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Show iS. BUSCK TO TRY FAR RETURN OF PROPERTIES Widow of St. Louis Brewei Plans to Prove Her Loyalty Loy-alty to' the United States. TANGLE CAUSED BY RESIDENCE ABROAD Valuation of $1,630,650 Is Placed on Seizure Under "Trading With the Enemy" Act. By International News Service. WASHINGTON, June 11. Mrs. Lllhe Buach, widow of Adolphus Busch, the St. Louis brewer, will have a hard time regaining possession of her property in this country. This was learned tonight following publication of a dispatch saying say-ing she -was due to arrive in Havana, Cuba, today. Her part of the estate o! her millionaire husband was taken over by A. Mitchell Palmer, alien property custodian, as a resujt of her residence in Germany, where she has been since the beginning of the war. Whether Mrs. Busch will be able to reclaim re-claim her property, which is Talued at more than a million and a half will deT pend upon, the ability of her counsel to satisfy the department of justice of her American citizenship and that she t has resumed bona-fide residence in the United States. The "trading with the enemy" act, under which her property was seized, provides that property sequestered seques-tered by the alien property custodian because of the residence of the owner in an enemy country", may be restored to the owner on an order from the attorney general stating that the former owner has been before the department of Justice and given satisfactory proof of American citizenship and resumption o legal residence resi-dence in this country. Serious Difficulty. The question in Mrs. Busch's case will be whether she can show the attorney general that her property should be restored. re-stored. Although no Information on this point was obtainable at the alien property custodian's office, it- is understood after other inquiries that serious difficulty has been encountered in definitely determining determin-ing the status of Mrs. B.usch's property under the trading with the enemy act-The act-The other portions of the Busch estate willed to heirs residing in Germany were among the first enemy property taken over. Not until recently, however, was the custodian able to take action with regard to Mrs. Busch's portion. The management of the Busch estate is said to have claimed persistently that Mrs. Busch was not a resident of Germany Ger-many and was not, in fact, In that country. coun-try. She has been reported as returning to the United States for the past five months. One report had her in Spain. Government agents were unable to ascertain ascer-tain her exact whereabouts. Caused Tangle. This condition precipitated tangle which, until recently, prevented the alien property custodian from taking over the property involved. Under the law the residence of the owner is the deciding factor. When it can be established that the owner is within the enemy lines, all property in this country is taken over. Charles Nagel, secretary of commerce and labor In President Taft's cabinet, is executor and trustee of the Busch estate es-tate under the brewer's will. Mrs. Busch is said to have conducted in Germany a hospital for German wounded. wound-ed. She made frequent trips to Germany before the war and happened to be, there when the United States entered the conflict. con-flict. Mrs. Busch's last tax return, made in 191.6, valued her property at $1,630,050. |