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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

لبينا

C.O.

Reference :-

885/25

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

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length and breadth of the Colony, with very little assistance, and with no worry to the Government, are its best explanation and justification. Even the enemy agents themselves, whose losses must have been triffing, expressed satisfaction with it. They were allowed the privilege of checking their stocks before and after sales, and every sale was either made by them personally or with their consent, or in their presence by the auctioneer. They can never say, therefore, that their losses, if any, were due to dishonesty or incompetence on the part of the Government employees.

8. It may not be out of place here to put on record that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, not as much as a pennyworth of the goods disposed of was ever received or purchased, even at the public auctions, by any of the Government officers employed on the work.

9. A rather different plan was adopted in disposing of the goods of Messrs. Chevalier & Company. These were taken over by the British firm of F. & A. Swanzy, on appropriate conditions and under Government supervision, for sale on commission-the proceeds to be paid monthly to the Controlling Officer. these have not been sold yet. (See paragraph 26.)

All

10. Appendices A and B show in a form that needs little explanation the total results of the control and disposal of enemy property up to the time of balancing my books on 18th June.

11. Realized assets amounted to £98,808 11s. 2d., which, with the proceeds of the auction sale of Weltz & Company's goods at Seccondee (£229 1s. 2d.) just advised by wire, and the sales on short credits of the remnants belonging to the German West African Trading Company (£1,859 9s.) and Luther & Seyfert (£978 188, 2d.). brings the total realization up to date to £101,876 19s. 6d. The credit sales in each case were made by the agent of the firm with my consent, and the proceeds will be paid to the Controlling Officer within a month. The only unsold but saleable enemy merchandise in the Colony now consists of (a) £1,008 15s. 9d. worth of beads and trinkets belonging to A. Sachse & Company-locked up on the premises of the German West African Trading Company; (b) £19,189 15s. 4d. worth of general goods belonging to Chevalier & Company being sold off by F. & A. Swanzy; and (c) £808 16s. 4d. worth of goods, all slow selling lines or unsaleable, belonging to the German West African Trading Company and locked up in their own premises. I did not consider it desirable to dispose of the first of these lots after the agent of the firm had been deported, as the sale of beads calls for technical knowledge that I could not obtain locally. Besides, the realized assets of the firm are sufficient already to meet all claims against it, and the goods can be put up to The second lot is auction at any time if Government desire to get rid of them. being sold off at the rate of about £4,000 worth per month, and the third may be treated as unsaleable.

12. In addition to these assets Messrs. F. & A. Swanzy, Quittah, hold 85,000 marks belonging to the enemy firms of C. Goedelt and A. Kulenkamff, but this money is returnable in marks at Lome, London, or Quittah at the option of the holders. It was offered to me partly at Quittah, partly at London, but in view of the trouble that this would cause, and the difficulty that would arise in changing marks for sterling, I declined to take it, and merely told Messrs. Swanzys that it might be called for at any time this to insure that they would not make any unlawful use of it. Meanwhile Messrs. Swanzy are responsible for its custody, and the owners have more than sufficient realized assets without it to pay all the claims that I have received against them.

13. Cost of Government control (£206 12s. 11d.) is made up of travelling allow- ances at Government rates and under Government conditions to the officers who helped me, train and steamer fares to the same, and £21 wages to a clerk whom I employed for three-and-a-half months to do typewriting and help to keep my papers in order. It also includes about £20 for train and steamer fares of enemy prisoners, but this it is not convenient to pick out and transfer to the head "Payments on behalf of firms "nor does it matter much. The "Cost of Government Control stands Farther payments quite low enough, as it is, to satisfy even the enemy firms. amounting to about £25, for stamp duty on bonds and fees for checking books, remain to be made under this head.

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14. Payments on behalf of Enemy Firms (£2,299 3s. 5d.) is made up of rents of premises, wages paid to native employees, refunds of a few sume taken in error, transport of goods, and a few miscellaneous charges. It does not, however, except in one case, include auctioneer's commission or the commission charged by Messrs. F. & A. Swanzy for the sale of Messrs. Chevalier's stocks.

