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diff --git a/old/7238-8.txt b/old/7238-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e69a29 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7238-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10581 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of My Four Years in Germany, by James W. Gerard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: My Four Years in Germany + +Author: James W. Gerard + +Posting Date: February 12, 2015 [EBook #7238] +Release Date: January, 2005 +First Posted: March 30, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY *** + + + + +Produced by Robert J. Hall + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: AN INVITATION TO ATTEND THE OPENING OF THE ROYAL +ACADEMY.] + +[Illustration: AN INVITATION TO A COURT BALL.] + +[Illustration: SAFE CONDUCT FOR AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS FAMILY, +UNDER THE SIGNATURE OF SECRETARY ZIMMERMANN, FEBRUARY, 5, 1917.] + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD SAYING GOOD-BYE TO THE AMERICANS +LEAVING ON A SPECIAL TRAIN, AUGUST, 1914.] + + + + +MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY + +BY JAMES W. GERARD + +LATE AMBASSADOR TO THE GERMAN IMPERIAL COURT + + + + +TO MY SMALL BUT TACTFUL FAMILY OF ONE + +MY WIFE + + + +FOREWORD + +I am writing what should have been the last chapter of this book +as a foreword because I want to bring home to our people the +gravity of the situation; because I want to tell them that the +military and naval power of the German Empire is unbroken; that of +the twelve million men whom the Kaiser has called to the colours +but one million, five hundred thousand have been killed, five +hundred thousand permanently disabled, not more than five hundred +thousand are prisoners of war, and about five hundred thousand +constitute the number of wounded or those on the sick list of +each day, leaving at all times about nine million effectives +under arms. + +I state these figures because Americans do not grasp either the +magnitude or the importance of this war. Perhaps the statement +that over five million prisoners of war are held in the various +countries will bring home to Americans the enormous mass of men +engaged. + +There have been no great losses in the German navy, and any losses +of ships have been compensated for by the building of new ones. +The nine million men, and more, for at least four hundred thousand +come of military age in Germany every year, because of their +experience in two and a half years of war are better and more +efficient soldiers than at the time when they were called to +the colours. Their officers know far more of the science of this +war and the men themselves now have the skill and bearing of +veterans. + +Nor should anyone believe that Germany will break under starvation +or make peace because of revolution. + +The German nation is not one which makes revolutions. There will +be scattered riots in Germany, but no simultaneous rising of the +whole people. The officers of the army are all of one class, +and of a class devoted to the ideals of autocracy. A revolution +of the army is impossible; and at home there are only the boys +and old men easily kept in subjection by the police. + +There is far greater danger of the starvation of our Allies than +of the starvation of the Germans. Every available inch of ground +in Germany is cultivated, and cultivated by the aid of the old +men, the boys and the women, and the two million prisoners of +war. + +The arable lands of Northern France and of Roumania are being +cultivated by the German army with an efficiency never before +known in these countries, and most of that food will be added +to the food supplies of Germany. Certainly the people suffer; +but still more certainly this war will not be ended because of +the starvation of Germany. + +Although thinking Germans know that if they do not win the war +the financial day of reckoning will come, nevertheless, owing to +the clever financial handling of the country by the government +and the great banks, there is at present no financial distress in +Germany; and the knowledge that, unless indemnities are obtained +from other countries, the weight of the great war debt will fall +upon the people, perhaps makes them readier to risk all in a +final attempt to win the war and impose indemnities upon not +only the nations of Europe but also upon the United States of +America. + +We are engaged in a war against the greatest military power the +world has ever seen; against a people whose country was for so +many centuries a theatre of devastating wars that fear is bred +in the very marrow of their souls, making them ready to submit +their lives and fortunes to an autocracy which for centuries has +ground their faces, but which has promised them, as a result of +the war, not only security but riches untold and the dominion of +the world; a people which, as from a high mountain, has looked +upon the cities of the world and the glories of them, and has +been promised these cities and these glories by the devils of +autocracy and of war. + +We are warring against a nation whose poets and professors, whose +pedagogues and whose parsons have united in stirring its people +to a white pitch of hatred, first against Russia, then against +England and now against America. + +The U-Boat peril is a very real one for England. Russia may either +break up into civil wars or become so ineffective that the millions +of German troops engaged on the Russian front may be withdrawn +and hurled against the Western lines. We stand in great peril, +and only the exercise of ruthless realism can win this war for us. +If Germany wins this war it means the triumph of the autocratic +system. It means the triumph of those who believe not only in +war as a national industry, not only in war for itself but also +in war as a high and noble occupation. Unless Germany is beaten +the whole world will be compelled to turn itself into an armed +camp, until the German autocracy either brings every nation under +its dominion or is forever wiped out as a form of government. + +We are in this war because we were forced into it: because Germany +not only murdered our citizens on the high seas, but also filled +our country with spies and sought to incite our people to civil +war. We were given no opportunity to discuss or negotiate. The +forty-eight hour ultimatum given by Austria to Serbia was not, +as Bernard Shaw said, "A decent time in which to ask a man to +pay his hotel bill." What of the six-hour ultimatum given to +me in Berlin on the evening of January thirty-first, 1917, when +I was notified at six that ruthless warfare would commence at +twelve? Why the German government, which up to that moment had +professed amity and a desire to stand by the _Sussex_ pledges, +knew that it took almost two days to send a cable to America! I +believe that we are not only justly in this war, but prudently +in this war. If we had stayed out and the war had been drawn +or won by Germany we should have been attacked, and that while +Europe stood grinning by: not directly at first, but through an +attack on some Central or South American State to which it would +be at least as difficult for us to send troops as for Germany. +And what if this powerful nation, vowed to war, were once firmly +established in South or Central America? What of our boasted +isolation then? + +It is only because I believe that our people should be informed +that I have consented to write this book. There are too many +thinkers, writers and speakers in the United States; from now +on we need the doers, the organisers, and the realists who alone +can win this contest for us, for democracy and for permanent +peace! + +Writing of events so new, I am, of course, compelled to exercise +a great discretion, to keep silent on many things of which I +would speak, to suspend many judgments and to hold for future +disclosure many things, the relation of which now would perhaps +only serve to increase bitterness or to cause internal dissension +in our own land. + +The American who travels through Germany in summer time or who +spends a month having his liver tickled at Homburg or Carlsbad, +who has his digestion restored by Dr. Dapper at Kissingen or +who relearns the lost art of eating meat at Dr. Dengler's in +Baden, learns little of the real Germany and its rulers; and in +this book I tell something of the real Germany, not only that +my readers may understand the events of the last three years +but also that they may judge of what is likely to happen in our +future relations with that country. + + + + +CONTENTS + + FOREWORD. + I MY FIRST YEAR IN GERMANY. + II POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL. + III DIPLOMATIC WORK OF FIRST WINTER IN BERLIN. + IV MILITARISM IN GERMANY AND THE ZABERN AFFAIR. + V PSYCHOLOGY AND CAUSES WHICH PREPARED THE NATION FOR WAR. + VI AT KIEL JUST BEFORE THE WAR. + VII THE SYSTEM. + VIII THE DAYS BEFORE THE WAR. + IX THE AMERICANS AT THE OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES. + X PRISONERS OF WAR. + XI FIRST DAYS OF THE WAR: POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC. + XII DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS. + XIII MAINLY COMMERCIAL. + XIV WORK FOR THE GERMANS. + XV WAR CHARITIES. + XVI HATE. + XVII DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS. (Continued). + XVIII LIBERALS AND REASONABLE MEN. + XIX THE GERMAN PEOPLE IN WAR. + XX LAST. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + AMBASSADOR GERARD SAYING GOOD-BYE TO THE AMERICANS LEAVING ON + A SPECIAL TRAIN, AUGUST, 1914. + AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO PRESENT HIS LETTERS OF CREDENCE + TO THE EMPEROR. + THE HOUSE RENTED FOR USE AS EMBASSY. + A SALON IN THE EMBASSY. + THE BALL-ROOM OF THE EMBASSY. + PROGRAMME OF THE MUSIC AFTER DINNER AT THE ROYAL PALACE. + THE ROYAL PALACE AT POTSDAM. + DEMONSTRATION OF SYMPATHY FOR THE AMERICANS AT THE TOWN HALL, + AUGUST, 1914. + RACING YACHTS AT KIEL. + THE KAISER'S YACHT, "HOHENZOLLERN". + AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO HIS SHOOTING PRESERVE. + A KEEPER AND BEATERS ON THE SHOOTING PRESERVE. + CROWDS IN FRONT OF THE EMBASSY, AUGUST, 1914. + OUTSIDE THE EMBASSY IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR. + AT WORK IN THE EMBASSY BALL-ROOM, AUGUST, 1914. + AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS STAFF. + COVER OF THE RUHLEBEN MONTHLY. + SPECIMEN PAGE OF DRAWINGS FROM THE RUHLEBEN MONTHLY. + ALLEGED DUM-DUM BULLETS. + THE "LUSITANIA" MEDAL. + PAGE FROM "FOR LIGHT AND TRUTH". + AMBASSADOR GERARD AND PARTY IN SEDAN. + IN FRONT OF THE COTTAGE AT BAZEILLES. + FOOD ALLOTMENT POSTER FROM THE CHARLEVILLE DISTRICT. + FAC-SIMILE REPRODUCTION OF THE KAISER'S PERSONAL TELEGRAM TO + PRESIDENT WILSON. + FAC-SIMILE OF SECRETARY OF STATE'S REQUEST TO AMBASSADOR GERARD + TO CALL IN ORDER TO RECEIVE SUBMARINE ANNOUNCEMENT. + THE REMODELLED DRAFT OF THE TREATY OF 1799. + INSTRUCTIONS SENT TO THE GERMAN PRESS ON WRITING UP A ZEPPELIN + RAID. + PETITION CIRCULATED FOR SIGNATURE AMONG AMERICANS IN EUROPE. + PAGE FROM LISSAUER'S PAMPHLET SHOWING "HYMN OF HATE". + INSTRUCTIONS REGULATING APPEARANCE AT COURT. + A BERLIN EXTRA. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MY FIRST YEAR IN GERMANY + +The second day out on the _Imperator_, headed for a summer's +vacation, a loud knocking woke me at seven A. M. The radio, handed +in from a friend in New York, told me of my appointment as Ambassador +to Germany. + +Many friends were on the ship. Henry Morgenthau, later Ambassador +to Turkey, Colonel George Harvey, Adolph Ochs and Louis Wiley +of the _New York Times_, Clarence Mackay, and others. + +The _Imperator_ is a marvellous ship of fifty-four thousand +tons or more, and at times it is hard to believe that one is +on the sea. In addition to the regular dining saloon, there is +a grill room and Ritz restaurant with its palm garden, and, of +course, an Hungarian Band. There are also a gymnasium and swimming +pool, and, nightly, in the enormous ballroom dances are given, +the women dressing in their best just as they do on shore. + +Colonel Harvey and Clarence Mackay gave me a dinner of twenty-four +covers, something of a record at sea. For long afterwards in +Germany, I saw everywhere pictures of the _Imperator_ including +one of the tables set for this dinner. These were sent out over +Germany as a sort of propaganda to induce the Germans to patronise +their own ships and indulge in ocean travel. I wish that the +propaganda had been earlier and more successful, because it is +by travel that peoples learn to know each other, and consequently +to abstain from war. + +On the night of the usual ship concert, Henry Morgenthau translated +a little speech for me into German, which I managed to get through +after painfully learning it by heart. Now that I have a better +knowledge of German, a cold sweat breaks out when I think of +the awful German accent with which I delivered that address. + +A flying trip to Berlin early in August to look into the house +question followed, and then I returned to the United States. + +In September I went to Washington to be "instructed," talked +with the President and Secretary, and sat at the feet of the +Assistant Secretary of State, Alvey A. Adee, the revered Sage +of the Department of State. + +On September ninth, 1913, having resigned as Justice of the Supreme +Court of the State of New York, I sailed for Germany, stopping on +the way in London in order to make the acquaintance of Ambassador +Page, certain wise people in Washington having expressed the +belief that a personal acquaintance of our Ambassadors made it +easier for them to work together. + +Two cares assail a newly appointed Ambassador. He must first +take thought of what he shall wear and where he shall live. All +other nations have beautiful Embassies or Legations in Berlin, +but I found that my two immediate predecessors had occupied a +villa originally built as a two-family house, pleasantly enough +situated, but two miles from the centre of Berlin and entirely +unsuitable for an Embassy. + +There are few private houses in Berlin, most of the people living +in apartments. After some trouble I found a handsome house on +the Wilhelm Platz immediately opposite the Chancellor's palace +and the Foreign Office, in the very centre of Berlin. This house +had been built as a palace for the Princes Hatzfeld and had later +passed into the possession of a banking family named von Schwabach. + +The United States Government, unlike other nations, does not +own or pay the rent of a suitable Embassy, but gives allowance +for offices, if the house is large enough to afford office room +for the office force of the Embassy. The von Schwabach palace +was nothing but a shell. Even the gas and electric light fixtures +had been removed; and when the hot water and heating system, +bath-rooms, electric lights and fixtures, etc., had been put +in, and the house furnished from top to bottom, my first year's +salary had far passed the minus point. + +The palace was not ready for occupancy until the end of January, +1914, and, in the meantime, we lived at the Hotel Esplanade, +and I transacted business at the old, two-family villa. + +There are more diplomats in Berlin than in any other capital in +the world, because each of the twenty-five States constituting +the German Empire sends a legation to Berlin; even the free cities +of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen have a resident minister at the +Empire's capital. + +Invariable custom requires a new Ambassador in Berlin to give +two receptions, one to the Diplomatic Corps and the other to +all those people who have the right to go to court. These are +the officials, nobles and officers of the army and navy, and +such other persons as have been presented at court. Such people +are called _hoffähig_, meaning that they are fit for court. + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO PRESENT HIS LETTERS +OF CREDENCE TO THE EMPEROR.] + +[Illustration: THE HOUSE ON THE WILHELM PLATZ, RENTED FOR USE +AS THE EMBASSY.] + +It is interesting here to note that Jews are not admitted to +court. Such Jews as have been ennobled and allowed to put the +coveted "von" before their names have first of all been required +to submit to baptism in some Christian church. Examples are the +von Schwabach family, whose ancestral house I occupied in Berlin, +and Friedlaender-Fuld, officially rated as the richest man in +Berlin, who made a large fortune in coke and its by-products. + +These two receptions are really introductions of an Ambassador +to official and court society. + +Before these receptions, however, and in the month of November, +I presented my letters of credence as Ambassador to the Emperor. +This presentation is quite a ceremony. Three coaches were sent +for me and my staff, coaches like that in which Cinderella goes +to her ball, mostly glass, with white wigged coachmen, outriders +in white wigs and standing footmen holding on to the back part +of the coach. Baron von Roeder, introducer of Ambassadors, came +for me and accompanied me in the first coach; the men of the +Embassy staff sat in the other two coaches. Our little procession +progressed solemnly through the streets of Berlin, passing on +the way through the centre division of the arch known as the +Brandenburger Thor, the gateway that stands at the head of the +Unter den Linden, a privilege given only on this occasion. + +We mounted long stairs in the palace, and in a large room were +received by the aides and the officers of the Emperor's household, +of course all in uniform. Then I was ushered alone into the adjoining +room where the Emperor, very erect and dressed in the black uniform +of the Death's Head Hussars, stood by a table. I made him a little +speech, and presented my letters of credence and the letters +of recall of my predecessor. The Emperor then unbent from his +very erect and impressive attitude and talked with me in a very +friendly manner, especially impressing me with his interest in +business and commercial affairs. I then, in accordance with custom, +asked leave to present my staff. The doors were opened. The staff +came in and were presented to the Emperor, who talked in a very +jolly and agreeable way to all of us, saying that he hoped above +all to see the whole of the Embassy staff riding in the Tier +Garten in the mornings. + +The Emperor is a most impressive figure, and, in his black uniform +surrounded by his officers, certainly looked every inch a king. +Although my predecessors, on occasions of this kind, had worn a +sort of fancy diplomatic uniform designed by themselves, I decided +to abandon this and return to the democratic, if unattractive and +uncomfortable, dress-suit, simply because the newspapers of America +and certain congressmen, while they have had no objection to the +wearing of uniforms by the army and navy, police and postmen, +and do not expect officers to lead their troops into battle in +dress-suits, have, nevertheless, had a most extraordinary prejudice +against American diplomats following the usual custom of adopting +a diplomatic uniform. + +Some days after my presentation to the Emperor, I was taken to +Potsdam, which is situated about half an hour's train journey from +Berlin, and, from the station there, driven to the new palace and +presented to the Empress. The Empress was most charming and affable, +and presented a very distinguished appearance. Accompanied by Mrs. +Gerard, and always, either by night or by day, in the infernal +dress-suit, I was received by the Crown Prince and Princess, and +others of the royal princes and their wives. On these occasions +we sat down and did not stand, as when received by the Emperor +and Empress, and simply made "polite conversation" for about +twenty minutes, being received first by the ladies-in-waiting +and aides. These princes were always in uniform of some kind. + +At the reception for the _hoffähig_ people Mrs. Gerard stood +in one room and I in another, and with each of us was a +representative of the Emperor's household to introduce the people +of the court, and an army officer to introduce the people of the +army. The officer assigned to me had the extraordinary name of +der Pfortner von der Hoelle, which means the "porter of Hell." +I have often wondered since by what prophetic instinct he was +sent to introduce me to the two years and a half of world war +which I experienced in Berlin. This unfortunate officer, a most +charming gentleman, was killed early in the war. + +The Berlin season lasts from about the twentieth of January for +about six weeks. It is short in duration because, if the +_hoffähig_ people stay longer than six weeks in Berlin, they +become liable to pay their local income tax in Berlin, where +the rate is higher than in those parts of Germany where they +have their country estates. + +The first great court ceremonial is the _Schleppencour_, +so-called from the long trains or _Schleppen_ worn by the +women. On this night we "presented" Mr. and Mrs. Robert K. Cassatt +of Philadelphia, Mrs. Ernest Wiltsee, Mrs. and Miss Luce and +Mrs. Norman Whitehouse. On the arrival at the palace with these +and all the members of the Embassy Staff and their wives, we +were shown up a long stair-case, at the top of which a guard of +honour, dressed in costume of the time of Frederick the Great, +presented arms to all Ambassadors, and ruffled kettle-drums. +Through long lines of cadets from the military schools, dressed +as pages, in white, with short breeches and powdered wigs, we +passed through several rooms where all the people to pass in +review were gathered. Behind these, in a room about sixty feet by +fifty, on a throne facing the door were the Emperor and Empress, +and on the broad steps of this throne were the princes and their +wives, the court ladies-in-waiting and all the other members of +the court. The wives of the Ambassadors entered the room first, +followed at intervals of about twenty feet by the ladies of the +Embassy and the ladies to be presented. As they entered the room +and made a change of direction toward the throne, pages in white +straightened out the ladies' trains with long sticks. Arrived +opposite the throne and about twenty feet from it, each Ambassador's +wife made a low curtsey and then stood on the foot of the throne, +to the left of the Emperor and Empress, and as each lady of the +Embassy, not before presented, and each lady to be presented +stopped beside the throne and made a low curtsey, the Ambassadress +had to call out the name of each one in a loud voice; and when +the last one had passed she followed her out of the room, walking +sideways so as not to turn her back on the royalties,--something +of a feat when towing a train about fifteen feet long. When all the +Ambassadresses had so passed, it was the turn of the Ambassadors, +who carried out substantially the same programme, substituting low +bows for curtsies. The Ambassadors were followed by the Ministers' +wives, these by the Ministers and these by the dignitaries of +the German Court. All passed into the adjoining hall, and there +a buffet supper was served. The whole affair began at about eight +o'clock and was over in an hour. + +At the court balls, which also began early in the evening, a +different procedure was followed. There the guests were required +to assemble before eight-twenty in the ball-room. As in the +_Schleppencour_, on one side of the room was the throne with +seats for the Emperor and Empress, and to the right of this throne +were the chairs for the Ambassadors' wives who were seated in the +order of their husbands' rank, with the ladies of their Embassy, +and any ladies they had brought to the ball standing behind them. +After them came the Ministers' wives, sitting in similar fashion; +then the Ambassadors, standing with their staffs behind them on +raised steps, with any men that they had asked invitations for, +and the Ministers in similar order. To the left of the throne +stood the wives of the Dukes and dignitaries of Germany and then +their husbands. When all were assembled, promptly at the time +announced, the orchestra, which was dressed in mediæval costume +and sat in a gallery, sounded trumpets and then the Emperor and +Empress entered the room, the Emperor, of course, in uniform, +followed by the ladies and gentlemen of the household all in +brilliant uniforms, and one or two officers of the court regiment, +picked out for their great height and dressed in the kind of +uniform Rupert of Hentzau wears on the stage,--a silver helmet +surmounted by an eagle, a steel breast-plate, white breeches +and coat, and enormous high boots coming half way up the thigh. +The Grand Huntsman wore a white wig, three-cornered hat and a +long green coat. + +On entering the room, the Empress usually commenced on one side +and the Emperor on the other, going around the room and speaking +to the Ambassadors' wives and Ambassadors, etc., in turn, and +the Empress in similar fashion, chatting for a moment with the +German dignitaries and their wives lined up on the opposite side +of the room. After going perhaps half way around each side, the +Emperor and Empress would then change sides. This going around +the room and chatting with people in turn is called "making the +circle", and young royalties are practised in "making the circle" +by being made to go up to the trees in a garden and address a +few pleasant words to each tree, in this manner learning one +of the principal duties of royalty. + +The dancing is only by young women and young officers of noble +families who have practised the dances before. They are under +the superintendence of several young officers who are known as +_Vortänzer_ and when anyone in Berlin in court society gives +a ball these _Vortänzer_ are the ones who see that all dancing +is conducted strictly according to rule and manage the affairs +of the ball-room with true Prussian efficiency. Supper is about +ten-thirty at a court ball and is at small tables. Each royalty +has a table holding about eight people and to these people are +invited without particular rule as to precedence. The younger +guests and lower dignitaries are not placed at supper but find +places at tables to suit themselves. After supper all go back +to the ball-room and there the young ladies and officers, led +by the _Vortänzer_ execute a sort of lancers, in the final +figure of which long lines are formed of dancers radiating from +the throne; and all the dancers make bows and curtsies to the +Emperor and Empress who are either standing or sitting at this +time on the throne. At about eleven-thirty the ball is over, +and as the guests pass out through the long hall, they are given +glasses of hot punch and a peculiar sort of local Berlin bun, in +order to ward off the lurking dangers of the villainous winter +climate. + +At the court balls the diplomats are, of course, in their best +diplomatic uniform. All Germans are in uniform of some kind, but the +women do not wear the long trains worn at the _Schleppencour_. +They wear ordinary ball dresses. In connection with court dancing +it is rather interesting to note that when the tango and turkey +trot made their way over the frontiers of Germany in the autumn +of 1913, the Emperor issued a special order that no officers of +the army or navy should dance any of these dances or should go +to the house of any person who, at any time, whether officers +were present or not, had allowed any of these new dances to be +danced. This effectually extinguished the turkey trot, the bunny +hug and the tango, and maintained the waltz and the polka in their +old estate. It may seem ridiculous that such a decree should +be so solemnly issued, but I believe that the higher authorities +in Germany earnestly desired that the people, and, especially, +the officers of the army and navy, should learn not to enjoy +themselves too much. A great endeavour was always made to keep +them in a life, so far as possible, of Spartan simplicity. For +instance, the army officers were forbidden to play polo, not +because of anything against the game, which, of course, is splendid +practice for riding, but because it would make a distinction in +the army between rich and poor. + +[Illustration: A SALON IN THE AMERICAN EMBASSY.] + +[Illustration: THE BALLROOM OF THE EMBASSY. THIS WAS AFTERWARD +TURNED INTO A WORKROOM FOR THE RELIEF OF AMERICANS IN WAR DAYS.] + +The Emperor's birthday, January twenty-seventh, is a day of great +celebration. At nine-thirty in the morning the Ambassadors, Ministers +and all the dignitaries of the court attend Divine Service in the +chapel of the palace. On this day in 1914, the Queen of Greece and +many of the reigning princes of the German States were present. +In the evening there was a gala performance in the opera house, +the entire house being occupied by members of the court. Between +the acts in the large foyer, royalties "made the circle," and I +had quite a long conversation with both the Emperor and Empress +and was "caught" by the King of Saxony. Many of the Ambassadors +have letters of credence not only to the court at Berlin but +also to the rulers of the minor German States. For instance, +the Belgian Minister was accredited to thirteen countries in +Germany and the Spanish Ambassador to eleven. For some reason +or other, the American and Turkish Ambassadors are accredited +only to the court at Berlin. Some of the German rulers feel this +quite keenly, and the King of Saxony, especially. I had been +warned that he was very anxious to show his resentment of this +distinction by refusing to shake hands with the American Ambassador. +He was in the foyer on the occasion of this gala performance +and said that he would like to have me presented to him. I, of +course, could not refuse, but forgot the warning of my predecessors +and put out my hand, which the King ostentatiously neglected to +take. A few moments later the wife of the Turkish Ambassador was +presented to the King of Saxony and received a similar rebuff; +but, as she was a daughter of the Khedive of Egypt, and therefore +a Royal Highness in her own right, she went around the King of +Saxony, seized his hand, which he had put behind him, brought +it around to the front and shook it warmly, a fine example of +great presence of mind. + +Writing of all these things and looking out from a sky-scraper +in New York, these details of court life seem very frivolous +and far away. But an Ambassador is compelled to become part of +this system. The most important conversations with the Emperor +sometimes take place at court functions, and the Ambassador and +his secretaries often gather their most useful bits of information +over tea cups or with the cigars after dinner. + +Aside from the short season, Berlin is rather dull; Bismarck +characterised it as a "desert of bricks and newspapers." + +In addition to making visits to the royalties, custom required +me to call first upon the Imperial Chancellor and the Minister +of Foreign Affairs. The other ministers are supposed to call +first, although I believe the redoubtable von Tirpitz claimed +a different rule. So, during the first winter I gradually made +the acquaintance of those people who sway the destinies of the +German Empire and its seventy millions. + +I dined with the Emperor and had long conversations with him on +New Year's Day and at the two court balls. + +All during this winter Germans from the highest down tried to +impress me with the great danger which they said threatened America +from Japan. The military and naval attachés and I were told that +the German information system sent news that Mexico was full +of Japanese colonels and America of Japanese spies. Possibly +much of the prejudice in America against the Japanese was cooked +up by the German propagandists whom we later learned to know +so well. + +It is noteworthy that during the whole of my first winter in +Berlin I was not officially or semi-officially afforded an +opportunity to meet any of the members of the Reichstag or any +of the leaders in the business world. The great merchants, whose +acquaintance I made, as well as the literary and artistic people, +I had to seek out; because most of them were not _hoffähig_ +and I did not come in contact with them at any court functions, +official dinners or even in the houses of the court nobles or +those connected with the government. + +A very interesting character whom I met during the first winter +and often conversed with, was Prince Henkel-Donnersmarck. Prince +Donnersmarck, who died December, 1916, at the age of eighty-six +years, was the richest male subject in Germany, the richest subject +being Frau von Krupp-Böhlen, the heiress of the Krupp cannon +foundry. He was the first governor of Lorraine during the war of +1870 and had had a finger in all of the political and commercial +activities of Germany for more than half a century. He told me, on +one occasion, that he had advocated exacting a war indemnity of +thirty milliards from France after the war of 1870, and said that +France could easily pay it--and that that sum or much more should +be exacted as an indemnity at the conclusion of the World War of +1914. He said that he had always advocated a protective tariff +for agricultural products in Germany as well as encouragement of +the German manufacturing interests: that agriculture was necessary +to the country in order to provide strong soldiers for war, and +manufacturing industries to provide money to pay for the army and +navy and their equipment. He made me promise to take his second +son to America in order that he might see American life, and the +great iron and coal districts of Pennsylvania. Of course, most +of these conversations took place before the World War. After +two years of that war and, as prospects of paying the expenses +of the war from the indemnities to be exacted from the enemies +of Germany gradually melted away, the Prince quite naturally +developed a great anxiety as to how the expenses of the war should +be paid by Germany; and I am sure that this anxiety had much to +do with his death at the end of the year, 1916. + +Custom demanded that I should ask for an appointment and call on +each of the Ambassadors on arrival. The British Ambassador was +Sir Edward Goschen, a man of perhaps sixty-eight years, a widower. +He spoke French, of course, and German; and, accompanied by his +dog, was a frequent visitor at our house. I am very grateful +for the help and advice he so generously gave me--doubly valuable +as coming from a man of his fame and experience. Jules Cambon was +the Ambassador of France. His brother, Paul, is Ambassador to +the Court of St. James. Jules Cambon is well-known to Americans, +having passed five years in this country. He was Ambassador to +Spain for five years, and, at the time of my arrival, had been +about the same period at Berlin. In spite of his long residence +in each of these countries, he spoke only French; but he possessed +a really marvellous insight into the political life of each of +these nations. Bollati, the Italian Ambassador, was a great admirer +of Germany; he spoke German well and did everything possible +to keep Italy out of war with her former Allies in the Triple +Alliance. + +Spain was represented by Polo de Bernabe, who now represents +the interests of the United States in Germany, as well as those +of France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia and Roumania. It is a curious +commentary on the absurdity of war that, on leaving Berlin, I +handed over the interests of the United States to this Ambassador, +who, as Spanish minister to the United States, was handed his +passports at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war! I am sure +that not only he, but all his Embassy, will devotedly represent +our interests in Germany. Sverbeeu represented the interests +of Russia; Soughimoura, Japan; and Mouktar Pascha, Turkey. The +wife of the latter was a daughter of the Khedive of Egypt, and +Mouktar Pascha himself a general of distinction in the Turkish +army. + +An Ambassador must keep on intimate terms with his colleagues. +It is often through them that he learns of important matters +affecting his own country or others. All of these Ambassadors +and most of the Ministers occupied handsome houses furnished +by their government. They had large salaries and a fund for +entertaining. + +During this first winter before the war, I saw a great deal of +the German Crown Prince as well as of several of his brothers. + +I cannot subscribe to the general opinion of the Crown Prince. I +found him a most agreeable man, a sharp observer and the possessor +of intellectual attainments of no mean order. He is undoubtedly +popular in Germany, excelling in all sports, a fearless rider +and a good shot. He is ably seconded by the Crown Princess. The +mother of the Crown Princess is a Russian Grand Duchess, and +her father was a Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She is a very +beautiful woman made popular by her affable manners. The one +defect of the Crown Prince has been his eagerness for war; but, +as he has characterised this war as the most stupid ever waged +in history, perhaps he will be satisfied, if he comes to the +throne, with what all Germany has suffered in this conflict. + +The Crown Prince was very anxious, before the war, to visit the +United States; and we had practically arranged to make a trip +to Alaska in search of some of the big game there, with stops +at the principal cities of America. + +The second son of the Kaiser, Prince Eitel Fritz, is considered +by the Germans to have distinguished himself most in this war. +He is given credit for great personal bravery. + +Prince Adalbert, the sailor prince, is quite American in his +manners. In February, 1914, the Crown Prince and Princes Eitel +Fritz and Adalbert came to our Embassy for a very small dance to +which were asked all the pretty American girls then in Berlin. + +It is never the custom to invite royalties to an entertainment. +They invite themselves to a dance or a dinner, and the list of +proposed guests is always submitted to them. When a royalty arrives +at the house, the host (and the hostess, if the royalty be a +woman) always waits at the front door and escorts the royalties +up-stairs. Allison Armour also gave a dance at which the Crown +Prince was present, following a dinner at the Automobile Club. +Armour has been a constant visitor to Germany for many years, +usually going in his yacht to Kiel in summer and to Corfu, where +the Emperor goes, in winter. As he has never tried to obtain +anything from the Emperor, he has become quite intimate with him +and with all the members of the royal family. + +The Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg, is an enormous man of perhaps +six feet five or six. He comes of a banking family in Frankfort. +It is too soon to give a just estimate of his acts in this war. +When I arrived in Berlin and until November, 1916, von Jagow +was Minister of Foreign Affairs. In past years he had occupied +the post of Ambassador to Italy, and with great reluctance took +his place at the head of the Foreign Office. Zimmermann was +an Under Secretary, succeeding von Jagow when the latter was +practically forced out of office. Zimmermann, on account of his +plain and hearty manners and democratic air, was more of a favourite +with the Ambassadors and members of the Reichstag than von Jagow, +who, in appearance and manner, was the ideal old-style diplomat +of the stage. + +Von Jagow was not a good speaker and the agitation against him +was started by those who claimed that, in answering questions +in the Reichstag, he did not make a forceful enough appearance +on behalf of the government. Von Jagow did not cultivate the +members of the Reichstag and his delicate health prevented him +from undertaking more than the duties of his office. + +As a matter of fact, I believe that von Jagow had a juster estimate +of foreign nations than Zimmermann, and more correctly divined the +thoughts of the American people in this war than did his successor. +I thought that I enjoyed the personal friendship of both von +Jagow and Zimmermann and, therefore, was rather unpleasantly +surprised when I saw in the papers that Zimmermann had stated in +the Reichstag that he had been compelled, from motives of policy, +to keep on friendly terms with me. I sincerely hope that what he +said on this occasion was incorrectly reported. Von Jagow, after +his fall, took charge of a hospital at Libau in the occupied +portion of Russia. This shows the devotion to duty of the Prussian +noble class, and their readiness to take up any task, however +humble, that may help their country. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL + +My commission read, "Ambassador to Germany." + +It is characteristic of our deep ignorance of all foreign affairs +that I was appointed Ambassador to a place which does not exist. +Politically, there is no such place as "Germany." There are the +twenty-five States, Prussia, Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, etc., +which make up the "German Empire," but there is no such political +entity as "Germany." + +These twenty-five States have votes in the Bundesrat, a body +which may be said to correspond remotely to our United States +Senate. But each State has a different number of votes. Prussia +has seventeen, Bavaria six, Württemberg and Saxony four each, +Baden and Hesse three each, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Brunswick +two each, and the rest one each. Prussia controls Brunswick. + +The Reichstag, or Imperial Parliament, corresponds to our House +of Representatives. The members are elected by manhood suffrage of +those over twenty-five. But in practice the Reichstag is nothing +but a debating society because of the preponderating power of the +Bundesrat, or upper chamber. At the head of the ministry is the +Chancellor, appointed by the Emperor; and the other Ministers, such +as Colonies, Interior, Education, Justice and Foreign Affairs, +are but underlings of the Chancellor and appointed by him. The +Chancellor is not responsible to the Reichstag, as Bethmann-Hollweg +clearly stated at the time of the Zabern affair, but only to the +Emperor. + +It is true that an innovation properly belonging only to a +parliamentary government was introduced some seven years ago, +viz., that the ministers must answer questions (as in Great Britain) +put them by the members of the Reichstag. But there the likeness +to a parliamentary government begins and ends. + +The members of the Bundesrat are named by the Princes of the +twenty-five States making up the German Empire. Prussia, which +has seventeen votes, may name seventeen members of the Bundesrat +or one member, who, however, when he votes casts seventeen votes. +The votes of a State must always be cast as a unit. In the usual +procedure bills are prepared and adopted in the Bundesrat and +then sent to the Reichstag whence, if passed, they return to the +Bundesrat where the final approval must take place. Therefore, +in practice, the Bundesrat makes the laws with the assent of +the Reichstag. The members of the Bundesrat have the right to +appear and make speeches in the Reichstag. The fundamental +constitution of the German Empire is not changed, as with us, by +a separate body but is changed in the same way that an ordinary +law is passed; except that if there are fourteen votes against +the proposed change in the Bundesrat the proposition is defeated, +and, further, the constitution cannot be changed with respect +to rights expressly granted by it to anyone of the twenty-five +States without the assent of that State. + +In order to pass a law a majority vote in the Bundesrat and Reichstag +is sufficient if there is a quorum present, and a quorum is a +majority of the members elected in the Reichstag: in the Bundesrat +the quorum consists of such members as are present at a regularly +called meeting, providing the Chancellor or the Vice-Chancellor +attends. + +The boundaries of the districts sending members to the Reichstag +have not been changed since 1872, while, in the meantime, a great +shifting of population, as well as great increase of population +has taken place. And because of this, the Reichstag to-day does +not represent the people of Germany in the sense intended by the +framers of the Imperial Constitution. + +Much of the legislation that affects the everyday life of a German +emanates from the parliaments of Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony, +etc., as with us in our State Legislatures. The purely legislative +power of the ministers and Bundesrat is, however, large. These +German States have constitutions of some sort. The Grand Duchies +of Mecklenburg have no constitution whatever. It is understood +that the people themselves do not want one, on financial grounds, +fearing that many expenses now borne by the Grand Duke out of +his large private income, would be saddled on the people. The +other States have Constitutions varying in form. In Prussia there +are a House of Lords and a House of Deputies. The members of +the latter are elected by a system of circle votes, by which +the vote of one rich man voting in circle number one counts as +much as thousands voting in circle number three. It is the +recognition by Bethmann-Hollweg that this vicious system must +be changed that brought down on him the wrath of the Prussian +country squires, who for so long have ruled the German Empire, +filling places, civil and military, with their children and +relatives. + +In considering Germany, the immense influence of the military +party must not be left out of account; and, with the developments +of the navy, that branch of the service also claimed a share in +guiding the policy of the Government. + +The administrative, executive and judicial officers of Prussia +are not elected. The country is governed and judged by men who +enter this branch of the government service exactly as others +enter the army or navy. These are gradually promoted through +the various grades. This applies to judges, clerks of courts, +district attorneys and the officials who govern the political +divisions of Prussia, for Prussia is divided into circles, +presidencies and provinces. For instance, a young man may enter +the government service as assistant to the clerk of some court. +He may then become district attorney in a small town, then clerk +of a larger court, possibly attached to the police presidency +of a large city; he may then become a minor judge, etc., until +finally he becomes a judge of one of the higher courts or an +over-president of a province. Practically the only elective officers +who have any power are members of the Reichstag and the Prussian +Legislature, and there, as I have shown, the power is very small. +Mayors and City Councillors are elected in Prussia, but have +little power; and are elected by the vicious system of circle +voting. + +Time and again during the course of the Great War when I made +some complaint or request affecting the interests of one of the +various nations I represented, I was met in the Foreign Office +by the statement, "We can do nothing with the military. Please +read Bismarck's memoirs and you will see what difficulty he had +with the military." Undoubtedly, owing to the fact that the +Chancellor seldom took strong ground, the influence which both +the army and navy claimed in dictating the policy of the Empire +was greatly increased. + +Roughly speaking there are three great political divisions or +parties in the German Reichstag. To the right of the presiding +officer sit the Conservatives. Most of these are members from the +Prussian Junker or squire class. They are strong for the rights +of the crown and against any extension of the suffrage in Prussia +or anywhere else. They form probably the most important body of +conservatives now existing in any country in the world. Their +leader, Heydebrand, is known as the uncrowned king of Prussia. On +the left side the Social Democrats sit. As they evidently oppose +the kingship and favour a republic, no Social Democratic member +has ever been called into the government. They represent the great +industrial populations of Germany. Roughly, they constitute about +one-third of the Reichstag, and would sit there in greater numbers +if Germany were again redistricted so that proper representation +were given to the cities, to which there has been a great rush +of population since the time when the Reichstag districts were +originally constituted. + +In the centre, and holding the balance of power, sit the members +of the Centrum or Catholic body. Among them are many priests. It +is noteworthy that in this war Roman Catholic opinion in neutral +countries, like Spain, inclines to the side of Germany; while +in Germany, to protect their religious liberties, the Catholic +population vote as Catholics to send Catholic members to the +Reichstag, and these sit and vote as Catholics alone. + +Germans high in rank in the government often told me that no part +of conquered Poland would ever be incorporated in Prussia or the +Empire, because it was not desirable to add to the Roman Catholic +population; that they had troubles enough with the Catholics now +in Germany and had no desire to add to their numbers. This, and +the desire to lure the Poles into the creation of a national +army which could be utilised by the German machine, were the +reasons for the creation by Germany (with the assent of Austria) +of the new country of Poland. + +This Catholic party is the result in Germany of the +_Kulturkampf_ or War for Civilisation, as it was called by +Bismarck, a contest dating from 1870 between the State in Germany +and the Roman Catholic Church. + +Prussia has always been the centre of Protestantism in Germany, +although there are many Roman Catholics in the Rhine Provinces +of Prussia, and in that part of Prussia inhabited principally +by Poles, originally part of the Kingdom of Poland. + +Baden and Bavaria, the two principal South German States, and +others are Catholic. In 1870, on the withdrawal of the French +garrison from Rome, the Temporal Power of the Pope ended, and +Bismarck, though appealed to by Catholics, took no interest in the +defence of the Papacy. The conflict between the Roman Catholics +and the Government in Germany was precipitated by the promulgation +by the Vatican Council, in 1870, of the Dogma of the Infallibility +of the Pope. + +A certain number of German pastors and bishops refused to subscribe +to the new dogma. In the conflict that ensued these pastors and +bishops were backed by the government. The religious orders were +suppressed, civil marriage made compulsory and the State assumed +new powers not only in the appointment but even in the education +of the Catholic priests. The Jesuits were expelled from Germany +in 1872. These measures, generally known as the May Laws, because +passed in May, 1873, 1874 and 1875, led to the creation and +strengthening of the Centrum or Catholic party. For a long period +many churches were vacant in Prussia. Finally, owing to the growth +of the Centrum, Bismarck gave in. The May Laws were rescinded +in 1886 and the religious orders, the Jesuits excepted, were +permitted to return in 1887. Civil marriage, however, remained +obligatory in Prussia. + +Ever since the _Kulturkampf_ the Centrum has held the balance +of power in Germany, acting sometimes with the Conservatives +and sometimes with the Social Democrats. + +In addition to these three great parties, there are minor parties +and groups which sometimes act with one party and sometimes with +another, the National Liberals, for example, and the Progressives. +Since the war certain members of the National Liberal party were +most bitter in assailing President Wilson and the United States. +In the demand for ruthless submarine war they acted with the +Conservatives. There are also Polish, Hanoverian, Danish and +Alsatian members of the Reichstag. + +There are three great race questions in Germany. First of all, +that of Alsace-Lorraine. It is unnecessary to go at length into +this well-known question. In the chapter on the affair at Zabern, +something will be seen of the attitude of the troops toward the +civil population. At the outbreak of the war several of the deputies, +sitting in the Reichstag as members from Alsace-Lorraine, crossed +the frontier and joined the French army. + +If there is one talent which the Germans superlatively lack, it +is that of ruling over other peoples and inducing other people +to become part of their nation. + +It is now a long time since portions of the Kingdom of Poland, +by various partitions of that kingdom, were incorporated with +Prussia, but the Polish question is more alive to-day than at +the time of the last partition. + +The Poles are of a livelier race than the Germans, are Roman +Catholics and always retain their dream of a reconstituted and +independent Kingdom of Poland. + +It is hard to conceive that Poland was at one time perhaps the +most powerful kingdom of Europe, with a population numbering +twenty millions and extending from the Baltic to the Carpathians +and the Black Sea, including in its territory the basins of the +Warta, Vistula, Dwina, Dnieper and Upper Dniester, and that it +had under its dominion besides Poles proper and the Baltic Slavs, +the Lithuanians, the White Russians and the Little Russians or +Ruthenians. + +The Polish aristocracy was absolutely incapable of governing its +own country, which fell an easy prey to the intrigues of Frederick +the Great and the two Empresses, Maria Theresa of Austria and +Catherine of Russia. The last partition of Poland was in the +year 1795. + +Posen, at one time one of the capitals of the old kingdom of +Poland, is the intellectual centre of that part of Poland which has +been incorporated into Prussia. For years Prussia has alternately +cajoled and oppressed the Poles, and has made every endeavour to +replace the Polish inhabitants with German colonists. A commission +has been established which buys estates from Poles and sells +them to Germans. This commission has the power of condemning +the lands of Poles, taking these lands from them by force, +compensating them at a rate determined by the commission and +settling Germans on the lands so seized. This commission has +its headquarters in Posen. The result has not been successful. +All the country side surrounding Posen and the city itself are +divided into two factions. By going to one hotel or the other +you announce that you are pro-German or pro-Polish. Poles will +not deal in shops kept by Germans or in shops unless the signs +are in Polish. + +The sons of Germans who have settled in Poland under the protection +of the commission often marry Polish women. The invariable result +of these mixed marriages is that the children are Catholics and +Poles. Polish deputies voting as Poles sit in the Prussian +legislature and in the Reichstag, and if a portion of the old +Kingdom of Poland is made a separate country at the end of this +war, it will have the effect of making the Poles in Prussia more +restless and more aggressive than ever. + +In order to win the sympathies of the Poles, the Emperor caused +a royal castle to be built within recent years in the city of +Posen, and appointed a popular Polish gentleman who had served +in the Prussian army and was attached to the Emperor, the Count +Hutten-Czapski, as its lord-warden. In this castle was a very +beautiful Byzantine chapel built from designs especially selected +by the Emperor. In January, 1914, we went with Allison Armour +and the Cassatts, Mrs. Wiltsee and Mrs. Whitehouse on a trip +to Posen to see this chapel. + +Some of our German friends tried to play a joke on us by telling +us that the best hotel was the hotel patronised by the Poles. To +have gone there would have been to declare ourselves anti-German +and pro-Polish, but we were warned in time. The castle has a +large throne room and ball-room; in the hall is a stuffed aurochs +killed by the Emperor. The aurochs is a species of buffalo greatly +resembling those which used to roam our western prairies. The +breed has been preserved on certain great estates in eastern +Germany and in the hunting forests of the Czar in the neighbourhood +of Warsaw. + +Some of the Poles told me that at the first attempt to give a +court ball in this new castle the Polish population in the streets +threw ink through the carriage windows on the dresses of the +ladies going to the ball and thus made it a failure. The chapel +of the castle is very beautiful and is a great credit to the +Emperor's taste as an architect. + +While being shown through the Emperor's private apartments in +this castle, I noticed a saddle on a sort of elevated stool in +front of a desk. I asked the guide what this was for: he told +me that the Emperor, when working, always sits in a saddle. + +In Posen, in a book-store, the proprietor brought out for me a +number of books caricaturing the German rule of Alsace-Lorraine. +It is curious that a community of interests should make a market +for these books in Polish Posen. + +Although not so well advertised, the Polish question is as acute +as that of Alsace-Lorraine. + +After its successful war in 1866 against Austria, Bavaria, Saxony, +Baden, Hanover, etc., Prussia became possessed of the two duchies +of Schleswig-Holstein, which are to the south of Denmark on the +Jutland Peninsula. Here, strangely enough, there is a Danish +question. A number of Danes inhabit these duchies and have been +irritated by the Prussian officials and officers into preserving +their national feeling intact ever since 1866. Galling restrictions +have been made, the very existence of which intensifies the hatred +and prevents the assimilation of these Danes. For instance, Amundsen, +the Arctic explorer, was forbidden to lecture in Danish in these +duchies during the winter of 1913-14, and there were regulations +enforced preventing more than a certain number of these Danish +people from assembling in a hotel, as well as regulations against +the employment of Danish servants. + +In 1866, after its successful war, Prussia wiped out the old +kingdom of Hanover and drove its king into exile in Austria. +To-day there is still a party of protest against this aggression. +The Kaiser believes, however, that the ghost of the claim of +the Kings of Hanover was laid when he married his only daughter +to the heir of the House of Hanover and gave the young pair the +vacant Duchy of Brunswick. That this young man will inherit the +great Guelph treasure was no drawback to the match in the eyes +of those in Berlin. + +There is a hatred of Prussia in other parts of Germany, but coupled +with so much fear that it will never take practical shape. In +Bavaria, for example, even the comic newspapers have for years +ridiculed the Prussians and the House of Hohenzollern. The smashing +defeat by Prussia of Austria and the allied German States, Bavaria, +Saxony, Hesse, Hanover, etc., in 1866, and the growth of Prussianism +since then in all of these countries, keep the people from any +overt act. It is a question, perhaps, as to how these countries, +especially Bavaria, would act in case of the utter defeat of +Germany. But at present they must be counted on only as faithful +servants, in a military way, of the German Emperor. + +Montesquieu, the author of the "Esprit des Lois," says, "All law +comes from the soil," and it has been claimed that residence in +the hot climate of the tropics in some measure changes Anglo-Saxon +character. It is, therefore, always well in judging national +character to know something of the physical characteristics and +climate of the country which a nation inhabits. + +The heart of modern Germany is the great north central plain which +comprises practically all of the original kingdom of Prussia, +stretching northward from the Saxon and Hartz mountains to the +North and Baltic seas. It is from this dreary and infertile plain +that for many centuries conquering military races have poured +over Europe. The climate is not so cold in winter as that of +the northern part of the United States. There is much rain and +the winter skies are so dark that the absence of the sun must +have some effect upon the character of the people. The Saxons +inhabit a more mountainous country; Württemberg and Baden are +hilly; Bavaria is a land of beauty, diversified with lovely lakes +and mountains. The soft outlines of the vine-covered hills of +the Rhine Valley have long been the admiration of travellers. + +The inhabitants of Prussia were originally not Germanic, but +rather Slavish in type; and, indeed, to-day in the forest of +the River Spree, on which Berlin is situated, and only about +fifty miles from that city, there still dwell descendants of +the original Wendish inhabitants of the country who speak the +Wendish language. The wet-nurses, whose picturesque dress is so +noticeable on the streets of Berlin, all come from this Wendish +colony, which has been preserved through the many wars that have +swept over this part of Germany because of the refuge afforded +in the swamps and forests of this district. + +The inhabitants of the Rhine Valley drink wine instead of beer. +They are more lively in their disposition than the Prussians, +Saxons and Bavarians, who are of a heavy and phlegmatic nature. +The Bavarians are noted for their prowess as beer drinkers, and +it is not at all unusual for prosperous burghers of Munich to +dispose of thirty large glasses of beer in a day; hence the cures +which exist all over Germany and where the average German business +man spends part, at least, of his annual vacation. + +In peace times the Germans are heavy eaters. As some one says, +"It is not true that the Germans eat all the time, but they eat +all the time except during seven periods of the day when they +take their meals." And it is a fact that prosperous merchants of +Berlin, before the war, had seven meals a day; first breakfast +at a comfortably early hour; second breakfast at about eleven, of +perhaps a glass of milk or perhaps a glass of beer and sandwiches; +a very heavy lunch of four or five courses with wine and beer; +coffee and cakes at three; tea and sandwiches or sandwiches and +beer at about five; a strong dinner with several kinds of wines +at about seven or seven-thirty; and a substantial supper before +going to bed. + +The Germans are wonderful judges of wines, and, at any formal +dinner, use as many as eight varieties. The best wine is passed +in glasses on trays, and the guests are not expected, of course, +to take this wine unless they actually desire to drink it. I +know one American woman who was stopping at a Prince's castle +in Hungary and who, on the first night, allowed the butler to +fill her glasses with wine which she did not drink. The second +evening the butler passed her sternly by, and she was offered +no more wine during her stay in the castle. + +Many of the doctors who were with me thought that the heavy eating +and large consumption of wine and beer had unfavourably affected the +German national character, and had made the people more aggressive +and irritable and consequently readier for war. The influence of diet +on national character should not be under-estimated. Meat-eating +nations have always ruled vegetarians. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +DIPLOMATIC WORK OF FIRST WINTER IN BERLIN + +During this first winter in Berlin, I spent each morning in the +Embassy office, and, if I had any business at the Foreign Office, +called there about five o'clock in the afternoon. It was the +custom that all Ambassadors should call on Tuesday afternoons +at the Foreign Office, going in to see the Foreign Minister in +the order of their arrival in the waiting-room, and to have a +short talk with him about current diplomatic affairs. + +In the previous chapter I have given a detailed account of the +ceremonies of court life, because a knowledge of this life is +essential to a grasp of the spirit which animates those ruling +the destinies of the German Empire. + +My first winter, however, was not all cakes and ale. There were +several interesting bits of diplomatic work. First, we were then +engaged in our conflict with Huerta, the Dictator of Mexico, +and it was part of my work to secure from Germany promises that +she would not recognise this Mexican President. + +I also spent a great deal of time in endeavouring to get the +German Government to take part officially in the San Francisco +Fair, but, so far as I could make out, Great Britain, probably +at the instance of Germany, seemed to have entered into some +sort of agreement, or at any rate a tacit understanding, that +neither country would participate officially in this Exposition. + +After the lamentable failure of the Jamestown Exposition, the +countries of Europe were certainly not to be blamed for not spending +their money in aid of a similar enterprise. But I believe that the +attitude of Germany had a deeper significance, and that certain, +at least, of the German statesmen had contemplated a +_rapprochement_ with Great Britain and a mutual spanking +of America and its Monroe Doctrine by these two great powers. +Later I was informed, by a man high in the German Foreign Office, +that Germany had proposed to Great Britain a joint intervention +in Mexico, an invasion which would have put an end forever to +the Monroe Doctrine, of course to be followed by the forceful +colonisation of Central and South America by European Powers. I +was told that Great Britain refused. But whether this proposition +and refusal in fact were made, can be learned from the archives +of the British Foreign Office. + +During this period of trouble with Mexico, the German Press, +almost without exception, and especially that part of it controlled +by the Government and by the Conservatives or Junkers, was most +bitter in its attitude towards America. + +The reason for this was the underlying hatred of an autocracy +for a successful democracy, envy of the wealth, liberty and +commercial success of America, and a deep and strong resentment +against the Monroe Doctrine which prevented Germany from using +her powerful fleet and great military force to seize a foothold +in the Western hemisphere. + +Germany came late into the field of colonisation in her endeavour +to find "a place in the sun." The colonies secured were not habitable +by white men. Togo, Kameroons, German East Africa, are too tropical +in climate, too subject to tropical diseases, ever to become +successful German colonies. German Southwest Africa has a more +healthy climate but is a barren land. About the only successful +industry there has been that of gathering the small diamonds that +were discovered in the sands of the beaches and of the deserts +running back from the sea. + +On the earnest request of Secretary Bryan, I endeavoured to persuade +the German authorities to have Germany become a signatory to the +so-called Bryan Peace Treaties. After many efforts and long +interviews, von Jagow, the Foreign Minister, finally told me +that Germany would not sign these treaties because the greatest +asset of Germany in war was her readiness for a sudden assault, +that they had no objection to signing the treaty with America, +but that they feared they would then be immediately asked to +sign similar treaties with Great Britain, France and Russia, +that if they refused to sign with these countries the refusal +would almost be equivalent to a declaration of war, and, if they +did sign, intending in good faith to stand by the treaty, that +Germany would be deprived of her greatest asset in war, namely, +her readiness for a sudden and overpowering attack. + +I also, during this first winter, studied and made reports on +the commercial situation of Germany and especially the German +discriminations against American goods. To these matters I shall +refer in more detail in another chapter. + +Opposition and attention to the oil monopoly project also occupied +a great part of my working hours. Petroleum is used very extensively +in Germany for illuminating purposes by the poorer part of the +population, especially in the farming villages and industrial +towns. This oil used in Germany comes from two sources of supply, +from America and from the oil wells of Galicia and Roumania. The +German American Oil Company there, through which the American +oil was distributed, although a German company, was controlled by +American capital, and German capital was largely interested in +the Galician and Roumanian oil fields. The oil from Galicia and +Roumania is not so good a quality as that imported from America. + +[Illustration: PROGRAMME OF THE MUSIC AFTER DINNER WITH THE KAISER +AT THE ROYAL PALACE, BERLIN.] + +Before my arrival in Germany the government had proposed a law +creating the oil monopoly; that is to say, a company was to be +created, controlled by the government for the purpose of carrying +on the entire oil business of Germany, and no other person or +company, by its provisions, was to be allowed to sell any +illuminating oil or similar products in the Empire. The bill +provided that the business of those engaged in the wholesale +selling of oil, and their plants, etc., should be taken over +by this government company, condemned and paid for. The German +American Company, however, had also a retail business and plant +throughout Germany for which it was proposed that no compensation +should be given. The government bill also contained certain curious +"jokers"; for instance, it provided for the taking over of all +plants "within the customs limit of the German Empire," thus +leaving out of the compensation a refinery which was situated +in the free part of Hamburg, although, of course, by operation +of this monopoly bill the refinery was rendered useless to the +American controlled company which owned it. + +In the course of this investigation it came to light that the +Prussian state railways were used as a means of discriminating +against the American oil. American oil came to Germany through +the port of Hamburg, and the Galician and Roumanian oil through +the frontier town of Oderberg. Taking a delivery point equally +distant between Oderberg and Hamburg, the rate charged on oil +from Hamburg to this point was twice as great as that charged +for a similar quantity of oil from Oderberg. + +I took up this fight on the line that the company must be compensated +for all of its property, that used in retail as well as in wholesale +business, and, second, that it must be compensated for the good-will +of its business, which it had built up through a number of years +by the expenditure of very large sums of money. Of course where +a company has been in operation for years and is continually +advertising its business, its good-will often is its greatest +asset and has often been built up by the greatest expenditure +of money. For instance, in buying a successful newspaper, the +value does not lie in the real-estate, presses, etc., but in +the good-will of the newspaper, the result of years of work and +expensive advertising. + +I made no objection that the German government did not have a +perfect right to create this monopoly and to put the American +controlled company entirely out of the field, but insisted upon +a fair compensation for all their property and good-will. Even a +fair compensation for the property and good-will would have started +the government monopoly company with a large debt upon which it +would have been required to pay interest, and this interest, of +course, would have been added to the cost of oil to the German +consumers. In my final conversation on the subject with von +Bethmann-Hollweg, he said, "You don't mean to say that President +Wilson and Secretary Bryan will do anything for the Standard +Oil Company?" I answered that everyone in America knew that +the Standard Oil Company had neither influence with nor control +over President Wilson and Secretary Bryan, but that they both +could and would give the Standard Oil Company the same measure +of protection which any American citizen doing business abroad +had a right to expect from his government. I also said that I +thought they had done enough for the Germans interested in the +Galician and Roumanian oil fields when they had used the Prussian +state railways to give these oil producers an unfair advantage +over those importing American oil. + +Shortly after this the question of the creation of this oil monopoly +was dropped and naturally has not been revived during the war, +and I very much doubt whether, after the war, the people of +liberalised Germany will consent to pay more for inferior oil in +order to make good the investments of certain German banks and +financiers in Galicia and Roumania. I doubt whether a more liberal +Germany will wish to put the control of a great business in the +hands of the government, thereby greatly increasing the number +of government officials and the weight of government influence +in the country. Heaven knows there are officials enough to-day +in Germany, without turning over a great department of private +industry to the government for the sole purpose of making good +bad investments of certain financiers and adding to the political +influence of the central government. + +In May, 1914, Colonel House and his beautiful wife arrived to pay +us a visit in Berlin. He was, of course, anxious to have a talk +with the Emperor, and this was arranged by the Emperor inviting +the Colonel and me to what is called the _Schrippenfest_, +at the new palace at Potsdam. + +For many years, in fact since the days of Frederick the Great, +the learning (_Lehr_) battalion, composed of picked soldiers +from all the regiments of Prussia, has been quartered at Potsdam, +and on a certain day in April this battalion has been given a +dinner at which they eat white rolls (_Schrippen_) instead +of the usual black bread. This feast has been carried on from +these older days and has become quite a ceremony. + +The Colonel and I motored to Potsdam, arrayed in dress-suits, and +waited in one of the salons of the ground floor of the new palace. +Finally the Emperor and the Empress and several of the Princes and +their wives and the usual dignitaries of the Emperor's household +arrived. The Colonel was presented to the royalties and then a +Divine Service was held in the open air at one end of the palace. +The Empress and Princesses occupied large chairs and the Emperor +stood with his sons behind him and then the various dignitaries +of the court. The Lehr Battalion was drawn up behind. There were +a large band and the choir boys from the Berlin cathedral. The +service was very impressive and not less so because of a great +Zeppelin which hovered over our heads during the whole of the +service. + +After Divine Service, the Lehr Battalion marched in review and +then was given food and beer in long arbours constructed in front +of the palace. While the men were eating, the Emperor and Empress +and Princes passed among the tables, speaking to the soldiers. +We then went to the new palace where in the extraordinary hall +studded with curious specimens of minerals from all countries, +a long table forming three sides of a square was set for about +sixty people. Colonel House and I sat directly across the table +from the Emperor, with General Falkenhayn between us. The Emperor +was in a very good mood and at one time, talking across the table, +said to me that the Colonel and I, in our black dress-suits, +looked like a couple of crows, that we were like two undertakers +at a feast and spoiled the picture. After luncheon the Emperor +had a long talk with Colonel House, and then called me into the +conversation. + +On May twenty-sixth, I arranged that the Colonel should meet +von Tirpitz at dinner in our house. We did not guess then what +a central figure in this war the great admiral was going to be. +At that time and until his fall, he was Minister of Marine, which +corresponds to our Secretary of the Navy Department, and what +is called in German _Reichsmarineamt_. The Colonel also +met the Chancellor, von Jagow, Zimmermann and many others. + +There are two other heads of departments, connected with the +navy, of equal rank with the Secretary of the Naval Department +and not reporting to him. These are the heads of the naval staff +and the head of what is known as the Marine Cabinet. The head +of the naval staff is supposed to direct the actual operations +of warfare in the navy, and the head of the Marine Cabinet is +charged with the personnel of the navy, with determining what +officers are to be promoted and what officers are to take over +ships or commands. + +While von Tirpitz was Secretary of the Navy, by the force of +his personality, he dominated the two other departments, but +since his fall the heads of these two other departments have +held positions as important, if not more important, than that +of Secretary of the Navy. + +On May thirty-first, we took Colonel and Mrs. House to the aviation +field of Joachimsthal. Here the Dutch aviator Fokker was flying and +after being introduced to us he did some stunts for our benefit. +Fokker was employed by the German army and later became a naturalised +German. The machines designed by him, and named after him, for +a long time held the mastery of the air on the West front. + +The advice of Colonel House, a most wise and prudent counsellor, +was at all times of the greatest value to me during my stay in +Berlin. We exchanged letters weekly, I sending him a weekly bulletin +of the situation in Berlin and much news and gossip too personal +or too indefinite to be placed in official reports. + +War with Germany seemed a thing not even to be considered when +in this month of May, 1914, I called on the Foreign Office, by +direction, to thank the Imperial Government for the aid given +the Americans at Tampico by German ships of war. + +Early in February, Mr. S. Bergmann, a German who had made a fortune +in America and who had returned to Germany to take up again his +German citizenship, invited me to go over the great electrical +works which he had established. Prince Henry of Prussia, the +brother of the Emperor, was the only other guest and together +we inspected the vast works, afterwards having lunch in Mr. +Bergmann's office. Prince Henry has always been interested in +America since his visit here. On that visit he spent most of +his time with German societies, etc. Of course, now we know he +came as a propagandist with the object of welding together the +Germans in America and keeping up their interest in the Fatherland. +He made a similar trip to the Argentine just before the Great +War, with a similar purpose, but I understand his excursion was +not considered a great success, from any standpoint. A man of +affable manners, no one is better qualified to go abroad as a +German propagandist than he. If all Germans had been like him +there would have been no World War in 1914. + +On March eighteenth, we were invited to a fancy-dress ball at +the palace of the Crown Prince. The guests were mostly young +people and officers. The Crown Princess wore a beautiful Russian +dress with its characteristic high front piece on the head. The +Crown Prince and all the officers present were in the picturesque +uniforms of their respective regiments of a period of one hundred +years ago. Prince Oscar, the fifth son of the Kaiser, looked +particularly well. + +The hours for balls in Berlin, where officers attended, were a +good example for hostesses in this country. The invitations read +for eight o'clock and that meant eight o'clock. A cold dinner +of perhaps four courses is immediately served on the arrival of +the guests, who, with the exception of a very few distinguished +ones, are not given any particular places. At a quarter to nine +the dancing begins, supper is at about eleven and the guests go +home at twelve, at an hour which enables the officers to get +to bed early. During the season there were balls at the British +and French Embassy and performances by the Russian Ballet, then +in Berlin, at the Russian Embassy. + +The wonderful new Royal Library, designed by Ihne, was opened +on March twenty-second. The Emperor attended, coming in with +the beautiful Queen of Roumania walking by his side. She is an +exceedingly handsome woman, half English and half Russian. Some +days later I was presented to her at a reception held at the +Roumanian Minister's and found her as pleasant to talk to as good +to look upon. + +At the end of March there was a Horse Show. The horses did not +get prizes for mere looks and manners in trotting and cantering, +as here. They must all do something, for the horse is considered +primarily as a war horse; such, for instance, as stopping suddenly +and turning at a word of command. The jumping was excellent, +officers riding in all the events. It was not a function of +"society," but all "society" was there and most keenly interested; +for in a warlike country, just as in the Middle Ages, the master's +life may depend upon the qualities of his horse. + +I have always been fond of horses and horse-racing, and the +race-tracks about Berlin were always an attraction for me. + +Many of the drivers and jockeys were Americans. Taral was a +successful jockey for my father-in-law, Marcus Daly. He is the +trainer of one of the best racing stables in Germany, that of +the brothers Weinberg, who made a fortune in dye-stuffs. "Pop" +Campbell, who trained Mr. Daly's Ogden, a Futurity winner, is +also a Berlin trainer. The top notch jockey was Archibald of +California. McCreery, who once trained for one of my brothers, +had the stable which rivalled the Weinbergs', that of Baron +Oppenheim, a rich banker of Cologne. + +The German officers are splendid riders and take part in many +races. The Crown Prince himself is a successful jockey and racing +stable owner. + +On June fifth, at the annual hunt race, the big steeplechase of +the year, the Emperor himself appeared at the Grünewald track, +occupying his private box, a sort of little house beyond the +finish. + +Bookmakers are not allowed in Germany. The betting is in mutual +pools. About seventeen per cent of the money paid is taken by the +Jockey Club, the State and charities, so that the bettor, with +this percentage running always against him, has little chance +of ultimate success. + +Many of the races are confined to horses bred in Denmark and the +Central Empires. + +All of us in the Embassy joined the Red White Tennis Club situated +in the Grünewald about five miles from the centre of Berlin. +The Crown Prince was a member and often played there. He is an +excellent player, not quite up to championship form, but he can +give a good account of himself in any company short of the top +class. He has the advantage of always finding that the best players +are only too glad to have an opportunity to play with him. At +this Tennis Club during all the period of the feeling of hatred +against America we were treated with, extreme courtesy by all +our German fellow members. + +We saw a great deal of the two exchange professors in the winter +of 1913-14, Professor Paul Shorey of the University of Chicago +and Professor Archibald Coolidge of Harvard. These exchange +professors give courses and lectures in the universities and +their first appearance is quite an event. On this first day in +1913, they each delivered a lecture in the University of Berlin, +and on this lecture day Prince August Wilhelm, representing the +Kaiser, attended. The Kaiser used invariably to attend, but of +late years I am afraid has rather lost interest in this enterprise +at first so much favoured by him. + +The _Cologne Gazette_ at one time after the commencement +of the war, in an article, expressed great surprise that America +should permit the export of munitions of war to the Allies and +said, quite seriously, that Germany had done everything possible +to win the favour of America, that Roosevelt had been offered a +review of German troops, that the Emperor had invited Americans +who came to Kiel on their yachts to dine with him, and that he +had even sat through the lectures given by American exchange +professors. + +Before the war there was but one cable direct from Germany to +America. This cable was owned by a German company and reached +America via the Azore Islands. I endeavoured to obtain permission +for the Western Union Company to land a cable in Germany, but +the opposition of the German company, which did not desire to +have its monopoly interfered with, caused the applications of +the Western Union to be definitely pigeon-holed. In August, 1914, +after the outbreak of the war, when I told this to Ballin of +the Hamburg American Line and von Gwinner, head of the Deutsche +Bank, and when they thought of how much they could have saved +for themselves and Germany and their companies if there had been +an American owned cable landing in Germany, their anger at the +delay on the part of official Germany knew no bounds. Within a +very short time I received an answer from the Foreign Office +granting the application of the Western Union Company, providing +the cable went direct to America. This concession, however, came +too late and, naturally, the Western Union did not take up the +matter during the war. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +MILITARISM IN GERMANY AND THE ZABERN AFFAIR + +In 1913-1914 occurred a series of events known as the "Zabern +Affair," which to my mind decided the "system"--the military +autocracy--for a speedy war. In this affair the German people +appeared at last to be opening their eyes, to recover in some +degree from the panic fear of their neighbours which had made them +submit to the arrogance and exactions of the military caste and to +be almost ready to demilitarise themselves, a thing abhorrent to +the upholders of caste, the system, the army and the Hohenzollerns. + +This writing on the wall--these letters forming the word +"Zabern"--the actions of the Social Democrats and their growing +boldness, all were warnings to the autocracy of its waning power, +and impelled that autocracy towards war as a bloodletting cure +for popular discontent. + +Prussia, which has imposed its will, as well as its methods of +thought and life on all the rest of Germany, is undoubtedly a +military nation. + +More than one hundred and twenty-five years ago Mirabeau, the great +French orator at the commencement of the Revolution, said, "War is +the national industry of Prussia." Later, Napoleon remarked that +Prussia "was hatched from a cannon ball," and shortly before the +Franco-Prussian war of 1870 the French military _attaché_, in +reporting to his government, wrote that "other countries possessed +an army, but in Prussia the army possessed the country." + +In practice the class of nobles in Prussia owns the army. Officers +may enter the army in two ways, either by enlisting in the regiment, +first as private and then being rapidly promoted to the position +of non-commissioned officer, and then probationary ensign, or +_avantageur_; or the young aspirant may come directly from +a two years' course in one of the cadet schools and enter the +regiment as probationary ensign. In both cases the young officer +is observed by the officers during a period of probation and +can become an officer of that regiment only by the consent of +the regimental officers. In other words, each regiment is like +a club, the officers having the right of black-ball. + +This system has practically confined the professional officers to +a class of nobles. It is not at all unusual to find in a regiment +officers whose ancestors were officers of the same regiment two +hundred years or more ago. + +In addition to these officers who make the army their career, +a certain number of Germans, after undergoing an enlistment in +the army of one year and two periods of training thereafter, +are made reserve officers. These reserve officers are called to +the colours for manoeuvres and also, of course, when the whole +nation is arrayed in war. These reserve officers seldom attain +a rank higher than that of captain. They may, however, while +exercising civil functions, be promoted, and in this manner the +Chancellor, while occupying civil positions, has gradually been +promoted to the rank of General and von Jagow, during the war, to +the rank of Major. As a rule reserve officers are the one-yearers, +or _Einjähriger_, who, because they have attained a certain +standard of education, serve only one year with the army instead +of the two required from others. The Bavarian army is in a sense +independent of Prussia, but is modelled on the same system. + +For years officers of the army, both in the discharge of their +duties and outside, have behaved in a very arrogant way toward +the civil population. Time and again, while I was in Germany +waiting in line at some ticket office, an officer has shoved +himself ahead of all others without even a protest from those +waiting. On one occasion, I went to the races in Berlin with my +brother-in-law and bought a box. While we were out looking at +the horses between the races, a Prussian officer and his wife +seated themselves in our box. I called the attention of one of +the ushers to this, but the usher said that he did not dare ask +a Prussian officer to leave, and it was only after sending for +the head usher and showing him my Jockey Club badge and my pass +as Ambassador, that I was able to secure possession of my own +box. + +There have been many instances in Germany where officers having +a slight dispute with civilians have instantly cut the civilian +down. Instances of this kind and the harsh treatment of the Germans +by officers and under-officers, while serving in the army, +undoubtedly created in Germany a spirit of antagonism not only +to the army itself but to the whole military system of Prussia. +Affairs were brought to a head by the so-called Zabern Affair. In +this affair the internal antagonism between the civil population +and professional soldiers, which had assumed great proportions +in a period of long peace, seemed to reach its climax. Of course +this antagonism had increased with the increase in 1913-14 of +the effective strength of the standing army, bringing a material +increase in the numbers of officers and non-commissioned officers +who represent military professionalism. + +The Imperial Provinces or Reichsland, as Alsace and Lorraine are +called, had been in a peculiar position within the body politic +of Germany since their annexation in 1870. The Reichsland, as +indicated by its name, was to be considered as common property +of the German Empire and was not annexed to any one German State. +Its government is by an Imperial Viceroy, with a kind of cabinet +consisting of one Secretary of State, Civil and Under Secretaries +and Department heads, assisted by a legislative body of two chambers, +one elected by popular vote and the other consisting of members +partly elected by municipal bodies, universities, churches and so +forth, and partly appointed by the Imperial Government. The Viceroy +and his cabinet are appointed by the Emperor in his capacity of +the sovereign of the Reichsland. Until the thirty-first of May, +1911, the Reichsland had no constitution of its own, the form +of its government being regulated by the Reichstag and Federal +Council (Bundesrat) in about the same way as the territories +of the United States are ruled by Congress and the President. +In 1911, Alsace-Lorraine received a constitution which gave it +representation in the Federal Council, representation in the +Reichstag having already been granted as early as 1871. The sympathy +of Alsace-Lorraine for France had been increased by the policy of +several of the German viceroys,--von Manteuffel, Prince Hohenlohe, +Prince Münster and Count Wedel, who had, in their administrations, +alternated severe measures with great leniency and had not improved +conditions, so that the population, essentially South German, +was undoubtedly irritated by the tone and manner of the North +German officials. + +Great industries had been developed by the Imperial Government, +especially textile and coal mining, and the industrial population +centering in Mülhausen was hotly and thoroughly Social Democratic. +The upper or well-to-do classes were tied to France by family +connections and by religion. The bourgeois remained mildly +anti-German, more properly speaking, anti-government, for similar +reasons, and the working men were opposed to the government on +social and economic grounds. The farming population, not troubling +much about the politics, but being affected by the campaign of +the nationalistic press, were in sympathy with France; so the +atmosphere was well prepared for the coming storm. + +Zabern, or in French, Saverne, is a little town of between eight +and nine thousand inhabitants, beautifully situated at the foot +of the Vosges Mountains on the banks of the Rhine-Marne Canal. +Its garrison comprised the staff and two battalions of Infantry +Regiment, Number Ninety-nine, commanded by von Reuter, and among +its officers was a Lieutenant von Forstner, a young man only +twenty years old, whose boyish appearance had excited the school +children and boys working in nearby iron factories to ridicule +him. It became known that this young officer, while instructing +his men, had insulted the French flag and had called the Alsatian +recruits _Wackes_, a nick-name meaning "square-head," and +frequently used by the people of Alsace-Lorraine in a jocular +way, but hotly resented by them if used towards them by others. +It was further reported that he had promised his men a reward +of ten marks if one of them, in case of trouble, should bring +down a Social Democrat. Forstner had told his men to beware, +and warned them against listening to French foreign agents, whom +the Germans claimed were inducing French soldiers to desert in +order to join the French legion. It is probable that Forstner, +in talking to his men of the French Foreign Legion, used language +offensive to French ears. He admitted that he had used the word +_Wackes_ in defiance of an order of the commanding general, +and for this he had been punished with several days' confinement +in a military prison. Lieutenant von Forstner, who was ordered +to instruct his squad about the regulations in case of trouble +with the civil population, claimed that he had only added to the +usual instructions a statement that every true soldier should +do his best to suppress any disturbances and that he, Forstner, +would give a special reward to any of his men who would arrest +one of "those damned Social Democrats." + +Reports of the acts of Forstner and other officers were rapidly +spread among the population. The two newspapers of Zabern published +articles. The excitement grew, and there were demonstrations +against the officials and especially against Forstner. Finally, +conditions became so bad that Colonel von Reuter requested the +head of the local civil administration, Director Mahler, to restore +order, stating that he would take the matter into his own hands +if order was not restored. The director, a native of a small +village near Zabern, replied coolly that he saw no necessity +for interfering with peace loving and law abiding people. On +November twenty-ninth, 1913, a large crowd assembled in front +of the barracks. Colonel von Reuter ordered Lieutenant Schad, +commanding the Guard as officer of the day, to disperse the crowd. +Accordingly Lieutenant Schad called the Guard to arms and three +times summoned the crowd to disperse and go home. The soldiers +charged and drove the multitude across the Square and into a +side street and arrested about fifteen persons, among them the +President, two Judges and the State Attorney of the Zabern Supreme +Court, who had just come out from the court building and who were +caught in the crowd. They were subsequently released. The rest +of the persons arrested were kept in the cellar of the barracks +over night. + +The report of these occurrences caused immense excitement throughout +Germany. A great outcry went up against militarism, even in quarters +where no socialistic tendencies existed. This feeling was not +helped by the fact that the General commanding the fifteenth +army to which the Zabern regiment belonged was an exponent of +extreme militaristic ideas; a man, who several years before, as +Colonel of the Colonial troops, representing the war ministry +before the Reichstag and debating there the question of the number +of troops to be kept in German South West Africa, had most clearly +shown his contempt for the Reichstag. + +Colonel von Reuter and Lieutenant Schad, when court-martialled +for their acts in ordering the troops to move against the civil +population, claimed the benefit of a Prussian law of 1820, which +provided that in any city, town or village, the highest military +officer in command must assume the authority, usually vested +in the civil government, whenever for any reason the civil +administration neglects to keep order. The Colonel and Lieutenant +were subsequently acquitted on the ground that they had acted +under the provisions of this law. + +The excitement throughout Germany was further increased by other +circumstances. The Emperor remained during these critical days at +Donaueschingen, the princely estate of his friend and favourite, +Prince Fürstenberg, enjoying himself with fox-hunting, torch-light +processions and cabaret performances. Of course, all this had been +arranged long before anyone dreamed of any trouble in Zabern, and +the Emperor could scarcely be expected to realise the gravity of +the situation which suddenly arose. But this very fact created a +bad impression. It was even rumoured that the Empress, alarmed by +the situation, had ordered a train to be made ready in order to +go to him and try to convince him of the necessity of returning +to Berlin. + +[Illustration: THE GLORY WHICH IS POTSDAM. SUMMER RESIDENCE OF +THE KAISER IN THE PARK OF SANS SOUCI.] + +[Illustration: DEMONSTRATION OF SYMPATHY FOR THE AMERICANS, AT +THE TOWN HALL, AUGUST, 1914.] + +The newly appointed minister of war, Falkenhayn, went to +Donaueschingen, where he was joined by von Deimling. This action +aggravated the situation, because the public concluded that the +Emperor would hear the advice and report of military officers +only. The sudden death, by heart failure, of the Emperor's closest +friend, von Hulsen, chief of the Emperor's Military Cabinet, +during a banquet at Donaueschingen, gave the rapidly developing +events a tragic and mysterious colouring, and these conferences +in Donaueschingen resulted in the tendering of their resignations +by the Viceroy, von Wedel, and Secretary of State Zorn von Bulach, +Viceroy and Secretary of State of Alsace-Lorraine, who felt that +the military party had gained an upper hand in the conflict with the +civil authorities. The Chancellor then hurried to Donaueschingen, +arriving a few hours before the departure of the Emperor; and a +subsequent order of the Emperor to General von Deimling to see +to it that the military officers did not overstep their authority +and directing him to investigate the occurrences and take measures +to punish all guilty parties, somewhat quieted the nation and +caused the two highest civil officials of Alsace-Lorraine to +withdraw their resignations. + +Zabern, where a brigadier-general had been sent by von Deimling +to restore civil government, had begun to quiet down. But the +Chancellor had hardly returned to Berlin when another incident +stirred Germany. While practising field service in the neighbourhood +of Zabern and marching through a village, Lieutenant von Forstner +had an altercation with a lame shoemaker and cut him down. This +brutal act of militarism caused a new outburst throughout Germany. +Forstner was tried by a court-martial for hitting and wounding +an unarmed civilian, and sentenced by the lower court to one +year's imprisonment, but acquitted by the higher court as having +acted in "supposed self-defence." + +No less than three parties, the Centrum, the Progressives and +the Social Democrats, addressed interpellations to the Chancellor +about this occurrence at Zabern. I was present at the debate in +the Reichstag, which took place on the fourth, fifth and sixth +of December, 1913. Three South Germans, a member of the Centrum, +Hauss, a Progressive named Roser, and the Socialist deputy from +Mülhausen in Alsace, Peirotes, commenced by moving and seconding +the interpellation and related in vehement language the occurrences +at Zabern. The Chancellor replied in defence of the government. +Unfortunately he had that morning received family news of a most +unpleasant character, which added to his nervousness. He spoke +with a low voice and looked like a downhearted and sick man. It +was whispered afterwards in the lobbies that he had forgotten +the most important part of his speech. The unfavourable impression +which he made was increased by von Falkenhayn, appearing for the +first time before the Reichstag. If the Reichstag members had +been disappointed by the Chancellor, they were stirred to the +highest pitch of bitterness by the speech of the War Minister. In +a sharp, commanding voice he told them that the military officers +had only done their duty, that they would not be swerved from their +path by press agents or hysterical individuals, that Forstner +was a very young officer who had been severely punished, but +that this kind of courageous young officer was the kind that +the country needed, etc. Immediately after this speech the +Progressive party moved that the attitude of the Chancellor did +not meet the approval of the representatives of the people, and +it became evident that, for the first time in the history of the +German Empire, a vote of censure directed against the government +would be debated. The debate was continued all the next day, the +Chancellor making another speech and saying what he probably had +intended to say the day before. He related what he had achieved +at Donaueschingen; that the Emperor had issued a cabinet order +saying that the military authorities should be kept within legal +bounds, that all the guilty persons would be punished, that the +Regiment, Number Ninety-nine, had been removed from Zabern, that +the absolute law of 1820 had been abolished for Alsace-Lorraine, +and that no Chancellor should for one moment tolerate disregard +of law by any government officials, civil or military, and remain +in his position. + +This second speech of the Chancellor made a better impression +and somewhat affected the more extreme members of the Reichstag, +but it came too late to prevent the passage of the vote of censure +by the remarkable majority of two hundred and ninety-three to +fifty-four. Only the Conservatives voted against it. A few days +later, when the Social Democrats demanded that the Chancellor +take the consequence of the vote of distrust and resign, the +attitude of the members of all the other parties, who had been +favourably impressed by the second speech of the Chancellor, +showed that they were not yet prepared to go the length of holding +that a vote of distrust in the Reichstag must necessarily mean +the resignation of the Chancellor. + +Public excitement gradually calmed down, and a complete change of +the officials at Zabern helped to bring about a normal condition +of affairs. The Viceroy, Count Wedel, and Secretary of State +Zorn von Bulach, resigned and were replaced by von Dallwitz and +Count Rödern. + +However, the everlasting question came up again a little later +during the regular budget debate of the Reichstag. The Chancellor +made his speech, giving a review of the political international +situation. He was followed by Herr Scheidemann, leader of the +Social Democrats, who mercilessly attacked the Chancellor and +stated that if the Chancellor still thought that he was the right +man at the helm, he, Scheidemann, would show that the contrary was +the case. He then enumerated what he called the many political +failures of the Chancellor, the failure of the bill to amend +the Prussian franchise law, and stated that the few bills which +had been passed, such as the bill giving Alsace-Lorraine a real +constitution, had been carried only with the help of the Social +Democratic party. The speaker then once more rehashed the incidents +of the Zabern matter, referred to the attitude of the Emperor, +who, he said, had evidently been too busy with hunting and +festivities to devote time to such trivial matters as the Zabern +Affair, and also said that, if the Chancellor had refused to +withdraw, the only possible conclusion from the vote of the two +hundred and ninety-three Reichstag members, who were certainly +not influenced by personal feelings against the Chancellor, was +that the Chancellor must be sticking to his post only because +of the mistaken idea of the Emperor's authority and because he +must believe in the fetish of personal government. Scheidemann +begged that the same majority which had passed the vote of censure +should now follow it up by voting down the Chancellor's salary +and thus force him out of office. + +The Chancellor immediately replied, saying that he needed no +advice from Herr Scheidemann, and that when the government had +consented to change the rules of the Reichstag he had expressly +reserved the authority either to regard or disregard any resolution +passed after an interpellation, and that formerly, after discussing +an interpellation and the answer of the government, no vote could +be taken to approve or reject a resolution expressing its opinion +of such course of action. Such resolutions might be considered as +valuable material, but it had been agreed that they could have +no binding effect either upon the government or any member of it, +and that nobody had ever dreamed that by a mere change of business +rules the whole constitution of the Empire was being changed and +authority given to the Reichstag to dismiss ministers at will; +that in France and Great Britain conditions were different, but +that parliamentary government did not exist in Germany; that it +was the constitutional privilege of the Emperor to appoint the +Chancellor without any assistance or advice from the Reichstag; +that he, the Chancellor, would resist with all his might every +attempt to change this system; and that he, therefore, refused +to resign because the resolution had no other effect than to +make it evident that a difference of opinion existed between the +Reichstag and the government. + +This debate took place on December ninth, 1913, and, with the +exception of the Social Democrats and the Polish deputies, the +leaders of all parties supported the view of the Chancellor. +The motion to strike out the Chancellor's salary was voted down, +only the Social Democrats and Poles voting in favour of it. + +It is unquestioned, however, that this Zabern Affair and the +consequent attitude of the whole nation, as well as the extraordinary +vote in the Reichstag, greatly alarmed the military party. + +It was perhaps the final factor which decided the advocates of +the old military system of Germany in favour of a European war. +Usually in past years when the Reichstag in adjournments had risen +and cheered the name of the Emperor, the Social Democrats absented +themselves from the Chamber, but when the Reichstag adjourned on +May twentieth, 1914, these members remained in the Chamber and +refused either to rise or to cheer the Emperor. The President +of the Reichstag immediately called attention to this breach +of respect to the Emperor, upon which the Socialists shouted, +"That is our affair," and tried to drown the cheers with hoots +and hisses at which the other parties applauded tumultuously. + +This occurrence I know greatly incensed the Emperor and did much, +I believe, to win his consent to the war. