TRADING WITH THE ENEMY.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2362, 19 January 1915, Page 5

TRADING WITH THE ENEMY.

-m -4 -rCASE AGAINST DUERKOP INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE;;' The hearing of tho fivo iftarges against Henrtek Wilhelm Magnus Doerkop, of the firm of Duerkop and Mac* kay, merchants, of Auckland, of at" tempting to supply or supplying persons in Germany with goods, was continued before Mr. D. (i. A. Cooper, S.M., ires' terday afternoon, until a late hour. ; Mr. 11. H. Ostler appeared for tlif Crown and Mr. T. Neave for the ao cused.. Duerkop: who garo evidence on hit own bohalr, 6aid the firm of whioh hi was a member had been doing business in Auckland for the past 2} years.,, Tit firm imported and exported New Zeai land produce to England, Europe, anc the United States. Some little ..timt ago he mado a visit to England for the purpose of establishing business connections in Europe. The intention was to sell New Zealand raw produots ; -tfl firms in the countries mentioned* Amongst the firms he saw on this-visit was that of Gustav J. J, Witt, of* Hamburg, carrying on business by himself as a trader in Hamburg. Tho arrangement made was to consign foods from New Zealand to him and draw per cent, of the invoice value of ■tTie goods. A confirmed credit system was proposed, but on account of the ! war was not adopted: The only clear arrangement was that defendant was to draw on Witt up to 75 per cent, of the invoice value. Witness consigned several lots of goods before the war on these torms. These with others'were on the high seas when tho war broke out! The consignments were intended ioi Hamburg and other firms. When war i broke out two of the German 'vessels , carrying their cargo safely reached shelter in neutral ports. The third vessel ; was _ captured on the high seas. • 'A! portion of those shipments were origin-; ally intended for other firms. When tie . war broke out witness wrote informing i tho Hamburg firm that'he" was unable . and unwilling to trade with them, until the war had terminated. Furthermore, t witness distinctly told them that' al-- , though he 'had a number of consign* i monts of casings on the way to Ham< i burg he could not deliver them to fhem* Why He Traded With Rotterdam. Witness then stated the which led him to send his goods td Rotterdam. Among the reasons mentioned were that British vessels at the time ran a chance of being captured- byj , hostile warships. Tho premiums on : British ships were accordingly higher, than on vessels running under a neu«j i tral flag.. In addition to this -the Lon, : [ don markets appeared to be overstocked ; in tho articles which his firm wore ; handling. Consequently the prices gaini ed for retailing would bo lower than; . those offering in neutral countries.' • These countries on account of the war i would likely fall short of their, usual i supplies. Witness thought that instead L of dealing through England it were bet- [ ter to deal with neutral countries di- , rect. Consequent upon these conclu-i i sions witness consulted Mr. Algie,' a- le-i gal authority in Auckland, and attended: meetings in the' Chamber of Commerce i there and arrived at the decision thai; . it ( would -be perfectly legal to trade i with. Witt at Rotterdam. Ho was also ; convinced of tho legality of his intend-' , ed dealings with Rotterdam. Havingj satisfied himself witness .wrote to Witt, > of Rotterdam asking them if they were 3 willing to take charge of the consign-i j ments on the road for disposal. These x consignments witness wanted them td r sell on his firm's behalf, at Rotterdam; 1 j on a commission basis. Witness' had , never dealt -with this firm at Rotter- ! dam before. He informed them thatj . the disposal -pf these consignments . would test the market there. In a