Q. Prior to or subsequent to the incorporation of the Steel Union-Sheet Piling, Inc.?-A. About the same time.

Q. To your knowledge, was he instructed to go to the Stahl Union for the purpose of consummating a contract?-A. I don't know.

Q. Was that pursuant to the instruction of the board of directors?-A. At that time I was not a member of the board of directors.

Q. You testified, didn't you, that you were a member of the board of direltors from its inception?-A. At the time when the Steel Union-Sheet Piling, Inc. was formed, I was in Texas on about 8 weeks' trip, and I came back after the formation went through and I was subsequently elected to the board of directors. When exactly that was, I don't know; we will have to look up the minutes.

Q. What was the name of the predecessor?-A. Steel Union Co., Inc. Q. Was the Handelmaatschappij interested in that concern, too?—A. No. Q. Who were the stockholders of the predecessor company?-A. I could not tell you.

Q. Was Mr. von Goerchen interested in that company?-A. To my knowledge. not.

Q. In what way was it the predecessor of this company, then?-A. Well, the Steel Union-Sheet Piling, Inc., took over the business of the former company Steel Union Co., Inc.

Q. Were any of the stockholders of the Handelmaatschappij interested in the predecessor company?-A. Not to my knowledge.

Q. Did the predecessor company distribute the products of the United Steel Works Corporation, the German corporation?-A. Yes; it did.

Q. And was it likewise affiliated or associated with the Stahl Union?—A. In the way that the company did extensive business with the Stahl Union.

Q. In what capacity were you associated with the predecessor company?— A. Vice president.

Q. Were you also a member of its board of directors?-A. I think I was, but I am not certain.

Q. Did you know at any time of the pending organization of the new company to take over the assets of the predecessor company?-A. I did not. It came to me like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky.

Q. Has this concern of the predecessor concern ever been in communication with the United Steel Works Corporation for any purpose, orally or in writing?— A. I think once in a while we got a letter from them but we had no dealings, no direct dealings.

Q. Do you have these letters in your correspondence?—A. I don't know. There may be some, but I don't know.

Q. What was the nature of these communications?-A. They wanted a magazine once in a while, they wanted a certain issue of the Iron Age, but no direct transactions that I call business transactions. In fact, I had a lot of communications from other companies of the same nature over there.

Q. In Germany, you mean?—A. In Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, everywhere, which I complied with as a matter of business courtesy, but no actual business transactions that involved money.

Q. What other information did the United Steel Works Corporation call upon you for?-A. Just ordinary business information.

Q. That is, as to the nature of the steel market?—A. Steel market, and here the steel companies want to know about things over there.

Q. Did they make inquiries with respect to shipping facilities?-A. No. Q. Did they make inquiries as to market prices?-A. Yes; they did. Not the Vereinigte Stahlwerke. The Stahl Union did, not the Vereinigte Stahlwerke.

Q. But you did receive letters from them you say?-A. Once in a while I did. Q. What was the nature of the letters you received from them?-A. Just general; I could not tell you, they were so insignificant that I did not even try to memorize them.

Q. Did you receive catalogs of the products of the United Steel Works Corporation from that concern?-A. I received catalogs from the Stahl Union.

Q. No; I mean did you receive catalogs of the products of the United Steel Works Corporation?-A. From the Stahl Union.

Q. On the letterheads of the Steel Union-Sheet Piling, Inc., one time used by said concern, there was listed a number of concerns to the left-hand side of the letterhead under the heading "Works"; do you recall that?-A. Yes.

Q. Were the names listed under that heading supposed to signify factories in which the Steel Union-Sheet Piling had an interest?-A. No; only insofar as the Steel Union-Sheet Piling bought their products.

Q. And were the products of those concerns in any way related to the products of the United Steel Works Corporation?-A. I think these mills were subsidiaries of the United Steel Works Corporation.

