173:
188:, a political ally and former Congressman, Alien Property Custodian in October 1917. Palmer held the position from October 22, 1917 until March 4, 1919. A wartime government official, the Custodian had responsibility for the seizure, administration, and sometimes the sale of enemy property in the United States. Palmer was also allowed to take control of property that might hinder the war effort, including all property belonging to interned immigrants, whether they had been charged with a crime or not. Palmer's background in law and banking qualified him for the position, along with his party loyalty and intimate knowledge of political patronage. Under Palmer's leadership, the Custodian employed hundreds of officials.
165:
35:
316:'s, focused less on legality of their appointments or the fees earned by political cronies but on sales of enemy assets. There were safeguards in place, but competitive bidding meant nothing when an auction was rigged by withholding information from all participants. More revelations took years to surface and the connections between Palmer and direct profits proved too tenuous to support his indictment. However, Thomas W. Miller was caught in the act and served jail time for taking a $ 50,000 bribe.
157:
238:(USBA) and the rest of the overwhelmingly German liquor industry harbored pro-German sentiments. He stated that "German brewers of America, in association with the United States Brewers' Association" had attempted "to buy a great newspaper" and "control the government of State and Nation", had generally been "unpatriotic", and had "pro-German sympathies". Palmer wanted to seize the estate of the late
320:
independent of German investment, with major sales of the seized assets in the metals industry in the spring of 1919, for example. He offered his rationale in a speech to an audience of lawyers: "The war power is of necessity an inherent power in every sovereign nation. It is the power of self-preservation and that power has no limits other than the extent of the emergency."
336:
establishing the Office of the Alien
Property Custodian within the Office for Emergency Management under authority of the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 and the First War Powers Act of December 18, 1941. On April 21, 1942 an Executive order subsequently transferred to it the functions, personnel,
87:
was originally enacted during World War I "to permit, under careful safeguards and restrictions, certain kinds of business to be carried on "among warring nations, and to "provid for the care and administration of the property and property rights of enemies and their allies in this country pending
319:
Palmer successfully campaigned to keep the powers to sell confiscated assets within the office of custodian. He promised to hinder
Germany's industrial expansion after the war. Even when Germany was facing an inevitable defeat, Palmer insisted on continuing his crusade to make American industry
209:
Late in 1918, Palmer reported he was managing almost 30,000 trusts with assets worth half a billion dollars. He estimated that another 9,000 trusts worth $ 300,000,000 awaited evaluation. Many of the enterprises in question produced materials significant to the war effort, such as medicines,
429:
Testifying before a U.S. Subcommittee in 1957, Townsend argued that a return of 10% of seized enemy property was a sufficient amount. "One of the most unfair aspects of a general return of all German and
Japanese property is that it would donate huge windfalls to large enemy corporations,
218:
for gas masks. Others included mines, brewing, and newspaper publishing. Palmer built a team of professionals with banking expertise as well as an investigative bureau to track down well-hidden assets. Below the top-level positions, he distributed jobs as
82:
to appoint an official known as the "alien property custodian" (APC) who is responsible for "receiv ... hold, administer, and account for" "all money and property in the United States due or belonging to an enemy, or ally of enemy ... ."
286:
said that the alien property custodian kept "the biggest general store in the country." Altogether, the United States
Government confiscated close to $ 500 million of foreign assets during WWI. In 1921, the Congress while adopting the
425:
Assistant United States
Attorney General, heading the Justice Department's Alien Property Office, an office he held until 1960. Townsend supervised the seizure of enemy property and assets that had been seized during World War II.
520:
742:
385:
699:
Brewing and Liquor
Interests and German Propaganda: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Sixty-fifth Congress, Second and Third Sessions, Pursuant to S. Res.
474:
Executive Order No. 2729–A, October 12, 1917, Vesting Power and
Authority in Designated Officers and Making Rules and Regulations under Trading with the Enemy Act and Title VII of the Act Approved June 15,
289:
Joint
Resolution Terminating the State of War Between the Imperial German Government and the United States of America and Between the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Government and the United States of
649:
521:
Guide to
Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995, Volume 1, 131-1
275:
transferred 4,500 German chemical patents valued at $ 8 million to the
Chemical Foundation, paying only $ 250,000; the Chemical Foundation in its turn licensed patents to American companies.
430:
industrialists and their agents, many of whom were strong supporters of the militaristic and aggressive policies of the former Governments of Germany and Japan," he told Senators.
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1157:
202:
wrote that Palmer's organization turned into "the biggest trust institution in the world, a director of vast business enterprises of varied nature, a detective agency, and a
1142:
1152:
984:"Executive Order 9788—Terminating the Office of Alien Property Custodian and Transferring Its Functions to the Attorney General | the American Presidency Project"
1035:"PLUNDER AND RESTITUTION: Findings and Recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and Staff Report: Chapter III"
983:
633:
How Seized German Millions Fight Germany; First Authoritative Account of the Many;-Sided Activities of Alien Property Custodian;-Enemy Money Is Put Into Liberty Bonds
345:
as APC. During the war the APC amassed a vast portfolio of enemy property including real estate, business enterprises, ships and intellectual property in the form of
172:
554:"The U.S. Confiscated Half a Billion Dollars in Private Property During WWI: America's home front was the site of internment, deportation, and vast property seizure"
579:
396:, indicated that Bazelon's activities as head of the Office of Alien Property warranted a Senate investigation but predicted none would be forthcoming.