letter on August 24 witness referred' thei 5 Dutch firm to Gustav J. J. Witt, their . managing director at. Hamhurg, 'with 5 whom witness had a persona] acquaint-, , nnco. • In the letters to Rotterdam witness had in no way suggested the goods! were to reach Germany, this as a mat-i ter of fact was not his in-j tention. Under -the terms under; which he was dealing with: the Dutch firm he was quite at liberty totrade his goods' with Holland, France, : Belgium, or England. Witness went on to quote portions of a- letter from I Witt, at Hamburg, written on the out- ; break of war, which, he said, showed; • .that they did .not encourage trade with, ! ' witness, as all commercial relations had" 5 been stopped with Britain. "No!' - doubt," commented the witness, "mer-'r • chants in Germany are under the same. • restrictions in regard to trading with". ■ enemy countries as we are." Up to I • the present witness had received no;; reply from the Dutch firm, except a ' cable intimating their willingness to! l take charge of consignments. . At this stage Mr.. Neave, produced a-', ; letter received since the last hearing 1 tho case from the Dutch firm. ' Duerkon Protests. Mr. Ostler: Has riot Mr.. Duerkofl ' seen this letter? , ..-■ ■ ['■ Duerkop:-. "I am a prisoner of war prt; the island, and as such am not allowed;: to receive such correspondence." Wit» ] ness then quite calmly protested against ' the disabilities ho was under in propar-- ' ing his defence in consequence of the! restrictions' placed on. his-liberty., on 1; ' Somes Island. He said ha .was greatly*. : inconvenienced through not. Laying ac-f cess to all his papers. ' ,; Mr. Ostler: As far as I am concern-*; r ed, I have not hindered Mr. Dnerkopl 1 in the slightest in the preparation ofi; : his defence. I have supplied his couu-i< sol with a list of all, the correspondence.';!' [ Witness: But why must I be kept). \ isolated on an island while this-case. is| proceeding? I have sent in petition; • after petition to the Government to boj: 1 allowed out on parole. \ am loft there';. ' on the island, however, and have to doi. my best to struggle out of theso') charges. It is extremely difficult forf me to get access-to the papers which;*,; will clear me. "S>. Mr. Ostlers The only consolation itfj; ' that Englishmen in Germany t.re hav-*j [ ing a far worso time than you. | ' Duorkop: That is not so'; you should 1 . ' not believe all that the newspapers ! you. It is not true, and there shouldnot ho retaliation. f. ' The Magistrate: Well, wo can't 3is*p ' cuss those things, hero. This . .Courff ; cannot assist you in the matter. , ; Mr. Neave: Mr. Duorkop's complaint} is that lie has not access to his books rencl documents which he ■ relies for his l . defence. . , Tho accused went on to protest thai! it was not as if ho were to answer any, traitorous charge, and there was uff.i reason why he shouK be kept a'prisoner}on tho present charge. "It takes fif-f ' teen days for a letter to reach me from! ' Auckland, and three' "ays for one to',reach mo from Wellington. It is very,-.' difficult' to prepare my defence under! these circumstances." Mr. Neave: Your complain? is thafi tho military authorities will not rclrasd you on parolo while others, have been granted this privilege.—Yes. , ' Mora About tho Dutch Company. ', : The Dutch company, continued wit- • ness, had been domiciled in Holland for ■: , years, and had been incorporated under the Dutch Trading Company Laws. Witness know this before the outbreak of war, but as he wanted to make sure, ho applied to R. G. Dunn's' Inquiry Of-fice-to telegraph to London to mako the necessarv inquiries, and the reply stat- ,' ed that Gustav J. J. Witts, a Dutch' ■■ firm at Rotterdam, was a Dutch com- . ' pany, quite reliable, and tho capital and •■; /directors were German. This informal V.'

