Ewing, of the District of Columbia Bar, formerly Chief of the Bureau of Law, Alien Property Custodian's office, whose ability as a lawyer and familiarity with the Trading With The Enemy Act have been given cordially and freely at all times to the author; Mr. Robert M. Houston, Assistant Attorney General of Delaware and at present advisory counsel to the Alien Property Custodian, who has patiently reviewed the annotator's manuscript; Mr. John H. Connellan, of the Pennsylvania Bar, also an attorney in the office of the Alien Property Custodian, who contributes under Section 17 a valuable note on depreciated currency; Messrs. Robert H. McNeill and Clarence W. De Knight, both attorneys at law, Washington, D. C.; Mr. Leland B. Duer, attorney at law, New York; and at last, but not least, Mr. Charles H. Lefevre, attorney at law, Washington, D. C., of the Delaware and District of Columbia bars, who was for many years a highly trusted legal adviser of the Alien Property Custodian and who contributes to this work its introductory chapter; and to Dr. John Bassett Moore, of world fame as an international lawyer and Member of the Permanent Court of International Justice sitting at the Hague, through whose kind consent the annotator has been allowed to include in a special addendum extracts from an opinion by him on the doctrine of "Force Majeure" recognized in Continental jurisprudence in relation to any contracts rendered by any subsequent extraordinary political, unlawful or external force, not originally contemplated by the parties, impossible of performance; a doctrine not recognized in English and American jurisprudence.

The assistance and suggestions extended to the annotator by these gentlemen are the more appreciated because he believes that such acts of consideration tend to rub off the rough edges of life, make it worth while, and inspire the recipient to works of usefulness; and, if this volume shall prove of value and use to the members of the profession into whose hands it may come, let them be assured that the author will be compensated for the labor involved. And, thus, the author would requite the gentlemen mentioned by proper acknowledgment of their part in the performance.

Washington, D. C.,

March 1, 1924.

IREDELL MEARES,

INTRODUCTION

BY CHAS. H. LEFEVRE.

Mr. Iredell Meares, of the Wilmington, North Carolina Bar, has rendered a valuable service to the legal profession in his annotation of the "Trading with the Enemy Act." It is a service exceedingly valuable to all whose rights are affected by said Act, and it will be likewise valuable in preserving in convenient form the law, judicial decisions, and dicta, as well as matters of practice and procedure, for use in the event of the United States becoming involved in future wars.

When the United States declared war against Germany on April 6, 1917, it had no legislation upon its statute books dealing with the treatment of enemy property situated within its domain. The War, as waged by those with whom the United States became associated, had taught the American people that economic problems were involved and would be of tremendous importance in determining the outcome of the War. The successful conduct of the War depended not alone upon man power but upon material resources and supplies, as instruments of warfare. It was, therefore, highly important to prevent the enemy from obtaining possession or use of property serviceable in war, and it became necessary to use Said associated nations all available means of waging war. enacted laws to prohibit trade and intercourse between their nationals and those of the enemy, as well as to take over and to use in waging war such property and resources as the enemy countries, or their nationals, had in said allied nations. The importance of such legislation immediately appealed to the United States upon its entering into the War. The "Trading with the Enemy Act," approved October 6, 1917, gave the United States its first general legislation dealing with the In a large measure, it was treatment of enemy property. copied from and formed after the British "Trading with the Enemy Act", although it differed from the latter in many farreaching features, such as its limiting enemy character to persons residing or situated within the territory under enemy control, while the British Act gave enemy character to all subjects of the enemy countries wheresoever they might be living.

The "Trading with the enemy Act" was not drafted and enacted as a temporary piece of legislation to serve merely a present emergency, but was made as a piece of permanent legislation to meet war-time conditions whenever they might arise. Therefore, the wording and interpretation of the Act will become matters of new and instant importance upon the United States becoming involved in future wars.

With the "Trading with the enemy Act" as a piece of permanent legislation, the United States will never again be caught unprepared in dealing with so important a problem as how to deal with enemy property. Upon a declaration of war, all persons within the United States who hold or shall have custody or control of any property, beneficial or otherwise, alone or jointly with others, of, for, or on behalf of an enemy or ally of enemy, or of any person whom such person in the United States may have reasonable cause to believe to be an enemy or ally of enemy, and any person in the United States who shall be indebted in any way to any enemy or ally of enemy, or believed to be such enemy or ally of enemy, will be required to report the same to the Government at Washington within the limited time of thirty days, and the Government will have Congressional sanction and authority to take over and use the property so reported, under the terms and provisions of the Act.

