OCR Text |
Show GEil PLOTS TO HOARD WOOL FOUNDJH PROBE' Cable From Foreign Office to Count von Bernstorff is Kead Into Kecord of Inquiry. ASSERTS NEW JERSEY FIRM "PURE GERMAN" Attorney for Company Declares De-clares Transactions Had Approval of Bryan, When Secretary. NEW YORK, April 2. A cable mes-i mes-i sage from German foreign offices at Ber- ' 'in addressed to Count von Bernstorff, ! former ambassador to the United States, ' referring to the Forstmann-HuFfman company, Passaic, N. J., wool manufac turers, as a "pure German firm,'' was read into the record when State Attorney Attor-ney General Lewis' inquiry into an alleged al-leged German wool hoarding- conspiracy was reopened today. Introduction of the cable message, which was intercepted by British author-i author-i Hies and never reached Count von Bernstorff, Bern-storff, closely followed protestations of thorough Americanism by Julius Forst-mann. Forst-mann. president of the Passaic company, which has been taken over by the alien property custodian. Wanted to Explain. The reopening of the inquiry was re-ouested re-ouested by attorneys for the Fovstmann-Hm'fman Fovstmann-Hm'fman company, who said they desired an opportunity of answering and explaining explain-ing disclosures made during the first part of the investigation several weeks atjo. The company was one of several American Amer-ican importing1 concerns which the attorney attor-ney general said it was suspected were concerned in a scheme to evade American Ameri-can and British embargoes on wool and oilier textiles during the early days of the war by having shipments of this contraband con-traband sent to "dummy" consignees, although al-though they knew the goods were intended intend-ed ultimately for German consumption. The intercepted cable message, furnished fur-nished by the British embassy at Washington, Wash-ington, was introduced. A tianslation or" its text follows: To He it Count V. Benisturrf, Rye, X. Y. Your Excellency: Interested parties here have lepeat-edly lepeat-edly made representations for preferential prefer-ential treatment of the firm of Forst-niann Forst-niann & Huffman, in Passaic, X. J., in connection with shipment of cual tar dyes to the V. . P. A., since this pure German firm, as is we'd known on your side, undertook last year the wool supply for Germany and therefore there-fore claims it has ben especially badly bad-ly treated by England. Ask Consideration. Ir is most respectfully recommended recommend-ed to your excellency, should there be no reasons to the contrary, to arrange ar-range for the greatest possible con- sideration for this firm in tile later distibution of the shipments to consumers con-sumers which are now in prospect, Forstmann said the only reason he vould assign for the foreign office seeking seek-ing preferential treatment for his company com-pany was that former business associates associ-ates in Berlin might have requested su'jh consideration in connection with negotiations negoti-ations carried on through the state department de-partment at Washington whereby Germany Ger-many was to release shipments of dye-stuffs dye-stuffs and chemicals to the I'nitd States in exchange for cargoes of cotton and wool urgent ly needed in Germany. The transactions, he said, had the approval v Secretary of State Bryan. |