ENEMY BEETS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15131, 27 January 1917, Page 6

ENEMY BEETS.

HOW BRITISH FIRMS FARE BADLY. Messrs Rome and Tilman, of Liverpool, recently have raised a question of great interest to firms which have cross accounts with enemy debtors and creditors. The firm at the outbreak of the war owed £94 odd to an enemy bankinghouse, the Bohmische Union Bank. They, like many other British firms, have large amounts owing to themselves by enemy debtors, which they ar© faintly hoping to receive after the war, if at all. They are now being ordered, at the instance of Messrs Konig Bros., a creditor of the Bohmische Union Bank, to hand over this £94 to the Public Trustee into the account of the Bohmosch© Union Bank, in order that the Public Trustee may pay it away with other moneys to Messrs Konig Bros., who are a' 1 firm of high financial standing. In the Official Index of Persons Naturalised, Friedrich Adolph Konig appears as having been naturalised on August 25, 1906, and Hans Henry Konig on September 25, 1902. Both had been United States citizens. According to the Banking Almanac for 1915 their bank was established in 1899. Adolf Schilling holds Iheir procuration. (This name appears in the official index as that of a person resident in London and naturalised from German nationality on March 18, 1907.) Another entry in the Banking Almanac is: “Corresponding firm, Konig Bros, and Co., New York,” which consists of “F. A. Konig, H. H. Konig, and A. Wollensen. Holder of procuration, F. Breymeyer.” Messrs Konig Bros., says the Daily Mail, are perfectly within their rights in taking measures to force Messrs Rome and Tilman to surrender the only security they hold for ultimate set-off against debts due from enemy concerns. Messrs Konig Bros.’ solicitors will apply for an order vesting the <£94 in the Public Trustee, who will hand it over to Messrs Konig Bros. But Messrs Rome and Tilman point out that if the practice followed by Messrs Konig Bros, is adopted by a number of other firms, the British firms will all have surrendered the cash they are holding against enemy bad debts before the end of the war. And when the time comes for the final adjustment of all accounts it will be found that the funds available for payment of cross-accounts have already been largely distributed. If this action by Messrs Konig Bros, had not been taken, the Public Trustee would not have used the moneys in his hands for the- payment of creditors of the Bohmische Boole. Messrs Rome and Tilman, in a letter to the Public Trustee, point out how badly British creditors fare under the existing law. “Thus,” they say, for example, “a British firm owes to AustroHungarian firms various amounts aggregating, say, £IO,OOO, and is owed by various other Austro-Hungarian firms an equal amount aggregating £IO,OOO. Hitherto they have considered their position as relatively satisfactory and unlikely to result in loss. If they are today compelled to pay out the £IO,OOO and to wait until after the war for their moneys, which they may or may not be able to collect, the protection which English creditors thought they were receiving under the Enemy Trading Act is illusory.” The whole question has been submitted to members of the House of Commons with a view to a discussion of the prospects of British creditors generally.