I. THE Characteristics of Von Bernstorff, Von Papen, and Boy-Ed-The Night of the the Traps Were Laid by Which They Were Un By JOHN R. RATHOM, MR R. RATHOM, in the series of articles of which this is the first, makes exposures of some of the German plots in America-describes the channels of communication he established in many parts of the United States, the wireless codes and the messages the codes deciphered, the weaknesses of Teutonic agents that were studied and utilized, the loyal Americans who helped outwit the most acute diplomats and secret service men of the Central Empires. What he found was evidence of more than a series of isolated plots, more than a group of activities inspired by the fever of war. Instead, the evidence of these activities showed that they spread out into a most far-reaching network, of perfect pattern, woven patiently by one central hand through years long before the war in Europe began the systematic, secret war of the Kaiser on the American democracy, a war conceived in the cool calculations of peace, using diplomats, men of learning, professional men, and the leaders of our business life in an orderly plot to undermine our ideals, to control our commerce, and finally to conquer our nation by force of arms. The story Mr. Rathom has to tell has all the action and adventure of romance, but it has besides a message for the most serious contemplation of the American people-the message that this machinery of internal disruption is still in operation, that the agents of the Kaiser still ply their trade of death in the United States, that this deadly peril is still in our midst. It is the patriotic desire to warn the people of the Nation of this continuing peril that bas prompted Mr. Rathom to tell this story of experiences in unmasking the German plots.-THE EDITORS. Copyright, 1918, by THE WORLD'S WORK. All rights strictly reserved. T NO PROPERLY understand the story of German intrigue in this country it is necessary to realize that the the work of propaganda opened up through the German Embassy in Washington at the beginning of the European war was not conceived in a night, and did not spring full-grown out of the emergency then created. The United States, the only great nation in the world without any political secret service or espionage system, with no knowledge of secret diplomacy, no machinery with which to guard its military, naval, or governmental secrets, the ranks of employees in every gov ernment office freely open at all times to men and women of every nationality, and containing within its borders the most polyglot population ever brought together under a civilized form of government, had been for thirty years before the outbreak of the European war a fertile field for German propaganda. Germany's sources of information with regard to every condition about which she desired to secure information in this country were practically limitless; a large number of willing and subservient Germans, working without hindrance or any suggestion of espionage, had been enabled during a long period of years to lay before the German Foreign Office SYSTEM FROM THE INSIDE Lusitania Sinking-A Wireless Episode-How the Plots Were First Detected, How earthed, and the Men Who Did the Work EDITOR OF THE PROVIDENCE "JOURNAL” THE ADVERTISEMENT THAT INFLAMED AMERICA It appeared in the New York World and the New York Times of May 1, 1915, having been inserted by the German Embassy at Washington by the direction of the Government at Berlin, as the documents appearing on pages 396, 397, and 398 prove. Of course the advertisement referred to the Lusitania, which was sunk six days later. Notice the "cleverness" of the German Embassy officials in dating the advertisement "April 22, 1915" for insertion in the newspapers of May 1st LINE Steamships ¡LASGOW lay 1, Noon 1 Pier 64, N. R. May 7,5p.m. rpool. ot W 14th St. All-the-Way LINE. Steamships 6 P. M. Tues., LINE n Route from Paris. ! & MARSEILLES oma 17 State St., N. Y. (LIANO 11 DAYS. ADVERTISEMENT. NOTICE! TRAVELLERS intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or of any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travellers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk. 306 & 390 up. IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY B'way. N. Y LOBIDA ifth Ave., N. X. WASHINGTON, D. C. APRIL 22, 1915. very complete information which might be useful to the Fatherland in any future emergency on this continent. Even in the ranks of our army and navy, there were hundreds of men, citizens only in name and owing their first allegiance to Germany, keen and eager to do at any time whatever Prussia called on them to do. The secrets of our mills and factories, the methods and scope of our great banking interests, the operation of our railroads and our shipping all of these facts had been for years the very alphabet of Germany's knowledge of our daily life, a knowledge secured not by outside spies working under immense difficulties, as would have been the case in any