The President, by an Executive Order dated May 16, 1923, has vested in the Alien Property Custodian all the power and authority conferred upon him by the said amendment pertaining to every claim in which the amount to be paid does not exceed in money or other property the value of $10,000. About 50,000 reports of enemy property were rendered to the Alien Property Custodian, from which about 38,000 trusts or trust accounts arose. The whole fund at one time amounted to about $550,000,000. About $200,000,000 has been returned, leaving about $350,000,000 in the fund, the disposition of which rests with Congress, which may confiscate, return, or hold the property in custody. 3. Activities The Alien Property Custodian must administer property seized. (a) The property seized and demanded by the Alien Property Custodian is scattered throughout the United States and its territories, including the Philippine Islands and Hawaii, and consists of industrial plans, such as chemical and woolen mills, steamship lines, banks, land and cattle companies, salmon factories, gold and silver and other mines of metal and other miscellaneous industrial plants, and thousands of parcels of real estate, and trusts represented by securities and liquid assets. (b) The Alien Property Custodian is required by the Trading with the Enemy Act to deposit all moneys coming into his hands in the Treasury of the United States, to be invested by the Secretary of the Treasury in United States bonds or certificates of indebtedness. With respect to all other property the Alien Property Custodian has all the powers of a common-law trustee, and the further power of management and sale under the direction of the President. All moneys or properties after the end of the war will be disposed of as Congress shall direct. (c) Must consider applications for the return of property to non-enemies, neutrals, or allies, who are citizens of new countries established by the various treaties of peace, such as Poland and Czechoslavakia. (d) Must pass upon various claims of enemy subjects such as counselor or diplomatic officers, internes, and women, who by marriage lost their American, neutral, or allied citizenship. (e) The Custodian must submit claims for return of property to the Attorney General for decision of allowance or disallowance. If the claim is allowed, the property is returned. If disallowed, the claimant may bring suit in equity ir the federal courts. (f) Must pass upon applications for return of property or money not to exceed in value the sum of $10,000 to individuals, partnerships, unincorporated associations, and corporations whose property was seized or demanded by the Alien Property Custodian during the existence of the war. 4. Organization The Alien Property Custodian has custody of the alien property fund, and administers and operates approximately 23,987 active trusts, representing real estate, personal property, or small active and inactive corporations in almost every state of the Union, as well as in the Philippine Islands and Hawaii. (1) Secretary to the Custodian. (2) General Counsel and Assistant. (3) Chiefs of Divisions: (a) Division of Administration.-Chief charged with responsibility for operation of the statutory requirements essential to carrying out certain provisions of the Trading with the Enemy Act. (b) Division of Corporation Management.-Attorney in Charge. He stands in the place of enemy stockholders whose stock was seized in various corporations under the Trading with the Enemy Act. Where the Custodian's shareholdings represent a majority of interest, the business is operated by the Alien Property Custodian through a board of directors selected by him. Where such holdings are a minority interest, there is not always a representative of the Custodian in the management or on the board of directors, unless the interest is sufficiently large to insure representation, and then only where the majority extends the courtesy. Sales of enemy property are authorized under section 12 of the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended March 28, 1918, and under such amendment the President has authorized the private sale of property in the hands of the Alien Property Custodian at various times. Other sales have been made by executive order designating specific properties.10 (c) Division of Trusts.-Chief. (cl) Real Estate Section.-Chief. (c2) Patent Section.-Chief. (c3) Insurance Section.-Chief. (d) Bureau of Law.-General Counsel. 5. Procedure of Claimant The claimant of any class hereinbefore described should, as a first step, apply to the Alien Property Custodian for a blank application. After filling out such blank application, it should be forwarded, with supporting proof, to the Alien. Property Custodian. Ordinarily an application for the return of property, if granted, should result in such return within about three months. 6. Publications (a) Trading with the Enemy Act, with amendments, proclamations, and executive order, obtainable from the Government Printing Office, Washington. (b) Annual Report of the Alien Property Custodian, obtainable upon appli 1 Act Oct. 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 411 [Comp. St. 1918, Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1919, §§ 3115a3115%), amended by Act March 28, 1918 (40 Stat. 459). 9 Executive Orders No. 2813, of February 26, 1918; No. 2832, of April 2, 1918; No. 2914, of July 15, 1918; No. 2916, of July 16, 1918; No. 2949, of August 20, 1918; No. 2991, of November 12, 1918; No. 3843, of May 16, 1923. 10 Annual Report Alien Property Custodian, 1924, p. 3. cation to the Secretary of the Custodian, Arlington Building, Vermont Ave., and H St., Washington, D. C. 7. Fees of Attorneys The office of the Alien Property Custodian does not keep a register of attorneys, but the amended Trading with the Enemy Act contains the following provision: "That no money or other property shall be paid, conveyed, transferred, assigned, or delivered under this act to any agent, attorney, or representative of any person entitled thereto, unless satisfactory evidence is furnished the President or the court, as the case may be, that the fee of such agent, attorney, or representative for services in connection therewith does not exceed 3 per centum of the value of such money or other property; but nothing in this section shall be construed as fixing such fees at 3 per centum of the value of such money or other property, such 3 per centum being fixed only as the maximum fee that may be allowed or accepted for such services. Any person accepting any fee in excess of such 3 per centum shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished as provided in section 16 hereof."11 The constitutionality of acts limiting fees of attorneys for professional services rendered for claimants against the government has been raised in several cases. The limitation has been sustained even where the contract for such services was made prior to the passage of the statute.12 A provision in the contract purporting to give a lien upon any warrant that may be issued in settlement of the claim against the government or an assignment or transfer of any part of the claim made before its allowance is void.13 11 Act March 4, 1923 (42 Stat. 1515). 12 Black v. O'Hara's Adm'r, 175 Ky. 623, 194 S. W. 811; Taylor v. Bemiss, 110 U. S. 42, 3 S. Ct. 441, 28 L. Ed. 64; Ball v. Halsell, 161 U. S. 72, 16 S. Ct. 554, 40 L. Ed. 622; Calhoun v. Massie, 253 U. S. 170, 40 S. Ct. 474, 64 L. Ed. 843. 13 R. S. § 3477 (Comp. St. § 6383). 645 |