmer denied the various charges, and
others referred to, as well as the allegation, aired in the New York
“World,” that his name corresponded with the initials of a certain
M. P. mentioned in the captured notes of Dr. Albert, the German
agent, who was referred to as friendly to Germany. He stated that
“no other course than the seizure was compatible with the safety of
American institutions,” to which reply was made from Germany that the
$700,000,000 investments by Germans in this country did not reach
“one-half of the total value, for instance, of a single American
industrial company like the United States Steel Corporation, and
not even approximately one per cent. of the total value of American
industrial enterprises.” The immense business built up here by the
Germans was, Mr. Palmer said, lost to the Germans forever, and there
was absolutely no hope for the development of American chemical
industries under the old conditions. He defended the Bosch seizure on
the ground of a plot by the manager to promise special apparatus to
the British for their aeroplanes without intending to deliver them.
Millions of dollars’ worth of property belonging to women of American
birth, married to German and Austrian subjects, was taken over by the
Custodian. Many prominent women are in the list, including Countess
Gladys Vanderbilt-Szechenyi, whose property as taken over amounts
to nearly $4,000,000 in securities in addition to the income from a
$5,000,000 trust fund created under the will of her father.
The list includes:
Baroness Augusta Louise von Alten, Budapest, Hungary, formerly
Augusta L. De Haven, and Sarah E. von Camps Hanover, Welfel, Germany,
formerly Sarah E. De Haven, granddaughters of the late Louisa G.
Bigelow, formerly of Chicago. Estate valued at about $1,460,000.
Baroness Clara Erhart von Truchsess, Dusseldorf, Germany, formerly
Clara Erhart, of New York. Life estate in trust fund of $500,000;
securities valued at $600,000.
Gertrude, Baroness von Bocklin, Baden, Germany, formerly Gertrude
Berwind, of Philadelphia. Under the will of Charles F. Berwind, her
father, she received more than $300,000 in property, which was put in
trust with property received by the other heirs.
Baroness Olivia Louise von Rothkirch, Schlesien, Germany, formerly
Olivia Louise Brown, daughter of William John Brown, of New York.
Life interest in trust, approximating $1,000,000.
Baroness Matilda L. Bornemissa, Budapest, Austria; Baroness Margaret
von Wucherer and Anna von Dory Johahaza, both of Steiermark, Austria,
daughters of the late James Price, of Philadelphia, and Baroness
Manon Dumreicher, Baron Tibor von Berg, Baron Tassilo von Berg and
Baron Max von Berg, children of the deceased daughter, Baroness
Sallie Mae Berg. The above enemies share an income of the trust under
the will of Sarah Maria Price, valued at $275,000, and also in a
trust created under the will of Samuel Harlan, Jr., valued at $75,000.
Baroness Cornelia C. Zedlitz, Berlin, Germany, formerly Cornelia
Carnochan Roosevelt, daughter of the late Charles Y. Roosevelt, of
New York. Under a trust agreement made in 1889 in contemplation
of marriage, her property, valued at about $1,000,000, was put in
trust, reserving to her a life interest. Personal property valued at
$200,000 was also taken over.
Countess Marguerite Isabelle Eugenie Victorine de Stuers Obendorff,
wife of the former German Ambassador to Austria, and grandniece of
the late Henry Astor, grandson of the original John Jacob Astor, and
inheritor of a share in his estate. Her mother was Countess Margaret
Laura Zhorowski, daughter of Alida Astor, a sister of Henry Astor,
and daughter of William Astor. Trust fund $60,000, created by deed of
trust by her father; cash, $949,225 and eight-fifteenths interest in
New York city property.
Countess von Francken, Sierstorpff, Zyrowa Leschnitz, Prussia,
formerly Mary Knowlton, daughter of Edwin F. Knowlton, of New York.
Life interest trust fund $1,200,000, left under the will of her
father; Countess Alice Grote, Schloss Varechentin, Mecklenburg,
Germany, formerly Alice von Bergen, daughter of Anthony von Bergen of
New York. Life interest, $250,000.
Countess Gladys Vanderbilt Szechenyi, Budapest, Hungary, daughter
of the late Cornelius Vanderbilt and Alice G. Vanderbilt. Nearly
$4,000,000 in securities taken over; also income from $5,000,000
trust fund created under the will of her father.
Countess Harriet Sigray, Ivancz Nagycsakny, Hungary, daughter of the
late Marcus Daly, of Montana, a sister of Mrs. James Gerard, wife of
the former Ambassador to Germany. Securities taken over, $1,000,000.
Countess Gladys McMillan Cornet, Brussels, Belgium, formerly Gladys
McMillan, daughter of the late James H. McMillan, of Detroit. Life
interest in one-tenth of trust of $4,500,000; life interest in
two-thirds of trust of $450,000; life estate one-tenth trust of
$600,000 and securities valued at $149,725.
Countess Elizabeth T. P. de Gasquet-James, Krain, Austria, formerly
Elizabeth T. Pratt James, of Esopus, N. Y. Life estate in $135,000
and bonds, $59,000.