1001:
966:
120:
553:
632:
259:, as well as twenty German insurance companies, were seized. Among other significant seizures, the United States assets of the chemical company
342:
304:. In 1925, the Office of Alien Property Custodian still controlled $ 300 million worth of alien property, with half of that amount in cash.
164:
103:(APB) in the Claims Division of the Department of Justice. On December 9, 1941, the APB was superseded in the Justice Department by the
92:
724:
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682:
293:
63:
235:
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116:
115:, Department of Justice. It was abolished in 1966 and most of the functions related to foreign assets control were passed to the
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242:, whose wife was stranded in Europe during the war, and succeeded in seizing the property of another brewer, George Ehret.
852:
821:
772:
224:
1034:
409:, meaning that Hitler got none of the royalties from the book's sales in the United States, totaling $ 20,580 by 1945.
59:
111:(APC) within the Office of Emergency Management. APC was abolished in 1946 and its functions were transferred to the
853:"Franklin D. Roosevelt: "Executive Order 9095 Establishing the Office of Alien Property Custodian.," March 11, 1942"
365:
in 1943, the Custodian seized much of Tesla's work from his hotel room even though Tesla was an American citizen.
66:(TWEA) in order to "assume control and dispose of enemy-owned property in the United States and its possessions."
1147:
34:
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62:
to property that belonged to US enemies. The office was created in 1917 by Executive Order 2729-A under the
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The size of the assets the Custodian controlled only became clear over the next year. In January 1918,
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Office of Alien Property Custodian: Annual report for the period March 11, 1942 to June 30, 1943
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Government Documents - Independent Agencies, Boards, and Commissions: Alien Property Custodian
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to serve as counsel for a textile company and another the vice-president of a shipping line.
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specified that all seized property had remained in the United States ownership; also, the
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took over as head of the Office of Alien Property, as a result of the reorganization in
17:
616:
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and property of the Alien Property Division of the Department of Justice. He appointed
271:. In April 1919, the president of the Chemical Foundation, Inc. and Palmer's successor
239:
181:
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667:
47:
399:
Among the assets held by the Alien Property Custodian in WWII was the copyright for
709:. Govt. print. off., 1919. Original from the University of Michigan. v. 1, pp. 3–4.
400:
358:
156:
55:
1114:
176:
Alien Property Custodian sale of the plant of A. W. Faber Pencil Co., Newark, N.J.
882:
511:, J., concurring). See also S. Rep. No. 113, 65th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 1 (1917).
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107:(APD). The APD was abolished in 1942 and its functions were passed along to the
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Treatment of Alien Enemy Property in War Time and After by the United States
737:
735:
580:"Chemical Warfare: From the European Battlefield to the American Laboratory"
438:
220:
1019:
Ickes, Harold L. (October 31, 1949). "Responsibility for a Strong Bench".
822:"Executive Order 9095 Establishing the Office of Alien Property Custodian"
651:
The Palmer Raids and the Red Scare: 1918-1920: Justice and Liberty for All
437:, a Swiss holding company, saying that it was a front for the real owner,
230:
In September 1918, Palmer testified at hearings held by the U.S. Senate's
211:
160:
President Wilson with Mitchell Palmer, the first Alien Property Custodian
743:
The Secret Life of Statutes: A Century of the Trading with the Enemy Act
491:
354:
312:
Later criticism of Palmer's and his successors performance, especially
268:
99:(OAPC) ceased to exist in 1934 and its functions were delegated to the
141:
Office of Alien Property Custodian, Department of Justice (1942–1946)
132:
Office of Alien Property Custodian, Department of Justice (1917–1934)
147:
Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury Department (1966–present)
996:
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United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
260:
171:
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155:
33:
1064:"Dallas Townsend Sr., 77, Dies; Ex-Assistant Attorney General".
38:
The seal of the United States Office of Alien Property Custodian
890:
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was not terminated. It stayed dormant until March 1933, when
223:. For example, he appointed one of his fellow members of the
457:
which abolished the office, effective June 30 of that year.
719:
717:
715:
144:
Office of Alien Property, Department of Justice (1946–1966)
859:. University of California - Santa Barbara. Archived from
138:
Alien Property Division, Department of Justice (1941–1942)
135:
Alien Property Bureau, Department of Justice (1934–1941)
726:
The Great War in America: World War I and Its Aftermath
943:"David Bazelon Dies at 83; Jurist Had Wide Influence"
1115:
Annual reports - Office of Alien Property, 1947-1979
697:United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary,
615:
883:"Tesla - Master of Lightning: The Missing Papers"
523:. United States: National Archives and Records
376:. He remained in this post until he received a
828:. American Presidency Project. Archived from
547:
545:
543:
541:
433:Townsend seized $ 329 million in proceeds of
8:
749:, Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2018 , pp. 151-172
1168:1966 disestablishments in the United States
1105:1922 Report of the Alien Property Custodian
1059:
1057:
1055:
758:Borchard, Edwin M. Enemy Private Property,
669:Brewing Battles: A History of American Beer
357:and pending patent applications. Following
46:was an office within the government of the
1158:Government agencies disestablished in 1966
810:, April 8, 1919, accessed January 22, 2010
384:on October 21, 1949, to a new seat on the
253:, the German-American Lumber Company, the
1080:"Records of the office of Alien Property"
1023:. Vol. 121, no. 18. p. 16.
