Swiss National Insurance v. Miller
Headline: Court upheld dismissal, denying a Swiss insurance company the return of securities seized as enemy property, limiting recovery by corporations with enemy stockholders despite postwar statutory changes.
Holding: The Court affirmed the dismissal, holding that the Swiss insurance company could not recover securities seized as enemy property because the 1920 amendment’s categories did not permit recovery by a corporation in its situation.
- Makes it harder for neutral corporations with enemy stockholders to recover seized wartime assets.
- Leaves the Alien Property Custodian’s control over such securities unless Congress or the President orders return.
Summary
Background
A Swiss insurance company had deposited about one million dollars in U.S. state securities as a condition of doing business in several States. The Alien Property Custodian seized those securities in November 1918 as enemy property because the company had been doing business in Germany and its stock was largely held by German subjects. The company sued to get the securities back, arguing it had stopped doing business in Germany, the war had ended, and a 1920 amendment to the law entitled it to recovery. Lower courts dismissed the bill, and the case reached the Court.
Reasoning
The Court asked whether the 1920 amendment allowed this corporation to recover seized property. It held that simply stopping business in Germany or the formal end of the war did not erase the seized status. The Court read the amendment’s language and history to mean that paragraph (1) did not cover corporations in the appellant’s situation and that paragraph (6) separately addressed corporations with particular ownership. Because the statute and its context showed Congress intended different classes, and because the company’s stock was largely German-held, the Court affirmed dismissal.
Real world impact
This decision leaves in place the Custodian’s control of securities taken from companies that did business in enemy territory and had enemy stockholders. Neutral corporations doing business in hostile territory cannot automatically reclaim seized assets unless they fit specific statutory categories or Congress or the President orders a return. The ruling rests on interpretation of the statute rather than a final change to all postwar return policies.
Dissents or concurrances
A separate opinion argued for a broader reading that would include neutral corporations in paragraph (1) and urged liberal construction to return neutral-owned property, warning of diplomatic embarrassment if neutral property remained seized.
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