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15. Balance of Realized Assets (£96,302 14s. 10d).—This does not call for special mention. I am writing separately as to its disposal. At present it is in the Accra, Winnebah, Saltpond, Seccondee, and Axim branches of the Bank of British West Africa.

16. Debts said to be due to the Enemy Firms amount to £61,709 16s. 9d., but it is not probable that anything like that sum will be collected. However, a man nominated by each firm, generally an ex-employee or former solicitor to the firm, has been appointed as Assistant Controlling Officer, under the directions of the Con- trolling Officer, to collect all the debts that he can recover. Where no representa- tive of the firm was left in the Colony the former attorney of the firm was generally selected for the work. Each such Assistant Controlling Officer has given bond with one or more sureties in a sufficient amount to insure that he will do his work properly. The amounts so collected will be accounted for monthly to the Controlling Officer, and the remuneration will be taken in each case from the amounts collected. copy of the instructions given to each Assistant Controlling Officer is attached. marked Appendix C. The debts to be collected are shown in detail in my office

papers.

A

17. Premises of Enemy Firms-At the time I took over the work there were one hundred and twenty-nine sets of premises, including pieces of land, conces- sions, freeholds, leaseholds, and ordinary rentals, occupied by enemy firms all over the Colony. Of these, thirty-two rented houses have been given up to the land- lords, and the remaining ninety-seven are still retained. Many of those have now been sublet, and the remainder are left in charge of ex-employees or former attorneys of the late occupiers, who have been appointed Assistant Controlling Officers to collect and pay rents and generally to deal with the premises under the directions of the Controlling Officer. These, too, have given bonds for the proper performance of their duties, and a copy of the instructions given to them is attached, marked Appendix D. Details of all these premises are contained in my office papers.

18. Furniture and plant, with trifling quantities of unsaleable goods, and, in three instances, some unsaleable mahogany logs, have been left on the premises of the firms to which they belong, at the owners' risk and expense-a condition on which they were exempted from unreserved sale by public auction. I have not troubled as a rule about these, nor locked them up. impracticable to lock them up, and the firms' agents are quite content to leave them In many cases it would be as they are in many cases under the care of former employees. There is not the slightest danger that they will be sold for the benefit of anybody in Germany or anywhere else. Besides, at a sale, they would probably fetch no more than about £1,000 altogether, and, of course, it would cost considerably more to replace them. 19. Claims against Enemy Firms are shown in detail in Appendix B under appropriate heads. Altogether, two hundred and fifty seven claims, amounting to £32,234 0s. 4d., have been received, and all of these have been investigated as far as investigation was practicable.

20. Those of local origin—admitted or proven, total eighty-nine, amounting to £3,147 178. 8d., and can be paid as soon as we obtain permission from the Secretary of State to pay claims.

21. Those of local origin--in dispute, are seventy-two, amounting to £3,749 28. 2d. These have been investigated as far as possible but without result, and the claimants have been invited to establish them in the courts of the Colony. Many have taken steps to do so, and many had already applied to the courts before 24th November.

22. Claims of British and other European origin.-One of these, amounting to £8,990 19s. 11d., comes from Copenhagen, and another, amounting to £29 19s. 7d., comes from Madeira. The remaining ninety-three, amounting to £14,236 1s., come from the United Kingdom, and practically all of them are in respect of goods supplied to the orders of firms in Germany and Austria.

23.

It may be well to explain here that practically all the enemy firms in the Colony are only branches of firms having their headquarters and buying branches in Germany and Austria. Even in the four cases where the local enemy firms are independent, they have buying agencies in Germany and Austria. these buying branches and buying agencies that all the goods claimed for have It is through been supplied or ordered, and it is from them that payment for the goods is due. In fact, in most cases the local firm has no knowledge as to where its buying branch obtains goods supplied, and in no case is it in a position to say whether the goods