PATENTS POOL

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24250, 16 April 1942, Page 8

PATENTS POOL

AMERICAN INQUIRY TUNGSTEN RESOURCES BENEFIT TO KIiUPPS (Reed. G. 40 p.m.) WASHINGTON, April 14 Mr. Francis Shea, Assistant-Attor-ney-General, testifying before the Senate Patents Committee to-day in support of a bill which would permit Government seizure of patents vital to the war effort, said: "There'appears to be substantial evidence that patents issued by the United States have, in some instances, been used by our enemies as a means of restricting production vital to our security. "A recent report by the Office of Facts and Figures, concerning the defence programme," ho continued, "adverts to the manner in which our enemy, ' y the use of patents and caitel arrangements, has worked for many years to weaken our military potential. Industry Curtailed "Serious injury to our industrial and military strength can he, and in many instances appears to have been, caused by the restrictive use of patents in short-sighted business arrangements intended to secure higher profits from a curtailment in supply or monopoly, quite unconscious of the damage to the nation. "The present patent laws and the use of patents in time of war appear to have curtailed our industrial capacity in the present war, and might prove dangerous unless they are corrected,' he concluded. Mr. John Heury Lewin, special Assistant Attorney-General, also testifying before the Committee, described a vast patents pool linking the American General Electric Company with tho German firm of Krupps, and restating in a United States war production bottle-neck.

Tungsten for Germany Mr. Lewin said that the licensing agreements of the General Electric Company gave Germany an enormous advantage in the u§e of the cemented tungsten carbide, metal hardening material which is vital to the machine tool industry, and to the production of guns, shells, armour-plate and aeroplanes. In contrast with Germany, Mr. Lewin pointed out, the present drastic shortage in the United States of this essential material was notorious. The use of tungsten carbide was one of the greatest secrets of German rearmament, he said, and tungsten carbide, when used in the manufacture of machine tools, was capable of increasing production 500 per cent. Mr. Lewin then submitted documents which, he said, told a story of events from 1928 to the latter part of 1940, which resulted in the monopolising of the American market, and the limiting of American production of hard metal composition and tools. On account of this, since 1936 Krupps had been allowed to decide who would manufacture ill America, thus fixing and maintaining unconscionable prohibitive prices throughout the United States. The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Bone, asked Air. Lewin if there had been any interruptions in the relations between the General Electric Company and Krupps after Hitler rose to power. Mr. Lewin: None that I know of. Holding Hands with Hitler Mr. Bone: These gentlemen seem to have been doing business with Hitler on a very friendly basis, and while the Senate and the House were industriously damfting Hitler, and calling down the wrath of the Deity upon his head, these gentlemen were going along with him. Our leading business lights seem to have been holding hands with Hitler. Mr. Lewin complained that the Department of Justice had been repeatedly blocked since the latter part of 1940 in seeking an anti-trust action against the General Electric Company by means of continued postponements by the Court of a trial on the appeal of the defendants. Senator Clark then interjected that the General Electric Company obtained a similar postponement of another antitrust case pending against the company. Both these revelations brought indignant responses from the Committee.

GIFT TO LEGLESS PILOT NEW ZEALAND TRIBUTE LONDON, April 14 Mrs. Bader, wife of the legless R.A.F. pilot, Wing-Commander I). It. S. Bader, now a prisoner of war in Germany, received on behalf of her husband a combined cigar and cigarette case with an illuminated address presented by the New Zealand War Amputees' Association. When handing over the box at New Zealand House, Mr. W. J. Jordan, the New Zealand High Commissioner, said that the admiration of the whole Empire went to Wing-Commander Bader, who, notwithstanding his disabilities, had won a high place among distinguished Empire sons. Mr. Jordan read a letter from the Amputees' Association, in which it was said that Wing-Commander Bader's name was a household word in New Zealand. The association had watched admiringly his meteoric rise in the Air Force and paid a tribute to his undaunted courage in making his marvellous contribution to the war effort. The association's members liked to feel that they had something in common with him. Mrs. Bader, expressing her gratitude on her husband's behalf, said she hoped it would not be long before her husband would be using the box.

D.S.C. FOR SEAMAN •i BELGIAN'S DISTINCTION (Reed. 5,5 p.m.) LONDON, April 14 A leading seaman who attended an investiture at Buckingham Palace had the unusual distinction of receiving the Distinguished Service Cross, a decoration awarded only to officers, says the British official wireless. He is Georges llagaert, a Belgian. Ragaert commanded his own motor vessel at Dunkirk and helped in the evacuation of British troops from the beaches there. Subsequently be ferried a large number of airmen and children irom France to Britain before his ship was bombed and sunk at Le Havre. He later escaped to Britain and joined the Royal Navy, in which ho is now serving as a leading seaman.

NEARING SERVICE AGE EVACUATED BRITISH BOYS (Reed. G. 55 p.m.) LONDON, April 14 Within the next few months a number of boys who were evacuated to the Dominions just after the war began will reach the age of registration for military service, says the British official wireless. The policy of the Children's Overseas Reception Board is to encourage the boys on reaching the age limit to accept the sairie responsibilities for service as youths at Home. The indications are that young Britons abroad are not in need of prompting, and a number of evacuees still too young are showing eagerness to serve. Boys in Canada, for instance, arc anxious to join up as boy seamen. Long return journeys, in view of shipping difficulties, are-not, however, favoured and the board will encourage boyo to aoin up in the Dominions.