country of Europe, but from the very heart of our economic and social movement by an organization of men actually engaged in the work itself. Thus it was that when the German Foreign Office, through the Embassy in Washington, began what appeared to be the easy task of moulding American sentiment to its will, all the necessary machinery was ready at hand. This condition, coupled with the firm belief on the part of Germany that the millions of her subjects who had become citizens of the United States would not hesitate for a moment in any choice that might be laid before them between adherence to the fortunes of Germany Caledonia... California foot W. 17th St. 20 21 22 ་ 15 1909 Belfast Caronia NEW YORK, PLYMOUTH, CHERBOURG AND St. Paul.......... Philadelphia.... NEW YORK AND foot W. 24th St. Camerouía. Columbia....................... AMERICAN LINE. 1895 Philadelphia (Wm. Cramp & Sons.... GLASGOW, Pier (Office, 17 Broadway.) 1911 Glasgow.......[D). & W. Hendersou... Minneapolis......1] 1900 | Belfast.. Harland & Wolff...... Minnekabda.... 1915 Belfast....... Harland & Wolff...... Carmania. Transylvania (Building). NEW YORK, MEDITERRANEAN- FROM- Berlin. Foreign Office. TO Botschaft. Washington 66669, (44-W) Welt nineteen-fifteen varne 175 29 1 stop 175 1 2 stop durch 622 2 4 stop 19 7 18 stop IIX 11 3 4 5 6. Transatlantic Passenger Steamers. STEAMSHIPS. St. Louis.. 175 Owing to the European war this list is liable to change. Gross many vitally important elements in our commercial life. It was, therefore, on known ground that Ambassador von Bernstorff and his associates began their work of intensive cultivation of Prussianized DIMENSIONS IN FEET. doctrines in this country. With every path apparently wide CUNARD LINE. ESTABLISHED 1904. Carpathila...... 1903 Newcastle ..wan & Hunter....... Franconia....... 1911 | Newcastle...Swan & Hunter......... . 18150 1900 Newcastle ..Swan & Hunter........ 14278 Lacoula. 1913 Newcastle ..Swan & Hunter....... 18160 {las:nv.. J. Brown & ('0....... 16000 PROOF THAT THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT AT BERLINThe cipher message at the top, which came through from Nauen to Sayville at 2 A. M. April 29, 1915, and was caught by the Providence Journal's wireless operators, created great interest in the Journal office because it followed none of the known codes and, in form, was unlike any other message that had been received at Sayville up to that time. It was interesting also because static conditions were unfavorable that morning, and the fact that four attempts were made before it was successfully put through showed that it was of more than ordinary importance. Every attempt to decipher it failed until somebody with a line on the internal activities of the German or to the land of their adoption, seemed in the minds of the men responsible for her foreign policy to make it certain that in whatever channel they desired to direct American sentiment their will would be practically law. For nearly a generation German influence on American school boards had been insidiously shaping public sentiment here through our school books and histories. Exchange professors, liberally sprinkled with Imperial decorations, had maintained and increased a constant propaganda of reverence for Germany and German institutions through many of the educational centres of the United States. And the great German commercial houses which had secured a foothold in this country, and which were virtually outposts of the German Foreign Office, had gained strong positions in open to their feet, they proceeded, at first without any thought of serious opposition, to mould the United States to their will, to stultify our national ideals, and so drug our national con science that, regardless of what might happen in Eur ope, we would stand by, a dis interested spectator, except for the growth of a keen desire to see Germany triumphant. It is well, to begin with, to know something of the personality of the men into whose hands was entrusted this new and crowning movement which was to lead to a glorious success for German diplomatic methods. For purposes of this analysis it is not necessary to dwell on the personality or character of Ambassador Dumba, the representative of Austria in this country, or any of his fellow-officials representing that Government in this country. None of them, from the day war began, was ever anything but a puppet in the hands of German Embassy officials; they had no will of their own, and they had been directly ordered through their Foreign Office to put themselves entirely in the hands of Von Bernstorff and his associates. The German Ambassador had been for years a social lion in Washington, and this THE American Newspaper Annual and Directory, published by N. W. Ayer & Son, reported the number of newspapers published in the United States in 1914 as follows: 4 5 tion of wealthy people which came to him as a perquisite of his position, and the social influence which it let him wield. His personal vanity was great, and his