Lily Freifrau Treusch von Buttlar Brandenfees, Stettin, Germany,
formerly Lilly G. Stetson, daughter of the late Isaiah Stetson, of
Bangor, Me. Securities taken over valued at $250,000.
Jayta Humphreys von Wolf, Munich, Germany, daughter of the late
Frederic Humphreys, of New York. Life interest in a trust valued
about $50,000.
Rosa K. Schertel von Burtenbach, daughter of the late Frederick
Schaefer, of New York. Under trust created in will of father, she has
life interest of $200,000.
Clara von Gontard, Berlin, Germany, daughter of the late Adolphus
Busch and Lilly Busch, of St. Louis. Life interest in trust fund
created under the will of Adolphus Busch, securities valued at
$900,000, including stock holdings in Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company
of St. Louis.
Mary Trowbridge von Zepplin, Germany, formerly Mary Wilkens, Detroit,
wife of Conrad von Zepplin and daughter of the late Lizzie C.
Wilkens, of Detroit. Life estate trust fund, $40,000.
Clara Bauer von Rosenthal, Frankfort-am-Main, Germany, formerly Clara
Bauer, daughter of the late Augustus Bauer, Chicago. Life interest in
trust of $35,000.
Mary Grace von der Hellan, Hamburg, Germany, formerly Mary Grace
Meissner, Garden City, New York. Life interest in trust created
by herself just prior to her marriage, $65,000, and bank balance,
$304,472.
Charlotte von Gorrisen, Hamburg, Germany, formerly Charlotte
Anderson, daughter of the late Elbert J. Anderson, of Newport, R. I.
Small interest in the estate of her father.
Alice von Buchwaldt, Bremen, Germany, and Anna Maria von Bose,
Dresden, Germany, daughters of William Wilkens, deceased, of
Baltimore. Each has a life interest in a trust fund under the will of
her father of about $180,000.
Natalie Burleigh von Ohnesorge, Provinz Posen, Germany, daughter of
Sarah B. Conklin, of New York. Life estate in a trust under will of
her father, $140,000.
Florence Grafin von Schwerin, Munich, Germany, formerly Florence
Wann, of St. Paul, Minn. Daughter of the late John Wann, deceased.
Property taken over, $20,000; life interest in trust created under
the will of her father, $40,000. Interest in the trust created by
deed of trust of her brother, Thomas Leslie Wann, consisting of
valuable real estate in St. Paul.
Children of Sophie von Bohlen und Halbach, Baden, Germany, formerly
Sophie Bohlen, daughter of Gen. William Henry Charles Bohlen, of
Pennsylvania. She died in 1915 and her children, all residing in
Germany, became beneficiaries of her estate, including trust funds
totaling $1,500,000.
Helen H. von Stralenheim, Dresden, Germany; Louise von Trutzchler zum
Falkenstein, Vogtland, Germany, and Josephine von Arnim, Dresden,
Germany, daughters of David Leavitt, deceased, late of New York. Each
has life estate one-fifth of $225,000 trust.
Sophie von Arenstorff, Frankfort-a-Oder, Germany. Under the will
of Edward G. Halls, deceased, late of Chicago, above enemy, a
granddaughter, has a life interest in three-tenths of the estate,
valued at $267,000.
Katie von Kracker, Mecklenburg, Germany, formerly Katie Elias,
daughter of the late Henry Elias, of New York, life interest in
one-half of a trust valued at $300,000.
Mr. Palmer’s assertion that Germany set the example by seizing
American property in Germany cannot be sustained by him.
=Villard, Henry.=--A distinguished war correspondent during the Civil
War, afterwards built the Northern Pacific Railroad, largely with
German capital. Born in Speyer, 1835. His real name was Heinrich
Hillgard. Married a daughter of William Lloyd Garrison, famous
abolitionist. Father of Oswald Garrison Villard, editor of “The
Nation.”
=Vote on War in Congress.=--A resolution declaring the United States
in a state of war “with the imperial German Government” on the
grounds that the imperial German government had committed repeated
acts of war against the government and the people of the United
States and that in consequence of these acts war had been thrust upon
the United States, was passed in the Senate on April 5 and in the
House on April 6, 1917.
In neither the Senate nor the House of Representatives was the
resolution passed by a unanimous vote.
In the Senate on April 5 it passed by a vote of 82 to 6, and in the
House by a vote of 373 to 50. No obstructions were resorted to, and
comparatively a short time was consumed on both sides in speeches
devoted to individual explanations.
In the Senate 43 Democrats and 39 Republicans voted aye and in the
House 193 Democrats, 177 Republicans and three Independents (Fall of
Massachusetts, Martin of Louisiana and Schall of Minnesota) voted
affirmatively, while 16 Democrats and 32 Republicans, 1 Socialist and
1 Independent (Randall) voted in the negative. Miss Rankin, the first
woman member of the lower House of Congress, voted against war.
The Senators voting “no” were Lane, Stone and Vardaman, Democrats,
and Gronna, La Follette and Norris, Republicans.
In the lower House the members who voted against war were the
following:
Alabama--Almon, Burnett.
California--Church, Hayes, Randall.
Colorado--Hilliard, Keating.