on was received abont the end of Oo jber; Witness was of opinion that ie Dutch firm was an entirely separate impany from the one in Hamburg, and iing therefore a neutral firm in a jutral country, he was at liberty to jade. ,In explanation of the letter Jentioned in the case for the prosecuon, which boro the Hamburg postmark, it which was. superscribed by Witt's rm, witness said that as the managing ircctor was tlfo same as the German rm, this was not surprising. Morcfer," the same letter stated that trade ith- witness,' on account of the war, mid not be proceeded with. I Duerkop Gross-Examined. .- ;To Mr. Ostler: Witness knew about 16 Rotterdam firm from his previous isit to Hamburg. During that visit itriess knew that Gustav Witt, had an iterost in the Dutch firm. Witness i id not.know.that the same person had I controlling interest.. Witness did pt know ; ho was a director or that he ad absolute control of the Rotterdam nm- ■',-.;- i Mr. Ostler: By the way, what is your i>rrect age? I understood it was SO. •Witness: I am twenty-six. f Mr. Ostler: Then, how comes it that l, another document your' age is 'given is-thirty? ■ \ - ■■■.■. : Witness: lam on my oath now, and fh'at' I say now is' correct. ■"'"■■ Witness further admitted that his age ad been previously given as thirty in. hother document, as it would natiira!fimprove his business status. There ras. .-further., discussion on the matter, ind-.witness remarked that he did not inderstand-what importance attached STnis- age. ..''•-.-.-- j'Mr!-Ostler:' It is merely to test your reditability.: : '.:'■■'-■■' [Witness hesitated when questio£«d as b\ whether the . thought ever occurred b him 'that the- goods would reach Geraany;;from ".Rotterdam.... "I .must .iia'r'd;'"myself; against ' suggestive iuestions}".'-, said the- witness.' fWhen I consigned the goods io Rotterdam, I intended that they ihould go to a neutral country. I did jot think 'or'intend that they should ;o; to Germany." : .-. | \-. Censored Correspondence. i Mr.' Ostler said that he had received ihat day through the censor a letter in !he 'Rotterdam' firm's envelope, dated jTo'vember • 24. Ono of the enclosures ; vas '.'from -.the Hamburg firm. ' This lommunication- intimated that through iheir-Rotterdam firm, they (the German firm) had come in receipt of Duercop's.. letters 'of July 31, August 6, and September 8, the contents of which were July .noted. The writers regretted very nuch'that Duerkop's firm had such >ad'luck with the two consignments. j'Howevor,".stated the writer, '-we canio't/do anything here in.this business." Phe.letter went on to refer to the detention of the ships Firth and Seydlitz, ind intimated that they would write on iearing about them. The market, coniinued the letter, was very much higher jiving to the war. They were planning n, Germany to establish a credit bank io take over the former London credit, jut'the matter had not yet been settled.. The writers hoped, in conclusion, that < ;he value of Duerkop's two shipments i yould not be lost, but that it would be ;ot back at the final account of the ; iiro countries. ... L Mr. Ostler remarked oh the signifi- ] sance of the words in the above com- : tannication "through' my Rotterdam : arm'l came in receipt of your letter." i - Affairs in England and Cermany. ; Mr.' Ostler then produced a copy of \ i private letter dated November 4, ivhich was written to defendant-in-Ger- ' man. ■ The letter had been - translated, kndcounserasked'Duerkop to hold tho jriginal -German letter while he read the translation. < ; This letter acknowledged the receipt ; of a letter from Duerkop, dated Sep- ! tember 16, and referred to the war as a ! special matter, and to commercial -af« ' fairs connected with Duerkop's busi-' ' uess at its conclusion. The letter ex- 1 pressed Tegret that Duerkop had to ' depend on Reuter's and other- news- ' paper agencies for war news. Accord- ' lng:to the cables froni these agencies, j feontinued the letter, the English and ' troops continued pushing, on- « wards, "but probably are pushing back- J wards." "Up to. now," continued■ the ' letter, "the Germans have pushed for- : Jward into France, and the devil himsolf c jannot drive them out. At London, the '' English are very nervous, lights are 1 extinguished at night," while the Writer ' asserted that owing to the fear of s j •Zeppelin attack, Buckingham Palace j had been insured for, £200,000, and ' .Westminster Abbey-for £100,000. Prac- J ftcally nothing had been heard of the , great British Fleet, while the Prince ] iof Battenberg had been put out of ; position "because of his German birth. ; The only indication of war in Hamburg , iwas the'presence of grey uniforms. The : iwriter scorned the suggestion of there j ib'eing famine in Germany. . The letter then referred to.Duerkop's two consign- fjments by the Firth and Seydlitz. "My 1 Rotterdam firm," said the writer, "will ' grant an advance of 75 per cent—(l) if , the export'of casings to Germany is per-, jmittted; (2) if, in fact, the consignment ( iieaches it. No one," added the writer, r f!'could pretend_ what will happen, be- i icause the English are stopping neutral 'as well as German vessels." s ; "IJiave. just..received the .letters," c ;was Duerkop's reply to tile reading of ? 'them'. .; ■■-.'' _ '•;- i Mr. Ostler: In face of this you still •persist you did not know the goods » s jsvould get to Germany? ' Duerkop: Yes, I do. j ; 'After, further discuision it could be '.Seen'that; the case could not be concluded; so it was further adjourned to 2.15 ijyp. to-snorrow. .:■