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THE TRADING

WITH THE ENEMY ACT

As Enacted and Amended

With Annotations

BY

IREDELL MEARES

Of the North Carolina and District of Columbia Bars, recently
with the Bureau of Law of the Alien Property

Custodian's Office.

ADDENDUM AND APPENDIX
COMPRISING DATA RELATING TO THE ACT

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

BY

CHARLES H. LEFEVRE

Of the Delaware and District of Columbia Bars, formerly with
the Bureau of Law of the

office of

THE ALIEN PROPERTY CUSTODIAN

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To

COLONEL THOMAS W. MILLER Alien Property Custodian of the United States,

WHOSE DEEP CONCERN IN THE JUST ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROPERTIES OF ALIEN ENEMIES SEIZED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND ENTRUSTED TO HIS CARE LED HIM TO CONCEIVE AND CAUSE TO BE PREPARED THE ACT KNOWN AS THE WINSLOW RESOLUTION AND INDUCED THE PRESIDENT TO COMMEND AND BY CONSTANT ADVOCACY THE CONGRESS TO PASS IT, THUS PERMITTING THE RETURN TO ALIEN ENEMIES OF AS MUCH AS $10,000, IN EACH INDIVIDUAL CASE, OF THE PROPERTY OF THE ENEMY OWNER; AND WHOSE ASSISTANCE, ENCOURAGEMENT AND CO-OPERATION HAS ENABLED THE ANNOTATOR TO PREPARE THESE NOTES ON THE "TRADING WITH THE ENEMY ACT,"

THIS BOOK IS

RESPECTFULLY AND APPRECIATIVELY

DEDICATED BY THE

AUTHOR

ALIEN PROPERTY CUSTODIANS

A. MITCHELL PALMER Appointed and qualified, October 22, 1917 (Resigned)

FRANCIS P. GARVAN Appointed and qualified, March 4, 1919 (Resigned)

THOMAS W. MILLER

Appointed and qualified, March 16, 1921

(Now Serving)

PREFACE

This book is a compilation. It is not a treatise. No claim is made for it to originality. The purpose has been to give to the legal profession and to the laymen having an interest in the operation of the "Trading with the Enemy Act" a workable volume, containing data relating to the Act, and its exposition, interpretation and application by the courts, so that they may have a convenient source of reference and information from which to obtain a clearer understanding and comprehension of the Act, its objects and its operation.

Under each section of it are annotated the amendments, if any, and the Executive Orders, which bear upon or relate to the particular section, and a citation of reported cases and copious notes from the decisions, State and Federal, which cite, construe or apply it, and these have been fully quoted to relieve in a measure the reader of having to refer to the original cases. The annotator has allowed the courts to speak in important cases through the medium of their own language, if at the risk of making the compilation bulky, rather than to indicate their opinions by brief paragraphs. Only under a few of the sections, which have not been directly construed on the questions discussed, has the annotator interjected his comments, and that by way of suggestion to the reader as the result of study and investigation of questions arising under the Act and presented to his consideration when connected as an attorney with the Bureau of Law of the office of the Alien Property Custodian.

In the Addenda, are included war proclamations, revised statutes, peace resolution, treaties of peace and former treaties with Germany and Austrio-Hungary, sections of the German Code and of the Versailles treaty, and an opinion of Dr. Jno. Bassett Moore, on the Effect of War on Commercial Contracts, published with the author's permission; and, in the appendices, the executive orders of the President delegating his power to subordinate officials or enlarging the scope of the Act, pursuant to the power conferred upon him by Congress; as well, in both Addenda and Appendices, other matters which are not infrequently necessary to the consideration of questions arising under the Act.

The valuable suggestions and assistance in the preparation of the work are acknowledged of Col. Thomas W. Miller, the present Alien Property Custodian; Col. Isaac M. Meekins, of North Carolina, formerly General Counsel of the Alien Property Custodian, but now the Director of the liquidation of enemy insurance companies at New York; Mr. John K. M.

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