subordinates often played upon it as an easy road to favor and advancement. He, in turn, was not above using his social connections as part of the ma 6 The World. JOSEPH PULITZER. April 10, 1847 + October 29, 1911. THE WORLD'S purpose, to "turn on the light" in the interest of the people at large, was not forgotten during the year 1914. This inspiring alm was responsible for a remarkable feat in Journalistic world. It led THE WORLD to investigate the business methods of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, nothing daunted by the fact that the corporation was controlled by some of the greatest living financiers, men whose decisions were supposed to be the -DIRECTED THE PRINTING OF THE "LUSITANIA" ADVERTISEMENT chinery to spread German propaganda in When the propaganda of the Embassy began to meet with opposition, and it gradually dawned upon the minds of these men that the task before them was filled with pitfalls and difficulties, it was interesting to note the change in their attitude. Ambassador von Bernstorff took up the rôle of martyr. He posed, and succeeded in having his pose believed in by a large part of the American public, as a creature of unfortunate circumstances, crushed between the upper and nether mill-stones, and powerless to prevent the growing insolence of his Foreign Office, as displayed against the United States. Returning to the Embassy from a visit to Secretary Lansing on April 10, 1916, after the attack on the steamship Sussex by a German submarine, he said to Prince Hatzfeldt, in the presence of Baron von Schoen, First Secretary of the Embassy, Haniel von Haim "THE SEAL OF 2 SAFETY AT SEA" 8 9 10 Aside from the acknowledged duty of every manu- assembling and testing of each motor so that life may be safe with it. THESE ARE THE PROOFS: The successful voyage across the Atlantic of the 35-foot motor The two successful trips through the Niagara Rapids and the Records made in endurance tests and in the every-day service in all The 1914 Scripps models contain many new improvements, all of which This book also contains full information regarding the new ELECTRIC SCRIPPS MOTOR COMPANY 661 Lincoln Ave., Detroit. Mich., U. S. A. "LIX II SCRIPPS MOTORS ARE CAR- New York-Bowler, Holmes & Heck- St. Louiset St. N. Jacksonville, Fla.-Gibbs Gas Engine Seattle, Wash.-S V B. Miller, 72 Arms San Francisco, Cat.-Ellery Winnipeg LIX 17 Battery Place, New York City. 3456" Translated meaning "Page LIX, eleventh line, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth words." For further explanation see pages 396 and 397 hausen, Counselor, and another man employed in the Embassy, "I told the Secretary "I told the Secretary of State to-day that the poor Ambassador was crushed to earth by the lack of understanding of the American people shown by my Government in Berlin; that accursed Foreign Office which puts such burdens on me!" This declaration was received by the group with hearty laughter, in which the Ambassador joined. During this period a good many people were trusting in his sincerity and believed Von Bernstorff to be in a cruel personal position, calling, as far as he was concerned, for nothing but sympathy; a man forced by his Government to do and say things to which he himself was entirely opposed. As a matter of fact many of the messages alleged to have come from his Government to him, and to have been received and transmitted by him in des pair to our Government, were actually prepared under his personal direction, sent to Berlin by cable through Swedish channels, and then forwarded back to him by wireless from Nauen. Bernstorff and Von Papen had no scruples about adding to their material wealth by means of knowledge secured by reason of their official connection with their Government. Working through a well-known New York stock broker, whose personal affiliation with the Embassy was common talk in Washington and New York, Von Bernstorff repeatedly purchased and sold blocks of stock of various industries. Von Papen's methods of enriching himself did not stop at these outside activities. His manner of accounting, or rather lack of accounting, for many large sums of money supposed to have been spent on propaganda work brought about, more than once, a very rigid scrutiny of his financial condition and his agents' receipts. One of his common lapses in this direction was the giving of elaborate parties at Washington clubs to satisfy his own social desires, and the inclusion of the bills for these parties in his official accounts as being necessary for the progress of his propaganda work. One of the bills so rendered showed that a golf club luncheon had cost him nineteen dollars per plate for eleven people. The note accompanying this bill declared that the outlay was "far more than justified in the results secured." As his ten guests on this particular occasion were all Washington people, none of whom by the most extreme stretch of the imagination could be able to render him any diplomatic service whatever, this particular |