Q. And those mills included, did they not, the following: Bochumer Verein, Dortmunder Union, Ruhrort-Meiderich, Thyssen, Westfaelische Union, Theodor Uppermann, Van Der Zypen? A. Yes.

Q. Did you on behalf of the Steel Union-Sheet Piling conclude any contracts with these concerns?-A. No.

Q. Did the Steel Union-Sheet Piling have any contracts with these concerns?— A. They had a contract with the Dortmund Hoerder Huettenverein A. G., that was a sales agreement for their products, insofar that they gave us the exclusive rights to sell their products in a certain part of the United States.

Q. And did you deal directly with these subsidiaries of the United Steel Works Corporation?-A. Only with the Dortmund Hoerder Huettenverein.

Q. How did you deal with the others?-A. Not at all.

Q. You had no dealings with them at all?-A. No; I don't think so.

Q. Why did you list their names on the letterheads?-A. It was a good idea, because these companies had done extensive business in the United States, so we just put them on and they did not object.

Q. Did you have the consent of these concerns to list their names?-A. No; except the Dortmund Hoerder Huettenverein.

Q. Is the Dortmund Hoerder Huettenverein the same as the Dortmunder Union? A. There is no such thing as the Dortmunder Union to my knowledge. Q. What was the significance of the use of that name on your letterhead?—A. The name is the Dortmund Hoerder Huettenverein. I did not put it on the letterhead.

Q. What is the Dortmunder Union?-A. There is no such thing as the Dortmunder Union.

Q. You still keep your files of the Dortmunder Union? I refer you to the left hand side of the room, second from the top.-A. That is an abbreviated name. The name is Dortmund Hoerder Huettenverein.

Q. To your knowledge they were one and the same?-A. Yes.

Q. Did you deal with the Stahl Union Export for the purpose of getting the products of those concerns to whom we have just referred?-A. Not for that purpose. I just bought from Stahl Union certain commodities. I did not care where they got them from. If they got them from Belgium or France, I was happier, because I was having too much trouble with the boycott.

Q. The major part of your business was with products from Germany, wasn't it? A. Well, during times it was, but I personally was much more pleased if they got them from France or from Belgium or from Luxembourg. The Stahl Union was a trading house. They were by no means confined to dealing with German products, absolutely not. They bought from Belgium; they bought from Luxembourg; they bought from France, and wherever they could get the stuff, and the less they offered me from Germany the happier I was, because in the last years, you know, before the war, the boycott got worse and worse and it just was a headache to sell those products that came from the Ruhr Valley; see, they were not confined to any product at all; they sold everything they could get ahold of as a trading company.

(Examination adjourned sine die.)

EXHIBIT No. 521

[Letter dated March 8, 1937, from George E. Dix, president, Steel Union-Sheet Piling, Inc., to Mr. Willy Riester, Stahlunion-Export G. m. b. H., Duesseldorf, Germany]

MARCH 8, 1937.

Mr. WILLY RIESTER,

Abt. Nordamerika, Stahlunion-Export G. m. b. H.,

Duesseldorf, Germany.

DEAR RIESTER: Last week, as I cabled you, I went out to the Central West to see some of my old friends in the steel business and to investigate the possibility of getting a regular source of supply, in case it seemed advisable for us to turn some of our efforts to exports during the period that the world demand remained at a high level for general steel products.

I went over the ground very carefully with the president of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., who was an old associate, and they are perfectly willing to sel

us goods when they have them for export; that is, in excess of their domestic demands.

They are not regular exporters on a large scale, although they have some permanent connections where they do a little business from time to time. Their agencies are in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Uruguay, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Manila.

In other markets they have no conflicting agency arrangements, and would be able to sell us without any question. In the countries named there would have to be a commission set up for their regular agents, which would probably kill the business.

The commodities enumerated in my cable No. 512 of March 5, copy of which is attached, are among those on which they can entertain inquiries at the present time. Sheets are out of the question, and plates almost equally so as far as Youngstown and Republic are concerned.

