War-time financial problems

ALIEN ACTIVITY 189

as a corporation, ought he, for a time at any rate,
to be admitted to commercial fellowship or to any
fellowship with the civilised nations of the world."
It need not be said that any attempt to apply this
stigma in practice would be extremely difficult to
carry out, would involve all kinds of difficulties and
complications in trade and in finance, and that the
threat of it is more likely than anything else to
stiffen the resistance of the Germans and to force
them to rely on their militarist leaders as their only
hope of salvation. However, the Committee points
out that recent legislation shows a desire to ascertain
and record the extent to which aliens are active in
commerce here, and thinks it necessary to make
provision to meet the requirements of the Govern-
ment in case our rulers should decide to impose the
restrictions which its own common-sense shows it
are so undesirable.

If, it says, foreign capital is to be attracted here,
it must be represented either by shares or by deben-
tures. " The question, therefore, is whether restric-
tions ought to be imposed upon the extent to which
the control of the company shall be allowed to reside
in aliens, either by reason of their holding a majority
of the shares, or of the debentures, or by reason of
their obtaining a majority upon the Board of
Directors; and, if so, how disclosure of their alien
character is to be enforced/' It goes on to point out
the great difficulties which present themselves in the
way of securing disclosure of nationality and ensuring
that aliens shall not command the control. " The
law of trusts/' it says, " is firmly established in this