Textile Alliance

In the meantime, the Department of State contacted the Textile Alliance to serve as a central importing and distribution agency for reparations dyes. The Textile Alliance had been organized early in 1914 to combat fraud in the textile industry but, with the advent of war, became involved in wartime commerce with Britain. Led by textile manufacturer Albert M. Patterson, who spent the spring of 1919 in Paris as an economic advisor to the American mission, the Textile Alliance managed the shipments of reparation and Herty Option dyes from Germany for distribution in the United States. ... 

In December 1921, representatives of the Department of State decided to sever their relations with the Textile Alliance. Under pressure from some members of Congress, officials in the department began to question the... 

Albert M. Patterson testimony in "USA v. The Chemical" (ref. 9), 2, 950, 998 Haynes (ref. 7), 3,264. During the war, the Textile Alliance supervised the importation of wool and other products from British territories. The British desired assurances that the products would not be resold and end up benefiting Germany. The Textile Alliance, as an organization of textile manufacturing associations, provided the assurance. Patterson testimony in "Hearings" (ref. 6), 307. 

St. John Ferret to Van S. Merle-Smith, 5 Jan 1920, copied in "The files of the State Department and the War Trade Board," RG 60 (Department of Justice), Classified Subject File, entry 114 (Correspondence), box 749 Textile Alliance Board of Directors, Excerpt of Minutes, 8 Dec 1921 Herty to Chapin, 17 Dec 1921, Herty papers, box 87. 

A.C. Imbrie to Textile Alliance, 28 Jan 1922 E. A. Macon to Herty, 7 Apr 1922 Macon to Herty, 7 June 1922 Minutes of the Textile Alliance dyes committee, 13 Dec 1922, Herty papers, box 87. 

Reparations Dyes Received through the Textile Alliance, 188... 

Note This table is for the Textile Alliance s Account No. 2, the main account that handled the reparations dyes under the Department of State. Account No. 1 covered the 300 tons of dyes taken earlier, and Account No. 3 covered dyes purchased by the Textile Alliance after it lost the official sanction from the Department of State. The high percentage of dyes returned to Germany for exchange highlights the imbalance between supply and demand. The lower number of dyes received in exchange reflects the American demand for more expensive, higher quality dyes. 

Source William C. Dickson, Special Accountant, Department of Justice, Report of Investigation of the Textile Alliance Incorporated of New York City in Re. Reparation Dyes, p. 

The Textile Alliance s control of reparations dyes never... 

Society, the Textile Alliance, and others. He pointed to Irenee... 

Textile Alliance to Patterson, April 11, 1919, FPG, box 5 Garvan to Baruch and Bradley Palmer, Alien Property Custodian representative in Paris, April 8, 1919 Garvan to Bradley Palmer, April 9, 1919 Woolley to McCormick, April 11, 1919, NARA, RG 151, 232 Dyes (Germany), box 1036 McCormick to Woolley, April 18, 1919, copied in The Files of the State Department and the War Trade Board, RG 60,... 

Choate to American Dyes Institute, November 9, 1920, November 15, 1920, November 19, 1920, November 26, 1920, and December 6, 1920, reprinted in Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Hearings, Alleged Dye Monopoly (1922), 530-37 Report of Edward S. Chapin, Paris representative of the Textile Alliance, September 22, 1921, CHH, box 87. 

The efficiency was not immediate. Bureaucratic challenges, difficulties in the German firms, and a dockworkers strike in Rotterdam kept the reparations dyes from arriving before early 1920. In addition, not all of the dyes arrived in workable quality, and the Textile Alliance had to accept returns or refunds. Of the indigo shipped to China, the Chinese received a refund of nearly 10 percent for poor quality dyes. St. John Perret to Van S. Merle-Smith, January 5, 1920, copied in The Files of the State Department and the War Trade Board, NARA, RG 60, Classified Subject File, entry 114 (Correspondence), box 749 Textile Alliance Board of Directors, Excerpt of Minutes, December 8, 1921 Herty to Chapin, December 17, 1921, CHH, box 87. Kent, The Spoils... 

The profit came from the dyes that the Textile Alliance purchased without specific advance orders from the United States those with orders were sold at cost. Patterson testimony in USA v. The Chemical Foundation, Inc., 2 964, 978-79 Patterson testimony in Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Hearings, Alleged Dye Monopoly (1922), 329 Patterson to Horace B. Cheney, March 1, 1928, CHH, box 87 Minutes of the Second Meeting to Dispose of the Surplus, December 7, 1927 The Textile Foundation, Boston Herald (June 21, 1930) 10 Herty to Frank A. Fleisch, April 22, 1930, CHH, box 87 Arthur N. Young, David E. Finley, and Edward Pickard, to the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Commerce, Disposition of the Surplus Monies of the Textile Alliance, Incorporated, April 13, 1927, Hoover Papers, Department of Commerce, box 598, folder Textiles, 1922-28 ... 

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