They have some tin-plate capacity unoccupied, but as this commodity is syndicated we have no knowledge here as to just what your prospects are of selling any of this material.

There are probably other things that Youngstown could let us handle, but it seems to me that it would be better for us to confine ourselves to a short list of commodities until we have had an opportunity to investigate the possibilities and establish a routine for handling business, if that is possible.

My talk with Vice President Clarke of Republic was along similar lines, except that Republic has gone into the export field on quite a large scale. They went outside of the steel business for a man to handle their exports, and Mr. Bellamore has had a very wide and successful merchandising experience as an independent manufacturer, and brings to their organization an experience that is not normally found among men brought up in the steel business.

Mr. Barreau and I spent one whole morning with him and were much impressed by his views and policies in regard to the export business. They have agencies in a large number of important markets of the world, some of them manned by their own employees and others similar to your own arrangements in many places.

Mr. Bellamore, as well as Mr. Clarke, stated that they would be very glad to work with us in any markets where our interests did not conflict, and because of the diversity of products that they roll, in all probability we can eventually offer a considerable list of material for your agents to work on.

Mr. Bellamore stated, however, that we should have to arrive at an agreement that would be scrupulously maintained in regard to their price offerings on any material. In other words, we might send them an inquiry and they would quote us for delivery to some South American country, let us say, for example, and an inquiry on similar material might originate from the Far East about the same time. The price levels in the two parts of the world might be radically different, and the price information given to South America would have to be considered confidential and not used against them in the other market to obtain the business for German suppliers.

This, naturally, presents a question which we cannot answer here, and the discussion of this point led further afield to the question whether American exporters and continental groups could not arrive at a real basis of cooperation which would remove many of the existing difficulties that result in cutthroat prices at times, which are very unsatisfactory all around.

We gather that the Republic organization intends to stay in the field and will spend a lot of money to maintain their position.

The president of the Carnegie-Illinois Co., who recently was appointed to that position, Mr. B. F. Fairless, was formerly vice president in charge of sales of the Republic Steel Corporation, and is the man who engaged Mr. Bellamore as export manager before the former went to the United States Steel Corporation. Mr. Bellamore therefore has a very close friend in Mr. Fairless and feels that through this connection and others which he has with important United States officials that he is in a position to bring the United States Steel Products Co. and his own into conformity.

Bethlehem is the bad actor, but is not as strong in the export field now as they were before the advent of Republic. Mr. Bellamore believes that his company and the United States Steel Products Co. can establish a policy which Bethlehem will be forced to follow.

I think Mr. Bellamore will have to be reckoned with definitely in the future in the export picture. He has just been abroad for a personal survey of the steel-producing companies and is exceedingly well posted. I should prefer to confer with him on general export matters far sooner than any of the present offi

cials of Bethlehem or United States Steel Products Co., who are not noted for their stature. I think you will get what I am driving at.

As far as sheets and plates are concerned, it is probable that from time to time we can find some tonnages available for export from the small independent mills, but I have not approached any of them except in a very general way, believing that we should work with the two larger companies to begin with. You understand there are many other steel mills, such as Jones & Laughlin, National Steel, etc., whom I can and will approach if necessary, but I thought it advisable to keep the matter as quiet as possible to begin with, since a general inquiry might make the matter of such public knowledge that some of our direct competitors who represent continental interests might start doing what we propose to do with possibly unsatisfactory results.

As pointed out to you in my cable, cash against documents will be expected by the American mills, and we shall have to have definite assurance as to where the money is coming from before we can go very far along this line.

Have just received your cable today saying that you have taken the matter up with Brazil, Argentina, and Finland, and, no doubt we shall hear from them shortly.

Very truly yours,

EXHIBIT No. 522

President.