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PSYCHOLOGY AND CAUSES WHICH PREPARED THE NATION FOR WAR + +To the outsider, the Germans seem a fierce and martial nation. +But, in reality, the mass of the Germans, in consenting to the +great sacrifice entailed by their enormous preparations for war, +have been actuated by fear. + +This fear dates from the Thirty Years' War, the war which commenced +in 1618 and was terminated in 1648. In 1648, when the Treaty +of Westphalia was concluded, Germany was almost a desert. Its +population had fallen from twenty millions to four millions. +The few remaining people were so starved that cannibalism was +openly practised. In the German States polygamy was legalised, +and was a recognised institution for many years thereafter. + +Of thirty-five thousand Bohemian villages, only six thousand +were left standing. In the lower Palatinate only one-tenth of the +population survived; in Württemberg, only one-sixth. Hundreds of +square miles of once fertile country were overgrown with forests +inhabited only by wolves. + +A picture of this horrible period is found in the curious novel, +"The Adventurous Simplicissimus," written by Grimmelshausen, and +published in 1669, which describes the adventures of a wise peasant +who finally leaves his native Germany and betakes himself to a desert +island which he refuses to leave when offered an opportunity to +go back to the Fatherland. He answers those who wish to persuade +him to go back with words which seem quite appropriate to-day: +"My God, where do you want to carry me? Here is peace. There is +war. Here I know nothing of the arts of the court, ambitions, +anger, envy, deceit, nor have I cares concerning my clothing and +nourishment.... While I still lived in Europe everything was +(O, woe that I must appear witness to such acts of Christians!) +filled with war, burning, murder, robbery, plundering and the +shame of women and virgins." The Munich weekly, "Simplicissimus," +whose powerful political cartoons have often startled Europe, +takes its name from this character. + +After the conclusion of the Thirty Years' War, Germany was again +and again ravaged by smaller wars, culminating in the Seven Years' +War of Frederick the Great and the humbling of Germany under +the heel of Napoleon. In the wars Of Frederick the Great, one +tenth of the population was killed. Even the great Battle of +the Nations at Leipsic in 1813 did not free Germany from wars, +and in 1866 Prussia and the smaller North German States, with +Italy, defeated Austria, assisted by Bavaria, Hesse-Cassel, +Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, Saxony, Baden, Württemberg and Hanover. + +I am convinced that the fear of war induced by a hereditary instinct, +caused the mass of the Germans to become the tools and dupes of +those who played upon this very fear in order to create a military +autocracy. On the other hand, and, especially, in the noble class, +we have in Germany a great number of people who believe in war for +its own sake. In part, these nobles are the descendants of the +Teutonic Knights who conquered the Slav population of Prussia, +and have ever since bound that population to their will. + +The Prussian army was created by the father of Frederick the +Great, who went to the most ridiculous extremes in obtaining tall +men at all costs for his force. + +The father of Frederick the Great gave the following written +instructions to the two tutors of his son. "Above all let both +tutors exert themselves to the utmost to inspire him with a love +of soldiery and carefully impress upon his mind that, as nothing +can confer honour and fame upon a prince except the sword, the +monarch who seeks not his sole satisfaction in it must ever appear +a contemptible character in the eyes of the world." + +Frederick the Great left, by the death of that father who had +once threatened to execute him, at the head of a marvellous army +with a full treasury, finally decided upon war, as he admits in +his own letters, "in order to be talked about," and his desire +to be talked about led to the Seven Years' War. + +The short war against Denmark in 1864, against Austria, Bavaria, +etc., in 1866 and against France in 1870, enormously increased +both the pride and prestige of the Prussian army. It must not +be forgotten that at all periods of history it seems as if some +blind instinct had driven the inhabitants of the inhospitable +plains of North Germany to war and to conquest. The Cimbri and +Teutones--the tribes defeated by Marius; Ariovistus, who was +defeated by Julius Caesar; the Goths and the Visi-Goths; the +Franks and the Saxons; all have poured forth from this infertile +country, for the conquest of other lands. The Germans of to-day +express this longing of the North Germans for pleasanter climes +in the phrase in which they demand "a place in the sun." + +The nobles of Prussia are always for war. The business men and +manufacturers and shipowners desire an increasing field for their +activities. The German colonies were uninhabitable by Europeans. +All his life the glittering Emperor and his generals had planned +and thought of war; and the Crown Prince, surrounded by his +remarkable collection of relics and reminders of Napoleon, dreamed +only of taking the lead in a successful war of conquest. Early in +the winter of 1913-14, the Crown Prince showed his collection of +Napoleana to a beautiful American woman of my acquaintance, and +said that he hoped war would occur while his father was alive, +but, if not, he would start a war the moment he came to the throne. + +Since writing the above, the American woman who had this conversation +with the Crown Prince wrote out for me the exact conversation +in her own words, as follows: "I had given him Norman Angell's +book, 'The Great Illusion,' which seeks to prove that war is +unprofitable. He (the Crown Prince) said that whether war was +profitable or not, when he came to the throne there would be war, +if not before, just for the fun of it. On a previous occasion +he had said that the plan was to attack and conquer France, then +England, and after that my country (the United States of America); +Russia was also to be conquered, and Germany would be master of +the world." + +The extraordinary collection of relics, statues, busts, souvenirs, +etc., of the first Napoleon, collected by the Crown Prince, which +he was showing at the time of the first of these conversations +to this American lady, shows the trend of his mind and that all +his admiration is centred upon Napoleon, the man who sought the +mastery of the world, and who is thought by admirers like the +Crown Prince to have failed only because of slight mistakes which +they feel, in his place, they would not have made. + +If the Germans' long preparations for war were to bear any fruit, +countless facts pointed to the summer of 1914 as the time when the +army should strike that great and sudden blow at the liberties +of the world. + +It was in June, 1914, that the improved Kiel Canal was reopened, +enabling the greatest warships to pass from the Baltic to the +North Sea. + +In the Zeppelins the Germans had arms not possessed by any other +country and with which they undoubtedly believed that they could +do much more damage to England than was the case after the actual +outbreak of hostilities. They had paid great attention to the +development of the submarine. Their aeroplanes were superior to +those of other nations. They believed that in the use of poison +gas, which was prepared before the outbreak of the war, they had +a prize that would absolutely demoralise their enemy. They had +their flame throwers and the heavy artillery and howitzers which +reduced the redoubtable forts of Liege and Namur to fragments +within a few hours, and which made the holding of any fortresses +impossible. + +On their side, by the imposition of a heavy tax called the +_Wehrbeitrag_ or supplementary defence tax, they had, in +1913, increased their army by a number of army corps. On the +other hand, the law for three years' military service voted in +France had not yet gone into effect, nor had the law for universal +military service voted by the Belgian Chambers. Undoubtedly the +Germans based great hopes upon the Bagdad railway which was to +carry their influence to the East, and even threatened the rule +of England in Egypt and India. Undoubtedly there was talk, too, +of a Slav railroad to run from the Danube to the Adriatic which +would cut off Germany from access to the Southern Sea. Francis +Deloisi, the Frenchman, in his book published before the great +war, called "De la Guerre des Balkans à la Guerre Européenne," +says, "In a word, the present war (Balkan) is the work of Russia, +and the Danube Asiatic railway is a Russian project. If it succeeds, +a continuous barrier of Slav peoples will bar the way to the +Mediterranean of the path of Austro-German expansion from the +Black Sea to the Adriatic. But here again the Romanoffs confront +the Hapsburgs, the Austro-Serb conflict becomes the Austro-Russian +conflict, two great groups are formed, and the Balkan conflict +becomes the European conflict." + +Another reason for an immediate war was the loan by France to +Russia made on condition that additional strategic railways were +to be constructed by the Russians in Poland. Although this money +had been received, the railways had not been constructed at the +time of the opening of the Great War. Speaking of this situation, +the Russian General Kuropatkin, in his report for the year 1900, +said, "We must cherish no illusions as to the possibility of an +easy victory over the Austrian army," and he then went on to say, +"Austria had eight railways to transport troops to the Russian +frontier while Russia had only four; and, while Germany had seventeen +such railways running to the German-Russian frontier, the Russians +had only five." Kuropatkin further said, "The differences are too +enormous and leave our neighbours a superiority which cannot be +overcome by the numbers of our troops, or their courage." + +Comparing the two armies, he said, "The invasion of Russia by +German troops is more probable than the invasion of Germany by +Russian troops"; and, "Our Western frontier, in the event of +a European war, would be in such danger as it never has known +in all the history of Russia." + +Agitation by workmen in Russia was believed in Germany to be +the beginning of a revolution. Illuminating figures may be seen +in the gold purchase of the German Imperial Bank: in 1911, +174,000,000 marks; in 1912, 173,000,000 marks; but in 1913, +317,000,000 marks. + +There was a belief in Germany that the French nation was degenerate +and corrupt and unprepared for war. This belief became conviction +when, in the debates of the French Senate, Senator Humbert, early +in 1914, publicly exposed what he claimed to be the weakness +and unpreparedness of France. + +Prince Lichnowsky, the German Ambassador in London, certainly +reported to his government that England did not wish to enter +the war. He claims now that he did not mean that England would +not fight at all events, but undoubtedly the German Foreign Office +believed that England would remain out of the war. The raising of +the Ulster army by Sir Edward Carson, one of the most gigantic +political bluffs in all history, which had no more revolutionary +or military significance than a torchlight parade during one of +our presidential campaigns, was reported by the German spies +as a real and serious revolutionary movement; and, of course, it +was believed by the Germans that Ireland would rise in general +rebellion the moment that war was declared. In the summer of +1914 Russia was believed to be on the edge of revolution. + +As I have said in a previous chapter, the movement against +militarism, culminating in the extraordinary vote in the Reichstag +against the government at the time of the Zabern Affair, warned +the government and military people that the mass of Germans were +coming to their senses and were preparing to shake off the bogy of +militarism and fear, which had roosted so long on their shoulders +like a Prussian old-man-of-the-sea. The Pan-Germans and the +Annexationists were hot for war. The people alive could recall +only three wars, the war against Denmark in 1864, which was settled +in a few days and added the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein to +the Prussian crown, and the war of 1866 in which Bavaria, Baden, +Württemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Saxony were defeated, when the +Austrian kingdom of Hanover disappeared and the territories of +Hesse-Cassel and Nassau, and the free city of Frankfort were +added to Prussia. This war, from its declaration to the battle +of Königgratz in which the Austrians were completely defeated, +lasted only two weeks. In 1870 France was defeated within a month +and a half after the opening of hostilities; so that the Kaiser +was implicitly believed when, on the first day of the war, he +appeared on the balcony of the palace and told the crowds who +were keen for war, that "before the leaves have fallen from the +trees you will be back in your homes." The army and all Germany +believed him and believed, too, that a few short weeks would +see the destruction of France and the consequent seizure of her +rich colonies; that Russia could then be struck a good quick +blow before she could concentrate her army and resources; that +England would remain neutral; and that Germany would consequently +become, if not the actual owner, at least the dictator of the +world. Some one has since said that the Emperor must have meant +pine trees. + +Working ever in the dark, either owning or influencing newspapers, +the great munition and arms factory of the Krupp's insidiously +poisoned the minds of the people with the microbe of war. + +Prince Lichnowsky, the German Ambassador to London, called upon +me often after the outbreak of the war, and insisted that he +had correctly reported the sentiments of England in saying that +England did not want war. After his return to Germany the Germans +quite unfairly treated him as a man who had failed and seemed +to blame him because England had taken the only possible course +open to her and ranged herself on the side of France and Russia. + +The dedication at Leipzig, in the year 1913, of the great monument +to celebrate what is called the "War of Liberation," and the +victory of Leipzig in the War of the Nations, 1813, had undoubtedly +kindled a martial spirit in Germany. To my mind, the course which +really determined the Emperor and the ruling class for war was +the attitude of the whole people in the Zabern Affair and their +evident and growing dislike of militarism. The fact that the +Socialists, at the close of the session of the Reichstag, boldly +remained in the Chamber and refused to rise or to cheer the name +of the Emperor indicated a new spirit of resistance to autocracy; +and autocracy saw that if it was to keep its hold upon Germany +it must lead the nation into a short and successful war. + +This is no new trick of a ruling and aristocratic class. From +the days when the patricians of Rome forced the people into war +whenever the people showed a disposition to demand their rights, +autocracies have always turned to war as the best antidote against +the spirit of democracy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AT KIEL JUST BEFORE THE WAR + +Kiel, situated on the Baltic, on the eastern side of the peninsula +of Jutland near the Baltic entrance of the Kiel Canal, is the +principal naval centre of Germany. + +When the Germans decided to build up a great fleet the Emperor +used every means to encourage a love of yachting and of the sea, +and endeavoured to make the Kiel Week a rival of the week at +Cowes, the English yachting centre. + +With this end in view, the rich Germans were encouraged and almost +commanded to build and race yachts; and Americans and others who +visited Kiel in their yachts were entertained by the Emperor +in an intimacy impossible if they had come to Berlin merely as +tourists, residing in a hotel. + +In June, 1914, we went to Kiel as guests of Allison Armour of +Chicago, on his yacht, the _Utowana_. I was detained by +business in Berlin and Mrs. Gerard preceded me to Kiel. I arrived +there on Saturday, the twenty-seventh of June, and that night +went with Armour to dine with the Emperor on board the Emperor's +yacht, _Hohenzollern_. + +In the harbour were a fair number of German yachts, mostly sailing +yachts, taking part in the races; the fine old yacht of Lord +Brassey, _The Sunbeam_, and the yacht of the Prince of Monaco, +in which he conducts his scientific voyages. A great English +fleet, comprising some of the most powerful dreadnoughts, had +also arrived, sent as an earnest of the good will and kindly +feeling then supposed to exist between Great Britain and Germany. +The redoubtable von Tirpitz was present on a German battleship, +and the Hamburg American Line had an old transatlantic steamer, +the _Deutschland_, rechristened the _Victoria Luise_, +filled with guests, most of whom were invited on a hint from +the Emperor. + +At dinner on the _Hohenzollern_ a number of English people +were present. The Kaiser had on one side of him the wife of the +British Admiral, Lady Maud Warrender, and on the other side, the +Countess of March, whose husband is heir to the Duke of Richmond. +I sat between Princess Münster and the Countess of March, and +after dinner the Emperor drew me over to the rail of the ship, +and talked to me for some time. I wish that diplomatic etiquette +would permit me to reveal what he said, but even in war time I +do not think I ought to violate the confidence that hospitality +seals. However important and interesting, especially to the tame +Socialists of Germany, I do not give this conversation with the +Emperor, nor the conversation with him and Colonel House at the +_Schrippenfest_, because I was his guest. Conversations +with the Emperor which I had on later occasions were at official +audiences and to these the same rule does not apply. He also +invited me to sail with him in his yacht, the _Meteor_, in +the races from Kiel to Eckernfjord on the coming Tuesday. + +[Illustration: THE EMPEROR'S RACING YACHT, AND OTHERS, AT KIEL.] + +[Illustration: THE "HOHENZOLLERN".] + +Sunday afternoon Prince Henry and his wife, who reside in the +castle at Kiel, were to give an afternoon reception and garden +party; but on arriving at the gates we were told that the party +would not take place. After going on board the _Utowana_, +Frederick W. Wile, the celebrated correspondent of the +_London Daily Mail_, ranged up alongside in a small launch and +informed us that the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the +Austrian throne, and his wife had been assassinated at Sarajevo. +There was much rushing to and fro in fast launches, the Emperor +himself being summoned from the race which was in progress. That +night we dined on board the yacht of the Prince of Monaco. All the +diplomats and notables whom I met during the afternoon and evening +seemed to think that there was no chance that the tragedy at +Sarajevo would lead to war. The next morning the Emperor left +early for Berlin, but expressly directed that the festivities +and races at Kiel should be carried out as arranged. + +Monday afternoon there was a _Bierabend_ in the large hall +of the yacht club at Kiel. The Emperor was to have presided at +this dinner, but his place was taken by his brother, Prince Henry. +Sir Edward Goschen, the British Ambassador, who was living on one +of the British battleships, sat on his right and I sat on his +left. During the evening a curious incident happened. The Prince +and I were talking of the dangers of after-dinner speaking and what +a dangerous sport it was. In the midst of our conversation some +one whispered to the Prince and he rose to his feet, proposed the +health of the visiting British Admiral and fleet, and made a little +speech. As he concluded, he said, addressing the officers of the +British fleet: "We are sorry you are going and we are sorry you +came." It is remarkable as showing the discipline of the German +nation and their respect for authority that thereafter no German +ever referred to this curious slip of the tongue. The night was +rather mild and after dinner we walked about the gardens of the +yacht club. I had a long and interesting conversation with the +Prince of Monaco. That Prince, who receives such a large income +from the company which carries on the gambling rooms at Monte +Carlo, is a man of the world intensely interested in scientific +research: there is practically no corner of the seven seas into +which his yacht has not poked her nose in the search for material +for the Sea Museum which he has established at Monaco. + +On Tuesday Armour and I boarded the Emperor's sailing yacht, +the new _Meteor_. The race was a beautiful run from Kiel +to Eckernfjord and was won by the _Meteor_. As the Emperor +was not on board, I did not get one of the souvenir scarf-pins +always given to guests who sail with him on a winning race. Among +our crew was Grand Admiral von Köster, subsequently an advocate +of the ruthless submarine war. + +Eckernfjord is a little fishing and bathing town. Near by is +the country residence of Prince Henry, a rather modest house, +built in brick in English Elizabethan style. The wife of Prince +Henry was a Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt and is the sister of the +Czarina of Russia. We had tea with Prince and Princess Henry, +their family, the Duke of Sonderburg-Glücksburg and several others +of his family. The billiard room of the house is decorated with +the large original caricatures made by McCutcheon of the Prince's +stay in America. Prince and Princess Henry came out to dine on +the _Utowana_, and Armour and the Prince went ashore to +attend another _Bierabend_, but I dodged the smoke and beer +and remained on board. Before he left the yacht, I had a talk +with Prince Henry. He seemed most exercised over the dislike of +the Germans by all other peoples and asked me why I thought it +existed. I politely told him that I thought it existed because of +the success which the Germans had had in all fields of endeavour, +particularly in manufacturing and commerce. He said, with great +truth, that he believed a great deal of it came from the bad +manners of the travelling Germans. Prince Henry is an able and +reasonable man with a most delightful manner. He speaks English +with a perfect English accent, and I think would be far happier +as an English country gentleman than as the Grand Admiral of the +German Baltic Fleet. He has been devoted to automobiling and +has greatly encouraged that industry in Germany. The Automobile +Club of Berlin is his particular pet. + +On returning to Kiel next day we spent several days longer there. +I lunched on board his battleship with Grand Admiral von Tirpitz, +sitting next to him at the table. He struck me then as an amiable +sea dog, combining much political and worldly wisdom with his +knowledge of the sea. From Kiel we motored one night to dine +with a Count and Countess in their country house. This house +had been built perhaps two hundred years, and was on one side of +a square, the other three sides being formed by the great stone +barns in which the produce of the estate was stored. Although +the first floor of the house was elevated about eight feet above +the ground, the family, on account of the dampness of that part +of the world, lived in the second story, and the dining room +was on this story. An ancestor of the Count had, at a time when +this part of the country was part of Denmark and about the year +1700, lent all his available money to the King of Denmark. A +crude painting in the hall showed him sitting in the hall of +this particular house, smoking a long pipe and surrounded by +three or four sisters who were all spinning. Our hostess told us +that this picture represented the lending ancestor being supported +by his sisters while waiting the return of the loan which he +had made to the Danish king, an early example of the situation +disclosed by the popular song which runs: "Everybody works but +father." Of course, no one ever expected a Prussian nobleman to +do any work except in the line of war or in governing the inferior +classes of the country. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE SYSTEM + +People of other countries have been wondering why it is that +the German government is able so easily to impose its will upon +the German people. I have set out in another chapter, in detail, +the political system from which you have seen that the Reichstag +is nothing but a debating society; that the Prussians do not +really have universal suffrage but, by reason of the vicious +circle system of voting, the elective franchise remains in the +hands of the few; and that the government of the country through the +_Landräte_, _Regierungspräsidenten_ and _Oberpräsidenten_ +is a central system from above downwards and not the election +of the rulers by the people; and, in the chapter on militarism +and Zabern, I have told by what means the control of the army +is kept in the hands of the class of nobles. + +These are not the only means by which the system controls the +country. These alone would not suffice. From the time when he +is four years old, the German is disciplined and taught that +his government is the only good and effective form. The teachers +in the schools are all government paid and teach the children +only the principles desired by the rulers of the German people. +There are no Saturday holidays in the German schools and their +summer holidays are for only three to five weeks. You never see +gangs of small boys in Germany. Their games and their walks are +superintended by their teachers who are always inculcating in +them reverence and awe for the military heroes of the past and +present. On Saturday night the German boy is turned over by the +State paid school teacher to the State paid pastor who adds divine +authority to the principles of reverence for the German system. + +There is a real system of caste in Germany. For instance, I was +playing tennis one day with a man and, while dressing afterwards, +I asked him what he was. He answered that he was a _Kaufmann_, +or merchant. For the German this answer was enough. It placed him +in the merchant class. I asked him what sort of a _Kaufmann_ +he was. He then told me he was president of a large electrical +company. Of course, with us he would have answered first that +he was president of the electrical company, but being a German +he simply disclosed his caste without going into details. It is +a curious thing on the registers of guests in a German summer +resort to see Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze registered +with Mrs. Landrat Schwartz and Mrs. Second Lieutenant von Bing. +Of course, there is no doubt as to the relative social positions +of Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze and Mrs. Second Lieutenant +von Bing. Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze may have a steam +yacht and a tiara, an opera box and ten million marks. She may +be an old lady noted for her works of charity. Her husband may +have made discoveries of enormous value to the human race, but +she will always be compelled to take her place behind Mrs. Second +Lieutenant von Bing, even if the latter is only seventeen years +old. + +Of course, occasionally, officers of the army and navy condescend +to marry into the merchant caste, and if a girl has a choice +of three equally attractive young men, one a doctor, earning +ten thousand dollars a year; one a manufacturer, earning the +same amount; and one an army officer with a "von" before his +name and three thousand dollars a year, there is no hesitation +on her part: she takes the noble and the army officer. + +For years all the highest official positions of the government +have been held by members of the Prussian noble class, and when +Zimmermann, of a substantial family in East Prussia, but not of +noble birth, was made Foreign Minister, the most intense surprise +was exhibited all over Germany at this innovation. + +One of the most successful ways of disciplining the people is +by the _Rat_ system. _Rat_ means councillor, and is +a title of honour given to any one who has attained a certain +measure of success or standing in his chosen business or profession. +For instance, a business man is made a commerce _Rat_; a +lawyer, a justice _Rat_; a doctor, a sanitary _Rat_; +an architect or builder, a building _Rat_; a keeper of the +archives, an archive _Rat_; and so on. They are created in +this way: first, a man becomes a plain _Rat_, then, later on, +he becomes a secret _Rat_ or privy councillor; still later, +a court secret _Rat_ and, later still, a _wirklicher_, +or really and truly secret court _Rat_ to which may be added +the title of Excellency, which puts the man who has attained +this absolutely at the head of the _Rat_ ladder. + +But see the insidious working of the system. By German custom +the woman always carries the husband's title. The wife of a +successful builder is known as Mrs. Really Truly Secret Court +Building _Rat_ and her social precedence over the other women +depends entirely upon her husband's position in the _Rat_ +class. Titles of nobility alone do not count when they come in +contact with a high government position. Now if a lawyer gets to +be about forty years old and is not some sort of a _Rat_, +his wife begins to nag him and his friends and relations look at +him with suspicion. There must be something in his life which +prevents his obtaining the coveted distinction and if there is +anything in a man's past, if he has shown at any time any spirit of +opposition to the government, as disclosed by the police registers, +which are kept written up to date about every German citizen, +then he has no chance of obtaining any of these distinctions +which make up so much of the social life of Germany. It is a +means by which the government keeps a far tighter hold on the +intellectual part of its population than if they were threatened +with torture and the stake. The Social Democrats, who, of course, +have declared themselves against the existing system of government +and in favour of a republic, can receive no distinctions from +the government because they dared to lift their voices and their +pens in criticism of the existing order. For them there is the +fear of the law. Convictions for the crime of _Lèse-Majesté_ +are of almost daily occurrence and, at the opening of the war, an +amnesty was granted in many of these cases, the ministry of war +withdrawing many prosecutions against poor devils waiting their +trial in jail because they had dared to speak disrespectfully of +the army. The following quotation from a German book, written +since the war, shows very clearly that this state of affairs +existed: "In the beneficent atmosphere of general amnesty came the +news that the Minister of War had withdrawn pending prosecutions +against newspapers on account of their insults to the army or +its members." (Dr. J. Jastrow, "Im Kriegszustand.") + +Besides the _Rat_ system and the military system, there +exists the enormous mass of Prussian officials. In a country +where so many things are under government control these officials +are almost immeasurably more numerous than in other countries. +In Prussia, for example, all the railways are government-owned, +with the exception of one road about sixty miles long and a few +small branch roads. This army of officials are retainers of the +government, and not only, of course, themselves refrain from +criticising the system, but also use their influence upon the +members of their own family and all with whom they come in contact. +They are subject to trial in special secret courts and one of +them who dared in any way to criticise the existing system would +not for long remain a member of it. Of course, the members of the +Reichstag have the privilege of free speech without responsibility, +and there are occasional Socialists, who know that they have +nothing to expect from the government, who dare to speak in +criticism. + +All the newspapers are subject to control as in no other country. +In the first place their proprietors are subject to the influence +of the _Rat_ system as is every other German, and the newspaper +proprietor, whose sons perhaps enter the army, whose daughters +may be married to naval officers or officials, and who seeks +for his sons promotion as judge, state's attorney, etc., has +to be very careful that the utterances of his newspaper do not +prevent his promotion in the social scale or interfere with the +career of his family and relations. + +Since the war while a preventive censure does not exist in Germany +nevertheless a newspaper may be suppressed at will; a fearful +punishment for a newspaper, which, by being suppressed for, say, +five days or a week, has its business affairs thrown into the utmost +confusion and suffers an enormous direct loss. + +Many of the larger newspapers are either owned or influenced by +concerns like the Krupps'. For instance, during this war, all +news coming from Germany to other countries has been furnished +by either the Over-Seas Or Trans-Ocean service, both news agencies +in which the Krupps are large stockholders. The smaller newspapers +are influenced directly by the government. + +In the Middle Ages there was often declared a sort of truce to +prevent fighting in a city, which was called the _Burgfrieden_ +or "peace of the city," and, at the beginning of this war, all +political parties were supposed to declare a sort of +_Burgfrieden_ and not try to obtain any political advantage. + +There was, therefore, intense indignation among the Social Democrats +of Germany when it was discovered, in the spring of 1916, that +the Minister of the Interior was making arrangements to send out +news service to be furnished free to the smaller newspapers, and +that he was engaged in instructing the various _Landräte_ +and other officials of the Interior Department how effectively to +use this machinery in order to gull the people to the advantage +of the government, and to keep them in ignorance of anything +which might tend to turn them against the system. + +Besides the _Rat_ system there is, of course, the system +of decorations. Countless orders and decorations are given in +Germany. At the head is the Order of the Black Eagle; there are +the Order of the Red Eagle, the Prussian Order of the Crown, +the orders, "_Pour le Mérite_," the Order of the House of +Hohenzollern, and many others, and in each of the twenty-five +States there are also orders, distinctions and decorations. These +orders in turn are divided into numerous classes. For instance, a +man can have the Red Eagle order of the first, second, third or +fourth class, and these may be complicated with a laurel crown, +with an oak crown, with swords and with stars, etc. Even domestic +servants, who have served a long time in one family, receive +orders; and faithful postmen and other officials who have never +appeared on the police books for having made statements against +the government or the army are sure of receiving some sort of +order. + +Once a year in Berlin a great festival is held called the +_Ordensfest_, when all who hold orders or decorations of any +kind are invited to a great banquet. The butler, who has served +for twenty-five years, there rubs shoulders with the diplomat who +has received a Black Eagle for adding a colony to the German +Empire, and the faithful cook may be seated near an officer who +has obtained "_Pour le Mérite_" for sinking an enemy warship. +All this in one sense is democratic, but in its effect it tends +to induce the plain people to be satisfied with a piece of ribbon +instead of the right to vote, and to make them upholders of a +system by which they are deprived of any opportunity to make +a real advance in life. + +This system is the most complete that has ever existed in any +country, because it has drawn so many of the inhabitants of the +country into its meshes. Practically, the industrial workers +of the great towns and the stupid peasants in the country are +the only people in Germany left out of its net. + +I had a shooting place very near Berlin, in fact I could reach +it in three quarters of an hour by motor from the Embassy door, +and there I had an opportunity of studying the conditions of +life of the peasant class. + +Germany is still a country of great proprietors. Lands may be held +there by a tenure which was abolished in Great Britain hundreds of +years ago. In Great Britain, property may only be tied up under +fixed conditions during the lives of certain chosen people, in +being at the death of the testator. In the State of New York, +property may only be tied up during the lives of two persons, +in being at the death of the person making the will, and for +twenty-one years (the minority of an infant) thereafter. But +in the Central Empires, property still may be tied up for an +indefinite period under the feudal system, so that great estates, +no matter how extravagant the life tenant may be, are not sold +and do not come into the market for division among the people. + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD ON THE WAY TO HIS SHOOTING +PRESERVE.] + +[Illustration: A KEEPER AND BEATERS ON THE SHOOTING PRESERVE. +IT SHOWS THE EARLY INNOCULATION OF DISCIPLINE INTO THE GERMAN +SMALL BOY.] + +For instance, to-day there exist estates in the Central Empires +which must pass from oldest son to oldest son indefinitely and, +failing that, to the next in line, and so on; and conditions +have even been annexed by which children cannot inherit if their +father has married a woman not of a stated number of quarterings +of nobility. There is a Prince holding great estates in Hungary. +He is a bachelor and if he desires his children to inherit these +estates there are only thirteen girls in the world whom he can +marry, according to the terms of the instrument by which some +distant ancestor founded this inheritance. + +This vicious system has prevented extensive peasant proprietorship. +The government, however, to a certain extent, has encouraged peasant +proprietorship, but only with very small parcels of land; and it +would be an unusual thing in Germany, especially in Prussia, +to find a peasant owning more than twenty or thirty acres of +land, most of the land being held by the peasants in such small +quantities that after working their own lands they have time +left to work the lands of the adjoining landed proprietor at a +very small wage. + +All the titles, of the nobility are not confined to the oldest +son. The "Pocketbook of Counts," published by the same firm which +publishes the "Almanac de Gotha," contains the counts of Austria, +Germany and Hungary together, showing in this way the intimate +personal relation between the noble families of these three +countries. All the sons of a count are counts, and so on, ad +infinitum. Thus in Hungary there are probably seventy Counts +Szecheny and about the same number of Zichy, etc. Some of the +German noble families are not far behind. In fact it may be said +that almost any person, in what is known as "society" in the +Central Empires, has a title of some sort. The prefix "von" shows +that the person is a noble and is often coupled with names of +people who have no title. By custom in Germany, a "von" when +he goes abroad is allowed to call himself Baron. But in Germany +he could not do so. These noble families in the Central Empires, +by the system of _Majorat_ which I have described, hold +large landed estates, and naturally exert a great influence upon +their labourers. As a rule the system of tenant farming does not +exist; that is, estates are not leased to small farmers as was +the custom in Ireland and is still in Great Britain, but estates +are worked as great agricultural enterprises under superintendents +appointed by the proprietor. This system, impossible in America or +even in Great Britain, is possible in the Central Empires where +the villages are full of peasants who, not so many generations +ago, were serfs attached to the land and who lived in wholesome +fear of the landed proprietors. + +This is the first method by which influence is exercised on the +population. There is also the restricted franchise or "circle +voting" which gives the control of the franchise to a few rich +proprietors. + +As a rule, the oldest son enters the army as an officer and may +continue, but if he has not displayed any special aptitude for +the military profession he retires and manages his estate. These +estates are calculated by their proprietors to give at least four +per cent interest income on the value of the land. Many younger +sons after a short term of service in the army, usually as officers +and not as _Einjähriger_ leave the army and enter diplomacy +or some other branch of the government service. The offices of +judge, district attorney, etc., not being elective, this career +as well as that leading to the position of _Landrat_ and +over-president of a province is open to those who, because they +belong to old Prussian landed families, find favour in the eyes +of the government. Much is heard in Germany and out of Germany +of the Prussian Squire or Junker. + +There is no leisure class among the Junkers. They are all workers, +patriotic, honest and devoted to the Emperor and the Fatherland. +If it is possible that government by one class is to be suffered, +then the Prussian Junkers have proved themselves more fit for rule +than any class in all history. Their virtues are Spartan, their +minds narrow but incorruptible, and their bravery and patriotism +undoubted. One can but admire them and their stern virtues. This +class, largely because of its poverty and its constant occupation, +does not travel; nor does the casual tourist or health seeker in +Germany come in contact with these men. The Junkers will fight +hard to keep their privileges, and the throne will fight hard +for the Junkers because they are the greatest supporters of the +Hohenzollerns. + +The workingmen in the cities are hard workers and probably work +longer and get less out of life than any workingmen in the world. +The laws so much admired and made ostensibly for their protection, +such as insurance against unemployment, sickness, injury, old +age, etc., are in reality skilful measures which bind them to +the soil as effectively as the serfs of the Middle Ages were +bound to their masters' estates. + +I have had letters from workingmen who have worked in America +begging me for a steerage fare to America, saying that their +insurance payments were so large that they could not save money +out of their wages. Of course, after having made these payments +for some years, the workingman naturally hesitates to emigrate +and so lose all the premiums he has paid to the State. In peace +times a skilled mechanic in Germany received less than two dollars +a day, for which he was compelled to work at least ten hours. +Agricultural labourers in the Central Empires are poorly paid. +The women do much of the work done here by men. For instance, +once when staying at a nobleman's estate in Hungary, I noticed +that the gardeners were all women, and, on inquiring how much they +received, I was told they were paid about twenty cents a day. The +women in the farming districts of Germany are worked harder than +the cattle. In summer time they are out in the fields at five or +six in the morning and do not return until eight or later at night. +For this work they are sometimes paid as high as forty-eight +cents a day in harvest time. Nevertheless, these small wages +tempt many Russians to Germany during the harvest season. At the +outbreak of the war there were perhaps fifty thousand Russians +employed in Germany; men, women and girls. These the Germans +retained in a sort of slavery to work the fields. I spoke to +one Polish girl who was working on an estate over which I had +shooting rights, near Berlin. She told me that at the commencement +of the war she and her family were working in Germany and that +since the war they all desired to return to Poland but that the +Germans would not permit it. + +This hard working of women in agricultural pursuits tends to +stupefy and brutalise the rural population and keeps them in a +condition of subjection to the Prussian Church and the Prussian +system, and in readiness for war. Both Prussian Junkers and the +German manufacturers look with favour upon the employment of +so many women in farm work because the greater the number of +the labourers, the smaller their wages throughout the country. + +When I first came to Germany I, of course, was filled with the +ideas that prevailed in America that the German workingman had +an easy time. My mind was filled with pictures of the German +workingmen sitting with their families at tables, drinking beer +and listening to classical music. After I had spent some time in +Germany, I found that the reason that the German workingmen sat +about the tables was because they were too tired to do anything +else. + +I sincerely hope that after the war the workingmen of this country +will induce delegates of their German brothers to make a tour +of America. For when the German workingmen see how much better +off the Americans are, they will return to Germany and demand +shorter hours and higher wages; and the American will not be +brought into competition with labour slaves such as the German +workingmen of the period before the war. + +As one goes through the streets of Berlin there are no evidences +of poverty to be seen; but over fifty-five per cent of the families +in Berlin are families living in one room. + +The Germans are taken care of and educated very much in the same +way that the authorities here look after the inmates of a poor-house +or penitentiary. Such a thing as a German railway conductor rising +to be president of the road is an impossibility in Germany; and +the list of self-made men is small indeed,--by that I mean men +who have risen from the ranks of the working-men. + +The Socialists, representing the element opposed to the +Conservatives, elect a few members to the Prussian Lower House +and about one-third of the members to the Reichstag, but otherwise +have no part whatever in the government. No Socialist would have +any chance whatever if he set out to enter the government service +with the ambition of becoming a district attorney or judge. Jews +have not much chance in the government service. A few exceptions +have been made. At one time Dernburg, who carried on the propaganda +in America during the first year of the war, and who is a Jew, was +appointed Colonial Minister of the Empire. + +In my opinion, the liberalisation of Prussia has been halted +by the fact that there has been no party of protest except that +of the Socialists, and the Socialists, because they have, in +effect, demanded abolition of the monarchy and the establishment +of a republic as part of their programme, have been unable to +do anything in the obtaining of the reforms. + +Up to the beginning of the war there was great dissatisfaction. +The people were irritated by certain direct taxes such as the +tax upon matches, and because every Protestant in Prussia was +compelled to pay a tax for the support of the church, unless +he made a declaration that he was an atheist. + +The only class in Germany which knows something of the outside +world is the _Kaufmann_ class. Prussian nobles of the ruling +class are not travellers. They are always busy with the army and +navy, government employments or their estates; and, as a rule, +too poor to travel. The poor, of course, do not travel, and the +_Kaufmann_, although he learns much in his travels in other +countries to make him dissatisfied with the small opportunity +which he has in a political way in Germany, is satisfied to let +things stand because of the enormous profits which he makes +through the low wages and long hours of the German workingman. + +Lawyers and judges amount to little in Germany and we do not +find there a class of political lawyers who, in republics, always +seem to get the management of affairs in their own hands. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE DAYS BEFORE THE WAR + +After my return from Kiel to Berlin a period of calm ensued. +No one seemed to think that the murders at Sarajevo would have +any effect upon the world. + +The Emperor had gone North on his yacht, but, as I believe, not +until a certain line of action had been agreed upon. + +Most of the diplomats started on their vacations. Sir Edward +Goschen, British Ambassador, as well as the Russian Ambassador, +left Berlin. This shows, of course, how little war was expected +in diplomatic circles. + +I went on two visits to German country-houses in Silesia, where +the richest estates are situated. One of these visits was to the +country-house of a Count, one of the wealthiest men in Germany, +possessed of a fortune of about twenty to thirty million dollars. +He has a great estate in Silesia, farmed, as I explained, not by +tenant farmers, but by his own superintendents. In the centre is +a beautiful country house or castle. We were thirty-two guests in +the house-party. This Count and his charming wife had travelled +much and evidently desired to model their country life on that +of England. Our amusements were tennis, swimming and clay-pigeon +shooting, with dancing and music at night. Life such as this, +and especially, the lavish entertainment of so many guests, is +something very exceptional in Prussian country life and quite +a seven months' wonder for the country side. + +Some days after my return to Berlin the ultimatum of Austria +was sent to Serbia. Even then there was very little excitement, +and, when the Serbian answer was published, it was believed that +this would end the incident, and that matters would be adjusted +by dilatory diplomats in the usual way. + +On the twenty-sixth of July, matters began to boil. The Emperor +returned on this day and, from the morning of the twenty-seventh, +took charge. On the twenty-seventh, also, Sir Edward Goschen +returned to Berlin. I kept in touch, so far as possible, with +the other diplomats, as the German officials were exceedingly +uncommunicative, although I called on von Jagow every day and tried +to get something out of him. On the night of the twenty-ninth, +the Chancellor and Sir Edward had their memorable conversation in +which the Chancellor, while making no promises about the French +colonies, agreed, if Great Britain remained neutral, to make +"no territorial aggressions at the expense of France." + +The Chancellor further stated to Sir Edward, that ever since he +had been Chancellor the object of his policy had been to bring +about an understanding with England and that he had in mind a +general neutrality agreement between Germany and England. + +On the thirtieth, Sir Edward Grey refused the bargain proposed, +namely that Great Britain should engage to stand by while the +French colonies were taken and France beaten, so long as French +territory was not taken. Sir Edward Grey said that the so-called +bargain at the expense of France would constitute a disgrace +from which the good name of Great Britain would never recover. +He also refused to bargain with reference to the neutrality of +Belgium. + +Peace talk continued, however, on both the thirtieth and +thirty-first, and many diplomats were still optimistic. On the +thirty-first I was lunching at the Hotel Bristol with Mrs. Gerard +and Thomas H. Birch, our minister to Portugal, and his wife. +I left the table and went over and talked to Mouktar Pascha, +the Turkish Ambassador, who assured me that there was no danger +whatever of war. But in spite of his assurances and judging by +the situation and what I learned from other diplomats, I had +cabled to the State Department on the morning of that day saying +that a general European war was inevitable. On the thirty-first, +_Kriegsgefahrzustand_ or "condition of danger of war" was +proclaimed at seven P. M., and at seven P. M. the demand was made +by Germany that Russia should demobilise within twelve hours. On +the thirtieth, I had a talk with Baron Beyens, the Minister of +Belgium, and Jules Cambon, the French Ambassador, in the garden +of the French Embassy in the afternoon. They both agreed that +nothing could prevent war except the intervention of America. + +Both Ambassador Cambon and Minister Beyens were very sad and +depressed. After leaving them I met Sir Edward Grey upon the +street and had a short conversation with him. He also was very +depressed. + +Acting on my own responsibility, I sent the following letter to +the Chancellor: + + "Your Excellency: + + Is there nothing that my country can do? Nothing that I can + do towards stopping this dreadful war? + + I am sure that the President would approve any act of mine + looking towards peace. + + Yours ever, + (Signed) JAMES W. GERARD." + +To this letter I never had any reply. + +On the first of August at five P. M. the order for mobilisation +was given, and at seven-ten P. M. war was declared by Germany on +Russia, the Kaiser proclaiming from the balcony of the palace +that "he knew no parties more." + +Of course, during these days the population of Berlin was greatly +excited. Every night great crowds of people paraded the streets +singing "Deutschland Ueber Alles" and demanding war. Extras, +distributed free, were issued at frequent intervals by the +newspapers, and there was a general feeling among the Germans +that their years of preparation would now bear fruit, that Germany +would conquer the world and impose its _Kultur_ upon all nations. + +On the second of August, I called in the morning to say good-bye +to the Russian Ambassador. His Embassy was filled with unfortunate +Russians who had gone there to seek protection and help. Right +and left, men and women were weeping and the whole atmosphere +seemed that of despair. + +On the day the Russian Ambassador left, I sent him my automobile +to take him to the station. The chauffeur and footman reported to +me that the police protection was inadequate, that the automobile +was nearly overturned by the crowd, and that men jumped on the +running board and struck the Ambassador and the ladies with him +in the face with sticks. His train was due to leave at one-fifteen +P. M. At about ten minutes of one, while I was standing in my +room in the Embassy surrounded by a crowd of Americans, Mrs. +James, wife of the Senator from Kentucky and Mrs. Post Wheeler, +wife of our Secretary to the Embassy in Japan, came to me and +said that they were anxious to get through to Japan via Siberia +and did not know what to do. I immediately scribbled a note to +the Russian Ambassador asking him to take them on the train with +him. This, and the ladies, I confided to the care of a red-headed +page boy of the Embassy who spoke German. By some miracle he +managed to get them to the railroad station before the Ambassador's +train left, the Ambassador kindly agreeing to take them with +him. His train, however, instead of going to Russia, was headed +for Denmark; and from there the two ladies crossed to Sweden, +thence to England, and so home, it being perhaps as well for them +that they did not have an opportunity to attempt the Siberian +journey during this period of mobilisation. + +The Russian Ambassador reciprocated by confiding to me a Russian +Princess who had intended to go out with him but who, intimidated, +perhaps, by the scenes on the way to the station, had lost her +nerve at the railway station and refused to depart with the +Ambassador. She remained for a while in Berlin, and after some +weeks recovered sufficient courage to make the trip to Denmark. + +On the morning of August fourth, having received an invitation +the day before, I "attended" at the Palace in Berlin. In the room +where the court balls had been held in peace times, a certain +number of the members of the Reichstag were assembled. The diplomats +were in a gallery on the west side of the room. Soon the Emperor, +dressed in field grey uniform and attended by several members of +his staff and a number of ladies, entered the room. He walked +with a martial stride and glanced toward the gallery where the +diplomats were assembled, as if to see how many were there. Taking +his place upon the throne and standing, he read an address to +the members of the Reichstag. The members cheered him and then +adjourned to the Reichstag where the Chancellor addressed them, +making his famous declaration about Belgium, stating that "necessity +knew no law," and that the German troops were perhaps at that +moment crossing the Belgian frontier. Certain laws which had +been prepared with reference to the government of the country, +and which I will give in more detail in another place, as well as +the war credit, were voted upon by the Reichstag. The Socialists +had not been present in the Palace, but joined now in voting the +necessary credits. + +On the afternoon of August fourth, I went to see von Jagow to +try and pick up any news. The British Ambassador sat in the +waiting-room of the Foreign Office. Sir Edward told me that he +was there for the purpose of asking for his passports. He spoke +in English, of course, and I am sure that he was overheard by a +man sitting in the room who looked to me like a German newspaper +man, so that I was not surprised when, late in the afternoon, +extra sheets appeared upon the street announcing that the British +Ambassador had asked for his passports and that Great Britain +had declared war. + +At this news the rage of the population of Berlin was indescribable. +The Foreign Office had believed, and this belief had percolated +through all classes in the capital, that the English were so +occupied with the Ulster rebellion and unrest in Ireland that +they would not declare war. + +[Illustration: CROWDS IN FRONT OF THE EMBASSY AWAITING BULLETINS, +AUGUST, 1914.] + +[Illustration: THE AMERICAN EMBASSY WAS THE CENTRE OF INTEREST +TO MANY IN THOSE EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR.] + +After dinner I went to the station to say good bye to the French +Ambassador, Jules Cambon. The route from the French Embassy by +the Branderburg Thor to the Lehrter railway station was lined +with troops and police, so that no accident whatever occurred. +There was no one at the station except a very inferior official +from the German Foreign Office. Cambon was in excellent spirits +and kept his nerve and composure admirably. His family, luckily, +were not in Berlin at the time of the outbreak of the war. Cambon +instead of being sent out by way of Switzerland, whence of course +the road to France was easy, was sent North to Denmark. He was +very badly treated on the train, and payment for the special +train, in gold, was exacted from him by the German government. + +Then I went for a walk about Berlin, soon becoming involved in +the great crowd in front of the British Embassy on the Wilhelm +Strasse. The crowd threw stones, etc., and managed to break all +the windows of the Embassy. The Germans charged afterwards that +people in the Embassy had infuriated the crowd by throwing pennies +to them. I did not see any occurrences of this kind. As the Unter +den Linden and the Wilhelm Platz are paved with asphalt the crowd +must have brought with them the missiles which they used, with +the premeditated design of smashing the Embassy windows. A few +mounted police made their appearance but were at no time in +sufficient numbers to hold the crowd in check. + +Afterwards I went around to the Unter den Linden where there was +a great crowd in front of the Hotel Adlon. A man standing on the +outskirts of the crowd begged me not to go into the hotel, as he +said the people were looking for English newspaper correspondents. + +So threatening was the crowd towards the English correspondents +that Wile rang up the porter of the Embassy after we had gone +to bed and, not wishing to disturb us, he occupied the lounge in +the porter's rooms. + +Believing that possibly the British Embassy might be in such +a condition that Sir Edward Goschen, the British Ambassador, +might not care to spend the night there, I ordered an automobile +and went up through the crowd which still choked the Wilhelm +Strasse, with Holand Harvey, the Second Secretary to the British +Embassy. Sir Edward and his secretaries were perfectly calm and +politely declined the refuge which I offered them in our Embassy. +I chatted with them for a while, and, as I was starting to leave, a +servant told me that the crowds in the street had greatly increased +and were watching my automobile. I sent out word by the servant +to open the automobile, as it was a landau, and to tell the +chauffeur, when I got in, to drive very slowly. + +I drove slowly through the crowd, assailed only by the peculiar +hissing word that the Germans use when they are especially angry +and which is supposed to convey the utmost contempt. This word +is "_Pfui_" and has a peculiar effect when hissed out from +thousands of Teutonic throats. + +As we left the outskirts of the crowd, a man of respectable +appearance jumped on the running board of the automobile, spit +at me, saying "_Pfui_," and struck Harvey in the face with +his hat. I stopped the automobile, jumped out and chased this man +down the street and caught him. My German footman came running +up and explained that I was the American Ambassador and not an +Englishman. The man who struck Harvey thereupon apologised and +gave his card. He was a Berlin lawyer who came to the Embassy +next morning and apologised again for his "mistake." + +The following day, August fifth, I spent part of the time taking +over from Sir Edward the British interests. Joseph C. Grew, our +First Secretary, and I went to the British Embassy; seals were +placed upon the archives, and we received such instructions and +information as could be given us, with reference to the British +subjects in Germany and their interests. The British correspondents +were collected in the Embassy and permission was obtained for +them to leave on the Embassy train. + +During the day British subjects, without distinction as to age +or sex, were seized, wherever found, and sent to the fortress +of Spandau. I remonstrated with von Jagow and told him that that +was a measure taken only in the Middle Ages, and I believe that +he remonstrated with the authorities and arranged for a cessation +of the arbitrary arrests of women. + +Frederick W. Wile, the well-known American correspondent of the +_London Daily Mail_, was to go out also with the British +party, on the ground that he had been a correspondent of a British +newspaper. In the evening I went to the Foreign Office to get his +passport, and, while one of the department chiefs was signing +the passport, he stopped in the middle of his signature, threw +down the pen on the table, and said he absolutely refused to +sign a passport for Wile because he hated him so and because +he believed he had been largely instrumental in the bringing +about of the war. Of course this latter statement was quite +ridiculous, but it took me some time before I could persuade +this German official to calm his hate and complete his signature. + +I have heard a few people say that Wile was unduly fearful of +what the Germans might do to him, but the foregoing incident +shows that his fears were well grounded, and knowing of this +incident, which I did not tell him, I was very glad to have him +accept the hospitality of the Embassy for the night preceding +his departure. He was perfectly cool, although naturally much +pleased when I informed him that his departure had been arranged. + +Sir Edward and his staff and the British correspondents left next +morning early, about six A. M. No untoward incidents occurred +at the time of their departure which was, of course, unknown to +the populace of Berlin. + +During these first days there was a great spy excitement in Germany. +People were seized by the crowds in the streets and, in some +instances, on the theory that they were French or Russian spies, +were shot. Foreigners were in a very dangerous situation throughout +Germany, and many Americans were subjected to arrest and indignities. + +A curious rumour spread all over Germany to the effect that +automobiles loaded with French gold were being rushed across the +country to Russia. Peasants and gamekeepers and others turned +out on the roads with guns, and travelling by automobile became +exceedingly dangerous. A German Countess was shot, an officer +wounded and the Duchess of Ratibor was shot in the arm. It was +sometime before this excitement was allayed, and many notices +were published in the newspapers before this mania was driven +from the popular brain. + +There were rumours also that Russians had poisoned the Muggelsee, +the lake from whence Berlin draws part of its water supply. There +were constant rumours of the arrest of Russian spies disguised as +women throughout Germany. + +Many Americans were detained under a sort of arrest in their +hotels; among these were Archer Huntington and his wife; Charles +H. Sherrill, formerly our minister to the Argentine and many +others. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE AMERICANS AT THE OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES + +Of course, as soon as there was a prospect of war, the Embassy +was overrun with Americans. Few Americans had taken the precaution +of travelling with passports, and passports had become a necessity. +All of the Embassy force and all the volunteers that I could +prevail upon to serve, even a child of eleven years old, who +was stopping in the house with us, were taking applications of +the Americans who literally in thousands crowded the Wilhelm +Platz in front of the Embassy. + +The question of money became acute. Travellers who had letters +of credit and bank checks for large sums could not get a cent +of money in Germany. The American Express Company, I believe, +paid all holders of its checks. When, with Mr. Wolf, President +of the American Association of Commerce and Trade in Berlin, I +called upon the director of the Imperial Bank and begged him +to arrange something for the relief of American travellers in +Germany, he refused to do anything; and I then suggested to him +that he might give paper money, which they were then printing +in Germany, to the Americans for good American credits such as +letters of credit and bank checks, and that they would then have a +credit in America which might become very valuable in the future. +He, however, refused to see this. Director Herbert Gutmann of +the Dresdener Bank was the far-seeing banker who relieved the +situation. Gutmann arranged with me that the Dresdener Bank, +the second largest bank in Germany, would cash the bank checks, +letters of credit and the American Express Company's drafts and +international business checks, etc., of Americans for reasonable +amounts, provided the Embassy seal was put on the letter of credit +or check to show that the holder was an American, and, outside +of Berlin, the seal of the American Consulate. This immediately +relieved the situation. + +With the exception of Mr. Wolf who was, however, quite busy with +his own affairs, I had no American Committees such as were organised +in London and Paris to help me in Berlin. In Munich, however, the +Americans there organised themselves into an efficient committee. +Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Pulitzer were in Berlin and immediately went +to work in our Embassy. Mr. Pulitzer busied himself at giving +out passports and Mrs. Pulitzer proved herself a very efficient +worker. She and Mrs. Ruddock, wife of our Third Secretary, and +Mrs. Gherhardi, wife of the Naval Attaché, with Mrs. Gerard formed +a sort of relief committee to look after the Americans who were +without help or resources. + +I arranged, with the very efficient help of Lanier Winslow, for +special trains to carry the Americans in Germany to Holland. +Trains were run from Switzerland, Munich and Carlsbad across +Germany to Holland, and from Berlin were run a number of trains +to Holland. + +The first room on entering the Embassy was the ticket-office, +and there, first Mr. Winslow, and afterwards Captain Fenton, +sold tickets, giving tickets free to those who were certified +to be without funds by the committee of Mrs. Pulitzer and Mrs. +Gerard. This committee worked on the second floor of the Embassy +in the ballroom, part of it being roped off to keep the crowds +back from the ladies. + +Each week I bought a number of steerage passages from the Holland +American Line and the ladies resold them in the ballroom. We had +to do this because the Holland American Line had no licence to sell +steerage tickets in Germany; but by buying two or three hundred +at a time direct from the Company, I was enabled to peddle them +out in our ballroom to those Americans who, in their eagerness to +reach their own country, were willing to endure the discomforts +of travel in the steerage. + +Winslow accompanied one special train to Holland, and I must +say that I sympathised with him when I learned of what he had +to do in the way of chasing lost hand-baggage and finding milk +for crying babies. + +These special trains were started from the Charlottenburg station, +in a quiet part of Berlin so that no crowd was attracted by the +departure of the Americans. The Carlsbad train went through very +successfully, taking the Americans who had been shut up in Carlsbad +since the commencement of the war. + +One of the curious developments of this time was a meeting of +sympathy for the Americans stranded in Germany, held in the town +hall of Berlin on the eleventh of August. This meeting was commenced +in one of the meeting rooms of the town hall, but so many people +attended that we were compelled to adjourn to the great hall. +There speeches were made by the over-Burgomaster, von Gwinner, +Professor von Harnack and me. Another professor, who spoke excellent +English, with an English accent, made a bitter attack upon Great +Britain. In the pamphlet in which the speeches of Harnack and +the over-Burgomaster were published this professor's speech was +left out. In his speech stating the object of the meeting, the +over-Burgomaster said: "Since we hear that a large number of +American citizens in the German Empire, and, especially, in Berlin, +find themselves in embarrassments due to the shutting off of +means of return to their own country, we here solemnly declare +it to be our duty to care for them as brethren to the limit of +our ability, and we appeal to all citizens of Berlin and the +whole of the German Empire to co-operate with us to this end." + +Professor von Harnack, head of the Royal Library in Berlin, is +one of the ablest of the German professors. In his speech he gave +expression to the feeling that was prevalent in the first days +of the war that Germany was defending itself against a Russian +invasion which threatened to blot out the German _Kultur_. He +said, after referring to Western civilisation: "But in the face +of this civilisation, there arises now before my eyes another +civilisation, the civilisation of the tribe, with its patriarchal +organisation, the civilisation of the horde that is gathered and +kept together by despots,--the Mongolian Muscovite civilisation. +This civilisation could not endure the light of the eighteenth +century, still less the light of the nineteenth century, and +now in the twentieth century it breaks loose and threatens us. +This unorganised Asiatic mass, like the desert with its sands, +wants to gather up our fields of grain." + +Nothing was done for the Americans stranded in Germany by the +Germans with the exception of the arrangements for the payment +of funds by the Dresdener Bank on the letters of credit and the +dispatching of special trains by the railroad department of the +German government. As a matter of fact, nothing more could have +been required of the Germans, as it was naturally the duty of +the American government to take care of its citizens stranded +abroad. + +Almost the instant that war was declared, I cabled to our government +suggesting that a ship should be sent over with gold because, +of course, with gold, no matter what the country, necessaries +can always be bought. Rumours of the dispatch of the Tennessee +and other ships from America, reached Berlin and a great number +of the more ignorant of the Americans got to believe that these +ships were being sent over to take Americans home. + +[Illustration: WORKING IN THE EMBASSY BALLROOM AT THE OUTBREAK +OF HOSTILITIES, AUGUST, 1914.] + +[Illustration: WAR DAYS IN BERLIN. AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS STAFF.] + +One morning an American woman spoke to me and said she would +consent to go home on one of these ships provided she was given +a state-room with a bath and Walker-Gordon milk for her children, +while another woman of German extraction used to sit for hours +in a corner of the ballroom, occasionally exclaiming aloud with +much feeling, "O God, will them ships never come?" + +In these first days of the war we also made a card index of all +the Americans in Berlin, and, so far as possible, in Germany; +in order to weed out those who had received the passports in +the first days when possibly some people not entitled to them +received them, and to find the deserving cases. All Americans +were required to present themselves at the Embassy and answer +a few questions, after which, if everything seemed all right, +their passports were marked "recommended for transportation to +America." + +I sent out circulars from time to time to the consuls throughout +Germany giving general instructions with regard to the treatment +of Americans. The following circular sent out on August twelfth +is a sample: + + "AMERICAN EMBASSY, + BERLIN, August 12, 1914. + + "_To the Consular Representatives_ + _of the United States in Germany,_ + _and for the general information of_ + _American Citizens._ + + "A communication will to-morrow be published in the _Berlin + Lokal Anzeiger_ regarding the sending of a special train to + the Dutch frontier for the special conveyance of Americans. + Other trains will probably be arranged for from time to time. + No further news has been received regarding the sending of + transports from the United States, but applications for + repatriation are being considered by the Embassy and the + various consular offices throughout Germany according to the + Embassy's last circular and the announcements published in + the _Lokal Anzeiger_. + + "All Americans leaving Berlin must have their passports stamped + by the Foreign Office, for which purpose they should apply to + _Geheimer Legationsrat_ Dr. Eckhardt at Wilhelmstrasse + 76. Americans residing outside of Berlin should ascertain from + their respective consular representatives what steps they should + take in this regard. + + "Letters for the United States may be sent to the Embassy and + will be forwarded at the first opportunity. + + "German subjects who desire to communicate with friends in + Great Britain, Russia, France or Belgium, or who desire to + send money, should make their requests to the Imperial Foreign + Office. Americans are permitted to enter Italy. The steamers + of the Italian lines are running at present, but are full for + some time in advance. The Embassy is also informed that the + steamer from Vlissingen, Holland, runs daily at 11 A. M. The + Ambassador cannot, however, recommend Americans to try to + reach Holland by the ordinary schedule trains, as he has + received reports of delays _en route_, owing to the fact + that all civil travellers are ejected from trains when troops + require accommodations. It is better to wait for special trains + arranged for by the Embassy. + + "The Dresdener Bank and its branches throughout Germany will + cash _for Americans only_ letters of credit and checks + issued by good American banks in limited amounts. Included + in this category are the checks of the Bankers' Association, + Bankers' Trust Company, International Mercantile Marine Company, + and American Express Company. All checks and letters of credit + must, however, be stamped by American consuls, and consuls must + see that the consular stamp is affixed to those checks and + letters of credit only as are the bona fide property of American + citizens. The Commerz & Disconto Bank makes the same offer and + the Deutsche Bank will cash checks and letters of credit drawn + by its correspondents. + + "American consular officers may also draw later on the Dresdener + Bank for their salaries and the official expenses of their + consulates. Before drawing such funds from the bank, however, + all consular officers should submit their expense accounts to me + for approval. These expense accounts should be transmitted to + the Embassy at the earliest opportunity. + + "THE AMBASSADOR." + +It will be noticed from the above circular that all Americans +were required to have their passports stamped at the Foreign +Office. One American did not receive back his passport, although +he had left it at the Foreign Office. The Foreign Office claimed +that it had delivered the passport to some one from the Embassy, +but we were not very much surprised when this identical passport +turned up later in the possession of Lodi, the confessed German +spy, who was shot in the Tower of London. + +After a time the American Government cabled me to advance money +to destitute Americans; and the ladies in the ballroom, with +their assistants, attended to this branch, advancing money where +needed or so much as a person needed to make up the balance of +passage on steerage tickets from Holland to the United States. +At the same time we gradually built up a banking system. Those +in the United States who had friends or relatives in Germany +sent them money by giving the money to our State Department, +and the State Department in turn cabled me to make a payment. +This payment was made by my drawing a draft for the amount stated +on the State Department, the recipient selling this draft at a +fixed rate to the Deutsche Bank in Berlin. This business assumed +great proportions, and after the Americans who were in a hurry to +go home had disappeared, the ones remaining were kept in funds +by their friends and relatives through this sort of bank under +our management. + +On August twenty-third, Assistant Secretary of War Breckenridge, +who had come from America on the warship _Tennessee_, bringing +gold with him, and a certain number of army officers, arrived +in Berlin and took over our relief organisation in so far as it +applied to the repatriation of Americans, housing it in rooms +hired in a nearby hotel, the Kaiserhoff. This commission: was +composed of Majors J. A. Ryan, J. H. Ford and G. W. Martin and +Captains Miller and Fenton, but the relief committee and the +banking office were still continued in the Embassy ballroom. + +A bulletin was published under the auspices of the American +Association of Commerce and Trade and the advice there given was +that all Americans having the means to leave should do so when +the opportunity for leaving by special trains was presented, and +proceed direct to London whence they could obtain transportation +to the United States. All Americans without means were directed +to apply to the relief commission which was authorized to pay +for the transportation and subsistence of stranded Americans +in order to enable them to return home. + +The enormous quantity of baggage left behind by Americans in +Germany was a problem requiring solution. + +In spite of repeated advice to leave, many Americans insisted +on remaining in Germany. Few of them were business people; there +were many song-birds, piano players, and students. We had much +trouble with these belated Americans. For example, one woman +and her daughter refused to leave when advised, but stayed on +and ran up bills for over ten thousand marks; and as arrest for +debt exists in Germany, they could not leave when they finally +decided to go. All of us in the Embassy had to subscribe the +money necessary to pay their most pressing debts and they finally +left the country, leaving an added prejudice against Americans. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PRISONERS OF WAR + +During the period of the first months of the war, in addition +to other work, it became necessary to look after those subjects +of other nations who had been confided to my care. + +At first the British were allowed considerable liberty, although +none were permitted to leave the country. They were required to +report to the police at stated times during the day and could +not remain out late at night. + +The Japanese had received warning from their Embassy as to the +turn that events might take and, before sending its ultimatum, +the Japanese government had warned its citizens, so that a great +number of them had left Germany. After the declaration of war by +Japan, all the Japanese in Germany were immediately imprisoned. +This was stated to be in order to save them from the fury of +the population and certainly the people seemed to be greatly +incensed against the Japanese. When I finally obtained permission +for their release and departure from Germany I had to send some +one with the parties of Japanese to the Swiss frontier in order +to protect them from injury. They were permitted to leave only +through Switzerland and, therefore, had to change cars at Munich. +Before sending any of them to Munich I invariably telegraphed +our Consul there to notify the Munich police so that proper +protection could be provided at the railway station. + +On one occasion a number of Japanese were waiting in the Embassy +in order to take the night train for Munich. I sent a servant +to take them out in order that they might get something to eat +in a restaurant, but as no restaurant in Berlin would sell them +food, arrangements were made to give them meals in the Embassy. + +The members of the Siamese Legation, who in appearance greatly +resemble the Japanese, were often subjected to indignities, and +for a long time did not dare move about freely in Berlin, or +even leave their houses. + +The Japanese were marvels of courtesy. After I visited some of +them at the civilian camp of Ruhleben, they wrote me a letter +thanking me for the visit. Nearly every Japanese leaving Germany +on his arrival in Switzerland wrote me a grateful letter. + +When I finally left Germany, as I stepped from the special train +at Zürich, a Japanese woman, who had been imprisoned in Germany +and whose husband I had visited in a prison, came forward to thank +me. A Japanese man was waiting in the hotel office in Berne when +I arrived there, for a similar purpose, and the next morning +early the Japanese Minister called and left a beautiful clock for +Mrs. Gerard as an expression of his gratitude for the attention +shown to his countrymen. It was really a pleasure to be able to +do something for these polite and charming people. + +On August twentieth I paid my first visit to a German prison +camp. This was to the camp at Doeberitz situated about eight +miles west of Berlin, a sort of military camp with permanent +barracks. Some of these barracks were used for the confinement +of such British civilians as the Germans had arrested in the +first days of the war. There were only a few British among the +prisoners, with a number of Russian and French. I was allowed +to converse freely with the prisoners and found that they had +no complaints. As the war went on, however, a number of British +prisoners of war were taken by the Germans during the course of +the great retreat of the British in Northern France. Then officers +and privates began to come into Germany and were distributed +in various camps. Finally, in the autumn of 1914, the British +Government decided on interning a great number of Germans in +Great Britain; and the German government immediately, and as +a reprisal, interned all the British civilian men who, up to +this time, had enjoyed comparative freedom in Berlin and other +cities of the Empire. The British civilians were shut up in a +race track about five miles from the centre of Berlin, called +Ruhleben. This race track in peace times was used for contests +of trotting horses and on it were the usual grandstands and brick +stable buildings containing box stalls with hay lofts above, +where the race horses were kept. + +On August twentieth I paid my first visit to the police presidency +in Berlin where political prisoners, when arrested, were confined. A +small number of British prisoners subject to especial investigation +were there interned. This prison, which I often subsequently +visited, was clean and well kept, and I never had any particular +complaints from the prisoners confined there, except, of course, +as the war progressed, concerning the inadequacy of the food. + +I had organised a special department immediately on the breaking +out of the war to care for the interests of the British. At first +Mr. Boylston Beal, a lawyer of Boston, assisted by Mr. Rivington +Pyne of New York, was at the head of this department, of which +later the Honourable John B. Jackson, formerly our Minister to +the Balkan States, Greece and Cuba, took charge. He volunteered +to give his assistance at the commencement of the war and I was +glad of his help, especially as he had been twelve years secretary +in the Berlin Embassy and, therefore, was well acquainted not +only with Germany but with German official life and customs. Mr. +Jackson was most ably assisted by Charles H. Russell, Jr., of +New York, and Lithgow Osborne. Of course, others in the Embassy +had much to do with this department. + +The first privates, prisoners of war, came to the camp of Doeberitz +near Berlin. Early in the war Mr. Grew, our First Secretary, and +Consul General Lay visited the camp for officers at Torgau. The +question of the inspection of prisoners of the camps and the rights +of Ambassadors charged with the interests of hostile powers was +quite in the clouds. So many reports came to Germany about the +bad treatment in England of German prisoners of war that I finally +arranged to have Mr. Jackson visit them and report. This was arranged +by my colleague, our Ambassador to Great Britain, and in the first +winter Mr. Jackson made his trip there. His report of conditions +there did much to allay the German belief as to the ill-treatment +of their subjects who were prisoners in Great Britain and helped +me greatly in bringing about better conditions in Germany. After +vainly endeavouring to get the German government to agree to some +definite plan for the inspection of the prisoners, after my notes +to the Foreign Office had remained unanswered for a long period of +time, and after sending a personal letter to von Jagow calling his +attention to the fact that the delay was injuring German prisoners +in other countries, I finally called on von Bethmann-Hollweg +and told him that my notes concerning prisoners were sent by +the Foreign Office to the military authorities: that, while I +could talk with officials of the Foreign Office, I never came into +contact with the people who really passed upon the notes sent by +me, and who made the decisions as to the treatment of prisoners +of war and inspection of their camps; and I begged the Chancellor +to break down diplomatic precedent and allow me to speak with +the military authorities who decided these questions. I said, +"If I cannot get an answer to my proposition about prisoners, I +will take a chair and sit in front of your palace in the street +until I receive an answer." + +The result was a meeting in my office. + +I discussed the question involved with two representatives from +the Foreign Office, two from the General Staff, two from the War +Department and with Count Schwerin who commanded the civilian camp +at the Ruhleben race track. In twenty minutes we managed to reach +an agreement which I then and there drew up: the substance of +which, as between Great Britain and Germany, was that the American +Ambassador and his representatives in Germany and the American +Ambassador and his representatives in Great Britain should have +the right to visit the prison camps on giving reasonable notice, +which was to be twenty-four hours where possible, and should have +the right to converse with the prisoners, within sight but out +of hearing, of the camp officials; that an endeavour should be +made to adjust matters complained of with the camp authorities +before bringing them to the notice of higher authorities; that +ten representatives should be named by our Ambassador and that +these should receive passes enabling them to visit the camps +under the conditions above stated. This agreement was ratified +by the British and German Governments and thereafter for a long +time we worked under its provisions and in most questions dealt +direct with the War Department. + +Of course, before this meeting I had managed to get permission +to visit the camps of Ruhleben and Doeberitz near Berlin; and +Mr. Michaelson, our consul at Cologne, and Mr. Jackson and others +at the Embassy had been permitted to visit certain camps. But +immediately preceding the meeting on the fourth of March and +while matters were still being discussed we were compelled to +a certain extent to suspend our visits. + +In the first days of the war it was undoubtedly and unfortunately +true that prisoners of war taken by the Germans, both at the time +of their capture and in transit to the prison camps, were often +badly treated by the soldiers, guards or the civil population. + +The instances were too numerous, the evidence too overwhelming, +to be denied. In the prison camps themselves, owing to the peculiar +system of military government in Germany, the treatment of the +prisoners varied greatly. As I have, I think, stated in another +place, Germany is divided into army corps districts. Over each +of these districts is, in time of war, a representative corps +commander who is clothed with absolute power in that district, +his orders superseding those of all civilian officials. These +corps commanders do not report to the war department but are +in a measure independent and very jealous of their rights. For +instance, to show the difficulty of dealing with these corps +commanders, after my arrangements concerning the inspection of +prisoners of war had been ratified by both the Imperial and British +governments, I went to Halle to inspect the place of detention +for officers there. Halle is some hours from Berlin and when +I had driven out to the camp, I was met by the commander who +told me that I might visit the camp but that I could not speak +to the prisoners out of hearing. I told him that our arrangement +was otherwise, but, as he remained firm I returned to Berlin. +I complained to the Foreign Office and was told there that the +matter would be arranged and so I again, some days later, returned +to Halle. My experience on the second trip was exactly the same +as the first. I spoke to von Jagow who explained the situation to +me, and advised me to visit first the corps commander at Magdeburg +and try and arrange the matter with him. I did so and was finally +permitted to visit this camp and to talk to the officers out of +ear-shot. + +This camp of Halle was continued during the war, although not at +all a fit place for the detention of officers, who were lodged in +the old factory buildings surrounded by a sort of courtyard covered +with cinders. This building was situated in the industrial part +of the town of Halle. There was no opportunity for recreation +or games, although several enterprising officers had tried to +arrange a place where they could knock, a tennis ball against +the wall. + +It was the policy of the Germans to put some prisoners of each +nation in each camp. This was probably so that no claim could +be made that the prisoners from one nation among the Allies were +treated better or worse than the prisoners from another nation. + +In the beginning of the war the Germans were surprised by the great +number of prisoners taken and had made no adequate preparations +for their reception. Clothing and blankets were woefully wanting, +so I immediately bought what I could in the way of underclothes +and blankets at the large department stores of Berlin and the +wholesalers and sent these to the camps where the British prisoners +were confined. I also sent to the Doeberitz camp articles such +as sticks for wounded men who were recovering, and crutches, +and even eggs and other nourishing delicacies for the sick. + +At first the prisoners were not compelled to work to any extent, +but at the time I left Germany the two million prisoners of war +were materially assisting the carrying on of the agriculture +and industries of the Empire. + +The League of Mercy of New York having telegraphed me in 1914, +asking in what way funds could best be used in the war, I suggested +in answer that funds for the prisoners of war were urgently needed. +Many newspapers poked fun at me for this suggestion, and one bright +editor said that if the Germans did not treat their prisoners +properly they should be made to! Of course, unless this particular +editor had sailed up the Spree in a canoe and bombarded the royal +palace, I know of no other way of "making" the Germans do anything. +The idea, however, of doing some work for the prisoners of war was +taken up by the Young Men's Christian Association. Dr. John R. +Mott was at the head of this work and was most ably and devotedly +assisted by the Rev. Archibald C. Harte. I shall give an account +of their splendid work in a chapter devoted to the charitable +work of the war. + +At only one town in Germany was any interest in the fate of the +prisoners of war evinced. This was, I am glad to say, in the +quaint university town of Göttingen. I visited this camp with +Mr. Harte, in April, 1915, to attend the opening of the first +Y. M. C. A. camp building in Germany. The camp was commanded by +Colonel Bogen, an officer strict in his discipline, but, as all +the prisoners admitted, just in his dealings with them. There +were, as I recall, about seven thousand prisoners in this camp, +Russian, French, Belgian and British. It is a pity that the methods +of Colonel Bogen and his arrangements for camp buildings, etc., +were not copied in other camps in Germany. Here, as I have said, +the civil population took some interest in the fate of the +unfortunate prisoners within their gates, led in this by several +professors in the University. The most active of these professors +was Professor Stange who, working with a French lawyer who had been +captured near Arras while in the Red Cross, provided a library +for the prisoners and otherwise helped them. Of course, these +charitable acts of Professor Stange did not find favor with many +of his fellow townsmen of Göttingen, and he was not surprised +when he awoke one morning to find that during the night his house +had been painted red, white and blue, the colours of France, +England and America. + +I heard of so many instances of the annoyance of prisoners by +the civil population that I was quite pleased one day to read +a paragraph in the official newspaper, the _North German +Gazette_, which ran somewhat as follows: "The following +inhabitants of (naming a small town near the borders of Denmark), +having been guilty of improper conduct towards prisoners of war, +have been sentenced to the following terms of imprisonment and +the following fines and their names are printed here in order +that they may be held up to the contempt of all future generations +of Germans." And then followed a list of names and terms of +imprisonment and fines. I thought that this was splendid, that +the German government had at last been aroused to the necessity +of protecting their prisoners of war from the annoyances of the +civil population, and I wrote to our consul in Kiel and asked him +to investigate the case. From him I learned that some unfortunate +prisoners passing through the town (in a part of Germany inhabited +by Scandinavians) had made signs that they were suffering from +hunger and thirst, that some of the kind-hearted people among +the Scandinavian population had given them something to eat and +drink and for this they were condemned to fines, to prison and +to have their names held up to the contempt of Germans for all +time. + +I do not know of anyone thing that can give a better idea of +the official hate for the nations with which Germany was at war +than this. + +The day after visiting the camp at Göttingen, I visited the +officers' camp situated at the town of Hanover Münden. Here +about eight hundred officers, of whom only thirteen were British, +were confined in an old factory building situated on the bank of +the river below the town. The Russian officers handed me some +arrows tipped with nails which had been shot at them by the +kind-hearted little town boys, and the British pointed out to me +the filthy conditions of the camp. In this, as in unfortunately +many other officer camps, the inclination seemed to be to treat the +officers not as captured officers and gentlemen, but as convicts. +I had quite a sharp talk with the commander of this camp before +leaving and he afterwards took violent exception to the report +which I made upon his camp. However, I am pleased to say that +he reformed, as it were, and I was informed by my inspectors +that he had finally made his camp one of the best in Germany. + +Much as I should have liked to, I could not spend much time myself +in visiting the prison camps; many duties and frequent crises kept +me in Berlin, but members of the Embassy were always travelling +in this work of camp inspection. + +For some time my reports were published in parliamentary "White +Papers," but in the end our government found that the publication +of these reports irritated the Germans to such a degree that the +British Government was requested not to publish them any more. +Copies of the reports were always sent by me both to Washington +and to London, and handed to the Berlin Foreign Office. + +[Illustration: A COVER OF THE MONTHLY ISSUED BY THE RUHLEBEN +PRISONERS.] + +While Winston Churchill was at the head of the British Admiralty, +it was stated that the German submarine prisoners would not be +treated as ordinary prisoners of war; but would be put in a place +by themselves on the ground that they were pirates and murderers, +and not entitled to the treatment accorded in general to prisoners +of war. Great indignation was excited by this in Germany; the +German government immediately seized thirty-seven officers, picking +those whom they supposed related to the most prominent families +in Great Britain, and placed them in solitary confinement. A +few were confined in this way in Cologne, but the majority were +put in the ordinary jails of Magdeburg and Burg. + +As soon as I heard of this, accompanied by Mr. Charles H. Russell, +Jr., of my staff, I went to Magdeburg, using my ordinary pass +for the visiting of prisoners. The German authorities told me +afterwards that if they had known I was going to make this visit +they would not have permitted it, but on this occasion the corps +commander system worked for me. Accompanied by an adjutant, in +peace times a local lawyer from the corps commander's office in +Magdeburg, and other officers, I visited these British officers +in their cells in the common jail at Magdeburg. They were in +absolutely solitary confinement, each in a small cell about eleven +feet long and four feet wide. Some cells were a little larger, +and the prisoners were allowed only one hour's exercise a day in +the courtyard of the prison. The food given them was not bad, but +the close confinement was very trying, especially to Lieutenant +Goschen, son of the former Ambassador to Germany, who had been +wounded and in the hospital at Douai. Among them I found an old +acquaintance, Captain Robin Grey, who had been often in New York. +The German authorities agreed to correct several minor matters of +which the officers complained and then we went to the neighbouring +town of Burg, where other officers were confined in the same manner +and under similar conditions in the ordinary jail. After visiting +these prisoners and obtaining for them from the authorities some +modifications of the rules which had been established we visited +the regular officers' camp at Burg. + +This was at that time what I should call a bad camp, crowded and +with no space for recreation. Later, conditions were improved +and more ground allowed to the prisoners for games, etc. At the +time of my first visit I found that the commander, a polite but +peppery officer, was in civil life a judge of the Supreme Court +at Leipzig, the highest court in the Empire. As I had been a +judge in the State of New York, we foregathered and adjourned +for lunch with his staff to the hotel in Burg. + +After Churchill left the British Admiralty, his successor reversed +his ruling and the submarine prisoners were placed in the ordinary +confinement of prisoners of war. When the Germans were assured of +this, the thirty-seven officers who had been in reprisal placed +in solitary confinement were sent back to ordinary prison camps. +In fact in most cases I managed to get the Germans to send them +to what were called "good" camps. + +Lieutenant Goschen, however, became quite in and was taken to the +hospital in Magdeburg. At the time of his capture, the Germans +had told me, in answer to my inquiries, that he was suffering +from a blow on the head with the butt end of a rifle, but an +X-ray examination at Magdeburg showed that fragments of a bullet +had penetrated his brain and that he was, therefore, hardly a +fit subject to be chosen as one of the reprisal prisoners. I +told von Jagow that I thought it in the first place a violation +of all diplomatic courtesy to pick out the son of the former +Ambassador to Germany as a subject for reprisals and secondly +that, in picking him, they had taken a wounded man; that the +fact that they did not know that he had fragments of a bullet in +his brain made the situation even worse because that ignorance +was the result of the want of a proper examination in the German +hospitals; and I insisted that, because of this manifestly unfair +treatment which had undoubtedly caused the very serious condition +of Lieutenant Goschen, he should be returned to England in the +exchange of those who were badly wounded. I am pleased to say +that von Jagow saw my point of view and finally secured permission +for Lieutenant Goschen to leave for England. + +Dr. Ohnesorg, one of our assistant Naval Attachés, went with +him to England on account of the seriousness of his condition, +and I was very glad to hear from his father that he had arrived +safely in London. + +Undoubtedly the worst camp which I visited in Germany was that +of Wittenberg. Wittenberg is the ancient town where Luther lived +and nailed his theses to the church door. The camp is situated +just outside the city in a very unattractive spot next to the +railway. An outbreak of typhus fever prevented us from visiting +the camp, although Mr. Jackson conversed with some of the prisoners +from outside the barrier of barbed wire. When the typhus was +finally driven out, Mr. Lithgow Osborne visited the camp and his +report of conditions there was such that I visited it myself, +in the meantime holding up his report until I had verified it. + +With Mr. Charles H. Russell, Jr., I visited the camp. Typhus +fever seems to be continually present in Russia. It is carried by +the body louse and it is transmitted from one person to another. +Russian soldiers seem to carry this disease with them without +apparently suffering much from it themselves. The Russian soldiers +arriving at Wittenberg were not properly disinfected and, in +consequence, typhus fever broke out in camp. Several British +medical officers were there with their prisoners, because, by the +provisions of the Hague conventions, captured medical officers +may be kept with the troops of their nation, if prisoners have +need of their services. These medical officers protested with +the camp commander against the herding together of the French +and British prisoners with the Russians, who, as I have said, +were suffering from typhus fever. But the camp commander said, +"You will have to know your Allies;" and kept all of his prisoners +together, and thus as surely condemned to death a number of French +and British prisoners of war as though he had stood them against +the wall and ordered them shot by a firing squad. Conditions in +the camp during the period of this epidemic were frightful. The +camp was practically deserted by the Germans and I understand +that the German doctor did not make as many visits to the camp +as the situation required. + +At the time I visited the camp the typhus epidemic, of course, +had been stamped out. The Germans employed a large number of +police dogs in this camp and these dogs not only were used in +watching the outside of the camp in order to prevent the escape +of prisoners but also were used within the camp. Many complaints +were made to me by prisoners concerning these dogs, stating that +men had been bitten by them. It seemed undoubtedly true that the +prisoners there had been knocked about and beaten in a terrible +manner by their guards, and one guard went so far as to strike one +of the British medical officers. There were about thirty-seven +civilian prisoners in the camp who had been there all through +the typhus epidemic. I secured the removal of these civilian +prisoners to the general civilian camp at Ruhleben, and the +conditions at Wittenberg may be judged by the fact that when +it was announced to these civilians that they were to be taken +from Wittenberg to another camp one of them was so excited by +the news of release that he fell dead upon the spot. + +In talking over conditions at Wittenberg with von Jagow I said, +"Suppose I go back to Wittenberg and shoot some of these dogs, +what can you do to me?" Soon after the dogs disappeared from +the camp. + +The food in all these camps for civilians and for private soldiers +was about the same. It consisted of an allowance of bread of +the same weight as that given the civilian population. This was +given out in the morning with a cup of something called coffee, +but which in reality was an extract of acorns or something of the +kind without milk or sugar; in the middle of the day, a bowl of +thick soup in which the quantity of meat was gradually diminished +as war went on, as well as the amount of potatoes for which at +a later period turnips and carrots were, to a large extent, +substituted; and in the evening in good camps there was some sort +of thick soup given out or an apple, or an almost infinitesimal +piece of cheese or sausage. + +In the war department at Berlin there was a Prisoners of War +Department in charge of Colonel, later General, Friedrich. This +department, however, did not seem to be in a position to issue +orders to the corps commanders commanding the army corps districts +of Germany, who had absolute control of the prison camps within +their districts. Colonel Friedrich, however, and his assistants +endeavoured to standardise the treatment of prisoners of war in +the different corps districts, and were able to exert a certain +amount of pressure on the corps commanders. They determined on +the general reprisals to be taken in connection with prisoners +of war. For instance, when some of the Germans, who had been +taken prisoners by the British and who were in England, were +sent to work in the harbour of Havre, the Germans retaliated +by sending about four times the number of British prisoners to +work at Libau in the part of Russia then occupied by the Germans. +But while the British permitted our Embassy in Paris to inspect +the prisoners of war at Havre, the Germans for months refused +to allow me permission to send anyone to inspect those British +prisoners at Libau. + +Cases came to my attention where individual corps commanders +on their own initiative directed punitive measures against the +prisoners of war in their districts, on account of the rumours +of the bad treatment of German citizens in England. Thus the +commander in the district where the camp of Doeberitz was situated +issued an order directing reprisals against prisoners under his +command on account of what he claimed to be the bad treatment +of German women in England. It required constant vigilance to +seek out instances of this kind and cause them to be remedied. + +I did not find the Germans at all efficient in the handling of +prisoners of war. The authority was so divided that it was hard +to find who was responsible for any given bad conditions. For +instance, for a long period of time I contended with the German +authorities for better living conditions at the civilian camp of +Ruhleben. I was promised time and again by Colonel Friedrich, +by the camp commander and by the Foreign +Office that these conditions would be remedied. In that camp men +of education, men in delicate health, were compelled to sleep +and live six in a box stall or so closely that the beds touched +each other in hay-lofts, the outside walls of which were only +four feet high. + +I finally almost in despair wrote identical personal letters, +after having exhausted all ordinary diplomatic steps, to General +von Kessel, Commander of the Mark of Brandenburg, to the commander +of the corps district in which the Ruhleben camp was situated, +and to the Minister of War: and the only result was that each +of the officers addressed claimed that he had been personally +insulted by me because I had presumed to call his attention to +the inhuman conditions under which the prisoners were compelled +to live in the Ruhleben camp. + +The commander of this civilian camp of Ruhleben was a very handsome +old gentleman, named Count Schwerin. His second in command for +a long time was a Baron Taube. Both of these officers had been +long retired from the army and were given these prison commands +at the commencement of the war. Both of them were naturally +kind-hearted but curiously sensitive and not always of even temper. +On the whole I think that they sympathised with the prisoners +and did their best to obtain a bettering of the conditions of +their confinement. The prisoners organised themselves in their +various barracks, each barrack having a captain of the barrack, +the captains electing one of their number as a camp captain or +_Obmann_. + +The man who finally appeared as head man of the camp was an +ex-cinematograph proprietor, named Powell. In my mind he, assisted +by Beaumont and other captains, conducted the affairs of the camp +as well as possible, given the difficulty of dealing with the +prisoners on one hand and the prison authorities on the other +hand. Naturally he was always subject to opposition from many +prisoners, among whom those of aristocratic tendencies objected +to being under the control of one not of the highest caste in +Great Britain; and there were others who either envied him his +authority or desired his place. The camp authorities allowed +Powell to visit the Embassy at least once a week and in that +way I was enabled, to keep in direct touch with the camp. At +two periods during my stay in Berlin I spent enough days at the +camp to enable every prisoner who had a complaint of any kind +to present it personally to me. + +The organisation of this camp was quite extraordinary. I found +it impossible to get British prisoners to perform the ordinary +work of cleaning up the camp, and so forth, always expected of +prisoners themselves; and so, with the funds furnished me from +the British Government, the camp captain was compelled to pay a +number of the poorer prisoners to perform this work. Secretaries +Ruddock and Kirk of our Embassy undertook the uninteresting and +arduous work of superintending these payments as well as of our +other financial affairs. This work was most trying and they deserve +great credit for their self-denial. By arrangement with the British +Government, I was also enabled to pay the poorer prisoners an +allowance of five marks a week, thus permitting them to buy little +luxuries and necessities and extra food at the camp canteen which +was early established in the camp. I also furnished the capital to +the camp canteen, enabling it to make its purchases and carry on +its business. In this establishment everything could be purchased +which was purchasable in Germany, and for months after the +commencement of the war articles of luxury were sold at a profit +and articles of food sold at a loss for the benefit of those +who required an addition to the camp diet. There was a street +in the camp of little barracks or booths which the prisoners +christened Bond Street, and where many stores were in operation +such as a tailor shop, shoe-maker's, watch-maker's, etc. Acting +with Powell, I succeeded in getting the German authorities to +turn over the kitchens to the prisoners. Four of the prisoners +who did most excellent self-denying work in these kitchens deserve +to be specially mentioned. They were Ernest L. Pyke, Herbert. +Kasmer, Richard H. Carrad and George Fergusson. + +The men in this camp subsisted to a great extent upon the packages +of food sent to them from England. Credit must be given to the +German authorities for the fairly prompt and efficient delivery +of the packages of food sent from England, Denmark and Switzerland +to prisoners of war in all camps. + +In Ruhleben the educated prisoners volunteered to teach the ignorant: +two hundred and ninety-seven different educational courses were +offered to those who desired to improve their minds. A splendid +orchestra was organised, a dramatic society which gave plays in +French and one which gave plays in English and another one which +gave operas. On New Year's day, 1916, I attended at Ruhleben do +really wonderful performance of the pantomime of "Cinderella"; +and, in January, 1917, a performance of "The Mikado" in a theatre +under one of the grand stands. In these productions, of course, +the female parts were taken by young men and the scenery, costumes +and accessories were all made by the prisoners. There was a camp +library of over five thousand volumes sent over by the British +Government and a reading and meeting hall, erected by the American +Y. M. C. A. There was even a system of postal service with special +stamps so that a prisoner in one barrack could write to a friend in +another and have a letter delivered by the camp postal authorities. +The German authorities had not hired the entire race track from +the Race Track Association so that I made a special contract +with the race track owners and hired from them the in-field and +other portions not taken over by German authorities. Here the +prisoners had tennis courts and played hockey, foot-ball and +cricket and held athletic games. Expert dentists in the camp +took care of the poorer prisoners as did an oculist hired by me +with British funds, and glasses were given them from the same +funds. + +The prisoners who needed a little better nourishment than that +afforded by the camp diet and their parcels from England, could +obtain cards giving them the right to eat in the Casino or camp +official restaurant where they were allowed a certain indicated +amount of wine or beer with their meals, and finally arrangements +were arrived at by which the German guards left the camp, simply +guarding it from the outside; and the policing was taken over +by the camp police department, under the charge of the prison +camp commander and committee. The worst features, of course, +were the food and housing. Human nature seems always to be the +same. Establishment of clubs seems inherent to the Anglo-Saxon +nature. Ten or more persons would combine together and erect a +sort of wooden shed against the brick walls of a barrack, hire +some poorer person to put on a white jacket and be addressed as +"steward," put in the shed a few deck chairs and a table and +enjoy the sensation of exclusiveness and club life thereby given. + +Owing to the failure of Germany and Great Britain to come to an +agreement for a long time as to the release of captured crews +of ships, there were in Ruhleben men as old as seventy-five years +and boys as young as fifteen. There were in all between fifty and +sixty of these ships' boys. They lived in a barrack by themselves +and under the supervision of a ship's officer who volunteered to +look after them as sort of a monitor. They were taught navigation +by the older prisoners and I imagine were rather benefited by their +stay in the camp. I finally made arrangements by which these boys +were released from England and Germany. With the exception of +the officers and crews of the ships, prisoners were not interned +who were over fifty-five. + +The British Government was generous in the allowance of money for +Ruhleben prisoners. The amount allowed by the German Government to +the camp commanders for feeding the prisoners was extremely small, +only sixty pfennigs a day. At first many of the camp commanders +made contracts with caterers for the feeding of the prisoners +and as the caterers' profit had to come out of this very small +sum the amount of food which the remainder purchased for the +prisoners was small indeed. As the war went on the prisoners' +department of the war office tried to induce the camp commanders to +abandon the contractors' system and purchase supplies themselves. +A sort of convention of camp commanders was held in Berlin which I +attended. Lectures were there given on food and its purchase, and +methods of disinfecting prisoners, on providing against typhus, +and on housing and other subjects. A daily lunch was served, +supposed to be composed of the exact rations given at the prison +camps. + +The schedules of food, etc., made out by the camp commanders +and furnished to foreign correspondents were often not followed +in practice. I know on one occasion when I was at the camp at +Doeberitz, the camp commander gave me his schedule of food for +the week. This provided that soup with pieces of meat was to be +given on the day of my visit, but on visiting the camp kitchen I +found that the contractor was serving fish instead of meat. Some +of the camp commanders not only treated their prisoners kindly but +introduced manufactures of furniture, etc., to help the prisoners +to pass their time. The camps of Krossen and Göttingen deserve +special mention. At Giessen, the camp commander had permitted +the erection of a barrack in which certain prisoners who were +electrical experts gave lessons in electrical fitting, etc., +to their fellow prisoners. There was also a studio in this camp +where prisoners with artistic talent were furnished with paints +and allowed to work. As more and more people were called to the +front in Germany, greater use was made of the prisoners, and in +the summer of 1916 practically all the prisoners were compelled +to work outside of the camps. They were paid a small extra sum +for this, a few cents a day, and as a rule were benefited by the +change of scene and occupation. The Russians especially became +very useful to the Germans as agricultural laborers. + +Professor Alonzo E. Taylor of the University of Pennsylvania, +a food expert, and Dr. D. J. McCarthy, also of Philadelphia, +joined my staff in 1916 and proved most efficient and fearless +inspectors of prison camps. Dr. Taylor could use the terms calories, +proteins, etc., as readily as German experts and at a greater +rate of speed. His report showing that the official diet of the +prisoners in Ruhleben was a starvation diet incensed the German +authorities to such fury that they forbade him to revisit Ruhleben. +Professor Buckhaus, the German expert, agreed with him in some of +his findings. I do not know what will happen to the Professor, +who seemed willing to do his best for the prisoners. He wrote a +booklet on the prison camps which he asked permission to dedicate +to me, but the War Office, which published the book, refused +to allow him to make this dedication. It was a real pleasure +to see the way in which Dr. Taylor carried on his work of food +inspection; and his work, as well as that of the other doctors +sent from America to join my staff, Drs. Furbush, McCarthy, Roler, +Harns, Webster and Luginbuhl, did much to better camp conditions. + +Dr. Caldwell, the sanitary expert, known for his great work in +Serbia, now I believe head of the hospital at Pittsburgh, reported +in regard to the prison diet: "While of good quality and perhaps +sufficient in quantity by weight, it is lacking in the essential +elements which contribute to the making of a well-balanced and +satisfactory diet. It is lacking particularly in fat and protein +content which is especially desirable during the colder months +of the year. There is considerable doubt whether this diet alone +without being supplemented by the articles of food received by +the prisoners from their homes would in any way be sufficient +to maintain the prisoners in health and strength." + +Dr. Caldwell also visited Wittenberg and found the commander by +temperament, and so on, unfitted for such a position. + +The Germans, as Dr. Taylor has pointed out, tried to feed prisoners +on schedule like horses. There is, however, a nervous discrimination +in eating so far as man is concerned; and a diet, scientifically +fitted to keep him alive, may fail because of its mere monotony. + +Think of living as the prisoners of war in Germany have for years, +without ever having anything (except black bread) which cannot +be eaten with a spoon. + +Officer prisoners were, after matters had settled down and after +several bitter contests which I had with the German authorities, +fairly well treated. There was, as in the case of the camps for +the privates, a great difference between camps, and a great +difference between camp commanders. Mr. Jackson did most of the +visiting of the officers' camps. In many camps the officers were +allowed a tennis court and other amusements, as well as light +wine or beer at meals, but the length of the war had a bad effect +on the mental condition of many of the officers. + +A great step forward was made when arrangements were entered +into between Germany and Great Britain whereby wounded and sick +officers and men, when passed by the Swiss Commission which visited +both countries, were sent to Switzerland; sent still as prisoners +of war, subject to return to Germany or England respectively, but +the opportunity afforded by change of food and scene, as well as +reunion of families, saved many a life. By arrangements between +the two countries, also, the severely wounded prisoners were set +free. I believe that this exchange of the heavily wounded between +the Germans and the Russians was the factor which prevented the +entrance of Sweden into the war. These wounded men traversed the +whole length of Sweden in the railway, and the spectacle afforded +to the Swedish population of these poor stumps of humanity, victims +of war, has quite effectually kept the Swedish population from +an attack of unnecessary war fever. + +Officers and men who tried to escape were not very severely punished +in Germany unless they had broken or stolen something in their +attempt. Officers were usually subjected to a jail confinement +for a period and then often sent to a sort of punitive camp. +Such a camp was situated in one of the Ring forts surrounding +the city of Kustrin which I visited in September, 1916. There +the officers had no opportunity for exercise except in a very +small courtyard or on the roof, which was covered with grass, of +the building in which they were confined. I arranged, however, +on my visit for the construction of a tennis court outside. The +British officers in Germany practically subsisted on their parcels +received from home, and during the end of my stay a much better +tea could be had with the prison officers than with the camp +commander. The prisoners had real tea and marmalade and white +bread to offer, luxuries which had long since disappeared from all +German tables. On the whole, the quarters given to the officers' +prisons in Germany were not satisfactory, and were not of the +kind that should have been offered to officer prisoners of war. + +At the time I left Germany there were nearly two million prisoners +of war in the Empire, of whom about ten thousand were Russian +officers, nine thousand French officers and about one thousand +British officers. + +As a rule our inspectors found the hospitals, where the prisoners +of war were, in as good condition as could be expected. + +I think this was largely due to the fact that so many doctors +in Germany are Jews. The people who are of the Jewish race are +people of gentle instincts. In these hospitals a better diet +was given to the prisoners. There were, of course, in addition +to the regular hospitals, hospitals where the severely wounded +prisoners were sent. Almost uniformly these hospitals were clean +and the prisoners were well taken care of. + +[Illustration: IN RUHLEBEN CAMP. A SPECIMEN BOTH OF THE +PRISONER-ARTIST'S WORK AND OF THE TYPES ABOUT HIM.] + +At Ruhleben there was a hospital which in spite of many +representations was never in proper shape. In addition, there +was in the camp a special barrack established by the prisoners +themselves for the care of those who were so ill or so weak as +to require special attention but who were not ill enough to be +sent to the hospital. This barrack was for a long time in charge +of a devoted gentleman, a prisoner, whose name I have unfortunately +forgotten, but whose self-sacrifice deserves special mention. + +I arranged with the camp authorities and the German authorities +for permission to enter into a contract with Dr. Weiler. Under +this contract Dr. Weiler, who had a sanatorium in the West of +Berlin, received patients from Ruhleben. Those who were able paid +for themselves, the poorer ones being paid for by the British +Government. This sanatorium, occupied several villas. I had many +disputes with Dr. Weiler, but finally managed to get this sanatorium +in such condition that the prisoners who resided there were fairly +well taken care of. + +An arrangement was made between Great Britain and Germany by +which civilians unfit for military service were sent to their +respective countries, and just before I left I effected an +arrangement by which all civilians over forty-five years old, +with the exception of twenty who might be held by each country +for military reasons, were to be released. I do not know whether +this arrangement was actually carried out in full. With the lapse +of time the mental condition of the older prisoners in Ruhleben +had become quite alarming. Soldier prisoners, when they enter the +army, are always in good physical condition and enter with the +expectation of either being killed or wounded or taken prisoner, +and have made their arrangements accordingly. But these unfortunate +civilian prisoners were often men in delicate health, and all +were in a constant state of great mental anxiety as to the fate +of their business and their enterprises and their families. In +1916, not only Mr. Grafton Minot, who for some time had devoted +himself exclusively to the Ruhleben prisoners, but also Mr. Ellis +Dresel, a distinguished lawyer of Boston, who had joined the +Embassy as a volunteer, took up the work. Mr. Dresel visited +Ruhleben almost daily and by listening to the stories and complaints +of the prisoners materially helped their mental condition. + +The Germans collected all the soldier prisoners of Irish nationality +in one camp at Limburg not far from Frankfurt a. M. These efforts +were made to induce them to join the German army. The men were +well treated and were often visited by Sir Roger Casement who, +working with the German authorities, tried to get these Irishmen +to desert their flag and join the Germans. A few weaklings were +persuaded by Sir Roger who finally discontinued his visits, after +obtaining about thirty recruits, because the remaining Irishmen +chased him out of the camp. + +I received information of the shooting of one prisoner, and although +the camp authorities had told Dr. McCarthy that the investigation +had been closed and the guard who did the shooting exonerated, +nevertheless, when I visited the camp in order to investigate, I +was told that I could not do so because the matter of the shooting +was still under investigation. Nor was I allowed to speak to those +prisoners who had been witnesses at the time of the shooting. +I afterwards learned that another Irishman had been shot by a +guard on the day before my visit, and the same obstacles to my +investigation were drawn about this case. + +The Irishmen did not bear confinement well, and at the time of +my visit among them many of them were suffering from tuberculosis +in the camp hospital. They seemed also peculiarly subject to +mental breakdowns. Two devoted Catholic priests, Father Crotty +and a Brother Warren from a religious house in Belgium, were +doing wonderful work among these prisoners. + +The sending out of the prisoners of war to work throughout Germany +has had one very evil effect. It has made it to the financial +advantage of certain farmers and manufacturers to have the war +continued. The Prussian land owners or Junkers obtain four or +five times as much for their agricultural products as they did +before the war and have the work on their farms performed by +prisoners of war to whom they are required to pay only six cents +a day. When the _Tageblatt_ called attention to this it was +suppressed for several days. + +At many of these so-called working camps our inspectors were +refused admission on the ground that they might learn trade or +war secrets. They succeeded, however, in having the men sent +outside in order that they might inspect them and hear their +complaints. There were in Germany about one hundred central camps +and perhaps ten thousand or more so-called working camps, in +summer time, throughout the country. Some of the British prisoners +were put to work on the sewage farm of Berlin but we succeeded +in getting them sent back to their parent camp. + +The prisoners of war were often accused of various breaches of +discipline and crimes. Members of the Embassy would attend these +trials, and we endeavoured to see that the prisoners were properly +represented. But the Germans often refused us an opportunity +to see the prisoners before their trial, or even before their +execution. The case of Captain Fryatt is in point. + +Captain Fryatt who commanded a British merchant ship was captured +and taken to the civilian camp at Ruhleben. In searching him the +Germans claimed that he wore a watch presented to him for an +attempt to ram a German submarine. They, therefore, took Fryatt +from the Ruhleben camp and sent him to Bruges for trial. When I +heard of this I immediately sent two formal notes to the German +Foreign Office demanding the right to see Fryatt and hire counsel +to represent him, inquiring what sort of counsel would be permitted +to attend the trial and asking for postponement of the trial +until these matters could be arranged. The German Foreign Office +had informed me that they had backed up these requests and I +believe them, but the answer of the German admiralty to my notes +was to cause the trial to proceed the morning after the day on +which my notes were delivered and to shoot Fryatt before noon +of the same day. + +As to the evidence regarding the watch, the British Foreign Office +learned that, when captured, Captain Fryatt had neither a watch +nor any letter to indicate that he had tried to ram a submarine! + +This cruel and high-handed outrage caused great indignation in +England, and even in certain circles in Germany; and the manner +in which my request was treated was certainly a direct insult +to the country which I represented. In conversation with me, +Zimmermann and the Chancellor and von Jagow all expressed the +greatest regret over this incident, which shows how little control +the civilian branch of the government has over the military in +time of war. Later on, when similar charges were made against +another British sea captain, the Foreign Office, I think through +the influence of the Emperor, was able to prevent a recurrence +of the Fryatt outrage. + +As I have said, many of the camp commanders in Germany were men, +excellent and efficient and kind hearted, who did what they could +for the prisoners. It is a pity that these men should bear the +odium which attaches to Germany because of the general bad treatment +of prisoners of war in the first days of the war, and because +certain commanders of prison camps were not fitted for their +positions. + +The commander at the camp at Wittenberg was replaced, but the +Germans have never acknowledged that bad conditions had existed +in that camp. Shortly before we left Germany the war department +seemed to gain more control of the prisoners of war situation, +and on our representations at least one camp commander was +permanently relieved. If examples had been made early in the +war of the camp commanders who were not fit for their places +and of those who had in any way mishandled prisoners of war, the +German people as a whole would not have had to bear the burden +of this odium. The many prisoners will return to their homes +with a deep and bitter hatred of all things German. + +The British Government took a great interest in the British prisoners +in Germany. Nothing was omitted and every suggestion made by me +was immediately acted on; while many most valuable hints were +given me from London as to prisoners' affairs. Their Majesties, +the King and Queen, showed a deep personal concern in the welfare +of the unfortunate British in German hands; and this concern +never flagged during the period of my stay in Berlin. Lord Robert +Cecil and Lord Newton were continually working for the benefit +of British prisoners. + +At a time when the British prisoners were without proper clothing, +the British Government sent me uniforms, overcoats, etc., and I +hired a warehouse in Berlin as a distributing point; but, after +some months, the German authorities refused to allow me to continue +this method of distribution on the ground that it was the duty +of Germany to provide the prisoners with clothes. But Germany +was not performing this duty and the British prisoners had to +suffer because of this German official woodenheadedness. + +In the spring of 1916, quite characteristically, the Germans +broke their "treaty" concerning visits to prisoners, and refused +to permit us to speak to prisoners out of hearing. Von Jagow +told me that this was because of the trouble made among Russian +prisoners by the visits of Madam Sazonoff, but this had nothing +to do with the arrangement between Great Britain and Germany. + +I think that the Germans suspected that I had learned from fellow +prisoners of the cruel and unnecessary shooting of two Irish +prisoners at Limburg. It was not from prisoners, however, that +I obtained this information, but from Germans who wrote to me. + +In addition to the English and Japanese, I had the protection +of the Serbian and Roumanian subjects and the protection of the +interests of a very small country, the Republic of San Marino. +Soon after the Serbians and Roumanians appeared in the prison +camps of Germany we made reports on the condition and treatment +of these prisoners, as well as reports concerning the British. + +I was able to converse with some Serbians, in the first days +of the war, in their native tongue, which, curiously enough, +was Spanish. Immediately after the persecution of the Jews in +Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella and other monarchs, a number of +Spanish Jews emigrated to Serbia where they have remained ever +since, keeping their old customs and speaking the old Spanish +of the time of Cervantes. + +The German authorities, in the most petty manner, often concealed +from me the presence of British prisoners, especially civilians, +in prison camps. For a long time I was not informed of the presence +of British civilians in Sennelager and it was only by paying +a surprise visit by motor to the camp at Brandenburg that I +discovered a few British, the crew of a trawler, there. It was +on information contained in an anonymous letter, evidently from +the wife of some German officer, that I visited Brandenburg where +the crew of this trawler, deprived of money, were without any of +the little comforts or packages that mitigate life in a German +prison camp. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +FIRST DAYS OF THE WAR: POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC + +At the commencement of the war for some days I was cut off from +communication with the United States; but we soon established a +chain of communication, at first through Italy and later by way +of Denmark. At all times cables from Washington to Berlin, or +_vice versa_, took, on the average, two days in transmission. + +After the fall of Liège, von Jagow sent for me and asked me if +I would transmit through the American Legation a proposition +offering Belgium peace and indemnity if no further opposition +were made to the passage of German troops through Belgium. As the +proposition was a proposition for peace, I took the responsibility +of forwarding it and sent the note of the German Government to +our Minister at the Hague for transmission to our Minister in +Belgium. + +Dr. Van Dyke, our Minister at the Hague, refused to have anything +to do with the transmission of this proposition and turned the +German note over to the Holland Minister for Foreign Affairs, +and through this channel the proposition reached the Belgian +Government. + +The State Department cabled me a message from the President to +the Emperor which stated that the United States stood ready at +any time to mediate between the warring powers, and directed +me to present this proposition direct to the Emperor. + +I, therefore, asked for an audience with the Emperor and received +word from the chief Court Marshal that the Emperor would receive +me at the palace in Berlin on the morning of August tenth. I +drove in a motor into the courtyard of the palace and was there +escorted to the door which opened on a flight of steps leading +to a little garden about fifty yards square, directly on the +embankment of the River Spree, which flows past the Royal Palace. +As I went down the steps, the Empress and her only daughter, +the Duchess of Brunswick, came up. Both stopped and shook hands +with me, speaking a few words. I found the Emperor seated at a +green iron table under a large canvas garden umbrella. Telegraph +forms were scattered on the table in front of him and basking in +the gravel were two small dachshunds. I explained to the Emperor +the object of my visit and we had a general conversation about +the war and the state of affairs. The Emperor took some of the +large telegraph blanks and wrote out in pencil his reply to the +President's offer, This reply, of course, I cabled immediately +to the State Department. + + _For the President of the_ + _United States personally:_ + + 10/VIII 14. + + 1. H. R. H. Prince Henry was received by his Majesty King George + V in London, who empowered him to transmit to me verbally, that + England would remain neutral if war broke out on the Continent + involving Germany and France, Austria and Russia. This message + was telegraphed to me by my brother from London after his + conversation with H. M. the King, and repeated verbally on the + twenty-ninth of July. + + 2. My Ambassador in London transmitted a message from Sir E. + Grey to Berlin saying that only in case France was likely to + be crushed England would interfere. + + 3. On the thirtieth my Ambassador in London reported that Sir + Edward Grey in course of a "private" conversation told him that + if the conflict remained localized between _Russia_--not + Serbia--and _Austria_, England would not move, but if we + "mixed" in the fray she would take quick decisions and grave + measures; i. e., if I left my ally Austria in the lurch to + fight alone England would not touch me. + + 4. This communication being directly counter to the King's + message to me, I telegraphed to H. M. on the twenty-ninth or + thirtieth, thanking him for kind messages through my brother + and begging him to use all his power to keep France and + Russia--his Allies--from making any war-like preparations + calculated to disturb my work of mediation, stating that I + was in constant communication with H. M. the Czar. In the + evening the King kindly answered that he had ordered his + Government to use every possible influence with his Allies + to refrain from taking any provocative military measures. At + the same time H. M. asked me if I would transmit to Vienna + the British proposal that Austria was to take Belgrade and a + few other Serbian towns and a strip of country as a "main-mise" + to make sure that the Serbian promises on paper should be + fulfilled in reality. This proposal was in the same moment + telegraphed to me from Vienna for London, quite in conjunction + with the British proposal; besides, I had telegraphed to H. M. + the Czar the same as an idea of mine, before I received the two + communications from Vienna and London, as both were of the same + opinion. + + 5. I immediately transmitted the telegrams _vice versa_ to + Vienna and London. I felt that I was able to tide the question + over and was happy at the peaceful outlook. + + 6. While I was preparing a note to H. M. the Czar the next + morning, to inform him that Vienna, London and Berlin were agreed + about the treatment of affairs, I received the telephones from + H. E. the Chancellor that in the night before the Czar had given + the order to mobilize the whole of the Russian army, which was, + of course, also meant against Germany; whereas up till then the + southern armies had been mobilized against Austria. + + 7. In a telegram from London my Ambassador informed me he + understood the British Government would guarantee neutrality + of France and wished to know whether Germany would refrain from + attack. I telegraphed to H. M. the King personally that + mobilization being already carried out could not be stopped, but + if H. M. could guarantee with his armed forces the neutrality of + France I would refrain _from attacking her_, _leave her alone_ + and employ my troops elsewhere. H. M. answered that he thought my + offer was based on a misunderstanding; and, as far as I can make + out, Sir E. Grey never took my offer into serious consideration. + He never answered it. Instead, he declared England had to defend + Belgian neutrality, which had to be violated by Germany on + strategical grounds, news having been received that France was + already preparing to enter Belgium, and the King of Belgians + having refused my petition for a free passage under guarantee + of his country's freedom. I am most grateful for the President's + message. + + WILLIAM, H. R. + +When the German Emperor in my presence indited his letter to +President Wilson of August tenth, 1914, he asked that I cable +it immediately to the State Department and that I simultaneously +give it to the press. As I have already stated, I cabled the +document immediately to the State Department at Washington, but +I withheld it from publication. + +My interview with the Emperor was in the morning. That afternoon +a man holding a high position in Germany sent for me. I do not +give his name because I do not wish to involve him in any way +with the Emperor, so I shall not even indicate whether he is a +royalty or an official. He said: + +"You had an interview today with the Emperor. What happened?" + +I told of the message given me for the President which was intended +for publication by the Emperor. He said: + +"I think you ought to show that message to me; you know the Emperor +is a constitutional Emperor and there was once a great row about +such a message." + +I showed him the message, and when he had read it he said: "I +think it would be inadvisable for us to have this message published, +and in the interest of good feeling between Germany and America. +If you cable it ask that publication be withheld." + +I complied with his request and it is characteristic of the +President's desire to preserve good relations that publication +was withheld. Now, when the two countries are at war; when the +whole world, and especially our own country, has an interest in +knowing how this great calamity of universal war came to the +earth, the time has come when this message should be given out +and I have published it by permission. + +This most interesting document in the first place clears up one +issue never really obscure in the eyes of the world--the deliberate +violation of the neutrality of Belgium, whose territory "had to +be violated by Germany on strategical grounds." The very weak +excuse is added that "news had been received that France was +already preparing to enter Belgium,"--not even a pretense that +there had ever been any actual violation of Belgium's frontier +by the French prior to the German invasion of that unfortunate +country. Of course the second excuse that the King of the Belgians +had refused entrance to the Emperor's troops under guarantee of +his country's freedom is even weaker than the first. It would +indeed inaugurate a new era in the intercourse of nations if a +small nation could only preserve its freedom by at all times, +on request, granting free passage to the troops of a powerful +neighbour on the march to attack an adjoining country. + +And aside from the violation of Belgian neutrality, what would +have become of England and of the world if the Prussian autocracy +had been left free to defeat--one by one--the nations of the +earth? First, the defeat of Russia and Serbia by Austria and +Germany, the incorporation of a large part of Russia in the German +Empire, German influence predominant in Russia and all the vast +resources of that great Empire at the command of Germany. All the +fleets in the world could uselessly blockade the German coasts +if Germany possessed the limitless riches of the Empire of the +Romanoffs. + +[Illustration: ALLEGED DUM-DUM BULLETS, WHICH THE GERMANS DECLARED +HAD BEEN FOUND IN LONGWY.] + +The German army drawing for reserves on the teeming populations +of Russia and Siberia would never know defeat. And this is not +idle conjecture, mere dreaming in the realm of possibilities, +because the Russian revolution has shown us how weak and tottering +in reality was the dreaded power of the Czar. + +Russia, beaten and half digested, France would have been an easy +prey, and England, even if then joining France in war, would +have a far different problem to face if the V-boats were now +sailing from Cherbourg and Calais and Brest and Bordeaux on the +mission of piracy and murder, and then would come our turn and +that of Latin America. The first attack would come not on us, +but on South or Central America--at some point to which it would +be as difficult for us to send troops to help our neighbor as +it would be for Germany to attack. + +Remember that in Southern Brazil nearly four hundred thousand +Germans are sustained, as I found out, in their devotion to the +Fatherland by annual grants of money for educational purposes +from the Imperial treasury in Berlin. + +It was not without reason that at this interview, when the Kaiser +wrote this message to the President, he said that the coming +in of England had changed the whole situation and would make +the war a long one. The Kaiser talked rather despondently about +the war. I tried to cheer him up by saying the German troops +would soon enter Paris, but he answered, "The English change +the whole situation--an obstinate nation--they will keep up the +war. It cannot end soon." + +It was the entry of England into the war, in defence of the rights +of small nations, in defence of the guaranteed neutrality of +Belgium, which saved the world from the harsh dominion of the +conquest-hungry Prussians and therefore saved as well the two +Americas and their protecting doctrine of President Monroe. + +The document, which is dated August tenth, 1914, supersedes the +statement made by the German Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg in +his speech before the Reichstag on August fourth, 1914, in which +he gave the then official account of the entrance into the war of +the Central Empires. It will be noted that von Bethmann-Hollweg +insisted that France began the war in the sentence reading: "There +were bomb-throwing fliers, cavalry patrols, invading companies +in the Reichsland (Alsace-Lorraine). Thereby France, although +the condition of war had not yet been declared, had attacked our +territory." But the Emperor makes no mention of this fact, of +supreme importance if true, in his writing to President Wilson +six days later. + +Quite curiously, at this time there was a belief on the part +of the Germans that Japan would declare war on the Allies and +range herself on the side of the Central Powers. In fact on one +night there was a friendly demonstration in front of the Japanese +Embassy, but these hopes were soon dispelled by the ultimatum +of Japan sent on the sixteenth of August, and, finally, by the +declaration of war on August twenty-third. + +During the first days of the war the warring powers indulged in +mutual recriminations as to the use of dumdum bullets and I was +given several packages of cartridges containing bullets bored out +at the top which the Germans said had been found in the French +fortress of Longwy, with a request that I send an account of them +to President Wilson and ask for his intervention in the matter. +Very wisely President Wilson refused to do anything of the kind, +as otherwise he would have been deluged with constant complaints +from both sides as to the violations of the rules of war. + +The cartridges given to me were in packages marked on the outside +"_Cartouches de Stand_" and from this I took it that possibly +these cartridges had been used on some shooting range near the +fort and the bullets bored out in order that they might not go +too far, if carelessly fired over the targets. + +On August fifth, with our Naval Attaché, Commander Walter Gherardi, +I called upon von Tirpitz, to learn from him which ports be +considered safest for the ships to be sent from America with gold +for stranded Americans. He recommended Rotterdam. + +I also had a conversation on this day with Geheimrat Letze of +the Foreign Office with reference to the proposition that English +and German ships respectively should have a delay of until the +fourteenth of August in which to leave the English or German +ports in which they chanced to be. + +The second week in August, my wife's sister and her husband, +Count Sigray, arrived in Berlin. Count Sigray is a reserve officer +of the Hungarian Hussars and was in Montana when the first rumours +of war came. He and his wife immediately started for New York and +sailed on the fourth of August. They landed in England, and as +England had not yet declared war on Austria, they were able to +proceed on their journey. With them were Count George Festetics +and Count Cziraki, the former from the Austrian Embassy in London +and the latter from that in Washington. They were all naturally +very much excited about war and the events of their trip. The +Hungarians as a people are quite like Americans. They have agreeable +manners and are able to laugh in a natural way, something which +seems to be a lost art in Prussia. Nearly all the members of +Hungarian noble families speak English perfectly and model their +clothes, sports and country life, as far as possible, after the +English. + +The thirteenth saw the departure of our first special train +containing Americans bound for Holland. I saw the Americans off +at the Charlottenburg station. They all departed in great spirits +and very glad of an opportunity to leave Germany. + +I had some negotiations about the purchase by America or Americans +of the ships of the North German Lloyd, but nothing came of these +negotiations. Trainloads of Americans continued to leave, but +there seemed to be no end to the Americans coming into Berlin +from all directions. + +On August twenty-ninth, Count Szoegyeny, the Austrian Ambassador, +left Berlin. He had been Ambassador there for twenty-two years and +I suppose because of his advancing years the Austrian Government +thought that he had outlived his usefulness. Quite a crowd of +Germans and diplomats were at the station to witness the rather +sad farewell. His successor was Prince Hohenlohe, married to a +daughter of Archduke Frederick. She expressly waived her right +to precedence as a royal highness, and agreed to take only the +precedence given to her as the wife of the Ambassador, in order not +to cause feeling in Berlin. Prince Hohenlohe, a rather easy-going +man, who had been most popular in Russia and Austria, immediately +made a favourable impression in Berlin and successfully occupied +the difficult position of mediator between the governments of +Berlin and Vienna. + +On September fourth the Chancellor gave me a statement to give +to the reporters in which he attacked England, claiming that +England did not desire the friendship of Germany but was moved by +commercial jealousy and a desire to crush her; that the efforts +made for peace had failed because Russia, under all circumstances, +was resolved upon war; and that Germany had entered Belgium in +order to forestall the planned French advance. He also claimed +that England, regardless of consequences to the white race, had +excited Japan to a pillaging expedition, and claimed that Belgian +girls and women had gouged out the eyes of the wounded; that +officers had been invited to dinner and shot across the table; +and Belgian women had cut the throats of soldiers quartered in +their houses while they were asleep. The Chancellor concluded by +saying, in this statement, that everyone knows that the German +people is not capable of unnecessary cruelty or of any brutality. + +We were fully occupied with taking care of the English prisoners +and interests, the Americans, and negotiations relating to commercial +questions, and to getting goods required in the United States out +of Germany, when, on October seventh, a most unpleasant incident, +and one which for some time caused the members of our Embassy +to feel rather bitterly toward the German Foreign Office, took +place. + +A great number of British civilians, men and women, were stranded +in Berlin. To many of these were paid sums of money in the form +of small allowances on behalf of the British Government. In order +to facilitate this work, we placed the clerks employed in this +distribution in the building formerly occupied by the British Consul +in Berlin. Of course, the great crowds of Americans resorting to +our Embassy, when combined with the crowds of British, made it +almost impossible even to enter the Embassy, and establishment +of this outlying relief station materially helped this situation. +I occupied it, and employed English men and English women in this +relief work by the express permission of the Imperial Foreign +Office, which I thought it wise to obtain in view of the fact +that the Germans seemed daily to become more irritable and +suspicious, especially after the Battle of the Marne. + +On the night of October second, our Second Secretary, Harvey, went +to this relief headquarters at about twelve o'clock at night, and +was witness to a raid made by the Berlin police on this establishment +of ours. The men and women working were arrested, and all books +and papers which the police could get at were seized by them. +The next morning I went around to the place and on talking with +the criminal detectives in charge, was told by them that they had +made the raid by the orders of the Foreign Office. When I spoke +to the Foreign Office about this, they denied that they had given +directions for the raid and made a sort of half apology. The raid +was all the more unjustified because only the day before I had had +a conversation with the Adjutant of the Berlin Kommandantur and +told him that, although I had permission from the Foreign Office, +I thought it would be better to dismiss the English employed and +employ only Americans or Germans; and I sent round to my friend, +Herr von Gwinner, head of the Deutsche Bank, and asked him to +recommend some German accountants to me. + +The Kommandantur is the direct office of military control. When +the Adjutant heard of the raid he was almost as indignant as I +was, and on the tenth of October informed me that he had learned +that the raid had been made on the joint orders of the Foreign +Office and von Tirpitz's department. + +The books and papers of an Embassy, including those relating +to the affairs of foreign nations temporarily in the Embassy's +care, are universally recognised in international law as not, +subject to seizure, nor did the fact that I was carrying on this +work outside the actual Embassy building have any bearing on +this point so long as the building was directly under my control +and, especially, as the only work carried on was work properly +in my hands in my official capacity. The Foreign Office saw that +they had made a mistake, but at Zimmermann's earnest request +I agreed, as it were, to forget the incident. Later on, this +precedent might have been used by our government had they desired +to press the matter of the seizure of von Igel's papers. Von Igel, +it will be remembered, was carrying on business of a private +nature in a private office hired by him. Nevertheless, as he +had been employed in some capacity in the German Embassy at +Washington, Count von Bernstorff claimed immunity from seizure +for the papers found in that office. + +On August sixteenth the Kaiser left Berlin for the front. I wrote +to his master of the household, saying that I should like an +opportunity to be at the railway station to say good-bye to the +Emperor, but was put off on various excuses. Thereafter the Emperor +practically abandoned Berlin and lived either in Silesia, at +Pless, or at some place near the Western front. + +At first, following the precedent of the war of 1870, the more +important members of the government followed the Kaiser to the +front, even the Chancellor and the Minister of Foreign Affairs +abandoning their offices in Berlin. Not long afterwards, when it +was apparent that the war must be carried on on several fronts +and that it was not going to be the matter of a few weeks which +the Germans had first supposed, these officials returned to their +offices in Berlin. In the meantime, however, much confusion had +been caused by this rather ridiculous effort to follow the customs +of the war of 1870. + +When von Jagow, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was absent at the +Great General Headquarters, the diplomats remaining behind conducted +their negotiations with Zimmermann, who in turn had to transmit +everything to the great general headquarters. + +In August, there were apparently rumours afloat in countries +outside of Germany that prominent Socialists at the outbreak of +the war had been shot. The State Department cabled me to find +out whether there was any truth in these rumours, with particular +reference to Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. + +Liebknecht is a lawyer practicing in Berlin and so I telephoned +him, asking him to come and see me. He did so, and of course, by +his presence verified the fact that he had not been executed. +He told me that the rumours as to the treatment of the Socialists +were entirely unfounded and said that he had no objection to my +cabling a statement that the Socialists were opposed to Czarismus +and that he personally had confidence in the German army and the +cause of the German people. + +Many people confuse Liebknecht with his father, now dead. Liebknecht, +the son, is a man of perhaps forty-three years, with dark bushy +hair and moustache and wearing eye-glasses, a man of medium height +and not at all of strong build. In the numerous interruptions +made by him during the debates in the Reichstag, during the first +year of the war, his voice sounded high and shrill. Of course, +anyone who defies the heavy hand of autocracy must suffer from +nervousness. We all knew that sooner or later autocracy would +"get" Liebknecht, and its opportunity came when he appeared in +citizen's clothes at an attempted mass-meeting at the Potsdamerplatz. +For the offence of appearing out of uniform after being called +and mobilized, and for alleged incitement of the people, he was +condemned for a long term of imprisonment. One can but admire +his courage. I believe that he earns his living by the practice +of law before one of the minor courts. It is hard to say just +what _rôle_ he will play in the future. It is probable that +when the Socialists settle down after the war and think things +over, they will consider that the leadership of Scheidemann has +been too conservative; that he submitted too readily to the powers +of autocracy and too easily abandoned the program of the Socialists. +In this case, Liebknecht perhaps will be made leader of the +Socialists, and it is within the bounds of probability that +Scheidemann and certain of his party may become Liberals rather +than Socialists. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS + +In the autumn of 1914, the rush of getting the Americans out +of Germany was over. The care of the British civilians was on a +business basis and there were comparatively few camps of prisoners +of war. Absolutely tired by working every day and until twelve +at night, I went to Munich for a two weeks' rest. + +On February fourth, 1915, Germany announced that on February +eighteenth the blockade of England through submarines would commence. + +Some very peculiar and mysterious negotiations thereafter ensued. +About February eighth, an American who was very intimate with +the members of the General Staff came to me with a statement +that Germany desired peace and was ready to open negotiations +to that end. It was, however, to be made a condition of these +peace negotiations that this particular American should go to +Paris and to Petrograd and inform the governments there of the +overwhelming strength of the German armies and of their positions, +which knowledge, it was said, he had obtained by personally visiting +both the fronts, it was further intimated that von Tirpitz himself +was anxious that peace should be concluded, possibly because of +his fear that the proposed blockade would not be successful. + +Of course, I informed the State Department of these mysterious +manoeuvres. + +I was taken by back stairways to a mysterious meeting with von +Tirpitz at night in his rooms in the Navy Department. When I was +alone with him, however, he had nothing definite to say or to +offer; if there was any opportunity at that time to make peace +nothing came of it. It looked somewhat to me as if the whole +idea had been to get this American to go to Paris and Petrograd, +certify from his personal observation to the strength of the +German armies and position, and thereby to assist in enticing +one or both of these countries to desert the allied cause. All of +this took place about ten days before the eighteenth of February, +the time named for the announcement of the blockade of England. + +Medals were struck having the head of von Tirpitz on one side +and on the other the words "Gott strafe England," and a picture +of a sort of Neptune assisted by a submarine rising from the +sea to blockade the distant English coast. + +The Ambassador is supposed to have the right to demand an audience +with the Kaiser at any time, and as there were matters connected +with the treatment of prisoners as well as this coming submarine +warfare which I wished to take up with him, I had on various +occasions asked for an audience with him; on each occasion my +request had been refused on some excuse or other, and I was not +even permitted to go to the railway station to bid him good-bye +on one occasion when he left for the front. + +When our Military Attaché, Major Langhorne, left in March, 1915, +he had a farewell audience with the Kaiser and I then asked him +to say to the Kaiser that I had not seen him for so long a time +that I had forgotten what he looked like. Langhorne reported +to me that he had given his message to the Kaiser and that the +Kaiser said, "I have nothing against Mr. Gerard personally, but +I will not see the Ambassador of a country which furnishes arms +and ammunition to the enemies of Germany." + +Before the departure of Langhorne, I had succeeded in getting +Germany to agree that six American army officers might visit +Germany as military observers. When they arrived, I presented +them at the Foreign Office, etc., and they were taken on trips +to the East and West fronts. + +They were not allowed to see much, and their request to be attached +to a particular unit was refused. Nearly everywhere they were +subject to insulting remarks or treatment because of the shipment +of munitions of war to the Allies from America; and finally after +they had been subjected to deliberate insults at the hands of +several German generals, Mackensen particularly distinguishing +himself, the United States Government withdrew them from Germany. + +Colonel (now General) Kuhn, however, who was of these observers, +was appointed Military Attaché in place of Major Langhorne. Speaking +German fluently and acting with great tact, he managed for a long +time to keep sufficiently in the good graces of the Germans to +be allowed to see something of the operations of the various +fronts. There came a period in 1916 when he was no longer invited +to go on the various excursions made by the foreign military +attachés and finally Major Nicolai, the general intelligence +officer of the Great General Headquarters, sent for him early in +the autumn of 1916, and informed him that he could no longer go +to any of the fronts. Colonel Kuhn answered that he was aware of +this already. Major Nicolai said that he gave him this information +by direct order of General Ludendorf, that General Ludendorf had +stated that he did not believe America could do more damage to +Germany than she had done if the two countries were actually +at war, and that he considered that, practically, America and +Germany were engaged in hostilities. On this being reported to +Washington, Colonel Kuhn was quite naturally recalled. + +I cannot praise too highly the patience and tact shown by Colonel +Kuhn in dealing with the Germans. Although accused in the German +newspapers of being a spy, and otherwise attacked, he kept his +temper and observed all that he could for the benefit of his own +country. As he had had an opportunity to observe the Russian-Japanese +war, his experiences at that time, coupled with his experiences +in Germany, make him, perhaps, our greatest American expert on +modern war. + +It was with the greatest pleasure that I heard from Secretary +Baker that he had determined to promote Colonel Kuhn to the rank +of General and make him head of our War College, where his teachings +will prove of the greatest value to the armies of the United States. + +Colonel House and his wife arrived to pay us a visit on March 19, +1915, and remained until the twenty-eighth. During this period the +Colonel met all the principal members of the German Government and +many men of influence and prominence in the world of affairs, such +as Herr von Gwinner, head of the Deutsche Bank, and Dr. Walter +Rathenau, who succeeded his father as head of the Allgemeine +Elektricitats Gesellschaft and hundreds of other corporations. The +Colonel dined at the house of Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister, +and lunched with von Gwinner. + +In April, negotiations were continued about the sinking of the +_William P. Fry_, an American boat loaded with food and +destined for Ireland. The American Government on behalf of the +owners of the _William P. Fry_ claimed damages for the boat. +Nothing was said about the cargo, but in the German answer it was +stated that the cargo of the _William P. Fry_ consisting of +foodstuffs destined for an armed port of the enemy and, therefore, +presumed to be destined for the armed forces of the enemy was, +because of this, contraband. I spoke to von Jagow about this and +told him that I thought that possibly this would seem to amount +to a German justification of the British blockade of Germany. +He said that this note had been drawn by Director Kriege who +was their expert on international law, and that he would not +interfere with Kriege's work. Of course, as a matter of fact, +all foodstuffs shipped to Germany would have to be landed at +some armed port, and, therefore, according to the contentions +of Germany, these would be supposed to be destined to the armed +forces of the enemy and become contraband of war. + +At international law, it had always been recognised that private +individuals and corporations have the right to sell arms and +ammunitions of war to any belligerent and, in the Hague Convention +held in 1907, this right was expressly ratified and confirmed. +This same Director Kriege who represented Germany at this Hague +Conference in 1907, in the debates on this point said: "The neutral +boats which engage in such a trade, commit a violation of the +duties of neutrality. However, according to a principle generally +recognised, the State of which the boat flies the flag is not +responsible for this violation. The neutral States are not called +upon to forbid their subjects a commerce which, from the point of +view of the belligerents, ought to be considered as unlawful." +(Conférence International de la Paix, La Haye, 15 Juin-18 Octobre +1907. Vol. III, p. 859.) + +During our trouble with General Huerta, arms and ammunition for +Huerta's forces from Germany were landed from German ships in +Mexico. During the Boer war the Germans, who openly sympathised +with the Boers, nevertheless furnished to England great quantities +of arms and munitions, expressly destined to be used against +the Boers; and this, although it was manifest that there was +no possibility whatever that the Boers could obtain arms and +munitions from German sources during the war. For instance, the +firm of Eberhardt in Dusseldorf furnished one hundred and nine +cannon, complete, with wagons, caissons and munitions, etc., to +the English which were expressly designed for use against the +Boers. + +At one time the Imperial Foreign Office sent me a formal note +making reference to a paragraph in former Ambassador Andrew D. +White's autobiography with reference to the alleged stoppage +in a German port of a boat laden with arms and ammunition, for +use against the Americans in Cuba during the Spanish War. Of +course, former Ambassador White wrote without having the Embassy +records at hand and those records show that the position he took +at the time of this alleged stoppage was eminently correct. + +The files show that he wrote the letter to the State Department +in which he stated that knowledge came to him of the proposed +sailing of this ship, but he did not protest because he had been +advised by a Naval Attaché that the United States did not have +the right to interfere. The Department of State wrote to him +commending his action in not filing any protest and otherwise +interfering. + +It seemed as if the German Government expressly desired to stir +up hatred against America on this issue in order to force the +American Government through fear of either the German Government, +or the German-American propagandists at home, to put an immediate +embargo on the export of these supplies. + +In the autumn of 1914 Zimmermann showed me a long list sent him +by Bernstorff showing quantities of saddles, automobiles, motor +trucks, tires, explosives, foodstuffs and so on, exported from +America to the Allies and intimated that this traffic had reached +such proportions that it should be stopped. + +In February, 1915, in the official _Communiqué_ of the day +appeared the following statement: "Heavy artillery fire in certain +sections of the West front, mostly with American ammunition;" +and in April in the official _Communiqué_ something to this +effect: "Captured French artillery officers say that they have +great stores of American ammunition." I obtained through the State +Department in Washington a statement from the French Ambassador +certifying that up to that time, the end of April, 1915, no shells +whatever of the French artillery had been furnished from America. + +Nothing, however, would satisfy the Germans. They seemed determined +that the export of every article, whether of food or munitions +which might prove of use to the Allies in the war, should be +stopped. Newspapers were filled with bitter attacks upon America +and upon President Wilson, and with caricatures referring to +the sale of munitions. + +It never seemed to occur to the Germans that we could not violate +the Hague Convention in order to change the rules of the game +because one party, after the commencement of hostilities, found +that the rule worked to his disadvantage. Nor did the Germans +consider that America could not vary its international law with +the changing fortunes of war and make one ruling when the Germans +lost control of the sea and another ruling if they regained it. + +From early in 1915 until I left Germany, I do not think I ever +had a conversation with a German without his alluding to this +question. Shortly before leaving Germany, in January, 1917, and +after I had learned of the probability of the resumption of ruthless +submarine war, at an evening party at the house of Dr. Solf, the +Colonial Minister, a large German who turned out to be one of +the Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, planted himself some +distance away from me and addressed me in German saying, "You are +the American Ambassador and I want to tell you that the conduct +of America in furnishing arms and ammunition to the enemies of +Germany is stamped deep on the German heart, that we will never +forget it and will some day have our revenge." He spoke in a +voice so loud and slapped his chest so hard that everyone in +the room stopped their conversation in order to hear. He wore +on his breast the orders of the Black Eagle, the Red Eagle, the +Elephant and the Seraphim, and when he struck all this menagerie +the rattle alone was quite loud. I reminded him politely of the +Hague Convention, of the fact that we could not change international +law from time to time with the change in the situation of the war, +and that Germany had furnished arms to England to use against the +Boers. But he simply answered, "We care nothing for treaties," +and my answer, "That is what they all say," was a retort too +obvious to be omitted. + +The German press continually published articles to the effect +that the war would be finished if it were not for the shipment +of supplies from America. All public opinion was with the German +Government when the warning was issued on February fourth, 1915, +stating that the blockade of England would commence on the eighteenth +and warning neutral ships to keep out of the war zone. From then +on we had constant cases and crises with reference to the sinking +of American boats by the German submarine. There were the cases +of the _Gulfflight_ and the _Cushing_ and the _Falaba_, an English +boat sunk without warning on which Americans were killed. On May +sixth, 1915, Director Kriege of the Foreign Office asked Mr. Jackson +to call and see him, and told him that he would like to have the +following three points brought to the attention of the American +public: + + "1. As the result of the English effort to stop all foreign + commerce with Germany, Germany would do everything in her power + to destroy English commerce and merchant shipping. There was, + however, never at any time an intention to destroy or interfere + with neutral commerce or to attack neutral shipping unless + engaged in contraband trade. In view of the action of the + British Government in arming merchant vessels and causing + them to disguise their national character, the occasional + destruction of a neutral ship was unavoidable. Naval officers + in command of submarines had been instructed originally, and + new and more stringent instructions had been issued repeatedly, + to use the utmost care, consistent with their own safety, to + avoid attacks on neutral vessels. + + "2. In case a neutral ship should be destroyed by a submarine + the German Government is prepared to make an immediate and + formal expression of its regret and to pay an indemnity, without + having recourse to a prize court. + + "3. All reports with regard to the destruction of a neutral + vessel by a German submarine are investigated at once by both + the German Foreign Office and Admiralty and the result is + communicated to the Government concerned, which is requested in + return to communicate to the German Government the result of its + own independent investigation. Where there is any material + divergence in the two reports as to the presumed cause of + destruction (torpedo or mine), the question is to be submitted + to investigation by a commission composed of representatives of + the two nations concerned, with a neutral arbiter whose decision + will be final. This course has already been adopted in two cases, + in which a Dutch and a Norwegian vessel, respectively, were + concerned. The German Government reserves its right to refuse + this international arbitration in exceptional cases where for + military reasons the German Admiralty are opposed to its taking + place." + +Director Kriege told Mr. Jackson that a written communication in +which the substance of the foregoing would be contained, would +soon to be made to the Embassy. + +Mr. Jackson put this conversation down in the form above given +and showed Director Kriege a copy of it. Later in the day Geheimrat +Simon called on Mr. Jackson at the Embassy and said that Dr. +Kriege would like to have point two read as follows: + + "In case _through any unfortunate mistake a neutral ship_," + and continuing to the end; and that Dr. Kriege would like to + change what was written on point three beginning with "Where + there is" so that it should read, as follows:--"Where there is + any material divergence in the two reports as to the presumed + cause of destruction (torpedo or mine), the German Government has + already in several instances declared its readiness to submit + the question to the decision of an international commission in + accordance with the Hague Convention for the friendly settlement + of international disputes." + +This had been suggested by Director Kriege in case it should +be decided to make a communication to the American Press. Mr. +Jackson told Geheimrat Simon that he would report the subject of +his conversation to me, but that it would depend upon me whether +any communication should be made to the American Government or +to the press upon the subject. + +Of course, the news of the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_ on +May seventh and of the great loss of American lives brought +about a very critical situation, and naturally nothing was done +with Kriege's propositions. + +It is unnecessary here for me to go into the notes which were +exchanged between the two governments because all that is already +public property. + +Sometime after I had delivered our first _Lusitania_ Note of +May 11th, 1915, Zimmermann was lunching with us. A good looking +American woman, married to a German, was also of the party and +after lunch although I was talking to some one else I overheard +part of her conversation with Zimmermann. When Zimmermann left +I asked her what it was that he had said about America, Germany, +Mr. Bryan and the _Lusitania_. She then told me that she +had said to Zimmermann that it was a great pity that we were +to leave Berlin as it looked as if diplomatic relations between +the two countries would be broken, and that Zimmermann told her +not to worry about that because they had just received word from +the Austrian Government that Dr. Dumba, the Austrian Ambassador +in Washington, had cabled that the _Lusitania_ Note from +America to Germany was only sent as a sop to public opinion in +America and that the government did not really mean what was +said in that note. I then called on Zimmermann at the Foreign +Office and he showed me Dumba's telegram which was substantially +as stated above. Of course, I immediately cabled to the State +Department and also got word to President Wilson. The rest of +the incident is public property. I, of course, did not know what +actually occurred between Mr. Bryan and Dr. Dumba, but I am sure +that Dr. Dumba must have misunderstood friendly statements made +by Mr. Bryan. + +It was very lucky that I discovered the existence of this Dumba +cablegram in this manner which savours almost of diplomacy as +represented on the stage. If the Germans had gone on in the belief +that the _Lusitania_ Note was not really meant, war would +have inevitably resulted at that time between Germany and America, +and it shows how great events may be shaped by heavy luncheons +and a pretty woman. + +Before this time much indignation had been caused in Germany +by the fact that the _Lusitania_ on her eastward voyage +from New York early in February, 1915, had raised the American +flag when nearing British waters. + +Shortly after this incident had become known, I was at the +Wintergarten, a large concert hall in Berlin, with Grant Smith, +First Secretary of the Embassy at Vienna and other members of +my staff. We naturally spoke English among ourselves, a fact +which aroused the ire of a German who had been drinking heavily +and who was seated in the next box. He immediately began to call +out that some one was speaking English and when told by one of +the attendants that it was the American Ambassador, he immediately +cried in a loud voice that Americans were even worse than English +and that the _Lusitania_ had been flying the American flag as +protection in British waters. + +The audience, however, took sides against him and told him to +shut up and as I left the house at the close of the performance, +some Germans spoke to me and apologised for his conduct. The +next day the manager of the Wintergarten called on me also to +express his regret for the occurrence. + +About a year afterwards I was at the races one day and saw this +man and asked him what he meant by making such a noise at the +Wintergarten. He immediately apologised and said that he had +been drinking and hoped that I would forget the incident. This +was the only incident of the kind which occurred to me during +all the time that I was in Germany. + +Both before and after the sinking of the _Lusitania_, the +German Foreign Office put forward all kinds of proposals with +reference to American ships in the war zone. On one afternoon, +Zimmermann, who had a number of these proposals drafted in German, +showed them to me and I wrote down the English translation for him +to see how it would look in English. These proposals were about +the sailing from America of what might be called certified ships, +the ships to be painted and striped in a distinctive way, to come +from certified ports at certain certified times, America to agree +that these ships should carry no contraband whatever. All these +proposals were sternly rejected by the President. + +On February sixteenth, the German answer to our note of February +tenth had announced that Germany declined all responsibility for +what might happen to neutral ships and, in addition, announced +that mines would be allowed in waters surrounding Great Britain +and Ireland. This note also contained one of Zimmermann's proposed +solutions, namely, that American warships should convoy American +merchantmen. + +The German note of the sixteenth also spoke about the great traffic +in munitions from the United States to the Allies, and contained +a suggestion that the United States should induce the Allies to +adopt the Declaration of London and omit the importation not +only of food but also of all raw materials into Germany. + +February twentieth was the date of the conciliatory note addressed +by President Wilson to both Great Britain and Germany; and contained +the suggestion that submarines should not be employed against +merchant vessels of any nationality and that food should be allowed +to go through for the civil population of Germany consigned to +the agencies named by the United States in Germany, which were +to see that the food was received and distributed to the civil +population. + +In the meantime the mines on the German coast had destroyed two +American ships, both loaded with cotton for Germany; one called +the _Carib_ and the other the _Evelyn_. + +In America, Congress refused to pass a law to put it in the power +of the President to place an embargo on the export of munitions +of war. + +In April, Count Bernstorff delivered his note concerning the +alleged want of neutrality of the United States, referring to +the numerous new industries in war materials being built up in +the United States, stating, "In reality the United States is +supplying only Germany's enemies, a fact which is not in any +way modified by the theoretical willingness to furnish Germany +as well." + +To this note, Secretary Bryan in a note replied that it was +impossible, in view of the indisputable doctrines of accepted +international law, to make any change in our own laws of neutrality +which meant unequally affecting, during the progress of the war, +the relations of the United States with the various nations at +war; and that the placing of embargoes on the trade in arms which +constituted such a change would be a direct violation of the +neutrality of the United States. + +But all these negotiations, reproaches and recriminations were +put an end to by the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_, with the +killing of American women and civilians who were passengers on +that vessel. + +I believed myself that we would immediately break diplomatic +relations, and prepared to leave Germany. On May eleventh, I +delivered to von Jagow the _Lusitania_ Note, which after +calling attention to the cases of the sinking of American boats, +ending with the _Lusitania_, contained the statement, "The +Imperial German Government will not expect the Government of +the United States to omit any word or any act necessary to the +sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and +its citizens and of safeguarding their free exercises and +enjoyments." + +During this period I had constant conversations with von Jagow +and Zimmermann, and it was during the conversations about this +submarine warfare that Zimmermann on one occasion said to me: +"The United States does not dare to do anything against Germany +because we have five hundred thousand German reservists in America +who will rise in arms against your government if your government +should dare to take any action against Germany." As he said this, +he worked himself up to a passion and repeatedly struck the table +with his fist. I told him that we had five hundred and one thousand +lamp posts in America, and that was where the German reservists +would find themselves if they tried any uprising; and I also +called his attention to the fact that no German-Americans making +use of the American passports which they could easily obtain, +were sailing for Germany by way of Scandinavian countries in +order to enlist in the German army. I told him that if he could +show me one person with an American passport who had come to +fight in the German army I might more readily believe what he +said about the Germans in America rising in revolution. + +As a matter of fact, during the whole course of the war, I knew +of only one man with American citizenship who enlisted in the +German army. This was an American student then in Germany who +enlisted in a German regiment. His father, a business man in New +York, cabled me asking me to have his son released from the German +army; so I procured the discharge of the young man who immediately +wrote to me and informed me that he was over twenty-one, and +that he could not see what business his father had to interfere +with his military ambitions. I thereupon withdrew my request +with reference to him, but he had already been discharged from +the army. When his regiment went to the West front he stowed +away on the cars with it, was present at the attack on Ypres, +and was shot through the body. He recovered in a German hospital, +received the Iron Cross, was discharged and sailed for America. +What has since become of him I do not know. + +I do not intend to go in great detail into this exchange of notes +and the public history of the submarine controversy, as all that +properly belongs to the history of the war rather than to an +account of my personal experiences; and besides, as Victor Hugo +said, "History is not written with a microscope." All will remember +the answer of Germany to the American _Lusitania_ Note, which +answer, delivered on May twenty-ninth, contained the charge that +the _Lusitania_ was armed and carried munitions, and had been +used in the transport of Canadian troops. In the meantime, however, +the American ship, _Nebraskan_, had been torpedoed off the coast +of Ireland on the twenty-sixth; and, on May twenty-eighth, Germany +stated that the American steamer, _Gulfflight_, had been torpedoed +by mistake, and apologised for this act. + +Von Jagow gave me, about the same time, a Note requesting that +American vessels should be more plainly marked and should illuminate +their marking at night. + +The second American _Lusitania_ Note was published on June +eleventh, 1915; and its delivery was coincident with the resignation +of Mr. Bryan as Secretary of State. In this last Note President +Wilson (for, of course, it is an open secret that he was the +author of these Notes) made the issue perfectly plain, referring +to the torpedoing of enemy passenger ships. "Only her actual +resistance to capture or refusal to stop when ordered to do so +for the purpose of visit could have afforded the commander of the +submarine any justification for so much as putting the lives of +those on board the ship in jeopardy." On July eighth the German +answer to this American _Lusitania_ Note was delivered, and +again stated that "we have been obliged to adopt a submarine war +to meet the declared intentions of our enemies and the method of +warfare adopted by them in contravention of international law". +Again referring to the alleged fact of the _Lusitania's_ +carrying munitions they said: "If the _Lusitania_ had been +spared, thousands of cases of munitions would have been sent to +Germany's enemies and thereby thousands of German mothers and +children robbed of breadwinners." The note then contained some +of Zimmermann's favourite proposals, to the effect that German +submarine commanders would be instructed to permit the passage of +American steamers marked in a special way and of whose sailing +they had been notified in advance, provided that the American +Government guaranteed that these vessels did not carry contraband +of war. It was also suggested that a number of neutral vessels +should be added to those sailing under the American flag, to +give greater opportunity for those Americans who were compelled +to travel abroad, and the Note's most important part continued: +"In particular the Imperial Government is unable to admit that +the American citizens can protect an enemy ship by mere fact +of their presence on board." + +July twenty-first, the American Government rejected the proposals +of Germany saying, "The lives of noncombatants may in no case +be put in jeopardy unless the vessel resists or seeks to escape +after being summoned to submit to examination," and disposed +of the claim that the acts of England gave Germany the right +to retaliate, even though American citizens should be deprived +of their lives in the course of retaliation by stating: "For a +belligerent act of retaliation is _per se_ an act beyond the +law, and the defense, of an act as retaliatory, is an admission +that it is illegal." Continuing it said: "If a belligerent cannot +retaliate against an enemy without injuring the lives of neutrals, +as well as their property, humanity, as well as justice and a +due regard for the dignity of neutral powers, should dictate +that the practice be discontinued." + +It was also said: "The United States cannot believe that the +Imperial Government will longer refrain from disavowing the wanton +act of its naval commander in sinking the _Lusitania_ or +from offering reparation for the American lives lost, so far +as reparation can be made for the needless destruction of human +life by an illegal act." And the meat of the Note was contained +in the following sentence: "Friendship itself prompts it (the +United States) to say to the Imperial Government that repetition +by the commanders of German naval vessels of acts in contravention +of those rights must be regarded by the Government of the United +States, when they affect American citizens, as being deliberately +unfriendly." + +There the matter has remained so far as the Lusitania was concerned +until now. In the meantime, the attack of the American ship, +_Nebraskan_, was disavowed; the German Note stating that +"the torpedo was not meant for the American flag and is to be +considered an unfortunate accident." + +The diplomatic situation with regard to the use of the submarine +and the attack on many merchant ships without notice and without +putting the passengers in safety was still unsettled when on +August nineteenth, 1915, the British ship _Arabic_, was +torpedoed, without warning, not far from the place where the +_Lusitania_ had gone down. Two Americans were among the +passengers killed. + +The German Government, after the usual quibbling, at length, +in its Note of September seventh, claimed that the Captain of +the German submarine, while engaged in preparing to sink the +_Dunsley_, became convinced that the approaching _Arabic_ +was trying to ram him and, therefore, fired his torpedo. The +Imperial Government refused to admit any liability but offered +to arbitrate. + +There followed almost immediately the case of the _Ancona_, +sunk by a submarine flying the Austrian flag. This case was naturally +out of my jurisdiction, but formed a link in the chain, and then +came the sinking of the _Persia_ in the Mediterranean. On this +boat our consul to Aden lost his life. + +In the Note of Count Bernstorff to Secretary Lansing, dated September +first, 1915, Count Bernstorff said that liners would not be sunk +by German submarines without warning, and without putting the +passengers in safety, provided that the liners did not try to +escape or offer resistance; and it was further stated that this +policy was in effect before the sinking of the _Arabic_. + +There were long negotiations during this period concerning the +_Arabic_. At one time it looked as if diplomatic relations +would be broken; but finally the Imperial Government consented +to acknowledge that the submarine commander had been wrong in +assuming that the _Arabic_ intended to ram his boat, offered +to pay an indemnity and disavowed the act of the commander. It +was stated that orders so precise had been given to the submarine +commanders that a "recurrence of incidents similar to the +_Arabic_ is considered out of the question." + +In the same way the Austrian Government gave way to the demands +of America in the _Ancona_ case at the end of December, 1915. +Ambassador Penfield, in Austria, won great praise by his admirable +handling of this case. + +The negotiations as to the still pending _Lusitania_ case +were carried on in Washington by Count Bernstorff and Secretary +Lansing, and finally Germany offered to pay an indemnity for +the death of the Americans on the _Lusitania_ whose deaths +Germany "greatly regretted," but refused to disavow the act of +the submarine commander in sinking the _Lusitania_ or to admit +that such act was illegal. + +About this time our State Department sent out a Note proposing +in effect that submarines should conform to "cruiser" warfare, +only sinking a vessel which defended itself or tried to escape, +and that before sinking a vessel its passengers and crew should +be placed in safety; and that, on the other hand, merchant vessels +of belligerent nationality should be prohibited from carrying +any armaments whatever. This suggestion was not followed up. + +Zimmermann (not the one in the Foreign Office) wrote an article +in the _Lokal Anzeiger_ of which he is an editor, saying +that the United States had something on their side in the question +of the export of munitions. I heard that von Kessel, commander of +the _Mark of Brandenburg_ said that he, Zimmermann, ought to be +shot as a traitor. Zimmermann hearing of this made von Kessel +apologise, but was shortly afterwards mobilised. + +Colonel House had arrived in Germany at the end of January, 1916, +and remained only three days. He was quite worried by the situation +and by an interview he had had with Zimmermann in which Zimmermann +expressed the readiness of Germany to go to war with the United +States. + +In February, 1916, the Junkers in the Prussian Lower House started +a fight against the Chancellor and discussed submarine war, a +matter out of their province. The Chancellor hit back at them hard +and had the best of the exchange. At this period it was reported +that the Emperor went to Wilhelmshafen to warn the submarine +commanders to be careful. + +About March first it was reported that a grand council of war +was held at Charleville and that in spite of the support of von +Tirpitz by Falkenhayn, the Chief of Staff, the Chancellor was +supported by the Emperor, and once more beat the propositions +to recommence ruthless submarine war. + +In March too, the "illness" of von Tirpitz was announced, followed +shortly by his resignation. On March nineteenth, his birthday, +a demonstration was looked for and I saw many police near his +dwelling, but nothing unusual occurred. I contemplated a trip +to America, but both the Chancellor and von Jagow begged me not +to go. + +From the time of the _Lusitania_ sinking to that of the _Sussex_ +all Germany was divided into two camps. The party of the Chancellor +tried to keep peace with America and did not want to have Germany +branded as an outlaw among nations. Von Tirpitz and his party of +naval and military officers called for ruthless submarine war, and +the Conservatives, angry with Bethmann-Hollweg because of his +proposed concession as to the extension of the suffrage, joined +the opposition. The reception of our last _Lusitania_ Note in +July, 1915, was hostile and I was accused of being against Germany, +although, of course, I had nothing to do with the preparation of +this Note. + +In August, 1915, the deputies representing the great industrials +of Germany joined in the attack on the Chancellor. These men +wished to keep Northern France and Belgium, because they hoped +to get possession of the coal and iron deposits there and so +obtain a monopoly of the iron and steel trade of the continent. +Accelerators of public opinion, undoubtedly hired by the Krupp +firm, were hard at work. These Annexationists were opposed by the +more reasonable men who signed a petition against the annexation +of Belgium. Among the signers of this reasonable men's petition +were Prince Hatzfeld (Duke of Trachenberg) head of the Red Cross, +Dernburg, Prince Henkel Donnersmarck, Professor Delbrück, von +Harnack and many others. + +The rage of the Conservatives at the _Arabic_ settlement +knew no bounds, and after a bitter article had appeared in the +_Tageszeitung_ about the _Arabic_ affair, that newspaper was +suppressed for some days,--a rather unexpected showing of backbone +on the part of the Chancellor. Reventlow who wrote for this newspaper +is one of the ablest editorial writers in Germany. An ex-naval +officer, he is bitter in his hatred of America. It was said that +he once lived in America and lost a small fortune in a Florida +orange grove, but I never succeeded in having this verified. + +In November, 1915, after the _Arabic_ settlement there followed +a moment for us of comparative calm. Mrs. Gerard was given the +Red Cross Orders of the first and third classes, and Jackson +and Rives of the Embassy Staff the second and third class. The +third class is always given because one cannot have the first +and second unless one has the third or lowest. + +There were rumours at this time of the formation of a new party; +really the Socialists and Liberals, as the Socialists as such were +too unfashionable, in too bad odour, to open a campaign against +the military under their own name. This talk came to nothing. + +The Chancellor always complained bitterly that he could not +communicate in cipher _via_ wireless with von Bernstorff. +On one occasion he said to me, "How can I arrange as I wish to +in a friendly way the _Ancona_ and _Lusitania_ cases +if I cannot communicate with my Ambassador? Why does the United +States Government not allow me to communicate in cipher?" I said, +"The Foreign Office tried to get me to procure a safe-conduct for +the notorious von Rintelen on the pretense that he was going to do +charitable work for Belgium in America; perhaps Washington thinks +you want to communicate with people like that." The Chancellor then +changed the subject and said that there would be bad feeling in +Germany against America after the war. I answered that that idea +had been expressed by a great many Germans and German newspapers, +and that I had had private letters from a great many Americans +who wrote that if Germany intended to make war on America, after +this war, perhaps we had better go in now. He then very amiably +said that war with America would be ridiculous. He asked me why +public opinion in America was against Germany, and I answered +that matters like the Cavell case had made a bad impression in +America and that I knew personally that even the Kaiser did not +approve of the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_. The Chancellor +said, "How about the _Baralong_?" I replied that I did not +know the details and that there seemed much doubt and confusion +about that affair, but that there was no doubt about the fact +that Miss Cavell was shot and that she was a woman. I then took +up in detail with him the treatment of British prisoners and +said that this bad treatment could not go on. This was only one +of the many times when I complained to the Chancellor about the +condition of prisoners. I am sure that he did not approve of the +manner in which prisoners of war in Germany were treated; but +he always complained that he was powerless where the military +were concerned, and always referred me to Bismarck's memoirs. + +During this winter of submarine controversy an interview with +von Tirpitz, thinly veiled as an interview with a "high naval +authority," was published in that usually most conservative of +newspapers, the _Frankfurter Zeitung_. In this interview the +"high naval authority" advocated ruthless submarine war with +England, and promised to bring about thereby the speedy surrender +of that country. After the surrender, which was to include the +whole British fleet, the German fleet with the surrendered British +fleet added to its force, was to sail for America, and exact from +that country indemnities enough to pay the whole cost of the war. + +After his fall, von Tirpitz, in a letter to some admirers who +had sent him verses and a wreath, advocated holding the coast of +Flanders as a necessity for the war against England and America. + +The successor of von Tirpitz was Admiral von Holtzendorff, whose +brother is Ballin's right hand man in the management of the Hamburg +American Line. Because of the more reasonable influence and +surroundings of von Holtzendorff, I regarded his appointment as +a help towards peaceful relations between Germany and America. + +I have told in another chapter how the Emperor had refused to +receive me as Ambassador of a country which was supplying munitions +to the Allies. + +From time to time since I learned of this in March, 1915, I kept +insisting upon my right as Ambassador to be received by the Emperor; +and finally early in October, 1915, wrote the following letter +to the Chancellor: + + "Your Excellency: + + Some time ago I requested you to arrange an audience for me + with his majesty. + + Please take no further trouble about this matter. + + Sincerely yours, + + JAMES W. GERARD." + +This seemed to have the desired effect. I was informed that I +would be received by the Emperor in the new palace at Potsdam +on October twenty-second. He was then to pay a flying visit to +Berlin to receive the new Peruvian Minister and one or two others. +We went down in the train to Potsdam, von Jagow accompanying us, +in the morning; and it was arranged that we should return on +the train leaving Potsdam a little after one o'clock. I think +that the authorities of the palace expected that I would be with +the Emperor for a few minutes only, as when I was shown into the +room where he was, a large room opening from the famous shell +hall of the palace, the Peruvian Minister and the others to be +received were standing waiting in that hall. + +The Emperor was alone in the room and no one was present at our +interview. He was dressed in a Hussar uniform of the new field +grey, the parade uniform of which the frogs and trimmings were +of gold. A large table in the corner of the room was covered +with maps, compasses, scales and rulers; and looked as if the +Emperor there, in company with some of his aides, or possibly +the chief of staff, had been working out the plan of campaign +of the German armies. + +The Emperor was standing; so, naturally, I stood also; and, according +to his habit, which is quite Rooseveltian, he stood very close to +me and talked very earnestly. I was fortunately able to clear +up two distinct points which he had against America. + +The Emperor said that he had read in a German paper that a number +of submarines built in America for England had crossed the Atlantic +to England, escorted by ships of the American Navy. I was, of +course, able to deny this ridiculous story at the time and furnish +definite proofs later. The Emperor complained because a loan to +England and France had been floated in America. I said that the +first loan to a belligerent floated in America was a loan to +Germany. The Emperor sent for some of his staff and immediately +inquired into the matter. The members of the staff confirmed my +statement. The Emperor said that he would not have permitted +the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_ if he had known, and that +no gentleman would kill so many women and children. He showed, +however, great bitterness against the United States and repeatedly +said, "America had better look out after this war:" and "I shall +stand no nonsense from America after the war." + +The interview lasted about an hour and a quarter, and when I finally +emerged from the room the officers of the Emperor's household were +in such a state of agitation that I feel sure they must have +thought that something fearful had occurred. As I walked rapidly +towards the door of the palace in order to take the carriage which +was to drive me to the train, one of them walked along beside +me saying, "Is it all right? Is it all right?" + +The unfortunate diplomats who were to have been received and +who had been standing all this time outside the door waiting for +an audience missed their train and their luncheon. + +At this interview, the Emperor looked very careworn and seemed +nervous. When I next saw him, however, which was not until the +end of April, 1916, he was in much better condition. + +I was so fearful in reporting the dangerous part of this interview, +on account of the many spies not only in my own Embassy but also +in the State Department, that I sent but a very few words in a +roundabout way by courier direct to the President. + +The year, 1916, opened with this great question still unsettled +and, in effect, Germany gave notice that after March first, 1916, +the German submarines would sink all armed merchantmen of the +enemies of Germany without warning. It is not my place here to +go into the agitation of this question in America or into the +history of the votes in Congress, which in fact upheld the policy +of the President. A proposal as to armed merchantmen was issued by +our State Department and the position taken in this was apparently +abandoned at the time of the settlement of the _Sussex_ case +to which I now refer. + +In the latter half of March, 1916, a number of boats having Americans +on board were torpedoed without warning. These boats were the +_Eaglejoint_, the _Englishman_, the _Manchester Engineer_ and the +_Sussex_. One American was killed or drowned on the _Englishman_, +but the issue finally came to a head over the torpedoing of the +channel passenger boat, _Sussex_ which carried passengers between +Folkstone and Dieppe, France. + +On March twenty-fourth the _Sussex_ was torpedoed near the +coast of France. Four hundred and thirty-six persons, of whom +seventy-five were Americans, were on board. The captain and a +number of the passengers saw the torpedo and an endeavour was +made to avoid it. After the boat was struck the many passengers +took to the boats. Three Americans were injured and over forty +persons lost their lives, although the boat was not sunk but +was towed to Boulogne. + +I was instructed to inquire from the German Government as to +whether a German submarine had sunk the _Sussex_. The Foreign +Office finally, at my repeated request, called on the Admiralty +for a report of the torpedoing of the _Sussex_; and finally +on the tenth of April the German Note was delivered to me. In the +meantime, and before the delivery of this Note I had been assured +again and again that the _Sussex_ had not been torpedoed by +a German submarine. In this Note a rough sketch was enclosed, +said to have been made by the officer commanding the submarine, of +a vessel which he admitted he had torpedoed, in the same locality +where the _Sussex_ had been attacked and at about the same +time of day. It was said that this boat which was torpedoed was +a mine layer of the recently built _Arabic_ class and that a +great explosion which was observed to occur in the torpedoed ship +warranted the certain conclusion that great amounts of munitions +were on board. The Note concluded: "The German Government must +therefore assume that injury to the _Sussex_ was attributable +to another cause than attack by a German submarine." The Note +contained an offer to submit any difference of opinion that might +develop to be investigated by a mixed commission in accordance +with the Hague Convention of 1907. The _Englishman_ and +the _Eaglepoint_, it was claimed, were attacked by German +submarines only after they had attempted to escape, and an +explanation was given as to the _Manchester Engineer_. With +reference to the _Sussex_, the note continued: "Should the +American Government have at its disposal other material at the +conclusion of the case of the _Sussex_, the German Government +would ask that it be communicated, in order to subject this material +also to investigation." + +In the meantime, American naval officers, etc., had been engaged +in collecting facts as to the sinking of the _Sussex_, and +this evidence, which seemed overwhelming and, in connection with +the admissions in the German note, absolutely conclusive, was +incorporated in the note sent to Germany in which Germany was +notified: "Unless the Imperial Government should now immediately +declare and effect abandonment of this present method of submarine +warfare against passenger and freight carrying vessels, the +Government of the United States can have no choice but to sever +diplomatic relations with the German Empire altogether." + +The issue was now clearly defined. + +I have already spoken of the fact that for a long time there had +been growing up two parties in Germany. One party headed by von +Tirpitz in favour of what the Germans called _rücksichtloser_, +or ruthless submarine war, in which all enemy merchant ships +were to be sunk without warning, and the party then headed by +the Chancellor which desired to avoid a conflict with America +on this issue. + +As I have explained in a former chapter, the military have always +claimed to take a hand in shaping the destinies and foreign policies +of Germany. When the Germans began to turn their attention to the +creation of a fleet, von Tirpitz was the man who, in a sense, +became the leader of the movement and, therefore, the creator of +the modern navy of Germany. A skilful politician, he for years +dominated the Reichstag and on the question of submarine warfare +was most efficiently seconded by the efforts of the Navy League, +an organization having perhaps one million members throughout +Germany. Although only one of the three heads of the navy (he +was Secretary of the Navy), by the force of his personality, by +the political position which he had created for himself, and by +the backing of his friends in the Navy League he really dominated +the other two departments of the navy, the Marine Staff and the +Marine Cabinet. + +Like most Germans of the ruling class, ambition is his only passion. +These Spartans do not care either for money or for the luxury +which it brings. Their life is on very simple lines, both in +the Army and Navy, in order that the officers shall not vie with +one another in expenditure, and in order that the poorer officers +and their wives shall not be subject to the humiliation which +would be caused if they had to live in constant contact with +brother officers living on a more luxurious footing. + +Von Tirpitz' ambition undoubtedly led him to consider himself +as a promising candidate for Bethmann-Hollweg's shoes. The whole +submarine issue, therefore, became not only a question of military +expediency and a question for the Foreign Office to decide in +connection with the relations of America to Germany, but also a +question of internal politics, a means of forcing the Chancellor +out of office. The advocates for the ruthless war were drawn from +the Navy and from the Army, and those who believed in the use +of any means of offence against their enemies and particularly +in the use of any means that would stop the shipment of munitions +of war to the Allies. The Army and the Navy were joined by the +Conservatives and by all those who hoped for the fall of the +Chancellor. The conservative newspapers, and even the Roman Catholic +newspapers were violent in their call for ruthless submarine war +as well as violent in their denunciations of the United States +of America. + +American passengers on merchant ships of the enemy were called +_Schutzengel_ (guardian angels), and caricatures were published, +such as one which showed the mate reporting to the Captain of +an English boat that everything was in readiness for sailing +and the Captain's inquiry, "Are you sure that the American +_Schutzengel_ is on board?" The numerous notes sent by America +to Germany also formed a frequent subject of caricature and I +remember particularly one quite clever one in the paper called +_Brummer_, representing the celebrations in a German port +on the arrival of the one hundredth note from America when the +Mayor of the town and the military, flower girls and singing +societies and _Turnverein_ were drawn up in welcoming array. + +The liberal papers were inclined to support the Chancellor in +his apparent intention to avoid an open break with America. But +even the liberal papers were not very strong in their stand. + +The military, of course, absolutely despised America and claimed +that America could do no more harm by declaring war than it was +doing then to Germany; and that possibly the war preparations +of America might cut down the amount of the munitions available +for export to the enemies of the Empire. As to anything that +America could do in a military way, the Navy and the Army were +unanimous in saying that as a military or naval factor the United +States might be considered as less than nothing. This was the +situation when the last _Sussex_ Note of America brought +matters to a crisis, and even the crisis itself was considered +a farce as it had been simmering for so long a period. + +I arranged that Colonel House should have an interview with the +Chancellor at this time, and after dinner one night he had a long +talk with the Chancellor in which the dangers of the situation +were pointed out. + +With this arrival of the last American _Sussex_ Note, I +felt that the situation was almost hopeless; that this question +which had dragged along for so long must now inevitably lead +to a break of relations and possibly to war. Von Jagow had the +same idea and said that it was "fate," and that there was nothing +more to be done. I myself felt that nothing could alter public +opinion in Germany; that in spite of von Tirpitz' fall, which had +taken place some time before, the advocates of ruthless submarine +warfare would win, and that to satisfy them Germany would risk +a break with America. + +I was sitting in my office in a rather dazed and despairing state +when Professor Ludwig Stein, proprietor of a magazine called +_North and South_ and a writer of special articles on Germany's +foreign relations for the _Vossische Zeitung_, under the +name of "Diplomaticus," called to see me. + +He informed me that he thought the situation was not yet hopeless, +that there was still a large party of reasonable men in Germany +and that he thought much good could be done if I should go to +the great general headquarters and have a talk with the Kaiser, +who, he informed me, was reported to be against a break. + +I told Dr. Stein that, of course, I was perfectly willing to +go if there was the slightest chance of preventing war; and I +also told the Chancellor that if he was going to decide this +question in favor of peace it would be possibly easier for him +if the decision was arrived at under the protection, as it were, +of the Emperor; or that, if the decision lay with the Emperor, +I might possibly be able to help in convincing him if I had an +opportunity to lay the American side of the case before him. I +said, moreover, that I was ready at any time on short notice +to proceed to the Emperor's headquarters. + +Dr. Hecksher, a member of the Reichstag, who must be classed +among the reasonable men of Germany, also advocated my speaking +directly to the Kaiser. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MAINLY COMMERCIAL + +Nothing surprised me more, as the war developed, than the discovery +of the great variety and amount of goods exported from Germany to +the United States. + +Goods sent from the United States to Germany are mainly prime +materials: approximately one hundred and sixty million dollars a +year of cotton; seventy-five million dollars of copper; fifteen +millions of wheat; twenty millions of animal fats; ten millions +of mineral oil and a large amount of vegetable oil. Of course, +the amount of wheat is especially variable. Some manufactured +goods from America also find their way to Germany to the extent +of perhaps seventy millions a year, comprising machinery such as +typewriters and a miscellaneous line of machinery and manufactures. +The principal exports from Germany to America consist of dye +stuffs and chemical dyes, toys, underwear, surgical instruments, +cutlery, stockings, knit goods, etc., and a raw material called +potash, also known as kali. The last is a mineral found nowhere +in the world except in Germany and a few places in Austria. Potash +is essential to the manufacture of many fertilizers, fertilizer +being composed as a rule of potash, phosphates and nitrates. +The nitrates in past years have been exported to all countries +from Chile. Phosphate rock is mined in South Carolina and Florida +and several other places in the world. Curiously enough, both +nitrates and potash are essential ingredients also of explosives +used in war. Since the war, the German supply from Chile was +cut off; but the Germans, following a system used in Norway for +many years before the war, established great electrical plants +for the extraction of nitrates from the atmosphere. Since the +war, American agriculture has suffered for want of potash and +German agriculture has suffered for want of phosphates, possibly +of nitrates also; because I doubt whether sufficient nitrogen +is extracted from the air in Germany to provide for more than +the needs of the explosive industry. + +The dyestuff industry had been developed to such a point in Germany +that Germany supplied the whole world. In the first months of the +war some enterprising Americans, headed by Herman Metz, chartered +a boat, called _The Matanzas_, and sent it to Rotterdam +where it was loaded with a cargo of German dyestuffs. The boat +sailed under the American flag and was not interfered with by +the English. Later on the German Department of the Interior, +at whose head was Delbrück, refused to allow dyestuffs to leave +Germany except in exchange for cotton, and, finally, the export of +dyestuffs from Germany ceased and other countries were compelled +to take up the question of manufacture. This state of affairs +may lead to the establishment of the industry permanently in the +United States, although that industry will require protection +for some years, as, undoubtedly, Germany in her desperate effort +to regain a monopoly of this trade will be ready to spend enormous +sums in order to undersell the American manufacturers and drive +them out of business. + +The commercial submarines, _Deutschland_ and _Bremen_, +were to a great extent built with money furnished by the dyestuff +manufacturers, who hoped that by sending dyestuffs in this way to +America they could prevent the development of the industry there. +I had many negotiations with the Foreign Office with reference +to this question of dyestuffs. + +The export of toys from Germany to the United States forms a +large item in the bill which we pay annually to Germany. Many +of these toys are manufactured by the people in their own homes +in the picturesque district known as the Black Forest. Of course, +the war cut off, after a time, the export of toys from Germany; +and the American child, having in the meantime learned to be +satisfied with some other article, his little brother will demand +this very article next Christmas, and thus, after the war, Germany +will find that much of this trade has been permanently lost. + +Just as the textile trade of the United States was dependent upon +the German dyestuffs for colours, so the sugar beet growers of +America were dependent upon Germany for their seed. I succeeded, +with the able assistance of the consul at Magdeburg and Mr. Winslow +of my staff, in getting shipments of beet seed out of Germany. I +have heard since that these industries too, are being developed +in America, and seed obtained from other countries, such as Russia. + +Another commodity upon which a great industry in the United States +and Mexico depends is cyanide. The discovery of the cyanide process +of treating gold and silver ores permitted the exploitation of +many mines which could not be worked under the older methods. +At the beginning of the war there was a small manufactory of +cyanide owned by Germans at Perth Amboy and Niagara Falls, but +most of the cyanide used was imported from Germany. The American +German Company and the companies manufacturing in Germany and +in England all operated under the same patents, the English and +German companies having working agreements as to the distribution +of business throughout the world. + +The German Vice-Chancellor and head of the Department of the +Interior, Delbrück, put an export prohibition on cyanide early in +the war; and most pigheadedly and obstinately claimed that cyanide +was manufactured nowhere but in Germany, and that, therefore, if +he allowed cyanide to leave Germany for the United States or +Mexico the English would capture it and would use it to work +South African mines, thus adding to the stock of gold and power +in war of the British Empire. It was a long time before the German +manufacturers and I could convince this gentleman that cyanide +sufficient to supply all the British mines was manufactured near +Glasgow, Scotland. He then reluctantly gave a permit for the +export of a thousand tons of cyanide; and its arrival in the +United States permitted many mines there and in Mexico to continue +operations, and saved many persons from being thrown out of +employment. When Delbrück finally gave a permit for the export +of four thousand tons more of cyanide, the psychological moment +had passed and we could not obtain through our State Department +a pass from the British. + +I am convinced that Delbrück made a great tactical mistake on +behalf of the German Government when he imposed this prohibition +against export of goods to America. Many manufacturers of textiles, +the users of dyestuffs, medicines, seeds and chemicals in all forms, +were clamouring for certain goods and chemicals from Germany. But it +was the prohibition against export by the Germans which prevented +their receiving these goods. If it had been the British blockade +alone a cry might have arisen in the United States against this +blockade which might have materially changed the international +situation. + +The Germans also refused permission for the export of potash +from Germany. They hoped thereby to induce the United States +to break the British blockade, and offered cargoes of potash +in exchange for cargoes of cotton or cargoes of foodstuffs. The +Germans claimed that potash was used in the manufacture of munitions +and that, therefore, in no event would they permit the export +unless the potash was consigned to the American Government, with +guarantees against its use except in the manufacture of fertilizer, +this to be checked up by Germans appointed as inspectors. All +these negotiations, however, fell through and no potash has been +exported from Germany to the United States since the commencement +of the war. Enough potash, however, is obtained in the United +States for munition purposes from the burning of seaweed on the +Pacific Coast, from the brines in a lake in Southern California +and from a rock called alunite in Utah. Potash is also obtainable +from feldspar, but I do not know whether any plant has been +established for its production from this rock. I recently heard +of the arrival of some potash from a newly discovered field in +Brazil, and there have been rumours of its discovery in Spain. +I do not know how good this Spanish and Brazilian potash is, and +I suppose the German potash syndicate will immediately endeavour +to control these fields in order to hold the potash trade of the +world in its grip. + +It was a long time after the commencement of the war before England +declared cotton a contraband. I think this was because of the fear +of irritating the United States; but, in the meantime, Germany +secured a great quantity of cotton, which, of course, was used or +stored for the manufacture of powder. Since the cotton imports +have been cut off the Germans claim that they are manufacturing +a powder equally good by using wood pulp. Of course, I have not +been able to verify this, absolutely. + +Germany had endeavoured before the war in every way to keep American +goods out of the German markets, and even the Prussian state +railways are used, as I have shown in the article where I speak +of the attempt to establish an oil monopoly in Germany, in order +to discriminate against American mineral oils. This same method +has been applied to other articles such as wood, which otherwise +might be imported from America and in some cases regulations +as to the inspection of meat, etc., have proved more effective +in keeping American goods out of the market than a prohibitive +tariff. + +The meat regulation is that each individual package of meat must +be opened and inspected; and, of course, when a sausage has been +individually made to sit up and bark no one desires it as an +article of food thereafter. American apples were also discriminated +against in the custom regulations of Germany. Nor could I induce +the German Government to change their tariff on canned salmon, +an article which would prove a welcome addition to the German diet. + +The German workingman, undoubtedly the most exploited and fooled +workingman in the world, is compelled not only to work for low +wages and for long hours, but to purchase his food at rates fixed +by the German tariff made for the benefit of the Prussian Junkers +and landowners. + +Of course, the Prussian Junkers excuse the imposition of the +tariff on food and the regulations made to prevent the entry +of foodstuffs on the ground that German agriculture must be +encouraged, first, in order to enable the population to subsist +in time of war and blockade; and, secondly, in order to encourage +the peasant class which furnishes the most solid soldiers to +the Imperial armies. + +The nations and business men of the world will have to face after +the war a new condition which we may call socialized buying and +socialized selling. + +Not long after the commencement of the war the Germans placed a +prohibitive tariff upon the import of certain articles of luxury +such as perfumes; their object, of course, being to keep the +German people from sending money out of the country and wasting +their money in useless expenditures. At the same time a great +institution was formed called the Central Einkauf Gesellschaft. +This body, formed under government auspices of men appointed from +civil life, is somewhat similar to one of our national defence +boards. Every import of raw material into Germany falls into the +hands of this central buying company, and if a German desires +to buy any raw material for use in his factory he must buy it +through this central board. + +I have talked with members of this board and they all unite in +the belief that this system will be continued after the war. + +For instance, if a man in Germany wishes to buy an automobile +or a pearl necklace or a case of perfumery, he will be told, +"You can buy this if you can buy it in Germany. But if you have +to send to America for the automobile, if you have to send to +Paris for the pearls or the perfumery, you cannot buy them." +In this way the gold supply of Germany will be husbanded and +the people will either be prevented from making comparatively +useless expenditures or compelled to spend money to benefit home +industry. + +On the other hand, when a man desires to buy some raw material, +for example, copper, cotton, leather, wheat or something of that +kind, he will not be allowed to buy abroad on his own hook. The +Central Einkauf Gesellschaft will see that all those desiring to +buy cotton or copper put in their orders on or before a certain +date. When the orders are all in, the quantities called for will +be added up by this central board; and then one man, representing +the board, will be in a position to go to America to purchase +the four million bales of cotton or two hundred million pounds +of copper. + +The German idea is that this one board will be able to force the +sellers abroad to compete against each other in their eagerness +to sell. The one German buyer will know about the lowest price at +which the sellers can sell their product. By the buyer's standing +out alone with this great order the Germans believe that the +sellers, one by one, will fall into his hands and sell their +product at a price below that which they could obtain if the +individual sellers of America were meeting the individual buyers +of Germany in the open market. + +When the total amount of the commodity ordered has been purchased, +it will be divided up among the German buyers who put in their +orders with the central company, each order being charged with +its proportionate share of the expenses of the commission and, +possibly, an additional sum for the benefit of the treasury of +the Empire. + +Before the war a German manufacturer took me over his great factory +where fifteen thousand men and women were employed, showed me +great quantities of articles made from copper, and said: "We buy +this copper in America and we get it a cent and a half a pound +less than we should pay for it because our government permits us +to combine for the purpose of buying, but your government does +not allow your people to combine for the purpose of selling. +You have got lots of silly people who become envious of the rich +and pass laws to prevent combination, which is the logical +development of all industry." + +The government handling of exchange during the war was another +example of the use of the centralised power of the Government +for the benefit of the whole nation. + +In the first year of the war, when I desired money to spend in +Germany, I drew a check on my bank in New York in triplicate +and sent a clerk with it to the different banks in Berlin, to +obtain bids in marks, selling it then, naturally, to the highest +bidder. But soon the Government stepped in. The Imperial Bank +was to fix a daily rate of exchange, and banks and individuals +were forbidden to buy or sell at a different rate. That this +fixed rate was a false one, fixed to the advantage of Germany, I +proved at the time when the German official rate was 5.52 marks +for a dollar, by sending my American checks to Holland, buying +Holland money with them and German money with the Holland money, +in this manner obtaining 5.74 marks for each dollar. And just +before leaving Germany I sold a lot of American gold to a German +bank at the rate of 6.42 marks per dollar, although on that day +the official rate was 5.52 and although the buyer of the gold, +because the export of gold was forbidden, would have to lose +interest on the money paid me or on the gold purchased, until +the end of the war. What the Germans thought of the value of +the mark is shown by this transaction. + +The only thing that can maintain a fair price after the war for +the products of American firms, miners and manufacturers is +permission to combine for selling abroad. There is before Congress +a bill called the Webb Bill permitting those engaged in export +trade to combine, and this bill, which is manifestly for the +benefit of the American producer of raw materials and foods and +manufactured articles, should be passed. + +It was also part of our commercial work to secure permits for +the exportation from Belgium of American owned goods seized by +Germany. We succeeded in a number of cases in getting these goods +released. In other cases, the American owned property was taken +over by the government, but the American owners were compensated +for the loss. + +Germany took over belligerent property and put it in the hands +of receivers. In all cases where the majority of the stock of a +German corporation was owned by another corporation or individuals +of belligerent nationality, the German corporation was placed in +the hands of a receiver. The German Government, however, would +not allow the inquiry into the stock ownership to go further than +the first holding corporation. There were many cases where the +majority of the stock of a German corporation was owned by an +English corporation and the majority of the stock of the English +corporation, in turn, owned by an American corporation or by +Americans. In this case the German Government refused to consider +the American ownership of the English stock, and put the German +company under government control. + +With the low wages paid to very efficient workingmen who worked +for long hours and with no laws against combination, it was always +a matter of surprise to me that the Germans who were in the process +of getting all the money in the world should have allowed their +military autocracy to drive them into war. + +I am afraid that, after this war, if we expect to keep a place for +our trade in the world, we may have to revise some of our ideas as +to so-called trusts and the Sherman Law. Trusts or combinations +are not only permitted, but even encouraged in Germany. They are +known there as "cartels" and the difference between the American +trust and the German cartel is that the American trust has, as +it were, a centralised government permanently taking over and +combining the competing elements in any given business, while in +Germany the competing elements form a combination by contract for +a limited number of years. This combination is called a cartel +and during these years each member of the cartel is assigned a +given amount of the total production and given a definite share +of the profits of the combination. The German cartel, therefore, +as Consul General Skinner aptly said, may be likened to a +confederation existing by contract for a limited period of time +and subject to renewal only at the will of its members. + +It may be that competition is a relic of barbarism and that one +of the first signs of a higher civilisation is an effort to modify +the stress of competition. The debates of Congress tend to show +that, in enacting the Sherman Law, Congress did not intend to forbid +the restraint of competition among those in the same business but +only intended to prohibit the forming of a combination by those +who, combined, would have a monopoly of a particular business or +product. It is easy to see why all the coal mines in the country +should be prohibited from combining; but it is not easy to see +why certain people engaged in the tobacco business should be +prohibited from taking their competitors into their combination, +because tobacco is a product which could be raised upon millions +of acres of our land and cannot be made the subject of a monopoly. + +The German courts have expressly said that if prices are so low +that the manufacturers of a particular article see financial +ruin ahead, a formation of a cartel by them must be looked upon +as a justified means of self-preservation. The German laws are +directed to the end to which it seems to be such laws should +logically be directed; namely, to the prevention of unfair +competition. + +So long as the question of monopoly is not involved, competition +can always be looked for when a combination is making too great +profits; and the new and competing corporation and individuals +should be protected by law against the danger of price cutting +for the express purpose of driving the new competitor out of +business. However, it must be remembered that a combination acting +unfairly in competition may be more oppressive than a monopoly. +I myself am not convinced by the arguments of either side. It +is a matter for the most serious study. + +The object of the American trust has been to destroy its competitors. +The object of the German cartel to force its competitors to join the +cartel. + +In fact the government in Germany becomes part of these cartels +and takes an active hand in them, as witness the participation +of the German Government in the potash syndicate, when contracts +made by certain American buyers with German mines were cancelled +and all the potash producing mines of Germany and Austria forced +into one confederation; and witness the attempt by the government, +which I have described in another chapter, to take over and +make a monopoly of the wholesale and retail oil business of the +country. + +The recent closer combination of dyestuff industries of Germany, +with the express purpose of meeting and destroying American +competition after the war, is interesting as showing German methods. +For a number of years the dye-stuff industry of Germany was +practically controlled by six great companies, some of these +companies employing as high as five hundred chemists in research +work. In 1916 these six companies made an agreement looking to a +still closer alliance not only for the distribution of the product +but also for the distribution of ideas and trade secrets. For +years, these great commercial companies supplied all the countries +of the world not only with dyestuffs and other chemical products +but also with medicines discovered by their chemists and made +from coal tar; which, although really nothing more than patent +medicines, were put upon the market as new and great and beneficial +discoveries in medicine. The Badische Anilin and Soda Fabrik, +with a capital of fifty-four million marks has paid dividends +in the ten years from 1903 to 1913, averaging over twenty-six +per cent. + +The Farbwerke Meister Lucius und Bruning at Hoeckst, near Frankfort, +during the same period, with a capital of fifty million marks, +has paid dividends averaging over twenty-seven per cent; and +the chemical works of Bayer and Company, near Cologne, during +the same period with a capital of fifty-four millions of marks +has paid dividends averaging over thirty per cent. + +Much of the commercial success of the Germans during the last +forty years is due to the fact that each manufacturer, each +discoverer in Germany, each exporter knew that the whole weight +and power of the Government was behind him in his efforts to +increase his business. On the other hand, in America, business +men have been terrorized, almost into inaction, by constant +prosecutions. What was a crime in one part of the United States, +under one Circuit Court of Appeals, was a perfectly legitimate +act in another. + +If we have to meet the intense competition of Germany after the +war, we have got to view all these problems from new angles. For +instance, there is the question of free ports. Representative +Murray Hulbert has introduced, in the House of Representatives, a +resolution directing the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary +of War and the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress as +to the advisability of the establishment of free ports within +the limits of the established customs of the United States. +Free ports exist in Germany and have existed for a long time, +although Germany is a country with a protective tariff. In a +free port raw goods are manufactured and then exported, of course +to the advantage of the country permitting the establishment of +free ports, because by this manufacture of raw materials and +their re-export, without being subject to duty, money is earned +by the manufacturers to the benefit of their own country and +employment is given to many workingmen. This, of course, improves +the condition of these workingmen and of all others in the country; +as it is self-evident that the employment of each workingman in +an industry, which would not exist except for the existence of +the free port, withdraws that workingman from the general labour +market and, therefore, benefits the position of his remaining +fellow labourers. + +Although free ports do not exist in the United States, an attempt +has been made to give certain industries, by means of what are +known as "drawbacks," the same benefit that they would enjoy +were free ports existant in our country. + +Thus the refiners of raw sugar from Cuba pay a duty on this sugar +when it enters the United States, but receive this duty back when +a corresponding amount of refined sugar is exported to other +countries. + +There has lately been an attack made upon this system in the +case, however, of the sugar refiners only, and the question has +been treated in some newspapers as if these refiners were obtaining +some unfair advantage from the government, whereas, as a matter +of fact, the allowance of these "drawbacks" enables the sugar +refiners to carry on the refining of the sugar for export much +as they would if their refineries existed in free ports modelled +on the German system. + +The repeal of the provision of allowing "drawbacks" in this and +other industries will probably send the industries to Canada or +some other territory where this system, equivalent to the free +port, is permitted to exist. + +A few days before I left Germany I had a conversation with a +manufacturer of munitions who employs about eighteen thousand +people in his factories, which, before the war, manufactured +articles other than munitions. I asked him how the government +treated the manufacturers of munitions, and he said that they +were allowed to make good profits, although they had to pay out +a great proportion of these profits in the form of taxes on their +excess or war profits; that the government desired to encourage +manufacturers to turn their factories into factories for the +manufacture of all articles in the war and required by the nation +in sustaining war; and that the manufacturers would do this provided +that it were only a question as to how much of their profits +they would be allowed to keep, but that if the Government had +attempted to fix prices so low that there would have been a doubt +as to whether the manufacturer could make a profit or not, the +production of articles required for war would never have reached +the high mark that it had in Germany. + +As a matter of fact, about the only tax imposed in Germany since +the outbreak of the war has been the tax upon cost or war profits. +It has been the policy of Germany to pay for the war by great +loans raised by popular subscription, after authorisation by the +Reichstag. I calculate that the amounts thus raised, together +with the floating indebtedness, amount to date to about eighty +billions of marks. + +For a long time the Germans expected that the expenses of the +war would be paid from the indemnities to be recovered by Germany +from the nations at war with it. + +Helfferich shadowed this forth in his speech in the Reichstag, +on August 20, 1915, when he said: "If we wish to have the power +to settle the terms of peace according to our interests and our +requirements, then we must not forget the question of cost. We +must have in view that the whole future activity of our people, +so far as this is at all possible, shall be free from burdens. +The leaden weight of billions has been earned by the instigators +of this war, and in the future they, rather than we, will drag +it about after them." + +Of course, by "instigators of the war" Helfferich meant the opponents +of Germany, but I think that unconsciously he was a true prophet +and that the "leaden weight of the billions" which this war has +cost Germany will be dragged about after the war by Germany, +the real instigator of this world calamity. + +In December, 1915, Helfferich voiced the comfortable plea that, +because the Germans were spending their money raised by the war +loans in Germany, the weight of these loans was not a real weight +upon the German people. He said: "We are paying the money almost +exclusively to ourselves; while the enemy is paying its loans +abroad--a guarantee that in the future we shall maintain the +advantage." + +This belief of the Germans and Helfferich is one of the notable +fallacies of the war. The German war loans have been subscribed +mainly by the great companies of Germany; by the Savings Banks, +the Banks, the Life and Fire Insurance and Accident Insurance +Companies, etc. + +Furthermore, these loans have been pyramided; that is to say, +a man who subscribed and paid for one hundred thousand marks +of loan number one could, when loan number two was called for, +take the bonds he had bought of loan number one to his bank and +on his agreement to spend the proceeds in subscribing to loan +number two, borrow from the bank eighty thousand marks on the +security of his first loan bonds, and so on. + +There is an annual increment, not easily ascertainable with +exactness, but approximately ascertainable to the wealth of every +country in the world. Just as when a man is working a farm there +is in normal years an increment or accretion of wealth or income +to him above the cost of the production of the products of the +soil which he sells, there is such an annual increment to the +wealth of each country taken as a whole. Some experts have told +me they calculated that, at the outside, in prosperous peace times +the annual increment of German wealth is ten billion marks. + +Now when we have the annual interest to be paid by Germany exceeding +the annual increment of the country, the social and even moral +bankruptcy of the country must ensue. If repudiation of the loan +or any part of it is then forced, the loss naturally falls upon +those who have taken the loan. The working-man or small capitalist, +who put all his savings in the war loan, is without support for his +old age, and so with the man who took insurance in the Insurance +Companies or put his savings in a bank. If that bank becomes +bankrupt through repudiation of the war loan, you then have the +country in a position where the able-bodied are all working to +pay what they can towards the interest of the government loan, +after earning enough to keep themselves and their families alive; +and the old and the young, without support and deprived of their +savings, become mere poor-house burdens on the community. + +Already the mere interest of the war loan of Germany amounts to +four billions of marks a year; to this must be added, of course, +the interest of the previous indebtedness of the country and +of each political subdivision thereof, including cities, all +of which have added to their before-the-war debt, by incurring +great debts to help the destitute in this war; and, of course, +to all this must be added the expenses of the administration +of the government and the maintenance of the army and navy. + +It is the contemplation of this state of affairs, when he is +convinced that indemnities are not to be exacted from other +countries, that will do most to persuade the average intelligent +German business man that peace must be had at any cost. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WORK FOR THE GERMANS + +The interests of Germany in France, England and Russia were placed +with our American Ambassadors in these countries. This, of course, +entailed much work upon our Embassy, because we were the medium of +communication between the German Government and these Ambassadors. +I found it necessary to establish a special department to look +after these matters. At its head was Barclay Rives who had been +for many years in our diplomatic service and who joined my Embassy +at the beginning of the war. First Secretary of our Embassy in +Vienna for ten or twelve years, he spoke German perfectly and +was acquainted with many Germans and Austrians. Inquiries about +Germans who were prisoners, negotiations relative to the treatment +of German prisoners, and so on, came under this department. + +One example will show the nature of this work. When the Germans +invaded France, a German cavalry patrol with two officers, von +Schierstaedt and Count Schwerin, and several men penetrated as +far as the forest of Fontainebleau, south of Paris. There they got +out of touch with the German forces and wandered about for days in +the forest. In the course of their wanderings they requisitioned +some food from the inhabitants, and took, I believe, an old coat +for one of the officers who had lost his, and requisitioned a +wagon to carry a wounded man. After their surrender to the French, +the two officers were tried by a French court martial, charged +with pillaging and sentenced to be degraded from their rank and +transported to Cayenne (the Devil's Island of the Dreyfus case). +The Germans made strong representations, and our very skilled +Ambassador in Paris, the Honourable William C. Sharp, took up +the matter with the Foreign Office and succeeded in preventing +the transportation of the officers. The sending of the officers +and men, however, into a military prison where they were treated +as convicts caused great indignation throughout Germany. The +officers had many and powerful connections in their own country +who took up their cause. There were bitter articles in the German +press and caricatures and cartoons were published. + +I sent Mr. Rives to Paris and told him not to leave until he +had seen these officers. He remained in Paris some weeks and +finally through Mr. Sharp obtained permission to visit the officers +in the military prison. Later the French showed a tendency to +be lenient in this case, but it was hard to find a way for the +French Government to back down gracefully. Schierstaedt having +become insane in the meantime, a very clever way out of the +difficulty was suggested, I believe by Mr. Sharp. Schierstaedt +having been found to be insane was presumably insane at the time +of the patrol's wandering in the forest of Fontainebleau. As he +was the senior officer, the other officer and the men under him +were not responsible for obeying his commands. The result was +that Schwerin and the men of the patrol were put in a regular +prison camp and Schierstaedt was very kindly sent by the French +back to Germany, where he recovered his reason sufficiently to +be able to come and thank me for the efforts made on his behalf. + +I made every endeavour so far as it lay in my power to oblige +the Germans. We helped them in the exchange of prisoners and +the care of German property in enemy countries. + +There were rumours in Berlin that Germans taken as prisoners in +German African Colonies were forced to work in the sun, watched +and beaten by coloured guards. This was taken up by one of the +Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg who had been Governor of Togoland +and who also took great interest in sending clothes, etc., to +these prisoners. Germany demanded that the prisoners in Africa +be sent to a more temperate climate. + +Another royalty who was busied with prisoners' affairs was Prince +Max of Baden. He is heir to the throne of Baden, although not a +son of the reigning Duke. He is very popular and, for my part, +I admire him greatly. He travels with Emerson's essays in his +pocket and keeps up with the thought and progress of all countries. +Baden will be indeed happy in having such a ruler. Prince Max was +a man so reasonable, so human, that I understand that von Jagow +was in favour of putting him at the head of a central department +for prisoners of war. I agreed with von Jagow that in such case +all would go smoothly and humanely. Naturally, von Jagow could +only mildly hint at the desirability of this appointment. A prince, +heir to one of the thrones of Germany, with the rank of General +in the army, he seemed ideally fitted for such a position, but +unfortunately the opposition of the army and, particularly, of +the representative corps commanders was so great that von Jagow +told me the plan was impossible of realisation. I am sure if +Prince Max had been at the head of such a department, Germany +would not now be suffering from the odium of mistreating its +prisoners and that the two million prisoners of war in Germany +would not return to their homes imbued with an undying hate. + +Prince Max was very helpful in connection with the American mission +to Russia for German prisoners which I had organised and which I +have described in the chapter on war charities. + +All complaints made by the Imperial Government with reference +to the treatment of German prisoners, and so forth, in enemy +countries were first given to me and transmitted by our Embassy +to the American Ambassadors having charge of German interests +in enemy countries. All this, with the correspondence ensuing, +made a great amount of clerical work. + +I think that every day I received one or more Germans, who were +anxious about prisoner friends, making inquiries, and wishing +to consult me on business matters in the United States, etc. +All of these people showed gratitude for what we were able to +do for them, but their gratitude was only a drop in the ocean +of officially inspired hatred of America. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +WAR CHARITIES + +As soon as the war was declared and millions of men marched forward +intent upon killing, hundreds of men and women immediately took up +the problem of helping the soldiers, the wounded and the prisoners +and of caring for those left behind by the men who had gone to +the front. + +The first war charity to come under my observation was the American +Red Cross. Two units containing three doctors and about twelve +nurses, each, were sent to Germany by the American National Red +Cross. Before their arrival I took up with the German authorities +the questions as to whether these would be accepted and where +they would be placed. The German authorities accepted the units +and at first decided to send one to each front. The young man +assigned to the West front was Goldschmidt Rothschild, one of the +last descendants of the great Frankfort family of Rothschild. He +had been attached to the German Embassy in London before the war. +The one assigned to the unit for the East front was Count Hélie +de Talleyrand. Both of these young men spoke English perfectly +and were chosen for that reason, and both have many friends in +England and America. + +Talleyrand was of a branch of the celebrated Talleyrand family and +possessed German citizenship. During the Napoleonic era the great +Talleyrand married one of his nephews to a Princess of Courland +who, with her sister, was joint heiress of the principality of +Sagan in Germany. The share of the other sister was bought by +the sister who married young Talleyrand, and the descendants of +that union became princes of Sagan and held the Italian title +of Duke de Dino and the French title of Duke de Valençay. + +Some of the descendants of this nephew of the great Talleyrand +remained in Germany, and this young Talleyrand, assigned to the +Red Cross unit, belonged to that branch. Others settled in France, +and among these was the last holder of the title and the Duke +de Dino, who married, successively, two Americans, Miss Curtis +and Mrs. Sampson. It was a custom in this family that the holder +of the principal title, that of the Prince of Sagan, allowed +the next two members in succession to bear the titles of Duke +de Dino and Duke de Valençay. Before the last Prince of Sagan +died in France, his son Hélie married the American, Anna Gould, +who had divorced the Count Castellane. On the death of his father +and in accordance with the statutes of the House of Sagan the +members of the family who were German citizens held a family +council and, with the approval of the Emperor of Germany, passed +over the succession from Anna Gould's husband to her son, so +that her son has now the right to the title and not his father, +but the son must become a German citizen at his majority. + +The younger brother of the husband of Anna Gould bears the title +of Duke de Valençay and is the divorced husband of the daughter +of Levi P. Morton, formerly Vice-President of the United States. +This young Talleyrand to whom I have referred and who was assigned +to the American Red Cross unit, although he was a German by +nationality, did not wish to fight in this war against France in +which country he had so many friends and relations and, therefore, +this assignment to the American Red Cross was most welcome to +him. + +On the arrival of the American doctors and nurses in Berlin, +it was decided to send both units to the East front and to put +one in the small Silesian town of Gleiwitz and the other in +the neighbouring town of Kosel. Count Talleyrand went with these +two units, Goldschmidt Rothschild being attached to the Prussian +Legation in Munich. + +We had a reception in the Embassy for these doctors and nurses +which was attended by Prince Hatzfeld, Duke of Trachenberg, who +was head of the German Red Cross, and other Germans interested +in this line of work. The Gleiwitz and Kosel units remained in +these towns for about a year until the American Red Cross withdrew +its units from Europe. + +At about the time of the withdrawal of these units, I had heard +much of the sufferings of German prisoners in Russia. I had many +conversations with Zimmermann of the German Foreign Office and +Prince Hatzfeld on this question, as well as with Prince Max +of Baden, the heir presumptive to the throne of that country; +and I finally arranged that such of these American doctors and +nurses as volunteered should be sent to Russia to do what they +could for the German prisoners of war there. Nine doctors and +thirty-eight nurses volunteered. They were given a great reception +in Berlin, the German authorities placed a large credit in the +hands of this mission, and, after I had obtained through our +State Department the consent of the Russian Government for the +admission of the mission, it started from Berlin for Petrograd. +The German authorities and the Germans, as a whole, were very +much pleased with this arrangement. Officers of the Prussian army +were present at the departure of the trains and gave flowers to +all the nurses. It is very unfortunate that after their arrival +in Russia this mission was hampered in every way, and had the +greatest difficulty in obtaining permission to do any work at +all. Many of them, however, managed to get in positions where +they assisted the German prisoners. For instance, in one town +where there were about five thousand Germans who had been sent +there to live one of our doctors managed to get appointed as +city physician and, aided by several of the American nurses, +was able to do a great work for the German population. Others of +our nurses managed to get as far as Tomsk in Siberia and others +were scattered through the Russian Empire. + +Had this mission under Dr. Snoddy been able to carry out its +work as originally planned, it would not only have done much +good to the German prisoners of war, but would have helped a +great deal to do away with the bitter feeling entertained by +Germans towards Americans. Even with the limited opportunity given +this mission, it undoubtedly materially helped the prisoners. + +On arriving in Berlin on their way home to America from Gleiwitz +and Kosel, the doctors and nurses of these American units were +all awarded the German Red Cross Order of the second class and +those who had been in Austria were similarly decorated by the +Austro-Hungarian Government. + +Among those who devoted themselves to works of charity during +this war no one stands higher than Herbert C. Hoover. + +I cannot find words to express my admiration for this man whose +great talents for organisation were placed at the service of +humanity. Every one knows of what he accomplished in feeding the +inhabitants of Belgium and Northern France. Mr. Hoover asked me +to become one of the chairmen of the International Commission for +the Relief of Belgium and I was happy to have the opportunity in +Berlin to second his efforts. There was considerable business in +connection with the work of the commission. I had many interviews +with those in authority with reference to getting their ships +through, etc. Mr. Hoover and I called on the Chancellor and +endeavoured to get him to remit the fine of forty million francs +a month which the Germans had imposed upon Belgium. This, however, +the Chancellor refused to do. Later on in April, 1915, I was +able as an eye-witness to see how efficiently Mr. Hoover's +organisation fed, in addition to the people of Belgium, the French +population in that part of Northern France in the occupation of +the Germans. + +Mr. Hoover surrounded himself with an able staff, Mr. Vernon +Kellogg and others, and in America men like Mr. A. J. Hemphill +were his devoted supporters. + +Early in 1915, Mr. Ernest P. Bicknell, who had first come to +Germany representing the American Red Cross, returned representing +not only that organisation but also the Rockefeller Foundation. With +him was Mr. Wickliffe Rose, also of the Rockefeller Foundation; +and with these two gentlemen I took up the question of the relief +of Poland. Mr. Rose and Mr. Bicknell together visited Poland and +saw with their own eyes the necessity for relief. A meeting was +held in the Reichstag attended by Prince Hatzfeld of the German +Red Cross, Director Guttmann, of the Dresdener Bank, Geheimrat +Lewald, of the Imperial Ministry of the Interior, representing the +German Government, and many others connected with the government, +military and financial interests of Germany. + +The Commission for the Relief in Poland, of which I was to be +chairman, was organised and included the Spanish Ambassador, +His Excellency the Bishop of Posen, the Prince Bishop of Cracow, +Jacob H. Schiff of New York, and others. Messrs. Warwick, Greene +and Wadsworth were to take up the actual executive work. + +In conjunction with Messrs. Rose and Bicknell, I drew up a sort +of treaty, having particularly in mind certain difficulties +encountered by the American Relief Commission in Belgium. The +main point in this treaty was that the German Government agreed +not to requisition either food or money within the limits of the +territory to be relieved, which territory comprised that part +of Poland within German occupation up to within, as I recall it, +fifty kilometres of the firing line. The one exception was that +a fine might be levied on a community where all the inhabitants +had made themselves jointly and severally liable according to the +provisions of the Hague Convention. The Rockefeller Foundation +on its part agreed to pay all the expenses of the executive work +of the commission. This treaty, after being submitted to General +Hindenburg and approved by him, was signed by Dr. Lewald, +representing the German Government, by Mr. Bicknell, representing +the Rockefeller Foundation, and by me, representing the new +commission for the relief of Poland. + +Work was immediately commenced under this arrangement and, so +far as possible, food was purchased in Holland and Denmark, but +there was little to be had in these countries. The Allies, however, +refused to allow food to enter Germany for the purpose of this +commission, and so the matter fell through. Later, when the Allies +were willing to permit the food to enter, it was the German +Government that refused to reaffirm this treaty and refused to +agree that the German army of occupation should not requisition +food in occupied Poland. Of course, under these circumstances, no +one could expect the Allies to consent to the entry of food; because +the obvious result would be that the Germans would immediately, +following the precedent established by them in Northern France, +take all the food produced in the country for their army and +the civil population of Germany, and allow the Poles to be fed +with food sent in from outside, while perhaps their labour was +utilised in the very fields the products of which were destined +for German consumption. + +There is no question that the sufferings of the people of Poland +have been very great, and when the history of Poland during the +war comes to be written the world will stand aghast at the story +of her sufferings. It is a great pity that these various schemes +for relief did not succeed. The Rockefeller Commission, however, +up to the time I left Germany did continue to carryon some measure +of relief and succeeded in getting in condensed milk, to some +extent, for the children of that unfortunate country. These +negotiations brought me in contact with a number of Poles resident +in Berlin, whom I found most eager to do what they could to relieve +the situation. I wish here to express my admiration for the work +of the Rockefeller Commission in Europe. Not only were the ideas +of the Commission excellent and businesslike but the men selected +to carry them into effect were without exception men of high +character and possessed of rare executive ability. + +As I have said in a previous chapter, I was ridiculed in the +American newspapers because I had suggested, in answer to a cable +of the League of Mercy, that some work should be done for the +prisoners of war. I do not know whether the great work undertaken +by Dr. John R. Mott and his associates was suggested by my answer or +not; that does not matter. But this work undertaken by the American +Y. M. C. A. certainly mattered a great deal to the prisoners of +war in Europe. Dr. Mott after serving on the Mexican Commission, +has gone to Russia as a member of the Commission to that country. + +The Y. M. C. A. organisation headed by Dr. Mott, who was most +ably assisted by the Reverend Archibald C. Harte, took up this +work, which was financed, I have been told, by the McCormick +family of Chicago, Cleveland H. Dodge, John D. Rockefeller and +others. Mr. Harte obtained permission from the German authorities +for the erection of meeting halls and for work in German camps. +When he had obtained this authorisation from Germany he went +to Russia, where he was able to get a similar authorisation. + +At first in Russia, I have heard, the prisoners of war were allowed +great liberty and lived unguarded in Siberian villages where they +obtained milk, bread, butter, eggs and honey at very reasonable +rates. As the war went on they were more and more confined to +barracks and there their situation was sad indeed. In the winter +season, it is dark at three in the afternoon and remains dark +until ten the following morning. Of course, I did not see the +Russian prison camps. The work carried on there was similar to +that carried on in the German camps by Mr. Harte and his band +of devoted assistants. + +I was particularly interested in this work because I hoped that +the aid given to the German prisoners of war in Russia would help +to do away with the great hate and prejudice against Americans in +Germany. So I did all I could, not only to forward Mr. Harte's +work, but to suggest and organise the sending of the expedition +of nurses and doctors, which I have already described, to the +Russian camps. + +Of course, Mr. Harte in this work did not attempt to cover all +the prison camps in Germany. He did much to help the mental and +physical conditions of the prisoners in Ruhleben, the English +civilian camp near Berlin. The American Y. M. C. A. built a great +hall where religious exercises were held, plays and lectures +given, and where prisoners had a good place to read and write +in during the day. A library was established in this building. + +The work carried on by the Y. M. C. A. may be briefly described +as coming under the following heads: religious activities; +educational activities; work shops, and gardens; physical exercises +and out-door sports; diet kitchens for convalescents; libraries +and music, including orchestra, choruses, and so on. + +When I left Germany on the breaking of diplomatic relations, a +number of these Y. M. C. A. workers left with me. + +The German women exhibited notable qualities in war. They engaged +in the Red Cross work, including the preparation of supplies and +bandages for the hospitals, and the first day of mobilisation saw +a number of young girls at every railway station in the country +with food and drink for the passing soldiers. At railway junctions +and terminals in the large cities, stations were established +where these Red Cross workers gave a warm meal to the soldiers +passing through. In these terminal stations there were also women +workers possessed of sufficient skill to change the dressings +of the lightly wounded. + +On the Bellevuestrasse, Frau von Ihne, wife of the great architect, +founded a home for blinded soldiers. In this home soldiers were +taught to make brooms, brushes, baskets, etc. + +German women who had country places turned these into homes for +the convalescent wounded. But perhaps the most noteworthy was +the National Frauendienst or Service for Women, organised the +first day of the war. The relief given by the State to the wives +and children of soldiers was distributed from stations in Berlin, +and in the neighbourhood of each of these stations the Frauendienst +established an office where women were always in attendance, +ready to give help and advice to the soldiers' wives. There there +were card-indexes of all the people within the district and of +their needs. At the time I left Germany I believe that there +were upwards of seven thousand women engaged in Berlin in social +service, in instructing the women in the new art of cooking without +milk, eggs or fat and seeing to it that the children had their +fair share of milk. It is due to the efforts of these social +workers that the rate of infant mortality in Berlin decreased +during the war. + +A war always causes a great unsettling in business and trade; +people no longer buy as many articles of luxury and the workers +engaged in the production of these articles are thrown out of +employment. In Germany, the National Women's Service, acting +with the labour exchanges, did its best to find new positions +for those thrown out of work. Women were helped over a period +of poverty until they could find new places and were instructed +in new trades. + +Many women engaged in the work of sending packages containing +food and comforts to the soldiers at the front and to the German +prisoners of war in other countries. + +Through the efforts of the American Association of Commerce and +Trade, and the Embassy, a free restaurant was established in +Berlin in one of the poorer districts. About two hundred people +were fed here daily in a hall decorated with flags and plants. +This was continued even after we left Germany. + +At Christmas, 1916, Mrs. Gerard and I visited this kitchen with +Mr. and Mrs. Wolf and General von Kessel, Commander of the Mark of +Brandenburg, and one of his daughters. Presents were distributed +to the children and the mothers received an order for goods in +one of the department stores. The German Christmas songs were +sung and when a little German child offered a prayer for peace, +I do not think there was any one present who could refrain from +weeping. + +Many of the German women of title, princesses, etc., established +base hospitals of their own and seemed to manage these hospitals +with success. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +HATE + +On my way from Berlin to America, in February, 1917, at a dinner +in Paris, I met the celebrated Italian historian, Ferrero. In a +conversation with him after dinner, I reminded him of the fact +that both he and a Frenchman, named Huret, who had written on +America, had stated in their books that the thing which struck +them most in the study of the American people was the absence +of hate. + +Ferrero recalled this and in the discussion which followed and +in which the French novelist, Marcel Prevost, took part, all +agreed that there was more hate in Europe than in America; first, +because the peoples of Europe were confined in small space and, +secondly, because the European, whatever his rank or station, +lacked the opportunities for advancement and consequently the +eagerness to press on ahead, and that fixing of the thought on +the future, instead of the past, which formed part of the American +character. + +In a few hours in Europe it is possible to travel in an automobile +across countries where the people differ violently from the countries +surrounding them, not only in language, customs and costumes, +but also in methods of thought and physical appearance. + +The day I left Berlin I went to see Herr von Gwinner, head of +the Deutsche Bank, with reference to a charitable fund which +had been collected for widows and orphans in Germany. In our +talk, von Gwinner said that Europeans envied America because we +seemed to be able to assimilate all those people who, as soon +as they landed on our shores, sought to forget their old race +hatreds and endeavoured, as speedily as possible, to adopt American +clothes, language and thought. I told him I thought it was because +in our country we did not try to force anyone; that there was +nothing to prevent a Pole speaking Polish and wearing Polish +dress, if he chose; that the only weapon we used against those +who desired to uphold the customs of Europe was that of ridicule; +and that it was the repressive measures such as, for example, +the repressive action taken by Prussia against the Poles and +the Danes, the Alsatians and the Lorrainers, that had aroused +a combative instinct in these peoples and made them cling to +every vestige of their former nationality. + +At first, with the coming of war, the concentrated hate of the +German people seemed to be turned upon the Russians. Even Liebknecht, +when he called upon me in order to show that he had not been +shot, as reported in America, spoke of the perils of Czarismus +and the hatred of the German people for the Russians. But later, +and directed by the master hand of the governing class, all the +hatred of the Germans was concentrated upon England. + +The cartoon in _Punch_ representing a Prussian family having +its morning "Hate" was, in some aspects, not at all exaggerated. +Hate in Germany is cultivated as a noble passion, and, during the +war, divines and generals vied with each other in its praise. +Early in 1917, the Prussian General in command at Limburg made a +speech in which he extolled the advantages of hate and said that +there was nothing like getting up in the morning after having +passed a night in thought and dreams of hate. + +[Illustration: THIS PAGE FROM THE SCURRILOUS PUBLICATION OF MARTEN +AND HIS COLLEAGUES SHOWS THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE WREATH AND THE +CRAPE-DRAPED AMERICAN FLAG.] + +The phrase "Gott strafe England" seemed to be all over Germany. +It was printed on stamps to be affixed to the back of letters +like our Red Cross stamps. I even found my German body servant +in the Embassy affixing these stamps to the back of all letters, +official and otherwise, that were sent out. He was stopped when +discovered. Paper money was stamped with the words: "Gott strafe +England," "und America" being often added as the war progressed +and America refused to change the rules of the game and stop +the shipment of supplies to the Allies. + +Everyone is familiar with Lissauer's "Hymn of Hate." It is not +extraordinary that one man in a country at war should produce a +composition of this kind; but it is extraordinary as showing the +state of mind of the whole country, that the Emperor should have +given him the high order of the Red Eagle of the Second Class as +a reward for having composed this extraordinary document. + +Undoubtedly at first the British prisoners of war were treated +very roughly and were starved and beaten by their guards on the +way from the front to the concentration camps. Officers, objects +usually considered more than sacred in Germany, even when wounded +were subjected to brutal treatment and in the majority of their +prisons were treated more like convicts than officers and gentlemen. + +As the Germans gradually awoke to the fact that President Wilson +was not afraid of the German vote and that the export of supplies +from America would not be stopped, this stream of hate was turned +on America. There was a belief in Germany that President Wilson +was opposed by a majority of people of the United States, that +he did not represent the real sentiment of America, and that the +sentiment there was favourable to Germany. + +Unfortunately many Americans in Germany encouraged the German +people and the German Government in this belief. Americans used +to travel about, giving lectures and making speeches attacking +their own country and their own President, and the newspapers +published many letters of similar import from Americans resident +in Germany. + +One of the most active of these was a man named Maurice Somborn, +a German American, who represented in Germany an American business +house. He made it a practice to go about in Berlin and other +cities and stand up in cafes and beer halls in order to make +addresses attacking the President and the United States. So bold +did he become that he even, in the presence of a number of people +in my room, one day said that he would like to hang Secretary +Bryan as high as Haman and President Wilson one foot higher. +The American newspapers stated that I called a servant and had +him thrown out of the Embassy. This statement is not entirely +true: I selfishly kept that pleasure for myself. + +The case of Somborn gave me an idea and I cabled to the Department +of State asking authority to take up the passports of all Americans +who abused their own country on the ground that they had violated +the right, by their abuse, to the protection of a passport. The +Department of State sustained my view and, by my direction, the +consul in Dresden took up the passports of a singer named Rains +and a gentleman of leisure named Recknagel who had united in +addressing a letter to the Dresden newspapers abusing the President. +It was sometime before I got Somborn's passport and I later on +received from him the apologies of a broken and contrite man +and obtained permission from Washington to issue him a passport +in order to enable him to return to America. + +Of course, these vilifiers of their own country were loud in their +denunciations of me, but the prospect of losing the protection of +their passports kept many of these men from open and treasonable +denunciation of their own country. + +The Government actually encouraged the formation of societies which +had for their very object the scattering of literature attacking +the President and the United States. The most conspicuous of these +organisations was the so-called League of Truth. Permanently +connected with it was an American dentist who had been in jail +in America and who had been expelled from Dresden by the police +authorities there. The secretary was a German woman who posed as +an American, and had been on the stage as a snake dancer. The +principal organiser was a German named Marten who had won the +favour of the German authorities by writing a book on Belgium +denying that any atrocities had taken place there. Marten secured +subscriptions from many Germans and Americans resident in Germany, +opened headquarters in rooms on the Potsdamerstrasse and engaged +in the business of sending out pamphlets and leaflets attacking +America. One of his principal supporters was a man named Stoddard +who had made a fortune by giving travel lectures in America and +who had retired to his handsome villa, in Meran, in Austria. +Stoddard issued a pamphlet entitled, "What shall we do with Wilson?" +and some atrocious attempts at verse, all of which were sent +broadcast by the League of Truth. + +This was done with the express permission of the German authorities +because during the war no societies or associations of any kind +could meet, be formed or act without the express permission and +superintendence of both the military and police authorities. +Anyone who has lived in Germany knows that it would be impossible +even in peace times to hang a sign or a wreath on a public statue +without the permission of the local authorities; and yet on the +Emperor's birthday, January twenty-seventh, 1916, this League +of Truth was permitted to place an enormous wreath, over four +feet high, on the statue of Frederick the Great, with an American +flag draped in mourning attached, and a silk banner on which was +printed in large letters of gold, "Wilson and his press are not +America." The League of Truth then had a photograph taken of this +wreath which was sent all over Germany, again, of course, with +the permission of the authorities. The wreath and attachments, +in spite of frequent protests on my part to Zimmermann and von +Jagow, remained in this conspicuous position until the sixth of +May, 1916. After the receipt of the _Sussex_ Note, I again +called von Jagow's attention to the presence of this wreath, +and I told him that if this continuing insult to our flag and +President was not taken away that I would go the next day with +a cinematograph operator and take it away myself. The next day +the wreath had disappeared. + +This League, in circulars, occasionally attacked me, and in a +circular which they distributed shortly after my return to Germany +at the end of December, 1916, it was stated, "What do you think +of the American Ambassador? When he came to Germany after his +trip to America he brought a French woman with him." And the +worst of this statement was that it was true. But the League, +of course, did not state that my wife came with me bringing her +French maid by the express permission of the German Foreign Office. + +I have had occasion many times to wonder at the curious twists +of the German mind, but I have never been able to understand on +what possible theory the German Government permitted and even +encouraged the existence of this League of Truth. Certainly the +actions of the League, headed by a snake dancer and a dentist, +would not terrorise the American Congress, President Wilson or me +into falling in with all the views of the German Government, and +if the German Government was desirous of either the President's +friendship or mine why was this gang of good-for-nothings allowed +to insult indiscriminately their country, their President and +their Ambassador? + +One of the friends of Marten, head of this League, was (------) +(---------), a man who at the time he was an officer of the National +Guard of the State of New York, accepted a large sum of money +"for expenses" from Bernstorff. Of course, in any country abroad +acceptance by an officer of money from a foreign Ambassador could +not be explained and could have only one result--a blank wall and +firing party for the receiver of foreign pay. Perhaps we have +grown so indulgent, so soft and so forgetful of the obligations +which officers owe to their flag and country that on (---------)'s +return from Germany he will be able to go on a triumphant lecture +tour through the United States. + +There was published in Berlin in English a rather ridiculous +paper called the _Continental Times_, owned by an Austrian +Jewess who had been married to an Englishman. The Foreign Office, +after the outbreak of the war, practically took over this sheet by +buying monthly many thousand copies. News coloured hysterically +to favour the Central Empires was printed in this paper, which +was headed "A Paper for Americans," under the editorship of an +Englishman of decent family named Stanhope, who, of course, in +consequence did not have to inhabit the prison camp of Ruhleben. +(--------) was a contributor to this newspaper, and scurrilous +articles attacking President Wilson appeared. Finally (---------) +wrote a lying article for this paper in which he charged that +Conger of the Associated Press had learned of Sir Roger Casement's +proposed expedition; that Conger told me; that I cabled the news to +Washington to the State Department; and that a member of President +Wilson's Cabinet then gave the information to the British Ambassador. +Later in a wireless which the Foreign Office permitted (---------) +to send Senator O'Gorman of New York, (---------) varied his +lie and charged that I had sent the information direct to Great +Britain. + +_The Continental Times_ was distributed in the prison camps +and after (---------)'s article I said to von Jagow, "I have +had enough of this nonsense which is supported by the Foreign +Office and if articles of the nature of (---------)'s appear +again I shall make a public statement that the prisoners of war +in Germany are subjected to a cruel and unusual punishment by +having the lying _Continental Times_ placed in their hands, +a paper which purports to be published for Americans but which +is supported by the Foreign Office, owned by an Austrian and +edited by a renegade Englishman!" + +This _Continental Times_ business again caused one to wonder +at the German psychology which seems to think that the best way +to make friends is to attack them. The author of "The Gentle +Art of Making Enemies" must have attended a German school. + +An Ambassador is supposed to be protected but not even when I +filed affidavits in the Foreign Office, in 1916, made by the +ex-secretary of the "League of Truth" and by a man who was constantly +with Marten and the dentist, that Marten had threatened to shoot +me, did the Foreign Office dare or wish to do anything against +this ridiculous League. These affidavits were corroborated by +a respectable restaurant keeper in Berlin and his assistants +who testified that Marten with several ferocious looking German +officers had come to his restaurant "looking" for me. I never +took any precaution against these lunatics whom I knew to be +a bunch of cowardly swindlers. + +Marten and his friends were also engaged in a propaganda against +the Jews. + +The activities of Marten were caused by the fact that he made +money out of his propaganda; as numerous fool Germans and traitorous +Americans contributed to his war chest, and by the fact that +his work was so favourably received by the military that this +husky coward was excused from all military service. + +It seemed, too, as if the Government was anxious to cultivate +the hate against America. Long before American ammunition was +delivered in any quantity to England and long before any at all +was delivered to France, not only did the Government influence +newspapers and official gazettes, but the official _Communiqués_ +alleged that quantities of American ammunition were being used +on the West front. + +The Government seemed to think that if it could stir up enough +hate against America in Germany on this ammunition question the +Americans would become terrorised and stop the shipment. + +The Government allowed medals to be struck in honour of each +little general who conquered a town--"von Emmich, conqueror of +Liege," etc., a pernicious practice as each general and princeling +wanted to continue the war until he could get his face on a +medal--even if no one bought it. But the climax was reached when +medals celebrating the sinking of the _Lusitania_ were sold +throughout Germany. Even if the sinking of the _Lusitania_ +had been justified only one who has lived in Germany since the +war can understand the disgustingly bad taste which can gloat +over the death of women and babies. + +I can recall now but two writers in all Germany who dared to say +a good word for America. One of these, Regierungsrat Paul Krause, +son-in-law of Field Marshal Von der Goltz, wrote an article in +January, 1917, in the _Lokal Anzeiger_ pointing out the +American side of the question of this munition shipment; and +that bold and fearless speaker and writer, Maximilian Harden, +dared to make a defence of the American standpoint. The principal +article in one of the issues of his paper, _Die Zukunft_, +was headed "If I were Wilson." After some copies had been sold +the issue was confiscated by the police, whether at the instance +of the military or at the instance of the Chancellor, I do not +know. Everyone had the impression in Berlin that this confiscation +was by order of General von Kessel, the War Governor of the Mark +of Brandenburg. + +I met Harden before the war and occasionally conversed with him +thereafter. Once in a while he gave a lecture in the great hall +of the Philharmonic, always filling the hall to overflowing. +In his lectures, which, of course, were carefully passed on by +the police, he said nothing startling. His newspaper is a weekly +publication; a little book about seven inches by four and a half, +but wielding an influence not at all commensurate with its size. + +The liberal papers, like the largest paper of Berlin, the +_Tageblatt_, edited by Theodor Wolff, while not violently +against America, were not favourable. But the articles in the +Conservative papers and even some of the organs of the Catholic +Party invariably breathed hatred against everything American. + +In the Reichstag, America and President Wilson were often attacked +and never defended. On May thirtieth, 1916, in the course of a +debate on the censorship, Strasemann, of the National Liberal +Party and of the branch of that party with Conservative leanings, +violently opposed President Wilson and said that he was not wanted +as a peacemaker. + +Government, newspapers and politicians all united in opposing +America. + +I believe that to-day all the bitterness of the hate formerly +concentrated on Great Britain has now been concentrated on the +United States. The German-Americans are hated worse than the +native Americans. They have deeply disappointed the Germans: +first, because although German-Americans contributed enormously +towards German war charities the fact of this contribution was +not known to the recipients in Germany. Money sent to the German +Red Cross from America was acknowledged by the Red Cross; but no +publicity was given in Germany to the fact that any of the money +given was from German-Americans. Secondly, the German-Americans +did not go, as they might have done, to Germany, through neutral +countries, with American passports, and enter the German army; +and, thirdly, the most bitter disappointment of all, the +German-Americans have not yet risked their property and their +necks, their children's future and their own tranquillity, by +taking arms against the government of America in the interest +of the Hohenzollerns. + +For years, a clever propaganda had been carried on in America +to make all Germans there feel that they were Germans of one +united nation, to make those who had come from Hesse and Bavaria, +or Saxony and Württemberg, forget that as late as 1866 these +countries had been overrun and conquered by Prussian militarism. +When Prince Henry, the Kaiser's brother, visited America, he +spent most of his time with German-Americans and German-American +societies in order to assist this propaganda. + +Even in peace time, the German-American who returns to the village +in which he lived as a boy and who walks down the village street +exploiting himself and his property, does not help good relations +between the two countries. Envy is the mother of hate and the +envied and returned German-American receives only a lip welcome +in the village of his ancestors. + +Caricatures of Uncle Sam, and of President Wilson were published +in all German papers. A caricature representing our President +releasing the dove of peace with one hand while he poured out +munitions for the Allies with the other was the least unpleasant. + +As I have said, from the tenth of August, 1914, to the twenty-fifth +of September, 1915, the Emperor continually refused to receive +me on the ground that he would not receive the Ambassador of a +country which furnished munitions to the enemies of Germany; and +we were thoroughly black-listed by all the German royalties. I did +not see one, however humble, after the outbreak of the war, with +the exception of Prince Max of Baden, who had to do with prisoners +of war in Germany and in other countries. On one occasion I sent +one of my secretaries to the palace of Princess August Wilhelm, +wife of one of the Kaiser's sons, with a contribution of money +for her hospital, she having announced that she would personally +receive contributions on that day. She took the money from the +secretary and spoke bitterly against America on account of the +shipment of arms. + +Even some boxes of cigarettes we sent another royalty at the front +at Christmas time, 1914, were not acknowledged. + +Dr. Jacobs, who was the correspondent in Berlin of _Musical America_, +and who remained there until about the twenty-sixth of April, 1917, +was called on about the sixteenth of April, 1917, to the Kommandantur +and subjected to a cross-examination. During this cross-examination +he was asked if he knew about the "League of Truth," and why he +did not join that organisation. Whether it was a result of his +non-joining or not, I do not know, but during the remainder of his +stay in Berlin he was compelled to report twice a day to the police +and was not allowed to leave his house after eight o'clock in the +evening. The question, however, put to him shows the direct interest +that the German authorities took in the existence of this malodorous +organisation. + +It appears in some of the circulars issued by the League of Truth +that I was accused of giving American passports to Englishmen +in order to enable them to leave the country. + +After I left Germany there was an interpellation in the Reichstag +about this, and Zimmermann was asked about the charge which he +said he had investigated and found untrue. + +In another chapter I have spoken of the subject of the selling +of arms and supplies by America to the Allies. No German ever +forgets this. The question of legality or treaties never enters +his mind: he only knows that American supplies and munitions +killed his brother, son or father. It is a hate we must meet for +long years. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS (_Continued_) + +A few days after the events narrated in Chapter XII, von Jagow +called to see me at the Embassy and invited me to visit the Emperor +at the Great General Headquarters; but he did not state why I +was asked, and I do not know to this day whether the Chancellor +and those surrounding the Emperor had determined on a temporary +settlement of the submarine question with the United States and +wished to put that settlement out, as it were, under the protection +of the Emperor, or whether the Emperor was undecided and those +in favour of peace wished me to present to him the American side +of the question. I incline to the latter view. Von Jagow informed +me that an officer from the Foreign Office would accompany me and +that I should be allowed to take a secretary and the huntsman +(_Leibjaeger_), without whom no Ambassador ever travels in +Germany. + +Mr. Grew, our counsellor, was very anxious to go and I felt on +account of his excellent work, as well as his seniority, that +he was entitled to be chosen. Lieutenant von Prittwitz, who was +attached to the Foreign Office as a sort of special aide to von +Jagow, was detailed to accompany us. We were given a special +salon car and left on the evening of Friday, April twenty-eighth. +As we neared the front by way of the line running through Saar +Brucken, our train was often halted because of long trains of +hospital cars on their way from the front to the base hospitals +in the rear; and as we entered France there were many evidences of +the obstinate fights which had raged in this part of the country +in August, 1914. Parts of the towns and villages which we passed +were in ruins, and rough trench lines were to be discerned on +some of the hillsides. At the stations, weeping French women +dressed in black were not uncommon sights, having just heard +perhaps of the death, months before, of a husband, sweetheart +or son who had been mobilised with the French army. + +The fortress city of Metz through which we passed seemed to be as +animated as a beehive. Trains were continuously passing. Artillery +was to be seen on the roads and automobiles were hurrying to and +fro. + +The Great General Headquarters of the Kaiser for the Western +Front is in the town of Charleville-Mézières, situated on the +Meuse in the Department of the Ardennes, which Department at that +time was the only French Department wholly in the possession of +the Germans. We were received at the railway station by several +officers and escorted in one of the Kaiser's automobiles, which had +been set apart for my use, to a villa in the town of Charleville, +owned by a French manufacturer named Perin. This pretty little red +brick villa had been christened by the Germans, "Sachsen Villa," +because it had been occupied by the King of Saxony when he had +visited the Kaiser. A French family servant and an old gardener +had been left in the villa, but for the few meals which we took +there two of the Emperor's body huntsmen had been assigned, and +they brought with them some of the Emperor's silver and china. + +The Emperor had been occupying a large villa in the town of +Charleville until a few days before our arrival. After the engineer +of his private train had been killed in the railway station by +a bomb dropped from a French aeroplane, and after another bomb +had dropped within a hundred yards of the villa occupied by the +Kaiser, he moved to a red brick château situated on a hill outside +of Charleville, known as either the Château Bellevue or Bellaire. + +Nearly every day during our stay, we lunched and dined with von +Bethmann-Hollweg in the villa of a French banker, which he occupied. +About ten people were present at these dinners, the Chancellor's +son-in-law, Zech, Prittwitz, two experts in international law, +both attached to the Foreign Office, and, at two dinners, von +Treutler, the Prussian Minister to Bavaria, who had been assigned +to represent the Foreign Office near the person of the Kaiser and +Helfferich who, towards the end of our stay, had been summoned +from Berlin. + +I had been working hard at German and as von Bethmann-Hollweg +does not like to talk English and as some of these persons did not +speak that language we tried to carry on the table conversation +in German, but I know that when I tried to explain, in German, +to Helfferich the various tax systems of America, I swam out +far beyond my linguistic depth. + +During our stay here I received cables from the Department of +State which were transmitted from Berlin in cipher, and which +Grew was able to decipher as he had brought a code book with +him. In one of these it was expressly intimated that in any +settlement of the submarine controversy America would make no +distinction between armed and unarmed merchant ships. + +We formed for a while quite a happy family. The French owners +of the villa seemed to have had a fondness for mechanical toys. +After dinner every night these toys were set going, much to the +amusement of von Bethmann-Hollweg. One of these toys, about two +feet high, was a Hoochi-Koochi dancer and another successful one +was a clown and a trained pig, both climbing a step ladder and +performing marvellous feats thereon. Grew, who is an excellent +musician, played the piano for the Chancellor and at his special +request played pieces by Bach, the favourite composer of von +Bethmann-Hollweg's deceased wife. One day we had tea in the garden +of the villa formerly occupied by the Emperor, with the Prince +of Pless (who is always with the Kaiser, and who seemed to be a +prime favourite with him), von Treutler and others, and motored +with Prince Pless to see some marvellous Himalayan pheasants +reared by an old Frenchman, an ex-jailer, who seemed to have a +strong instinct to keep something in captivity. + +The Kaiser's automobile, which he had placed at my disposal, +had two loaded rifles standing upright in racks at the right +and left sides of the car, ready for instant use. On one day we +motored, always, of course, in charge of the officers detailed +to take care of us, to the ancient walled city of Rocroy and +through the beautiful part of the Ardennes forest lying to the +east of it, returning to Charleville along the heights above +the valley of the Meuse. + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS PARTY IN SEDAN.] + +[Illustration: WITH GERMAN OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE FRENCH +FOOD COMMISSION BEFORE THE COTTAGE AT BAZEILLES, WHERE NAPOLEON +III AND BISMARCK MET AFTER THE BATTLE OF SEDAN.] + +The feeding of the French population, which is carried on by +the American Relief Commission, was a very interesting thing +to see and, in company with one of the members of the French +committee, we saw the workings of this system of American Relief. +We first visited a storehouse in Charleville, the headquarters +for the relief district of which Charleville may be called the +capital. + +For relief purposes Northern France is divided into six districts. +From the central distribution point in each district, food is +sent to the commune within the district, the commune being the +ultimate unit of distribution and each commune containing on +the average about five hundred souls. We then motored to one +of the communes where the distribution of food for the week was +to take place that afternoon. Here in a factory, closed since the +war, the people of the commune were lined up with their baskets +waiting for their share of the rations. On entering a large room +of the factory, each stopped first at a desk and there either paid +in cash for the week's allowance of rations or signed an agreement +to pay at some future date. The individuals who had no prospect +of being able to pay received the rations for nothing. About +one-third were in each class. The money used was not always French, +or real money, but was, as a rule, the paper money issued in +that part of Northern France by each town and redeemable after +the war. + +Signs were hung up showing the quantity that each person was +entitled to receive for the next fifteen days and the sale price +per kilo to each inhabitant. For instance, in this particular +period for the first fifteen days of the month of May, 1916, +each inhabitant could, in this district, receive the following +allowances at the following rates: + + ARTICLE AMOUNT PER HEAD PRICE + Flour 4 K. 500 The Kilogram 0 fr. 48 + Rice K. 500 0 fr. 55 + Beans K. 500 0 fr. 90 + Bacon K. 500 2 fr. 80 + Lard K. 250 2 fr. 30 + Green Coffee K. 250 1 fr. 70 + Crystallized Sugar K. 150 0 fr. 90 + Salt K. 200 0 fr. 10 + Soap (hard) K. 250 1 fr. 00 + +In addition to these articles each inhabitant of the commune +which we visited, also received on the day of our visit a small +quantity of carrot seed to plant in the small plot of ground +which each was permitted to retain out of his own land by the +German authorities. + +The unfortunate people who received this allowance looked very +poor and very hungry and very miserable. Many of them spoke to +me, not only here but also in Charleville, and expressed their +great gratitude to the American people for what was being done +for them. Those in Charleville said that they had heard that I +was in their town because of trouble pending between America +and Germany. They said they hoped that there would be no war +between the two countries because if war came they did not know +what would become of them and that, in the confusion of war, +they would surely be left to starve. + +In Charleville notices were posted directing the inhabitants +not to go out on the streets after, I think, eight o'clock in +the evening, and also notices informing the population that they +would be allowed a small quantity of their own land for the purpose +of growing potatoes. + +After visiting the factory building where the distribution of +rations was taking place, we motored to Sedan, stopping on the +way at the hamlet of Bazeilles, and visiting the cottage where +Bismarck and Emperor Napoleon the Third had their historic interview +after the battle of Sedan. + +The old lady who owns this house received us and showed us bullet +marks made on her house in the war of 1870, as well as in the +present war. She apologised because she had had the window-pane, +broken by a rifle shot in this war, replaced on account of the +cold. As a girl, she had received Bismarck and Napoleon and had +shown them to the room upstairs where they had held their +consultation. I asked her which chair in this room Bismarck had +sat in, and sat in it myself, for luck. I also contributed to the +collection of gold pieces given to her by those who had visited +her cottage. + +In Sedan we visited an old mill where stores of the relief commission +were kept, and in the mayor's office were present at a sort of +consultation between the Prussian officers and members of the +French Committee of Sedan in which certain details relative to +the feeding of the population were discussed. + +The relief work is not, of course, carried on right up to the +battle line but we visited a small village not many kilometres in +the rear of the German line. In this village we were, as before, +shown the stores kept for distribution by the relief commission. +As there were many soldiers in this village I said I thought that +these soldiers must have stores of their own but, in order to +be sure that they were not living on the supplies of the relief +commission, I thought it only fair that I should see where the +soldiers' stores were kept. I was taken across the railroad track +to where their stores were kept and, judging from the labels on +the barrels and boxes, I should say that a great many of these +stores had come from Holland. + +During this trip about the country, I saw a number of women and +girls working, or attempting to work, in the fields. Their appearance +was so different from that of the usual peasant that I spoke to +the accompanying officers about it. I was told, however, that +these were the peasants of the locality who dressed unusually +well in that part of France. Later on in Charleville, at the +lodging of an officer and with Count Wengersky, who was detailed +to act as sort of interpreter and guide to the American Relief +Commission workers, I met the members of the American Relief +Commission who were working in Northern France and who had been +brought on a special train for the purpose of seeing me to +Charleville. This Count Wengersky spoke English well. Having +been for a number of years agent of the Hamburg American Line in +London, he was used to dealing with Americans and was possessed +of more tact than usually falls to the lot of the average Prussian +officer. We had tea and cakes in these lodgings, and then some +of the Americans drew me aside and told me the secret of the +peculiar looking peasants whom I had seen at work in the fields +surrounding Charleville. + +It seems that the Germans had endeavoured to get volunteers from +the great industrial town of Lille, Roubeix and Tourcoing to +work these fields; that after the posting of the notices calling +for volunteers only fourteen had appeared. The Germans then gave +orders to seize a certain number of inhabitants and send them +out to farms in the outlying districts to engage in agricultural +work. The Americans told me that this order was carried out with +the greatest barbarity; that a man would come home at night and +find that his wife or children had disappeared and no one could +tell him where they had gone except that the neighbours would +relate that the German non-commissioned officers and a file of +soldiers had carried them off. For instance, in a house of a +well-to-do merchant who had perhaps two daughters of fifteen and +seventeen, and a man servant, the two daughters and the servant +would be seized and sent off together to work for the Germans +in some little farm house whose location was not disclosed to +the parents. The Americans told me that this sort of thing was +causing such indignation among the population of these towns +that they feared a great uprising and a consequent slaughter and +burning by the Germans. + +That night at dinner I spoke to von Bethmann-Hollweg about this +and told him that it seemed to me absolutely outrageous; and that, +without consulting with my government, I was prepared to protest +in the name of humanity against a continuance of this treatment +of the civil population of occupied France. The Chancellor told +me that he had not known of it, that it was the result of orders +given by the military, that he would speak to the Emperor about +it and that he hoped to be able to stop further deportations. +I believe that they were stopped, but twenty thousand or more who +had been taken from their homes were not returned until months +afterwards. I said in a speech which I made in May on my return to +America that it required the joint efforts of the Pope, the King +of Spain and our President to cause the return of these people to +their homes; and I then saw that some German press agency had +come out with an article that I had made false statements about +this matter because these people were not returned to their homes +as a result of the representations of the Pope, the King of Spain +and our President, but were sent back because the Germans had +no further use for them. It seems to me that this denial makes +the case rather worse than before. + +At the Chancellor's house in the evenings we had discussions +on the submarine situation and I had several long talks with +von Bethmann-Hollweg alone in a corner of the room while the +others listened to music or set the mechanical toys in motion. +These discussions, without doubt, were reported to the Emperor +either by the Chancellor or by von Treutler who at that time +was high in favor with his Majesty. + +I remember on one evening I was asked the question as to what +America could do, supposing the almost impossible, that America +should resent the recommencement of ruthless submarine warfare +by the Germans and declare war. I said that nearly all of the +great inventions used in this war had been made by Americans; +that the very submarine which formed the basis of our discussion +was an American invention, and so were the barbed wire and the +aeroplane, the ironclad, the telephone and the telegraph, so +necessary to trench warfare; that even that method of warfare +had been first developed on something of the present scale in our +Civil War; and that I believed that, if forced to it, American +genius could produce some invention which might have a decisive +effect in this war. My German auditors seemed inclined to believe +that there was something in my contentions. But they said, "While +possibly you might invent something in America, while possibly +you will furnish money and supplies to the Allies, you have no +men; and the public sentiment of your country is such that you +will not be able to raise an army large enough to make any +impression." I said that possibly if hostilities once broke out +with the Germans, the Germans might force us by the commission +of such acts as had aroused England, to pass a law for universal +military service. This proposition of mine was branded by the +Germans as absolutely impossible; and, therefore, I am sure that +the adoption by the United States of universal service in the +first round of the war struck a very severe blow at the morale +of Germany. + +The Chancellor always desired to make any settlement of the submarine +question contingent upon our doing something against England; +but I again and again insisted that we could not agree to do +anything against some other power as a condition of obtaining +a recognition of our rights from the German Empire. + +During my stay at the General Headquarters, General Falkenhayn, +although he was there at the time, carefully avoided me, which +I took to be a sign that he was in favour of war with America. +In fact, I heard afterwards that he had insisted on giving his +views on the subject, but that a very high authority had told +him to confine himself to military operations. + +After we had been a day or so at Charleville, the Vice-Chancellor, +Helfferich, arrived. I have always believed that he was sent for +to add his weight to the arguments in favour of peace and to +point out that it was necessary for Germany to hate the friendship +of America after the war, so as to have markets where she could +place her goods. And I am convinced that at this time, at any rate, +the influence of Helfferich was cast in the scale in favour of +peace. + +Finally, I was told that on the next day, which was Monday, May +first, I was to lunch with the Emperor. Grew was invited to accompany +me, and the Chancellor said that he would call for me about an +hour before the time set for lunch as the Emperor desired to +have a talk with me before lunch. In the afternoon an extract +from the log of a German submarine commander was sent to me in +which the submarine commander had stated that he had sighted a +vessel which he could easily have torpedoed, but as the vessel +was one hundred and twenty miles from land, he had not done so +because the crew might not be able from that distance to reach a +harbour. When the Chancellor called for me the following morning, +he asked me if I had read this extract from the submarine officer's +log, and noted how he had refrained from torpedoing a boat one +hundred and twenty miles from land. I told the Chancellor that I +had read the extract, but that I had also read in the newspaper +that very morning that a ship had been torpedoed in stormy weather +at exactly the same distance from land and the crew compelled +to seek safety in the ship's boats; that, anyway, "one swallow +did not make a summer," and that reports were continually being +received of boats being torpedoed at great distances from land. + +We then got in the motor and motored to the château about a mile +off, where the Kaiser resided. We got out of the motor before +going into the courtyard of the château, and immediately I was +taken by the Chancellor into a garden on the gently sloping hillside +below the château. Here the Emperor, dressed in uniform, was +walking. + +As I drew near the Emperor, he said immediately, "Do you come +like the great pro-consul bearing peace or war in either hand?" +By this he referred, of course, to the episode in which Quintus +Fabius Maximus, chief of the Roman envoys sent to Hannibal in +the Second Punic War, doubled his toga in his hand, held it up +and said: "In this fold I carry peace and war: choose which you +will have." "Give us which you prefer," was the reply. "Then +take war," answered the Roman, letting the toga fall. "We accept +the gift," cried the Carthaginian Senator, "and welcome." + +I said, "No, your Majesty, only hoping that the differences between +two friendly nations may be adjusted." The Emperor then spoke of +what he termed the uncourteous tone of our notes, saying that +we charged the Germans with barbarism in warfare and that, as +Emperor and head of the Church, he had wished to carry on the +war in a knightly manner. He referred to his own speech to the +members of the Reichstag at the commencement of the war and said +that the nations opposed to Germany had used unfair methods and +means, that the French especially were not like the French of +'70, but that their officers, instead of being nobles, came from +no one knew where. He then referred to the efforts to starve out +Germany and keep out milk and said that before he would allow +his family and grand-children to starve he would blow up Windsor +Castle and the whole Royal family of England. We then had a long +discussion in detail of the whole submarine question, in the +course of which the Emperor said that the submarine had come +to stay, that it was a weapon recognised by all countries, and +that he had seen a picture of a proposed giant submarine in an +American paper, the _Scientific American_. He stated that, +anyway, there was no longer any international law. To this last +statement the Chancellor agreed. He further said that a person +on an enemy merchant ship was like a man travelling on a cart +behind the battle lines--he had no just cause of complaint if +injured. He asked me why we had done nothing to England because +of her alleged violations of international law,--why we had not +broken the British blockade. + +In addition to the technical arguments based on international +law, I answered that no note of the United States had made any +general charge of barbarism against Germany; that we complained +of the manner of the use of submarines and nothing more; that we +could never promise to do anything to England or to any other +country in return for a promise from Germany or any third country +to keep the rules of international law and respect the rights and +lives of our citizens; that we were only demanding our rights +under the recognised rules of international law and it was for +us to decide which rights we would enforce first; that, as I +had already told the Chancellor, if two men entered my grounds +and one stepped on my flower beds and the other killed my sister, +I should probably first pursue the murderer of my sister; that +those travelling on the seas in enemy merchant ships were in a +different position from those travelling in a cart behind the +enemy's battle lines on land because the land travellers were +on enemy's territory, while those on the sea were on territory +which, beyond the three-mile limit, was free and in no sense +enemy's territory. We also discussed the position taken by the +German Government in one of the _Frye_ Notes, in which the +German expert had taken the position that a cargo of food destined +for an armed enemy port was presumed to be for the armies of +the enemy, and therefore contraband. The Emperor spoke of the +case of the _Dacia_ with some bitterness, but when I went +into an explanation the Chancellor joined in the conversation +and said that our position was undoubtedly correct. I said that +it was not our business to break the blockade--that there were +plenty of German agents in the United States who could send food +ships and test the question; that one ship I knew of, the +_Wilhelmina_, laden with food, had been seized by the British, +who then compromised with the owners, paying them, I believed, a +large sum for the disputed cargo. And in taking up the doctrine +of ultimate destination of goods, i.e., goods sent to a neutral +country but really destined for a belligerent, I said I thought +that during our Civil War we had taken against England exactly +the same stand which England now took; and I said I thought that +one of the decisions of our Supreme Court was based on a shipment +to Matamoras, Mexico, but which the Supreme Court had decided +was really for the Confederacy. + +Discussing the submarine question, the Emperor and Chancellor +spoke of the warning given in the _Lusitania_ case; and +I said: "If the Chancellor warns me not to go out on the +Wilhelmplatz, where I have a perfect right to go, the fact that +he gave the warning does not justify him in killing me if I +disregarded his warning and go where I have a right to go." The +conversation then became more general and we finally left the +garden and went into the château, where the Emperor's aides and +guests were impatiently waiting for lunch. + +This conversation lasted far beyond lunch time. Anxious heads +were seen appearing from the windows and terraces of the château +to which we finally adjourned. I sat between the Emperor and +Prince Pless. Conversation was general for the most of the time, +and subjects such as the suffragettes and the peace expedition +of Henry Ford were amusingly discussed. + +After lunch, I again had a long talk with the Emperor but of a +more general nature than the conversation in the garden. + +That night about eleven o'clock, after again dining with the +Chancellor, we left Charleville in the same special salon car, +arriving at Berlin about four P. M. the next day, where at the +station were a crowd of German and American newspaper correspondents, +all anxious to know what had happened. + +At this last dinner at the Chancellor's he took me off in a corner +and said, "As I understand it, what America wants is cruiser +warfare on the part of the submarines." And I said, "Yes, that +is it exactly. They may exercise the right of visit and search, +must not torpedo or sink vessels without warning, and must not +sink any vessel unless the passengers and crew are put in a place +of safety." + +On the morning of the third of May, I heard that the German note +had been drafted, but that it would contain a clause to the +effect that while the German submarines would not go beyond cruiser +warfare, this rule, nevertheless, would not apply to armed +merchantmen. + +As such a proposition as this would, of course, only bring up +the subject again, I immediately ordered my automobile and called +on the Spanish Ambassador, stating to him what I had heard about +the contents of the note; that this would mean, without doubt, a +break with America; and that, as I had been instructed to hand +the Embassy over to him, I had come to tell him of that fact. I +gave the same information to other colleagues, of course hoping +that what I said would directly or indirectly reach the ears +of the German Foreign Office. Whether it did or not, I do not +know, but the _Sussex_ Note when received did not contain +any exception with reference to armed merchantmen. + +With the receipt of the _Sussex_ Note and the President's +answer thereto, which declined assent to the claim of Germany +to define its attitude toward our rights in accordance with what +we might do in regard to the enforcement of our rights against +England, the submarine question seemed, at least for the moment, +settled. I, however, immediately warned the Department that I +believed that the rulers of Germany would at some future date, +forced by public opinion, and by the von Tirpitz and Conservative +parties, take up ruthless submarine war again, possibly in the +autumn but at any rate about February or March, 1917. + +In my last conversation with the Chancellor before leaving the +Great General Headquarters, when he referred to the cruiser warfare +of the submarines, he also said, "I hope now that if we settle this +matter your President will be great enough to take up the question +of peace." It was as a result of intimations from government +circles that, after my return to Berlin, I gave an interview to +a representative of a Munich newspaper, expressing my faith in +the coming of peace, although I was careful to say that it might +be a matter of months or even years. + +Thereafter, on many occasions the Chancellor impressed upon me +the fact that America must do something towards arranging a peace +and that if nothing was done to this end, public opinion in Germany +would undoubtedly force a resumption of a ruthless submarine war. + +In September of 1916, I having mentioned that Mrs. Gerard was +going to the United States on a short visit, von Jagow insistently +urged me to go also in order to make every effort to induce the +President to do something towards peace; and, as a result of his +urging and as a result of my own desire to make the situation +clear in America, I sailed from Copenhagen on the twenty-eighth +of September with Mrs. Gerard, on the Danish ship, _Frederick VIII_, +bound for New York. I had spent almost three years in Berlin, +having been absent during that time from the city only five or +six days at Kiel and two week-ends in Silesia in 1914, with two +weeks at Munich in the autumn, two days at Munich and two days at +Parten-Kirchen in 1916, and two week-ends at Heringsdorf, in the +summer of the same year, with visits to British prison camps +scattered through the two and a half years of war. + +On the _Frederick VIII_ were Messrs. Herbert Swope of the +_New York World_ and William C. Bullitt of the _Philadelphia Ledger_, +who had been spending some time in Germany. I impressed upon each +of these gentlemen my fixed belief that Germany intended shortly, +unless some definite move was made toward peace, to commence +ruthless submarine war; and they made this view clear in the +articles which they wrote for their respective newspapers. + +Mr. Swope's articles which appeared in the _New York World_ +were immediately republished by him in a book called "Inside the +German Empire." In Mr. Swope's book on page ninety-four, he says, +"The campaign for the ruthless U-boat warfare is regarded by one +man in this country who speaks with the highest German authority, +as being in the nature of a threat intended to accelerate and +force upon us a movement toward peace. Ambassador Gerard had +his attention drawn to this just before he left Berlin but he +declined to accept the interpretation." + +On page eighty-eight he writes, "Our Embassy in Berlin expected +just such a demonstration as was given by the U-53 in October +when she sank six vessels off Nantucket, as a lesson of what +Germany could do in our waters if war came." + +On page seventy-four he says further, "Throughout Germany the +objection for the resumption of ruthless U-boat warfare of the +_Lusitania_ type grows stronger day by day. The Chancellor +is holding out against it, but how long he can restrain it no one +can say. I left Germany convinced that only peace could prevent +its resumption. And the same opinion is held by every German +with whom I spoke, and it is held also by Ambassador Gerard. +The possibility was so menacing that the principal cause of the +Ambassador's return in October was that he might report to +Washington. The point was set out in press despatches at that +time." + +I wrote a preface to Mr. Swope's book for the express purpose +of informing the American public in this way that I believed +that Germany intended at an early date to resume the ruthless +V-boat warfare. + +Our trip home on the _Frederick VIII_ was without incident +except for the fact that on the ninth day of October, Swope came to +the door of my stateroom about twelve o'clock at night and informed +me that the captain had told him to tell me that the wireless had +brought the news that German submarines were operating directly +ahead of us and had just sunk six ships in the neighbourhood +of Nantucket. I imagine that the captain slightly changed the +course of our ship, but next day the odour of burning oil was +quite noticeable for hours. + +These Danish ships in making the trip from Copenhagen to New +York were compelled to put in at the port of Kirkwall in the +Orkney Islands, north of Scotland, where the ship was searched by +the British authorities. On the occasion of our visit to Kirkwall, +on this trip, a Swede, who had been so foolish as to make a sketch +of the harbour and defences of Kirkwall from the top deck of the +_Frederick VIII_, was taken off the boat by the British. The +British had very cleverly spotted him doing this from the shore +or a neighbouring boat, through a telescope. + +Ships can enter Kirkwall only by daylight and at six o'clock +every evening trawlers draw a net across the entrance to the +harbour as a protection against submarines. A passage through +this net is not opened until daylight the following morning. + +Captain Thomson of the _Frederick VIII_, the ship which +carried us to America and back to Copenhagen, by his evident +mastery of his profession gave to all of his passengers a feeling +of confidence on the somewhat perilous voyage in those dangerous +waters. + +When I reached America, on October eleventh, I was given a most +flattering reception and the freedom of the City of New York. +Within a few days after my arrival, the President sent for me +to visit him at Shadow Lawn, at Long Branch, and I was with him +for over four hours and a quarter in our first conference. I saw +him, of course, after the election, before returning to Germany, +and in fact sailed on the fourth of December at his special request. + +Before I left I was impressed with the idea that he desired above +all things both to keep and to make peace. Of course, this question +of making peace is a very delicate one. A direct offer on our part +might have subjected us to the same treatment which we gave Great +Britain during our Civil War when Great Britain made overtures +looking towards the establishment of peace, and the North answered, +practically telling the British Government that it could attend +to its own business, that it would brook no interference and would +regard further overtures as unfriendly acts. + +The Germans started this war without any consultation with the +United States, and then seemed to think that they had a right +to demand that the United States make peace for them on such +terms and at such time as they chose; and that the failure to +do so gave them a vested right to break all the laws of warfare +against their enemies and to murder the citizens of the United +States on the high seas, in violation of the declared principles +of international law. + +Nevertheless, I think that the inclination of the President was +to go very far towards the forcing of peace. + +Our trip from New York to Copenhagen was uneventful, cold and +dark. We were captured by a British cruiser west of the Orkneys +and taken in for the usual search to the port of Kirkwall where +we remained two days. + +The President impressed upon me his great interest in the Belgians +deported to Germany. The action of Germany in thus carrying a +great part of the male population of Belgium into virtual slavery +had roused great indignation in America. As the revered Cardinal +Farley said to me a few days before my departure, "You have to +go back to the times of the Medes and the Persians to find a +like example of a whole people carried into bondage." + +Mr. Grew had made representations about this to the Chancellor +and, on my return, I immediately took up the question. + +I was informed that it was a military measure, that Ludendorf had +feared that the British would break through and overrun Belgium +and that the military did not propose to have a hostile population +at their backs who might cut the rail lines of communication, +telephones and telegraphs; and that for this reason the deportation +had been decided on. I was, however, told that I would be given +permission to visit these Belgians. The passes, nevertheless, +which alone made such visiting possible were not delivered until +a few days before I left Germany. + +Several of these Belgians who were put at work in Berlin managed +to get away and come to see me. They gave me a harrowing account +of how they had been seized in Belgium and made to work in Germany +at making munitions to be used probably against their own friends. +I said to the Chancellor, "There are Belgians employed in making +shells contrary to all rules of war and the Hague conventions." +He said, "I do not believe it." I said, "My automobile is at the +door. I can take you, in four minutes, to where thirty Belgians +are working on the manufacture of shells." But he did not find +time to go. + +Americans must understand that the Germans will stop at nothing +to win this war, and that the only thing they respect is force. + +While I was in America von Jagow, as had been predicted by his +enemies in Berlin, had fallen and Zimmermann had been given his +place. + +I remained a day in Copenhagen, in order to arrange for the +transportation to Germany of the three tons of food which I had +brought from New York, and, also, in order to lunch with Count +Rantzau, the German Minister, a most able diplomat. + +Therefore, the President's peace note arrived in Berlin just +ahead of me and was delivered by Mr. Grew a few hours before my +arrival. Joseph C. Grew, of Boston, was next in command during +all my stay in Berlin. He most ably carried on the work of the +Embassy during my absence on the trip to America, in the autumn +of 1916; and at all times was of the greatest assistance to me. I +hope to see him go far in his career. This note was dated December +eighteenth, 1916, and was addressed by the Secretary of State +to the American Ambassadors at the capitals of the belligerent +powers. It commenced as follows: "The President directs me to +send you the following communication to be presented immediately +to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the government to which +you are accredited. + +"The President of the United States has instructed me to suggest +to the (here is inserted a designation of the government addressed) +a course of action in regard to the present war which he hopes +that the government will take under consideration as suggested +in the most friendly spirit, etc." + +In the note which was sent to the Central Powers it was stated: +"The suggestion which I am instructed to make, the President +has long had it in mind to offer. He is somewhat embarrassed +to offer it at this particular time because it may now seem to +have been prompted by a desire to play a part in connection with +the recent overtures of the Central Powers." + +Of course, the President thus referred to the address made by +Bethmann-Hollweg in the Reichstag in December, in which, after +reviewing generally the military situation, the Chancellor said: +"In a deep moral and religious sense of duty towards this nation +and beyond it towards humanity, the Emperor now considers that the +moment has come for official action towards peace. His Majesty, +therefore, in complete harmony and in common with our Allies decided +to propose to the hostile powers to enter peace negotiations." +And the Chancellor continued, saying that a note to this effect +had been transmitted that morning to all hostile powers, through +the representatives of these powers to whom the interests and +rights of Germany in the enemy States had been entrusted; and +that, therefore, the representatives of Spain, the United States +and Switzerland had been asked to forward the note. + +Coincidently with this speech of the Chancellor's, which was +December twelfth, 1916, the Emperor sent a message to the commanding +generals reading as follows: "Soldiers! In agreement with the +sovereigns of my Allies and with the consciousness of victory, +I have made an offer of peace to the enemy. Whether it will be +accepted is still uncertain. Until that moment arrives you will +fight on." + +I return to the President's note. + +The President suggested that early occasion be sought to callout +from all the nations now at war an avowal of their respective +views as to the terms upon which the war might be concluded, +and the arrangements which would be deemed satisfactory as a +guarantee against its renewal. + +He called the attention of the world to the fact that according +to the statements of the statesmen of the belligerent powers, +the objects which all sides had in mind seemed to be the same. +And the President finally said that he was not proposing peace, +not even offering mediation; but merely proposing that soundings +be taken in order that all nations might know how near might +be the haven of peace for which all mankind longed. + +Shortly after the publication of this note Secretary Lansing +gave an interview to the representatives of the American press +in which he stated that America was very near war. This interview +he later explained. + +As soon as possible after my return to Berlin I had interviews +with Zimmermann and the Chancellor. Zimmermann said that we were +such personal friends that he was sure we could continue to work, +as we had in the past, in a frank and open manner, putting all +the cards upon the table and working together in the interests of +peace. I, of course, agreed to this and it seemed, on the surface, +as if everything would go smoothly. + +Although the torpedoing without warning of the _Marina_, +while I was in the United States, had resulted in the death of a +number of Americans on board, nevertheless there seemed to be an +inclination on the part of the government and people of the United +States to forget this incident provided Germany would continue to +keep her pledges given in the _Sussex_ Note. During all +the period of the war in Germany I had been on good terms with +the members of the government, namely, the Chancellor, von Jagow, +Zimmermann and the other officials of the Foreign Office, as well +as with Helfferich, Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister, Kaempf, the +President of the Reichstag and a number of the influential men +of Germany such as von Gwinner, of the Deutsche Bank, Gutmann of +the Dresdener Bank, Dr. Walter Rathenau, who for a long time was +at the head of the department for the supply and conservation of +raw materials, General von Kessel, Over-Commander of the Mark of +Brandenburg, in spite of many tiffs with him over the treatment +of prisoners, Theodor Wolff, editor of the _Tageblatt_, Professor +Stein, Maximilian Harden and many others. + +For a long time the fight waged by the Chancellor was America's +fight and a fight for peace, so much so that the newspapers which +attacked the Chancellor were the same ones which had attacked +President Wilson, America and Americans in general, and which had +very often included me in their attacks. During every crisis between +America and Germany I had acted with von Jagow and Zimmermann in +a most confidential way, looking forward always to one object, +namely, the preservation of peace between our respective countries. +Many suggestions were made which, I think, materially aided up +to that time in the preservation of peace. + +The Chancellor and the Foreign Office, however, through sheer +weakness did nothing to prevent the insults to our flag and President +perpetrated by the "League of Truth"; although both under the law +and the regulations of the "State of Siege" this gang could not +operate without the consent of the authorities. So far as I was +concerned personally, a few extra attacks from tooth carpenters +and snake dancers meant nothing, but certainly aroused my interest +in the workings of the Teutonic official brain. + +On my return everyone in official life,--the Chancellor, Zimmermann, +von Stumm who succeeded Zimmermann, von der Busche, formerly +German Minister in the Argentine, who had equal rank with Stumm +in the Foreign Office--all without exception and in the most +convincing language assured me that cases like that of the +_Marina_, for example, were only accidents and that there +was every desire on the part of Germany to maintain the pledges +given in the _Sussex_ Note. + +And the great question to be solved is whether the Germans in +making their offers of peace, in begging me to go to America to +talk peace to the President, were sincerely anxious for peace, +or were only making these general offers of peace in order to +excuse in the eyes of the world a resumption of ruthless submarine +warfare and to win to their side public opinion in the United +States, in case such warfare should be resumed. + +Had the decision rested with the Chancellor and with the Foreign +Office, instead of with the military, I am sure that the decision +would have been against the resumption of this ruthless war. +But Germany is not ruled in war time by the civilian power. +Hindenburg at the time I left for America was at the head of +the General Staff and Ludendorf, who had been Chief of Staff, +had been made the Quartermaster General in order that he might +follow Hindenburg to General Headquarters. + +Hindenburg, shortly before his battle of the Masurian Lakes, +was a General living in retirement at Hanover. Because he had +for years specialised in the study of this region he was suddenly +called to the command of the German army which was opposing the +Russian invasions. Ludendorf, who had been Colonel of a regiment +at the attack on Liège, was sent with him as his Chief of Staff. +The success of Hindenburg in his campaigns is too well known +to require recapitulation here. He became the popular idol of +Germany, the one general-in fact the one man--whom the people felt +that they could idolise. But shortly before my trip to America an +idea was creeping through the mind of the German people leading +them to believe that Hindenburg was but the front, and that the +brains of the combination had been furnished by Ludendorf. Many +Germans in a position to know told me that the real dictator +of Germany was Ludendorf. + +My trip to America was made principally at the instance of von +Jagow and the Chancellor, and, in my farewell talk with the +Chancellor a few days before leaving, I asked if it could not +be arranged, since he was always saying that the civilian power +was inferior to that of the military, that I should see Hindenburg +and Ludendorf before I left. This proposed meeting he either +could not or would not arrange, and shortly after my return I +again asked the Chancellor if I could not see, if not the Emperor, +at least Hindenburg and Ludendorf, who the Chancellor himself +had said were the leaders of the military, and, therefore, the +leaders of Germany. Again I was put off. + +In the meantime and in spite of the official assurance given +to me certain men in Germany, in a position to know, warned me +that the government intended to resume ruthless submarine war. +Ludendorf, they said, had declared in favour of this war and, +according to them, that meant its adoption. + +At first I thought that Germany would approach the resumption of +ruthless submarine war _via_ the armed merchantman issue. + +The case of the _Yarrowdale_ prisoners seemed to bear out +this theory. A German raider captured and sunk a number of enemy +vessels and sent one of the captured boats, the _Yarrowdale_, +with a prize crew to Swinemunde. On board, held as prisoners, +were a number of the crews of the captured vessels; and among +those men I learned "under the rose," were some Americans. The +arrival of the _Yarrowdale_ was kept secret for some time, +but as soon as I received information of its arrival, I sent +note after note to the Foreign Office demanding to know if there +were any Americans among the prisoner crews. + +For a long time I received no answer, but finally Germany admitted +what I knew already, that Americans taken with the crews of captured +ships were being held as prisoners of war, the theory of the +Germans being that all employed on armed enemy merchant ships +were enemy combatants. I supposed that possibly Germany might +therefore approach the submarine controversy by this route and +claim that armed merchantmen were liable to be sunk without notice. + +Instructed by the State Department, I demanded the immediate +release of the _Yarrowdale_ prisoners. This was accorded +by Germany, but, after the breaking of relations, the prisoners +were held back; and it was not until after we left Germany that +they were finally released. + +I asked permission to visit these prisoners and sent Mr. Ayrault +and Mr. Osborne to the place where I knew they were interned. +The permission to visit them arrived, but on the same day orders +were given to remove the prisoners to other camps. Mr. Osborne +and Mr. Ayrault, however, being on the ground, saw the prisoners +before their removal and reported on their conditions. + +On January sixth the American Association of Commerce and Trade +gave me a dinner at the Hotel Adlon. This was made the occasion +of a sort of German-American love-feast. Zimmermann, although +he had to go early in the evening to meet the Foreign Minister +of Austria-Hungary, was present; Helfferich, Vice-Chancellor +and Secretary of the Interior; Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister; +Sydow, Minister of Commerce; Dernburg; von Gwinner of the Deutsche +Bank; Gutmann of the Dresdener Bank; Under Secretary von der +Busche of the Foreign Office; the Mayor and the Police President +of Berlin; the President of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce; Under +Secretary von Stumm of the Foreign Office; and many others of +that office. There were present also Under Secretary Richter +of the Interior Department; Lieutenant Colonel Doeutelmoser of +the General Staff; the editors and proprietors of the principal +newspapers in Berlin; Count Montgelas, who had charge of American +affairs in the Foreign Office; naval officers like Captain Lans; +the American correspondents in Germany; and Prince Isenburg; +rubbing shoulders with the brewers, George Ehret and Krueger, +of New York and Newark. There were literary lights like Ludwig +Fulda, Captain Persius, Professor Hans Delbrück, Dr. Paasche, +Vice-President of the Reichstag, and many others equally celebrated +as the ones that I have named. Speeches were made by Mr. Wolf, +President of the American Association of Commerce and Trade, +Helfferich, Zimmermann, von Gwinner and me. A tone of the greatest +friendliness prevailed. Zimmermann referred to our personal +friendship and said that he was sure that we should be able to +manage everything together. Helfferich in his speech said that +I, by learning German and studying the life of the German people, +was one of the few diplomats that had come to Germany who had +learned something of the real life and psychology of the Germans. +Von Gwinner made a speech in English that would have done credit +to any American after-dinner speaker; and I, in my short address, +said that the relations between the two countries had never been +better and that so long as my personal friends like Zimmermann +and other members of the government, who I named, were in office, +I was sure that the good relations between the two countries +would be maintained. I spoke also of the sums of money that I had +brought back with me for the benefit of the widows and orphans +of Germany. + +The majority of the German newspapers spoke in a very kindly +way about this dinner and about what was said at it. Of course, +they all took what I said as an expression of friendliness, and +only Reventlow claimed that, by referring to the members of the +government, I was interfering in the internal affairs of Germany. + +The speeches and, in fact, this dinner constituted a last desperate +attempt to preserve friendly relations. Both the reasonable men +present and I knew, almost to a certainty, that return to ruthless +submarine war had been decided on and that only some lucky chance +could prevent the military, backed by the made public opinion, from +insisting on a defiance of international law and the laws of humanity. + +The day after the dinner the Chancellor sent for me and expressed +approval of what I said and thanked me for it and on the surface +it seemed as if everything was "as merry as a marriage bell." +Unfortunately, I am afraid that all this was only on the surface, +and that perhaps the orders to the submarine commanders to recommence +ruthless war had been given the day preceding this love-feast. + +The Germans believed that President Wilson had been elected with +a mandate to keep out of war at any cost, and that America could +be insulted, flouted and humiliated with impunity. Even before +this dinner we had begun to get rumours of the resumption of +ruthless submarine war and within a few days I was cabling to +the Department information based not upon absolute facts but upon +reports which seemed reliable and which had been collected through +the able efforts of our very capable naval attaché, Commander +Gherardi. + +And this information was confirmed by the hints given to me by +various influential Germans. Again and again after the sixth of +January, I was assured by Zimmermann and others in the Foreign +Office that nothing of the kind was contemplated. + +Now were the German moves in the direction of peace