Series I

Other descriptive data:

Series I (Boxes 1-41): records of the Justice Department period, provide a thorough view of Jones' work in his several assignments during a time of turmoil and transition for the Alien Property Division. There are administrative files -- interoffice memoranda, budget and personnel files, reports, etc. -- showing how the office was run. Because he was chief of the litigation and claims divisions for a long time, there is a great deal of documentation on the cases in which the department was involved.

The case files (Boxes 5-13) vary in their thoroughness. Of special interest are the gold cases (15 folders); the I.G. Chemie case, General Aniline Film v. Markham) and subsequent Interhandel case (Switzerland v. U.S.) (3 folders); the Hackfeld case (Rodiek v. U.S.) (2 folders); Standard Oil v. Markham (7 folders); and Von Clemm v. Smith and International Mortagage and Investment Corp. (3 folders). In addition, there is extensive correspondence about litigation, some of it concerning the administration of cases, much of it case strategy. Boxes 31 and 32 contain litigation correspondence, but discussions of cases are by no means limited to these files. A researcher interested in a particular case should examine other correspondence files, such as interoffice memoranda, the personal office files, legislation material and perhaps administrative files for the appropriate years, in order to do an exhaustive search. Although there is little case material on Rodiek v. U.S., for example, this important and lengthy case is mentioned throughout the Series I files and personal correspondence. In addition, there are numbered opinions of the division's general counsel regarding the vesting of enemy property in the war years (Boxes 33-36), and correspondence and decisions regarding claims brought in the periods before and during the time Jones was Chief Hearing Examiner (Boxes 13-17).

Another large group of files in Series I (Boxes 25-30) concerns legislation which Jones was in charge of drafting. These documents relate almost entirely to the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, a frequent source of dissatisfaction to the Justice Department. These boxes contain drafts of proposed legislation and related correspondence, as well as a great deal of correspondence and internal memoranda regarding the Justice Department's procedures in the absence of legislative changes. Jones' papers document repeated unsuccessful efforts, into the 1950's, to replace this World War I legislation. Although the TWEA has been amended numerous times, it has not yet been repealed.

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