HOW GERMAN TREATS BRITISH FIRMS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 73, 2 March 1916, Page 7

HOW GERMAN TREATS BRITISH FIRMS.

RETALIATORY METHODS. P I Writing to tho London Daily Cliron I icle, Mr Frederick Win. Hanson, 38 |' Leadenhall Street, London says ■ - At the outbreak of war i was domiciled as a British merchant in Uaiu- > burg. I was trading under flip style ' of "Fredk. Wm. Hanson," and was also acting—since 1897—as agent-gen j eral and manager of the British firm j of Wm. F. .Malcolm and Co. in Haniburg, a branch office of the same arm , in London. Both my own firm nno that of Messrs Malcolm were registered at the courts of Hamburg (Handelsgeric.ht) in accordance with the requirements of German law. in the month of August, 1914, our business was not in any way inter- i fered with, except that by proclamation the export of raw jute was pro- | hibited. 1 was largely interested in this, as 1 was agent for Messrs Wm. F. .Malcolm and Co. by far the largest jute merchants in Germany. I was, however, permitted to trade within the limits of the German Empire, and as 1 heard rumors that the German Government intended to attack all stocks of raw jute owned by British (inns, r realised all my principal's stocks 50 save them from attachment. I sold the last parcel on September 7, 1914. On September 9, 1914, early in the morning, a man appeared at my office and read to me and to my staff a proclamation by the Senate of the Republic of Hamburg, according to which lie was appointed supervisor to the firms of Wm. F. Malcolm and Co. and Fredk. Wm. Hanson. The document stated that I had to obey him and take his instructions under a penary—if 1 remember rightly—of M. 20,000 and—or two years' hard labor. He thereupon ordered me to hand over all books and papers relating to the businesses of Wm. F. -Malcolm and Co. and Fredk. Wm. Hanson. BOOKS AXD PAPERS REMOVED. Ho took- all my account books, letters, letter books, accounts, and documents—in fact, everything which might have'any reference to the business—even the contents of my wastepaper basket! I was further informed that 1 was not allowed to send any letters or telegrams, except such that he had first approved of, and that 1 was not allowed to open any incoming letters or telegrams, nor to draw cheques except such .counter-signed by the supervisor. My ,o\vn private banking account, which contained a balance of about M. 4,050,000, and that of Messrs Wm. F. Malcolm and Co., with a balance of approximately Li million marks, had been stopped by him the night before. Ho removed fill the books and papers which he had attached in my office to the office in which he was then employed (he had not an office of his own), and told me that I would have to'submit to him at that office all incoming letters and telegrams unopened, and all outgoing letters and telegrams for approval before despatching them. I was not permitted to use the telephone for business purposes. My business was a fairly extensive one, with an annual turnover of approximately about one million sterling, and it was, of course, impossible for me to carry it on under these restrictions. I told tho man so, and informed him that J declined to do any business whatever under these conditions. He replied in effect that it was not the intention of the German Government to hinder us in business, that, on the contrary, they wished us to continue trading, and that it was my duty to do so. This, of course, was mere sophistry, as it is obviously impossible to trade under such conditions. Besides, I found out later on that unknown to me the supervisor had given orders to the post office and telegraph office not to deliver any mails or telegrams to us. These were only delivered subsequently after having been held upunknown to me—for nearly a fortnight. When I noticed that neither letters nor telegrams were arriving, I wrote to the post and telegraph officer, but received no reply. These letters were submitted to the supervisor, who even then refrained from telling me that the mails and telegrams were being held up by his own orders. A WRONG BALANCE SHEET. I therefore confined myself to the winding-ui) of affairs in general. Even in this 1 was considerably handicapped. Every letter 1 wrote had to be sent to the supervisor for approval. His place of business was situated some considerable distance from my office, and very frequently my messengers would he informed at 3 or -I o'clock in the afternoon that lie was out, or that he had left for the day. f therefore consulted my lawyers, and decided to wind up the linns of Wm. F. Malcolm and Co. (Hamburg), and Fredk. William Hanson, but this was vetoed by the supervisor, who stated that both linns must continue to exist. Early in October last year 1 was in- • formed by the Hamburg authorities that the firm of Win. F. Malcolm and Co. had to pay to the supervisor a monthly fee of MloOO. My protest aaginst this was of no avail. It must be borne in mind that from the moment the man took charge of my office there was no business whatsoever to supervise. The only thing he did was

to removp my hook, and papprs to his own officp nnd to slop tlip hanking accounts. He certainly tried to balancp llic honks of Messrs Wm. I'\ Malcolm and Co., but in this he did not succeed, as he drew quite a wrong balance-sheet. He was evidently not accustomed to commercial bookkeeping, and from 'what I saw and heard of him 1 rather 'think his usual occupation consisted in keeping tradesmen's weekly account hooks. His assistant, who did most of the work in connection with liny business, was, 1 know, a bookkeeper to a laundry. No fee was jcharged at that time for the supprviIsion of my own firm, but I was in-] formed in July or August last that the' Hamburg Government had decided that I had to pay him a fee of M'2ool a month, and that this was to boj made retrospective as from January 11. There was also no business whatever to supervise in connection with my own firm. According to the German law, enacted for the supervision of alien enemies' firms, the supervisors had not the right to initiate any business, but their powers were limited to supervision, which, of course, entailed their right to veto anything they liked. In the case of -Messrs Win. i'\ Malcolm and Co., Hamburg, the supervisor did not adhere strictly to the terms of this law, as he undertook to call in outstanding moneys from that firm's customers in Germany and elsefwhere without consulting me, and certainly without my sanction. | INTERNED IN A STABLE. ! I lodged at the outset a formal protest concerning all this with the United States Consul-General in Hani- ' burg, but I was forbidden by the supervisor to communicate with the Consul-General again. Kverything that could ho was most efficiently done to injure us in our business and ' rto prevent us engaging in any trade ' kvhatever. My own hanking account ' 'and that of Messrs Wm. F. Malcolm ' {and Co. were kept at the "Deutsche Bank, Hamburg. As the batter's bal- ■ ance was fairly large, and as 1 was not allowed to remit it home, I wanted to place it on deposit at interest. The ' Deutsche Bank refused to take it on ' deposit, and 1 met the same refusal ' 'from the other leading hanks in Ham- " burg. 1 was told by one of them that ' they had come to a private arrangement among themselves not to pay ; deposit interest on any "English" money. The Deutsche Bank especial- ' ly behaved very badly. ' i On November 6 last year i was arrested, put in gaol, and subsequently •' interned in Ruhleben, where I was [ put in a damp, dark stable, and treated generally with most outrageous cruelty, so that my health has permanently suffered. This in spite of the fact that I had for many years been a householder and fairly large taxpayer, and owned property in the ' country, was then nearly 54 years " !of age, and- in a most precarious state 5 'of health. 3 j 1 subsequently heard privately that " 'after my internment the firm of Wm. F. Malcolm and Company had been placed in the hands of a receiver or ' trustee, who had full powers to deal 5 .with the firm and its assets as though they were his own. I have, however,: no official intimation 1 of' this'. I also saw later on in the German newspapers that a law had been passed ? absolving the Government from any liability for any acts which such receivers or trustees for alien enemies' firms might commit. " i All the measures adopted by the 3 German authorities in connection with British businesses undoubtedly were J intended to throttle and destroy I them; they certainly weru carried out i so as to secure this effect. We were I told at the time that these were mcre- ' 'ly acts of retaliation, as all German firms in Great Britain were being treated in the same or ,even in a worse manner. ' | I have confined myself strictly to I recounting only the facts as I experienced them myself.