1143:1917 establishments in the United States
1002:Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
779:, March 1927, Volume 2, Issue 6, p. 472.
535:, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library
121:United States Department of the Treasury
1153:Government agencies established in 1917
1124:Records of the Office of Alien Property
609:
607:
605:
466:
762:Vol. 18, no. 3, July 1924, pp. 523–532
760:American Journal of International Law,
639:, January 27, 1918, Section T, Page 63
622:. New York: Columbia University Press.
941:Berger, Marilyn (February 21, 1993).
388:. Before he was seated on the bench,
343:Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
7:
368:In 1947, Assistant Attorney General
804:Break German Hold on American Metal
341:, a former banker and chair of the
263:were auctioned off and it lost its
93:United States Department of Justice
91:Created in October 1917 within the
851:Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T.
552:Gross, Daniel A. (July 28, 2014).
507:, 326 U.S. 404, 414, n. 1 (1945) (
300:invoked it to enforce a week-long
294:Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917
109:Office of Alien Property Custodian
97:Office of Alien Property Custodian
64:Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917
44:Office of Alien Property Custodian
25:
249:, the Bosch Magneto Company, the
236:United States Brewers Association
789:Alien Property Custodian Scandal
673:. New York: Algora Pub. p.
578:Gross, Daniel A. (Spring 2015).
279:Disposal of confiscated property
168:Alien Property Custodian sale ad
117:Office of Foreign Assets Control
920:Federal Bureau of Investigation
857:The American Presidency Project
820:Wooley, John; Peters, Gerhard.
618:A. Mitchell Palmer: Politician
441:, the German chemical cartel.
251:Hamburg-American Shipping Line
247:Orenstein & Koppel Company
127:Lineage of successive agencies
1:
225:Democratic National Committee
29:Former U.S. government agency
328:On 11 March 1942, President
449:On May 13, 1966, President
1184:
912:"FBI 100 - Top 10 Myths"
655:Luton: Andrews UK, 2011.
394:Roosevelt administration
113:Office of Alien Property
18:Alien Property Custodian
1163:United States trade law
1039:govinfo.library.unt.edu
1007:Federal Judicial Center
1005:, a publication of the
747:Modern American History
665:Mittelman, Amy (2008).
614:Coben, Stanley (1963).
105:Alien Property Division
741:Coates, Benjamin A. .
392:, a key figure in the
308:Criticism and response
273:Francis Patrick Garvan
177:
169:
161:
39:
793:United States History
729:. Pegasus Books, 2020
455:Executive Order 11281
330:Franklin D. Roosevelt
298:Franklin D. Roosevelt
256:New York Evening Mail
175:
167:
159:
101:Alien Property Bureau
37:
967:Alien Office Merging
374:Executive Order 9788
334:Executive Order 9095
302:Bank Holiday of 1933
1082:. National Archives
863:on January 12, 2015
832:on January 12, 2015
826:presidency.ucsb.edu
777:Indiana Law Journal
423:Dallas Townsend Sr.
417:In 1953, President
971:The New York Times
947:The New York Times
808:The New York Times
637:The New York Times
378:recess appointment
245:The assets of the
199:The New York Times
186:A. Mitchell Palmer
178:
170:
162:
40:
973:, April 25, 1947.
505:Markham v. Cabell
451:Lyndon B. Johnson
419:Dwight Eisenhower
232:Overman Committee
54:and again during
16:(Redirected from
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1148:Economic warfare
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370:David L. Bazelon
363:New Yorker Hotel
361:'s death at the
324:World War II-era
314:Thomas W. Miller
214:for explosives,
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1068:. May 28, 1966.
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896:February 28,
894:. Retrieved
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867:December 30,
865:. Retrieved
861:the original
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834:. Retrieved
830:the original
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359:Nikola Tesla
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56:World War II
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31:
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1119:Hathi Trust
887:www.pbs.org
836:January 12,
558:Smithsonian
435:Interhandel
339:Leo Crowley
265:U.S. patent
152:World War I
52:World War I
1137:Categories
590:(1): 16–23
461:References
421:appointed
406:Mein Kampf
351:copyrights
347:trademarks
184:appointed
180:President
88:the war."
74:Sec. 6 of
594:March 20,
563:August 6,
445:Abolition
439:IG Farben
234:that the
221:patronage
80:president
60:custodian
707:volume 2
703:volume 1
403:'s book
216:charcoal
212:glycerin
1086:June 6,
1044:May 19,
999:at the
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