[Letter and translation of same from Rottmann, Stahlunion Export, G. m. b. H., Dusseldorf, Germany, to Edward Barreau, New York, dated July 10, 1940]

Herrn BARREAU,

New York:

DÜSSELDORF, den 10. 7. 1940.

Seitdem wir Ihnen in den letzten Märztagen kurz über die Entwicklung in Deutschland und bei der Stahlunion berichtet haben, sind weltpolitische Ereignisse von einmaligen Ausma Ben eingetreten: Der Besetzung von Dänemark und Norwegen folgte der Kampf um Holland und Belgien und die Niederringung der französischen Grossmacht. Alle Ereignisse rollten sich in einem atemberaubenden Tempo ab, sodass wir erst heute wieder, wenigstens einigermassen, einen Uberblick über die gewaltigen Ausma Be des Erreichten gewinnen.

Uber die politischen Auswirkungen dieser Ereignisse brauchen wir uns nicht weiter auszulassen, da sie ja klar auf der Hand liegen. Wirtschaftlich hat sich besounders auf dem Gebiet der Eisenindustrie ebenfalls eine voliständige Umlagerung der Verhältnisse zu unseren Gunsten ergeben:

Durch die endgültige Abwehr des englischen Angriffs auf Narvik ist uns die wichtige schwedische Erzbasis erhalten geblieben. Die Verschiffungen über den schwedischen Hafen Lulea bzw. über Mittelschweden laufen in verstärktem MaBe weiter und auch die Bahn nach Narvik dürfte in absehbarer Zeit wiederhergestellt sein, sodass Aussich bestht, über Narvik zusätzlich zu den über Lulea verschifften Hauptmengen weitere Mengen, die bisher den Engländern zugute kamen, zu erhalten. Darüber hinaus stehen uns auf dem Eisenerzgebiet dte Minette und die weiteren französisch/luxemburgischen Eisenerze zur Verfügung. Die luxemburgische Eisenindustrie ist bereits wieder in Gang gebracht und auch die Ingangsetzung der französischen dürfte auf keine allzugrossen Schwierigkeiten stossen. Die Zerstörungen an den Werken sind ebenso wie in Belgien nur gering, dagegen dürfte in Belgien das Transportproblem die Ursache dafür sein dass die dortigen Hütten erst später in Gang kommen werden.

Alles in allem ist die Situation heute die, dass wir über die Kohlen- und Erzbasis des gesamten europäischen Kontinents frei verfügen können, also auch eisenwirtschaftlich gegenüber England eine unvergleichlich stärkere Position haben (England ist zu 40% auf Erzeinfuhren angewiesen und steht augenblicklich vor dem Problem, ausser den norwegischen und schwedischen Erzzufuhren auch noch die spanischen und nordafrikenischen zu verlieren).

Die Entwicklung bej der Stahlunion hat sich in aufsteigender Linie bewegt; wir haben bereits Krüfte, die wir an andere Konzernstellen abgegeben hatten, wieder zur Stahlunion übernommen, zumal unsere Bemühungen, in verstärktem Ausmass den Europaverkauf der Werke zu übernehmen, weiter Erfolg gehabt haben. Die uns für den Export zur Verfügung stehenden Mengen haben durch Sonderzuweisungen eine Verbesserung erfahren und wir nehmen bestimmt an, dass durch die oben geschilderte grundlegende Änderung in der Versorgungslage die Exportmengen weiter erhöht werden.

Unsere Auslandsorganisation steht, wie bisher, sodass wir bei einem baldtgen siegreichen Ende des Krieges, wie wir es hier alle erwarten, sofort weider gerüstet sind, unseren Export nach Übersee durchzuführen.