There was a long delay after April 6, 1917, in getting legislation on so important and urgent a subject, and there was a further delay in getting the office of the Alien Property Custodian established and organized. In the interim, the enemy was able, through its agents and sympathizers, either to divert much property to enemy use or to conceal its enemy ownership by subterfuges, and the United States suffered loss in not getting immediate control of enemy property to use it as an instrument of waging warfare. When the office of the Alien Property Custodian was established, it had no precedents of its own for guidance in giving force and effect to the work for which it was created. Upon breaking out of a future war, the United States will not be under these same handicaps and the enemy will not have the same advantages. Many parts of the "Trading with the enemy Act" have been made the subject of judicial determination and have been interpreted, both in State and Federal Courts, all of which decisions, as they interpret the Act, will henceforth be of great importance and interest to the Nation and the public. The form adopted by Mr. Meares, in annotating the Act, its Amendments, the decisions upon the same, as well as the Executive Orders made pursuant to the provisions of said Act and the opinions of the Attorney General on questions not judicially determined, is admirably adapted to give a clear and comprehensive view of the subjects treated, and it follows a form well known to the legal profession, as used in other legal works. He takes up each Section of the Act separately and in order, giving in bold type, as introductory to each Section, a statement of the matter or things covered by the Section. If the Section has been changed by amendment, the Amendment and its time of adoption are both given. All Executive Orders bearing upon the Section, which, in any way, enlarge, restrict, define, or otherwise modify the text of the Section, or its Amendment, are stated. Following the setting forth of the substantive law

of each Section seriatim, the annotator cites all decisions made thereon, listing in separate paragraphs, for convenient reference, the decisions of the State Courts, United States District Courts, Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Following an index of the subject matter of the Section, a statement of the substantive law, citations of judicial decisions and official interpretations, are notes by the annotator and others who have rendered the annotator assistance in editing the work. By this form of treatment, each Section of the Act is made, in turn, the subject of a complete treatise.

The notes added by the annotator are particularly meritorious as Mr. Meares was personally a member of the Bureau of Law of the office of the Alien Property Custodian for some years and made the study of the "Trading with the Enemy Act" and its history a matter of special consideration. He is able to enrich the subject with his broad knowledge of the practice and procedure followed in the practical application of the Act. His notes are broadened and enriched in their scope by assistance given to him through other lawyers associated with said Bureau. To his work in said Bureau, Mr. Meares carried the experiences of an active lawyer covering many years of practice in the courts of North Carolina, during which practice he was recognized as a profound student of the law and as an author of enlightening and worth while legal works. His admirable treatise on North Carolina Rate Litigation and Agitation, published in 1907, and dealing with constitutional relations of State and Federal Courts, with comments on Executive interference, is well known for its clear and pungent elucidations, whereby a highly technical subject was made illuminating so that it could be readily grasped and comprehended by an intelligent lay mind.

I take this opportunity of congratulating Mr. Meares upon his admirable presentation of the "Trading with the Enemy Act" in its historical and judicial setting, and for the service he has thus rendered not only to the practitioner dealing with problems of present importance, as hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property are today held under the provisions of said Act awaiting disposition under the provisions of said Act, but as well to practitioners who will be called upon to apply the provisions of said Act hereafter when the United States becomes involved and the Act is again applicable under war conditions.

Washington, D. C.
March 1. 1924.

CHARLES H. LEFEVRE.

THE ACT CONSTITUTIONAL

UNDER THE

WAR POWERS OF CONGRESS

An Epitome of Judicial Interpretations

The Constitution of the United States (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11) declares:

"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States." And by Clause 11, Article 1, Section 8, "To declare war, grant letters of markue and reprisal and make rules concerning captures on land and water."

And upon these provisions of the Constitution are founded the war powers of Congress.

It has been uniformly held by the state and Federal courts that the "Trading with the Enemy Act" is constitutional as an exercise of the war powers of Congress; that it supersedes all state laws in conflict therewith; that it is not intended for the confiscation of private-enemy property, but for its preservation, until peace is restored, and to prevent its falling into the belligerent government's hands; that property, if the public interest require in the discretion of the President, may be confiscated without violation of modern international law; that Congress had the power to define enemy status; that it intended the President should seize all enemy owned property, tangible or intangible; that he could exercise his power under the Act by delegated agents; that the determination by the Alien Property Custodian as to enemy status of property was conclusive of his right to immediate possession, whether right or wrong; that upon seizure and service of notice of demand the property or property right of the enemy vests in the Alien Property Custodian and he is entitled to the immediate transfer, delivery and possession of the res; that, if possession were withheld, he could enforce it in the Federal courts under Section 17 of the Act, in which proceeding no issue of fact or law as to actual ownership or enemy status could be heard; that. the duty of the court, if it appeared the Alien Property Custodian had adjudged the property to be enemy owned, would be to direct possession of the property seized to be delivered to the Custodian; that persons aggrieved have their "sole relief and remedy" under Section 9 of the Act, which is adequate and exclusive, to apply to the President for return of the