Illinois--Britten, Rodenberg, Fuller, Wheeler, King, Mason.
Iowa--Haugen, Woods, Hull.
Kansas--Connelly, Little.
Michigan--Bacon.
Minnesota--Davis, Knutson, Van Dyke, Lundeen.
Missouri--Decker, Igoe, Hensley, Shackleford.
Montana--Rankin.
Nebraska--Kinkaid, Reavis, Sloan.
Nevada--Roberts.
New York--London.
North Carolina--Kitchin.
Ohio--Sherwood.
South Carolina--Dominick.
South Dakota--Dillon, Johnson.
Texas--McLemore.
Washington--Dill, La Follette.
Wisconsin--Browne, Cary, Cooper, Esch, Frear, Nelson, Stafford,
Davidson, Voight.
Paired, 6; absent by illnesses, 2; not voting, 2; vacancies, 2.
Speaker Clark did not vote.
The debate in both Houses will rank among the most memorable in
the history of the country. With a degree of courage amounting
to heroism, Senators La Follette of Wisconsin, Stone of Missouri
and Norris of Nebraska spoke in opposition to the adoption of the
resolution; but the surprise came in the House when the Democratic
floor leader, Kitchin, announced his opposition to the measure.
It should not be assumed that any of the men in either branch of
Congress took the position in a spirit of light-hearted opposition.
Not one among them but realized the heavy responsibility of his
action. With a newspaper clamor for war unequaled in the history of
the United States, with the bitter denunciation of Senators who voted
against the armed ship bill in March still ringing in their ears, and
with the widespread propaganda carried to the doors of Congress by
those anxious for war, every legislator felt the gravity of his step
in refusing to sanction the necessary authority which would plunge
the country into the European conflagration.
An analysis of the vote shows that not a single representative of the
people from an Eastern State (except New York, London, Socialist)
voted against war. Every negative vote came from the West and South.
The favorite slogan that the agitation against war emanated wholly
from German sources was not verified by facts. It is said that there
is hardly a German vote in the North Carolina district represented
by Kitchin. No such influence operated upon Senator Vardaman of
Mississippi, nor upon the two members from Alabama.
The largest vote against war came from Wisconsin, where, aside from
Senator La Follette, nine members of the lower House were found
on the negative side and but two on the affirmative, exclusive of
Senator Husting. The latter went out of his way to make a bitter
attack on the German-Americans and called the people of his State
disloyal if they refused “to back up the President in the course he
has decided to take.” He said this was the only question at issue, as
he believed that if the question of peace or war only were submitted
to the people war would be voted down.
Sentiment in his State on the war question was indicated by the large
anti-war vote of the Wisconsin delegation and the referendum votes
taken in Sheboygan and Monroe on April 3. In the former place only
17 out of 4,000 votes cast were for war, and in the latter 954 votes
were against and 95 for war. A relative result was recorded from a
Minnesota referendum.
Several incidents of interest out of the common marked the great
debate, but there was a noticeable absence of the high feeling that
accompanied the declaration of war against Spain. For part of the
day the House was half empty while the debate was in progress and
comparatively few people appeared in the galleries.
Representative Kitchin declared that he expected his vote against war
to end his political career, but that he nevertheless could not act
against his conscientious convictions. A rampant Southern fire-eater
named Heflin, hailing from Alabama, attacked Kitchin and declared
that the latter’s attitude should prompt him to resign from Congress,
as he did not represent the opinion of the country.
The answer to this suggestion was a volley of hisses from the
Democratic side of the House; and while Miss Rankin, tears in her
eyes as she found herself confronted with the serious problem of
doing a popular thing or following her convictions, declared in a
broken voice, “I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for
war--I vote no,” applause greeted her decision even from those who
were voting the other way.
Kitchin was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which has
in charge the appropriations necessary to carry on the war. He
distinctly announced that if war were declared he would present no
obstructions to its successful conduct but would do all that was
required of him as a member of the House.
In the main the debate was conducted with marked decorum. Little
acrimonious discussion developed. The supporters of the resolution
calmly and seriously declared that a state of war really existed as a
result of German violations of American rights, while the opponents
of war insisted that the German submarine campaign was forced by the
illegal British blockade, which was as much a violation of American
rights as submarine warfare.
The same apathy which characterized the situation on the floor in
general marked the reception of the speeches. Applause at best was
scattered, and the absence of patriotic display was noticeable.
Members were in a serious mood and talked and voted with great
solemnity. Kitchin, before delivering his stirring anti-war speech,
had spent six hours in consultation with proponents and opponents of
war, and decided to oppose the resolution only after he had carefully
weighed his action.
The only member from Texas who voted against war was Representative
McLemore, the author of the famous McLemore resolution, whose
adoption was intended to forestall the possibility of war with
Germany.
In the House the opening speech against the resolution was delivered
by Representative Cooper, of Wisconsin, who made an eloquent plea
in behalf of his contention that the United States should proceed
against England as well as against Germany, as both had equally
acted illegally and indefensibly in violating American rights. If
we had cause for war against one we had as just cause against the
other offender. Mr. Cooper was the ranking Republican member of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs in the House.