Das Einzige, was wir hier vom Kriege verspüren und worüber Sie durch die deutschen Wehmachtsberichte und durch Mitteilungen Ihrer Zeitungen unterrichtet sein werden, sind die nächtlichen Fliegerangriffe, die aber bisher weder in Düsseldorf noch im Ruhrgebiet auf wirtschaftlichem Gebiete irgendwelchen nennenswerten Schaden angerichtet haben. (Bei Tage hat sich nur einmal, und zwar am letzten Sonntagmittag, im Schutze des stark bewölkten Himmels ein kanadisches Flugzeug hierher verirrt, das auch prompt abgeschossen wurde.) Die Produktion unserer Werke geht nach wie vor weiter und man hat bei den durchaus planlosen Bombenabwürfen der englischen bzw. hauptsächlich kanadischen Flieger den absoluten Eindruck, als ob man gar keine kriegswichtigen oder sonst wirtschaftlichen Betriebe treffen, sondern nur eine Beunruhigung der Bevölkerung hervorrufen will. Über Düsseldorf sind seit dem 10. Mai nur swei Mal eine grössere Anzahl Bomben abgeworfen worden, die, wenn überhaupt, dann nur Johnhäuser trafen und leider unter der Zivilbevölkerung Todesopfer verursachten.

An den allerdings sehr häufigen nächtlichen Fliegeralarm wegen des Überfliegens des Stadtgebietes auf dem Hin- und Rückflug nach anderen Gebieten in Westdeutschland gewöhnt man sich allmählich auch. Man geht eben beim Fliegeralarm um 12 1 in seinen Luftschutzkeller, um nach mehr oder minder starkem Flakschiessen 1% bis 2 Stunden später seinen unterbrochenen Nachtschlaf nach erfolgter Entwarnung weider fortzusetzen.

Bei der kriegswirtschaftlichen Nutzlosigkeit der englischen Luftangriffe bleibt der Zweck dieser Angriffe ein Rätsel, besonders unter Berücksichtigung der Tatsache, dass den Engländern aus den Ereignissen in Holland, Belgien und Frankreich bekannt sein müsste, wie die Vergeltung für die durch diese Angriffe verursachten Opfer unter der Zivilbevölkerung aussehen dürfte.

Die Verluste, die unsere im Felde stehende Gefolgschaft erlitten hat, halten sich im allgemeinen Rahmen: Wir haben seit dem 1. September 1939, also seit Beginn des Polenfeldzuges, den Tod von nur zwei Arbeitskameraden zu beklagen. Wir erwarten gerne Ihre Gegenberichte und hoffen, dass wir bei unserem nächsten Bericht bereits ein wesentliches Stück auf dem Wege su einem endgültigen Dauerfrieden unter Anerkennung unserer berechtigten völkischen Lebensansprüche weitergekommen sind.

Mit deutschem Gruss,

[Translation from the German]

ROTTMANN.

Source: Files of Steel Union-Sheet Piling, Inc., New York, N. Y.

HERRN BARREAU,

New York:

DUSSELDORF, July 10, 1940.

Since the last days of March when we reported to you briefly about the developments in Germany and in Stahlunion, world political events of unique proportions have occurred: The occupation of Denmark and Norway was followed by the battle for Holland and Belgium, and the subjugation of French world power. All these events occurred at such a breathless pace that only today are we able to gain, even partially, a perspective of the tremendous extent of our attainments. There is no need for us to go into the political implications of these events further; they are quite apparent. Especially in the field of the iron industry, a complete economic change in our favor has taken place.

Due to the definite failure of the English attack on Narvik, the important Swedish ore bases were preserved for us. Shipments from the Swedish harbor of Lulea or by way of central Sweden, respectively, continue in greater quantities. The railroad to Narvik should also be restored within reasonable time, and thus there is the prospect of obtaining further quantities of ore from Narvik which formerly were sent to England, in addition to the bulk of the ore which is shipped through the harbor of Lulea. Besides this we have at our disposal in the iron-ore field the Minette and other French and Luxemburg iron ores. The Luxemburg iron industry has been brought back into operation, and there should be no insurmountable difficulties in getting the French iron industry into operation. The destruction of plants in France is as slight as in Belgium. In Belgium the