sincere or not? + +From the time when the Chancellor first spoke of peace, I asked +him and others what the peace terms of Germany were. I could +never get any one to state any definite terms of peace and on +several occasions when I asked the Chancellor whether Germany +was willing to withdraw from Belgium, he always said, "Yes, but +with guarantees." Finally in January, 1917, when he was again +talking of peace, I said, "What are these peace terms to which +you refer continually? Will you allow me to ask a few questions +as to the specific terms of peace? First are the Germans willing +to withdraw from Belgium?" The Chancellor answered, "Yes, but +with guarantees." I said, "What are these guarantees?" He said, +"We must possibly have the forts of Liege and Namur; we must +have other forts and garrisons throughout Belgium. We must have +possession of the railroad lines. We must have possession of the +ports and other means of communication. The Belgians will not +be allowed to maintain an army, but we must be allowed to retain +a large army in Belgium. We must have the commercial control of +Belgium." I said, "I do not see that you have left much for the +Belgians except that King Albert will have the right to reside in +Brussels with an honor guard." And the Chancellor said, "We cannot +allow Belgium to be an outpost (_Vorwerk_) of England"; and +I said, "I do not suppose the English, on the other hand, wish +it to become an outpost of Germany, especially as von Tirpitz +has said that the coast of Flanders should be retained in order +to make war on England and America." I continued, "How about +Northern France?" He said, "We are willing to leave Northern +France, but there must be a rectification of the frontier." I +said, "How about the Eastern frontier?" He said, "We must have +a very substantial rectification of our frontier." I said, "How +about Roumania?" He said, "We shall leave Bulgaria to deal with +Roumania." I said, "How about Serbia?" He said, "A very small +Serbia may be allowed to exist, but that is a question for Austria. +Austria must be left to do what she wishes to Italy, and we must +have indemnities from all countries and all our ships and colonies +back." + +Of course, "rectification of the frontier" is a polite term for +"annexation." + +On the twenty-second of January, 1917, our President addressed +the Senate; and in his address he referred to his Note of the +eighteenth of December, sent to all belligerent governments. In +this address he stated, referring to the reply of the Entente +Powers to his Peace Note of the eighteenth of December, "We are +that much nearer to the definite discussion of the peace which +shall end the present war." + +He referred to the willingness of both contestants to discuss +terms of peace, as follows: "The Central Powers united in reply +which stated merely that they were ready to meet their antagonists +in conference to discuss terms of peace. The Entente Powers have +replied much more definitely and have stated, in general terms, +indeed, but with sufficient definiteness to imply details, the +arrangements, guarantees and acts of reparation which they deem +to be the indispensable conditions of a satisfactory settlement. +We are that much nearer a definite discussion of the peace which +shall end the present war." The President further referred to a +world concert to guarantee peace in the future and said, "The +present war must first be ended, but we owe it to candour and +to a just regard for the opinion of mankind to say that so far +as our participation in guarantees of future peace is concerned, +it makes a great deal of difference in what way and upon what +terms it is ended." He said that the statesmen of both of the +groups of nations at war had stated that it was not part of the +purpose they had in mind to crush their antagonists, and he said +that it must be implied from these assurances that the peace +to come must be "a peace without victory." + +In the course of his address he said: "Statesmen everywhere are +agreed that there should be a united, independent and autonomous +Poland." In another place he said: "So far as practicable, moreover, +every great people now struggling toward a full development of +its resources and its powers should be assured a direct outlet +to the highways of the sea." Where this cannot be done by cession +of territory it can no doubt be arranged by the neutralisation +of direct rights of way; and he closed by proposing in effect +that the nations of the world should adopt the Monroe Doctrine +and that no nation should seek to explain its policy for any +other nation or people. + +After the receipt of the Ultimatum of January thirty-first from +Germany, the Chancellor, in a conversation I had with him, referred +to this Peace Note of December eighteenth and to the speech of +January twenty-second. + +[Illustration: A POSTER FROM THE CHARLEVILLE DISTRICT, SHOWING +THE ALLOTMENT OF FOOD TO EACH PERSON FOR THE FIRST FIFTEEN DAYS +OF MAY, 1916.] + +I must say here that on my return to Germany I went very far +in assuring the Chancellor and other members of the Government +of the President's desire to see peace established in the world; +and I told them that I believed that the President was ready +to go very far in the way of coercing any nation which refused +a reasonable peace; but I also impressed on all the members of +the Government with whom I came in contact my belief that the +election had not in any way altered the policy of the President, +and I warned them of the danger to our good relations if ruthless +submarine warfare should be resumed. + +Von Bethmann-Hollweg, however, at this interview after the +thirty-first of January, said that he had been compelled to take +up ruthless submarine war because it was evident that President +Wilson could do nothing towards peace. He spoke particularly of +the President's speech of January twenty-second and said that +in that speech the President had made it plain that he considered +that the answer of the Entente Powers to his Peace Note formed a +basis for peace, which was a thing impossible for Germany even +to consider; and said further (and this was a criticism I heard +not only from him, but also from many Germans), that when the +President spoke of a united and independent Poland he evidently +meant to take away from Germany that part of Poland which had been +incorporated in the Kingdom of Prussia and give it to this new +and independent Kingdom, thereby bringing the Eastern frontier of +Germany within two hours by motor from Berlin; and that, further, +when the President spoke of giving each nation a highway to the +sea, he meant that the German port of Dantzig should be turned over +to this new State of Poland, thereby not only taking a Prussian +port but cutting the extreme Eastern part of Prussia from the +remainder of the country. I said that these objections appeared +to me very frivolous; that the President, of course, like a clever +lawyer endeavouring to gain his end, which was peace, had said +that all parties were apparently agreed that there should be a +peace; that if Germany were fighting a merely defensive war, +as she had always claimed, she should be greatly delighted when +the President declared that all the weight of America was in +favor of a peace without victory, which meant, of course, that +Germany should be secured from that crushing and dismemberment +which Germany's statesmen had stated so often that they feared. +I said, further, that I was sure that when the President spoke +of the united and independent State of Poland he had not, of +course, had reference to Poland at any particular period of its +history, but undoubtedly to Poland as constituted by Germany +and Austria themselves; and that, in referring to the right of +a nation to have access to the sea, he had in mind Russia and +the Dardanelles rather than to any attempt to take a Prussian +port for the benefit of Poland. + +Von Bethmann-Hollweg said that one of the principal reasons why +Germany had determined upon a resumption of ruthless submarine +warfare was because of this speech of the President to the American +Senate. Of course, the trouble with this feeling and the criticism +of the President's speech made by the Chancellor is that the +orders for the resumption of ruthless submarine warfare had been +given long before the news of the speech came to Germany. + +I had cabled the information collected by Commander Gherardi +as to the orders given to submarines long before the date of +the President's speech, and it happened that on the night after +I had received the German note announcing this resumption I was +taking a walk after dinner about the snow-covered streets of +Berlin. In the course of this walk I met a young German woman of +my acquaintance who was on intimate terms with the Crown Princess. +She was on her way on foot from the opera house, where she had +been with the Crown Princess, to the underground station, for +by this time, of course, taxis had become an unknown luxury in +Berlin, and I joined her. I told her of the Ultimatum which, I +had received at six o'clock that evening from Zimmermann and I +told her that I was sure that it meant the breaking of diplomatic +relations and our departure from Germany. She expressed great +surprise that the submarine warfare was set to commence on the +thirty-first of January and said that weeks before they had been +talking over the matter at the Crown Princess's and that she +had heard then that the orders had been given to commence it on +the fifteenth. In any event it is certain that the orders to the +submarine commanders had been given long prior to the thirty-first +and probably as early as the fifteenth. + +I sincerely believe that the only object of the Germans in making +these peace offers was first to get the Allies, if possible, in +a conference and there detach some or one of them by the offer +of separate terms; or, if this scheme failed, then it was believed +that the general offer and talk about peace would create a sentiment +so favourable to the Germans that they might, without fear of +action by the United States, resume ruthless submarine warfare +against England. + +A week or two before the thirty-first of January, Dr. Solf asked +me if I did not think that it would be possible for the United +States to permit the resumption of ruthless submarine warfare +against Great Britain. He said that three months time was all +that would be required to bring Great Britain to her knees and end +the war. And in fact so cleverly did von Tirpitz, Grand Admiral +von Meuster, the Conservatives and the enemies of the Chancellor +and other advocates of submarine war carry on their propaganda +that the belief was ingrained in the whole of the German nation +that a resumption of this ruthless war would lead within three +months to what all Germans so ardently desired--peace. It was +impossible for any government to resist the popular demand for +the use of this illegal means of warfare, because army and navy +and people were convinced that ruthless submarine war spelled +success and a glorious peace. + +But this peace, of course, meant only a German peace, a peace +as outlined to me by the Chancellor; a peace impossible for the +Allies and even for the world to accept; a peace which would +leave Germany immensely powerful and ready immediately after +the war to take up a campaign against the nations of the Western +hemisphere; a peace which would compel every nation, so long +as German autocracy remained in the saddle, to devote its best +energies, the most fruitful period of each man's life, to +preparations for war. + +On January thirtieth, I received a definite intimation of the +coming Ultimatum the next day and, judging that the hint meant +the resumption of ruthless submarine war, I telegraphed a warning +to the American Ambassadors and Ministers as well as to the State +Department. On January thirty-first at about four o'clock in the +afternoon I received from Zimmermann a short letter of which +the following is a copy: + + "The Secretary of State of the Foreign Office, Zimmermann, + requests the honor of the visit of his Excellency, the + Ambassador of the United States of America, this afternoon + at six o'clock in the Foreign Office, Wilhelmstrasse 75/76. + + "Berlin, the 31st January, 1917." + +Pursuant to this letter, I went to the Foreign Office at six +o'clock. Zimmermann then read to me in German a note from the +Imperial Government, announcing the creation of the war zones +about Great Britain and France and the commencement of ruthless +submarine warfare at twelve P. M. that night. I made no comment, +put the note in my pocket and went back to the Embassy. It was +then about seven P. M. and, of course, the note was immediately +translated and despatched with all speed to America. + +After the despatch of the note I had an interview with the Chancellor +in which he, as I have stated above, criticised both the Peace +Note of December eighteenth as not being definite enough and +the speech to the Senate of January twenty-second; and further +said that he believed that the situation had changed, that, in +spite of what the President had said in the note before the +_Sussex_ settlement, he was now for peace, that he had been +elected on a peace platform, and that nothing would happen. +Zimmermann at the time he delivered the note told me that this +submarine warfare was a necessity for Germany, and that Germany +could not hold out a year on the question of food. He further +said, "Give us only two months of this kind of warfare and we +shall end the war and make peace within three months." + +Saturday, February third, the President announced to Congress +the breaking of diplomatic relations with Germany. The news of +this, of course, did not reach Berlin until the next day; and on +this Saturday afternoon Mrs. Gerard and I had an engagement to go +to the theatre with Zimmermann and Mrs. Friedlaender-Fuld-Mitford, +a young lady whose father is considered the richest man in Berlin, +and who had been married to a young Englishman, named Mitford, a +son of Lord Redesdale. Through no fault on the lady's part, there +had been an annulment of this marriage; and she was occupying a +floor of her own in the handsome house of her father and mother +on the Pariser-Platz in Berlin. We stopped for Mrs. Mitford and +took her to the theatre where we saw a very clever play, I think +by Thoma, called "Die Verlorene Tochter" (The Prodigal Daughter). +Zimmermann did not come to the play but joined us later at the +Friedlaender-Fuld House where we had a supper of four in Mrs. +Mitford's apartments. After supper, while I was talking to +Zimmermann, he spoke of the note to America and said: "During +the past month, this is what I have been doing so often at the +General Headquarters with the Emperor. I often thought of telling +you what was going on as I used to tell you in the old days, +but I thought that you would only say that such a course would +mean a break of diplomatic relations, and so I thought there was +no use in telling you. But as you will see, everything will be +all right. America will do nothing, for President Wilson is for +peace and nothing else. Everything will go on as before. I have +arranged for you to go to the Great General Headquarters and see +the Kaiser next week and everything will be all right." + +The next day, Sunday, we had a German who is connected with the +Foreign Office and his American wife to lunch, and another German +who had been in America, also connected with the Foreign Office. +Just as we were going in to lunch some one produced a copy of the +"_B. Z._", the noon paper published in Berlin, which contained what +seemed to be an authentic account of the breaking of diplomatic +relations by America. The lunch was far from cheerful. The Germans +looked very sad and said practically nothing, while I tried to +make polite conversation at my end of the table. + +The next day I went over to see Zimmermann, having that morning +received the official despatch from Washington, and told him +that I had come to demand my passports. + +Of course, Zimmermann by that time had received the news and +had had time to compose himself. The American correspondents +told me that when he saw them on the day before, he had at first +refused to say anything and then had been rather violent in his +language and had finally shown great emotion. I am sure, from +everything I observed, that the break of diplomatic relations +came as an intense surprise to him and to the other members of +the government, and yet I cannot imagine why intelligent men +should think that the United States of America had fallen so low +as to bear without murmur this sudden kick in the face. + +The police who had always been about our Embassy since the +commencement of the war, were now greatly increased in numbers; +and guarded not only the front of the house, but also the rear and +the surrounding streets; but there was no demonstration whatever +on the part of the people of Berlin. On Tuesday afternoon I went +out for a walk, walking through most of the principal streets +of Berlin, absolutely alone, and on my return to the Embassy +I found Count Montgelas, who, with the rank of Minister, was +at the head of the department which included American affairs +in the Foreign Office. I asked Montgelas why I had not received +my passports, and he said that I was being kept back because +the Imperial Government did not know what had happened to Count +Bernstorff and that there had been rumours that the German ships +in America had been confiscated by our government. I said that +I was quite sure that Bernstorff was being treated with every +courtesy and that the German ships had not been confiscated. I +said, moreover, "I do not see why I have to disprove your idea that +Bernstorff is being maltreated and the German ships confiscated. It +seems to me it is for you to prove this; and, at any event, why +don't you have the Swiss Government, which now represents you, +cable to its Minister in Washington and get the exact facts?" He +said, "Well, you know, the Swiss are not used to cabling." + +He then produced a paper which was a re-affirmation of the treaty +between Prussia and the United States of 1799, with some very +extraordinary clauses added to it. He asked me to read this over +and either to sign it or to get authority to sign it, and said +that if it was not signed it would be very difficult for Americans +to leave the country, particularly the American correspondents. +I read this treaty over and then said, "Of course I cannot sign +this on my own responsibility and I will not cable to my government +unless I can cable in cipher and give them my opinion of this +document." He said, "That is impossible." This treaty was as +follows: + + Agreement between Germany and the United States of America + concerning the treatment of each other's citizens and their + private property after the severance of diplomatic relations. + + _Article 1._ + + After the severance of diplomatic relations between Germany and + the United States of America and in the event of the outbreak of + war between the two Powers the citizens of either party and their + private property in the territory of the other party shall be + treated according to Article 23 of the treaty of amity and + commerce between Prussia and the United States of 11 July, 1799, + with the following explanatory and supplementary clauses. + + _Article 2._ + + German merchants in the United States and American merchants + in Germany shall so far as the treatment of their persons and + their property is concerned be held in every respect on a par + with the other persons mentioned in Article 23. Accordingly + they shall even after the period provided for in Article 23 has + elapsed be entitled to remain and continue their profession in + the country of their residence. + + Merchants as well as the other persons mentioned in Article 23 + may be excluded from fortified places or other places of military + importance. + + _Article 3._ + + Germans in the United States and Americans in Germany shall + be free to leave the country of their residence within the + times and by the routes that shall be assigned to them by the + proper authorities. + + The persons departing shall be entitled to take along their + personal property including money, valuables and bank accounts + excepting such property the exportation of which is prohibited + according to general provisions. + + _Article 4._ + + The protection of Germans in the United States and of Americans + in Germany and of their property shall be guaranteed in accordance + with the laws existing in the countries of either party. They + shall be under no other restrictions concerning the enjoyment of + their private rights and the judicial enforcement of their rights + than neutral residents; they may accordingly not be transferred + to concentration camps nor shall their private property be subject + to sequestration or liquidation or other compulsory alienation + except in cases that under the existing laws apply also to neutrals. + + As a general rule, German property in the United States and + American property in Germany shall not be subject to sequestration + or liquidation or other compulsory alienation under other + conditions than neutral property. + + _Article 5._ + + Patent rights or other protected rights held by Germans in the + United States or Americans in Germany shall not be declared + void; nor shall the exercise of such rights be impeded nor shall + such rights be transferred to others without the consent of the + person entitled thereto; provided that regulations made exclusively + in the interest of the State shall apply. + + _Article 6._ + + Contracts made between Germans and Americans either before or + after the severance of diplomatic relations, also obligations + of all kinds between Germans and Americans shall not be declared + cancelled, void or in suspension except under provisions applicable + to neutrals. + + Likewise the citizens of either party shall not be impeded in + fulfilling their liabilities arising from such obligations either + by injunctions or by other provisions unless these apply also to + neutrals. + + _Article 7._ + + The provisions of the sixth Hague Convention relative to the + treatment of enemy merchant ships at outbreak of hostilities + shall apply to the merchant vessels of either party and their + cargo. + + The aforesaid ships may not be forced to leave port unless at + the same time they be given a pass recognised as binding by all + the enemy sea powers to a home port or a port of an allied country + or to another port of the country in which the ship happens to be. + + _Article 8._ + + The regulations of chapter 3 of the eleventh Hague Convention + relative to certain restrictions in the exercise of the right + of capture in maritime war shall apply to the captains, officers + and members of the crews of merchant ships specified in Article + 7 and of such merchant ships that may be captured in the course + of a possible war. + + _Article 9._ + + This agreement shall apply also to the colonies and other + foreign possessions of either party. + + Berlin, February, 1917. + +I then said, "I shall not cable at all. Why do you come to me with +a proposed treaty after we have broken diplomatic relations and +ask an Ambassador who is held as a prisoner to sign it? Prisoners +do not sign treaties and treaties signed by them would not be +worth anything." And I also said, "After your threat to keep +Americans here and after reading this document, even if I had +authority to sign it I would stay here until hell freezes over +before I would put my name to such a paper." + +Montgelas seemed rather rattled, and in his confusion left the +paper with me--something, I am sure, he did not intend to do +in case of a refusal. Montgelas was an extremely agreeable man +and I think at all times had correctly predicted the attitude +of America and had been against acts of frightfulness, such as +the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_ and the resumption of +ruthless submarine war. I am sure that a gentleman like Montgelas +undertook with great reluctance to carry out his orders in the +matter of getting me to sign this treaty. + +I must cheerfully certify that even the most pro-German American +correspondents in Berlin, when I told them of Montgelas' threat, +showed the same fine spirit as their colleagues. All begged me +not to consider them or their liberty where the interests of +America were involved. + +As soon as diplomatic relations were broken, and I broke them +formally not only in my conversation with Zimmermann of Monday +morning but also by sending over a formal written request for my +passports on the evening of that day, our telegraph privileges were +cut off. I was not even allowed to send telegrams to the American +consuls throughout Germany giving them their instructions. Mail +also was cut off, and the telephone. My servants were not even +permitted to go to the nearby hotel to telephone. In the meantime +we completed our preparations for departure. We arranged to turn +over American interests, and the interests of Roumania and Serbia +and Japan, to the Spanish Embassy; and the interests of Great +Britain to the Dutch. I have said already that I believe that +Ambassador Polo de Bernabe will faithfully protect the interests +of America, and I believe that Baron Gevers will fearlessly fight +the cause of the British prisoners. + +We sold our automobiles; and two beautiful prize winning saddle +horses, one from Kentucky and one from Virginia, which I had +brought with me from America, went on the stage, that is, I sold +them to the proprietor of the circus in Berlin! + +The three tons of food which we had brought with us from America +we gave to our colleagues in the diplomatic corps,--the Spaniards, +Greeks, Dutch and the Central and South Americans. I had many +friends among the diplomats of the two Americas who were all +men of great ability and position in their own country. I think +that most of them know only too well the designs against Central +and South America cherished by the Pan-Germans. + +Finally, I think on the morning of Friday, Mr. Oscar King Davis, +correspondent of the _New York Times_, received a wireless +from Mr. Van Anda, editor of the _New York Times_, telling +him that Bernstorff and his staff were being treated with every +courtesy and that the German ships had not been confiscated. In +the evening our telephone was reconnected, and we were allowed to +receive some telegrams and to send open telegrams to the consuls, +etc. throughout Germany; and we were notified that we would probably +be allowed to leave the next day in the evening. + +Always followed by spies, I paid as many farewell visits to my +diplomatic colleagues as I was able to see; and on Saturday I +thought that, in spite of the ridiculous treatment accorded us in +cutting off the mail and telephone and in holding me for nearly +a week, I would leave in a sporting spirit: I therefore, had +my servant telephone and ask whether Zimmermann and von +Bethmann-Hollweg would receive me. I had a pleasant farewell +talk of about half an hour with each of them and I expressly told +the Chancellor that I had come to bid him a personal farewell, +not to make a record for any White Book, and that anything he +said would remain confidential. I also stopped in to thank Dr. +Zahn, of the Foreign Office, who had arranged the details of our +departure and gave him a gold cigarette case as a souvenir of +the occasion. At the last moment, the Germans allowed a number +of the consuls and clerks who had been working in the Embassy, +and the American residents in Berlin, to leave on the train with +us; so that we were about one hundred and twenty persons in all +on this train, which left the Potsdamer station at eight-ten in +the evening. The time of our departure had not been publicly +announced, but although the automobiles, etc. in front of the +Embassy might have attracted a crowd, there was no demonstration +whatever; and, in fact, during this week that I was detained in +Berlin I walked allover the city every afternoon and evening, +went into shops, and so on, without encountering any hostile +demonstration. + +There was a large crowd in the station to see us off. All the +Spanish Embassy, Dutch, Greeks and many of our colleagues from +Central and South America were there. There were, from the Foreign +Office, Montgelas, Dr. Roediger, Prittwitz and Horstmann. As the +train pulled out, a number of the Americans left in Berlin who +were on the station platform raised quite a vigorous cheer. + +Two officers had been sent by the Imperial Government to accompany +us on this train; one, a Major von der Hagen, sent by the General +Staff and the other, a representative of the Foreign Office, Baron +Wernher von Ow-Wachendorf. It was quite thoughtful of the Foreign +Office to send this last officer, as it was by our efforts that +he had secured his exchange when he was a prisoner in England; +and he, therefore, would be supposed to entertain kindly feelings +for our Embassy. + +I had ordered plenty of champagne and cigars to be put on the +train and we were first invited to drink champagne with the officers +in the dining car; then they joined us in the private salon car +which we occupied in the end of the train. The journey was +uneventful. Outside some of the stations a number of people were +drawn up who stared at the train in a bovine way, but who made +no demonstration of any kind. + +We went through Württemburg and entered Switzerland by way of +Schaffhausen. The two officers left us at the last stop on the +German side. I had taken the precaution before we left Berlin to +find out their names, and, as they left us, I gave each of them +a gold cigarette case inscribed with his name and the date. + +At the first station on the Swiss side a body of Swiss troops +were drawn up, presenting arms, and the Colonel commanding the +Swiss army (there are no generals in Switzerland), attended by +several staff officers, came on the train and travelled with +us nearly to Zurich. + +I started to speak French to one of these staff officers, but +he interrupted me by saying in perfect English, "You do not have +to speak French to me. My name is Iselin, many of my relations +live in New York and I lived there myself some years." + +At Zurich we left the German special train, and were met on the +platform by some grateful Japanese, the American Consul and a +number of French and Swiss newspaper reporters, thus ending our +exodus from Germany. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +LIBERALS AND REASONABLE MEN + +I have already expressed a belief that Germany will not be forced +to make peace because of a revolution, and that sufficient food +will be somehow found to carry the population during at least +another year of war. + +What then offers a prospect of reasonable peace, supposing, of +course, that the Germans fail in the submarine blockade of England +and that the crumbling up of Russia does not release from the +East frontier soldiers enough to break the lines of the British +and French in France? + +I think that it is only by an evolution of Germany herself toward +liberalism that the world will be given such guarantees of future +peace as will justify the termination of this war. + +There is, properly speaking, no great liberal party in the political +arena in Germany. As I have said, the Reichstag is divided roughly +into Conservatives, Roman Catholics, or Centrum, and Social +Democrats. The so-called National Liberal party has in this war +shown itself a branch of the Conservative party, and on some issues +as bitter, as conservative, as the Junkers themselves. Herr +Bassermann and Herr Stresemann have not shown themselves leaders of +liberal thought, nor has their leadership been such as to inspire +confidence in their political sagacity. + +It was Stresemann who on May thirtieth, 1916, said in the Reichstag +referring to President Wilson as a peacemaker, "We thrust the +hand of Wilson aside." On the day following, the day on which +the President announced to Congress the breaking of diplomatic +relations, news of that break had not yet arrived in Berlin and +Herr Stresemann on that peaceful Sunday morning was engaged in +making a speech to the members of the National Liberal party +in which he told them that as a result of his careful study of +the American situation, of his careful researches into American +character and politics, he could assure them that America would +never break with Germany. As he concluded his speech and sat +down amid the applause of his admirers, a German who had been +sitting in the back of the room rose and read from the noon paper, +the "_B. Z._", a despatch from Holland giving the news that +America had broken relations with Germany. The political skill +and foresight of Herr Stresemann may be judged from the above +incident. + +The Socialists, or Social Democrats, more properly speaking, +have shown themselves in opposition to the monarchical form of +government in Germany. This has put them politically, militarily +and socially beyond the pale. + +After a successful French attack in the Champagne, I heard it +said of a German woman, whose husband was thought to be killed, +that her rage and despair had been so great that she had said she +would become a Social Democrat; and her expression was repeated +as showing to what lengths grief had driven her. This girl was +the wife of an ordinary clerk working in Berlin. + +The Social Democrats are not given offices, are not given titles: +they never join the class of "_Rat_," and they cannot hope +to become officers of the army. Did not Lieutenant Forstner, +the notorious centre of the Zabern Affair, promise a reward to +the first one of his men who in case of trouble should shoot +one "of those damn Social Democrats"? + +There is, therefore, no refuge at present politically, for the +reasonable men of liberal inclinations; and it is these liberal +men who must themselves create a liberal party: a party, membership +in which will not entail a loss of business, a loss of prospects +of promotion and social degradation. + +There are many such men in Germany to-day; perhaps some of the +conservative Socialists will join such a party, and there are +men in the government itself whose habits of mind and thought +are not incompatible with membership in a liberal organisation. +The Chancellor himself is, perhaps, at heart a Liberal. He comes +of a banking family in Frankfort and while there stands before +his name the "von" which means nobility, and while he owns a +country estate, the whole turn of his thought is towards a +philosophical liberalism. Zimmermann, the Foreign Secretary, +although the mental excitement caused by his elevation to the +Foreign Office at a time of stress, made him go over to the advocates +of ruthless submarine war, lock, stock and barrel, is nevertheless +at heart a Liberal and violently opposed to a system which draws +the leaders of the country from only one aristocratic class. +Dr. Solf, the Imperial Colonial Minister, while devoted to the +Emperor and his family is a man so reasonable in his views, so +indulgent of the views of others, and indulgent without weakness, +that he would make an ideal leader of a liberalised Germany. +The great bankers, merchants and manufacturers, although they +appreciate the luscious dividends that they have received during +the peaceful years since 1870, nevertheless feel under their +skins the ignominy of living in a country where a class exists +by birth, a class not even tactful enough to conceal its ancient +contempt for all those who soil their hands business or trade. + +In fact such a party is a necessity for Germany as a buffer against +the extreme Social Democrats. + +At the close of the war the soldiers who have fought in the mud +of the trenches for three years will most insistently demand a +redistricting of the Reichstag and an abolition of the inadequate +circle voting of Prussia. And when manhood suffrage comes in +Prussia and when the industrial population of Germany gets that +representation in the Reichstag out of which they have been brazenly +cheated for so many years, it may well be that a great liberal +party will be the only defence of private property against the +assault of an enraged and justly revengeful social democracy. + +The workingmen of Germany have been fooled for a long time. They +constitute that class of which President Lincoln spoke, "You +can fool some of the people all of the time"; and the middle +class of manufacturers, merchants, etc. have acquiesced in the +system because of the profits that they have made. + +The difficulty of making peace with Germany, as at present +constituted, is that the whole world feels that peace made with +its present government would not be lasting; that such a peace +would mean the detachment of some of the Allies from the present +world alliance against Germany; preparation by Germany, in the +light of her needs as disclosed by this war; and the declaration +of a new war in which there would be no battle of the Marne to +turn back the tide of German world conquest. + +For a long time before this war, radicals in Great Britain pinned +a great faith to the Socialist party of Germany. How little that +faith was justified appeared in July and August of 1914 when the +Socialist party tamely voted credits for the war; a war declared +by the Emperor on the mere statement that it was a defensive +war; declared because it was alleged that certain invasions of +German territory, never since substantiated, had taken place. + +The Socialist party is divided. It is a great pity that the world +cannot deal with men of the type of Scheidemann, who, in other +democracies, would appear so conservative as to be almost +reactionary. But Scheidemann and his friends, while they have, +in their attempted negotiations with the Socialists of other +countries, the present protection of the Imperial Government, +will have no hand in dictating terms of peace so long as that +government is in existence. They are being used in an effort +to divide the Allies. + +As President Wilson said in his message to Russia of May +twenty-sixth, 1917: "The war has begun to go against Germany, +and, in their desperate desire to escape the inevitable ultimate +defeat, those who are in authority in Germany are using every +possible instrumentality, are making use even of the influence of +the groups and parties among their own subjects to whom they have +never been just or fair or even tolerant to promote a propaganda on +both sides of the sea which will preserve for them their influence +at home and their power abroad, to the undoing of the very men +they are using." + +There is an impression abroad that the Social Democratic party +of Germany, usually known abroad as the Socialist party, partakes +of at least some of the characteristics of a great liberal party. +This is far from being the case. By their acts, if not by their +express declarations, they have shown themselves as opposed to +the monarchical form of government and their leaders are charged +with having declared themselves openly in favour of free love +and against religion. The Roman Catholic Church recognises in +Social Democracy its greatest enemy, and has made great efforts +to counteract its advance by fostering a sort of Roman Catholic +trades-union for a religious body of Socialists. The Social Democrat +in Germany is almost an outcast. Although one third of the members +of the Reichstag belong to this party, its members are never +called to hold office in the government; and the attitude of +the whole of the governing class, of all the professors, +school-teachers, priests of both Protestant and Roman Catholic +religions of the prosperous middle classes, is that of violent +opposition to the doctrines of Social Democracy. The world must +entertain no illusion that the Social Democratic leaders speak +for Germany. + +If the industrial populations had their fair share of representation +in the Reichstag they might perhaps even control that body. But, +as I have time and again reiterated, the Reichstag has only the +power of public opinion; and the Germany of to-day is ruled by +officials appointed from above downwards. All of these officials in +Germany must be added to the other classes that I have mentioned. +There are more officials there than in any other country in the +world. As they owe their very existence to the government, they +must not only serve that government, but also make the enemies +of that government their own. Therefore, they and the circle +of their connections are opponents of the Social Democrats. + +All this shows how difficult it is at present for the men of +reasonable and liberal views, who do not wish to declare themselves +against both religion and morality, to find a political refuge. + +The Chancellor, himself a liberal at heart, as I have said, has +declared that there must be changes in Germany. It is perhaps +within the bounds of probability that a great new liberal party +will be formed to which I have referred, composed of the more +conservative Social Democrats, of the remains of the National +Liberal and Progressive parties and of the more liberal of the +Conservatives. The important question is then whether the Roman +Catholic party or Centrum will voluntarily dissolve and its members +cease to seek election merely as representatives of the Roman +Catholic Church. + +It is perhaps too much to expect that the Centrum party, as a +whole and as at present constituted, will declare for liberalism +and parliamentary government and for a fair redistricting of +the divisions in Germany which elect members to the Reichstag, +but there are many wise and farseeing men in this party; and +its leaders, Dr. Spahn and Erzberger, are fearless and able men. + +For some years a movement has been going on in the Centrum party +looking to this end. Many members believed that the time had +come when it was no longer necessary that the Roman Catholics +in order to safeguard their religious liberties continue the +political existence of the Centrum, and attempts were made to +bring about this change. It was decided adversely, however, by +the Roman Catholics. But the question is not dead. Voluntary +dissolution of the Centrum as a Roman Catholic party would +immediately bring about a creation of a true liberal party to +which all Germans could belong without a loss of social prestige, +without becoming declared enemies of the monarchy and without +declaring themselves against religion and morality. + +At the Congress which will meet after the war it will be easy +for the nations of the world to deal with the representatives +of a liberal Germany, with representatives of a government still +monarchical in form, but possessed of either a constitution like +that of the United States or ruled by a parliamentary government. +I believe that the tendency of German liberalism is towards the +easiest transition, that of making the Chancellor and his ministers +responsible to the Reichstag and bound to resign after a vote +of want of confidence by that body. + +At the time of the Zabern Affair, Scheidemann claimed that the +resignation of the Chancellor must logically follow a vote of +want of confidence; and it was von Bethmann-Hollweg who refused +to resign, saying that he was responsible to the Emperor alone. +It requires no violent change to bring about this establishment +of parliamentary government, and, if the members of the Reichstag +should be elected from districts fairly constituted, the world +would then be dealing with a liberalised Germany, and a Germany +which has become liberalised without any violent change in the +form of its government. + +Of course, coincident with this parliamentary reform, the vicious +circle system of voting in Prussia must end. + +This change to a government by a responsible ministry can be +accomplished under the constitution of the German Empire by a +mere majority vote of the Reichstag and a vote in the Bundesrat, +in which less than fourteen votes are against the proposed change +in the constitution. This means that the consent of the Emperor +as Prussian King must be obtained, and that of a number of the +rulers of the German States. + +In the reasonable liberalisation of Germany, if it comes, Theodor +Wolff and his father-in-law, Mosse, will play leading parts. +The great newspaper, the _Tageblatt_, which Mosse owns and +Wolff edits, has throughout the war been a beacon light at once +of reason and of patriotism. And other great newspapers will +take the same enlightened course. + +I am truly sorry for Georg Bernhard, the talented editor of the +_Vossiche Zeitung_, who, a Liberal and a Jew, wears the +livery of Junkerdom, I am sure to his great distaste. + +After I left Germany the _Vossiche Zeitung_ made the most +ridiculous charges against me, such as that I issued American +passports to British subjects. The newspaper might as well have +solemnly charged that I sent notes to the Foreign Office in sealed +envelopes. Having charge of British interests, I could not issue +British passports to British citizens allowed to leave Germany, +but, according to universal custom in similar cases and the express +consent of the Imperial Foreign Office, I gave these returning +British, American passports superstamped with the words "British +subject." A mare's nest, truly! + +The fall of von Bethmann-Hollweg was a triumph of kitchen intrigue +and of Junkerism. I believe that he is a liberal at heart, that +it was against his best judgment that the ruthless submarine +war was resumed, the pledges of the _Sussex_ Note broken +and Germany involved in war with America. If he had resigned, +rather than consent to the resumption of V-boat war, he would +have stood out as a great Liberal rallying point and probably +have returned to a more real power than he ever possessed. But +half because of a desire to retain office, half because of a +mistaken loyalty to the Emperor, he remained in office at the +sacrifice of his opinions; and when he laid down that office no +title of Prince or even of Count waited him as a parting gift. +In his retirement he will read the lines of Schiller--a favourite +quotation in Germany--"Der Mohr hat seine Schuldigkeit gethan, +der Mohr kann gehen." "The Moor has done his work, the Moor can +go." And in his old age he will exclaim, as Shakespeare makes +the great Chancellor of Henry the Eighth exclaim, "Oh Cromwell, +Cromwell! Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served +my King, He would not, in mine age, have left me naked to mine +enemies." But this God is not the private War God of the Prussians +with whom they believe they have a gentlemen's working agreement, +but the God of Christianity, of humanity and of all mankind. + +It would have been easier for Germany to make peace with von +Bethmann-Hollweg at the helm. The whole world knows him and honours +him for his honesty. + +Helfferich remained as Vice-Chancellor and Minister of the Interior: +a powerful, and agile intellect, a man, I am sure, opposed to +militarism. Reasonable in his views, one can sit at the council +table with him and arrive at compromises and results, but his +intense patriotism and surpassing ability make him an opponent +to be feared. + +Kühlmann has the Foreign Office. Far more wily than Zimmermann, +he will continue to strive to embroil us with Japan and Mexico, +but he will not be caught. Second in command in London, he reported +then that England would enter the war. The rumours scattered +broadcast, as he took office, to the effect that he was opposed +to ruthless V-boat war were but evidences of a more skilful hand +in a campaign to predispose the world in his favour and, therefore, +to assist him in any negotiations he might have on the carpet. +Beware of the wily Kühlmann! + +Baiting the Chancellor is the favourite sport of German political +life. No sooner does the Kaiser name a Chancellor than hundreds +of little politicians, Reichstag members, editors, reporters +and female intriguers try to drive him from office. When von +Bethmann-Hollweg showed an inclination towards Liberalism, and +advocated a juster electoral system for Prussia, the Junkers, the +military and the upholders of the caste system joined their forces +to those of the usual intriguers; and it was only a question of +time until the Chancellor's official head fell in the basket. + +His successor is a Prussian bureaucrat. No further description +is necessary. + +Of course no nation will permit itself to be reformed from without. +The position of the world in arms with reference to Germany is +simply this. It is impossible to make peace with Germany as at +present constituted, because that peace will be but a truce, +a short breathing space before the German military autocrats +again send the sons of Germany to death in the trenches for the +advancement of the System and the personal glory and advantage +of stuffy old generals and prancing princes. + +The world does not believe that a free Germany will needlessly +make war, believe in war for war's sake or take up the profession +of arms as a national industry. + +The choice lies with the German people. And how admirably has +our great President shown that people that we war not with them +but with the autocracy which has led them into the shambles of +dishonour. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE GERMAN PEOPLE IN WAR + +With the declaration of war the ultimate power in Germany was +transferred from the civil to the military authorities. + +At five o'clock on the afternoon of Friday, and immediately after +the declaration of a State of War, the Guard of the Grenadier +Regiment Kaiser Alexander, under the command of a Lieutenant with +four drummers, took its place before the monument of Frederick +the Great in the middle of the Unter den Linden. The drummers +sounded a ruffle on their drums and the Lieutenant read an order +beginning with the words "By all highest order: A State of War +is proclaimed in Berlin and in the Province of Brandenburg." +This order was signed by General von Kessel as Over-Commander +of the Mark of Brandenburg; and stated that the complete power +was transferred to him; that the civil officials might remain +in office, but must obey the orders and regulations of the +Over-Commander; that house-searchings and arrests by officials +thereto empowered could take place at any time; that strangers +who could not show good reason for remaining in Berlin, had +twenty-four hours in which to leave; that the sale of weapons, +powder and explosives to civilians was forbidden; and that civilians +were forbidden to carry weapons without permission of the proper +authorities. + +The same transfer of authority took place in each army +corps--_Bezirk_, or province or district in Germany; and +in each army corps district or province the commanding general +took over the ultimate power. In Berlin it was necessary to create +a new officer, the Over-Commander of the Mark, because two army +corps, the third and the army corps of the guards, had their +head-quarters in Berlin. These army corps commanders were not +at all bashful about the use of the power thus transferred to +them. Some of them even prescribed the length of the dresses +to be worn by the women; and many women, having followed the +German sport custom of wearing knickerbockers in the winter sports +resorts of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Generalkommando, or +Headquarters for Bavaria issued in January, 1917, the following +order: "The appearance of many women in Garmisch-Partenkirchen +has excited lively anger and indignation in the population there. +This bitterness is directed particularly against certain women, +frequently of ripe age, who do not engage in sports, but nevertheless +show themselves in public continually clad in knickerbockers. It +has even happened that women so dressed have visited churches +during the service. Such behaviour is a cruelty to the earnest +minds of the mountain population and, in consequence, there are +often many disagreeable occurrences in the streets. Officials, +priests and private citizens have turned to the Generalkommando +with the request for help; and the Generalkommando has, therefore, +empowered the district officials in Garmisch-Partenkirchen to +take energetic measures against this misconduct; if necessary +with the aid of the police." + +I spent two days at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in February, 1916. +Some of the German girls looked very well in their "knickers," +but I agree with the Generalkommando that the appearance of some +of the older women was "cruelty" not only to the "earnest mountain +population" but to any observer. + +These corps commanders are apparently responsible direct to the +Emperor; and therefore much of the difficulty that I had concerning +the treatment of prisoners was due to this system, as each corps +commander considered himself supreme in his own district not +only over the civil and military population but over the prison +camps within his jurisdiction. + +On the fourth of August, 1914, a number of laws were passed, +which had been evidently prepared long in advance, making various +changes made necessary by war, such as alteration of the Coinage +Law, the Bank Law, and the Law of Maximum Prices. Laws as to +the high prices were made from time to time. For instance, the +law of the twenty-eighth of October, 1914, provided in detail +the maximum prices for rye in different parts of Germany. The +maximum price at wholesale per German ton of native rye must +not exceed 220 marks in Berlin, 236 marks in Cologne, 209 marks +in Koenigsberg, 228 marks in Hamburg, 235 marks in Frankfort a/M. + +The maximum price for the German ton of native wheat was set at +forty marks per ton higher than the above rates for rye. This +maximum price was made with reference to deliveries without sacks +and for cash payments. + +The law as to the maximum prices applied to all objects of daily +necessity, not only to food and fodder but to oil, coal and wood. +Of course, these maximum prices were changed from time to time, +but I think I can safely state that at no time in the war, while +I was in Berlin, were the simple foods more expensive than in +New York. + +The so-called "war bread," the staple food of the population, +which was made soon after the commencement of the war, was composed +partially of rye and potato flour. It was not at all unpalatable, +especially when toasted; and when it was seen that the war would +not be as short as the Germans had expected, the bread cards +were issued. That is, every Monday morning each person was given +a card which had annexed to it a number of little perforated +sections about the size of a quarter of a postage stamp, each +marked with twenty-five, fifty or one hundred. The total of these +figures constituted the allowance of each person in grammes per +week. The person desiring to buy bread either at a baker's or in +a restaurant must turn in these little stamped sections for an +amount equivalent to the weight of bread purchased. Each baker +was given a certain amount of meal at the commencement of each +week, and he had to account for this meal at the end of the week +by turning in its equivalent in bread cards. + +As food became scarce, the card system was applied to meat, potatoes, +milk, sugar, butter and soap. Green vegetables and fruits were +exempt from the card system, as were for a long time chickens, +ducks, geese, turkeys and game. Because of these exemptions the +rich usually managed to live well, although the price of a goose +rose to ridiculous heights. There was, of course, much underground +traffic in cards and sales of illicit or smuggled butter, etc. +The police were very stern in their enforcement of the law and +the manager of one of the largest hotels in Berlin was taken to +prison because he had made the servants give him their allowance +of butter, which he in turn sold to the rich guests of the hotel. + +No one over six years of age at the time I left could get milk +without a doctor's certificate. One result of this was that the +children of the poor were surer of obtaining milk than before +the war, as the women of the Frauendienst and social workers +saw to it that each child had its share. + +The third winter of the war, owing to a breakdown of means of +transportation and want of laborers, coal became very scarce. +All public places, such as theatres, picture galleries, museums, +and cinematograph shows, were closed in Munich for want of coal. +In Berlin the suffering was not as great but even the elephants +from Hagenbeck's Show were pressed into service to draw the coal +carts from the railway stations. + +Light was economized. All the apartment houses (and all Berlin +lives in apartment houses) were closed at nine o'clock. Stores +were forbidden to illuminate their show windows and all theatres +were closed at ten. Only every other street electric light was +lit; of the three lights in each lamp, only one. + +As more and more men were called to the front, women were employed +in unusual work. The new underground road in Berlin is being +built largely by woman labour. This is not so difficult a matter +in Berlin as in New York, because Berlin is built upon a bed +of sand and the difficulties of rock excavation do not exist. +Women are employed on the railroads, working with pickaxes on +the road-bed. Women drive the great yellow post carts of Berlin. +There were women guards on the underground road, women conductors +on the tramways and women even become motor men on the tramcars. +Banks, insurance companies and other large business institutions +were filled with women workers who invaded the sacred precincts +of many military and governmental offices. + +A curious development of the hate of all things foreign was the +hunt led by the Police President of Berlin, von Jagow (a cousin +of the Foreign Minister), for foreign words. Von Jagow and his +fellow cranks decided that all words of foreign origin must be +expunged from the German language. The title of the Hotel Bristol +on the Unter den Linden disappeared. The Hotel Westminster on +the same street became Lindenhof. There is a large hotel called +"The Cumberland," with a pastry department over which there was +a sign, the French word, _Confissérie_. The management was +compelled to take this sign down, but the hotel was allowed to +retain the name of Cumberland, because the father-in-law of the +Kaiser's only daughter is the Duke of Cumberland. The word +"chauffeur" was eliminated, and there, were many discussions as +to what should be substituted. Many declared for Kraftwagenfuhrer +or "power wagon driver." + +But finally the word was Germanised as "Schauffoer." Prussians +took down the sign, _Confektion_, but the climax came when +the General in command of the town of Breslau wrote a confectioner +telling him to stop the use of the word "_bonbon_" in selling +his candy. The confectioner, with a sense of humour and a nerve +unusual in Germany, wrote back to the General that he would gladly +discontinue the use of the word "_bonbon_" when the General +ceased to call himself "General," and called the attention of +this high military authority to the fact that "General" was as +much a French word as "_bonbon_." + +Unusual means were adopted in order to get all the gold coins +in the country into the Imperial Bank. There were signs in every +surface and underground car which read, "Whoever keeps back a +gold coin injures the Fatherland." And if a soldier presented +to his superiors a twenty mark gold piece, he received in return +twenty marks in paper money and two days leave of absence. In +like manner a school boy who turned in ten marks in gold received +ten marks in paper and was given a half holiday. Cinematograph +shows gave these patrons who paid in gold an extra ticket, good +for another day. An American woman residing at Berlin was awakened +one morning at eight o'clock by two police detectives who told +her that they had heard that she had some gold coins in her +possession, and that if she did not turn them in for paper money +they would wreck her apartment in their search for them. She, +therefore, gave them the gold which I afterwards succeeded in +getting the German Government to return to her. Later, the export +of gold was forbidden, and even travellers arriving with gold +were compelled to give it up in return for paper money. + +While, of course, I cannot ascertain the exact amounts, I found, +nevertheless, that great quantities of food and other supplies +came into Germany from Holland and the Scandinavian countries, +particularly from Sweden. Now that we are in the war we should +take strong measures and cut off exports to these countries which +export food, raw material, etc. to Germany. Sweden is particularly +active in this traffic, but I understand that sulphur pyrites +are sent from Norway, and sulphuric acid made therefrom is an +absolute essential to the manufacture of munitions of war. + +Potash, which is found as a mineral only in Germany and Austria, +was used in exchange of commodities with Sweden and in this way +much copper, lard, etc. reached Germany. + +Early in the summer of 1915, the first demonstration took place +in Berlin. About five hundred women collected in front of the +Reichstag building. They were promptly suppressed by the police +and no newspaper printed an account of the occurrence. These +women were rather vague in their demands. They called von Buelow +an old fat-head for his failure in Italy and complained that the +whipped cream was not so good as before the war. There was some +talk of high prices for food, and the women all said that they +wanted their men back from the trenches. + + * * * * * + +Early summer brought also a number of cranks to Berlin. Miss Jane +Addams and her fellow suffragists, after holding a convention +in Holland, moved on Berlin. I succeeded in getting both the +Chancellor and von Jagow to consent to receive them, a meeting to +which they looked forward with unconcealed perturbation. However, +one of them seems to have impressed Miss Addams, for, as I write +this, I read in the papers that she is complaining that we should +not have gone to war because we thereby risk hurting somebody's +feelings. + + * * * * * + +On July twenty-seventh, 1915, I reported that I had learned that +the Germans were picking out the Revolutionists and Liberals +from the many Russian prisoners of war, furnishing them with +money and false passports and papers, and sending them back to +Russia to stir up a revolution. + + * * * * * + +A German friend of mine told me that a friend of his who manufactured +field glasses had received a large order from the Bulgarian +Government. This manufacturer went to the Foreign Office and +asked whether he should deliver the goods. He was told not only +to deliver them but to do it as quickly as possible. By learning +of this I was able to predict long in advance the entry of Bulgaria +on the side of the Central Powers. + + * * * * * + +Even a year after the commencement of the war there were reasonable +people in Germany. I met Ballin, head of the great Hamburg American +Line, on August ninth. I said to him, "When are you going to +stop this crazy fighting?" The next day Ballin called on me and +said that the sensible people of Germany wanted peace and that +without annexation. He told me that every one was afraid to talk +peace, that each country thought it a sign of weakness, and that +he had advised the Chancellor to put a statement in an official +paper to say that Germany fought only to defend herself and was +ready to make an honourable peace. He told me that the Emperor at +that time was against the annexation of Belgium. + + * * * * * + +In calculating the great war debt built up by Germany, it must +not be forgotten that German municipalities and other political +districts have incurred large debts for war purposes, such as +extra relief given to the wives and children of soldiers. + + * * * * * + +In November, 1915, there were food disturbances and a serious +agitation against a continuance of the war; and, in Leipzig, +a Socialist paper was suppressed. + + * * * * * + +The greatest efforts were made at all times to get in gold; and +some time before I left Germany an advertisement was published +in the newspapers requesting Germans to give up their jewelry for +the Fatherland. Many did so: among them, I believe, the Empress +and other royalties. + + * * * * * + +In December, 1915, a prominent banker in Berlin said to me that +the Germans were sick of the war; that the Krupps and other big +industries were making great sums of money and were prolonging +the war by insisting upon the annexation of Belgium; and that +the Junkers were also in favour of the continuance of the war +because of the fact that they were getting four or five times +the money for their products while their work was being done by +prisoners. He said that the _Kaufleute_ (merchant middle class) +will have to pay the cost of the war and that the Junkers will +not be taxed. + + * * * * * + +In December, butter became very scarce and the women waiting +in long lines before the shops often rushed the shops. In this +month many copper roofs were removed from buildings in Berlin. +I was told by a friend in the Foreign Office that the notorious +von Rintelen was sent to America to buy up the entire product of +the Dupont powder factories, and that he exceeded his authority +if he did anything else. + +In December, on the night of the day of the peace interpellation +in the Reichstag a call was issued by placards for a meeting +on the Unter den Linden. I went out on the streets during the +afternoon and found that the police had so carefully divided +the city into districts that it was impossible for a crowd of +any size to gather on the Unter den Linden. There was quite a +row at the session in the Reichstag. Scheidemann, the Socialist, +made a speech very moderate in tone; but he was answered by the +Chancellor and then an endeavour was made to close the debate. +The Socialists made such a noise, however, that the majority gave +way and another prominent Socialist, Landsberger, was allowed +to speak for the Socialists. He also made a reasonable speech +in the course of which he said that even Socialists would not +allow Alsace-Lorraine to go back to France. He made use of a +rather good phrase, saying that the "Dis-United States of Europe +were making war to make a place for the United States of America." + + * * * * * + +The banks sent out circulars to all holders of safe deposit boxes, +asking them to disclose the contents. This was part of the campaign +to get in hoarded gold. + + * * * * * + +In January, 1916, we had many visitors. S. S. McClure, Hermann +Bernstein, Inez Milholland Boissevain--all of the Ford Peace +Ship--appeared in Berlin. I introduced Mrs. Boissevain to Zimmermann +who admired her extremely. + + * * * * * + +In January, 1916, I visited Munich and from there a Bavarian +officer prison camp and the prison camp for private soldiers, +both at Ingolstadt. I also conferred with Archdeacon Nies of +the American Episcopal Church who carried on a much needed work +in visiting the prison camps in Bavaria. + + * * * * * + +The American Colony in Munich maintained with the help of friends +in America, a Red Cross hospital under the able charge of Dr. +Jung, a Washington doctor, and his wife. The nursing was done by +American and German girls. The American Colony at Munich also fed +a number of school children every day. I regret to say, however, +that many of the Americans in Munich were loud in their abuse of +President Wilson and their native country. + + * * * * * + +In March, 1916, I was sounded on the question of Germany's sending +an unofficial envoy, like Colonel House, to America to talk +informally to the President and prominent people. I was told that +Solf would probably be named. + + * * * * * + +In 1916, the importation of many articles of luxury into Germany +was forbidden. This move was naturally made in order to keep +money in the country. + + * * * * * + +A Dane who had a quantity of manganese in Brazil sold it to a +Philadelphia firm for delivery to the United States Steel Company. +The German Government in some way learned of this and the Dane +was arrested and put in jail. His Minister had great difficulty +in getting him out. + + * * * * * + +Liebknecht, in April of 1916, made matters lively at the Reichstag +sessions. During the Chancellor's speech, Liebknecht interrupted +him and said that the Germans were not free; next he denied that +the Germans had not wished war; and, another time, he called +attention to the attempts of the Germans to induce the Mohammedan +and Irish prisoners of war to desert to the German side. Liebknecht +finally enraged the government supporters by calling out that +the subscription to the loan was a swindle. + + * * * * * + +After the _Sussex_ settlement I think that the Germans wished +to inaugurate an era of better feeling between Germany and the +United States. At any rate, and in answer to many anonymous attacks +made against me, the _North German Gazette_, the official +newspaper, published a sort of certificate from the government +to the effect that I was a good boy and that the rumours of my +bitter hostility to Germany were unfounded. + + * * * * * + +In May, 1916, Wertheim, head of the great department store in +Berlin, told me that they had more business than in peace times. + + * * * * * + +Early in June 1 had two long talks with Prince von Buelow. He +speaks English well and is suspected by his enemies of having +been polishing it up lately in order to make ready for possible +peace conferences. He is a man of a more active brain than the +present Chancellor, and is very restless and anxious in some +way to break into the present political situation. + + * * * * * + +In June, the anonymous attacks on the Chancellor by pamphlet +and otherwise, incensed him to such a degree that he made an +open answer in the Reichstag and had rather the best of the +situation. Many anonymous lies and rumours were flying about +Berlin at this period, and even Helfferich had to deny publicly +the anonymous charges that he had been anonymously attacking +the Chancellor. + + * * * * * + +In July, the committee called the National Committee for an +Honourable Peace was formed with Prince Wedel at its head. Most +of the people in this League were friends of the Chancellor, and +one of the three real heads was the editor of the +_Frankfurter Zeitung_, the Chancellor's organ. It was planned that +fifty speakers from this committee would begin to speak all over +Germany on August first, but when they began to speak their views +were so dissimilar and the speeches of most of them so ridiculous +that the movement failed. + + * * * * * + +In August, I spent two Saturdays and Sundays at Heringsdorf, +a summer resort on the Baltic. Before going there I had to get +special permission from the military authorities through the +Foreign Office, as foreigners are not allowed to reside on the +coast of Germany. Regulations that all windows must be darkened +at night and no lights shown which could be seen from the sea +were strictly enforced by the authorities. + +There are three bathing places. In each of them the bath houses, +etc. surround three sides of a square, the sea forming the fourth +side. Bathing is allowed only on this fourth side for a space +of sixty-five yards long. One of these bathing places is for +women and one for men, and the third is the so-called Familienbad +(family bath) where mixed bathing is allowed. German women are +very sensible in the matter of their bathing costumes and do +not wear the extraordinary creations seen in America. They wear +bathing sandals but no stockings, and, as most of them have fine +figures but dress badly, they appear at their best at Heringsdorf. +Both sea and air seemed somewhat cold for bathing. On account +of their sensible dress, most of the German women are expert +swimmers. + +I noticed one very handsome blonde girl who sat on her bathing +mantle exciting the admiration of the beach because of her fine +figure. She suddenly dived into the pockets of the bathing mantle +and produced an enormous black bread sandwich which she proceeded +to consume quite unconsciously, after which she swam out to sea. +No healthy German can remain long separated from food; and I +noticed in the prospectus of the different boarding-houses at +Heringsdorf that patrons were offered, in addition to about four +meals or more a day, an extra sandwich to take to the beach to +be consumed during the bathing hour. + + * * * * * + +There is a beautiful little English church in Berlin which was +especially favoured by the Kaiser's mother during her life. Because +of this, the Kaiser permitted this church to remain open, and +the services were continued during the war. The pastor, Rev. Mr. +Williams, obtained permission to visit the British prisoners, +and most devotedly travelled from one prison camp to another. +Both he and his sister, whose charitable work for the British +deserves mention, were at one time thrown into jail, charged +with spying. + + * * * * * + +I at first attended the hybrid American church, but when, in +1915, I think, the committee hired a German _woman_ preacher +I ceased to attend. The American, the Reverend Dr. Crosser, who +was in charge when I arrived in Berlin left, to my everlasting +regret, in the spring before the war. + + * * * * * + +Poor Creelman, the celebrated newspaper correspondent, died in +Berlin. We got him in to a good hospital and some one from the +Embassy visited him every day. + +The funeral services were conducted in the American Church by +the Rev. Dr. Dickie, long a resident of Berlin, whose wife had +presented the library to the American church. The Foreign Office +sent Herr Horstmann as its representative. + + * * * * * + +While to-day all royalties and public men pose for the movies, +Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria and his family are probably the first +royalties to act in a cinematograph. In 1916, there was released +in Berlin a play in which Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria, his wife +and two daughters by a former wife appeared, acting as Bulgarian +royalties in the development of the plot. + + * * * * * + +The difference between von Jagow and Zimmermann was that von +Jagow had lived abroad, had met people from all countries and +knew that there was much to learn about the psychology of the +inhabitants of countries other than Germany. Zimmermann, in the +early part of his career, had been consul at Shanghai; and, on +his way back, had passed through America, spending two days in +San Francisco and three in New York. He seemed to think that +this transcontinental trip had given him an intimate knowledge +of American character. Von Jagow, on the other hand, almost as +soon as war began, spent many hours talking to me about America +and borrowed from me books and novels on that country. The novel +in which he took the greatest interest was "Turmoil," by Booth +Tarkington. + + * * * * * + +I think there must have been a period quite recently when the +German Government tried to imbue the people with a greater degree +of frightfulness, because all of us in visiting camps, etc. observed +that the _landsturm_ men or older soldiers were much more merciful +than the younger ones. + + * * * * * + +Alexander Cochran, a New York yachtsman, volunteered to become a +courier between the London Embassy and ours. On his first trip, +although he had two passports (his regular passport and a special +courier's passport), he was arrested and compelled to spend the +night on the floor of the guard-room at the frontier town of +Bentheim. This ended his aspirations to be a courier. He is now +a commander in the British Navy, having joined it with his large +steam yacht, the _Warrior_ some time before the United States +entered the war. In the piping times of peace he had been the +guest of the Emperor at Kiel. + + * * * * * + +A British prisoner, who escaped from Ruhleben, was caught in a +curious manner. Prisoners in Ruhleben received bread from outside, +as I have explained in the chapter on prisoners of war. This bread +is white, something unknown in Germany since the war. The escaped +prisoner took with him some sandwiches made of the bread he had +received in Ruhleben and most incautiously ate one of these +sandwiches in a railway station. He was immediately surrounded +by a crowd of Germans anxious to know where he had obtained the +white bread, and, in this way, was detected and returned to prison. + + * * * * * + +On our way out in September, 1916, we were given a large dinner +in Copenhagen by our skilful minister there, the Hon. Maurice +F. Egan, who has devoted many years of his life to the task of +adding the three beautiful Danish islands to the dominions of the +United States. He is an able diplomat, very popular in Copenhagen, +where he is dean of the diplomatic corps. At this dinner we met +Countess Hegerman-Lindencron, whose interesting books, "The Sunny +Side of Diplomatic Life" and "The Courts of Memory," have had +a large circulation in America. In Copenhagen, too, both on the +way out and in, we lunched with Count Rantzau-Brockedorff, then +German Minister there. Count Rantzau is skilful and wily, and not +at all military in his instincts; and, I should say, far more +inclined to arrive at a reasonable compromise than the average +German diplomat. He is a charming International, with none of the +rough points and aggressive manners which characterise so many +Prussian officials. + + * * * * * + +In judging the German people, we must remember that, while they +have made great progress in the last forty years in commerce +and chemistry, the very little liberty they possess is a plant +of very recent growth. About the year 1780, Frederick the Great +having sent some money to restore the burned city of Greiffenberg, +in Silesia, the magistrates of that town called upon him to thank +him. They kneeled and their spokesman said, "We render unto your +Majesty in the name of the inhabitants of Greiffenberg, our humble +thanks for the most gracious gift which your Majesty deigned to +bestow in aid and to assist us in rebuilding our homes. + +"The gratitude of such dust as we, is, as we are aware, of no +moment or value to you. We shall, however, implore God to grant +your Majesty His divine favours in return for your royal bounty." + +Too many Germans, to-day, feel that they are mere dust before +the almost countless royalties of the German Empire. And these +royalties are too prone to feel that the kingdoms, dukedoms and +principalities of Germany and their inhabitants are their private +property. The Princes of Nassau and Anspach and Hesse, at the +time of our Revolution, sold their unfortunate subjects to the +British Government to be exported to fight the Americans. Our +American soil covers the bones of many a poor German peasant +who gave up his life in a war from which he gained nothing. + + * * * * * + +When Frederick the Great, the model and exemplar of all German +royalties; died in 1786, he disposed of the Kingdom of Prussia +in his will as if it had been one of his horses. "I bequeath +unto my dear nephew, Frederick William, as unto my immediate +successor, the Kingdom of Prussia, the provinces, towns, palaces, +forts, fortresses, all ammunition and arsenals, all lands mine +by inheritance or right of conquest, the crown jewels, gold and +silver service of plate in Berlin, country houses, collections +of coins, picture galleries, gardens, and so forth." Contrast +this will with the utterances of Washington and Hamilton made +at the same time! + +In the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg, serfdom was not abolished +until 1819. + + * * * * * + +The spies and the influencers of American correspondents made +their headquarters at a large Berlin hotel. A sketch of their +activities is given by de Beaufort in his book, "Behind the German +Veil." + + * * * * * + +Among the American correspondents in Berlin during the war great +credit should be given to Carl W. Ackerman and Seymour B. Conger, +correspondents of the United and Associated Presses respectively, +who at all times and in spite of their surroundings and in the +face of real difficulties preserved their Americanism unimpaired +and refused to succumb to the alluring temptations held out to +them. I do not mean to imply that the other correspondents were +not loyal, but the pro-Germanism of many of them unfortunately +gave the Imperial Foreign Office and the great general staff a +wrong impression of Americans. It is the splendid patriotism +under fire of Ackerman and Conger that deserves special mention. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +LAST + +I was credited by the Germans with having hoodwinked and jollied +the Foreign Office and the Government into refraining for two +years from using illegally their most effective weapon. + +This, of course, is not so. I always told the Foreign Office the +plain simple truth and the event showed that I correctly predicted +the attitude of America. + +Our American national game, poker, has given us abroad an unfair +reputation. We are always supposed to be bluffing. A book was +published in Germany about the President called, "President Bluff." + +I only regret that those high in authority in Germany should +have preferred to listen to pro-German correspondents who posed +as amateur super-Ambassadors rather than to the authorised +representatives of America. I left Germany with a clear conscience +and the knowledge that I had done everything possible to keep +the peace. + +An Ambassador, of course, does not determine the policy of his +own country. One of his principal duties, if not the principal +one, is to keep his own country informed--to know beforehand what +the country to which he is accredited will do, and I think that +I managed to give the State Department advance information of +the moves of the rulers of Germany. + +I had the support of a loyal and devoted staff of competent +secretaries and assistants, and both Secretaries Bryan and Lansing +were most kind in the backing given by their very ably organised +department. + +I sent Secretary Lansing a confidential letter every week and, of +course, received most valuable hints from him. Secretary Lansing +was very successful in his tactful handling of the American +Ambassadors abroad and in getting them to work together as cheerful +members of the same team. + +When I returned to America, after living for two and a half years +in the centre of this world calamity, everything seemed petty +and small. I was surprised that people could still seek little +advantages, still be actuated by little jealousies and revenges. +Freed from the round of daily work I felt for the first time the +utter horror and uselessness of all the misery these Prussian +military autocrats had brought upon the world; and what a reckoning +there will be in Germany some day when the plain people realise +the truth, when they learn what base motives actuated their rulers +in condemning a whole generation of the earth to war and death! + +Is it not a shame that the world should have been so disturbed; +that peaceful men are compelled to lie out in the mud and filth +in the depth of raw winter, shot at and stormed at and shelled, +waiting for a chance to murder some other inoffensive fellow +creature? Why must the people in old Poland die of hunger, not +finding dogs enough to eat in the streets of Lemberg? The long +lines of broken peasants in Serbia and in Roumania; the population +of Belgium and Northern France torn from their homes to work +as slaves for the Germans; the poor prisoners of war starving +in their huts or working in factories and mines; the cries of +the old and the children, wounded by bombs from Zeppelins; the +wails of the mothers for their sons; the very rustling of the air +as the souls of the ten million dead sweep to another world,--why +must all these horrors come upon a fair green earth, where we +believed that love and help and friendship, genius and science +and commerce, religion and civilisation, once ruled? + +It is because in the dark, cold Northern plains of Germany there +exists an autocracy, deceiving a great people, poisoning their +minds from one generation to another and preaching the virtue +and necessity of war; and until that autocracy is either wiped +out or made powerless, there can be no peace on earth. + +The golden dream of conquest was almost accomplished. A little +more advance, a few more wagon loads of ammunition, and there +would have been no battle of the Marne, no Joffre, a modern Martel, +to hammer back the invading hordes of barbarism. + +I have always stated that Germany is possessed yet of immense +military power; and, to win, the nations opposed to Germany must +learn to think in a military way. The mere entrance, even of +a great nation like our own, into the war, means nothing in a +military way unless backed by military power. + +And there must be no German peace. The old _régime_, left +in control of Germany, of Bulgaria, of Turkey, would only seek +a favourable moment to renew the war, to strive again for the +mastery of the world. + +Fortunately America bars the way,--America led by a fighting +President who win allow no compromise with brutal autocracy. + + +THE END + + +[Illustration: THIS AND THE FOLLOWING FIVE PAGES ARE A FAC-SIMILE +REPRODUCTION OF THE TELEGRAM IN THE KAISER'S OWN HANDWRITING +WHICH HE GAVE AMBASSADOR GERARD TO CABLE TO PRESIDENT WILSON.] + +[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF SECRETARY OF STATE ZIMMERMAN'S REQUEST +TO AMBASSADOR GERARD TO CALL IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE ANNOUNCEMENT +OF RUTHLESS SUBMARINE WARFARE AGAINST THE ALLIES.] + +[Illustration: THE REMODELLED DRAFT OF THE TREATY OF 1799 BETWEEN +THE UNITED STATES AND PRUSSIA, WHICH AMBASSADOR GERARD WAS ASKED +TO SIGN WHEN LEAVING GERMANY AFTER DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS HAD BEEN +SEVERED.] + +[Illustration: A FAC-SIMILE REPRODUCTION OF A MULTIGRAPH SET OF +INSTRUCTIONS SENT OUT BY THE GERMAN PRESS BUREAU TO THE NEWSPAPERS +FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENABLING THEM TO WRITE UP THE LATEST ZEPPELIN +RAID ON LONDON. THE INSTRUCTIONS WARN THEM THAT THEIR ACCOUNTS +MUST NOT READ LIKE A REPRINT, BUT MUST SEEM TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN +INDEPENDENTLY.] + +[Illustration: A PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, +CIRCULATED FOR SIGNATURES AMONG THE AMERICANS IN EUROPE, OSTENSIBLY +TO PROTEST AGAINST THE AMERICAN MANUFACTURE OF MUNITIONS OF WAR.] + +[Illustration: FIRST PAGE OF A PAMPHLET FOR PROPAGANDA PURPOSES, +IN WHICH WIDE PUBLICITY WAS GIVEN TO LISSAUER'S FAMOUS "HYMN +OF HATE".] + +[Illustration: AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF TEUTONIC EFFICIENCY. MINUTE +REGULATIONS IN REGARD TO PRESENTATION AT COURT.] + +[Illustration: A BERLIN EXTRA. GERMANY DISCLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY +FOR THE WAR.] + +[Illustration: INVITATION TO SAIL ON S. M. J. "METEOR".] + +[Illustration: INVITATION TO DINE ON THE KAISER'S YACHT, +"HOHENZOLLERN," AT KIEL.] + +[Illustration: INVITATION TO THE GARDEN PARTY AT KIEL OF PRINCE +HENRY OF PRUSSIA, WHICH WAS GIVEN UP BECAUSE OF THE NEWS OF THE +MURDERS AT SARAJEVO.] + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's My Four Years in Germany, by James W. Gerard + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY *** + +***** This file should be named 7238-8.txt or 7238-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/2/3/7238/ + +Produced by Robert J. Hall +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: My Four Years in Germany + +Author: James W. Gerard + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7238] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on March 30, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY *** + + + + +Produced by Robert J. Hall + + + + + +[Illustration: AN INVITATION TO ATTEND THE OPENING OF THE ROYAL +ACADEMY.] + +[Illustration: AN INVITATION TO A COURT BALL.] + +[Illustration: SAFE CONDUCT FOR AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS FAMILY, +UNDER THE SIGNATURE OF SECRETARY ZIMMERMANN, FEBRUARY, 5, 1917.] + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD SAYING GOOD-BYE TO THE AMERICANS +LEAVING ON A SPECIAL TRAIN, AUGUST, 1914.] + + + + +MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY + +BY JAMES W. GERARD + +LATE AMBASSADOR TO THE GERMAN IMPERIAL COURT + + + + +TO MY SMALL BUT TACTFUL FAMILY OF ONE + +MY WIFE + + + +FOREWORD + +I am writing what should have been the last chapter of this book +as a foreword because I want to bring home to our people the +gravity of the situation; because I want to tell them that the +military and naval power of the German Empire is unbroken; that of +the twelve million men whom the Kaiser has called to the colours +but one million, five hundred thousand have been killed, five +hundred thousand permanently disabled, not more than five hundred +thousand are prisoners of war, and about five hundred thousand +constitute the number of wounded or those on the sick list of +each day, leaving at all times about nine million effectives +under arms. + +I state these figures because Americans do not grasp either the +magnitude or the importance of this war. Perhaps the statement +that over five million prisoners of war are held in the various +countries will bring home to Americans the enormous mass of men +engaged. + +There have been no great losses in the German navy, and any losses +of ships have been compensated for by the building of new ones. +The nine million men, and more, for at least four hundred thousand +come of military age in Germany every year, because of their +experience in two and a half years of war are better and more +efficient soldiers than at the time when they were called to +the colours. Their officers know far more of the science of this +war and the men themselves now have the skill and bearing of +veterans. + +Nor should anyone believe that Germany will break under starvation +or make peace because of revolution. + +The German nation is not one which makes revolutions. There will +be scattered riots in Germany, but no simultaneous rising of the +whole people. The officers of the army are all of one class, +and of a class devoted to the ideals of autocracy. A revolution +of the army is impossible; and at home there are only the boys +and old men easily kept in subjection by the police. + +There is far greater danger of the starvation of our Allies than +of the starvation of the Germans. Every available inch of ground +in Germany is cultivated, and cultivated by the aid of the old +men, the boys and the women, and the two million prisoners of +war. + +The arable lands of Northern France and of Roumania are being +cultivated by the German army with an efficiency never before +known in these countries, and most of that food will be added +to the food supplies of Germany. Certainly the people suffer; +but still more certainly this war will not be ended because of +the starvation of Germany. + +Although thinking Germans know that if they do not win the war +the financial day of reckoning will come, nevertheless, owing to +the clever financial handling of the country by the government +and the great banks, there is at present no financial distress in +Germany; and the knowledge that, unless indemnities are obtained +from other countries, the weight of the great war debt will fall +upon the people, perhaps makes them readier to risk all in a +final attempt to win the war and impose indemnities upon not +only the nations of Europe but also upon the United States of +America. + +We are engaged in a war against the greatest military power the +world has ever seen; against a people whose country was for so +many centuries a theatre of devastating wars that fear is bred +in the very marrow of their souls, making them ready to submit +their lives and fortunes to an autocracy which for centuries has +ground their faces, but which has promised them, as a result of +the war, not only security but riches untold and the dominion of +the world; a people which, as from a high mountain, has looked +upon the cities of the world and the glories of them, and has +been promised these cities and these glories by the devils of +autocracy and of war. + +We are warring against a nation whose poets and professors, whose +pedagogues and whose parsons have united in stirring its people +to a white pitch of hatred, first against Russia, then against +England and now against America. + +The U-Boat peril is a very real one for England. Russia may either +break up into civil wars or become so ineffective that the millions +of German troops engaged on the Russian front may be withdrawn +and hurled against the Western lines. We stand in great peril, +and only the exercise of ruthless realism can win this war for us. +If Germany wins this war it means the triumph of the autocratic +system. It means the triumph of those who believe not only in +war as a national industry, not only in war for itself but also +in war as a high and noble occupation. Unless Germany is beaten +the whole world will be compelled to turn itself into an armed +camp, until the German autocracy either brings every nation under +its dominion or is forever wiped out as a form of government. + +We are in this war because we were forced into it: because Germany +not only murdered our citizens on the high seas, but also filled +our country with spies and sought to incite our people to civil +war. We were given no opportunity to discuss or negotiate. The +forty-eight hour ultimatum given by Austria to Serbia was not, +as Bernard Shaw said, "A decent time in which to ask a man to +pay his hotel bill." What of the six-hour ultimatum given to +me in Berlin on the evening of January thirty-first, 1917, when +I was notified at six that ruthless warfare would commence at +twelve? Why the German government, which up to that moment had +professed amity and a desire to stand by the _Sussex_ pledges, +knew that it took almost two days to send a cable to America! I +believe that we are not only justly in this war, but prudently +in this war. If we had stayed out and the war had been drawn +or won by Germany we should have been attacked, and that while +Europe stood grinning by: not directly at first, but through an +attack on some Central or South American State to which it would +be at least as difficult for us to send troops as for Germany. +And what if this powerful nation, vowed to war, were once firmly +established in South or Central America? What of our boasted +isolation then? + +It is only because I believe that our people should be informed +that I have consented to write this book. There are too many +thinkers, writers and speakers in the United States; from now +on we need the doers, the organisers, and the realists who alone +can win this contest for us, for democracy and for permanent +peace! + +Writing of events so new, I am, of course, compelled to exercise +a great discretion, to keep silent on many things of which I +would speak, to suspend many judgments and to hold for future +disclosure many things, the relation of which now would perhaps +only serve to increase bitterness or to cause internal dissension +in our own land. + +The American who travels through Germany in summer time or who +spends a month having his liver tickled at Homburg or Carlsbad, +who has his digestion restored by Dr. Dapper at Kissingen or +who relearns the lost art of eating meat at Dr. Dengler's in +Baden, learns little of the real Germany and its rulers; and in +this book I tell something of the real Germany, not only that +my readers may understand the events of the last three years +but also that they may judge of what is likely to happen in our +future relations with that country. + + + + +CONTENTS + + FOREWORD. + I MY FIRST YEAR IN GERMANY. + II POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL. + III DIPLOMATIC WORK OF FIRST WINTER IN BERLIN. + IV MILITARISM IN GERMANY AND THE ZABERN AFFAIR. + V PSYCHOLOGY AND CAUSES WHICH PREPARED THE NATION FOR WAR. + VI AT KIEL JUST BEFORE THE WAR. + VII THE SYSTEM. + VIII THE DAYS BEFORE THE WAR. + IX THE AMERICANS AT THE OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES. + X PRISONERS OF WAR. + XI FIRST DAYS OF THE WAR: POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC. + XII DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS. + XIII MAINLY COMMERCIAL. + XIV WORK FOR THE GERMANS. + XV WAR CHARITIES. + XVI HATE. + XVII DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS. (Continued). + XVIII LIBERALS AND REASONABLE MEN. + XIX THE GERMAN PEOPLE IN WAR. + XX LAST. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + AMBASSADOR GERARD SAYING GOOD-BYE TO THE AMERICANS LEAVING ON + A SPECIAL TRAIN, AUGUST, 1914. + AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO PRESENT HIS LETTERS OF CREDENCE + TO THE EMPEROR. + THE HOUSE RENTED FOR USE AS EMBASSY. + A SALON IN THE EMBASSY. + THE BALL-ROOM OF THE EMBASSY. + PROGRAMME OF THE MUSIC AFTER DINNER AT THE ROYAL PALACE. + THE ROYAL PALACE AT POTSDAM. + DEMONSTRATION OF SYMPATHY FOR THE AMERICANS AT THE TOWN HALL, + AUGUST, 1914. + RACING YACHTS AT KIEL. + THE KAISER'S YACHT, "HOHENZOLLERN". + AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO HIS SHOOTING PRESERVE. + A KEEPER AND BEATERS ON THE SHOOTING PRESERVE. + CROWDS IN FRONT OF THE EMBASSY, AUGUST, 1914. + OUTSIDE THE EMBASSY IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR. + AT WORK IN THE EMBASSY BALL-ROOM, AUGUST, 1914. + AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS STAFF. + COVER OF THE RUHLEBEN MONTHLY. + SPECIMEN PAGE OF DRAWINGS FROM THE RUHLEBEN MONTHLY. + ALLEGED DUM-DUM BULLETS. + THE "LUSITANIA" MEDAL. + PAGE FROM "FOR LIGHT AND TRUTH". + AMBASSADOR GERARD AND PARTY IN SEDAN. + IN FRONT OF THE COTTAGE AT BAZEILLES. + FOOD ALLOTMENT POSTER FROM THE CHARLEVILLE DISTRICT. + FAC-SIMILE REPRODUCTION OF THE KAISER'S PERSONAL TELEGRAM TO + PRESIDENT WILSON. + FAC-SIMILE OF SECRETARY OF STATE'S REQUEST TO AMBASSADOR GERARD + TO CALL IN ORDER TO RECEIVE SUBMARINE ANNOUNCEMENT. + THE REMODELLED DRAFT OF THE TREATY OF 1799. + INSTRUCTIONS SENT TO THE GERMAN PRESS ON WRITING UP A ZEPPELIN + RAID. + PETITION CIRCULATED FOR SIGNATURE AMONG AMERICANS IN EUROPE. + PAGE FROM LISSAUER'S PAMPHLET SHOWING "HYMN OF HATE". + INSTRUCTIONS REGULATING APPEARANCE AT COURT. + A BERLIN EXTRA. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MY FIRST YEAR IN GERMANY + +The second day out on the _Imperator_, headed for a summer's +vacation, a loud knocking woke me at seven A. M. The radio, handed +in from a friend in New York, told me of my appointment as Ambassador +to Germany. + +Many friends were on the ship. Henry Morgenthau, later Ambassador +to Turkey, Colonel George Harvey, Adolph Ochs and Louis Wiley +of the _New_York_Times_, Clarence Mackay, and others. + +The _Imperator_ is a marvellous ship of fifty-four thousand +tons or more, and at times it is hard to believe that one is +on the sea. In addition to the regular dining saloon, there is +a grill room and Ritz restaurant with its palm garden, and, of +course, an Hungarian Band. There are also a gymnasium and swimming +pool, and, nightly, in the enormous ballroom dances are given, +the women dressing in their best just as they do on shore. + +Colonel Harvey and Clarence Mackay gave me a dinner of twenty-four +covers, something of a record at sea. For long afterwards in +Germany, I saw everywhere pictures of the _Imperator_ including +one of the tables set for this dinner. These were sent out over +Germany as a sort of propaganda to induce the Germans to patronise +their own ships and indulge in ocean travel. I wish that the +propaganda had been earlier and more successful, because it is +by travel that peoples learn to know each other, and consequently +to abstain from war. + +On the night of the usual ship concert, Henry Morgenthau translated +a little speech for me into German, which I managed to get through +after painfully learning it by heart. Now that I have a better +knowledge of German, a cold sweat breaks out when I think of +the awful German accent with which I delivered that address. + +A flying trip to Berlin early in August to look into the house +question followed, and then I returned to the United States. + +In September I went to Washington to be "instructed," talked +with the President and Secretary, and sat at the feet of the +Assistant Secretary of State, Alvey A. Adee, the revered Sage +of the Department of State. + +On September ninth, 1913, having resigned as Justice of the Supreme +Court of the State of New York, I sailed for Germany, stopping on +the way in London in order to make the acquaintance of Ambassador +Page, certain wise people in Washington having expressed the +belief that a personal acquaintance of our Ambassadors made it +easier for them to work together. + +Two cares assail a newly appointed Ambassador. He must first +take thought of what he shall wear and where he shall live. All +other nations have beautiful Embassies or Legations in Berlin, +but I found that my two immediate predecessors had occupied a +villa originally built as a two-family house, pleasantly enough +situated, but two miles from the centre of Berlin and entirely +unsuitable for an Embassy. + +There are few private houses in Berlin, most of the people living +in apartments. After some trouble I found a handsome house on +the Wilhelm Platz immediately opposite the Chancellor's palace +and the Foreign Office, in the very centre of Berlin. This house +had been built as a palace for the Princes Hatzfeld and had later +passed into the possession of a banking family named von Schwabach. + +The United States Government, unlike other nations, does not +own or pay the rent of a suitable Embassy, but gives allowance +for offices, if the house is large enough to afford office room +for the office force of the Embassy. The von Schwabach palace +was nothing but a shell. Even the gas and electric light fixtures +had been removed; and when the hot water and heating system, +bath-rooms, electric lights and fixtures, etc., had been put +in, and the house furnished from top to bottom, my first year's +salary had far passed the minus point. + +The palace was not ready for occupancy until the end of January, +1914, and, in the meantime, we lived at the Hotel Esplanade, +and I transacted business at the old, two-family villa. + +There are more diplomats in Berlin than in any other capital in +the world, because each of the twenty-five States constituting +the German Empire sends a legation to Berlin; even the free cities +of Hamburg, Lubeck and Bremen have a resident minister at the +Empire's capital. + +Invariable custom requires a new Ambassador in Berlin to give +two receptions, one to the Diplomatic Corps and the other to +all those people who have the right to go to court. These are +the officials, nobles and officers of the army and navy, and +such other persons as have been presented at court. Such people +are called _hoffahig_, meaning that they are fit for court. + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO PRESENT HIS LETTERS +OF CREDENCE TO THE EMPEROR.] + +[Illustration: THE HOUSE ON THE WILHELM PLATZ, RENTED FOR USE +AS THE EMBASSY.] + +It is interesting here to note that Jews are not admitted to +court. Such Jews as have been ennobled and allowed to put the +coveted "von" before their names have first of all been required +to submit to baptism in some Christian church. Examples are the +von Schwabach family, whose ancestral house I occupied in Berlin, +and Friedlaender-Fuld, officially rated as the richest man in +Berlin, who made a large fortune in coke and its by-products. + +These two receptions are really introductions of an Ambassador +to official and court society. + +Before these receptions, however, and in the month of November, +I presented my letters of credence as Ambassador to the Emperor. +This presentation is quite a ceremony. Three coaches were sent +for me and my staff, coaches like that in which Cinderella goes +to her ball, mostly glass, with white wigged coachmen, outriders +in white wigs and standing footmen holding on to the back part +of the coach. Baron von Roeder, introducer of Ambassadors, came +for me and accompanied me in the first coach; the men of the +Embassy staff sat in the other two coaches. Our little procession +progressed solemnly through the streets of Berlin, passing on +the way through the centre division of the arch known as the +Brandenburger Thor, the gateway that stands at the head of the +Unter den Linden, a privilege given only on this occasion. + +We mounted long stairs in the palace, and in a large room were +received by the aides and the officers of the Emperor's household, +of course all in uniform. Then I was ushered alone into the adjoining +room where the Emperor, very erect and dressed in the black uniform +of the Death's Head Hussars, stood by a table. I made him a little +speech, and presented my letters of credence and the letters +of recall of my predecessor. The Emperor then unbent from his +very erect and impressive attitude and talked with me in a very +friendly manner, especially impressing me with his interest in +business and commercial affairs. I then, in accordance with custom, +asked leave to present my staff. The doors were opened. The staff +came in and were presented to the Emperor, who talked in a very +jolly and agreeable way to all of us, saying that he hoped above +all to see the whole of the Embassy staff riding in the Tier +Garten in the mornings. + +The Emperor is a most impressive figure, and, in his black uniform +surrounded by his officers, certainly looked every inch a king. +Although my predecessors, on occasions of this kind, had worn a +sort of fancy diplomatic uniform designed by themselves, I decided +to abandon this and return to the democratic, if unattractive and +uncomfortable, dress-suit, simply because the newspapers of America +and certain congressmen, while they have had no objection to the +wearing of uniforms by the army and navy, police and postmen, +and do not expect officers to lead their troops into battle in +dress-suits, have, nevertheless, had a most extraordinary prejudice +against American diplomats following the usual custom of adopting +a diplomatic uniform. + +Some days after my presentation to the Emperor, I was taken to +Potsdam, which is situated about half an hour's train journey from +Berlin, and, from the station there, driven to the new palace and +presented to the Empress. The Empress was most charming and affable, +and presented a very distinguished appearance. Accompanied by Mrs. +Gerard, and always, either by night or by day, in the infernal +dress-suit, I was received by the Crown Prince and Princess, and +others of the royal princes and their wives. On these occasions +we sat down and did not stand, as when received by the Emperor +and Empress, and simply made "polite conversation" for about +twenty minutes, being received first by the ladies-in-waiting +and aides. These princes were always in uniform of some kind. + +At the reception for the _hoffahig_ people Mrs. Gerard stood +in one room and I in another, and with each of us was a +representative of the Emperor's household to introduce the people +of the court, and an army officer to introduce the people of the +army. The officer assigned to me had the extraordinary name of +der Pfortner von der Hoelle, which means the "porter of Hell." +I have often wondered since by what prophetic instinct he was +sent to introduce me to the two years and a half of world war +which I experienced in Berlin. This unfortunate officer, a most +charming gentleman, was killed early in the war. + +The Berlin season lasts from about the twentieth of January for +about six weeks. It is short in duration because, if the +_hoffahig_ people stay longer than six weeks in Berlin, they +become liable to pay their local income tax in Berlin, where +the rate is higher than in those parts of Germany where they +have their country estates. + +The first great court ceremonial is the _Schleppencour_, +so-called from the long trains or _Schleppen_ worn by the +women. On this night we "presented" Mr. and Mrs. Robert K. Cassatt +of Philadelphia, Mrs. Ernest Wiltsee, Mrs. and Miss Luce and +Mrs. Norman Whitehouse. On the arrival at the palace with these +and all the members of the Embassy Staff and their wives, we +were shown up a long stair-case, at the top of which a guard of +honour, dressed in costume of the time of Frederick the Great, +presented arms to all Ambassadors, and ruffled kettle-drums. +Through long lines of cadets from the military schools, dressed +as pages, in white, with short breeches and powdered wigs, we +passed through several rooms where all the people to pass in +review were gathered. Behind these, in a room about sixty feet by +fifty, on a throne facing the door were the Emperor and Empress, +and on the broad steps of this throne were the princes and their +wives, the court ladies-in-waiting and all the other members of +the court. The wives of the Ambassadors entered the room first, +followed at intervals of about twenty feet by the ladies of the +Embassy and the ladies to be presented. As they entered the room +and made a change of direction toward the throne, pages in white +straightened out the ladies' trains with long sticks. Arrived +opposite the throne and about twenty feet from it, each Ambassador's +wife made a low curtsey and then stood on the foot of the throne, +to the left of the Emperor and Empress, and as each lady of the +Embassy, not before presented, and each lady to be presented +stopped beside the throne and made a low curtsey, the Ambassadress +had to call out the name of each one in a loud voice; and when +the last one had passed she followed her out of the room, walking +sideways so as not to turn her back on the royalties,--something +of a feat when towing a train about fifteen feet long. When all the +Ambassadresses had so passed, it was the turn of the Ambassadors, +who carried out substantially the same programme, substituting low +bows for curtsies. The Ambassadors were followed by the Ministers' +wives, these by the Ministers and these by the dignitaries of +the German Court. All passed into the adjoining hall, and there +a buffet supper was served. The whole affair began at about eight +o'clock and was over in an hour. + +At the court balls, which also began early in the evening, a +different procedure was followed. There the guests were required +to assemble before eight-twenty in the ball-room. As in the +_Schleppencour_, on one side of the room was the throne with +seats for the Emperor and Empress, and to the right of this throne +were the chairs for the Ambassadors' wives who were seated in the +order of their husbands' rank, with the ladies of their Embassy, +and any ladies they had brought to the ball standing behind them. +After them came the Ministers' wives, sitting in similar fashion; +then the Ambassadors, standing with their staffs behind them on +raised steps, with any men that they had asked invitations for, +and the Ministers in similar order. To the left of the throne +stood the wives of the Dukes and dignitaries of Germany and then +their husbands. When all were assembled, promptly at the time +announced, the orchestra, which was dressed in mediaval costume +and sat in a gallery, sounded trumpets and then the Emperor and +Empress entered the room, the Emperor, of course, in uniform, +followed by the ladies and gentlemen of the household all in +brilliant uniforms, and one or two officers of the court regiment, +picked out for their great height and dressed in the kind of +uniform Rupert of Hentzau wears on the stage,--a silver helmet +surmounted by an eagle, a steel breast-plate, white breeches +and coat, and enormous high boots coming half way up the thigh. +The Grand Huntsman wore a white wig, three-cornered hat and a +long green coat. + +On entering the room, the Empress usually commenced on one side +and the Emperor on the other, going around the room and speaking +to the Ambassadors' wives and Ambassadors, etc., in turn, and +the Empress in similar fashion, chatting for a moment with the +German dignitaries and their wives lined up on the opposite side +of the room. After going perhaps half way around each side, the +Emperor and Empress would then change sides. This going around +the room and chatting with people in turn is called "making the +circle", and young royalties are practised in "making the circle" +by being made to go up to the trees in a garden and address a +few pleasant words to each tree, in this manner learning one +of the principal duties of royalty. + +The dancing is only by young women and young officers of noble +families who have practised the dances before. They are under +the superintendence of several young officers who are known as +_Vortanzer_ and when anyone in Berlin in court society gives +a ball these _Vortanzer_ are the ones who see that all dancing +is conducted strictly according to rule and manage the affairs +of the ball-room with true Prussian efficiency. Supper is about +ten-thirty at a court ball and is at small tables. Each royalty +has a table holding about eight people and to these people are +invited without particular rule as to precedence. The younger +guests and lower dignitaries are not placed at supper but find +places at tables to suit themselves. After supper all go back +to the ball-room and there the young ladies and officers, led +by the _Vortanzer_ execute a sort of lancers, in the final +figure of which long lines are formed of dancers radiating from +the throne; and all the dancers make bows and curtsies to the +Emperor and Empress who are either standing or sitting at this +time on the throne. At about eleven-thirty the ball is over, +and as the guests pass out through the long hall, they are given +glasses of hot punch and a peculiar sort of local Berlin bun, in +order to ward off the lurking dangers of the villainous winter +climate. + +At the court balls the diplomats are, of course, in their best +diplomatic uniform. All Germans are in uniform of some kind, but the +women do not wear the long trains worn at the _Schleppencour_. +They wear ordinary ball dresses. In connection with court dancing +it is rather interesting to note that when the tango and turkey +trot made their way over the frontiers of Germany in the autumn +of 1913, the Emperor issued a special order that no officers of +the army or navy should dance any of these dances or should go +to the house of any person who, at any time, whether officers +were present or not, had allowed any of these new dances to be +danced. This effectually extinguished the turkey trot, the bunny +hug and the tango, and maintained the waltz and the polka in their +old estate. It may seem ridiculous that such a decree should +be so solemnly issued, but I believe that the higher authorities +in Germany earnestly desired that the people, and, especially, +the officers of the army and navy, should learn not to enjoy +themselves too much. A great endeavour was always made to keep +them in a life, so far as possible, of Spartan simplicity. For +instance, the army officers were forbidden to play polo, not +because of anything against the game, which, of course, is splendid +practice for riding, but because it would make a distinction in +the army between rich and poor. + +[Illustration: A SALON IN THE AMERICAN EMBASSY.] + +[Illustration: THE BALLROOM OF THE EMBASSY. THIS WAS AFTERWARD +TURNED INTO A WORKROOM FOR THE RELIEF OF AMERICANS IN WAR DAYS.] + +The Emperor's birthday, January twenty-seventh, is a day of great +celebration. At nine-thirty in the morning the Ambassadors, Ministers +and all the dignitaries of the court attend Divine Service in the +chapel of the palace. On this day in 1914, the Queen of Greece and +many of the reigning princes of the German States were present. +In the evening there was a gala performance in the opera house, +the entire house being occupied by members of the court. Between +the acts in the large foyer, royalties "made the circle," and I +had quite a long conversation with both the Emperor and Empress +and was "caught" by the King of Saxony. Many of the Ambassadors +have letters of credence not only to the court at Berlin but +also to the rulers of the minor German States. For instance, +the Belgian Minister was accredited to thirteen countries in +Germany and the Spanish Ambassador to eleven. For some reason +or other, the American and Turkish Ambassadors are accredited +only to the court at Berlin. Some of the German rulers feel this +quite keenly, and the King of Saxony, especially. I had been +warned that he was very anxious to show his resentment of this +distinction by refusing to shake hands with the American Ambassador. +He was in the foyer on the occasion of this gala performance +and said that he would like to have me presented to him. I, of +course, could not refuse, but forgot the warning of my predecessors +and put out my hand, which the King ostentatiously neglected to +take. A few moments later the wife of the Turkish Ambassador was +presented to the King of Saxony and received a similar rebuff; +but, as she was a daughter of the Khedive of Egypt, and therefore +a Royal Highness in her own right, she went around the King of +Saxony, seized his hand, which he had put behind him, brought +it around to the front and shook it warmly, a fine example of +great presence of mind. + +Writing of all these things and looking out from a sky-scraper +in New York, these details of court life seem very frivolous +and far away. But an Ambassador is compelled to become part of +this system. The most important conversations with the Emperor +sometimes take place at court functions, and the Ambassador and +his secretaries often gather their most useful bits of information +over tea cups or with the cigars after dinner. + +Aside from the short season, Berlin is rather dull; Bismarck +characterised it as a "desert of bricks and newspapers." + +In addition to making visits to the royalties, custom required +me to call first upon the Imperial Chancellor and the Minister +of Foreign Affairs. The other ministers are supposed to call +first, although I believe the redoubtable von Tirpitz claimed +a different rule. So, during the first winter I gradually made +the acquaintance of those people who sway the destinies of the +German Empire and its seventy millions. + +I dined with the Emperor and had long conversations with him on +New Year's Day and at the two court balls. + +All during this winter Germans from the highest down tried to +impress me with the great danger which they said threatened America +from Japan. The military and naval attaches and I were told that +the German information system sent news that Mexico was full +of Japanese colonels and America of Japanese spies. Possibly +much of the prejudice in America against the Japanese was cooked +up by the German propagandists whom we later learned to know +so well. + +It is noteworthy that during the whole of my first winter in +Berlin I was not officially or semi-officially afforded an +opportunity to meet any of the members of the Reichstag or any +of the leaders in the business world. The great merchants, whose +acquaintance I made, as well as the literary and artistic people, +I had to seek out; because most of them were not _hoffahig_ +and I did not come in contact with them at any court functions, +official dinners or even in the houses of the court nobles or +those connected with the government. + +A very interesting character whom I met during the first winter +and often conversed with, was Prince Henkel-Donnersmarck. Prince +Donnersmarck, who died December, 1916, at the age of eighty-six +years, was the richest male subject in Germany, the richest subject +being Frau von Krupp-Bohlen, the heiress of the Krupp cannon +foundry. He was the first governor of Lorraine during the war of +1870 and had had a finger in all of the political and commercial +activities of Germany for more than half a century. He told me, on +one occasion, that he had advocated exacting a war indemnity of +thirty milliards from France after the war of 1870, and said that +France could easily pay it--and that that sum or much more should +be exacted as an indemnity at the conclusion of the World War of +1914. He said that he had always advocated a protective tariff +for agricultural products in Germany as well as encouragement of +the German manufacturing interests: that agriculture was necessary +to the country in order to provide strong soldiers for war, and +manufacturing industries to provide money to pay for the army and +navy and their equipment. He made me promise to take his second +son to America in order that he might see American life, and the +great iron and coal districts of Pennsylvania. Of course, most +of these conversations took place before the World War. After +two years of that war and, as prospects of paying the expenses +of the war from the indemnities to be exacted from the enemies +of Germany gradually melted away, the Prince quite naturally +developed a great anxiety as to how the expenses of the war should +be paid by Germany; and I am sure that this anxiety had much to +do with his death at the end of the year, 1916. + +Custom demanded that I should ask for an appointment and call on +each of the Ambassadors on arrival. The British Ambassador was +Sir Edward Goschen, a man of perhaps sixty-eight years, a widower. +He spoke French, of course, and German; and, accompanied by his +dog, was a frequent visitor at our house. I am very grateful +for the help and advice he so generously gave me--doubly valuable +as coming from a man of his fame and experience. Jules Cambon was +the Ambassador of France. His brother, Paul, is Ambassador to +the Court of St. James. Jules Cambon is well-known to Americans, +having passed five years in this country. He was Ambassador to +Spain for five years, and, at the time of my arrival, had been +about the same period at Berlin. In spite of his long residence +in each of these countries, he spoke only French; but he possessed +a really marvellous insight into the political life of each of +these nations. Bollati, the Italian Ambassador, was a great admirer +of Germany; he spoke German well and did everything possible +to keep Italy out of war with her former Allies in the Triple +Alliance. + +Spain was represented by Polo de Bernabe, who now represents +the interests of the United States in Germany, as well as those +of France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia and Roumania. It is a curious +commentary on the absurdity of war that, on leaving Berlin, I +handed over the interests of the United States to this Ambassador, +who, as Spanish minister to the United States, was handed his +passports at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war! I am sure +that not only he, but all his Embassy, will devotedly represent +our interests in Germany. Sverbeeu represented the interests +of Russia; Soughimoura, Japan; and Mouktar Pascha, Turkey. The +wife of the latter was a daughter of the Khedive of Egypt, and +Mouktar Pascha himself a general of distinction in the Turkish +army. + +An Ambassador must keep on intimate terms with his colleagues. +It is often through them that he learns of important matters +affecting his own country or others. All of these Ambassadors +and most of the Ministers occupied handsome houses furnished +by their government. They had large salaries and a fund for +entertaining. + +During this first winter before the war, I saw a great deal of +the German Crown Prince as well as of several of his brothers. + +I cannot subscribe to the general opinion of the Crown Prince. I +found him a most agreeable man, a sharp observer and the possessor +of intellectual attainments of no mean order. He is undoubtedly +popular in Germany, excelling in all sports, a fearless rider +and a good shot. He is ably seconded by the Crown Princess. The +mother of the Crown Princess is a Russian Grand Duchess, and +her father was a Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She is a very +beautiful woman made popular by her affable manners. The one +defect of the Crown Prince has been his eagerness for war; but, +as he has characterised this war as the most stupid ever waged +in history, perhaps he will be satisfied, if he comes to the +throne, with what all Germany has suffered in this conflict. + +The Crown Prince was very anxious, before the war, to visit the +United States; and we had practically arranged to make a trip +to Alaska in search of some of the big game there, with stops +at the principal cities of America. + +The second son of the Kaiser, Prince Eitel Fritz, is considered +by the Germans to have distinguished himself most in this war. +He is given credit for great personal bravery. + +Prince Adalbert, the sailor prince, is quite American in his +manners. In February, 1914, the Crown Prince and Princes Eitel +Fritz and Adalbert came to our Embassy for a very small dance to +which were asked all the pretty American girls then in Berlin. + +It is never the custom to invite royalties to an entertainment. +They invite themselves to a dance or a dinner, and the list of +proposed guests is always submitted to them. When a royalty arrives +at the house, the host (and the hostess, if the royalty be a +woman) always waits at the front door and escorts the royalties +up-stairs. Allison Armour also gave a dance at which the Crown +Prince was present, following a dinner at the Automobile Club. +Armour has been a constant visitor to Germany for many years, +usually going in his yacht to Kiel in summer and to Corfu, where +the Emperor goes, in winter. As he has never tried to obtain +anything from the Emperor, he has become quite intimate with him +and with all the members of the royal family. + +The Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg, is an enormous man of perhaps +six feet five or six. He comes of a banking family in Frankfort. +It is too soon to give a just estimate of his acts in this war. +When I arrived in Berlin and until November, 1916, von Jagow +was Minister of Foreign Affairs. In past years he had occupied +the post of Ambassador to Italy, and with great reluctance took +his place at the head of the Foreign Office. Zimmermann was +an Under Secretary, succeeding von Jagow when the latter was +practically forced out of office. Zimmermann, on account of his +plain and hearty manners and democratic air, was more of a favourite +with the Ambassadors and members of the Reichstag than von Jagow, +who, in appearance and manner, was the ideal old-style diplomat +of the stage. + +Von Jagow was not a good speaker and the agitation against him +was started by those who claimed that, in answering questions +in the Reichstag, he did not make a forceful enough appearance +on behalf of the government. Von Jagow did not cultivate the +members of the Reichstag and his delicate health prevented him +from undertaking more than the duties of his office. + +As a matter of fact, I believe that von Jagow had a juster estimate +of foreign nations than Zimmermann, and more correctly divined the +thoughts of the American people in this war than did his successor. +I thought that I enjoyed the personal friendship of both von +Jagow and Zimmermann and, therefore, was rather unpleasantly +surprised when I saw in the papers that Zimmermann had stated in +the Reichstag that he had been compelled, from motives of policy, +to keep on friendly terms with me. I sincerely hope that what he +said on this occasion was incorrectly reported. Von Jagow, after +his fall, took charge of a hospital at Libau in the occupied +portion of Russia. This shows the devotion to duty of the Prussian +noble class, and their readiness to take up any task, however +humble, that may help their country. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL + +My commission read, "Ambassador to Germany." + +It is characteristic of our deep ignorance of all foreign affairs +that I was appointed Ambassador to a place which does not exist. +Politically, there is no such place as "Germany." There are the +twenty-five States, Prussia, Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Saxony, etc., +which make up the "German Empire," but there is no such political +entity as "Germany." + +These twenty-five States have votes in the Bundesrat, a body +which may be said to correspond remotely to our United States +Senate. But each State has a different number of votes. Prussia +has seventeen, Bavaria six, Wurttemberg and Saxony four each, +Baden and Hesse three each, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Brunswick +two each, and the rest one each. Prussia controls Brunswick. + +The Reichstag, or Imperial Parliament, corresponds to our House +of Representatives. The members are elected by manhood suffrage of +those over twenty-five. But in practice the Reichstag is nothing +but a debating society because of the preponderating power of the +Bundesrat, or upper chamber. At the head of the ministry is the +Chancellor, appointed by the Emperor; and the other Ministers, such +as Colonies, Interior, Education, Justice and Foreign Affairs, +are but underlings of the Chancellor and appointed by him. The +Chancellor is not responsible to the Reichstag, as Bethmann-Hollweg +clearly stated at the time of the Zabern affair, but only to the +Emperor. + +It is true that an innovation properly belonging only to a +parliamentary government was introduced some seven years ago, +viz., that the ministers must answer questions (as in Great Britain) +put them by the members of the Reichstag. But there the likeness +to a parliamentary government begins and ends. + +The members of the Bundesrat are named by the Princes of the +twenty-five States making up the German Empire. Prussia, which +has seventeen votes, may name seventeen members of the Bundesrat +or one member, who, however, when he votes casts seventeen votes. +The votes of a State must always be cast as a unit. In the usual +procedure bills are prepared and adopted in the Bundesrat and +then sent to the Reichstag whence, if passed, they return to the +Bundesrat where the final approval must take place. Therefore, +in practice, the Bundesrat makes the laws with the assent of +the Reichstag. The members of the Bundesrat have the right to +appear and make speeches in the Reichstag. The fundamental +constitution of the German Empire is not changed, as with us, by +a separate body but is changed in the same way that an ordinary +law is passed; except that if there are fourteen votes against +the proposed change in the Bundesrat the proposition is defeated, +and, further, the constitution cannot be changed with respect +to rights expressly granted by it to anyone of the twenty-five +States without the assent of that State. + +In order to pass a law a majority vote in the Bundesrat and Reichstag +is sufficient if there is a quorum present, and a quorum is a +majority of the members elected in the Reichstag: in the Bundesrat +the quorum consists of such members as are present at a regularly +called meeting, providing the Chancellor or the Vice-Chancellor +attends. + +The boundaries of the districts sending members to the Reichstag +have not been changed since 1872, while, in the meantime, a great +shifting of population, as well as great increase of population +has taken place. And because of this, the Reichstag to-day does +not represent the people of Germany in the sense intended by the +framers of the Imperial Constitution. + +Much of the legislation that affects the everyday life of a German +emanates from the parliaments of Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony, +etc., as with us in our State Legislatures. The purely legislative +power of the ministers and Bundesrat is, however, large. These +German States have constitutions of some sort. The Grand Duchies +of Mecklenburg have no constitution whatever. It is understood +that the people themselves do not want one, on financial grounds, +fearing that many expenses now borne by the Grand Duke out of +his large private income, would be saddled on the people. The +other States have Constitutions varying in form. In Prussia there +are a House of Lords and a House of Deputies. The members of +the latter are elected by a system of circle votes, by which +the vote of one rich man voting in circle number one counts as +much as thousands voting in circle number three. It is the +recognition by Bethmann-Hollweg that this vicious system must +be changed that brought down on him the wrath of the Prussian +country squires, who for so long have ruled the German Empire, +filling places, civil and military, with their children and +relatives. + +In considering Germany, the immense influence of the military +party must not be left out of account; and, with the developments +of the navy, that branch of the service also claimed a share in +guiding the policy of the Government. + +The administrative, executive and judicial officers of Prussia +are not elected. The country is governed and judged by men who +enter this branch of the government service exactly as others +enter the army or navy. These are gradually promoted through +the various grades. This applies to judges, clerks of courts, +district attorneys and the officials who govern the political +divisions of Prussia, for Prussia is divided into circles, +presidencies and provinces. For instance, a young man may enter +the government service as assistant to the clerk of some court. +He may then become district attorney in a small town, then clerk +of a larger court, possibly attached to the police presidency +of a large city; he may then become a minor judge, etc., until +finally he becomes a judge of one of the higher courts or an +over-president of a province. Practically the only elective officers +who have any power are members of the Reichstag and the Prussian +Legislature, and there, as I have shown, the power is very small. +Mayors and City Councillors are elected in Prussia, but have +little power; and are elected by the vicious system of circle +voting. + +Time and again during the course of the Great War when I made +some complaint or request affecting the interests of one of the +various nations I represented, I was met in the Foreign Office +by the statement, "We can do nothing with the military. Please +read Bismarck's memoirs and you will see what difficulty he had +with the military." Undoubtedly, owing to the fact that the +Chancellor seldom took strong ground, the influence which both +the army and navy claimed in dictating the policy of the Empire +was greatly increased. + +Roughly speaking there are three great political divisions or +parties in the German Reichstag. To the right of the presiding +officer sit the Conservatives. Most of these are members from the +Prussian Junker or squire class. They are strong for the rights +of the crown and against any extension of the suffrage in Prussia +or anywhere else. They form probably the most important body of +conservatives now existing in any country in the world. Their +leader, Heydebrand, is known as the uncrowned king of Prussia. On +the left side the Social Democrats sit. As they evidently oppose +the kingship and favour a republic, no Social Democratic member +has ever been called into the government. They represent the great +industrial populations of Germany. Roughly, they constitute about +one-third of the Reichstag, and would sit there in greater numbers +if Germany were again redistricted so that proper representation +were given to the cities, to which there has been a great rush +of population since the time when the Reichstag districts were +originally constituted. + +In the centre, and holding the balance of power, sit the members +of the Centrum or Catholic body. Among them are many priests. It +is noteworthy that in this war Roman Catholic opinion in neutral +countries, like Spain, inclines to the side of Germany; while +in Germany, to protect their religious liberties, the Catholic +population vote as Catholics to send Catholic members to the +Reichstag, and these sit and vote as Catholics alone. + +Germans high in rank in the government often told me that no part +of conquered Poland would ever be incorporated in Prussia or the +Empire, because it was not desirable to add to the Roman Catholic +population; that they had troubles enough with the Catholics now +in Germany and had no desire to add to their numbers. This, and +the desire to lure the Poles into the creation of a national +army which could be utilised by the German machine, were the +reasons for the creation by Germany (with the assent of Austria) +of the new country of Poland. + +This Catholic party is the result in Germany of the +_Kulturkampf_ or War for Civilisation, as it was called by +Bismarck, a contest dating from 1870 between the State in Germany +and the Roman Catholic Church. + +Prussia has always been the centre of Protestantism in Germany, +although there are many Roman Catholics in the Rhine Provinces +of Prussia, and in that part of Prussia inhabited principally +by Poles, originally part of the Kingdom of Poland. + +Baden and Bavaria, the two principal South German States, and +others are Catholic. In 1870, on the withdrawal of the French +garrison from Rome, the Temporal Power of the Pope ended, and +Bismarck, though appealed to by Catholics, took no interest in the +defence of the Papacy. The conflict between the Roman Catholics +and the Government in Germany was precipitated by the promulgation +by the Vatican Council, in 1870, of the Dogma of the Infallibility +of the Pope. + +A certain number of German pastors and bishops refused to subscribe +to the new dogma. In the conflict that ensued these pastors and +bishops were backed by the government. The religious orders were +suppressed, civil marriage made compulsory and the State assumed +new powers not only in the appointment but even in the education +of the Catholic priests. The Jesuits were expelled from Germany +in 1872. These measures, generally known as the May Laws, because +passed in May, 1873, 1874 and 1875, led to the creation and +strengthening of the Centrum or Catholic party. For a long period +many churches were vacant in Prussia. Finally, owing to the growth +of the Centrum, Bismarck gave in. The May Laws were rescinded +in 1886 and the religious orders, the Jesuits excepted, were +permitted to return in 1887. Civil marriage, however, remained +obligatory in Prussia. + +Ever since the _Kulturkampf_ the Centrum has held the balance +of power in Germany, acting sometimes with the Conservatives +and sometimes with the Social Democrats. + +In addition to these three great parties, there are minor parties +and groups which sometimes act with one party and sometimes with +another, the National Liberals, for example, and the Progressives. +Since the war certain members of the National Liberal party were +most bitter in assailing President Wilson and the United States. +In the demand for ruthless submarine war they acted with the +Conservatives. There are also Polish, Hanoverian, Danish and +Alsatian members of the Reichstag. + +There are three great race questions in Germany. First of all, +that of Alsace-Lorraine. It is unnecessary to go at length into +this well-known question. In the chapter on the affair at Zabern, +something will be seen of the attitude of the troops toward the +civil population. At the outbreak of the war several of the deputies, +sitting in the Reichstag as members from Alsace-Lorraine, crossed +the frontier and joined the French army. + +If there is one talent which the Germans superlatively lack, it +is that of ruling over other peoples and inducing other people +to become part of their nation. + +It is now a long time since portions of the Kingdom of Poland, +by various partitions of that kingdom, were incorporated with +Prussia, but the Polish question is more alive to-day than at +the time of the last partition. + +The Poles are of a livelier race than the Germans, are Roman +Catholics and always retain their dream of a reconstituted and +independent Kingdom of Poland. + +It is hard to conceive that Poland was at one time perhaps the +most powerful kingdom of Europe, with a population numbering +twenty millions and extending from the Baltic to the Carpathians +and the Black Sea, including in its territory the basins of the +Warta, Vistula, Dwina, Dnieper and Upper Dniester, and that it +had under its dominion besides Poles proper and the Baltic Slavs, +the Lithuanians, the White Russians and the Little Russians or +Ruthenians. + +The Polish aristocracy was absolutely incapable of governing its +own country, which fell an easy prey to the intrigues of Frederick +the Great and the two Empresses, Maria Theresa of Austria and +Catherine of Russia. The last partition of Poland was in the +year 1795. + +Posen, at one time one of the capitals of the old kingdom of +Poland, is the intellectual centre of that part of Poland which has +been incorporated into Prussia. For years Prussia has alternately +cajoled and oppressed the Poles, and has made every endeavour to +replace the Polish inhabitants with German colonists. A commission +has been established which buys estates from Poles and sells +them to Germans. This commission has the power of condemning +the lands of Poles, taking these lands from them by force, +compensating them at a rate determined by the commission and +settling Germans on the lands so seized. This commission has +its headquarters in Posen. The result has not been successful. +All the country side surrounding Posen and the city itself are +divided into two factions. By going to one hotel or the other +you announce that you are pro-German or pro-Polish. Poles will +not deal in shops kept by Germans or in shops unless the signs +are in Polish. + +The sons of Germans who have settled in Poland under the protection +of the commission often marry Polish women. The invariable result +of these mixed marriages is that the children are Catholics and +Poles. Polish deputies voting as Poles sit in the Prussian +legislature and in the Reichstag, and if a portion of the old +Kingdom of Poland is made a separate country at the end of this +war, it will have the effect of making the Poles in Prussia more +restless and more aggressive than ever. + +In order to win the sympathies of the Poles, the Emperor caused +a royal castle to be built within recent years in the city of +Posen, and appointed a popular Polish gentleman who had served +in the Prussian army and was attached to the Emperor, the Count +Hutten-Czapski, as its lord-warden. In this castle was a very +beautiful Byzantine chapel built from designs especially selected +by the Emperor. In January, 1914, we went with Allison Armour +and the Cassatts, Mrs. Wiltsee and Mrs. Whitehouse on a trip +to Posen to see this chapel. + +Some of our German friends tried to play a joke on us by telling +us that the best hotel was the hotel patronised by the Poles. To +have gone there would have been to declare ourselves anti-German +and pro-Polish, but we were warned in time. The castle has a +large throne room and ball-room; in the hall is a stuffed aurochs +killed by the Emperor. The aurochs is a species of buffalo greatly +resembling those which used to roam our western prairies. The +breed has been preserved on certain great estates in eastern +Germany and in the hunting forests of the Czar in the neighbourhood +of Warsaw. + +Some of the Poles told me that at the first attempt to give a +court ball in this new castle the Polish population in the streets +threw ink through the carriage windows on the dresses of the +ladies going to the ball and thus made it a failure. The chapel +of the castle is very beautiful and is a great credit to the +Emperor's taste as an architect. + +While being shown through the Emperor's private apartments in +this castle, I noticed a saddle on a sort of elevated stool in +front of a desk. I asked the guide what this was for: he told +me that the Emperor, when working, always sits in a saddle. + +In Posen, in a book-store, the proprietor brought out for me a +number of books caricaturing the German rule of Alsace-Lorraine. +It is curious that a community of interests should make a market +for these books in Polish Posen. + +Although not so well advertised, the Polish question is as acute +as that of Alsace-Lorraine. + +After its successful war in 1866 against Austria, Bavaria, Saxony, +Baden, Hanover, etc., Prussia became possessed of the two duchies +of Schleswig-Holstein, which are to the south of Denmark on the +Jutland Peninsula. Here, strangely enough, there is a Danish +question. A number of Danes inhabit these duchies and have been +irritated by the Prussian officials and officers into preserving +their national feeling intact ever since 1866. Galling restrictions +have been made, the very existence of which intensifies the hatred +and prevents the assimilation of these Danes. For instance, Amundsen, +the Arctic explorer, was forbidden to lecture in Danish in these +duchies during the winter of 1913-14, and there were regulations +enforced preventing more than a certain number of these Danish +people from assembling in a hotel, as well as regulations against +the employment of Danish servants. + +In 1866, after its successful war, Prussia wiped out the old +kingdom of Hanover and drove its king into exile in Austria. +To-day there is still a party of protest against this aggression. +The Kaiser believes, however, that the ghost of the claim of +the Kings of Hanover was laid when he married his only daughter +to the heir of the House of Hanover and gave the young pair the +vacant Duchy of Brunswick. That this young man will inherit the +great Guelph treasure was no drawback to the match in the eyes +of those in Berlin. + +There is a hatred of Prussia in other parts of Germany, but coupled +with so much fear that it will never take practical shape. In +Bavaria, for example, even the comic newspapers have for years +ridiculed the Prussians and the House of Hohenzollern. The smashing +defeat by Prussia of Austria and the allied German States, Bavaria, +Saxony, Hesse, Hanover, etc., in 1866, and the growth of Prussianism +since then in all of these countries, keep the people from any +overt act. It is a question, perhaps, as to how these countries, +especially Bavaria, would act in case of the utter defeat of +Germany. But at present they must be counted on only as faithful +servants, in a military way, of the German Emperor. + +Montesquieu, the author of the "Esprit des Lois," says, "All law +comes from the soil," and it has been claimed that residence in +the hot climate of the tropics in some measure changes Anglo-Saxon +character. It is, therefore, always well in judging national +character to know something of the physical characteristics and +climate of the country which a nation inhabits. + +The heart of modern Germany is the great north central plain which +comprises practically all of the original kingdom of Prussia, +stretching northward from the Saxon and Hartz mountains to the +North and Baltic seas. It is from this dreary and infertile plain +that for many centuries conquering military races have poured +over Europe. The climate is not so cold in winter as that of +the northern part of the United States. There is much rain and +the winter skies are so dark that the absence of the sun must +have some effect upon the character of the people. The Saxons +inhabit a more mountainous country; Wurttemberg and Baden are +hilly; Bavaria is a land of beauty, diversified with lovely lakes +and mountains. The soft outlines of the vine-covered hills of +the Rhine Valley have long been the admiration of travellers. + +The inhabitants of Prussia were originally not Germanic, but +rather Slavish in type; and, indeed, to-day in the forest of +the River Spree, on which Berlin is situated, and only about +fifty miles from that city, there still dwell descendants of +the original Wendish inhabitants of the country who speak the +Wendish language. The wet-nurses, whose picturesque dress is so +noticeable on the streets of Berlin, all come from this Wendish +colony, which has been preserved through the many wars that have +swept over this part of Germany because of the refuge afforded +in the swamps and forests of this district. + +The inhabitants of the Rhine Valley drink wine instead of beer. +They are more lively in their disposition than the Prussians, +Saxons and Bavarians, who are of a heavy and phlegmatic nature. +The Bavarians are noted for their prowess as beer drinkers, and +it is not at all unusual for prosperous burghers of Munich to +dispose of thirty large glasses of beer in a day; hence the cures +which exist all over Germany and where the average German business +man spends part, at least, of his annual vacation. + +In peace times the Germans are heavy eaters. As some one says, +"It is not true that the Germans eat all the time, but they eat +all the time except during seven periods of the day when they +take their meals." And it is a fact that prosperous merchants of +Berlin, before the war, had seven meals a day; first breakfast +at a comfortably early hour; second breakfast at about eleven, of +perhaps a glass of milk or perhaps a glass of beer and sandwiches; +a very heavy lunch of four or five courses with wine and beer; +coffee and cakes at three; tea and sandwiches or sandwiches and +beer at about five; a strong dinner with several kinds of wines +at about seven or seven-thirty; and a substantial supper before +going to bed. + +The Germans are wonderful judges of wines, and, at any formal +dinner, use as many as eight varieties. The best wine is passed +in glasses on trays, and the guests are not expected, of course, +to take this wine unless they actually desire to drink it. I +know one American woman who was stopping at a Prince's castle +in Hungary and who, on the first night, allowed the butler to +fill her glasses with wine which she did not drink. The second +evening the butler passed her sternly by, and she was offered +no more wine during her stay in the castle. + +Many of the doctors who were with me thought that the heavy eating +and large consumption of wine and beer had unfavourably affected the +German national character, and had made the people more aggressive +and irritable and consequently readier for war. The influence of diet +on national character should not be under-estimated. Meat-eating +nations have always ruled vegetarians. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +DIPLOMATIC WORK OF FIRST WINTER IN BERLIN + +During this first winter in Berlin, I spent each morning in the +Embassy office, and, if I had any business at the Foreign Office, +called there about five o'clock in the afternoon. It was the +custom that all Ambassadors should call on Tuesday afternoons +at the Foreign Office, going in to see the Foreign Minister in +the order of their arrival in the waiting-room, and to have a +short talk with him about current diplomatic affairs. + +In the previous chapter I have given a detailed account of the +ceremonies of court life, because a knowledge of this life is +essential to a grasp of the spirit which animates those ruling +the destinies of the German Empire. + +My first winter, however, was not all cakes and ale. There were +several interesting bits of diplomatic work. First, we were then +engaged in our conflict with Huerta, the Dictator of Mexico, +and it was part of my work to secure from Germany promises that +she would not recognise this Mexican President. + +I also spent a great deal of time in endeavouring to get the +German Government to take part officially in the San Francisco +Fair, but, so far as I could make out, Great Britain, probably +at the instance of Germany, seemed to have entered into some +sort of agreement, or at any rate a tacit understanding, that +neither country would participate officially in this Exposition. + +After the lamentable failure of the Jamestown Exposition, the +countries of Europe were certainly not to be blamed for not spending +their money in aid of a similar enterprise. But I believe that the +attitude of Germany had a deeper significance, and that certain, +at least, of the German statesmen had contemplated a +_rapprochement_ with Great Britain and a mutual spanking +of America and its Monroe Doctrine by these two great powers. +Later I was informed, by a man high in the German Foreign Office, +that Germany had proposed to Great Britain a joint intervention +in Mexico, an invasion which would have put an end forever to +the Monroe Doctrine, of course to be followed by the forceful +colonisation of Central and South America by European Powers. I +was told that Great Britain refused. But whether this proposition +and refusal in fact were made, can be learned from the archives +of the British Foreign Office. + +During this period of trouble with Mexico, the German Press, +almost without exception, and especially that part of it controlled +by the Government and by the Conservatives or Junkers, was most +bitter in its attitude towards America. + +The reason for this was the underlying hatred of an autocracy +for a successful democracy, envy of the wealth, liberty and +commercial success of America, and a deep and strong resentment +against the Monroe Doctrine which prevented Germany from using +her powerful fleet and great military force to seize a foothold +in the Western hemisphere. + +Germany came late into the field of colonisation in her endeavour +to find "a place in the sun." The colonies secured were not habitable +by white men. Togo, Kameroons, German East Africa, are too tropical +in climate, too subject to tropical diseases, ever to become +successful German colonies. German Southwest Africa has a more +healthy climate but is a barren land. About the only successful +industry there has been that of gathering the small diamonds that +were discovered in the sands of the beaches and of the deserts +running back from the sea. + +On the earnest request of Secretary Bryan, I endeavoured to persuade +the German authorities to have Germany become a signatory to the +so-called Bryan Peace Treaties. After many efforts and long +interviews, von Jagow, the Foreign Minister, finally told me +that Germany would not sign these treaties because the greatest +asset of Germany in war was her readiness for a sudden assault, +that they had no objection to signing the treaty with America, +but that they feared they would then be immediately asked to +sign similar treaties with Great Britain, France and Russia, +that if they refused to sign with these countries the refusal +would almost be equivalent to a declaration of war, and, if they +did sign, intending in good faith to stand by the treaty, that +Germany would be deprived of her greatest asset in war, namely, +her readiness for a sudden and overpowering attack. + +I also, during this first winter, studied and made reports on +the commercial situation of Germany and especially the German +discriminations against American goods. To these matters I shall +refer in more detail in another chapter. + +Opposition and attention to the oil monopoly project also occupied +a great part of my working hours. Petroleum is used very extensively +in Germany for illuminating purposes by the poorer part of the +population, especially in the farming villages and industrial +towns. This oil used in Germany comes from two sources of supply, +from America and from the oil wells of Galicia and Roumania. The +German American Oil Company there, through which the American +oil was distributed, although a German company, was controlled by +American capital, and German capital was largely interested in +the Galician and Roumanian oil fields. The oil from Galicia and +Roumania is not so good a quality as that imported from America. + +[Illustration: PROGRAMME OF THE MUSIC AFTER DINNER WITH THE KAISER +AT THE ROYAL PALACE, BERLIN.] + +Before my arrival in Germany the government had proposed a law +creating the oil monopoly; that is to say, a company was to be +created, controlled by the government for the purpose of carrying +on the entire oil business of Germany, and no other person or +company, by its provisions, was to be allowed to sell any +illuminating oil or similar products in the Empire. The bill +provided that the business of those engaged in the wholesale +selling of oil, and their plants, etc., should be taken over +by this government company, condemned and paid for. The German +American Company, however, had also a retail business and plant +throughout Germany for which it was proposed that no compensation +should be given. The government bill also contained certain curious +"jokers"; for instance, it provided for the taking over of all +plants "within the customs limit of the German Empire," thus +leaving out of the compensation a refinery which was situated +in the free part of Hamburg, although, of course, by operation +of this monopoly bill the refinery was rendered useless to the +American controlled company which owned it. + +In the course of this investigation it came to light that the +Prussian state railways were used as a means of discriminating +against the American oil. American oil came to Germany through +the port of Hamburg, and the Galician and Roumanian oil through +the frontier town of Oderberg. Taking a delivery point equally +distant between Oderberg and Hamburg, the rate charged on oil +from Hamburg to this point was twice as great as that charged +for a similar quantity of oil from Oderberg. + +I took up this fight on the line that the company must be compensated +for all of its property, that used in retail as well as in wholesale +business, and, second, that it must be compensated for the good-will +of its business, which it had built up through a number of years +by the expenditure of very large sums of money. Of course where +a company has been in operation for years and is continually +advertising its business, its good-will often is its greatest +asset and has often been built up by the greatest expenditure +of money. For instance, in buying a successful newspaper, the +value does not lie in the real-estate, presses, etc., but in +the good-will of the newspaper, the result of years of work and +expensive advertising. + +I made no objection that the German government did not have a +perfect right to create this monopoly and to put the American +controlled company entirely out of the field, but insisted upon +a fair compensation for all their property and good-will. Even a +fair compensation for the property and good-will would have started +the government monopoly company with a large debt upon which it +would have been required to pay interest, and this interest, of +course, would have been added to the cost of oil to the German +consumers. In my final conversation on the subject with von +Bethmann-Hollweg, he said, "You don't mean to say that President +Wilson and Secretary Bryan will do anything for the Standard +Oil Company?" I answered that everyone in America knew that +the Standard Oil Company had neither influence with nor control +over President Wilson and Secretary Bryan, but that they both +could and would give the Standard Oil Company the same measure +of protection which any American citizen doing business abroad +had a right to expect from his government. I also said that I +thought they had done enough for the Germans interested in the +Galician and Roumanian oil fields when they had used the Prussian +state railways to give these oil producers an unfair advantage +over those importing American oil. + +Shortly after this the question of the creation of this oil monopoly +was dropped and naturally has not been revived during the war, +and I very much doubt whether, after the war, the people of +liberalised Germany will consent to pay more for inferior oil in +order to make good the investments of certain German banks and +financiers in Galicia and Roumania. I doubt whether a more liberal +Germany will wish to put the control of a great business in the +hands of the government, thereby greatly increasing the number +of government officials and the weight of government influence +in the country. Heaven knows there are officials enough to-day +in Germany, without turning over a great department of private +industry to the government for the sole purpose of making good +bad investments of certain financiers and adding to the political +influence of the central government. + +In May, 1914, Colonel House and his beautiful wife arrived to pay +us a visit in Berlin. He was, of course, anxious to have a talk +with the Emperor, and this was arranged by the Emperor inviting +the Colonel and me to what is called the _Schrippenfest_, +at the new palace at Potsdam. + +For many years, in fact since the days of Frederick the Great, +the learning (_Lehr_) battalion, composed of picked soldiers +from all the regiments of Prussia, has been quartered at Potsdam, +and on a certain day in April this battalion has been given a +dinner at which they eat white rolls (_Schrippen_) instead +of the usual black bread. This feast has been carried on from +these older days and has become quite a ceremony. + +The Colonel and I motored to Potsdam, arrayed in dress-suits, and +waited in one of the salons of the ground floor of the new palace. +Finally the Emperor and the Empress and several of the Princes and +their wives and the usual dignitaries of the Emperor's household +arrived. The Colonel was presented to the royalties and then a +Divine Service was held in the open air at one end of the palace. +The Empress and Princesses occupied large chairs and the Emperor +stood with his sons behind him and then the various dignitaries +of the court. The Lehr Battalion was drawn up behind. There were +a large band and the choir boys from the Berlin cathedral. The +service was very impressive and not less so because of a great +Zeppelin which hovered over our heads during the whole of the +service. + +After Divine Service, the Lehr Battalion marched in review and +then was given food and beer in long arbours constructed in front +of the palace. While the men were eating, the Emperor and Empress +and Princes passed among the tables, speaking to the soldiers. +We then went to the new palace where in the extraordinary hall +studded with curious specimens of minerals from all countries, +a long table forming three sides of a square was set for about +sixty people. Colonel House and I sat directly across the table +from the Emperor, with General Falkenhayn between us. The Emperor +was in a very good mood and at one time, talking across the table, +said to me that the Colonel and I, in our black dress-suits, +looked like a couple of crows, that we were like two undertakers +at a feast and spoiled the picture. After luncheon the Emperor +had a long talk with Colonel House, and then called me into the +conversation. + +On May twenty-sixth, I arranged that the Colonel should meet +von Tirpitz at dinner in our house. We did not guess then what +a central figure in this war the great admiral was going to be. +At that time and until his fall, he was Minister of Marine, which +corresponds to our Secretary of the Navy Department, and what +is called in German _Reichsmarineamt_. The Colonel also +met the Chancellor, von Jagow, Zimmermann and many others. + +There are two other heads of departments, connected with the +navy, of equal rank with the Secretary of the Naval Department +and not reporting to him. These are the heads of the naval staff +and the head of what is known as the Marine Cabinet. The head +of the naval staff is supposed to direct the actual operations +of warfare in the navy, and the head of the Marine Cabinet is +charged with the personnel of the navy, with determining what +officers are to be promoted and what officers are to take over +ships or commands. + +While von Tirpitz was Secretary of the Navy, by the force of +his personality, he dominated the two other departments, but +since his fall the heads of these two other departments have +held positions as important, if not more important, than that +of Secretary of the Navy. + +On May thirty-first, we took Colonel and Mrs. House to the aviation +field of Joachimsthal. Here the Dutch aviator Fokker was flying and +after being introduced to us he did some stunts for our benefit. +Fokker was employed by the German army and later became a naturalised +German. The machines designed by him, and named after him, for +a long time held the mastery of the air on the West front. + +The advice of Colonel House, a most wise and prudent counsellor, +was at all times of the greatest value to me during my stay in +Berlin. We exchanged letters weekly, I sending him a weekly bulletin +of the situation in Berlin and much news and gossip too personal +or too indefinite to be placed in official reports. + +War with Germany seemed a thing not even to be considered when +in this month of May, 1914, I called on the Foreign Office, by +direction, to thank the Imperial Government for the aid given +the Americans at Tampico by German ships of war. + +Early in February, Mr. S. Bergmann, a German who had made a fortune +in America and who had returned to Germany to take up again his +German citizenship, invited me to go over the great electrical +works which he had established. Prince Henry of Prussia, the +brother of the Emperor, was the only other guest and together +we inspected the vast works, afterwards having lunch in Mr. +Bergmann's office. Prince Henry has always been interested in +America since his visit here. On that visit he spent most of +his time with German societies, etc. Of course, now we know he +came as a propagandist with the object of welding together the +Germans in America and keeping up their interest in the Fatherland. +He made a similar trip to the Argentine just before the Great +War, with a similar purpose, but I understand his excursion was +not considered a great success, from any standpoint. A man of +affable manners, no one is better qualified to go abroad as a +German propagandist than he. If all Germans had been like him +there would have been no World War in 1914. + +On March eighteenth, we were invited to a fancy-dress ball at +the palace of the Crown Prince. The guests were mostly young +people and officers. The Crown Princess wore a beautiful Russian +dress with its characteristic high front piece on the head. The +Crown Prince and all the officers present were in the picturesque +uniforms of their respective regiments of a period of one hundred +years ago. Prince Oscar, the fifth son of the Kaiser, looked +particularly well. + +The hours for balls in Berlin, where officers attended, were a +good example for hostesses in this country. The invitations read +for eight o'clock and that meant eight o'clock. A cold dinner +of perhaps four courses is immediately served on the arrival of +the guests, who, with the exception of a very few distinguished +ones, are not given any particular places. At a quarter to nine +the dancing begins, supper is at about eleven and the guests go +home at twelve, at an hour which enables the officers to get +to bed early. During the season there were balls at the British +and French Embassy and performances by the Russian Ballet, then +in Berlin, at the Russian Embassy. + +The wonderful new Royal Library, designed by Ihne, was opened +on March twenty-second. The Emperor attended, coming in with +the beautiful Queen of Roumania walking by his side. She is an +exceedingly handsome woman, half English and half Russian. Some +days later I was presented to her at a reception held at the +Roumanian Minister's and found her as pleasant to talk to as good +to look upon. + +At the end of March there was a Horse Show. The horses did not +get prizes for mere looks and manners in trotting and cantering, +as here. They must all do something, for the horse is considered +primarily as a war horse; such, for instance, as stopping suddenly +and turning at a word of command. The jumping was excellent, +officers riding in all the events. It was not a function of +"society," but all "society" was there and most keenly interested; +for in a warlike country, just as in the Middle Ages, the master's +life may depend upon the qualities of his horse. + +I have always been fond of horses and horse-racing, and the +race-tracks about Berlin were always an attraction for me. + +Many of the drivers and jockeys were Americans. Taral was a +successful jockey for my father-in-law, Marcus Daly. He is the +trainer of one of the best racing stables in Germany, that of +the brothers Weinberg, who made a fortune in dye-stuffs. "Pop" +Campbell, who trained Mr. Daly's Ogden, a Futurity winner, is +also a Berlin trainer. The top notch jockey was Archibald of +California. McCreery, who once trained for one of my brothers, +had the stable which rivalled the Weinbergs', that of Baron +Oppenheim, a rich banker of Cologne. + +The German officers are splendid riders and take part in many +races. The Crown Prince himself is a successful jockey and racing +stable owner. + +On June fifth, at the annual hunt race, the big steeplechase of +the year, the Emperor himself appeared at the Grunewald track, +occupying his private box, a sort of little house beyond the +finish. + +Bookmakers are not allowed in Germany. The betting is in mutual +pools. About seventeen per cent of the money paid is taken by the +Jockey Club, the State and charities, so that the bettor, with +this percentage running always against him, has little chance +of ultimate success. + +Many of the races are confined to horses bred in Denmark and the +Central Empires. + +All of us in the Embassy joined the Red White Tennis Club situated +in the Grunewald about five miles from the centre of Berlin. +The Crown Prince was a member and often played there. He is an +excellent player, not quite up to championship form, but he can +give a good account of himself in any company short of the top +class. He has the advantage of always finding that the best players +are only too glad to have an opportunity to play with him. At +this Tennis Club during all the period of the feeling of hatred +against America we were treated with, extreme courtesy by all +our German fellow members. + +We saw a great deal of the two exchange professors in the winter +of 1913-14, Professor Paul Shorey of the University of Chicago +and Professor Archibald Coolidge of Harvard. These exchange +professors give courses and lectures in the universities and +their first appearance is quite an event. On this first day in +1913, they each delivered a lecture in the University of Berlin, +and on this lecture day Prince August Wilhelm, representing the +Kaiser, attended. The Kaiser used invariably to attend, but of +late years I am afraid has rather lost interest in this enterprise +at first so much favoured by him. + +The _Cologne_Gazette_ at one time after the commencement +of the war, in an article, expressed great surprise that America +should permit the export of munitions of war to the Allies and +said, quite seriously, that Germany had done everything possible +to win the favour of America, that Roosevelt had been offered a +review of German troops, that the Emperor had invited Americans +who came to Kiel on their yachts to dine with him, and that he +had even sat through the lectures given by American exchange +professors. + +Before the war there was but one cable direct from Germany to +America. This cable was owned by a German company and reached +America via the Azore Islands. I endeavoured to obtain permission +for the Western Union Company to land a cable in Germany, but +the opposition of the German company, which did not desire to +have its monopoly interfered with, caused the applications of +the Western Union to be definitely pigeon-holed. In August, 1914, +after the outbreak of the war, when I told this to Ballin of +the Hamburg American Line and von Gwinner, head of the Deutsche +Bank, and when they thought of how much they could have saved +for themselves and Germany and their companies if there had been +an American owned cable landing in Germany, their anger at the +delay on the part of official Germany knew no bounds. Within a +very short time I received an answer from the Foreign Office +granting the application of the Western Union Company, providing +the cable went direct to America. This concession, however, came +too late and, naturally, the Western Union did not take up the +matter during the war. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +MILITARISM IN GERMANY AND THE ZABERN AFFAIR + +In 1913-1914 occurred a series of events known as the "Zabern +Affair," which to my mind decided the "system"--the military +autocracy--for a speedy war. In this affair the German people +appeared at last to be opening their eyes, to recover in some +degree from the panic fear of their neighbours which had made them +submit to the arrogance and exactions of the military caste and to +be almost ready to demilitarise themselves, a thing abhorrent to +the upholders of caste, the system, the army and the Hohenzollerns. + +This writing on the wall--these letters forming the word +"Zabern"--the actions of the Social Democrats and their growing +boldness, all were warnings to the autocracy of its waning power, +and impelled that autocracy towards war as a bloodletting cure +for popular discontent. + +Prussia, which has imposed its will, as well as its methods of +thought and life on all the rest of Germany, is undoubtedly a +military nation. + +More than one hundred and twenty-five years ago Mirabeau, the great +French orator at the commencement of the Revolution, said, "War is +the national industry of Prussia." Later, Napoleon remarked that +Prussia "was hatched from a cannon ball," and shortly before the +Franco-Prussian war of 1870 the French military _attache_, in +reporting to his government, wrote that "other countries possessed +an army, but in Prussia the army possessed the country." + +In practice the class of nobles in Prussia owns the army. Officers +may enter the army in two ways, either by enlisting in the regiment, +first as private and then being rapidly promoted to the position +of non-commissioned officer, and then probationary ensign, or +_avantageur_; or the young aspirant may come directly from +a two years' course in one of the cadet schools and enter the +regiment as probationary ensign. In both cases the young officer +is observed by the officers during a period of probation and +can become an officer of that regiment only by the consent of +the regimental officers. In other words, each regiment is like +a club, the officers having the right of black-ball. + +This system has practically confined the professional officers to +a class of nobles. It is not at all unusual to find in a regiment +officers whose ancestors were officers of the same regiment two +hundred years or more ago. + +In addition to these officers who make the army their career, +a certain number of Germans, after undergoing an enlistment in +the army of one year and two periods of training thereafter, +are made reserve officers. These reserve officers are called to +the colours for manoeuvres and also, of course, when the whole +nation is arrayed in war. These reserve officers seldom attain +a rank higher than that of captain. They may, however, while +exercising civil functions, be promoted, and in this manner the +Chancellor, while occupying civil positions, has gradually been +promoted to the rank of General and von Jagow, during the war, to +the rank of Major. As a rule reserve officers are the one-yearers, +or _Einjahriger_, who, because they have attained a certain +standard of education, serve only one year with the army instead +of the two required from others. The Bavarian army is in a sense +independent of Prussia, but is modelled on the same system. + +For years officers of the army, both in the discharge of their +duties and outside, have behaved in a very arrogant way toward +the civil population. Time and again, while I was in Germany +waiting in line at some ticket office, an officer has shoved +himself ahead of all others without even a protest from those +waiting. On one occasion, I went to the races in Berlin with my +brother-in-law and bought a box. While we were out looking at +the horses between the races, a Prussian officer and his wife +seated themselves in our box. I called the attention of one of +the ushers to this, but the usher said that he did not dare ask +a Prussian officer to leave, and it was only after sending for +the head usher and showing him my Jockey Club badge and my pass +as Ambassador, that I was able to secure possession of my own +box. + +There have been many instances in Germany where officers having +a slight dispute with civilians have instantly cut the civilian +down. Instances of this kind and the harsh treatment of the Germans +by officers and under-officers, while serving in the army, +undoubtedly created in Germany a spirit of antagonism not only +to the army itself but to the whole military system of Prussia. +Affairs were brought to a head by the so-called Zabern Affair. In +this affair the internal antagonism between the civil population +and professional soldiers, which had assumed great proportions +in a period of long peace, seemed to reach its climax. Of course +this antagonism had increased with the increase in 1913-14 of +the effective strength of the standing army, bringing a material +increase in the numbers of officers and non-commissioned officers +who represent military professionalism. + +The Imperial Provinces or Reichsland, as Alsace and Lorraine are +called, had been in a peculiar position within the body politic +of Germany since their annexation in 1870. The Reichsland, as +indicated by its name, was to be considered as common property +of the German Empire and was not annexed to any one German State. +Its government is by an Imperial Viceroy, with a kind of cabinet +consisting of one Secretary of State, Civil and Under Secretaries +and Department heads, assisted by a legislative body of two chambers, +one elected by popular vote and the other consisting of members +partly elected by municipal bodies, universities, churches and so +forth, and partly appointed by the Imperial Government. The Viceroy +and his cabinet are appointed by the Emperor in his capacity of +the sovereign of the Reichsland. Until the thirty-first of May, +1911, the Reichsland had no constitution of its own, the form +of its government being regulated by the Reichstag and Federal +Council (Bundesrat) in about the same way as the territories +of the United States are ruled by Congress and the President. +In 1911, Alsace-Lorraine received a constitution which gave it +representation in the Federal Council, representation in the +Reichstag having already been granted as early as 1871. The sympathy +of Alsace-Lorraine for France had been increased by the policy of +several of the German viceroys,--von Manteuffel, Prince Hohenlohe, +Prince Munster and Count Wedel, who had, in their administrations, +alternated severe measures with great leniency and had not improved +conditions, so that the population, essentially South German, +was undoubtedly irritated by the tone and manner of the North +German officials. + +Great industries had been developed by the Imperial Government, +especially textile and coal mining, and the industrial population +centering in Mulhausen was hotly and thoroughly Social Democratic. +The upper or well-to-do classes were tied to France by family +connections and by religion. The bourgeois remained mildly +anti-German, more properly speaking, anti-government, for similar +reasons, and the working men were opposed to the government on +social and economic grounds. The farming population, not troubling +much about the politics, but being affected by the campaign of +the nationalistic press, were in sympathy with France; so the +atmosphere was well prepared for the coming storm. + +Zabern, or in French, Saverne, is a little town of between eight +and nine thousand inhabitants, beautifully situated at the foot +of the Vosges Mountains on the banks of the Rhine-Marne Canal. +Its garrison comprised the staff and two battalions of Infantry +Regiment, Number Ninety-nine, commanded by von Reuter, and among +its officers was a Lieutenant von Forstner, a young man only +twenty years old, whose boyish appearance had excited the school +children and boys working in nearby iron factories to ridicule +him. It became known that this young officer, while instructing +his men, had insulted the French flag and had called the Alsatian +recruits _Wackes_, a nick-name meaning "square-head," and +frequently used by the people of Alsace-Lorraine in a jocular +way, but hotly resented by them if used towards them by others. +It was further reported that he had promised his men a reward +of ten marks if one of them, in case of trouble, should bring +down a Social Democrat. Forstner had told his men to beware, +and warned them against listening to French foreign agents, whom +the Germans claimed were inducing French soldiers to desert in +order to join the French legion. It is probable that Forstner, +in talking to his men of the French Foreign Legion, used language +offensive to French ears. He admitted that he had used the word +_Wackes_ in defiance of an order of the commanding general, +and for this he had been punished with several days' confinement +in a military prison. Lieutenant von Forstner, who was ordered +to instruct his squad about the regulations in case of trouble +with the civil population, claimed that he had only added to the +usual instructions a statement that every true soldier should +do his best to suppress any disturbances and that he, Forstner, +would give a special reward to any of his men who would arrest +one of "those damned Social Democrats." + +Reports of the acts of Forstner and other officers were rapidly +spread among the population. The two newspapers of Zabern published +articles. The excitement grew, and there were demonstrations +against the officials and especially against Forstner. Finally, +conditions became so bad that Colonel von Reuter requested the +head of the local civil administration, Director Mahler, to restore +order, stating that he would take the matter into his own hands +if order was not restored. The director, a native of a small +village near Zabern, replied coolly that he saw no necessity +for interfering with peace loving and law abiding people. On +November twenty-ninth, 1913, a large crowd assembled in front +of the barracks. Colonel von Reuter ordered Lieutenant Schad, +commanding the Guard as officer of the day, to disperse the crowd. +Accordingly Lieutenant Schad called the Guard to arms and three +times summoned the crowd to disperse and go home. The soldiers +charged and drove the multitude across the Square and into a +side street and arrested about fifteen persons, among them the +President, two Judges and the State Attorney of the Zabern Supreme +Court, who had just come out from the court building and who were +caught in the crowd. They were subsequently released. The rest +of the persons arrested were kept in the cellar of the barracks +over night. + +The report of these occurrences caused immense excitement throughout +Germany. A great outcry went up against militarism, even in quarters +where no socialistic tendencies existed. This feeling was not +helped by the fact that the General commanding the fifteenth +army to which the Zabern regiment belonged was an exponent of +extreme militaristic ideas; a man, who several years before, as +Colonel of the Colonial troops, representing the war ministry +before the Reichstag and debating there the question of the number +of troops to be kept in German South West Africa, had most clearly +shown his contempt for the Reichstag. + +Colonel von Reuter and Lieutenant Schad, when court-martialled +for their acts in ordering the troops to move against the civil +population, claimed the benefit of a Prussian law of 1820, which +provided that in any city, town or village, the highest military +officer in command must assume the authority, usually vested +in the civil government, whenever for any reason the civil +administration neglects to keep order. The Colonel and Lieutenant +were subsequently acquitted on the ground that they had acted +under the provisions of this law. + +The excitement throughout Germany was further increased by other +circumstances. The Emperor remained during these critical days at +Donaueschingen, the princely estate of his friend and favourite, +Prince Furstenberg, enjoying himself with fox-hunting, torch-light +processions and cabaret performances. Of course, all this had been +arranged long before anyone dreamed of any trouble in Zabern, and +the Emperor could scarcely be expected to realise the gravity of +the situation which suddenly arose. But this very fact created a +bad impression. It was even rumoured that the Empress, alarmed by +the situation, had ordered a train to be made ready in order to +go to him and try to convince him of the necessity of returning +to Berlin. + +[Illustration: THE GLORY WHICH IS POTSDAM. SUMMER RESIDENCE OF +THE KAISER IN THE PARK OF SANS SOUCI.] + +[Illustration: DEMONSTRATION OF SYMPATHY FOR THE AMERICANS, AT +THE TOWN HALL, AUGUST, 1914.] + +The newly appointed minister of war, Falkenhayn, went to +Donaueschingen, where he was joined by von Deimling. This action +aggravated the situation, because the public concluded that the +Emperor would hear the advice and report of military officers +only. The sudden death, by heart failure, of the Emperor's closest +friend, von Hulsen, chief of the Emperor's Military Cabinet, +during a banquet at Donaueschingen, gave the rapidly developing +events a tragic and mysterious colouring, and these conferences +in Donaueschingen resulted in the tendering of their resignations +by the Viceroy, von Wedel, and Secretary of State Zorn von Bulach, +Viceroy and Secretary of State of Alsace-Lorraine, who felt that +the military party had gained an upper hand in the conflict with the +civil authorities. The Chancellor then hurried to Donaueschingen, +arriving a few hours before the departure of the Emperor; and a +subsequent order of the Emperor to General von Deimling to see +to it that the military officers did not overstep their authority +and directing him to investigate the occurrences and take measures +to punish all guilty parties, somewhat quieted the nation and +caused the two highest civil officials of Alsace-Lorraine to +withdraw their resignations. + +Zabern, where a brigadier-general had been sent by von Deimling +to restore civil government, had begun to quiet down. But the +Chancellor had hardly returned to Berlin when another incident +stirred Germany. While practising field service in the neighbourhood +of Zabern and marching through a village, Lieutenant von Forstner +had an altercation with a lame shoemaker and cut him down. This +brutal act of militarism caused a new outburst throughout Germany. +Forstner was tried by a court-martial for hitting and wounding +an unarmed civilian, and sentenced by the lower court to one +year's imprisonment, but acquitted by the higher court as having +acted in "supposed self-defence." + +No less than three parties, the Centrum, the Progressives and +the Social Democrats, addressed interpellations to the Chancellor +about this occurrence at Zabern. I was present at the debate in +the Reichstag, which took place on the fourth, fifth and sixth +of December, 1913. Three South Germans, a member of the Centrum, +Hauss, a Progressive named Roser, and the Socialist deputy from +Mulhausen in Alsace, Peirotes, commenced by moving and seconding +the interpellation and related in vehement language the occurrences +at Zabern. The Chancellor replied in defence of the government. +Unfortunately he had that morning received family news of a most +unpleasant character, which added to his nervousness. He spoke +with a low voice and looked like a downhearted and sick man. It +was whispered afterwards in the lobbies that he had forgotten +the most important part of his speech. The unfavourable impression +which he made was increased by von Falkenhayn, appearing for the +first time before the Reichstag. If the Reichstag members had +been disappointed by the Chancellor, they were stirred to the +highest pitch of bitterness by the speech of the War Minister. In +a sharp, commanding voice he told them that the military officers +had only done their duty, that they would not be swerved from their +path by press agents or hysterical individuals, that Forstner +was a very young officer who had been severely punished, but +that this kind of courageous young officer was the kind that +the country needed, etc. Immediately after this speech the +Progressive party moved that the attitude of the Chancellor did +not meet the approval of the representatives of the people, and +it became evident that, for the first time in the history of the +German Empire, a vote of censure directed against the government +would be debated. The debate was continued all the next day, the +Chancellor making another speech and saying what he probably had +intended to say the day before. He related what he had achieved +at Donaueschingen; that the Emperor had issued a cabinet order +saying that the military authorities should be kept within legal +bounds, that all the guilty persons would be punished, that the +Regiment, Number Ninety-nine, had been removed from Zabern, that +the absolute law of 1820 had been abolished for Alsace-Lorraine, +and that no Chancellor should for one moment tolerate disregard +of law by any government officials, civil or military, and remain +in his position. + +This second speech of the Chancellor made a better impression +and somewhat affected the more extreme members of the Reichstag, +but it came too late to prevent the passage of the vote of censure +by the remarkable majority of two hundred and ninety-three to +fifty-four. Only the Conservatives voted against it. A few days +later, when the Social Democrats demanded that the Chancellor +take the consequence of the vote of distrust and resign, the +attitude of the members of all the other parties, who had been +favourably impressed by the second speech of the Chancellor, +showed that they were not yet prepared to go the length of holding +that a vote of distrust in the Reichstag must necessarily mean +the resignation of the Chancellor. + +Public excitement gradually calmed down, and a complete change of +the officials at Zabern helped to bring about a normal condition +of affairs. The Viceroy, Count Wedel, and Secretary of State +Zorn von Bulach, resigned and were replaced by von Dallwitz and +Count Rodern. + +However, the everlasting question came up again a little later +during the regular budget debate of the Reichstag. The Chancellor +made his speech, giving a review of the political international +situation. He was followed by Herr Scheidemann, leader of the +Social Democrats, who mercilessly attacked the. Chancellor and +stated that if the Chancellor still thought that he was the right +man at the helm, he, Scheidemann, would show that the contrary was +the case. He then enumerated what he called the many political +failures of the Chancellor, the failure of the bill to amend +the Prussian franchise law, and stated that the few bills which +had been passed, such as the bill giving Alsace-Lorraine a real +constitution, had been carried only with the help of the Social +Democratic party. The speaker then once more rehashed the incidents +of the Zabern matter, referred to the attitude of the Emperor, +who, he said, had evidently been too busy with hunting and +festivities to devote time to such trivial matters as the Zabern +Affair, and also said that, if the Chancellor had refused to +withdraw, the only possible conclusion from the vote of the two +hundred and ninety-three Reichstag members, who were certainly +not influenced by personal feelings against the Chancellor, was +that the Chancellor must be sticking to his post only because +of the mistaken idea of the Emperor's authority and because he +must believe in the fetish of personal government. Scheidemann +begged that the same majority which had passed the vote of censure +should now follow it up by voting down the Chancellor's salary +and thus force him out of office. + +The Chancellor immediately replied, saying that he needed no +advice from Herr Scheidemann, and that when the government had +consented to change the rules of the Reichstag he had expressly +reserved the authority either to regard or disregard any resolution +passed after an interpellation, and that formerly, after discussing +an interpellation and the answer of the government, no vote could +be taken to approve or reject a resolution expressing its opinion +of such course of action. Such resolutions might be considered as +valuable material, but it had been agreed that they could have +no binding effect either upon the government or any member of it, +and that nobody had ever dreamed that by a mere change of business +rules the whole constitution of the Empire was being changed and +authority given to the Reichstag to dismiss ministers at will; +that in France and Great Britain conditions were different, but +that parliamentary government did not exist in Germany; that it +was the constitutional privilege of the Emperor to appoint the +Chancellor without any assistance or advice from the Reichstag; +that he, the Chancellor, would resist with all his might every +attempt to change this system; and that he, therefore, refused +to resign because the resolution had no other effect than to +make it evident that a difference of opinion existed between the +Reichstag and the government. + +This debate took place on December ninth, 1913, and, with the +exception of the Social Democrats and the Polish deputies, the +leaders of all parties supported the view of the Chancellor. +The motion to strike out the Chancellor's salary was voted down, +only the Social Democrats and Poles voting in favour of it. + +It is unquestioned, however, that this Zabern Affair and the +consequent attitude of the whole nation, as well as the extraordinary +vote in the Reichstag, greatly alarmed the military party. + +It was perhaps the final factor which decided the advocates of +the old military system of Germany in favour of a European war. +Usually in past years when the Reichstag in adjournments had risen +and cheered the name of the Emperor, the Social Democrats absented +themselves from the Chamber, but when the Reichstag adjourned on +May twentieth, 1914, these members remained in the Chamber and +refused either to rise or to cheer the Emperor. The President +of the Reichstag immediately called attention to this breach +of respect to the Emperor, upon which the Socialists shouted, +"That is our affair," and tried to drown the cheers with hoots +and hisses at which the other parties applauded tumultuously + +This occurrence I know greatly incensed the Emperor and did much, +I believe, to win his consent to the war. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PSYCHOLOGY AND CAUSES WHICH PREPARED THE NATION FOR WAR + +To the outsider, the Germans seem a fierce and martial nation. +But, in reality, the mass of the Germans, in consenting to the +great sacrifice entailed by their enormous preparations for war, +have been actuated by fear. + +This fear dates from the Thirty Years' War, the war which commenced +in 1618 and was terminated in 1648. In 1648, when the Treaty +of Westphalia was concluded, Germany was almost a desert. Its +population had fallen from twenty millions to four millions. +The few remaining people were so starved that cannibalism was +openly practised. In the German States polygamy was legalised, +and was a recognised institution for many years thereafter. + +Of thirty-five thousand Bohemian villages, only six thousand +were left standing. In the lower Palatinate only one-tenth of the +population survived; in Wurttemberg, only one-sixth. Hundreds of +square miles of once fertile country were overgrown with forests +inhabited only by wolves. + +A picture of this horrible period is found in the curious novel, +"The Adventurous Simplicissimus," written by Grimmelshausen, and +published in 1669, which describes the adventures of a wise peasant +who finally leaves his native Germany and betakes himself to a desert +island which he refuses to leave when offered an opportunity to +go back to the Fatherland. He answers those who wish to persuade +him to go back with words which seem quite appropriate to-day: +"My God, where do you want to carry me? Here is peace. There is +war. Here I know nothing of the arts of the court, ambitions, +anger, envy, deceit, nor have I cares concerning my clothing and +nourishment.... While I still lived in Europe everything was +(O, woe that I must appear witness to such acts of Christians!) +filled with war, burning, murder, robbery, plundering and the +shame of women and virgins." The Munich weekly, "Simplicissimus," +whose powerful political cartoons have often startled Europe, +takes its name from this character. + +After the conclusion of the Thirty Years' War, Germany was again +and again ravaged by smaller wars, culminating in the Seven Years' +War of Frederick the Great and the humbling of Germany under +the heel of Napoleon. In the wars Of Frederick the Great, one +tenth of the population was killed. Even the great Battle of +the Nations at Leipsic in 1813 did not free Germany from wars, +and in 1866 Prussia and the smaller North German States, with +Italy, defeated Austria, assisted by Bavaria, Hesse-Cassel, +Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, Saxony, Baden, Wurttemberg and Hanover. + +I am convinced that the fear of war induced by a hereditary instinct, +caused the mass of the Germans to become the tools and dupes of +those who played upon this very fear in order to create a military +autocracy. On the other hand, and, especially, in the noble class, +we have in Germany a great number of people who believe in war for +its own sake. In part, these nobles are the descendants of the +Teutonic Knights who conquered the Slav population of Prussia, +and have ever since bound that population to their will. + +The Prussian army was created by the father of Frederick the +Great, who went to the most ridiculous extremes in obtaining tall +men at all costs for his force. + +The father of Frederick the Great gave the following written +instructions to the two tutors of his son. "Above all let both +tutors exert themselves to the utmost to inspire him with a love +of soldiery and carefully impress upon his mind that, as nothing +can confer honour and fame upon a prince except the sword, the +monarch who seeks not his sole satisfaction in it must ever appear +a contemptible character in the eyes of the world." + +Frederick the Great left, by the death of that father who had +once threatened to execute him, at the head of a marvellous army +with a full treasury, finally decided upon war, as he admits in +his own letters, "in order to be talked about," and his desire +to be talked about led to the Seven Years' War. + +The short war against Denmark in 1864, against Austria, Bavaria, +etc., in 1866 and against France in 1870, enormously increased +both the pride and prestige of the Prussian army. It must not +be forgotten that at all periods of history it seems as if some +blind instinct had driven the inhabitants of the inhospitable +plains of North Germany to war and to conquest. The Cimbri and +Teutones--the tribes defeated by Marius; Ariovistus, who was +defeated by Julius Caesar; the Goths and the Visi-Goths; the +Franks and the Saxons; all have poured forth from this infertile +country, for the conquest of other lands. The Germans of to-day +express this longing of the North Germans for pleasanter climes +in the phrase in which they demand "a place in the sun." + +The nobles of Prussia are always for war. The business men and +manufacturers and shipowners desire an increasing field for their +activities. The German colonies were uninhabitable by Europeans. +All his life the glittering Emperor and his generals had planned +and thought of war; and the Crown Prince, surrounded by his +remarkable collection of relics and reminders of Napoleon, dreamed +only of taking the lead in a successful war of conquest. Early in +the winter of 1913-14, the Crown Prince showed his collection of +Napoleana to a beautiful American woman of my acquaintance, and +said that he hoped war would occur while his father was alive, +but, if not, he would start a war the moment he came to the throne. + +Since writing the above, the American woman who had this conversation +with the Crown Prince wrote out for me the exact conversation +in her own words, as follows: "I had given him Norman Angell's +book, 'The Great Illusion,' which seeks to prove that war is +unprofitable. He (the Crown Prince) said that whether war was +profitable or not, when he came to the throne there would be war, +if not before, just for the fun of it. On a previous occasion +he had said that the plan was to attack and conquer France, then +England, and after that my country (the United States of America); +Russia was also to be conquered, and Germany would be master of +the world." + +The extraordinary collection of relics, statues, busts, souvenirs, +etc., of the first Napoleon, collected by the Crown Prince, which +he was showing at the time of the first of these conversations +to this American lady, shows the trend of his mind and that all +his admiration is centred upon Napoleon, the man who sought the +mastery of the world, and who is thought by admirers like the +Crown Prince to have failed only because of slight mistakes which +they feel, in his place, they would not have made. + +If the Germans' long preparations for war were to bear any fruit, +countless facts pointed to the summer of 1914 as the time when the +army should strike that great and sudden blow at the liberties +of the world. + +It was in June, 1914, that the improved Kiel Canal was reopened, +enabling the greatest warships to pass from the Baltic to the +North Sea. + +In the Zeppelins the Germans had arms not possessed by any other +country and with which they undoubtedly believed that they could +do much more damage to England than was the case after the actual +outbreak of hostilities. They had paid great attention to the +development of the submarine. Their aeroplanes were superior to +those of other nations. They believed that in the use of poison +gas, which was prepared before the outbreak of the war, they had +a prize that would absolutely demoralise their enemy. They had +their flame throwers and the heavy artillery and howitzers which +reduced the redoubtable forts of Liege and Namur to fragments +within a few hours, and which made the holding of any fortresses +impossible. + +On their side, by the imposition of a heavy tax called the +_Wehrbeitrag_ or supplementary defence tax, they had, in +1913, increased their army by a number of army corps. On the +other hand, the law for three years' military service voted in +France had not yet gone into effect, nor had the law for universal +military service voted by the Belgian Chambers. Undoubtedly the +Germans based great hopes upon the Bagdad railway which was to +carry their influence to the East, and even threatened the rule +of England in Egypt and India. Undoubtedly there was talk, too, +of a Slav railroad to run from the Danube to the Adriatic which +would cut off Germany from access to the Southern Sea. Francis +Deloisi, the Frenchman, in his book published before the great +war, called "De la Guerre des Balkans a la Guerre Europeenne," +says, "In a word, the present war (Balkan) is the work of Russia, +and the Danube Asiatic railway is a Russian project. If it succeeds, +a continuous barrier of Slav peoples will bar the way to the +Mediterranean of the path of Austro-German expansion from the +Black Sea to the Adriatic. But here again the Romanoffs confront +the Hapsburgs, the Austro-Serb conflict becomes the Austro-Russian +conflict, two great groups are formed, and the Balkan conflict +becomes the European conflict." + +Another reason for an immediate war was the loan by France to +Russia made on condition that additional strategic railways were +to be constructed by the Russians in Poland. Although this money +had been received, the railways had not been constructed at the +time of the opening of the Great War. Speaking of this situation, +the Russian General Kuropatkin, in his report for the year 1900, +said, "We must cherish no illusions as to the possibility of an +easy victory over the Austrian army," and he then went on to say, +"Austria had eight railways to transport troops to the Russian +frontier while Russia had only four; and, while Germany had seventeen +such railways running to the German-Russian frontier, the Russians +had only five." Kuropatkin further said, "The differences are too +enormous and leave our neighbours a superiority which cannot be +overcome by the numbers of our troops, or their courage." + +Comparing the two armies, he said, "The invasion of Russia by +German troops is more probable than the invasion of Germany by +Russian troops"; and, "Our Western frontier, in the event of +a European war, would be in such danger as it never has known +in all the history of Russia." + +Agitation by workmen in Russia was believed in Germany to be +the beginning of a revolution. Illuminating figures may be seen +in the gold purchase of the German Imperial Bank: in 1911, +174,000,000 marks; in 1912, 173,000,000 marks; but in 1913, +317,000,000 marks. + +There was a belief in Germany that the French nation was degenerate +and corrupt and unprepared for war. This belief became conviction +when, in the debates of the French Senate, Senator Humbert, early +in 1914, publicly exposed what he claimed to be the weakness +and unpreparedness of France. + +Prince Lichnowsky, the German Ambassador in London, certainly +reported to his government that England did not wish to enter +the war. He claims now that he did not mean that England would +not fight at all events, but undoubtedly the German Foreign Office +believed that England would remain out of the war. The raising of +the Ulster army by Sir Edward Carson, one of the most gigantic +political bluffs in all history, which had no more revolutionary +or military significance than a torchlight parade during one of +our presidential campaigns, was reported by the German spies +as a real and serious revolutionary movement; and, of course, it +was believed by the Germans that Ireland would rise in general +rebellion the moment that war was declared. In the summer of +1914 Russia was believed to be on the edge of revolution. + +As I have said in a previous chapter, the movement against +militarism, culminating in the extraordinary vote in the Reichstag +against the government at the time of the Zabern Affair, warned +the government and military people that the mass of Germans were +coming to their senses and were preparing to shake off the bogy of +militarism and fear, which had roosted so long on their shoulders +like a Prussian old-man-of-the-sea. The Pan-Germans and the +Annexationists were hot for war. The people alive could recall +only three wars, the war against Denmark in 1864, which was settled +in a few days and added the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein to +the Prussian crown, and the war of 1866 in which Bavaria, Baden, +Wurttemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Saxony were defeated, when the +Austrian kingdom of Hanover disappeared and the territories of +Hesse-Cassel and Nassau, and the free city of Frankfort were +added to Prussia. This war, from its declaration to the battle +of Koniggratz in which the Austrians were completely defeated, +lasted only two weeks. In 1870 France was defeated within a month +and a half after the opening of hostilities; so that the Kaiser +was implicitly believed when, on the first day of the war, he +appeared on the balcony of the palace and told the crowds who +were keen for war, that "before the leaves have fallen from the +trees you will be back in your homes." The army and all Germany +believed him and believed, too, that a few short weeks would +see the destruction of France and the consequent seizure of her +rich colonies; that Russia could then be struck a good quick +blow before she could concentrate her army and resources; that +England would remain neutral; and that Germany would consequently +become, if not the actual owner, at least the dictator of the +world. Some one has since said that the Emperor must have meant +pine trees. + +Working ever in the dark, either owning or influencing newspapers, +the great munition and arms factory of the Krupp's insidiously +poisoned the minds of the people with the microbe of war. + +Prince Lichnowsky, the German Ambassador to London, called upon +me often after the outbreak of the war, and insisted that he +had correctly reported the sentiments of England in saying that +England did not want war. After his return to Germany the Germans +quite unfairly treated him as a man who had failed and seemed +to blame him because England had taken the only possible course +open to her and ranged herself on the side of France and Russia. + +The dedication at Leipzig, in the year 1913, of the great monument +to celebrate what is called the "War of Liberation," and the +victory of Leipzig in the War of the Nations, 1813, had undoubtedly +kindled a martial spirit in Germany. To my mind, the course which +really determined the Emperor and the ruling class for war was +the attitude of the whole people in the Zabern Affair and their +evident and growing dislike of militarism. The fact that the +Socialists, at the close of the session of the Reichstag, boldly +remained in the Chamber and refused to rise or to cheer the name +of the Emperor indicated a new spirit of resistance to autocracy; +and autocracy saw that if it was to keep its hold upon Germany +it must lead the nation into a short and successful war. + +This is no new trick of a ruling and aristocratic class. From +the days when the patricians of Rome forced the people into war +whenever the people showed a disposition to demand their rights, +autocracies have always turned to war as the best antidote against +the spirit of democracy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AT KIEL JUST BEFORE THE WAR + +Kiel, situated on the Baltic, on the eastern side of the peninsula +of Jutland near the Baltic entrance of the Kiel Canal, is the +principal naval centre of Germany. + +When the Germans decided to build up a great fleet the Emperor +used every means to encourage a love of yachting and of the sea, +and endeavoured to make the Kiel Week a rival of the week at +Cowes, the English yachting centre. + +With this end in view, the rich Germans were encouraged and almost +commanded to build and race yachts; and Americans and others who +visited Kiel in their yachts were entertained by the Emperor +in an intimacy impossible if they had come to Berlin merely as +tourists, residing in a hotel. + +In June, 1914, we went to Kiel as guests of Allison Armour of +Chicago, on his yacht, the _Utowana_. I was detained by +business in Berlin and Mrs. Gerard preceded me to Kiel. I arrived +there on Saturday, the twenty-seventh of June, and that night +went with Armour to dine with the Emperor on board the Emperor's +yacht, _Hohenzollern_. + +In the harbour were a fair number of German yachts, mostly sailing +yachts, taking part in the races; the fine old yacht of Lord +Brassey, _The_Sunbeam_, and the yacht of the Prince of Monaco, +in which he conducts his scientific voyages. A great English +fleet, comprising some of the most powerful dreadnoughts, had +also arrived, sent as an earnest of the good will and kindly +feeling then supposed to exist between Great Britain and Germany. +The redoubtable von Tirpitz was present on a German battleship, +and the Hamburg American Line had an old transatlantic steamer, +the _Deutschland_, rechristened the _Victoria_Luise_, +filled with guests, most of whom were invited on a hint from +the Emperor. + +At dinner on the _Hohenzollern_ a number of English people +were present. The Kaiser had on one side of him the wife of the +British Admiral, Lady Maud Warrender, and on the other side, the +Countess of March, whose husband is heir to the Duke of Richmond. +I sat between Princess Munster and the Countess of March, and +after dinner the Emperor drew me over to the rail of the ship, +and talked to me for some time. I wish that diplomatic etiquette +would permit me to reveal what he said, but even in war time I +do not think I ought to violate the confidence that hospitality +seals. However important and interesting, especially to the tame +Socialists of Germany, I do not give this conversation with the +Emperor, nor the conversation with him and Colonel House at the +_Schrippenfest_, because I was his guest. Conversations +with the Emperor which I had on later occasions were at official +audiences and to these the same rule does not apply. He also +invited me to sail with him in his yacht, the _Meteor_, in +the races from Kiel to Eckernfjord on the coming Tuesday. + +[Illustration: THE EMPEROR'S RACING YACHT, AND OTHERS, AT KIEL.] + +[Illustration: THE "HOHENZOLLERN".] + +Sunday afternoon Prince Henry and his wife, who reside in the +castle at Kiel, were to give an afternoon reception and garden +party; but on arriving at the gates we were told that the party +would not take place. After going on board the _Utowana_, +Frederick W. Wile, the celebrated correspondent of the +_London_Daily_Mail_, ranged up alongside in a small launch and +informed us that the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the +Austrian throne, and his wife had been assassinated at Sarajevo. +There was much rushing to and fro in fast launches, the Emperor +himself being summoned from the race which was in progress. That +night we dined on board the yacht of the Prince of Monaco. All the +diplomats and notables whom I met during the afternoon and evening +seemed to think that there was no chance that the tragedy at +Sarajevo would lead to war. The next morning the Emperor left +early for Berlin, but expressly directed that the festivities +and races at Kiel should be carried out as arranged. + +Monday afternoon there was a _Bierabend_ in the large hall +of the yacht club at Kiel. The Emperor was to have presided at +this dinner, but his place was taken by his brother, Prince Henry. +Sir Edward Goschen, the British Ambassador, who was living on one +of the British battleships, sat on his right and I sat on his +left. During the evening a curious incident happened. The Prince +and I were talking of the dangers of after-dinner speaking and what +a dangerous sport it was. In the midst of our conversation some +one whispered to the Prince and he rose to his feet, proposed the +health of the visiting British Admiral and fleet, and made a little +speech. As he concluded, he said, addressing the officers of the +British fleet: "We are sorry you are going and we are sorry you +came." It is remarkable as showing the discipline of the German +nation and their respect for authority that thereafter no German +ever referred to this curious slip of the tongue. The night was +rather mild and after dinner we walked about the gardens of the +yacht club. I had a long and interesting conversation with the +Prince of Monaco. That Prince, who receives such a large income +from the company which carries on the gambling rooms at Monte +Carlo, is a man of the world intensely interested in scientific +research: there is practically no corner of the seven seas into +which his yacht has not poked her nose in the search for material +for the Sea Museum which he has established at Monaco. + +On Tuesday Armour and I boarded the Emperor's sailing yacht, +the new _Meteor_. The race was a beautiful run from Kiel +to Eckernfjord and was won by the _Meteor_. As the Emperor +was not on board, I did not get one of the souvenir scarf-pins +always given to guests who sail with him on a winning race. Among +our crew was Grand Admiral von Koster, subsequently an advocate +of the ruthless submarine war. + +Eckernfjord is a little fishing and bathing town. Near by is +the country residence of Prince Henry, a rather modest house, +built in brick in English Elizabethan style. The wife of Prince +Henry was a Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt and is the sister of the +Czarina of Russia. We had tea with Prince and Princess Henry, +their family, the Duke of Sonderburg-Glucksburg and several others +of his family. The billiard room of the house is decorated with +the large original caricatures made by McCutcheon of the Prince's +stay in America. Prince and Princess Henry came out to dine on +the _Utowana_, and Armour and the Prince went ashore to +attend another _Bierabend_, but I dodged the smoke and beer +and remained on board. Before he left the yacht, I had a talk +with Prince Henry. He seemed most exercised over the dislike of +the Germans by all other peoples and asked me why I thought it +existed. I politely told him that I thought it existed because of +the success which the Germans had had in all fields of endeavour, +particularly in manufacturing and commerce. He said, with great +truth, that he believed a great deal of it came from the bad +manners of the travelling Germans. Prince Henry is an able and +reasonable man with a most delightful manner. He speaks English +with a perfect English accent, and I think would be far happier +as an English country gentleman than as the Grand Admiral of the +German Baltic Fleet. He has been devoted to automobiling and +has greatly encouraged that industry in Germany. The Automobile +Club of Berlin is his particular pet. + +On returning to Kiel next day we spent several days longer there. +I lunched on board his battleship with Grand Admiral von Tirpitz, +sitting next to him at the table. He struck me then as an amiable +sea dog, combining much political and worldly wisdom with his +knowledge of the sea. From Kiel we motored one night to dine +with a Count and Countess in their country house. This house +had been built perhaps two hundred years, and was on one side of +a square, the other three sides being formed by the great stone +barns in which the produce of the estate was stored. Although +the first floor of the house was elevated about eight feet above +the ground, the family, on account of the dampness of that part +of the world, lived in the second story, and the dining room +was on this story. An ancestor of the Count had, at a time when +this part of the country was part of Denmark and about the year +1700, lent all his available money to the King of Denmark. A +crude painting in the hall showed him sitting in the hall of +this particular house, smoking a long pipe and surrounded by +three or four sisters who were all spinning. Our hostess told us +that this picture represented the lending ancestor being supported +by his sisters while waiting the return of the loan which he +had made to the Danish king, an early example of the situation +disclosed by the popular song which runs: "Everybody works but +father." Of course, no one ever expected a Prussian nobleman to +do any work except in the line of war or in governing the inferior +classes of the country. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE SYSTEM + +People of other countries have been wondering why it is that +the German government is able so easily to impose its will upon +the German people. I have set out in another chapter, in detail, +the political system from which you have seen that the Reichstag +is nothing but a debating society; that the Prussians do not +really have universal suffrage but, by reason of the vicious +circle system of voting, the elective franchise remains in the +hands of the few; and that the government of the country through the +_Landrate_, _Regierungsprasidenten_ and _Oberprasidenten_ +is a central system from above downwards and not the election +of the rulers by the people; and, in the chapter on militarism +and Zabern, I have told by what means the control of the army +is kept in the hands of the class of nobles. + +These are not the only means by which the system controls the +country. These alone would not suffice. From the time when he +is four years old, the German is disciplined and taught that +his government is the only good and effective form. The teachers +in the schools are all government paid and teach the children +only the principles desired by the rulers of the German people. +There are no Saturday holidays in the German schools and their +summer holidays are for only three to five weeks. You never see +gangs of small boys in Germany. Their games and their walks are +superintended by their teachers who are always inculcating in +them reverence and awe for the military heroes of the past and +present. On Saturday night the German boy is turned over by the +State paid school teacher to the State paid pastor who adds divine +authority to the principles of reverence for the German system. + +There is a real system of caste in Germany. For instance, I was +playing tennis one day with a man and, while dressing afterwards, +I asked him what he was. He answered that he was a _Kaufmann_, +or merchant. For the German this answer was enough. It placed him +in the merchant class. I asked him what sort of a _Kaufmann_ +he was. He then told me he was president of a large electrical +company. Of course, with us he would have answered first that +he was president of the electrical company, but being a German +he simply disclosed his caste without going into details. It is +a curious thing on the registers of guests in a German summer +resort to see Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze registered +with Mrs. Landrat Schwartz and Mrs. Second Lieutenant von Bing. +Of course, there is no doubt as to the relative social positions +of Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze and Mrs. Second Lieutenant +von Bing. Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze may have a steam +yacht and a tiara, an opera box and ten million marks. She may +be an old lady noted for her works of charity. Her husband may +have made discoveries of enormous value to the human race, but +she will always be compelled to take her place behind Mrs. Second +Lieutenant von Bing, even if the latter is only seventeen years +old. + +Of course, occasionally, officers of the army and navy condescend +to marry into the merchant caste, and if a girl has a choice +of three equally attractive young men, one a doctor, earning +ten thousand dollars a year; one a manufacturer, earning the +same amount; and one an army officer with a "von" before his +name and three thousand dollars a year, there is no hesitation +on her part: she takes the noble and the army officer. + +For years all the highest official positions of the government +have been held by members of the Prussian noble class, and when +Zimmermann, of a substantial family in East Prussia, but not of +noble birth, was made Foreign Minister, the most intense surprise +was exhibited all over Germany at this innovation. + +One of the most successful ways of disciplining the people is +by the _Rat_ system. _Rat_ means councillor, and is +a title of honour given to any one who has attained a certain +measure of success or standing in his chosen business or profession. +For instance, a business man is made a commerce _Rat_; a +lawyer, a justice _Rat_; a doctor, a sanitary _Rat_; +an architect or builder, a building _Rat_; a keeper of the +archives, an archive _Rat_; and so on. They are created in +this way: first, a man becomes a plain _Rat_, then, later on, +he becomes a secret _Rat_ or privy councillor; still later, +a court secret _Rat_ and, later still, a _wirklicher_, +or really and truly secret court _Rat_ to which may be added +the title of Excellency, which puts the man who has attained +this absolutely at the head of the _Rat_ ladder. + +But see the insidious working of the system. By German custom +the woman always carries the husband's title. The wife of a +successful builder is known as Mrs. Really Truly Secret Court +Building _Rat_ and her social precedence over the other women +depends entirely upon her husband's position in the _Rat_ +class. Titles of nobility alone do not count when they come in +contact with a high government position. Now if a lawyer gets to +be about forty years old and is not some sort of a _Rat_, +his wife begins to nag him and his friends and relations look at +him with suspicion. There must be something in his life which +prevents his obtaining the coveted distinction and if there is +anything in a man's past, if he has shown at any time any spirit of +opposition to the government, as disclosed by the police registers, +which are kept written up to date about every German citizen, +then he has no chance of obtaining any of these distinctions +which make up so much of the social life of Germany. It is a +means by which the government keeps a far tighter hold on the +intellectual part of its population than if they were threatened +with torture and the stake. The Social Democrats, who, of course, +have declared themselves against the existing system of government +and in favour of a republic, can receive no distinctions from +the government because they dared to lift their voices and their +pens in criticism of the existing order. For them there is the +fear of the law. Convictions for the crime of _Lese-Majeste_ +are of almost daily occurrence and, at the opening of the war, an +amnesty was granted in many of these cases, the ministry of war +withdrawing many prosecutions against poor devils waiting their +trial in jail because they had dared to speak disrespectfully of +the army. The following quotation from a German book, written +since the war, shows very clearly that this state of affairs +existed: "In the beneficent atmosphere of general amnesty came the +news that the Minister of War had withdrawn pending prosecutions +against newspapers on account of their insults to the army or +its members." (Dr. J. Jastrow, "Im Kriegszustand.") + +Besides the _Rat_ system and the military system, there +exists the enormous mass of Prussian officials. In a country +where so many things are under government control these officials +are almost immeasurably more numerous than in other countries. +In Prussia, for example, all the railways are government-owned, +with the exception of one road about sixty miles long and a few +small branch roads. This army of officials are retainers of the +government, and not only, of course, themselves refrain from +criticising the system, but also use their influence upon the +members of their own family and all with whom they come in contact. +They are subject to trial in special secret courts and one of +them who dared in any way to criticise the existing system would +not for long remain a member of it. Of course, the members of the +Reichstag have the privilege of free speech without responsibility, +and there are occasional Socialists, who know that they have +nothing to expect from the government, who dare to speak in +criticism. + +All the newspapers are subject to control as in no other country. +In the first place their proprietors are subject to the influence +of the _Rat_ system as is every other German, and the newspaper +proprietor, whose sons perhaps enter the army, whose daughters +may be married to naval officers or officials, and who seeks +for his sons promotion as judge, state's attorney, etc., has +to be very careful that the utterances of his newspaper do not +prevent his promotion in the social scale or interfere with the +career of his family and relations. + +Since the war while a preventive censure does not exist in Germany +nevertheless a newspaper may be suppressed at will; a fearful +punishment for a newspaper, which, by being suppressed for, say, +five days or a week, has its business affairs thrown into the utmost +confusion and suffers an enormous direct loss. + +Many of the larger newspapers are either owned or influenced by +concerns like the Krupps'. For instance, during this war, all +news coming from Germany to other countries has been furnished +by either the Over-Seas Or Trans-Ocean service, both news agencies +in which the Krupps are large stockholders. The smaller newspapers +are influenced directly by the government. + +In the Middle Ages there was often declared a sort of truce to +prevent fighting in a city, which was called the _Burgfrieden_ +or "peace of the city," and, at the beginning of this war, all +political parties were supposed to declare a sort of +_Burgfrieden_ and not try to obtain any political advantage. + +There was, therefore, intense indignation among the Social Democrats +of Germany when it was discovered, in the spring of 1916, that +the Minister of the Interior was making arrangements to send out +news service to be furnished free to the smaller newspapers, and +that he was engaged in instructing the various _Landrate_ +and other officials of the Interior Department how effectively to +use this machinery in order to gull the people to the advantage +of the government, and to keep them in ignorance of anything +which might tend to turn them against the system. + +Besides the _Rat_ system there is, of course, the system +of decorations. Countless orders and decorations are given in +Germany. At the head is the Order of the Black Eagle; there are +the Order of the Red Eagle, the Prussian Order of the Crown, +the orders, "_Pour_le_Merite_," the Order of the House of +Hohenzollern, and many others, and in each of the twenty-five +States there are also orders, distinctions and decorations. These +orders in turn are divided into numerous classes. For instance, a +man can have the Red Eagle order of the first, second, third or +fourth class, and these may be complicated with a laurel crown, +with an oak crown, with swords and with stars, etc. Even domestic +servants, who have served a long time in one family, receive +orders; and faithful postmen and other officials who have never +appeared on the police books for having made statements against +the government or the army are sure of receiving some sort of +order. + +Once a year in Berlin a great festival is held called the +_Ordensfest_, when all who hold orders or decorations of any +kind are invited to a great banquet. The butler, who has served +for twenty-five years, there rubs shoulders with the diplomat who +has received a Black Eagle for adding a colony to the German +Empire, and the faithful cook may be seated near an officer who +has obtained "_Pour_le_Merite_" for sinking an enemy warship. +All this in one sense is democratic, but in its effect it tends +to induce the plain people to be satisfied with a piece of ribbon +instead of the right to vote, and to make them upholders of a +system by which they are deprived of any opportunity to make +a real advance in life. + +This system is the most complete that has ever existed in any +country, because it has drawn so many of the inhabitants of the +country into its meshes. Practically, the industrial workers +of the great towns and the stupid peasants in the country are +the only people in Germany left out of its net. + +I had a shooting place very near Berlin, in fact I could reach +it in three quarters of an hour by motor from the Embassy door, +and there I had an opportunity of studying the conditions of +life of the peasant class. + +Germany is still a country of great proprietors. Lands may be held +there by a tenure which was abolished in Great Britain hundreds of +years ago. In Great Britain, property may only be tied up under +fixed conditions during the lives of certain chosen people, in +being at the death of the testator. In the State of New York, +property may only be tied up during the lives of two persons, +in being at the death of the person making the will, and for +twenty-one years (the minority of an infant) thereafter. But +in the Central Empires, property still may be tied up for an +indefinite period under the feudal system, so that great estates, +no matter how extravagant the life tenant may be, are not sold +and do not come into the market for division among the people. + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD ON THE WAY TO HIS SHOOTING +PRESERVE.] + +[Illustration: A KEEPER AND BEATERS ON THE SHOOTING PRESERVE. +IT SHOWS THE EARLY INNOCULATION OF DISCIPLINE INTO THE GERMAN +SMALL BOY.] + +For instance, to-day there exist estates in the Central Empires +which must pass from oldest son to oldest son indefinitely and, +failing that, to the next in line, and so on; and conditions +have even been annexed by which children cannot inherit if their +father has married a woman not of a stated number of quarterings +of nobility. There is a Prince holding great estates in Hungary. +He is a bachelor and if he desires his children to inherit these +estates there are only thirteen girls in the world whom he can +marry, according to the terms of the instrument by which some +distant ancestor founded this inheritance. + +This vicious system has prevented extensive peasant proprietorship. +The government, however, to a certain extent, has encouraged peasant +proprietorship, but only with very small parcels of land; and it +would be an unusual thing in Germany, especially in Prussia, +to find a peasant owning more than twenty or thirty acres of +land, most of the land being held by the peasants in such small +quantities that after working their own lands they have time +left to work the lands of the adjoining landed proprietor at a +very small wage. + +All the titles, of the nobility are not confined to the oldest +son. The "Pocketbook of Counts," published by the same firm which +publishes the "Almanac de Gotha," contains the counts of Austria, +Germany and Hungary together, showing in this way the intimate +personal relation between the noble families of these three +countries. All the sons of a count are counts, and so on, ad +infinitum. Thus in Hungary there are probably seventy Counts +Szecheny and about the same number of Zichy, etc. Some of the +German noble families are not far behind. In fact it may be said +that almost any person, in what is known as "society" in the +Central Empires, has a title of some sort. The prefix "von" shows +that the person is a noble and is often coupled with names of +people who have no title. By custom in Germany, a "von" when +he goes abroad is allowed to call himself Baron. But in Germany +he could not do so. These noble families in the Central Empires, +by the system of _Majorat_ which I have described, hold +large landed estates, and naturally exert a great influence upon +their labourers. As a rule the system of tenant farming does not +exist; that is, estates are not leased to small farmers as was +the custom in Ireland and is still in Great Britain, but estates +are worked as great agricultural enterprises under superintendents +appointed by the proprietor. This system, impossible in America or +even in Great Britain, is possible in the Central Empires where +the villages are full of peasants who, not so many generations +ago, were serfs attached to the land and who lived in wholesome +fear of the landed proprietors. + +This is the first method by which influence is exercised on the +population. There is also the restricted franchise or "circle +voting" which gives the control of the franchise to a few rich +proprietors. + +As a rule, the oldest son enters the army as an officer and may +continue, but if he has not displayed any special aptitude for +the military profession he retires and manages his estate. These +estates are calculated by their proprietors to give at least four +per cent interest income on the value of the land. Many younger +sons after a short term of service in the army, usually as officers +and not as _Einjahriger_ leave the army and enter diplomacy +or some other branch of the government service. The offices of +judge, district attorney, etc., not being elective, this career +as well as that leading to the position of _Landrat_ and +over-president of a province is open to those who, because they +belong to old Prussian landed families, find favour in the eyes +of the government. Much is heard in Germany and out of Germany +of the Prussian Squire or Junker. + +There is no leisure class among the, Junkers. They are all workers, +patriotic, honest and devoted to the Emperor and the Fatherland. +If it is possible that government by one class is to be suffered, +then the Prussian Junkers have proved themselves more fit for rule +than any class in all history. Their virtues are Spartan, their +minds narrow but incorruptible, and their bravery and patriotism +undoubted. One can but admire them and their stern virtues. This +class, largely because of its poverty and its constant occupation, +does not travel; nor does the casual tourist or health seeker in +Germany come in contact with these men. The Junkers will fight +hard to keep their privileges, and the throne will fight hard +for the Junkers because they are the greatest supporters of the +Hohenzollerns. + +The workingmen in the cities are hard workers and probably work +longer and get less out of life than any workingmen in the world. +The laws so much admired and made ostensibly for their protection, +such as insurance against unemployment, sickness, injury, old +age, etc., are in reality skilful measures which bind them to +the soil as effectively as the serfs of the Middle Ages were +bound to their masters' estates. + +I have had letters from workingmen who have worked in America +begging me for a steerage fare to America, saying that their +insurance payments were so large that they could not save money +out of their wages. Of course, after having made these payments +for some years, the workingman naturally hesitates to emigrate +and so lose all the premiums he has paid to the State. In peace +times a skilled mechanic in Germany received less than two dollars +a day, for which he was compelled to work at least ten hours. +Agricultural labourers in the Central Empires are poorly paid. +The women do much of the work done here by men. For instance, +once when staying at a nobleman's estate in Hungary, I noticed +that the gardeners were all women, and, on inquiring how much they +received, I was told they were paid about twenty cents a day. The +women in the farming districts of Germany are worked harder than +the cattle. In summer time they are out in the fields at five or +six in the morning and do not return until eight or later at night. +For this work they are sometimes paid as high as forty-eight +cents a day in harvest time. Nevertheless, these small wages +tempt many Russians to Germany during the harvest season. At the +outbreak of the war there were perhaps fifty thousand Russians +employed in Germany; men, women and girls. These the Germans +retained in a sort of slavery to work the fields. I spoke to +one Polish girl who was working on an estate over which I had +shooting rights, near Berlin. She told me that at the commencement +of the war she and her family were working in Germany and that +since the war they all desired to return to Poland but that the +Germans would not permit it. + +This hard working of women in agricultural pursuits tends to +stupefy and brutalise the rural population and keeps them in a +condition of subjection to the Prussian Church and the Prussian +system, and in readiness for war. Both Prussian Junkers and the +German manufacturers look with favour upon the employment of +so many women in farm work because the greater the number of +the labourers, the smaller their wages throughout the country. + +When I first came to Germany I, of course, was filled with the +ideas that prevailed in America that the German workingman had +an easy time. My mind was filled with pictures of the German +workingmen sitting with their families at tables, drinking beer +and listening to classical music. After I had spent some time in +Germany, I found that the reason that the German workingmen sat +about the tables was because they were too tired to do anything +else. + +I sincerely hope that after the war the workingmen of this country +will induce delegates of their German brothers to make a tour +of America. For when the German workingmen see how much better +off the Americans are, they will return to Germany and demand +shorter hours and higher wages; and the American will not be +brought into competition with labour slaves such as the German +workingmen of the period before the war. + +As one goes through the streets of Berlin there are no evidences +of poverty to be seen; but over fifty-five per cent of the families +in Berlin are families living in one room. + +The Germans are taken care of and educated very much in the same +way that the authorities here look after the inmates of a poor-house +or penitentiary. Such a thing as a German railway conductor rising +to be president of the road is an impossibility in Germany; and +the list of self-made men is small indeed,--by that I mean men +who have risen from the ranks of the working-men. + +The Socialists, representing the element opposed to the +Conservatives, elect a few members to the Prussian Lower House +and about one-third of the members to the Reichstag, but otherwise +have no part whatever in the government. No Socialist would have +any chance whatever if he set out to enter the government service +with the ambition of becoming a district attorney or judge. Jews +have not much chance in the government service. A few exceptions +have been made. At one time Dernburg, who carried on the propaganda +in America during the first year of the war, and who is a Jew, was +appointed Colonial Minister of the Empire. + +In my opinion, the liberalisation of Prussia has been halted +by the fact that there has been no party of protest except that +of the Socialists, and the Socialists, because they have, in +effect, demanded abolition of the monarchy and the establishment +of a republic as part of their programme, have been unable to +do anything in the obtaining of the reforms. + +Up to the beginning of the war there was great dissatisfaction. +The people were irritated by certain direct taxes such as the +tax upon matches, and because every Protestant in Prussia was +compelled to pay a tax for the support of the church, unless +he made a declaration that he was an atheist. + +The only class in Germany which knows something of the outside +world is the _Kaufmann_ class. Prussian nobles of the ruling +class are not travellers. They are always busy with the army and +navy, government employments or their estates; and, as a rule, +too poor to travel. The poor, of course, do not travel, and the +_Kaufmann_, although he learns much in his travels in other +countries to make him dissatisfied with the small opportunity +which he has in a political way in Germany, is satisfied to let +things stand because of the enormous profits which he makes +through the low wages and long hours of the German workingman. + +Lawyers and judges amount to little in Germany and we do not +find there a class of political lawyers who, in republics, always +seem to get the management of affairs in their own hands. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE DAYS BEFORE THE WAR + +After my return from Kiel to Berlin a period of calm ensued. +No one seemed to think that the murders at Sarajevo would have +any effect upon the world. + +The Emperor had gone North on his yacht, but, as I believe, not +until a certain line of action had been agreed upon. + +Most of the diplomats started on their vacations. Sir Edward +Goschen, British Ambassador, as well as the Russian Ambassador, +left Berlin. This shows, of course, how little war was expected +in diplomatic circles. + +I went on two visits to German country-houses in Silesia, where +the richest estates are situated. One of these visits was to the +country-house of a Count, one of the wealthiest men in Germany, +possessed of a fortune of about twenty to thirty million dollars. +He has a great estate in Silesia, farmed, as I explained, not by +tenant farmers, but by his own superintendents. In the centre is +a beautiful country house or castle. We were thirty-two guests in +the house-party. This Count and his charming wife had travelled +much and evidently desired to model their country life on that +of England. Our amusements were tennis, swimming and clay-pigeon +shooting, with dancing and music at night. Life such as this, +and especially, the lavish entertainment of so many guests, is +something very exceptional in Prussian country life and quite +a seven months' wonder for the country side. + +Some days after my return to Berlin the ultimatum of Austria +was sent to Serbia. Even then there was very little excitement, +and, when the Serbian answer was published, it was believed that +this would end the incident, and that matters would be adjusted +by dilatory diplomats in the usual way. + +On the twenty-sixth of July, matters began to boil. The Emperor +returned on this day and, from the morning of the twenty-seventh, +took charge. On the twenty-seventh, also, Sir Edward Goschen +returned to Berlin. I kept in touch, so far as possible, with +the other diplomats, as the German officials were exceedingly +uncommunicative, although I called on von Jagow every day and tried +to get something out of him. On the night of the twenty-ninth, +the Chancellor and Sir Edward had their memorable conversation in +which the Chancellor, while making no promises about the French +colonies, agreed, if Great Britain remained neutral, to make +"no territorial aggressions at the expense of France." + +The Chancellor further stated to Sir Edward, that ever since he +had been Chancellor the object of his policy had been to bring +about an understanding with England and that he had in mind a +general neutrality agreement between Germany and England. + +On the thirtieth, Sir Edward Grey refused the bargain proposed, +namely that Great Britain should engage to stand by while the +French colonies were taken and France beaten, so long as French +territory was not taken. Sir Edward Grey said that the so-called +bargain at the expense of France would constitute a disgrace +from which the good name of Great Britain would never recover. +He also refused to bargain with reference to the neutrality of +Belgium. + +Peace talk continued, however, on both the thirtieth and +thirty-first, and many diplomats were still optimistic. On the +thirty-first I was lunching at the Hotel Bristol with Mrs. Gerard +and Thomas H. Birch, our minister to Portugal, and his wife. +I left the table and went over and talked to Mouktar Pascha, +the Turkish Ambassador, who assured me that there was no danger +whatever of war. But in spite of his assurances and judging by +the situation and what I learned from other diplomats, I had +cabled to the State Department on the morning of that day saying +that a general European war was inevitable. On the thirty-first, +_Kriegsgefahrzustand_ or "condition of danger of war" was +proclaimed at seven P. M., and at seven P. M. the demand was made +by Germany that Russia should demobilise within twelve hours. On +the thirtieth, I had a talk with Baron Beyens, the Minister of +Belgium, and Jules Cambon, the French Ambassador, in the garden +of the French Embassy in the afternoon. They both agreed that +nothing could prevent war except the intervention of America. + +Both Ambassador Cambon and Minister Beyens were very sad and +depressed. After leaving them I met Sir Edward Grey upon the +street and had a short conversation with him. He also was very +depressed. + +Acting on my own responsibility, I sent the following letter to +the Chancellor: + + "Your Excellency: + + Is there nothing that my country can do? Nothing that I can + do towards stopping this dreadful war? + + I am sure that the President would approve any act of mine + looking towards peace. + + Yours ever, + (Signed) JAMES W. GERARD." + +To this letter I never had any reply. + +On the first of August at five P. M. the order for mobilisation +was given, and at seven-ten P. M. war was declared by Germany on +Russia, the Kaiser proclaiming from the balcony of the palace +that "he knew no parties more." + +Of course, during these days the population of Berlin was greatly +excited. Every night great crowds of people paraded the streets +singing "Deutschland Ueber Alles" and demanding war. Extras, +distributed free, were issued at frequent intervals by the +newspapers, and there was a general feeling among the Germans +that their years of preparation would now bear fruit, that Germany +would conquer the world and impose its _Kultur_ upon all nations. + +On the second of August, I called in the morning to say good-bye +to the Russian Ambassador. His Embassy was filled with unfortunate +Russians who had gone there to seek protection and help. Right +and left, men and women were weeping and the whole atmosphere +seemed that of despair. + +On the day the Russian Ambassador left, I sent him my automobile +to take him to the station. The chauffeur and footman reported to +me that the police protection was inadequate, that the automobile +was nearly overturned by the crowd, and that men jumped on the +running board and struck the Ambassador and the ladies with him +in the face with sticks. His train was due to leave at one-fifteen +P. M. At about ten minutes of one, while I was standing in my +room in the Embassy surrounded by a crowd of Americans, Mrs. +James, wife of the Senator from Kentucky and Mrs. Post Wheeler, +wife of our Secretary to the Embassy in Japan, came to me and +said that they were anxious to get through to Japan via Siberia +and did not know what to do. I immediately scribbled a note to +the Russian Ambassador asking him to take them on the train with +him. This, and the ladies, I confided to the care of a red-headed +page boy of the Embassy who spoke German. By some miracle he +managed to get them to the railroad station before the Ambassador's +train left, the Ambassador kindly agreeing to take them with +him. His train, however, instead of going to Russia, was headed +for Denmark; and from there the two ladies crossed to Sweden, +thence to England, and so home, it being perhaps as well for them +that they did not have an opportunity to attempt the Siberian +journey during this period of mobilisation. + +The Russian Ambassador reciprocated by confiding to me a Russian +Princess who had intended to go out with him but who, intimidated, +perhaps, by the scenes on the way to the station, had lost her +nerve at the railway station and refused to depart with the +Ambassador. She remained for a while in Berlin, and after some +weeks recovered sufficient courage to make the trip to Denmark. + +On the morning of August fourth, having received an invitation +the day before, I "attended" at the Palace in Berlin. In the room +where the court balls had been held in peace times, a certain +number of the members of the Reichstag were assembled. The diplomats +were in a gallery on the west side of the room. Soon the Emperor, +dressed in field grey uniform and attended by several members of +his staff and a number of ladies, entered the room. He walked +with a martial stride and glanced toward the gallery where the +diplomats were assembled, as if to see how many were there. Taking +his place upon the throne and standing, he read an address to +the members of the Reichstag. The members cheered him and then +adjourned to the Reichstag where the Chancellor addressed them, +making his famous declaration about Belgium, stating that "necessity +knew no law," and that the German troops were perhaps at that +moment crossing the Belgian frontier. Certain laws which had +been prepared with reference to the government of the country, +and which I will give in more detail in another place, as well as +the war credit, were voted upon by the Reichstag. The Socialists +had not been present in the Palace, but joined now in voting the +necessary credits. + +On the afternoon of August fourth, I went to see von Jagow to +try and pick up any news. The British Ambassador sat in the +waiting-room of the Foreign Office. Sir Edward told me that he +was there for the purpose of asking for his passports. He spoke +in English, of course, and I am sure that he was overheard by a +man sitting in the room who looked to me like a German newspaper +man, so that I was not surprised when, late in the afternoon, +extra sheets appeared upon the street announcing that the British +Ambassador had asked for his passports and that Great Britain +had declared war. + +At this news the rage of the population of Berlin was indescribable. +The Foreign Office had believed, and this belief had percolated +through all classes in the capital, that the English were so +occupied with the Ulster rebellion and unrest in Ireland that +they would not declare war. + +[Illustration: CROWDS IN FRONT OF THE EMBASSY AWAITING BULLETINS, +AUGUST, 1914.] + +[Illustration: THE AMERICAN EMBASSY WAS THE CENTRE OF INTEREST +TO MANY IN THOSE EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR.] + +After dinner I went to the station to say good bye to the French +Ambassador, Jules Cambon. The route from the French Embassy by +the Branderburg Thor to the Lehrter railway station was lined +with troops and police, so that no accident whatever occurred. +There was no one at the station except a very inferior official +from the German Foreign Office. Cambon was in excellent spirits +and kept his nerve and composure admirably. His family, luckily, +were not in Berlin at the time of the outbreak of the war. Cambon +instead of being sent out by way of Switzerland, whence of course +the road to France was easy, was sent North to Denmark. He was +very badly treated on the train, and payment for the special +train, in gold, was exacted from him by the German government. + +Then I went for a walk about Berlin, soon becoming involved in +the great crowd in front of the British Embassy on the Wilhelm +Strasse. The crowd threw stones, etc., and managed to break all +the windows of the Embassy. The Germans charged afterwards that +people in the Embassy had infuriated the crowd by throwing pennies +to them. I did not see any occurrences of this kind. As the Unter +den Linden and the Wilhelm Platz are paved with asphalt the crowd +must have brought with them the missiles which they used, with +the premeditated design of smashing the Embassy windows. A few +mounted police made their appearance but were at no time in +sufficient numbers to hold the crowd in check. + +Afterwards I went around to the Unter den Linden where there was +a great crowd in front of the Hotel Adlon. A man standing on the +outskirts of the crowd begged me not to go into the hotel, as he +said the people were looking for English newspaper correspondents. + +So threatening was the crowd towards the English correspondents +that Wile rang up the porter of the Embassy after we had gone +to bed and, not wishing to disturb us, he occupied the lounge in +the porter's rooms. + +Believing that possibly the British Embassy might be in such +a condition that Sir Edward Goschen, the British Ambassador, +might not care to spend the night there, I ordered an automobile +and went up through the crowd which still choked the Wilhelm +Strasse, with Holand Harvey, the Second Secretary to the British +Embassy. Sir Edward and his secretaries were perfectly calm and +politely declined the refuge which I offered them in our Embassy. +I chatted with them for a while, and, as I was starting to leave, a +servant told me that the crowds in the street had greatly increased +and were watching my automobile. I sent out word by the servant +to open the automobile, as it was a landau, and to tell the +chauffeur, when I got in, to drive very slowly. + +I drove slowly through the crowd, assailed only by the peculiar +hissing word that the Germans use when they are especially angry +and which is supposed to convey the utmost contempt. This word +is "_Pfui_" and has a peculiar effect when hissed out from +thousands of Teutonic throats. + +As we left the outskirts of the crowd, a man of respectable +appearance jumped on the running board of the automobile, spit +at me, saying "_Pfui_," and struck Harvey in the face with +his hat. I stopped the automobile, jumped out and chased this man +down the street and caught him. My German footman came running +up and explained that I was the American Ambassador and not an +Englishman. The man who struck Harvey thereupon apologised and +gave his card. He was a Berlin lawyer who came to the Embassy +next morning and apologised again for his "mistake." + +The following day, August fifth, I spent part of the time taking +over from Sir Edward the British interests. Joseph C. Grew, our +First Secretary, and I went to the British Embassy; seals were +placed upon the archives, and we received such instructions and +information as could be given us, with reference to the British +subjects in Germany and their interests. The British correspondents +were collected in the Embassy and permission was obtained for +them to leave on the Embassy train. + +During the day British subjects, without distinction as to age +or sex, were seized, wherever found, and sent to the fortress +of Spandau. I remonstrated with von Jagow and told him that that +was a measure taken only in the Middle Ages, and I believe that +he remonstrated with the authorities and arranged for a cessation +of the arbitrary arrests of women. + +Frederick W. Wile, the well-known American correspondent of the +_London_Daily_Mail_, was to go out also with the British +party, on the ground that he had been a correspondent of a British +newspaper. In the evening I went to the Foreign Office to get his +passport, and, while one of the department chiefs was signing +the passport, he stopped in the middle of his signature, threw +down the pen on the table, and said he absolutely refused to +sign a passport for Wile because he hated him so and because +he believed he had been largely instrumental in the bringing +about of the war. Of course this latter statement was quite +ridiculous, but it took me some time before I could persuade +this German official to calm his hate and complete his signature. + +I have heard a few people say that Wile was unduly fearful of +what the Germans might do to him, but the foregoing incident +shows that his fears were well grounded, and knowing of this +incident, which I did not tell him, I was very glad to have him +accept the hospitality of the Embassy for the night preceding +his departure. He was perfectly cool, although naturally much +pleased when I informed him that his departure had been arranged. + +Sir Edward and his staff and the British correspondents left next +morning early, about six A. M. No untoward incidents occurred +at the time of their departure which was, of course, unknown to +the populace of Berlin. + +During these first days there was a great spy excitement in Germany. +People were seized by the crowds in the streets and, in some +instances, on the theory that they were French or Russian spies, +were shot. Foreigners were in a very dangerous situation throughout +Germany, and many Americans were subjected to arrest and indignities. + +A curious rumour spread all over Germany to the effect that +automobiles loaded with French gold were being rushed across the +country to Russia. Peasants and gamekeepers and others turned +out on the roads with guns, and travelling by automobile became +exceedingly dangerous. A German Countess was shot, an officer +wounded and the Duchess of Ratibor was shot in the arm. It was +sometime before this excitement was allayed, and many notices +were published in the newspapers before this mania was driven +from the popular brain. + +There were rumours also that Russians had poisoned the Muggelsee, +the lake from whence Berlin draws part of its water supply. There +were constant rumours of the arrest of Russian spies disguised as +women throughout Germany. + +Many Americans were detained under a sort of arrest in their +hotels; among these were Archer Huntington and his wife; Charles +H. Sherrill, formerly our minister to the Argentine and many +others. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE AMERICANS AT THE OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES + +Of course, as soon as there was a prospect of war, the Embassy +was overrun with Americans. Few Americans had taken the precaution +of travelling with passports, and passports had become a necessity. +All of the Embassy force and all the volunteers that I could +prevail upon to serve, even a child of eleven years old, who +was stopping in the house with us, were taking applications of +the Americans who literally in thousands crowded the Wilhelm +Platz in front of the Embassy. + +The question of money became acute. Travellers who had letters +of credit and bank checks for large sums could not get a cent +of money in Germany. The American Express Company, I believe, +paid all holders of its checks. When, with Mr. Wolf, President +of the American Association of Commerce and Trade in Berlin, I +called upon the director of the Imperial Bank and begged him +to arrange something for the relief of American travellers in +Germany, he refused to do anything; and I then suggested to him +that he might give paper money, which they were then printing +in Germany, to the Americans for good American credits such as +letters of credit and bank checks, and that they would then have a +credit in America which might become very valuable in the future. +He, however, refused to see this. Director Herbert Gutmann of +the Dresdener Bank was the far-seeing banker who relieved the +situation. Gutmann arranged with me that the Dresdener Bank, +the second largest bank in Germany, would cash the bank checks, +letters of credit and the American Express Company's drafts and +international business checks, etc., of Americans for reasonable +amounts, provided the Embassy seal was put on the letter of credit +or check to show that the holder was an American, and, outside +of Berlin, the seal of the American Consulate. This immediately +relieved the situation. + +With the exception of Mr. Wolf who was, however, quite busy with +his own affairs, I had no American Committees such as were organised +in London and Paris to help me in Berlin. In Munich, however, the +Americans there organised themselves into an efficient committee. +Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Pulitzer were in Berlin and immediately went +to work in our Embassy. Mr. Pulitzer busied himself at giving +out passports and Mrs. Pulitzer proved herself a very efficient +worker. She and Mrs. Ruddock, wife of our Third Secretary, and +Mrs. Gherhardi, wife of the Naval Attache, with Mrs. Gerard formed +a sort of relief committee to look after the Americans who were +without help or resources. + +I arranged, with the very efficient help of Lanier Winslow, for +special trains to carry the Americans in Germany to Holland. +Trains were run from Switzerland, Munich and Carlsbad across +Germany to Holland, and from Berlin were run a number of trains +to Holland. + +The first room on entering the Embassy was the ticket-office, +and there, first Mr. Winslow, and afterwards Captain Fenton, +sold tickets, giving tickets free to those who were certified +to be without funds by the committee of Mrs. Pulitzer and Mrs. +Gerard. This committee worked on the second floor of the Embassy +in the ballroom, part of it being roped off to keep the crowds +back from the ladies. + +Each week I bought a number of steerage passages from the Holland +American Line and the ladies resold them in the ballroom. We had +to do this because the Holland American Line had no licence to sell +steerage tickets in Germany; but by buying two or three hundred +at a time direct from the Company, I was enabled to peddle them +out in our ballroom to those Americans who, in their eagerness to +reach their own country, were willing to endure the discomforts +of travel in the steerage. + +Winslow accompanied one special train to Holland, and I must +say that I sympathised with him when I learned of what he had +to do in the way of chasing lost hand-baggage and finding milk +for crying babies. + +These special trains were started from the Charlottenburg station, +in a quiet part of Berlin so that no crowd was attracted by the +departure of the Americans. The Carlsbad train went through very +successfully, taking the Americans who had been shut up in Carlsbad +since the commencement of the war. + +One of the curious developments of this time was a meeting of +sympathy for the Americans stranded in Germany, held in the town +hall of Berlin on the eleventh of August. This meeting was commenced +in one of the meeting rooms of the town hall, but so many people +attended that we were compelled to adjourn to the great hall. +There speeches were made by the over-Burgomaster, von Gwinner, +Professor von Harnack and me. Another professor, who spoke excellent +English, with an English accent, made a bitter attack upon Great +Britain. In the pamphlet in which the speeches of Harnack and +the over-Burgomaster were published this professor's speech was +left out. In his speech stating the object of the meeting, the +over-Burgomaster said: "Since we hear that a large number of +American citizens in the German Empire, and, especially, in Berlin, +find themselves in embarrassments due to the shutting off of +means of return to their own country, we here solemnly declare +it to be our duty to care for them as brethren to the limit of +our ability, and we appeal to all citizens of Berlin and the +whole of the German Empire to co-operate with us to this end." + +Professor von Harnack, head of the Royal Library in Berlin, is +one of the ablest of the German professors. In his speech he gave +expression to the feeling that was prevalent in the first days +of the war that Germany was defending itself against a Russian +invasion which threatened to blot out the German _Kultur_. He +said, after referring to Western civilisation: "But in the face +of this civilisation, there arises now before my eyes another +civilisation, the civilisation of the tribe, with its patriarchal +organisation, the civilisation of the horde that is gathered and +kept together by despots,--the Mongolian Muscovite civilisation. +This civilisation could not endure the light of the eighteenth +century, still less the light of the nineteenth century, and +now in the twentieth century it breaks loose and threatens us. +This unorganised Asiatic mass, like the desert with its sands, +wants to gather up our fields of grain." + +Nothing was done for the Americans stranded in Germany by the +Germans with the exception of the arrangements for the payment +of funds by the Dresdener Bank on the letters of credit and the +dispatching of special trains by the railroad department of the +German government. As a matter of fact, nothing more could have +been required of the Germans, as it was naturally the duty of +the American government to take care of its citizens stranded +abroad. + +Almost the instant that war was declared, I cabled to our government +suggesting that a ship should be sent over with gold because, +of course, with gold, no matter what the country, necessaries +can always be bought. Rumours of the dispatch of the Tennessee +and other ships from America, reached Berlin and a great number +of the more ignorant of the Americans got to believe that these +ships were being sent over to take Americans home. + +[Illustration: WORKING IN THE EMBASSY BALLROOM AT THE OUTBREAK +OF HOSTILITIES, AUGUST, 1914.] + +[Illustration: WAR DAYS IN BERLIN. AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS STAFF.] + +One morning an American woman spoke to me and said she would +consent to go home on one of these ships provided she was given +a state-room with a bath and Walker-Gordon milk for her children, +while another woman of German extraction used to sit for hours +in a corner of the ballroom, occasionally exclaiming aloud with +much feeling, "O God, will them ships never come?" + +In these first days of the war we also made a card index of all +the Americans in Berlin, and, so far as possible, in Germany; +in order to weed out those who had received the passports in +the first days when possibly some people not entitled to them +received them, and to find the deserving cases. All Americans +were required to present themselves at the Embassy and answer +a few questions, after which, if everything seemed all right, +their passports were marked "recommended for transportation to +America." + +I sent out circulars from time to time to the consuls throughout +Germany giving general instructions with regard to the treatment +of Americans. The following circular sent out on August twelfth +is a sample: + + "AMERICAN EMBASSY, + BERLIN, August 12, 1914. + + "_To_the_Consular_Representatives_ + _of_the_United_States_in_Germany,_ + _and_for_the_general_information_of_ + _American_Citizens._ + + "A communication will to-morrow be published in the _Berlin_ + _Lokal_Anzeiger_ regarding the sending of a special train to + the Dutch frontier for the special conveyance of Americans. + Other trains will probably be arranged for from time to time. + No further news has been received regarding the sending of + transports from the United States, but applications for + repatriation are being considered by the Embassy and the + various consular offices throughout Germany according to the + Embassy's last circular and the announcements published in + the _Lokal_Anzeiger_. + + "All Americans leaving Berlin must have their passports stamped + by the Foreign Office, for which purpose they should apply to + _Geheimer_Legationsrat_ Dr. Eckhardt at Wilhelmstrasse + 76. Americans residing outside of Berlin should ascertain from + their respective consular representatives what steps they should + take in this regard. + + "Letters for the United States may be sent to the Embassy and + will be forwarded at the first opportunity. + + "German subjects who desire to communicate with friends in + Great Britain, Russia, France or Belgium, or who desire to + send money, should make their requests to the Imperial Foreign + Office. Americans are permitted to enter Italy. The steamers + of the Italian lines are running at present, but are full for + some time in advance. The Embassy is also informed that the + steamer from Vlissingen, Holland, runs daily at 11 A. M. The + Ambassador cannot, however, recommend Americans to try to + reach Holland by the ordinary schedule trains, as he has + received reports of delays _en_route_, owing to the fact + that all civil travellers are ejected from trains when troops + require accommodations. It is better to wait for special trains + arranged for by the Embassy. + + "The Dresdener Bank and its branches throughout Germany will + cash _for_Americans_only_ letters of credit and checks + issued by good American banks in limited amounts. Included + in this category are the checks of the Bankers' Association, + Bankers' Trust Company, International Mercantile Marine Company, + and American Express Company. All checks and letters of credit + must, however, be stamped by American consuls, and consuls must + see that the consular stamp is affixed to those checks and + letters of credit only as are the bona fide property of American + citizens. The Commerz & Disconto Bank makes the same offer and + the Deutsche Bank will cash checks and letters of credit drawn + by its correspondents. + + "American consular officers may also draw later on the Dresdener + Bank for their salaries and the official expenses of their + consulates. Before drawing such funds from the bank, however, + all consular officers should submit their expense accounts to me + for approval. These expense accounts should be transmitted to + the Embassy at the earliest opportunity. + + "THE AMBASSADOR." + +It will be noticed from the above circular that all Americans +were required to have their passports stamped at the Foreign +Office. One American did not receive back his passport, although +he had left it at the Foreign Office. The Foreign Office claimed +that it had delivered the passport to some one from the Embassy, +but we were not very much surprised when this identical passport +turned up later in the possession of Lodi, the confessed German +spy, who was shot in the Tower of London. + +After a time the American Government cabled me to advance money +to destitute Americans; and the ladies in the ballroom, with +their assistants, attended to this branch, advancing money where +needed or so much as a person needed to make up the balance of +passage on steerage tickets from Holland to the United States. +At the same time we gradually built up a banking system. Those +in the United States who had friends or relatives in Germany +sent them money by giving the money to our State Department, +and the State Department in turn cabled me to make a payment. +This payment was made by my drawing a draft for the amount stated +on the State Department, the recipient selling this draft at a +fixed rate to the Deutsche Bank in Berlin. This business assumed +great proportions, and after the Americans who were in a hurry to +go home had disappeared, the ones remaining were kept in funds +by their friends and relatives through this sort of bank under +our management. + +On August twenty-third, Assistant Secretary of War Breckenridge, +who had come from America on the warship _Tennessee_, bringing +gold with him, and a certain number of army officers, arrived +in Berlin and took over our relief organisation in so far as it +applied to the repatriation of Americans, housing it in rooms +hired in a nearby hotel, the Kaiserhoff. This commission: was +composed of Majors J. A. Ryan, J. H. Ford and G. W. Martin and +Captains Miller and Fenton, but the relief committee and the +banking office were still continued in the Embassy ballroom. + +A bulletin was published under the auspices of the American +Association of Commerce and Trade and the advice there given was +that all Americans having the means to leave should do so when +the opportunity for leaving by special trains was presented, and +proceed direct to London whence they could obtain transportation +to the United States. All Americans without means were directed +to apply to the relief commission which was authorized to pay +for the transportation and subsistence of stranded Americans +in order to enable them to return home. + +The enormous quantity of baggage left behind by Americans in +Germany was a problem requiring solution. + +In spite of repeated advice to leave, many Americans insisted +on remaining in Germany. Few of them were business people; there +were many song-birds, piano players, and students. We had much +trouble with these belated Americans. For example, one woman +and her daughter refused to leave when advised, but stayed on +and ran up bills for over ten thousand marks; and as arrest for +debt exists in Germany, they could not leave when they finally +decided to go. All of us in the Embassy had to subscribe the +money necessary to pay their most pressing debts and they finally +left the country, leaving an added prejudice against Americans. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PRISONERS OF WAR + +During the period of the first months of the war, in addition +to other work, it became necessary to look after those subjects +of other nations who had been confided to my care. + +At first the British were allowed considerable liberty, although +none were permitted to leave the country. They were required to +report to the police at stated times during the day and could +not remain out late at night. + +The Japanese had received warning from their Embassy as to the +turn that events might take and, before sending its ultimatum, +the Japanese government had warned its citizens, so that a great +number of them had left Germany. After the declaration of war by +Japan, all the Japanese in Germany were immediately imprisoned. +This was stated to be in order to save them from the fury of +the population and certainly the people seemed to be greatly +incensed against the Japanese. When I finally obtained permission +for their release and departure from Germany I had to send some +one with the parties of Japanese to the Swiss frontier in order +to protect them from injury. They were permitted to leave only +through Switzerland and, therefore, had to change cars at Munich. +Before sending any of them to Munich I invariably telegraphed +our Consul there to notify the Munich police so that proper +protection could be provided at the railway station. + +On one occasion a number of Japanese were waiting in the Embassy +in order to take the night train for Munich. I sent a servant +to take them out in order that they might get something to eat +in a restaurant, but as no restaurant in Berlin would sell them +food, arrangements were made to give them meals in the Embassy. + +The members of the Siamese Legation, who in appearance greatly +resemble the Japanese, were often subjected to indignities, and +for a long time did not dare move about freely in Berlin, or +even leave their houses. + +The Japanese were marvels of courtesy. After I visited some of +them at the civilian camp of Ruhleben, they wrote me a letter +thanking me for the visit. Nearly every Japanese leaving Germany +on his arrival in Switzerland wrote me a grateful letter. + +When I finally left Germany, as I stepped from the special train +at Zurich, a Japanese woman, who had been imprisoned in Germany +and whose husband I had visited in a prison, came forward to thank +me. A Japanese man was waiting in the hotel office in Berne when +I arrived there, for a similar purpose, and the next morning +early the Japanese Minister called and left a beautiful clock for +Mrs. Gerard as an expression of his gratitude for the attention +shown to his countrymen. It was really a pleasure to be able to +do something for these polite and charming people. + +On August twentieth I paid my first visit to a German prison +camp. This was to the camp at Doeberitz situated about eight +miles west of Berlin, a sort of military camp with permanent +barracks. Some of these barracks were used for the confinement +of such British civilians as the Germans had arrested in the +first days of the war. There were only a few British among the +prisoners, with a number of Russian and French. I was allowed +to converse freely with the prisoners and found that they had +no complaints. As the war went on, however, a number of British +prisoners of war were taken by the Germans during the course of +the great retreat of the British in Northern France. Then officers +and privates began to come into Germany and were distributed +in various camps. Finally, in the autumn of 1914, the British +Government decided on interning a great number of Germans in +Great Britain; and the German government immediately, and as +a reprisal, interned all the British civilian men who, up to +this time, had enjoyed comparative freedom in Berlin and other +cities of the Empire. The British civilians were shut up in a +race track about five miles from the centre of Berlin, called +Ruhleben. This race track in peace times was used for contests +of trotting horses and on it were the usual grandstands and brick +stable buildings containing box stalls with hay lofts above, +where the race horses were kept. + +On August twentieth I paid my first visit to the police presidency +in Berlin where political prisoners, when arrested, were confined. A +small number of British prisoners subject to especial investigation +were there interned. This prison, which I often subsequently +visited, was clean and well kept, and I never had any particular +complaints from the prisoners confined there, except, of course, +as the war progressed, concerning the inadequacy of the food. + +I had organised a special department immediately on the breaking +out of the war to care for the interests of the British. At first +Mr. Boylston Beal, a lawyer of Boston, assisted by Mr. Rivington +Pyne of New York, was at the head of this department, of which +later the Honourable John B. Jackson, formerly our Minister to +the Balkan States, Greece and Cuba, took charge. He volunteered +to give his assistance at the commencement of the war and I was +glad of his help, especially as he had been twelve years secretary +in the Berlin Embassy and, therefore, was well acquainted not +only with Germany but with German official life and customs. Mr. +Jackson was most ably assisted by Charles H. Russell, Jr., of +New York, and Lithgow Osborne. Of course, others in the Embassy +had much to do with this department. + +The first privates, prisoners of war, came to the camp of Doeberitz +near Berlin. Early in the war Mr. Grew, our First Secretary, and +Consul General Lay visited the camp for officers at Torgau. The +question of the inspection of prisoners of the camps and the rights +of Ambassadors charged with the interests of hostile powers was +quite in the clouds. So many reports came to Germany about the +bad treatment in England of German prisoners of war that I finally +arranged to have Mr. Jackson visit them and report. This was arranged +by my colleague, our Ambassador to Great Britain, and in the first +winter Mr. Jackson made his trip there. His report of conditions +there did much to allay the German belief as to the ill-treatment +of their subjects who were prisoners in Great Britain and helped +me greatly in bringing about better conditions in Germany. After +vainly endeavouring to get the German government to agree to some +definite plan for the inspection of the prisoners, after my notes +to the Foreign Office had remained unanswered for a long period of +time, and after sending a personal letter to von Jagow calling his +attention to the fact that the delay was injuring German prisoners +in other countries, I finally called on von Bethmann-Hollweg +and told him that my notes concerning prisoners were sent by +the Foreign Office to the military authorities: that, while I +could talk with officials of the Foreign Office, I never came into +contact with the people who really passed upon the notes sent by +me, and who made the decisions as to the treatment of prisoners +of war and inspection of their camps; and I begged the Chancellor +to break down diplomatic precedent and allow me to speak with +the military authorities who decided these questions. I said, +"If I cannot get an answer to my proposition about prisoners, I +will take a chair and sit in front of your palace in the street +until I receive an answer." + +The result was a meeting in my office. + +I discussed the question involved with two representatives from +the Foreign Office, two from the General Staff, two from the War +Department and with Count Schwerin who commanded the civilian camp +at the Ruhleben race track. In twenty minutes we managed to reach +an agreement which I then and there drew up: the substance of +which, as between Great Britain and Germany, was that the American +Ambassador and his representatives in Germany and the American +Ambassador and his representatives in Great Britain should have +the right to visit the prison camps on giving reasonable notice, +which was to be twenty-four hours where possible, and should have +the right to converse with the prisoners, within sight but out +of hearing, of the camp officials; that an endeavour should be +made to adjust matters complained of with the camp authorities +before bringing them to the notice of higher authorities; that +ten representatives should be named by our Ambassador and that +these should receive passes enabling them to visit the camps +under the conditions above stated. This agreement was ratified +by the British and German Governments and thereafter for a long +time we worked under its provisions and in most questions dealt +direct with the War Department. + +Of course, before this meeting I had managed to get permission +to visit the camps of Ruhleben and Doeberitz near Berlin; and +Mr. Michaelson, our consul at Cologne, and Mr. Jackson and others +at the Embassy had been permitted to visit certain camps. But +immediately preceding the meeting on the fourth of March and +while matters were still being discussed we were compelled to +a certain extent to suspend our visits. + +In the first days of the war it was undoubtedly and unfortunately +true that prisoners of war taken by the Germans, both at the time +of their capture and in transit to the prison camps, were often +badly treated by the soldiers, guards or the civil population. + +The instances were too numerous, the evidence too overwhelming, +to be denied. In the prison camps themselves, owing to the peculiar +system of military government in Germany, the treatment of the +prisoners varied greatly. As I have, I think, stated in another +place, Germany is divided into army corps districts. Over each +of these districts is, in time of war, a representative corps +commander who is clothed with absolute power in that district, +his orders superseding those of all civilian officials. These +corps commanders do not report to the war department but are +in a measure independent and very jealous of their rights. For +instance, to show the difficulty of dealing with these corps +commanders, after my arrangements concerning the inspection of +prisoners of war had been ratified by both the Imperial and British +governments, I went to Halle to inspect the place of detention +for officers there. Halle is some hours from Berlin and when +I had driven out to the camp, I was met by the commander who +told me that I might visit the camp but that I could not speak +to the prisoners out of hearing. I told him that our arrangement +was otherwise, but, as he remained firm I returned to Berlin. +I complained to the Foreign Office and was told there that the +matter would be arranged and so I again, some days later, returned +to Halle. My experience on the second trip was exactly the same +as the first. I spoke to von Jagow who explained the situation to +me, and advised me to visit first the corps commander at Magdeburg +and try and arrange the matter with him. I did so and was finally +permitted to visit this camp and to talk to the officers out of +ear-shot. + +This camp of Halle was continued during the war, although not at +all a fit place for the detention of officers, who were lodged in +the old factory buildings surrounded by a sort of courtyard covered +with cinders. This building was situated in the industrial part +of the town of Halle. There was no opportunity for recreation +or games, although several enterprising officers had tried to +arrange a place where they could knock, a tennis ball against +the wall. + +It was the policy of the Germans to put some prisoners of each +nation in each camp. This was probably so that no claim could +be made that the prisoners from one nation among the Allies were +treated better or worse than the prisoners from another nation. + +In the beginning of the war the Germans were surprised by the great +number of prisoners taken and had made no adequate preparations +for their reception. Clothing and blankets were woefully wanting, +so I immediately bought what I could in the way of underclothes +and blankets at the large department stores of Berlin and the +wholesalers and sent these to the camps where the British prisoners +were confined. I also sent to the Doeberitz camp articles such +as sticks for wounded men who were recovering, and crutches, +and even eggs and other nourishing delicacies for the sick. + +At first the prisoners were not compelled to work to any extent, +but at the time I left Germany the two million prisoners of war +were materially assisting the carrying on of the agriculture +and industries of the Empire. + +The League of Mercy of New York having telegraphed me in 1914, +asking in what way funds could best be used in the war, I suggested +in answer that funds for the prisoners of war were urgently needed. +Many newspapers poked fun at me for this suggestion, and one bright +editor said that if the Germans did not treat their prisoners +properly they should be made to! Of course, unless this particular +editor had sailed up the Spree in a canoe and bombarded the royal +palace, I know of no other way of "making" the Germans do anything. +The idea, however, of doing some work for the prisoners of war was +taken up by the Young Men's Christian Association. Dr. John R. +Mott was at the head of this work and was most ably and devotedly +assisted by the Rev. Archibald C. Harte. I shall give an account +of their splendid work in a chapter devoted to the charitable +work of the war. + +At only one town in Germany was any interest in the fate of the +prisoners of war evinced. This was, I am glad to say, in the +quaint university town of Gottingen. I visited this camp with +Mr. Harte, in April, 1915, to attend the opening of the first +Y. M. C. A. camp building in Germany. The camp was commanded by +Colonel Bogen, an officer strict in his discipline, but, as all +the prisoners admitted, just in his dealings with them. There +were, as I recall, about seven thousand prisoners in this camp, +Russian, French, Belgian and British. It is a pity that the methods +of Colonel Bogen and his arrangements for camp buildings, etc., +were not copied in other camps in Germany. Here, as I have said, +the civil population took some interest in the fate of the +unfortunate prisoners within their gates, led in this by several +professors in the University. The most active of these professors +was Professor Stange who, working with a French lawyer who had been +captured near Arras while in the Red Cross, provided a library +for the prisoners and otherwise helped them. Of course, these +charitable acts of Professor Stange did not find favor with many +of his fellow townsmen of Gottingen, and he was not surprised +when he awoke one morning to find that during the night his house +had been painted red, white and blue, the colours of France, +England and America. + +I heard of so many instances of the annoyance of prisoners by +the civil population that I was quite pleased one day to read +a paragraph in the official newspaper, the _North_German +_Gazette_, which ran somewhat as follows: "The following +inhabitants of (naming a small town near the borders of Denmark), +having been guilty of improper conduct towards prisoners of war, +have been sentenced to the following terms of imprisonment and +the following fines and their names are printed here in order +that they may be held up to the contempt of all future generations +of Germans." And then followed a list of names and terms of +imprisonment and fines. I thought that this was splendid, that +the German government had at last been aroused to the necessity +of protecting their prisoners of war from the annoyances of the +civil population, and I wrote to our consul in Kiel and asked him +to investigate the case. From him I learned that some unfortunate +prisoners passing through the town (in a part of Germany inhabited +by Scandinavians) had made signs that they were suffering from +hunger and thirst, that some of the kind-hearted people among +the Scandinavian population had given them something to eat and +drink and for this they were condemned to fines, to prison and +to have their names held up to the contempt of Germans for all +time. + +I do not know of anyone thing that can give a better idea of +the official hate for the nations with which Germany was at war +than this. + +The day after visiting the camp at Gottingen, I visited the +officers' camp situated at the town of Hanover Munden. Here +about eight hundred officers, of whom only thirteen were British, +were confined in an old factory building situated on the bank of +the river below the town. The Russian officers handed me some +arrows tipped with nails which had been shot at them by the +kind-hearted little town boys, and the British pointed out to me +the filthy conditions of the camp. In this, as in unfortunately +many other officer camps, the inclination seemed to be to treat the +officers not as captured officers and gentlemen, but as convicts. +I had quite a sharp talk with the commander of this camp before +leaving and he afterwards took violent exception to the report +which I made upon his camp. However, I am pleased to say that +he reformed, as it were, and I was informed by my inspectors +that he had finally made his camp one of the best in Germany. + +Much as I should have liked to, I could not spend much time myself +in visiting the prison camps; many duties and frequent crises kept +me in Berlin, but members of the Embassy were always travelling +in this work of camp inspection. + +For some time my reports were published in parliamentary "White +Papers," but in the end our government found that the publication +of these reports irritated the Germans to such a degree that the +British Government was requested not to publish them any more. +Copies of the reports were always sent by me both to Washington +and to London, and handed to the Berlin Foreign Office. + +[Illustration: A COVER OF THE MONTHLY ISSUED BY THE RUHLEBEN +PRISONERS.] + +While Winston Churchill was at the head of the British Admiralty, +it was stated that the German submarine prisoners would not be +treated as ordinary prisoners of war; but would be put in a place +by themselves on the ground that they were pirates and murderers, +and not entitled to the treatment accorded in general to prisoners +of war. Great indignation was excited by this in Germany; the +German government immediately seized thirty-seven officers, picking +those whom they supposed related to the most prominent families +in Great Britain, and placed them in solitary confinement. A +few were confined in this way in Cologne, but the majority were +put in the ordinary jails of Magdeburg and Burg. + +As soon as I heard of this, accompanied by Mr. Charles H. Russell, +Jr., of my staff, I went to Magdeburg, using my ordinary pass +for the visiting of prisoners. The German authorities told me +afterwards that if they had known I was going to make this visit +they would not have permitted it, but on this occasion the corps +commander system worked for me. Accompanied by an adjutant, in +peace times a local lawyer from the corps commander's office in +Magdeburg, and other officers, I visited these British officers +in their cells in the common jail at Magdeburg. They were in +absolutely solitary confinement, each in a small cell about eleven +feet long and four feet wide. Some cells were a little larger, +and the prisoners were allowed only one hour's exercise a day in +the courtyard of the prison. The food given them was not bad, but +the close confinement was very trying, especially to Lieutenant +Goschen, son of the former Ambassador to Germany, who had been +wounded and in the hospital at Douai. Among them I found an old +acquaintance, Captain Robin Grey, who had been often in New York. +The German authorities agreed to correct several minor matters of +which the officers complained and then we went to the neighbouring +town of Burg, where other officers were confined in the same manner +and under similar conditions in the ordinary jail. After visiting +these prisoners and obtaining for them from the authorities some +modifications of the rules which had been established we visited +the regular officers' camp at Burg. + +This was at that time what I should call a bad camp, crowded and +with no space for recreation. Later, conditions were improved +and more ground allowed to the prisoners for games, etc. At the +time of my first visit I found that the commander, a polite but +peppery officer, was in civil life a judge of the Supreme Court +at Leipzig, the highest court in the Empire. As I had been a +judge in the State of New York, we foregathered and adjourned +for lunch with his staff to the hotel in Burg. + +After Churchill left the British Admiralty, his successor reversed +his ruling and the submarine prisoners were placed in the ordinary +confinement of prisoners of war. When the Germans were assured of +this, the thirty-seven officers who had been in reprisal placed +in solitary confinement were sent back to ordinary prison camps. +In fact in most cases I managed to get the Germans to send them +to what were called "good" camps. + +Lieutenant Goschen, however, became quite in and was taken to the +hospital in Magdeburg. At the time of his capture, the Germans +had told me, in answer to my inquiries, that he was suffering +from a blow on the head with the butt end of a rifle, but an +X-ray examination at Magdeburg showed that fragments of a bullet +had penetrated his brain and that he was, therefore, hardly a +fit subject to be chosen as one of the reprisal prisoners. I +told von Jagow that I thought it in the first place a violation +of all diplomatic courtesy to pick out the son of the former +Ambassador to Germany as a subject for reprisals and secondly +that, in picking him, they had taken a wounded man; that the +fact that they did not know that he had fragments of a bullet in +his brain made the situation even worse because that ignorance +was the result of the want of a proper examination in the German +hospitals; and I insisted that, because of this manifestly unfair +treatment which had undoubtedly caused the very serious condition +of Lieutenant Goschen, he should be returned to England in the +exchange of those who were badly wounded. I am pleased to say +that von Jagow saw my point of view and finally secured permission +for Lieutenant Goschen to leave for England. + +Dr. Ohnesorg, one of our assistant Naval Attaches, went with +him to England on account of the seriousness of his condition, +and I was very glad to hear from his father that he had arrived +safely in London. + +Undoubtedly the worst camp which I visited in Germany was that +of Wittenberg. Wittenberg is the ancient town where Luther lived +and nailed his theses to the church door. The camp is situated +just outside the city in a very unattractive spot next to the +railway. An outbreak of typhus fever prevented us from visiting +the camp, although Mr. Jackson conversed with some of the prisoners +from outside the barrier of barbed wire. When the typhus was +finally driven out, Mr. Lithgow Osborne visited the camp and his +report of conditions there was such that I visited it myself, +in the meantime holding up his report until I had verified it. + +With Mr. Charles H. Russell, Jr., I visited the camp. Typhus +fever seems to be continually present in Russia. It is carried by +the body louse and it is transmitted from one person to another. +Russian soldiers seem to carry this disease with them without +apparently suffering much from it themselves. The Russian soldiers +arriving at Wittenberg were not properly disinfected and, in +consequence, typhus fever broke out in camp. Several British +medical officers were there with their prisoners, because, by the +provisions of the Hague conventions, captured medical officers +may be kept with the troops of their nation, if prisoners have +need of their services. These medical officers protested with +the camp commander against the herding together of the French +and British prisoners with the Russians, who, as I have said, +were suffering from typhus fever. But the camp commander said, +"You will have to know your Allies;" and kept all of his prisoners +together, and thus as surely condemned to death a number of French +and British prisoners of war as though he had stood them against +the wall and ordered them shot by a firing squad. Conditions in +the camp during the period of this epidemic were frightful. The +camp was practically deserted by the Germans and I understand +that the German doctor did not make as many visits to the camp +as the situation required. + +At the time I visited the camp the typhus epidemic, of course, +had been stamped out. The Germans employed a large number of +police dogs in this camp and these dogs not only were used in +watching the outside of the camp in order to prevent the escape +of prisoners but also were used within the camp. Many complaints +were made to me by prisoners concerning these dogs, stating that +men had been bitten by them. It seemed undoubtedly true that the +prisoners there had been knocked about and beaten in a terrible +manner by their guards, and one guard went so far as to strike one +of the British medical officers. There were about thirty-seven +civilian prisoners in the camp who had been there all through +the typhus epidemic. I secured the removal of these civilian +prisoners to the general civilian camp at Ruhleben, and the +conditions at Wittenberg may be judged by the fact that when +it was announced to these civilians that they were to be taken +from Wittenberg to another camp one of them was so excited by +the news of release that he fell dead upon the spot. + +In talking over conditions at Wittenberg with von Jagow I said, +"Suppose I go back to Wittenberg and shoot some of these dogs, +what can you do to me?" Soon after the dogs disappeared from +the camp. + +The food in all these camps for civilians and for private soldiers +was about the same. It consisted of an allowance of bread of +the same weight as that given the civilian population. This was +given out in the morning with a cup of something called coffee, +but which in reality was an extract of acorns or something of the +kind without milk or sugar; in the middle of the day, a bowl of +thick soup in which the quantity of meat was gradually diminished +as war went on, as well as the amount of potatoes for which at +a later period turnips and carrots were, to a large extent, +substituted; and in the evening in good camps there was some sort +of thick soup given out or an apple, or an almost infinitesimal +piece of cheese or sausage. + +In the war department at Berlin there was a Prisoners of War +Department in charge of Colonel, later General, Friedrich. This +department, however, did not seem to be in a position to issue +orders to the corps commanders commanding the army corps districts +of Germany, who had absolute control of the prison camps within +their districts. Colonel Friedrich, however, and his assistants +endeavoured to standardise the treatment of prisoners of war in +the different corps districts, and were able to exert a certain +amount of pressure on the corps commanders. They determined on +the general reprisals to be taken in connection with prisoners +of war. For instance, when some of the Germans, who had been +taken prisoners by the British and who were in England, were +sent to work in the harbour of Havre, the Germans retaliated +by sending about four times the number of British prisoners to +work at Libau in the part of Russia then occupied by the Germans. +But while the British permitted our Embassy in Paris to inspect +the prisoners of war at Havre, the Germans for months refused +to allow me permission to send anyone to inspect those British +prisoners at Libau. + +Cases came to my attention where individual corps commanders +on their own initiative directed punitive measures against the +prisoners of war in their districts, on account of the rumours +of the bad treatment of German citizens in England. Thus the +commander in the district where the camp of Doeberitz was situated +issued an order directing reprisals against prisoners under his +command on account of what he claimed to be the bad treatment +of German women in England. It required constant vigilance to +seek out instances of this kind and cause them to be remedied. + +I did not find the Germans at all efficient in the handling of +prisoners of war. The authority was so divided that it was hard +to find who was responsible for any given bad conditions. For +instance, for a long period of time I contended with the German +authorities for better living conditions at the civilian camp of +Ruhleben. I was promised time and again by Colonel Friedrich, +by the camp commander and by the Foreign + +Office that these conditions would be remedied. In that camp men +of education, men in delicate health, were compelled to sleep +and live six in a box stall or so closely that the beds touched +each other in hay-lofts, the outside walls of which were only +four feet high. + +I finally almost in despair wrote identical personal letters, +after having exhausted all ordinary diplomatic steps, to General +von Kessel, Commander of the Mark of Brandenburg, to the commander +of the corps district in which the Ruhleben camp was situated, +and to the Minister of War: and the only result was that each +of the officers addressed claimed that he had been personally +insulted by me because I had presumed to call his attention to +the inhuman conditions under which the prisoners were compelled +to live in the Ruhleben camp. + +The commander of this civilian camp of Ruhleben was a very handsome +old gentleman, named Count Schwerin. His second in command for +a long time was a Baron Taube. Both of these officers had been +long retired from the army and were given these prison commands +at the commencement of the war. Both of them were naturally +kind-hearted but curiously sensitive and not always of even temper. +On the whole I think that they sympathised with the prisoners +and did their best to obtain a bettering of the conditions of +their confinement. The prisoners organised themselves in their +various barracks, each barrack having a captain of the barrack, +the captains electing one of their number as a camp captain or +_Obmann_. + +The man who finally appeared as head man of the camp was an +ex-cinematograph proprietor, named Powell. In my mind he, assisted +by Beaumont and other captains, conducted the affairs of the camp +as well as possible, given the difficulty of dealing with the +prisoners on one hand and the prison authorities on the other +hand. Naturally he was always subject to opposition from many +prisoners, among whom those of aristocratic tendencies objected +to being under the control of one not of the highest caste in +Great Britain; and there were others who either envied him his +authority or desired his place. The camp authorities allowed +Powell to visit the Embassy at least once a week and in that +way I was enabled, to keep in direct touch with the camp. At +two periods during my stay in Berlin I spent enough days at the +camp to enable every prisoner who had a complaint of any kind +to present it personally to me. + +The organisation of this camp was quite extraordinary. I found +it impossible to get British prisoners to perform the ordinary +work of cleaning up the camp, and so forth, always expected of +prisoners themselves; and so, with the funds furnished me from +the British Government, the camp captain was compelled to pay a +number of the poorer prisoners to perform this work. Secretaries +Ruddock and Kirk of our Embassy undertook the uninteresting and +arduous work of superintending these payments as well as of our +other financial affairs. This work was most trying and they deserve +great credit for their self-denial. By arrangement with the British +Government, I was also enabled to pay the poorer prisoners an +allowance of five marks a week, thus permitting them to buy little +luxuries and necessities and extra food at the camp canteen which +was early established in the camp. I also furnished the capital to +the camp canteen, enabling it to make its purchases and carry on +its business. In this establishment everything could be purchased +which was purchasable in Germany, and for months after the +commencement of the war articles of luxury were sold at a profit +and articles of food sold at a loss for the benefit of those +who required an addition to the camp diet. There was a street +in the camp of little barracks or booths which the prisoners +christened Bond Street, and where many stores were in operation +such as a tailor shop, shoe-maker's, watch-maker's, etc. Acting +with Powell, I succeeded in getting the German authorities to +turn over the kitchens to the prisoners. Four of the prisoners +who did most excellent self-denying work in these kitchens deserve +to be specially mentioned. They were Ernest L. Pyke, Herbert. +Kasmer, Richard H. Carrad and George Fergusson. + +The men in this camp subsisted to a great extent upon the packages +of food sent to them from England. Credit must be given to the +German authorities for the fairly prompt and efficient delivery +of the packages of food sent from England, Denmark and Switzerland +to prisoners of war in all camps. + +In Ruhleben the educated prisoners volunteered to teach the ignorant: +two hundred and ninety-seven different educational courses were +offered to those who desired to improve their minds. A splendid +orchestra was organised, a dramatic society which gave plays in +French and one which gave plays in English and another one which +gave operas. On New Year's day, 1916, I attended at Ruhleben do +really wonderful performance of the pantomime of "Cinderella"; +and, in January, 1917, a performance of "The Mikado" in a theatre +under one of the grand stands. In these productions, of course, +the female parts were taken by young men and the scenery, costumes +and accessories were all made by the prisoners. There was a camp +library of over five thousand volumes sent over by the British +Government and a reading and meeting hall, erected by the American +Y. M. C. A. There was even a system of postal service with special +stamps so that a prisoner in one barrack could write to a friend in +another and have a letter delivered by the camp postal authorities. +The German authorities had not hired the entire race track from +the Race Track Association so that I made a special contract +with the race track owners and hired from them the in-field and +other portions not taken over by German authorities. Here the +prisoners had tennis courts and played hockey, foot-ball and +cricket and held athletic games. Expert dentists in the camp +took care of the poorer prisoners as did an oculist hired by me +with British funds, and glasses were given them from the same +funds. + +The prisoners who needed a little better nourishment than that +afforded by the camp diet and their parcels from England, could +obtain cards giving them the right to eat in the Casino or camp +official restaurant where they were allowed a certain indicated +amount of wine or beer with their meals, and finally arrangements +were arrived at by which the German guards left the camp, simply +guarding it from the outside; and the policing was taken over +by the camp police department, under the charge of the prison +camp commander and committee. The worst features, of course, +were the food and housing. Human nature seems always to be the +same. Establishment of clubs seems inherent to the Anglo-Saxon +nature. Ten or more persons would combine together and erect a +sort of wooden shed against the brick walls of a barrack, hire +some poorer person to put on a white jacket and be addressed as +"steward," put in the shed a few deck chairs and a table and +enjoy the sensation of exclusiveness and club life thereby given. + +Owing to the failure of Germany and Great Britain to come to an +agreement for a long time as to the release of captured crews +of ships, there were in Ruhleben men as old as seventy-five years +and boys as young as fifteen. There were in all between fifty and +sixty of these ships' boys. They lived in a barrack by themselves +and under the supervision of a ship's officer who volunteered to +look after them as sort of a monitor. They were taught navigation +by the older prisoners and I imagine were rather benefited by their +stay in the camp. I finally made arrangements by which these boys +were released from England and Germany. With the exception of +the officers and crews of the ships, prisoners were not interned +who were over fifty-five. + +The British Government was generous in the allowance of money for +Ruhleben prisoners. The amount allowed by the German Government to +the camp commanders for feeding the prisoners was extremely small, +only sixty pfennigs a day. At first many of the camp commanders +made contracts with caterers for the feeding of the prisoners +and as the caterers' profit had to come out of this very small +sum the amount of food which the remainder purchased for the +prisoners was small indeed. As the war went on the prisoners' +department of the war office tried to induce the camp commanders to +abandon the contractors' system and purchase supplies themselves. +A sort of convention of camp commanders was held in Berlin which I +attended. Lectures were there given on food and its purchase, and +methods of disinfecting prisoners, on providing against typhus, +and on housing and other subjects. A daily lunch was served, +supposed to be composed of the exact rations given at the prison +camps. + +The schedules of food, etc., made out by the camp commanders +and furnished to foreign correspondents were often not followed +in practice. I know on one occasion when I was at the camp at +Doeberitz, the camp commander gave me his schedule of food for +the week. This provided that soup with pieces of meat was to be +given on the day of my visit, but on visiting the camp kitchen I +found that the contractor was serving fish instead of meat. Some +of the camp commanders not only treated their prisoners kindly but +introduced manufactures of furniture, etc., to help the prisoners +to pass their time. The camps of Krossen and Gottingen deserve +special mention. At Giessen, the camp commander had permitted +the erection of a barrack in which certain prisoners who were +electrical experts gave lessons in electrical fitting, etc., +to their fellow prisoners. There was also a studio in this camp +where prisoners with artistic talent were furnished with paints +and allowed to work. As more and more people were called to the +front in Germany, greater use was made of the prisoners, and in +the summer of 1916 practically all the prisoners were compelled +to work outside of the camps. They were paid a small extra sum +for this, a few cents a day, and as a rule were benefited by the +change of scene and occupation. The Russians especially became +very useful to the Germans as agricultural laborers. + +Professor Alonzo E. Taylor of the University of Pennsylvania, +a food expert, and Dr. D. J. McCarthy, also of Philadelphia, +joined my staff in 1916 and proved most efficient and fearless +inspectors of prison camps. Dr. Taylor could use the terms calories, +proteins, etc., as readily as German experts and at a greater +rate of speed. His report showing that the official diet of the +prisoners in Ruhleben was a starvation diet incensed the German +authorities to such fury that they forbade him to revisit Ruhleben. +Professor Buckhaus, the German expert, agreed with him in some of +his findings. I do not know what will happen to the Professor, +who seemed willing to do his best for the prisoners. He wrote a +booklet on the prison camps which he asked permission to dedicate +to me, but the War Office, which published the book, refused +to allow him to make this dedication. It was a real pleasure +to see the way in which Dr. Taylor carried on his work of food +inspection; and his work, as well as that of the other doctors +sent from America to join my staff, Drs. Furbush, McCarthy, Roler, +Harns, Webster and Luginbuhl, did much to better camp conditions. + +Dr. Caldwell, the sanitary expert, known for his great work in +Serbia, now I believe head of the hospital at Pittsburgh, reported +in regard to the prison diet: "While of good quality and perhaps +sufficient in quantity by weight, it is lacking in the essential +elements which contribute to the making of a well-balanced and +satisfactory diet. It is lacking particularly in fat and protein +content which is especially desirable during the colder months +of the year. There is considerable doubt whether this diet alone +without being supplemented by the articles of food received by +the prisoners from their homes would in any way be sufficient +to maintain the prisoners in health and strength." + +Dr. Caldwell also visited Wittenberg and found the commander by +temperament, and so on, unfitted for such a position. + +The Germans, as Dr. Taylor has pointed out, tried to feed prisoners +on schedule like horses. There is, however, a nervous discrimination +in eating so far as man is concerned; and a diet, scientifically +fitted to keep him alive, may fail because of its mere monotony. + +Think of living as the prisoners of war in Germany have for years, +without ever having anything (except black bread) which cannot +be eaten with a spoon. + +Officer prisoners were, after matters had settled down and after +several bitter contests which I had with the German authorities, +fairly well treated. There was, as in the case of the camps for +the privates, a great difference between camps, and a great +difference between camp commanders. Mr. Jackson did most of the +visiting of the officers' camps. In many camps the officers were +allowed a tennis court and other amusements, as well as light +wine or beer at meals, but the length of the war had a bad effect +on the mental condition of many of the officers. + +A great step forward was made when arrangements were entered +into between Germany and Great Britain whereby wounded and sick +officers and men, when passed by the Swiss Commission which visited +both countries, were sent to Switzerland; sent still as prisoners +of war, subject to return to Germany or England respectively, but +the opportunity afforded by change of food and scene, as well as +reunion of families, saved many a life. By arrangements between +the two countries, also, the severely wounded prisoners were set +free. I believe that this exchange of the heavily wounded between +the Germans and the Russians was the factor which prevented the +entrance of Sweden into the war. These wounded men traversed the +whole length of Sweden in the railway, and the spectacle afforded +to the Swedish population of these poor stumps of humanity, victims +of war, has quite effectually kept the Swedish population from +an attack of unnecessary war fever. + +Officers and men who tried to escape were not very severely punished +in Germany unless they had broken or stolen something in their +attempt. Officers were usually subjected to a jail confinement +for a period and then often sent to a sort of punitive camp. +Such a camp was situated in one of the Ring forts surrounding +the city of Kustrin which I visited in September, 1916. There +the officers had no opportunity for exercise except in a very +small courtyard or on the roof, which was covered with grass, of +the building in which they were confined. I arranged, however, +on my visit for the construction of a tennis court outside. The +British officers in Germany practically subsisted on their parcels +received from home, and during the end of my stay a much better +tea could be had with the prison officers than with the camp +commander. The prisoners had real tea and marmalade and white +bread to offer, luxuries which had long since disappeared from all +German tables. On the whole, the quarters given to the officers' +prisons in Germany were not satisfactory, and were not of the +kind that should have been offered to officer prisoners of war. + +At the time I left Germany there were nearly two million prisoners +of war in the Empire, of whom about ten thousand were Russian +officers, nine thousand French officers and about one thousand +British officers. + +As a rule our inspectors found the hospitals, where the prisoners +of war were, in as good condition as could be expected. + +I think this was largely due to the fact that so many doctors +in Germany are Jews. The people who are of the Jewish race are +people of gentle instincts. In these hospitals a better diet +was given to the prisoners. There were, of course, in addition +to the regular hospitals, hospitals where the severely wounded +prisoners were sent. Almost uniformly these hospitals were clean +and the prisoners were well taken care of. + +[Illustration: IN RUHLEBEN CAMP. A SPECIMEN BOTH OF THE +PRISONER-ARTIST'S WORK AND OF THE TYPES ABOUT HIM.] + +At Ruhleben there was a hospital which in spite of many +representations was never in proper shape. In addition, there +was in the camp a special barrack established by the prisoners +themselves for the care of those who were so ill or so weak as +to require special attention but who were not ill enough to be +sent to the hospital. This barrack was for a long time in charge +of a devoted gentleman, a prisoner, whose name I have unfortunately +forgotten, but whose self-sacrifice deserves special mention. + +I arranged with the camp authorities and the German authorities +for permission to enter into a contract with Dr. Weiler. Under +this contract Dr. Weiler, who had a sanatorium in the West of +Berlin, received patients from Ruhleben. Those who were able paid +for themselves, the poorer ones being paid for by the British +Government. This sanatorium, occupied several villas. I had many +disputes with Dr. Weiler, but finally managed to get this sanatorium +in such condition that the prisoners who resided there were fairly +well taken care of. + +An arrangement was made between Great Britain and Germany by +which civilians unfit for military service were sent to their +respective countries, and just before I left I effected an +arrangement by which all civilians over forty-five years old, +with the exception of twenty who might be held by each country +for military reasons, were to be released. I do not know whether +this arrangement was actually carried out in full. With the lapse +of time the mental condition of the older prisoners in Ruhleben +had become quite alarming. Soldier prisoners, when they enter the +army, are always in good physical condition and enter with the +expectation of either being killed or wounded or taken prisoner, +and have made their arrangements accordingly. But these unfortunate +civilian prisoners were often men in delicate health, and all +were in a constant state of great mental anxiety as to the fate +of their business and their enterprises and their families. In +1916, not only Mr. Grafton Minot, who for some time had devoted +himself exclusively to the Ruhleben prisoners, but also Mr. Ellis +Dresel, a distinguished lawyer of Boston, who had joined the +Embassy as a volunteer, took up the work. Mr. Dresel visited +Ruhleben almost daily and by listening to the stories and complaints +of the prisoners materially helped their mental condition. + +The Germans collected all the soldier prisoners of Irish nationality +in one camp at Limburg not far from Frankfurt a. M. These efforts +were made to induce them to join the German army. The men were +well treated and were often visited by Sir Roger Casement who, +working with the German authorities, tried to get these Irishmen +to desert their flag and join the Germans. A few weaklings were +persuaded by Sir Roger who finally discontinued his visits, after +obtaining about thirty recruits, because the remaining Irishmen +chased him out of the camp. + +I received information of the shooting of one prisoner, and although +the camp authorities had told Dr. McCarthy that the investigation +had been closed and the guard who did the shooting exonerated, +nevertheless, when I visited the camp in order to investigate, I +was told that I could not do so because the matter of the shooting +was still under investigation. Nor was I allowed to speak to those +prisoners who had been witnesses at the time of the shooting. +I afterwards learned that another Irishman had been shot by a +guard on the day before my visit, and the same obstacles to my +investigation were drawn about this case. + +The Irishmen did not bear confinement well, and at the time of +my visit among them many of them were suffering from tuberculosis +in the camp hospital. They seemed also peculiarly subject to +mental breakdowns. Two devoted Catholic priests, Father Crotty +and a Brother Warren from a religious house in Belgium, were +doing wonderful work among these prisoners. + +The sending out of the prisoners of war to work throughout Germany +has had one very evil effect. It has made it to the financial +advantage of certain farmers and manufacturers to have the war +continued. The Prussian land owners or Junkers obtain four or +five times as much for their agricultural products as they did +before the war and have the work on their farms performed by +prisoners of war to whom they are required to pay only six cents +a day. When the _Tageblatt_ called attention to this it was +suppressed for several days. + +At many of these so-called working camps our inspectors were +refused admission on the ground that they might learn trade or +war secrets. They succeeded, however, in having the men sent +outside in order that they might inspect them and hear their +complaints. There were in Germany about one hundred central camps +and perhaps ten thousand or more so-called working camps, in +summer time, throughout the country. Some of the British prisoners +were put to work on the sewage farm of Berlin but we succeeded +in getting them sent back to their parent camp. + +The prisoners of war were often accused of various breaches of +discipline and crimes. Members of the Embassy would attend these +trials, and we endeavoured to see that the prisoners were properly +represented. But the Germans often refused us an opportunity +to see the prisoners before their trial, or even before their +execution. The case of Captain Fryatt is in point. + +Captain Fryatt who commanded a British merchant ship was captured +and taken to the civilian camp at Ruhleben. In searching him the +Germans claimed that he wore a watch presented to him for an +attempt to ram a German submarine. They, therefore, took Fryatt +from the Ruhleben camp and sent him to Bruges for trial. When I +heard of this I immediately sent two formal notes to the German +Foreign Office demanding the right to see Fryatt and hire counsel +to represent him, inquiring what sort of counsel would be permitted +to attend the trial and asking for postponement of the trial +until these matters could be arranged. The German Foreign Office +had informed me that they had backed up these requests and I +believe them, but the answer of the German admiralty to my notes +was to cause the trial to proceed the morning after the day on +which my notes were delivered and to shoot Fryatt before noon +of the same day. + +As to the evidence regarding the watch, the British Foreign Office +learned that, when captured, Captain Fryatt had neither a watch +nor any letter to indicate that he had tried to ram a submarine! + +This cruel and high-handed outrage caused great indignation in +England, and even in certain circles in Germany; and the manner +in which my request was treated was certainly a direct insult +to the country which I represented. In conversation with me, +Zimmermann and the Chancellor and von Jagow all expressed the +greatest regret over this incident, which shows how little control +the civilian branch of the government has over the military in +time of war. Later on, when similar charges were made against +another British sea captain, the Foreign Office, I think through +the influence of the Emperor, was able to prevent a recurrence +of the Fryatt outrage. + +As I have said, many of the camp commanders in Germany were men, +excellent and efficient and kind hearted, who did what they could +for the prisoners. It is a pity that these men should bear the +odium which attaches to Germany because of the general bad treatment +of prisoners of war in the first days of the war, and because +certain commanders of prison camps were not fitted for their +positions. + +The commander at the camp at Wittenberg was replaced, but the +Germans have never acknowledged that bad conditions had existed +in that camp. Shortly before we left Germany the war department +seemed to gain more control of the prisoners of war situation, +and on our representations at least one camp commander was +permanently relieved. If examples had been made early in the +war of the camp commanders who were not fit for their places +and of those who had in any way mishandled prisoners of war, the +German people as a whole would not have had to bear the burden +of this odium. The many prisoners will return to their homes +with a deep and bitter hatred of all things German. + +The British Government took a great interest in the British prisoners +in Germany. Nothing was omitted and every suggestion made by me +was immediately acted on; while many most valuable hints were +given me from London as to prisoners' affairs. Their Majesties, +the King and Queen, showed a deep personal concern in the welfare +of the unfortunate British in German hands; and this concern +never flagged during the period of my stay in Berlin. Lord Robert +Cecil and Lord Newton were continually working for the benefit +of British prisoners. + +At a time when the British prisoners were without proper clothing, +the British Government sent me uniforms, overcoats, etc., and I +hired a warehouse in Berlin as a distributing point; but, after +some months, the German authorities refused to allow me to continue +this method of distribution on the ground that it was the duty +of Germany to provide the prisoners with clothes. But Germany +was not performing this duty and the British prisoners had to +suffer because of this German official woodenheadedness. + +In the spring of 1916, quite characteristically, the Germans +broke their "treaty" concerning visits to prisoners, and refused +to permit us to speak to prisoners out of hearing. Von Jagow +told me that this was because of the trouble made among Russian +prisoners by the visits of Madam Sazonoff, but this had nothing +to do with the arrangement between Great Britain and Germany. + +I think that the Germans suspected that I had learned from fellow +prisoners of the cruel and unnecessary shooting of two Irish +prisoners at Limburg. It was not from prisoners, however, that +I obtained this information. but from Germans who wrote to me. + +In addition to the English and Japanese, I had the protection +of the Serbian and Roumanian subjects and the protection of the +interests of a very small country, the Republic of San Marino. +Soon after the Serbians and Roumanians appeared in the prison +camps of Germany we made reports on the condition and treatment +of these prisoners, as well as reports concerning the British. + +I was able to converse with some Serbians, in the first days +of the war, in their native tongue, which, curiously enough, +was Spanish. Immediately after the persecution of the Jews in +Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella and other monarchs, a number of +Spanish Jews emigrated to Serbia where they have remained ever +since, keeping their old customs and speaking the old Spanish +of the time of Cervantes. + +The German authorities, in the most petty manner, often concealed +from me the presence of British prisoners, especially civilians, +in prison camps. For a long time I was not informed of the presence +of British civilians in Sennelager and it was only by paying +a surprise visit by motor to the camp at Brandenburg that I +discovered a few British, the crew of a trawler, there. It was +on information contained in an anonymous letter, evidently from +the wife of some German officer, that I visited Brandenburg where +the crew of this trawler, deprived of money, were without any of +the little comforts or packages that mitigate life in a German +prison camp. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +FIRST DAYS OF THE WAR: POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC + +At the commencement of the war for some days I was cut off from +communication with the United States; but we soon established a +chain of communication, at first through Italy and later by way +of Denmark. At all times cables from Washington to Berlin, or +_vice_versa_, took, on the average, two days in transmission. + +After the fall of Liege, von Jagow sent for me and asked me if +I would transmit through the American Legation a proposition +offering Belgium peace and indemnity if no further opposition +were made to the passage of German troops through Belgium. As the +proposition was a proposition for peace, I took the responsibility +of forwarding it and sent the note of the German Government to +our Minister at the Hague for transmission to our Minister in +Belgium. + +Dr. Van Dyke, our Minister at the Hague, refused to have anything +to do with the transmission of this proposition and turned the +German note over to the Holland Minister for Foreign Affairs, +and through this channel the proposition reached the Belgian +Government. + +The State Department cabled me a message from the President to +the Emperor which stated that the United States stood ready at +any time to mediate between the warring powers, and directed +me to present this proposition direct to the Emperor. + +I, therefore, asked for an audience with the Emperor and received +word from the chief Court Marshal that the Emperor would receive +me at the palace in Berlin on the morning of August tenth. I +drove in a motor into the courtyard of the palace and was there +escorted to the door which opened on a flight of steps leading +to a little garden about fifty yards square, directly on the +embankment of the River Spree, which flows past the Royal Palace. +As I went down the steps, the Empress and her only daughter, +the Duchess of Brunswick, came up. Both stopped and shook hands +with me, speaking a few words. I found the Emperor seated at a +green iron table under a large canvas garden umbrella. Telegraph +forms were scattered on the table in front of him and basking in +the gravel were two small dachshunds. I explained to the Emperor +the object of my visit and we had a general conversation about +the war and the state of affairs. The Emperor took some of the +large telegraph blanks and wrote out in pencil his reply to the +President's offer, This reply, of course, I cabled immediately +to the State Department. + + _For_the_President_of_the_ + _United_States_personally:_ + + 10/VIII 14. + + 1. H. R. H. Prince Henry was received by his Majesty King George + V in London, who empowered him to transmit to me verbally, that + England would remain neutral if war broke out on the Continent + involving Germany and France, Austria and Russia. This message + was telegraphed to me by my brother from London after his + conversation with H. M. the King, and repeated verbally on the + twenty-ninth of July. + + 2. My Ambassador in London transmitted a message from Sir E. + Grey to Berlin saying that only in case France was likely to + be crushed England would interfere. + + 3. On the thirtieth my Ambassador in London reported that Sir + Edward Grey in course of a "private" conversation told him that + if the conflict remained localized between _Russia_--not + Serbia--and _Austria_, England would not move, but if we + "mixed" in the fray she would take quick decisions and grave + measures; i. e., if I left my ally Austria in the lurch to + fight alone England would not touch me. + + 4. This communication being directly counter to the King's + message to me, I telegraphed to H. M. on the twenty-ninth or + thirtieth, thanking him for kind messages through my brother + and begging him to use all his power to keep France and + Russia--his Allies--from making any war-like preparations + calculated to disturb my work of mediation, stating that I + was in constant communication with H. M. the Czar. In the + evening the King kindly answered that he had ordered his + Government to use every possible influence with his Allies + to refrain from taking any provocative military measures. At + the same time H. M. asked me if I would transmit to Vienna + the British proposal that Austria was to take Belgrade and a + few other Serbian towns and a strip of country as a "main-mise" + to make sure that the Serbian promises on paper should be + fulfilled in reality. This proposal was in the same moment + telegraphed to me from Vienna for London, quite in conjunction + with the British proposal; besides, I had telegraphed to H. M. + the Czar the same as an idea of mine, before I received the two + communications from Vienna and London, as both were of the same + opinion. + + 5. I immediately transmitted the telegrams _vice_versa_ to + Vienna and London. I felt that I was able to tide the question + over and was happy at the peaceful outlook. + + 6. While I was preparing a note to H. M. the Czar the next + morning, to inform him that Vienna, London and Berlin were agreed + about the treatment of affairs, I received the telephones from + H. E. the Chancellor that in the night before the Czar had given + the order to mobilize the whole of the Russian army, which was, + of course, also meant against Germany; whereas up till then the + southern armies had been mobilized against Austria. + + 7. In a telegram from London my Ambassador informed me he + understood the British Government would guarantee neutrality + of France and wished to know whether Germany would refrain from + attack. I telegraphed to H. M. the King personally that + mobilization being already carried out could not be stopped, but + if H. M. could guarantee with his armed forces the neutrality of + France I would refrain _from_attacking_her_, _leave_her_alone_ + and employ my troops elsewhere. H. M. answered that he thought my + offer was based on a misunderstanding; and, as far as I can make + out, Sir E. Grey never took my offer into serious consideration. + He never answered it. Instead, he declared England had to defend + Belgian neutrality, which had to be violated by Germany on + strategical grounds, news having been received that France was + already preparing to enter Belgium, and the King of Belgians + having refused my petition for a free passage under guarantee + of his country's freedom. I am most grateful for the President's + message. + + WILLIAM, H. R. + +When the German Emperor in my presence indited his letter to +President Wilson of August tenth, 1914, he asked that I cable +it immediately to the State Department and that I simultaneously +give it to the press. As I have already stated, I cabled the +document immediately to the State Department at Washington, but +I withheld it from publication. + +My interview with the Emperor was in the morning. That afternoon +a man holding a high position in Germany sent for me. I do not +give his name because I do not wish to involve him in any way +with the Emperor, so I shall not even indicate whether he is a +royalty or an official. He said: + +"You had an interview today with the Emperor. What happened?" + +I told of the message given me for the President which was intended +for publication by the Emperor. He said: + +"I think you ought to show that message to me; you know the Emperor +is a constitutional Emperor and there was once a great row about +such a message." + +I showed him the message, and when he had read it he said: "I +think it would be inadvisable for us to have this message published, +and in the interest of good feeling between Germany and America. +If you cable it ask that publication be withheld." + +I complied with his request and it is characteristic of the +President's desire to preserve good relations that publication +was withheld. Now, when the two countries are at war; when the +whole world, and especially our own country, has an interest in +knowing how this great calamity of universal war came to the +earth, the time has come when this message should be given out +and I have published it by permission. + +This most interesting document in the first place clears up one +issue never really obscure in the eyes of the world--the deliberate +violation of the neutrality of Belgium, whose territory "had to +be violated by Germany on strategical grounds." The very weak +excuse is added that "news had been received that France was +already preparing to enter Belgium,"--not even a pretense that +there had ever been any actual violation of Belgium's frontier +by the French prior to the German invasion of that unfortunate +country. Of course the second excuse that the King of the Belgians +had refused entrance to the Emperor's troops under guarantee of +his country's freedom is even weaker than the first. It would +indeed inaugurate a new era in the intercourse of nations if a +small nation could only preserve its freedom by at all times, +on request, granting free passage to the troops of a powerful +neighbour on the march to attack an adjoining country. + +And aside from the violation of Belgian neutrality, what would +have become of England and of the world if the Prussian autocracy +had been left free to defeat--one by one--the nations of the +earth? First, the defeat of Russia and Serbia by Austria and +Germany, the incorporation of a large part of Russia in the German +Empire, German influence predominant in Russia and all the vast +resources of that great Empire at the command of Germany. All the +fleets in the world could uselessly blockade the German coasts +if Germany possessed the limitless riches of the Empire of the +Romanoffs. + +[Illustration: ALLEGED DUM-DUM BULLETS, WHICH THE GERMANS DECLARED +HAD BEEN FOUND IN LONGWY.] + +The German army drawing for reserves on the teeming populations +of Russia and Siberia would never know defeat. And this is not +idle conjecture, mere dreaming in the realm of possibilities, +because the Russian revolution has shown us how weak and tottering +in reality was the dreaded power of the Czar. + +Russia, beaten and half digested, France would have been an easy +prey, and England, even if then joining France in war, would +have a far different problem to face if the V-boats were now +sailing from Cherbourg and Calais and Brest and Bordeaux on the +mission of piracy and murder, and then would come our turn and +that of Latin America. The first attack would come not on us, +but on South or Central America--at some point to which it would +be as difficult for us to send troops to help our neighbor as +it would be for Germany to attack. + +Remember that in Southern Brazil nearly four hundred thousand +Germans are sustained, as I found out, in their devotion to the +Fatherland by annual grants of money for educational purposes +from the Imperial treasury in Berlin. + +It was not without reason that at this interview, when the Kaiser +wrote this message to the President, he said that the coming +in of England had changed the whole situation and would make +the war a long one. The Kaiser talked rather despondently about +the war. I tried to cheer him up by saying the German troops +would soon enter Paris, but he answered, "The English change +the whole situation--an obstinate nation--they will keep up the +war. It cannot end soon." + +It was the entry of England into the war, in defence of the rights +of small nations, in defence of the guaranteed neutrality of +Belgium, which saved the world from the harsh dominion of the +conquest-hungry Prussians and therefore saved as well the two +Americas and their protecting doctrine of President Monroe. + +The document, which is dated August tenth, 1914, supersedes the +statement made by the German Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg in +his speech before the Reichstag on August fourth, 1914, in which +he gave the then official account of the entrance into the war of +the Central Empires. It will be noted that von Bethmann-Hollweg +insisted that France began the war in the sentence reading: "There +were bomb-throwing fliers, cavalry patrols, invading companies +in the Reichsland (Alsace-Lorraine). Thereby France, although +the condition of war had not yet been declared, had attacked our +territory." But the Emperor makes no mention of this fact, of +supreme importance if true, in his writing to President Wilson +six days later. + +Quite curiously, at this time there was a belief on the part +of the Germans that Japan would declare war on the Allies and +range herself on the side of the Central Powers. In fact on one +night there was a friendly demonstration in front of the Japanese +Embassy, but these hopes were soon dispelled by the ultimatum +of Japan sent on the sixteenth of August, and, finally, by the +declaration of war on August twenty-third. + +During the first days of the war the warring powers indulged in +mutual recriminations as to the use of dumdum bullets and I was +given several packages of cartridges containing bullets bored out +at the top which the Germans said had been found in the French +fortress of Longwy, with a request that I send an account of them +to President Wilson and ask for his intervention in the matter. +Very wisely President Wilson refused to do anything of the kind, +as otherwise he would have been deluged with constant complaints +from both sides as to the violations of the rules of war. + +The cartridges given to me were in packages marked on the outside +"_Cartouches_de_Stand_" and from this I took it that possibly +these cartridges had been used on some shooting range near the +fort and the bullets bored out in order that they might not go +too far, if carelessly fired over the targets. + +On August fifth, with our Naval Attache, Commander Walter Gherardi, +I called upon von Tirpitz, to learn from him which ports be +considered safest for the ships to be sent from America with gold +for stranded Americans. He recommended Rotterdam. + +I also had a conversation on this day with Geheimrat Letze of +the Foreign Office with reference to the proposition that English +and German ships respectively should have a delay of until the +fourteenth of August in which to leave the English or German +ports in which they chanced to be. + +The second week in August, my wife's sister and her husband, +Count Sigray, arrived in Berlin. Count Sigray is a reserve officer +of the Hungarian Hussars and was in Montana when the first rumours +of war came. He and his wife immediately started for New York and +sailed on the fourth of August. They landed in England, and as +England had not yet declared war on Austria, they were able to +proceed on their journey. With them were Count George Festetics +and Count Cziraki, the former from the Austrian Embassy in London +and the latter from that in Washington. They were all naturally +very much excited about war and the events of their trip. The +Hungarians as a people are quite like Americans. They have agreeable +manners and are able to laugh in a natural way, something which +seems to be a lost art in Prussia. Nearly all the members of +Hungarian noble families speak English perfectly and model their +clothes, sports and country life, as far as possible, after the +English. + +The thirteenth saw the departure of our first special train +containing Americans bound for Holland. I saw the Americans off +at the Charlottenburg station. They all departed in great spirits +and very glad of an opportunity to leave Germany. + +I had some negotiations about the purchase by America or Americans +of the ships of the North German Lloyd, but nothing came of these +negotiations. Trainloads of Americans continued to leave, but +there seemed to be no end to the Americans coming into Berlin +from all directions. + +On August twenty-ninth, Count Szoegyeny, the Austrian Ambassador, +left Berlin. He had been Ambassador there for twenty-two years and +I suppose because of his advancing years the Austrian Government +thought that he had outlived his usefulness. Quite a crowd of +Germans and diplomats were at the station to witness the rather +sad farewell. His successor was Prince Hohenlohe, married to a +daughter of Archduke Frederick. She expressly waived her right +to precedence as a royal highness, and agreed to take only the +precedence given to her as the wife of the Ambassador, in order not +to cause feeling in Berlin. Prince Hohenlohe, a rather easy-going +man, who had been most popular in Russia and Austria, immediately +made a favourable impression in Berlin and successfully occupied +the difficult position of mediator between the governments of +Berlin and Vienna. + +On September fourth the Chancellor gave me a statement to give +to the reporters in which he attacked England, claiming that +England did not desire the friendship of Germany but was moved by +commercial jealousy and a desire to crush her; that the efforts +made for peace had failed because Russia, under all circumstances, +was resolved upon war; and that Germany had entered Belgium in +order to forestall the planned French advance. He also claimed +that England, regardless of consequences to the white race, had +excited Japan to a pillaging expedition, and claimed that Belgian +girls and women had gouged out the eyes of the wounded; that +officers had been invited to dinner and shot across the table; +and Belgian women had cut the throats of soldiers quartered in +their houses while they were asleep. The Chancellor concluded by +saying, in this statement, that everyone knows that the German +people is not capable of unnecessary cruelty or of any brutality. + +We were fully occupied with taking care of the English prisoners +and interests, the Americans, and negotiations relating to commercial +questions, and to getting goods required in the United States out +of Germany, when, on October seventh, a most unpleasant incident, +and one which for some time caused the members of our Embassy +to feel rather bitterly toward the German Foreign Office, took +place. + +A great number of British civilians, men and women, were stranded +in Berlin. To many of these were paid sums of money in the form +of small allowances on behalf of the British Government. In order +to facilitate this work, we placed the clerks employed in this +distribution in the building formerly occupied by the British Consul +in Berlin. Of course, the great crowds of Americans resorting to +our Embassy, when combined with the crowds of British, made it +almost impossible even to enter the Embassy, and establishment +of this outlying relief station materially helped this situation. +I occupied it, and employed English men and English women in this +relief work by the express permission of the Imperial Foreign +Office, which I thought it wise to obtain in view of the fact +that the Germans seemed daily to become more irritable and +suspicious, especially after the Battle of the Marne. + +On the night of October second, our Second Secretary, Harvey, went +to this relief headquarters at about twelve o'clock at night, and +was witness to a raid made by the Berlin police on this establishment +of ours. The men and women working were arrested, and all books +and papers which the police could get at were seized by them. +The next morning I went around to the place and on talking with +the criminal detectives in charge, was told by them that they had +made the raid by the orders of the Foreign Office. When I spoke +to the Foreign Office about this, they denied that they had given +directions for the raid and made a sort of half apology. The raid +was all the more unjustified because only the day before I had had +a conversation with the Adjutant of the Berlin Kommandantur and +told him that, although I had permission from the Foreign Office, +I thought it would be better to dismiss the English employed and +employ only Americans or Germans; and I sent round to my friend, +Herr von Gwinner, head of the Deutsche Bank, and asked him to +recommend some German accountants to me. + +The Kommandantur is the direct office of military control. When +the Adjutant heard of the raid he was almost as indignant as I +was, and on the tenth of October informed me that he had learned +that the raid had been made on the joint orders of the Foreign +Office and von Tirpitz's department. + +The books and papers of an Embassy, including those relating +to the affairs of foreign nations temporarily in the Embassy's +care, are universally recognised in international law as not, +subject to seizure, nor did the fact that I was carrying on this +work outside the actual Embassy building have any bearing on +this point so long as the building was directly under my control +and, especially, as the only work carried on was work properly +in my hands in my official capacity. The Foreign Office saw that +they had made a mistake, but at Zimmermann's earnest request +I agreed, as it were, to forget the incident. Later on, this +precedent might have been used by our government had they desired +to press the matter of the seizure of von Igel's papers. Von Igel, +it will be remembered, was carrying on business of a private +nature in a private office hired by him. Nevertheless, as he +had been employed in some capacity in the German Embassy at +Washington, Count von Bernstorff claimed immunity from seizure +for the papers found in that office. + +On August sixteenth the Kaiser left Berlin for the front. I wrote +to his master of the household, saying that I should like an +opportunity to be at the railway station to say good-bye to the +Emperor, but was put off on various excuses. Thereafter the Emperor +practically abandoned Berlin and lived either in Silesia, at +Pless, or at some place near the Western front. + +At first, following the precedent of the war of 1870, the more +important members of the government followed the Kaiser to the +front, even the Chancellor and the Minister of Foreign Affairs +abandoning their offices in Berlin. Not long afterwards, when it +was apparent that the war must be carried on on several fronts +and that it was not going to be the matter of a few weeks which +the Germans had first supposed, these officials returned to their +offices in Berlin. In the meantime, however, much confusion had +been caused by this rather ridiculous effort to follow the customs +of the war of 1870. + +When von Jagow, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was absent at the +Great General Headquarters, the diplomats remaining behind conducted +their negotiations with Zimmermann, who in turn had to transmit +everything to the great general headquarters. + +In August, there were apparently rumours afloat in countries +outside of Germany that prominent Socialists at the outbreak of +the war had been shot. The State Department cabled me to find +out whether there was any truth in these rumours, with particular +reference to Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. + +Liebknecht is a lawyer practicing in Berlin and so I telephoned +him, asking him to come and see me. He did so, and of course, by +his presence verified the fact that he had not been executed. +He told me that the rumours as to the treatment of the Socialists +were entirely unfounded and said that he had no objection to my +cabling a statement that the Socialists were opposed to Czarismus +and that he personally had confidence in the German army and the +cause of the German people. + +Many people confuse Liebknecht with his father, now dead. Liebknecht, +the son, is a man of perhaps forty-three years, with dark bushy +hair and moustache and wearing eye-glasses, a man of medium height +and not at all of strong build. In the numerous interruptions +made by him during the debates in the Reichstag, during the first +year of the war, his voice sounded high and shrill. Of course, +anyone who defies the heavy hand of autocracy must suffer from +nervousness. We all knew that sooner or later autocracy would +"get" Liebknecht, and its opportunity came when he appeared in +citizen's clothes at an attempted mass-meeting at the Potsdamerplatz. +For the offence of appearing out of uniform after being called +and mobilized, and for alleged incitement of the people, he was +condemned for a long term of imprisonment. One can but admire +his courage. I believe that he earns his living by the practice +of law before one of the minor courts. It is hard to say just +what _role_ he will play in the future. It is probable that +when the Socialists settle down after the war and think things +over, they will consider that the leadership of Scheidemann has +been too conservative; that he submitted too readily to the powers +of autocracy and too easily abandoned the program of the Socialists. +In this case, Liebknecht perhaps will be made leader of the +Socialists, and it is within the bounds of probability that +Scheidemann and certain of his party may become Liberals rather +than Socialists. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS + +In the autumn of 1914, the rush of getting the Americans out +of Germany was over. The care of the British civilians was on a +business basis and there were comparatively few camps of prisoners +of war. Absolutely tired by working every day and until twelve +at night, I went to Munich for a two weeks' rest. + +On February fourth, 1915, Germany announced that on February +eighteenth the blockade of England through submarines would commence. + +Some very peculiar and mysterious negotiations thereafter ensued. +About February eighth, an American who was very intimate with +the members of the General Staff came to me with a statement +that Germany desired peace and was ready to open negotiations +to that end. It was, however, to be made a condition of these +peace negotiations that this particular American should go to +Paris and to Petrograd and inform the governments there of the +overwhelming strength of the German armies and of their positions, +which knowledge, it was said, he had obtained by personally visiting +both the fronts. it was further intimated that von Tirpitz himself +was anxious that peace should be concluded, possibly because of +his fear that the proposed blockade would not be successful. + +Of course, I informed the State Department of these mysterious +manoeuvres. + +I was taken by back stairways to a mysterious meeting with von +Tirpitz at night in his rooms in the Navy Department. When I was +alone with him, however, he had nothing definite to say or to +offer; if there was any opportunity at that time to make peace +nothing came of it. It looked somewhat to me as if the whole +idea had been to get this American to go to Paris and Petrograd, +certify from his personal observation to the strength of the +German armies and position, and thereby to assist in enticing +one or both of these countries to desert the allied cause. All of +this took place about ten days before the eighteenth of February, +the time named for the announcement of the blockade of England. + +Medals were struck having the head of von Tirpitz on one side +and on the other the words "Gott strafe England," and a picture +of a sort of Neptune assisted by a submarine rising from the +sea to blockade the distant English coast. + +The Ambassador is supposed to have the right to demand an audience +with the Kaiser at any time, and as there were matters connected +with the treatment of prisoners as well as this coming submarine +warfare which I wished to take up with him, I had on various +occasions asked for an audience with him; on each occasion my +request had been refused on some excuse or other, and I was not +even permitted to go to the railway station to bid him good-bye +on one occasion when he left for the front. + +When our Military Attache, Major Langhorne, left in March, 1915, +he had a farewell audience with the Kaiser and I then asked him +to say to the Kaiser that I had not seen him for so long a time +that I had forgotten what he looked like. Langhorne reported +to me that he had given his message to the Kaiser and that the +Kaiser said, "I have nothing against Mr. Gerard personally, but +I will not see the Ambassador of a country which furnishes arms +and ammunition to the enemies of Germany." + +Before the departure of Langhorne, I had succeeded in getting +Germany to agree that six American army officers might visit +Germany as military observers. When they arrived, I presented +them at the Foreign Office, etc., and they were taken on trips +to the East and West fronts. + +They were not allowed to see much, and their request to be attached +to a particular unit was refused. Nearly everywhere they were +subject to insulting remarks or treatment because of the shipment +of munitions of war to the Allies from America; and finally after +they had been subjected to deliberate insults at the hands of +several German generals, Mackensen particularly distinguishing +himself, the United States Government withdrew them from Germany. + +Colonel (now General) Kuhn, however, who was of these observers, +was appointed Military Attache in place of Major Langhorne. Speaking +German fluently and acting with great tact, he managed for a long +time to keep sufficiently in the good graces of the Germans to +be allowed to see something of the operations of the various +fronts. There came a period in 1916 when he was no longer invited +to go on the various excursions made by the foreign military +attaches and finally Major Nicolai, the general intelligence +officer of the Great General Headquarters, sent for him early in +the autumn of 1916, and informed him that he could no longer go +to any of the fronts. Colonel Kuhn answered that he was aware of +this already. Major Nicolai said that he gave him this information +by direct order of General Ludendorf, that General Ludendorf had +stated that he did not believe America could do more damage to +Germany than she had done if the two countries were actually +at war, and that he considered that, practically, America and +Germany were engaged in hostilities. On this being reported to +Washington, Colonel Kuhn was quite naturally recalled. + +I cannot praise too highly the patience and tact shown by Colonel +Kuhn in dealing with the Germans. Although accused in the German +newspapers of being a spy, and otherwise attacked, he kept his +temper and observed all that he could for the benefit of his own +country. As he had had an opportunity to observe the Russian-Japanese +war, his experiences at that time, coupled with his experiences +in Germany, make him, perhaps, our greatest American expert on +modern war. + +It was with the greatest pleasure that I heard from Secretary +Baker that he had determined to promote Colonel Kuhn to the rank +of General and make him head of our War College, where his teachings +will prove of the greatest value to the armies of the United States. + +Colonel House and his wife arrived to pay us a visit on March 19, +1915, and remained until the twenty-eighth. During this period the +Colonel met all the principal members of the German Government and +many men of influence and prominence in the world of affairs, such +as Herr von Gwinner, head of the Deutsche Bank, and Dr. Walter +Rathenau, who succeeded his father as head of the Allgemeine +Elektricitats Gesellschaft and hundreds of other corporations. The +Colonel dined at the house of Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister, +and lunched with von Gwinner. + +In April, negotiations were continued about the sinking of the +_William_P._Fry_, an American boat loaded with food and +destined for Ireland. The American Government on behalf of the +owners of the _William_P._Fry_ claimed damages for the boat. +Nothing was said about the cargo, but in the German answer it was +stated that the cargo of the _William_P._Fry_ consisting of +foodstuffs destined for an armed port of the enemy and, therefore, +presumed to be destined for the armed forces of the enemy was, +because of this, contraband. I spoke to von Jagow about this and +told him that I thought that possibly this would seem to amount +to a German justification of the British blockade of Germany. +He said that this note had been drawn by Director Kriege who +was their expert on international law, and that he would not +interfere with Kriege's work. Of course, as a matter of fact, +all foodstuffs shipped to Germany would have to be landed at +some armed port, and, therefore, according to the contentions +of Germany, these would be supposed to be destined to the armed +forces of the enemy and become contraband of war. + +At international law, it had always been recognised that private +individuals and corporations have the right to sell arms and +ammunitions of war to any belligerent and, in the Hague Convention +held in 1907, this right was expressly ratified and confirmed. +This same Director Kriege who represented Germany at this Hague +Conference in 1907, in the debates on this point said: "The neutral +boats which engage in such a trade, commit a violation of the +duties of neutrality. However, according to a principle generally +recognised, the State of which the boat flies the flag is not +responsible for this violation. The neutral States are not called +upon to forbid their subjects a commerce which, from the point of +view of the belligerents, ought to be considered as unlawful." +(Conference International de la Paix, La Haye, 15 Juin-18 Octobre +1907. Vol. III, p. 859.) + +During our trouble with General Huerta, arms and ammunition for +Huerta's forces from Germany were landed from German ships in +Mexico. During the Boer war the Germans, who openly sympathised +with the Boers, nevertheless furnished to England great quantities +of arms and munitions, expressly destined to be used against +the Boers; and this, although it was manifest that there was +no possibility whatever that the Boers could obtain arms and +munitions from German sources during the war. For instance, the +firm of Eberhardt in Dusseldorf furnished one hundred and nine +cannon, complete, with wagons, caissons and munitions, etc., to +the English which were expressly designed for use against the +Boers. + +At one time the Imperial Foreign Office sent me a formal note +making reference to a paragraph in former Ambassador Andrew D. +White's autobiography with reference to the alleged stoppage +in a German port of a boat laden with arms and ammunition, for +use against the Americans in Cuba during the Spanish War. Of +course, former Ambassador White wrote without having the Embassy +records at hand and those records show that the position he took +at the time of this alleged stoppage was eminently correct. + +The files show that he wrote the letter to the State Department +in which he stated that knowledge came to him of the proposed +sailing of this ship, but he did not protest because he had been +advised by a Naval Attache that the United States did not have +the right to interfere. The Department of State wrote to him +commending his action in not filing any protest and otherwise +interfering. + +It seemed as if the German Government expressly desired to stir +up hatred against America on this issue in order to force the +American Government through fear of either the German Government, +or the German-American propagandists at home, to put an immediate +embargo on the export of these supplies. + +In the autumn of 1914 Zimmermann showed me a long list sent him +by Bernstorff showing quantities of saddles, automobiles, motor +trucks, tires, explosives, foodstuffs and so on, exported from +America to the Allies and intimated that this traffic had reached +such proportions that it should be stopped. + +In February, 1915, in the official _Communique_ of the day +appeared the following statement: "Heavy artillery fire in certain +sections of the West front, mostly with American ammunition;" +and in April in the official _Communique_ something to this +effect: "Captured French artillery officers say that they have +great stores of American ammunition." I obtained through the State +Department in Washington a statement from the French Ambassador +certifying that up to that time, the end of April, 1915, no shells +whatever of the French artillery had been furnished from America. + +Nothing, however, would satisfy the Germans. They seemed determined +that the export of every article, whether of food or munitions +which might prove of use to the Allies in the war, should be +stopped. Newspapers were filled with bitter attacks upon America +and upon President Wilson, and with caricatures referring to +the sale of munitions. + +It never seemed to occur to the Germans that we could not violate +the Hague Convention in order to change the rules of the game +because one party, after the commencement of hostilities, found +that the rule worked to his disadvantage. Nor did the Germans +consider that America could not vary its international law with +the changing fortunes of war and make one ruling when the Germans +lost control of the sea and another ruling if they regained it. + +From early in 1915 until I left Germany, I do not think I ever +had a conversation with a German without his alluding to this +question. Shortly before leaving Germany, in January, 1917, and +after I had learned of the probability of the resumption of ruthless +submarine war, at an evening party at the house of Dr. Solf, the +Colonial Minister, a large German who turned out to be one of +the Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, planted himself some +distance away from me and addressed me in German saying, "You are +the American Ambassador and I want to tell you that the conduct +of America in furnishing arms and ammunition to the enemies of +Germany is stamped deep on the German heart, that we will never +forget it and will some day have our revenge." He spoke in a +voice so loud and slapped his chest so hard that everyone in +the room stopped their conversation in order to hear. He wore +on his breast the orders of the Black Eagle, the Red Eagle, the +Elephant and the Seraphim, and when he struck all this menagerie +the rattle alone was quite loud. I reminded him politely of the +Hague Convention, of the fact that we could not change international +law from time to time with the change in the situation of the war, +and that Germany had furnished arms to England to use against the +Boers. But he simply answered, "We care nothing for treaties," +and my answer, "That is what they all say," was a retort too +obvious to be omitted. + +The German press continually published articles to the effect +that the war would be finished if it were not for the shipment +of supplies from America. All public opinion was with the German +Government when the warning was issued on February fourth, 1915, +stating that the blockade of England would commence on the eighteenth +and warning neutral ships to keep out of the war zone. From then +on we had constant cases and crises with reference to the sinking +of American boats by the German submarine. There were the cases +of the _Gulfflight_ and the _Cushing_ and the _Falaba_, an English +boat sunk without warning on which Americans were killed. On May +sixth, 1915, Director Kriege of the Foreign Office asked Mr. Jackson +to call and see him, and told him that he would like to have the +following three points brought to the attention of the American +public: + + "1. As the result of the English effort to stop all foreign + commerce with Germany, Germany would do everything in her power + to destroy English commerce and merchant shipping. There was, + however, never at any time an intention to destroy or interfere + with neutral commerce or to attack neutral shipping unless + engaged in contraband trade. In view of the action of the + British Government in arming merchant vessels and causing + them to disguise their national character, the occasional + destruction of a neutral ship was unavoidable. Naval officers + in command of submarines had been instructed originally, and + new and more stringent instructions had been issued repeatedly, + to use the utmost care, consistent with their own safety, to + avoid attacks on neutral vessels. + + "2. In case a neutral ship should be destroyed by a submarine + the German Government is prepared to make an immediate and + formal expression of its regret and to pay an indemnity, without + having recourse to a prize court. + + "3. All reports with regard to the destruction of a neutral + vessel by a German submarine are investigated at once by both + the German Foreign Office and Admiralty and the result is + communicated to the Government concerned, which is requested in + return to communicate to the German Government the result of its + own independent investigation. Where there is any material + divergence in the two reports as to the presumed cause of + destruction (torpedo or mine), the question is to be submitted + to investigation by a commission composed of representatives of + the two nations concerned, with a neutral arbiter whose decision + will be final. This course has already been adopted in two cases, + in which a Dutch and a Norwegian vessel, respectively, were + concerned. The German Government reserves its right to refuse + this international arbitration in exceptional cases where for + military reasons the German Admiralty are opposed to its taking + place." + +Director Kriege told Mr. Jackson that a written communication in +which the substance of the foregoing would be contained, would +soon to be made to the Embassy. + +Mr. Jackson put this conversation down in the form above given +and showed Director Kriege a copy of it. Later in the day Geheimrat +Simon called on Mr. Jackson at the Embassy and said that Dr. +Kriege would like to have point two read as follows: + + "In case _through_any_unfortunate_mistake_a_neutral_ship_," + and continuing to the end; and that Dr. Kriege would like to + change what was written on point three beginning with "Where + there is" so that it should read, as follows:--"Where there is + any material divergence in the two reports as to the presumed + cause of destruction (torpedo or mine), the German Government has + already in several instances declared its readiness to submit + the question to the decision of an international commission in + accordance with the Hague Convention for the friendly settlement + of international disputes." + +This had been suggested by Director Kriege in case it should +be decided to make a communication to the American Press. Mr. +Jackson told Geheimrat Simon that he would report the subject of +his conversation to me, but that it would depend upon me whether +any communication should be made to the American Government or +to the press upon the subject. + +Of course, the news of the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_ on +May seventh and of the great loss of American lives brought +about a very critical situation, and naturally nothing was done +with Kriege's propositions. + +It is unnecessary here for me to go into the notes which were +exchanged between the two governments because all that is already +public property. + +Sometime after I had delivered our first _Lusitania_ Note of +May 11th, 1915, Zimmermann was lunching with us. A good looking +American woman, married to a German, was also of the party and +after lunch although I was talking to some one else I overheard +part of her conversation with Zimmermann. When Zimmermann left +I asked her what it was that he had said about America, Germany, +Mr. Bryan and the _Lusitania_. She then told me that she +had said to Zimmermann that it was a great pity that we were +to leave Berlin as it looked as if diplomatic relations between +the two countries would be broken, and that Zimmermann told her +not to worry about that because they had just received word from +the Austrian Government that Dr. Dumba, the Austrian Ambassador +in Washington, had cabled that the _Lusitania_ Note from +America to Germany was only sent as a sop to public opinion in +America and that the government did not really mean what was +said in that note. I then called on Zimmermann at the Foreign +Office and he showed me Dumba's telegram which was substantially +as stated above. Of course, I immediately cabled to the State +Department and also got word to President Wilson. The rest of +the incident is public property. I, of course, did not know what +actually occurred between Mr. Bryan and Dr. Dumba, but I am sure +that Dr. Dumba must have misunderstood friendly statements made +by Mr. Bryan. + +It was very lucky that I discovered the existence of this Dumba +cablegram in this manner which savours almost of diplomacy as +represented on the stage. If the Germans had gone on in the belief +that the _Lusitania_ Note was not really meant, war would +have inevitably resulted at that time between Germany and America, +and it shows how great events may be shaped by heavy luncheons +and a pretty woman. + +Before this time much indignation had been caused in Germany +by the fact that the _Lusitania_ on her eastward voyage +from New York early in February, 1915, had raised the American +flag when nearing British waters. + +Shortly after this incident had become known, I was at the +Wintergarten, a large concert hall in Berlin, with Grant Smith, +First Secretary of the Embassy at Vienna and other members of +my staff. We naturally spoke English among ourselves, a fact +which aroused the ire of a German who had been drinking heavily +and who was seated in the next box. He immediately began to call +out that some one was speaking English and when told by one of +the attendants that it was the American Ambassador, he immediately +cried in a loud voice that Americans were even worse than English +and that the _Lusitania_ had been flying the American flag as +protection in British waters. + +The audience, however, took sides against him and told him to +shut up and as I left the house at the close of the performance, +some Germans spoke to me and apologised for his conduct. The +next day the manager of the Wintergarten called on me also to +express his regret for the occurrence. + +About a year afterwards I was at the races one day and saw this +man and asked him what he meant by making such a noise at the +Wintergarten. He immediately apologised and said that he had +been drinking and hoped that I would forget the incident. This +was the only incident of the kind which occurred to me during +all the time that I was in Germany. + +Both before and after the sinking of the _Lusitania_, the +German Foreign Office put forward all kinds of proposals with +reference to American ships in the war zone. On one afternoon, +Zimmermann, who had a number of these proposals drafted in German, +showed them to me and I wrote down the English translation for him +to see how it would look in English. These proposals were about +the sailing from America of what might be called certified ships, +the ships to be painted and striped in a distinctive way, to come +from certified ports at certain certified times, America to agree +that these ships should carry no contraband whatever. All these +proposals were sternly rejected by the President. + +On February sixteenth, the German answer to our note of February +tenth had announced that Germany declined all responsibility for +what might happen to neutral ships and, in addition, announced +that mines would be allowed in waters surrounding Great Britain +and Ireland. This note also contained one of Zimmermann's proposed +solutions, namely, that American warships should convoy American +merchantmen. + +The German note of the sixteenth also spoke about the great traffic +in munitions from the United States to the Allies, and contained +a suggestion that the United States should induce the Allies to +adopt the Declaration of London and omit the importation not +only of food but also of all raw materials into Germany. + +February twentieth was the date of the conciliatory note addressed +by President Wilson to both Great Britain and Germany; and contained +the suggestion that submarines should not be employed against +merchant vessels of any nationality and that food should be allowed +to go through for the civil population of Germany consigned to +the agencies named by the United States in Germany, which were +to see that the food was received and distributed to the civil +population. + +In the meantime the mines on the German coast had destroyed two +American ships, both loaded with cotton for Germany; one called +the _Carib_ and the other the _Evelyn_. + +In America, Congress refused to pass a law to put it in the power +of the President to place an embargo on the export of munitions +of war. + +In April, Count Bernstorff delivered his note concerning the +alleged want of neutrality of the United States, referring to +the numerous new industries in war materials being built up in +the United States, stating, "In reality the United States is +supplying only Germany's enemies, a fact which is not in any +way modified by the theoretical willingness to furnish Germany +as well." + +To this note, Secretary Bryan in a note replied that it was +impossible, in view of the indisputable doctrines of accepted +international law, to make any change in our own laws of neutrality +which meant unequally affecting, during the progress of the war, +the relations of the United States with the various nations at +war; and that the placing of embargoes on the trade in arms which +constituted such a change would be a direct violation of the +neutrality of the United States. + +But all these negotiations, reproaches and recriminations were +put an end to by the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_, with the +killing of American women and civilians who were passengers on +that vessel. + +I believed myself that we would immediately break diplomatic +relations, and prepared to leave Germany. On May eleventh, I +delivered to von Jagow the _Lusitania_ Note, which after +calling attention to the cases of the sinking of American boats, +ending with the _Lusitania_, contained the statement, "The +Imperial German Government will not expect the Government of +the United States to omit any word or any act necessary to the +sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and +its citizens and of safeguarding their free exercises and +enjoyments." + +During this period I had constant conversations with von Jagow +and Zimmermann, and it was during the conversations about this +submarine warfare that Zimmermann on one occasion said to me: +"The United States does not dare to do anything against Germany +because we have five hundred thousand German reservists in America +who will rise in arms against your government if your government +should dare to take any action against Germany." As he said this, +he worked himself up to a passion and repeatedly struck the table +with his fist. I told him that we had five hundred and one thousand +lamp posts in America, and that was where the German reservists +would find themselves if they tried any uprising; and I also +called his attention to the fact that no German-Americans making +use of the American passports which they could easily obtain, +were sailing for Germany by way of Scandinavian countries in +order to enlist in the German army. I told him that if he could +show me one person with an American passport who had come to +fight in the German army I might more readily believe what he +said about the Germans in America rising in revolution. + +As a matter of fact, during the whole course of the war, I knew +of only one man with American citizenship who enlisted in the +German army. This was an American student then in Germany who +enlisted in a German regiment. His father, a business man in New +York, cabled me asking me to have his son released from the German +army; so I procured the discharge of the young man who immediately +wrote to me and informed me that he was over twenty-one, and +that he could not see what business his father had to interfere +with his military ambitions. I thereupon withdrew my request +with reference to him, but he had already been discharged from +the army. When his regiment went to the West front he stowed +away on the cars with it, was present at the attack on Ypres, +and was shot through the body. He recovered in a German hospital, +received the Iron Cross, was discharged and sailed for America. +What has since become of him I do not know. + +I do not intend to go in great detail into this exchange of notes +and the public history of the submarine controversy, as all that +properly belongs to the history of the war rather than to an +account of my personal experiences; and besides, as Victor Hugo +said, "History is not written with a microscope." All will remember +the answer of Germany to the American _Lusitania_ Note, which +answer, delivered on May twenty-ninth, contained the charge that +the _Lusitania_ was armed and carried munitions, and had been +used in the transport of Canadian troops. In the meantime, however, +the American ship, _Nebraskan_, had been torpedoed off the coast +of Ireland on the twenty-sixth; and, on May twenty-eighth, Germany +stated that the American steamer, _Gulfflight_, had been torpedoed +by mistake, and apologised for this act. + +Von Jagow gave me, about the same time, a Note requesting that +American vessels should be more plainly marked and should illuminate +their marking at night. + +The second American _Lusitania_ Note was published on June +eleventh, 1915; and its delivery was coincident with the resignation +of Mr. Bryan as Secretary of State. In this last Note President +Wilson (for, of course, it is an open secret that he was the +author of these Notes) made the issue perfectly plain, referring +to the torpedoing of enemy passenger ships. "Only her actual +resistance to capture or refusal to stop when ordered to do so +for the purpose of visit could have afforded the commander of the +submarine any justification for so much as putting the lives of +those on board the ship in jeopardy." On July eighth the German +answer to this American _Lusitania_ Note was delivered, and +again stated that "we have been obliged to adopt a submarine war +to meet the declared intentions of our enemies and the method of +warfare adopted by them in contravention of international law". +Again referring to the alleged fact of the _Lusitania's_ +carrying munitions they said: "If the _Lusitania_ had been +spared, thousands of cases of munitions would have been sent to +Germany's enemies and thereby thousands of German mothers and +children robbed of breadwinners." The note then contained some +of Zimmermann's favourite proposals, to the effect that German +submarine commanders would be instructed to permit the passage of +American steamers marked in a special way and of whose sailing +they had been notified in advance, provided that the American +Government guaranteed that these vessels did not carry contraband +of war. It was also suggested that a number of neutral vessels +should be added to those sailing under the American flag, to +give greater opportunity for those Americans who were compelled +to travel abroad, and the Note's most important part continued: +"In particular the Imperial Government is unable to admit that +the American citizens can protect an enemy ship by mere fact +of their presence on board." + +July twenty-first, the American Government rejected the proposals +of Germany saying, "The lives of noncombatants may in no case +be put in jeopardy unless the vessel resists or seeks to escape +after being summoned to submit to examination," and disposed +of the claim that the acts of England gave Germany the right +to retaliate, even though American citizens should be deprived +of their lives in the course of retaliation by stating: "For a +belligerent act of retaliation is _per_se_ an act beyond the +law, and the defense, of an act as retaliatory, is an admission +that it is illegal." Continuing it said: "If a belligerent cannot +retaliate against an enemy without injuring the lives of neutrals, +as well as their property, humanity, as well as justice and a +due regard for the dignity of neutral powers, should dictate +that the practice be discontinued." + +It was also said: "The United States cannot believe that the +Imperial Government will longer refrain from disavowing the wanton +act of its naval commander in sinking the _Lusitania_ or +from offering reparation for the American lives lost, so far +as reparation can be made for the needless destruction of human +life by an illegal act." And the meat of the Note was contained +in the following sentence: "Friendship itself prompts it (the +United States) to say to the Imperial Government that repetition +by the commanders of German naval vessels of acts in contravention +of those rights must be regarded by the Government of the United +States, when they affect American citizens, as being deliberately +unfriendly." + +There the matter has remained so far as the Lusitania was concerned +until now. In the meantime, the attack of the American ship, +_Nebraskan_, was disavowed; the German Note stating that +"the torpedo was not meant for the American flag and is to be +considered an unfortunate accident." + +The diplomatic situation with regard to the use of the submarine +and the attack on many merchant ships without notice and without +putting the passengers in safety was still unsettled when on +August nineteenth, 1915, the British ship _Arabic_, was +torpedoed, without warning, not far from the place where the +_Lusitania_ had gone down. Two Americans were among the +passengers killed. + +The German Government, after the usual quibbling, at length, +in its Note of September seventh, claimed that the Captain of +the German submarine, while engaged in preparing to sink the +_Dunsley_, became convinced that the approaching _Arabic_ +was trying to ram him and, therefore, fired his torpedo. The +Imperial Government refused to admit any liability but offered +to arbitrate. + +There followed almost immediately the case of the _Ancona_, +sunk by a submarine flying the Austrian flag. This case was naturally +out of my jurisdiction, but formed a link in the chain, and then +came the sinking of the _Persia_ in the Mediterranean. On this +boat our consul to Aden lost his life. + +In the Note of Count Bernstorff to Secretary Lansing, dated September +first, 1915, Count Bernstorff said that liners would not be sunk +by German submarines without warning, and without putting the +passengers in safety, provided that the liners did not try to +escape or offer resistance; and it was further stated that this +policy was in effect before the sinking of the _Arabic_. + +There were long negotiations during this period concerning the +_Arabic_. At one time it looked as if diplomatic relations +would be broken; but finally the Imperial Government consented +to acknowledge that the submarine commander had been wrong in +assuming that the _Arabic_ intended to ram his boat, offered +to pay an indemnity and disavowed the act of the commander. It +was stated that orders so precise had been given to the submarine +commanders that a "recurrence of incidents similar to the +_Arabic_ is considered out of the question." + +In the same way the Austrian Government gave way to the demands +of America in the _Ancona_ case at the end of December, 1915. +Ambassador Penfield, in Austria, won great praise by his admirable +handling of this case. + +The negotiations as to the still pending _Lusitania_ case +were carried on in Washington by Count Bernstorff and Secretary +Lansing, and finally Germany offered to pay an indemnity for +the death of the Americans on the _Lusitania_ whose deaths +Germany "greatly regretted," but refused to disavow the act of +the submarine commander in sinking the _Lusitania_ or to admit +that such act was illegal. + +About this time our State Department sent out a Note proposing +in effect that submarines should conform to "cruiser" warfare, +only sinking a vessel which defended itself or tried to escape, +and that before sinking a vessel its passengers and crew should +be placed in safety; and that, on the other hand, merchant vessels +of belligerent nationality should be prohibited from carrying +any armaments whatever. This suggestion was not followed up. + +Zimmermann (not the one in the Foreign Office) wrote an article +in the _Lokal_Anzeiger_ of which he is an editor, saying +that the United States had something on their side in the question +of the export of munitions. I heard that von Kessel, commander of +the _Mark_of_Brandenburg_ said that he, Zimmermann, ought to be +shot as a traitor. Zimmermann hearing of this made von Kessel +apologise, but was shortly afterwards mobilised. + +Colonel House had arrived in Germany at the end of January, 1916, +and remained only three days. He was quite worried by the situation +and by an interview he had had with Zimmermann in which Zimmermann +expressed the readiness of Germany to go to war with the United +States. + +In February, 1916, the Junkers in the Prussian Lower House started +a fight against the Chancellor and discussed submarine war, a +matter out of their province. The Chancellor hit back at them hard +and had the best of the exchange. At this period it was reported +that the Emperor went to Wilhelmshafen to warn the submarine +commanders to be careful. + +About March first it was reported that a grand council of war +was held at Charleville and that in spite of the support of von +Tirpitz by Falkenhayn, the Chief of Staff, the Chancellor was +supported by the Emperor, and once more beat the propositions +to recommence ruthless submarine war. + +In March too, the "illness" of von Tirpitz was announced, followed +shortly by his resignation. On March nineteenth, his birthday, +a demonstration was looked for and I saw many police near his +dwelling, but nothing unusual occurred. I contemplated a trip +to America, but both the Chancellor and von Jagow begged me not +to go. + +From the time of the _Lusitania_ sinking to that of the _Sussex_ +all Germany was divided into two camps. The party of the Chancellor +tried to keep peace with America and did not want to have Germany +branded as an outlaw among nations. Von Tirpitz and his party of +naval and military officers called for ruthless submarine war, and +the Conservatives, angry with Bethmann-Hollweg because of his +proposed concession as to the extension of the suffrage, joined +the opposition. The reception of our last _Lusitania_ Note in +July, 1915, was hostile and I was accused of being against Germany, +although, of course, I had nothing to do with the preparation of +this Note. + +In August, 1915, the deputies representing the great industrials +of Germany joined in the attack on the Chancellor. These men +wished to keep Northern France and Belgium, because they hoped +to get possession of the coal and iron deposits there and so +obtain a monopoly of the iron and steel trade of the continent. +Accelerators of public opinion, undoubtedly hired by the Krupp +firm, were hard at work. These Annexationists were opposed by the +more reasonable men who signed a petition against the annexation +of Belgium. Among the signers of this reasonable men's petition +were Prince Hatzfeld (Duke of Trachenberg) head of the Red Cross, +Dernburg, Prince Henkel Donnersmarck, Professor Delbruck, von +Harnack and many others. + +The rage of the Conservatives at the _Arabic_ settlement +knew no bounds, and after a bitter article had appeared in the +_Tageszeitung_ about the _Arabic_ affair, that newspaper was +suppressed for some days,--a rather unexpected showing of backbone +on the part of the Chancellor. Reventlow who wrote for this newspaper +is one of the ablest editorial writers in Germany. An ex-naval +officer, he is bitter in his hatred of America. It was said that +he once lived in America and lost a small fortune in a Florida +orange grove, but I never succeeded in having this verified. + +In November, 1915, after the _Arabic_ settlement there followed +a moment for us of comparative calm. Mrs. Gerard was given the +Red Cross Orders of the first and third classes, and Jackson +and Rives of the Embassy Staff the second and third class. The +third class is always given because one cannot have the first +and second unless one has the third or lowest. + +There were rumours at this time of the formation of a new party; +really the Socialists and Liberals, as the Socialists as such were +too unfashionable, in too bad odour, to open a campaign against +the military under their own name. This talk came to nothing. + +The Chancellor always complained bitterly that he could not +communicate in cipher _via_ wireless with von Bernstorff. +On one occasion he said to me, "How can I arrange as I wish to +in a friendly way the _Ancona_ and _Lusitania_ cases +if I cannot communicate with my Ambassador? Why does the United +States Government not allow me to communicate in cipher?" I said, +"The Foreign Office tried to get me to procure a safe-conduct for +the notorious von Rintelen on the pretense that he was going to do +charitable work for Belgium in America; perhaps Washington thinks +you want to communicate with people like that." The Chancellor then +changed the subject and said that there would be bad feeling in +Germany against America after the war. I answered that that idea +had been expressed by a great many Germans and German newspapers, +and that I had had private letters from a great many Americans +who wrote that if Germany intended to make war on America, after +this war, perhaps we had better go in now. He then very amiably +said that war with America would be ridiculous. He asked me why +public opinion in America was against Germany, and I answered +that matters like the Cavell case had made a bad impression in +America and that I knew personally that even the Kaiser did not +approve of the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_. The Chancellor +said, "How about the _Baralong_?" I replied that I did not +know the details and that there seemed much doubt and confusion +about that affair, but that there was no doubt about the fact +that Miss Cavell was shot and that she was a woman. I then took +up in detail with him the treatment of British prisoners and +said that this bad treatment could not go on. This was only one +of the many times when I complained to the Chancellor about the +condition of prisoners. I am sure that he did not approve of the +manner in which prisoners of war in Germany were treated; but +he always complained that he was powerless where the military +were concerned, and always referred me to Bismarck's memoirs. + +During this winter of submarine controversy an interview with +von Tirpitz, thinly veiled as an interview with a "high naval +authority," was published in that usually most conservative of +newspapers, the _Frankfurter_Zeitung_. In this interview the +"high naval authority" advocated ruthless submarine war with +England, and promised to bring about thereby the speedy surrender +of that country. After the surrender, which was to include the +whole British fleet, the German fleet with the surrendered British +fleet added to its force, was to sail for America, and exact from +that country indemnities enough to pay the whole cost of the war. + +After his fall, von Tirpitz, in a letter to some admirers who +had sent him verses and a wreath, advocated holding the coast of +Flanders as a necessity for the war against England and America. + +The successor of von Tirpitz was Admiral von Holtzendorff, whose +brother is Ballin's right hand man in the management of the Hamburg +American Line. Because of the more reasonable influence and +surroundings of von Holtzendorff, I regarded his appointment as +a help towards peaceful relations between Germany and America. + +I have told in another chapter how the Emperor had refused to +receive me as Ambassador of a country which was supplying munitions +to the Allies. + +From time to time since I learned of this in March, 1915, I kept +insisting upon my right as Ambassador to be received by the Emperor; +and finally early in October, 1915, wrote the following letter +to the Chancellor: + + "Your Excellency: + + Some time ago I requested you to arrange an audience for me + with his majesty. + + Please take no further trouble about this matter. + + Sincerely yours, + + JAMES W. GERARD." + +This seemed to have the desired effect. I was informed that I +would be received by the Emperor in the new palace at Potsdam +on October twenty-second. He was then to pay a flying visit to +Berlin to receive the new Peruvian Minister and one or two others. +We went down in the train to Potsdam, von Jagow accompanying us, +in the morning; and it was arranged that we should return on +the train leaving Potsdam a little after one o'clock. I think +that the authorities of the palace expected that I would be with +the Emperor for a few minutes only, as when I was shown into the +room where he was, a large room opening from the famous shell +hall of the palace, the Peruvian Minister and the others to be +received were standing waiting in that hall. + +The Emperor was alone in the room and no one was present at our +interview. He was dressed in a Hussar uniform of the new field +grey, the parade uniform of which the frogs and trimmings were +of gold. A large table in the corner of the room was covered +with maps, compasses, scales and rulers; and looked as if the +Emperor there, in company with some of his aides, or possibly +the chief of staff, had been working out the plan of campaign +of the German armies. + +The Emperor was standing; so, naturally, I stood also; and, according +to his habit, which is quite Rooseveltian, he stood very close to +me and talked very earnestly. I was fortunately able to clear +up two distinct points which he had against America. + +The Emperor said that he had read in a German paper that a number +of submarines built in America for England had crossed the Atlantic +to England, escorted by ships of the American Navy. I was, of +course, able to deny this ridiculous story at the time and furnish +definite proofs later. The Emperor complained because a loan to +England and France had been floated in America. I said that the +first loan to a belligerent floated in America was a loan to +Germany. The Emperor sent for some of his staff and immediately +inquired into the matter. The members of the staff confirmed my +statement. The Emperor said that he would not have permitted +the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_ if he had known, and that +no gentleman would kill so many women and children. He showed, +however, great bitterness against the United States and repeatedly +said, "America had better look out after this war:" and "I shall +stand no nonsense from America after the war." + +The interview lasted about an hour and a quarter, and when I finally +emerged from the room the officers of the Emperor's household were +in such a state of agitation that I feel sure they must have +thought that something fearful had occurred. As I walked rapidly +towards the door of the palace in order to take the carriage which +was to drive me to the train, one of them walked along beside +me saying, "Is it all right? Is it all right?" + +The unfortunate diplomats who were to have been received and +who had been standing all this time outside the door waiting for +an audience missed their train and their luncheon. + +At this interview, the Emperor looked very careworn and seemed +nervous. When I next saw him, however, which was not until the +end of April, 1916, he was in much better condition. + +I was so fearful in reporting the dangerous part of this interview, +on account of the many spies not only in my own Embassy but also +in the State Department, that I sent but a very few words in a +roundabout way by courier direct to the President. + +The year, 1916, opened with this great question still unsettled +and, in effect, Germany gave notice that after March first, 1916, +the German submarines would sink all armed merchantmen of the +enemies of Germany without warning. It is not my place here to +go into the agitation of this question in America or into the +history of the votes in Congress, which in fact upheld the policy +of the President. A proposal as to armed merchantmen was issued by +our State Department and the position taken in this was apparently +abandoned at the time of the settlement of the _Sussex_ case +to which I now refer. + +In the latter half of March, 1916, a number of boats having Americans +on board were torpedoed without warning. These boats were the +_Eaglejoint_, the _Englishman_, the _Manchester_Engineer_ and the +_Sussex_. One American was killed or drowned on the _Englishman_, +but the issue finally came to a head over the torpedoing of the +channel passenger boat, _Sussex_ which carried passengers between +Folkstone and Dieppe, France. + +On March twenty-fourth the _Sussex_ was torpedoed near the +coast of France. Four hundred and thirty-six persons, of whom +seventy-five were Americans, were on board. The captain and a +number of the passengers saw the torpedo and an endeavour was +made to avoid it. After the boat was struck the many passengers +took to the boats. Three Americans were injured and over forty +persons lost their lives, although the boat was not sunk but +was towed to Boulogne. + +I was instructed to inquire from the German Government as to +whether a German submarine had sunk the _Sussex_. The Foreign +Office finally, at my repeated request, called on the Admiralty +for a report of the torpedoing of the _Sussex_; and finally +on the tenth of April the German Note was delivered to me. In the +meantime, and before the delivery of this Note I had been assured +again and again that the _Sussex_ had not been torpedoed by +a German submarine. In this Note a rough sketch was enclosed, +said to have been made by the officer commanding the submarine, of +a vessel which he admitted he had torpedoed, in the same locality +where the _Sussex_ had been attacked and at about the same +time of day. It was said that this boat which was torpedoed was +a mine layer of the recently built _Arabic_ class and that a +great explosion which was observed to occur in the torpedoed ship +warranted the certain conclusion that great amounts of munitions +were on board. The Note concluded: "The German Government must +therefore assume that injury to the _Sussex_ was attributable +to another cause than attack by a German submarine." The Note +contained an offer to submit any difference of opinion that might +develop to be investigated by a mixed commission in accordance +with the Hague Convention of 1907. The _Englishman_ and +the _Eaglepoint_, it was claimed, were attacked by German +submarines only after they had attempted to escape, and an +explanation was given as to the _Manchester_Engineer_. With +reference to the _Sussex_, the note continued: "Should the +American Government have at its disposal other material at the +conclusion of the case of the _Sussex_, the German Government +would ask that it be communicated, in order to subject this material +also to investigation." + +In the meantime, American naval officers, etc., had been engaged +in collecting facts as to the sinking of the _Sussex_, and +this evidence, which seemed overwhelming and, in connection with +the admissions in the German note, absolutely conclusive, was +incorporated in the note sent to Germany in which Germany was +notified: "Unless the Imperial Government should now immediately +declare and effect abandonment of this present method of submarine +warfare against passenger and freight carrying vessels, the +Government of the United States can have no choice but to sever +diplomatic relations with the German Empire altogether." + +The issue was now clearly defined. + +I have already spoken of the fact that for a long time there had +been growing up two parties in Germany. One party headed by von +Tirpitz in favour of what the Germans called _rucksichtloser_, +or ruthless submarine war, in which all enemy merchant ships +were to be sunk without warning, and the party then headed by +the Chancellor which desired to avoid a conflict with America +on this issue. + +As I have explained in a former chapter, the military have always +claimed to take a hand in shaping the destinies and foreign policies +of Germany. When the Germans began to turn their attention to the +creation of a fleet, von Tirpitz was the man who, in a sense, +became the leader of the movement and, therefore, the creator of +the modern navy of Germany. A skilful politician, he for years +dominated the Reichstag and on the question of submarine warfare +was most efficiently seconded by the efforts of the Navy League, +an organization having perhaps one million members throughout +Germany. Although only one of the three heads of the navy (he +was Secretary of the Navy), by the force of his personality, by +the political position which he had created for himself, and by +the backing of his friends in the Navy League he really dominated +the other two departments of the navy, the Marine Staff and the +Marine Cabinet. + +Like most Germans of the ruling class, ambition is his only passion. +These Spartans do not care either for money or for the luxury +which it brings. Their life is on very simple lines, both in +the Army and Navy, in order that the officers shall not vie with +one another in expenditure, and in order that the poorer officers +and their wives shall not be subject to the humiliation which +would be caused if they had to live in constant contact with +brother officers living on a more luxurious footing. + +Von Tirpitz' ambition undoubtedly led him to consider himself +as a promising candidate for Bethmann-Hollweg's shoes. The whole +submarine issue, therefore, became not only a question of military +expediency and a question for the Foreign Office to decide in +connection with the relations of America to Germany, but also a +question of internal politics, a means of forcing the Chancellor +out of office. The advocates for the ruthless war were drawn from +the Navy and from the Army, and those who believed in the use +of any means of offence against their enemies and particularly +in the use of any means that would stop the shipment of munitions +of war to the Allies. The Army and the Navy were joined by the +Conservatives and by all those who hoped for the fall of the +Chancellor. The conservative newspapers, and even the Roman Catholic +newspapers were violent in their call for ruthless submarine war +as well as violent in their denunciations of the United States +of America. + +American passengers on merchant ships of the enemy were called +_Schutzengel_ (guardian angels), and caricatures were published, +such as one which showed the mate reporting to the Captain of +an English boat that everything was in readiness for sailing +and the Captain's inquiry, "Are you sure that the American +_Schutzengel_ is on board?" The numerous notes sent by America +to Germany also formed a frequent subject of caricature and I +remember particularly one quite clever one in the paper called +_Brummer_, representing the celebrations in a German port +on the arrival of the one hundredth note from America when the +Mayor of the town and the military, flower girls and singing +societies and _Turnverein_ were drawn up in welcoming array. + +The liberal papers were inclined to support the Chancellor in +his apparent intention to avoid an open break with America. But +even the liberal papers were not very strong in their stand. + +The military, of course, absolutely despised America and claimed +that America could do no more harm by declaring war than it was +doing then to Germany; and that possibly the war preparations +of America might cut down the amount of the munitions available +for export to the enemies of the Empire. As to anything that +America could do in a military way, the Navy and the Army were +unanimous in saying that as a military or naval factor the United +States might be considered as less than nothing. This was the +situation when the last _Sussex_ Note of America brought +matters to a crisis, and even the crisis itself was considered +a farce as it had been simmering for so long a period. + +I arranged that Colonel House should have an interview with the +Chancellor at this time, and after dinner one night he had a long +talk with the Chancellor in which the dangers of the situation +were pointed out. + +With this arrival of the last American _Sussex_ Note, I +felt that the situation was almost hopeless; that this question +which had dragged along for so long must now inevitably lead +to a break of relations and possibly to war. Von Jagow had the +same idea and said that it was "fate," and that there was nothing +more to be done. I myself felt that nothing could alter public +opinion in Germany; that in spite of von Tirpitz' fall, which had +taken place some time before, the advocates of ruthless submarine +warfare would win, and that to satisfy them Germany would risk +a break with America. + +I was sitting in my office in a rather dazed and despairing state +when Professor Ludwig Stein, proprietor of a magazine called +_North_and_South_ and a writer of special articles on Germany's +foreign relations for the _Vossische_Zeitung_, under the +name of "Diplomaticus," called to see me. + +He informed me that he thought the situation was not yet hopeless, +that there was still a large party of reasonable men in Germany +and that he thought much good could be done if I should go to +the great general headquarters and have a talk with the Kaiser, +who, he informed me, was reported to be against a break. + +I told Dr. Stein that, of course, I was perfectly willing to +go if there was the slightest chance of preventing war; and I +also told the Chancellor that if he was going to decide this +question in favor of peace it would be possibly easier for him +if the decision was arrived at under the protection, as it were, +of the Emperor; or that, if the decision lay with the Emperor, +I might possibly be able to help in convincing him if I had an +opportunity to lay the American side of the case before him. I +said, moreover, that I was ready at any time on short notice +to proceed to the Emperor's headquarters. + +Dr. Hecksher, a member of the Reichstag, who must be classed +among the reasonable men of Germany, also advocated my speaking +directly to the Kaiser. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MAINLY COMMERCIAL + +Nothing surprised me more, as the war developed, than the discovery +of the great variety and amount of goods exported from Germany to +the United States. + +Goods sent from the United States to Germany are mainly prime +materials: approximately one hundred and sixty million dollars a +year of cotton; seventy-five million dollars of copper; fifteen +millions of wheat; twenty millions of animal fats; ten millions +of mineral oil and a large amount of vegetable oil. Of course, +the amount of wheat is especially variable. Some manufactured +goods from America also find their way to Germany to the extent +of perhaps seventy millions a year, comprising machinery such as +typewriters and a miscellaneous line of machinery and manufactures. +The principal exports from Germany to America consist of dye +stuffs and chemical dyes, toys, underwear, surgical instruments, +cutlery, stockings, knit goods, etc., and a raw material called +potash, also known as kali. The last is a mineral found nowhere +in the world except in Germany and a few places in Austria. Potash +is essential to the manufacture of many fertilizers, fertilizer +being composed as a rule of potash, phosphates and nitrates. +The nitrates in past years have been exported to all countries +from Chile. Phosphate rock is mined in South Carolina and Florida +and several other places in the world. Curiously enough, both +nitrates and potash are essential ingredients also of explosives +used in war. Since the war, the German supply from Chile was +cut off; but the Germans, following a system used in Norway for +many years before the war, established great electrical plants +for the extraction of nitrates from the atmosphere. Since the +war, American agriculture has suffered for want of potash and +German agriculture has suffered for want of phosphates, possibly +of nitrates also; because I doubt whether sufficient nitrogen +is extracted from the air in Germany to provide for more than +the needs of the explosive industry. + +The dyestuff industry had been developed to such a point in Germany +that Germany supplied the whole world. In the first months of the +war some enterprising Americans, headed by Herman Metz, chartered +a boat, called _The_Matanzas_, and sent it to Rotterdam +where it was loaded with a cargo of German dyestuffs. Th boat +sailed under the American flag and was not interfered with by +the English. Later on the German Department of the Interior, +at whose head was Delbruck, refused to allow dyestuffs to leave +Germany except in exchange for cotton, and, finally, the export of +dyestuffs from Germany ceased and other countries were compelled +to take up the question of manufacture. This state of affairs +may lead to the establishment of the industry permanently in the +United States, although that industry will require protection +for some years, as, undoubtedly, Germany in her desperate effort +to regain a monopoly of this trade will be ready to spend enormous +sums in order to undersell the American manufacturers and drive +them out of business. + +The commercial submarines, _Deutschland_ and _Bremen_, +were to a great extent built with money furnished by the dyestuff +manufacturers, who hoped that by sending dyestuffs in this way to +America they could prevent the development of the industry there. +I had many negotiations with the Foreign Office with reference +to this question of dyestuffs. + +The export of toys from Germany to the United States forms a +large item in the bill which we pay annually to Germany. Many +of these toys are manufactured by the people in their own homes +in the picturesque district known as the Black Forest. Of course, +the war cut off, after a time, the export of toys from Germany; +and the American child, having in the meantime learned to be +satisfied with some other article, his little brother will demand +this very article next Christmas, and thus, after the war, Germany +will find that much of this trade has been permanently lost. + +Just as the textile trade of the United States was dependent upon +the German dyestuffs for colours, so the sugar beet growers of +America were dependent upon Germany for their seed. I succeeded, +with the able assistance of the consul at Magdeburg and Mr. Winslow +of my staff, in getting shipments of beet seed out of Germany. I +have heard since that these industries too, are being developed +in America, and seed obtained from other countries, such as Russia. + +Another commodity upon which a great industry in the United States +and Mexico depends is cyanide. The discovery of the cyanide process +of treating gold and silver ores permitted the exploitation of +many mines which could not be worked under the older methods. +At the beginning of the war there was a small manufactory of +cyanide owned by Germans at Perth Amboy and Niagara Falls, but +most of the cyanide used was imported from Germany. The American +German Company and the companies manufacturing in Germany and +in England all operated under the same patents, the English and +German companies having working agreements as to the distribution +of business throughout the world. + +The German Vice-Chancellor and head of the Department of the +Interior, Delbruck, put an export prohibition on cyanide early in +the war; and most pigheadedly and obstinately claimed that cyanide +was manufactured nowhere but in Germany, and that, therefore, if +he allowed cyanide to leave Germany for the United States or +Mexico the English would capture it and would use it to work +South African mines, thus adding to the stock of gold and power +in war of the British Empire. It was a long time before the German +manufacturers and I could convince this gentleman that cyanide +sufficient to supply all the British mines was manufactured near +Glasgow, Scotland. He then reluctantly gave a permit for the +export of a thousand tons of cyanide; and its arrival in the +United States permitted many mines there and in Mexico to continue +operations, and saved many persons from being thrown out of +employment. When Delbruck finally gave a permit for the export +of four thousand tons more of cyanide, the psychological moment +had passed and we could not obtain through our State Department +a pass from the British. + +I am convinced that Delbruck made a great tactical mistake on +behalf of the German Government when he imposed this prohibition +against export of goods to America. Many manufacturers of textiles, +the users of dyestuffs, medicines, seeds and chemicals in all forms, +were clamouring for certain goods and chemicals from Germany. But it +was the prohibition against export by the Germans which prevented +their receiving these goods. If it had been the British blockade +alone a cry might have arisen in the United States against this +blockade which might have materially changed the international +situation. + +The Germans also refused permission for the export of potash +from Germany. They hoped thereby to induce the United States +to break the British blockade, and offered cargoes of potash +in exchange for cargoes of cotton or cargoes of foodstuffs. The +Germans claimed that potash was used in the manufacture of munitions +and that, therefore, in no event would they permit the export +unless the potash was consigned to the American Government, with +guarantees against its use except in the manufacture of fertilizer, +this to be checked up by Germans appointed as inspectors. All +these negotiations, however, fell through and no potash has been +exported from Germany to the United States since the commencement +of the war. Enough potash, however, is obtained in the United +States for munition purposes from the burning of seaweed on the +Pacific Coast, from the brines in a lake in Southern California +and from a rock called alunite in Utah. Potash is also obtainable +from feldspar, but I do not know whether any plant has been +established for its production from this rock. I recently heard +of the arrival of some potash from a newly discovered field in +Brazil, and there have been rumours of its discovery in Spain. +I do not know how good this Spanish and Brazilian potash is, and +I suppose the German potash syndicate will immediately endeavour +to control these fields in order to hold the potash trade of the +world in its grip. + +It was a long time after the commencement of the war before England +declared cotton a contraband. I think this was because of the fear +of irritating the United States; but, in the meantime, Germany +secured a great quantity of cotton, which, of course, was used or +stored for the manufacture of powder. Since the cotton imports +have been cut off the Germans claim that they are manufacturing +a powder equally good by using wood pulp. Of course, I have not +been able to verify this, absolutely. + +Germany had endeavoured before the war in every way to keep American +goods out of the German markets, and even the Prussian state +railways are used, as I have shown in the article where I speak +of the attempt to establish an oil monopoly in Germany, in order +to discriminate against American mineral oils. This same method +has been applied to other articles such as wood, which otherwise +might be imported from America and in some cases regulations +as to the inspection of meat, etc., have proved more effective +in keeping American goods out of the market than a prohibitive +tariff. + +The meat regulation is that each individual package of meat must +be opened and inspected; and, of course, when a sausage has been +individually made to sit up and bark no one desires it as an +article of food thereafter. American apples were also discriminated +against in the custom regulations of Germany. Nor could I induce +the German Government to change their tariff on canned salmon, +an article which would prove a welcome addition to the German diet. + +The German workingman, undoubtedly the most exploited and fooled +workingman in the world, is compelled not only to work for low +wages and for long hours, but to purchase his food at rates fixed +by the German tariff made for the benefit of the Prussian Junkers +and landowners. + +Of course, the Prussian Junkers excuse the imposition of the +tariff on food and the regulations made to prevent the entry +of foodstuffs on the ground that German agriculture must be +encouraged, first, in order to enable the population to subsist +in time of war and blockade; and, secondly, in order to encourage +the peasant class which furnishes the most solid soldiers to +the Imperial armies. + +The nations and business men of the world will have to face after +the war a new condition which we may call socialized buying and +socialized selling. + +Not long after the commencement of the war the Germans placed a +prohibitive tariff upon the import of certain articles of luxury +such as perfumes; their object, of course, being to keep the +German people from sending money out of the country and wasting +their money in useless expenditures. At the same time a great +institution was formed called the Central Einkauf Gesellschaft. +This body, formed under government auspices of men appointed from +civil life, is somewhat similar to one of our national defence +boards. Every import of raw material into Germany falls into the +hands of this central buying company, and if a German desires +to buy any raw material for use in his factory he must buy it +through this central board. + +I have talked with members of this board and they all unite in +the belief that this system will be continued after the war. + +For instance, if a man in Germany wishes to buy an automobile +or a pearl necklace or a case of perfumery, he will be told, +"You can buy this if you can buy it in Germany. But if you have +to send to America for the automobile, if you have to send to +Paris for the pearls or the perfumery, you cannot buy them." +In this way the gold supply of Germany will be husbanded and +the people will either be prevented from making comparatively +useless expenditures or compelled to spend money to benefit home +industry. + +On the other hand, when a man desires to buy some raw material, +for example, copper, cotton, leather, wheat or something of that +kind, he will not be allowed to buy abroad on his own hook. The +Central Einkauf Gesellschaft will see that all those desiring to +buy cotton or copper put in their orders on or before a certain +date. When the orders are all in, the quantities called for will +be added up by this central board; and then one man, representing +the board, will be in a position to go to America to purchase +the four million bales of cotton or two hundred million pounds +of copper. + +The German idea is that this one board will be able to force the +sellers abroad to compete against each other in their eagerness +to sell. The one German buyer will know about the lowest price at +which the sellers can sell their product. By the buyer's standing +out alone with this great order the Germans believe that the +sellers, one by one, will fall into his hands and sell their +product at a price below that which they could obtain if the +individual sellers of America were meeting the individual buyers +of Germany in the open market. + +When the total amount of the commodity ordered has been purchased, +it will be divided up among the German buyers who put in their +orders with the central company, each order being charged with +its proportionate share of the expenses of the commission and, +possibly, an additional sum for the benefit of the treasury of +the Empire. + +Before the war a German manufacturer took me over his great factory +where fifteen thousand men and women were employed, showed me +great quantities of articles made from copper, and said: "We buy +this copper in America and we get it a cent and a half a pound +less than we should pay for it because our government permits us +to combine for the purpose of buying, but your government does +not allow your people to combine for the purpose of selling. +You have got lots of silly people who become envious of the rich +and pass laws to prevent combination, which is the logical +development of all industry." + +The government handling of exchange during the war was another +example of the use of the centralised power of the Government +for the benefit of the whole nation. + +In the first year of the war, when I desired money to spend in +Germany, I drew a check on my bank in New York in triplicate +and sent a clerk with it to the different banks in Berlin, to +obtain bids in marks, selling it then, naturally, to the highest +bidder. But soon the Government stepped in. The Imperial Bank +was to fix a daily rate of exchange, and banks and individuals +were forbidden to buy or sell at a different rate. That this +fixed rate was a false one, fixed to the advantage of Germany, I +proved at the time when the German official rate was 5.52 marks +for a dollar, by sending my American checks to Holland, buying +Holland money with them and German money with the Holland money, +in this manner obtaining 5.74 marks for each dollar. And just +before leaving Germany I sold a lot of American gold to a German +bank at the rate of 6.42 marks per dollar, although on that day +the official rate was 5.52 and although the buyer of the gold, +because the export of gold was forbidden, would have to lose +interest on the money paid me or on the gold purchased, until +the end of the war. What the Germans thought of the value of +the mark is shown by this transaction. + +The only thing that can maintain a fair price after the war for +the products of American firms, miners and manufacturers is +permission to combine for selling abroad. There is before Congress +a bill called the Webb Bill permitting those engaged in export +trade to combine, and this bill, which is manifestly for the +benefit of the American producer of raw materials and foods and +manufactured articles, should be passed. + +It was also part of our commercial work to secure permits for +the exportation from Belgium of American owned goods seized by +Germany. We succeeded in a number of cases in getting these goods +released. In other cases, the American owned property was taken +over by the government, but the American owners were compensated +for the loss. + +Germany took over belligerent property and put it in the hands +of receivers. In all cases where the majority of the stock of a +German corporation was owned by another corporation or individuals +of belligerent nationality, the German corporation was placed in +the hands of a receiver. The German Government, however, would +not allow the inquiry into the stock ownership to go further than +the first holding corporation. There were many cases where the +majority of the stock of a German corporation was owned by an +English corporation and the majority of the stock of the English +corporation, in turn, owned by an American corporation or by +Americans. In this case the German Government refused to consider +the American ownership of the English stock, and put the German +company under government control. + +With the low wages paid to very efficient workingmen who worked +for long hours and with no laws against combination, it was always +a matter of surprise to me that the Germans who were in the process +of getting all the money in the world should have allowed their +military autocracy to drive them into war. + +I am afraid that, after this war, if we expect to keep a place for +our trade in the world, we may have to revise some of our ideas as +to so-called trusts and the Sherman Law. Trusts or combinations +are not only permitted, but even encouraged in Germany. They are +known there as "cartels" and the difference between the American +trust and the German cartel is that the American trust has, as +it were, a centralised government permanently taking over and +combining the competing elements in any given business, while in +Germany the competing elements form a combination by contract for +a limited number of years. This combination is called a cartel +and during these years each member of the cartel is assigned a +given amount of the total production and given a definite share +of the profits of the combination. The German cartel, therefore, +as Consul General Skinner aptly said, may be likened to a +confederation existing by contract for a limited period of time +and subject to renewal only at the will of its members. + +It may be that competition is a relic of barbarism and that one +of the first signs of a higher civilisation is an effort to modify +the stress of competition. The debates of Congress tend to show +that, in enacting the Sherman Law, Congress did not intend to forbid +the restraint of competition among those in the same business but +only intended to prohibit the forming of a combination by those +who, combined, would have a monopoly of a particular business or +product. It is easy to see why all the coal mines in the country +should be prohibited from combining; but it is not easy to see +why certain people engaged in the tobacco business should be +prohibited from taking their competitors into their combination, +because tobacco is a product which could be raised upon millions +of acres of our land and cannot be made the subject of a monopoly. + +The German courts have expressly said that if prices are so low +that the manufacturers of a particular article see financial +ruin ahead, a formation of a cartel by them must be looked upon +as a justified means of self-preservation. The German laws are +directed to the end to which it seems to be such laws should +logically be directed; namely, to the prevention of unfair +competition. + +So long as the question of monopoly is not involved, competition +can always be looked for when a combination is making too great +profits; and the new and competing corporation and individuals +should be protected by law against the danger of price cutting +for the express purpose of driving the new competitor out of +business. However, it must be remembered that a combination acting +unfairly in competition may be more oppressive than a monopoly. +I myself am not convinced by the arguments of either side. It +is a matter for the most serious study. + +The object of the American trust has been to destroy its competitors. +The object of the German cartel to force its competitors to join the +cartel. + +In fact the government in Germany becomes part of these cartels +and takes an active hand in them, as witness the participation +of the German Government in the potash syndicate, when contracts +made by certain American buyers with German mines were cancelled +and all the potash producing mines of Germany and Austria forced +into one confederation; and witness the attempt by the government, +which I have described in another chapter, to take over and +make a monopoly of the wholesale and retail oil business of the +country. + +The recent closer combination of dyestuff industries of Germany, +with the express purpose of meeting and destroying American +competition after the war, is interesting as showing German methods. +For a number of years the dye-stuff industry of Germany was +practically controlled by six great companies, some of these +companies employing as high as five hundred chemists in research +work. In 1916 these six companies made an agreement looking to a +still closer alliance not only for the distribution of the product +but also for the distribution of ideas and trade secrets. For +years, these great commercial companies supplied all the countries +of the world not only with dyestuffs and other chemical products +but also with medicines discovered by their chemists and made +from coal tar; which, although really nothing more than patent +medicines, were put upon the market as new and great and beneficial +discoveries in medicine. The Badische Anilin and Soda Fabrik, +with a capital of fifty-four million marks has paid dividends +in the ten years from 1903 to 1913, averaging over twenty-six +per cent. + +The Farbwerke Meister Lucius und Bruning at Hoeckst, near Frankfort, +during the same period, with a capital of fifty million marks, +has paid dividends averaging over twenty-seven per cent; and +the chemical works of Bayer and Company, near Cologne, during +the same period with a capital of fifty-four millions of marks +has paid dividends averaging over thirty per cent. + +Much of the commercial success of the Germans during the last +forty years is due to the fact that each manufacturer, each +discoverer in Germany, each exporter knew that the whole weight +and power of the Government was behind him in his efforts to +increase his business. On the other hand, in America, business +men have been terrorized, almost into inaction, by constant +prosecutions. What was a crime in one part of the United States, +under one Circuit Court of Appeals, was a perfectly legitimate +act in another. + +If we have to meet the intense competition of Germany after the +war, we have got to view all these problems from new angles. For +instance, there is the question of free ports. Representative +Murray Hulbert has introduced, in the House of Representatives, a +resolution directing the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary +of War and the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress as +to the advisability of the establishment of free ports within +the limits of the established customs of the United States. +Free ports exist in Germany and have existed for a long time, +although Germany is a country with a protective tariff. In a +free port raw goods are manufactured and then exported, of course +to the advantage of the country permitting the establishment of +free ports, because by this manufacture of raw materials and +their re-export, without being subject to duty, money is earned +by the manufacturers to the benefit of their own country and +employment is given to many workingmen. This, of course, improves +the condition of these workingmen and of all others in the country; +as it is self-evident that the employment of each workingman in +an industry, which would not exist except for the existence of +the free port, withdraws that workingman from the general labour +market and, therefore, benefits the position of his remaining +fellow labourers. + +Although free ports do not exist in the United States, an attempt +has been made to give certain industries, by means of what are +known as "drawbacks," the same benefit that they would enjoy +were free ports existant in our country. + +Thus the refiners of raw sugar from Cuba pay a duty on this sugar +when it enters the United States, but receive this duty back when +a corresponding amount of refined sugar is exported to other +countries. + +There has lately been an attack made upon this system in the +case, however, of the sugar refiners only, and the question has +been treated in some newspapers as if these refiners were obtaining +some unfair advantage from the government, whereas, as a matter +of fact, the allowance of these "drawbacks" enables the sugar +refiners to carry on the refining of the sugar for export much +as they would if their refineries existed in free ports modelled +on the German system. + +The repeal of the provision of allowing "drawbacks" in this and +other industries will probably send the industries to Canada or +some other territory where this system, equivalent to the free +port, is permitted to exist. + +A few days before I left Germany I had a conversation with a +manufacturer of munitions who employs about eighteen thousand +people in his factories, which, before the war, manufactured +articles other than munitions. I asked him how the government +treated the manufacturers of munitions, and he said that they +were allowed to make good profits, although they had to pay out +a great proportion of these profits in the form of taxes on their +excess or war profits; that the government desired to encourage +manufacturers to turn their factories into factories for the +manufacture of all articles in the war and required by the nation +in sustaining war; and that the manufacturers would do this provided +that it were only a question as to how much of their profits +they would be allowed to keep, but that if the Government had +attempted to fix prices so low that there would have been a doubt +as to whether the manufacturer could make a profit or not, the +production of articles required for war would never have reached +the high mark that it had in Germany. + +As a matter of fact, about the only tax imposed in Germany since +the outbreak of the war has been the tax upon cost or war profits. +It has been the policy of Germany to pay for the war by great +loans raised by popular subscription, after authorisation by the +Reichstag. I calculate that the amounts thus raised, together +with the floating indebtedness, amount to date to about eighty +billions of marks. + +For a long time the Germans expected that the expenses of the +war would be paid from the indemnities to be recovered by Germany +from the nations at war with it. + +Helfferich shadowed this forth in his speech in the Reichstag, +on August 20, 1915, when he said: "If we wish to have the power +to settle the terms of peace according to our interests and our +requirements, then we must not forget the question of cost. We +must have in view that the whole future activity of our people, +so far as this is at all possible, shall be free from burdens. +The leaden weight of billions has been earned by the instigators +of this war, and in the future they, rather than we, will drag +it about after them." + +Of course, by "instigators of the war" Helfferich meant the opponents +of Germany, but I think that unconsciously he was a true prophet +and that the "leaden weight of the billions" which this war has +cost Germany will be dragged about after the war by Germany, +the real instigator of this world calamity. + +In December, 1915, Helfferich voiced the comfortable plea that, +because the Germans were spending their money raised by the war +loans in Germany, the weight of these loans was not a real weight +upon the German people. He said: "We are paying the money almost +exclusively to ourselves; while the enemy is paying its loans +abroad--a guarantee that in the future we shall maintain the +advantage." + +This belief of the Germans and Helfferich is one of the notable +fallacies of the war. The German war loans have been subscribed +mainly by the great companies of Germany; by the Savings Banks, +the Banks, the Life and Fire Insurance and Accident Insurance +Companies, etc. + +Furthermore, these loans have been pyramided; that is to say, +a man who subscribed and paid for one hundred thousand marks +of loan number one could, when loan number two was called for, +take the bonds he had bought of loan number one to his bank and +on his agreement to spend the proceeds in subscribing to loan +number two, borrow from the bank eighty thousand marks on the +security of his first loan bonds, and so on. + +There is an annual increment, not easily ascertainable with +exactness, but approximately ascertainable to the wealth of every +country in the world. Just as when a man is working a farm there +is in normal years an increment or accretion of wealth or income +to him above the cost of the production of the products of the +soil which he sells, there is such an annual increment to the +wealth of each country taken as a whole. Some experts have told +me they calculated that, at the outside, in prosperous peace times +the annual increment of German wealth is ten billion marks. + +Now when we have the annual interest to be paid by Germany exceeding +the annual increment of the country, the social and even moral +bankruptcy of the country must ensue. If repudiation of the loan +or any part of it is then forced, the loss naturally falls upon +those who have taken the loan. The working-man or small capitalist, +who put all his savings in the war loan, is without support for his +old age, and so with the man who took insurance in the Insurance +Companies or put his savings in a bank. If that bank becomes +bankrupt through repudiation of the war loan, you then have the +country in a position where the able-bodied are all working to +pay what they can towards the interest of the government loan, +after earning enough to keep themselves and their families alive; +and the old and the young, without support and deprived of their +savings, become mere poor-house burdens on the community. + +Already the mere interest of the war loan of Germany amounts to +four billions of marks a year; to this must be added, of course, +the interest of the previous indebtedness of the country and +of each political subdivision thereof, including cities, all +of which have added to their before-the-war debt, by incurring +great debts to help the destitute in this war; and, of course, +to all this must be added the expenses of the administration +of the government and the maintenance of the army and navy. + +It is the contemplation of this state of affairs, when he is +convinced that indemnities are not to be exacted from other +countries, that will do most to persuade the average intelligent +German business man that peace must be had at any cost. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WORK FOR THE GERMANS + +The interests of Germany in France, England and Russia were placed +with our American Ambassadors in these countries. This, of course, +entailed much work upon our Embassy, because we were the medium of +communication between the German Government and these Ambassadors. +I found it necessary to establish a special department to look +after these matters. At its head was Barclay Rives who had been +for many years in our diplomatic service and who joined my Embassy +at the beginning of the war. First Secretary of our Embassy in +Vienna for ten or twelve years, he spoke German perfectly and +was acquainted with many Germans and Austrians. Inquiries about +Germans who were prisoners, negotiations relative to the treatment +of German prisoners, and so on, came under this department. + +One example will show the nature of this work. When the Germans +invaded France, a German cavalry patrol with two officers, von +Schierstaedt and Count Schwerin, and several men penetrated as +far as the forest of Fontainebleau, south of Paris. There they got +out of touch with the German forces and wandered about for days in +the forest. In the course of their wanderings they requisitioned +some food from the inhabitants, and took, I believe, an old coat +for one of the officers who had lost his, and requisitioned a +wagon to carry a wounded man. After their surrender to the French, +the two officers were tried by a French court martial, charged +with pillaging and sentenced to be degraded from their rank and +transported to Cayenne (the Devil's Island of the Dreyfus case). +The Germans made strong representations, and our very skilled +Ambassador in Paris, the Honourable William C. Sharp, took up +the matter with the Foreign Office and succeeded in preventing +the transportation of the officers. The sending of the officers +and men, however, into a military prison where they were treated +as convicts caused great indignation throughout Germany. The +officers had many and powerful connections in their own country +who took up their cause. There were bitter articles in the German +press and caricatures and cartoons were published. + +I sent Mr. Rives to Paris and told him not to leave until he +had seen these officers. He remained in Paris some weeks and +finally through Mr. Sharp obtained permission to visit the officers +in the military prison. Later the French showed a tendency to +be lenient in this case, but it was hard to find a way for the +French Government to back down gracefully. Schierstaedt having +become insane in the meantime, a very clever way out of the +difficulty was suggested, I believe by Mr. Sharp. Schierstaedt +having been found to be insane was presumably insane at the time +of the patrol's wandering in the forest of Fontainebleau. As he +was the senior officer, the other officer and the men under him +were not responsible for obeying his commands. The result was +that Schwerin and the men of the patrol were put in a regular +prison camp and Schierstaedt was very kindly sent by the French +back to Germany, where he recovered his reason sufficiently to +be able to come and thank me for the efforts made on his behalf. + +I made every endeavour so far as it lay in my power to oblige +the Germans. We helped them in the exchange of prisoners and +the care of German property in enemy countries. + +There were rumours in Berlin that Germans taken as prisoners in +German African Colonies were forced to work in the sun, watched +and beaten by coloured guards. This was taken up by one of the +Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg who had been Governor of Togoland +and who also took great interest in sending clothes, etc., to +these prisoners. Germany demanded that the prisoners in Africa +be sent to a more temperate climate. + +Another royalty who was busied with prisoners' affairs was Prince +Max of Baden. He is heir to the throne of Baden, although not a +son of the reigning Duke. He is very popular and, for my part, +I admire him greatly. He travels with Emerson's essays in his +pocket and keeps up with the thought and progress of all countries. +Baden will be indeed happy in having such a ruler. Prince Max was +a man so reasonable, so human, that I understand that von Jagow +was in favour of putting him at the head of a central department +for prisoners of war. I agreed with von Jagow that in such case +all would go smoothly and humanely. Naturally, von Jagow could +only mildly hint at the desirability of this appointment. A prince, +heir to one of the thrones of Germany, with the rank of General +in the army, he seemed ideally fitted for such a position, but +unfortunately the opposition of the army and, particularly, of +the representative corps commanders was so great that von Jagow +told me the plan was impossible of realisation. I am sure if +Prince Max had been at the head of such a department, Germany +would not now be suffering from the odium of mistreating its +prisoners and that the two million prisoners of war in Germany +would not return to their homes imbued with an undying hate. + +Prince Max was very helpful in connection with the American mission +to Russia for German prisoners which I had organised and which I +have described in the chapter on war charities. + +All complaints made by the Imperial Government with reference +to the treatment of German prisoners, and so forth, in enemy +countries were first given to me and transmitted by our Embassy +to the American Ambassadors having charge of German interests +in enemy countries. All this, with the correspondence ensuing, +made a great amount of clerical work. + +I think that every day I received one or more Germans, who were +anxious about prisoner friends, making inquiries, and wishing +to consult me on business matters in the United States, etc. +All of these people showed gratitude for what we were able to +do for them, but their gratitude was only a drop in the ocean +of officially inspired hatred of America. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +WAR CHARITIES + +As soon as the war was declared and millions of men marched forward +intent upon killing, hundreds of men and women immediately took up +the problem of helping the soldiers, the wounded and the prisoners +and of caring for those left behind by the men who had gone to +the front. + +The first war charity to come under my observation was the American +Red Cross. Two units containing three doctors and about twelve +nurses, each, were sent to Germany by the American National Red +Cross. Before their arrival I took up with the German authorities +the questions as to whether these would be accepted and where +they would be placed. The German authorities accepted the units +and at first decided to send one to each front. The young man +assigned to the West front was Goldschmidt Rothschild, one of the +last descendants of the great Frankfort family of Rothschild. He +had been attached to the German Embassy in London before the war. +The one assigned to the unit for the East front was Count Helie +de Talleyrand. Both of these young men spoke English perfectly +and were chosen for that reason, and both have many friends in +England and America. + +Talleyrand was of a branch of the celebrated Talleyrand family and +possessed German citizenship. During the Napoleonic era the great +Talleyrand married one of his nephews to a Princess of Courland +who, with her sister, was joint heiress of the principality of +Sagan in Germany. The share of the other sister was bought by +the sister who married young Talleyrand, and the descendants of +that union became princes of Sagan and held the Italian title +of Duke de Dino and the French title of Duke de Valencay. + +Some of the descendants of this nephew of the great Talleyrand +remained in Germany, and this young Talleyrand, assigned to the +Red Cross unit, belonged to that branch. Others settled in France, +and among these was the last holder of the title and the Duke +de Dino, who married, successively, two Americans, Miss Curtis +and Mrs. Sampson. It was a custom in this family that the holder +of the principal title, that of the Prince of Sagan, allowed +the next two members in succession to bear the titles of Duke +de Dino and Duke de Valencay. Before the last Prince of Sagan +died in France, his son Helie married the American, Anna Gould, +who had divorced the Count Castellane. On the death of his father +and in accordance with the statutes of the House of Sagan the +members of the family who were German citizens held a family +council and, with the approval of the Emperor of Germany, passed +over the succession from Anna Gould's husband to her son, so +that her son has now the right to the title and not his father, +but the son must become a German citizen at his majority. + +The younger brother of the husband of Anna Gould bears the title +of Duke de Valencay and is the divorced husband of the daughter +of Levi P. Morton, formerly Vice-President of the United States. +This young Talleyrand to whom I have referred and who was assigned +to the American Red Cross unit, although he was a German by +nationality, did not wish to fight in this war against France in +which country he had so many friends and relations and, therefore, +this assignment to the American Red Cross was most welcome to +him. + +On the arrival of the American doctors and nurses in Berlin, +it was decided to send both units to the East front and to put +one in the small Silesian town of Gleiwitz and the other in +the neighbouring town of Kosel. Count Talleyrand went with these +two units, Goldschmidt Rothschild being attached to the Prussian +Legation in Munich. + +We had a reception in the Embassy for these doctors and nurses +which was attended by Prince Hatzfeld, Duke of Trachenberg, who +was head of the German Red Cross, and other Germans interested +in this line of work. The Gleiwitz and Kosel units remained in +these towns for about a year until the American Red Cross withdrew +its units from Europe. + +At about the time of the withdrawal of these units, I had heard +much of the sufferings of German prisoners in Russia. I had many +conversations with Zimmermann of the German Foreign Office and +Prince Hatzfeld on this question, as well as with Prince Max +of Baden, the heir presumptive to the throne of that country; +and I finally arranged that such of these American doctors and +nurses as volunteered should be sent to Russia to do what they +could for the German prisoners of war there. Nine doctors and +thirty-eight nurses volunteered. They were given a great reception +in Berlin, the German authorities placed a large credit in the +hands of this mission, and, after I had obtained through our +State Department the consent of the Russian Government for the +admission of the mission, it started from Berlin for Petrograd. +The German authorities and the Germans, as a whole, were very +much pleased with this arrangement. Officers of the Prussian army +were present at the departure of the trains and gave flowers to +all the nurses. It is very unfortunate that after their arrival +in Russia this mission was hampered in every way, and had the +greatest difficulty in obtaining permission to do any work at +all. Many of them, however, managed to get in positions where +they assisted the German prisoners. For instance, in one town +where there were about five thousand Germans who had been sent +there to live one of our doctors managed to get appointed as +city physician and, aided by several of the American nurses, +was able to do a great work for the German population. Others of +our nurses managed to get as far as Tomsk in Siberia and others +were scattered through the Russian Empire. + +Had this mission under Dr. Snoddy been able to carry out its +work as originally planned, it would not only have done much +good to the German prisoners of war, but would have helped a +great deal to do away with the bitter feeling entertained by +Germans towards Americans. Even with the limited opportunity given +this mission, it undoubtedly materially helped the prisoners. + +On arriving in Berlin on their way home to America from Gleiwitz +and Kosel, the doctors and nurses of these American units were +all awarded the German Red Cross Order of the second class and +those who had been in Austria were similarly decorated by the +Austro-Hungarian Government. + +Among those who devoted themselves to works of charity during +this war no one stands higher than Herbert C. Hoover. + +I cannot find words to express my admiration for this man whose +great talents for organisation were placed at the service of +humanity. Every one knows of what he accomplished in feeding the +inhabitants of Belgium and Northern France. Mr. Hoover asked me +to become one of the chairmen of the International Commission for +the Relief of Belgium and I was happy to have the opportunity in +Berlin to second his efforts. There was considerable business in +connection with the work of the commission. I had many interviews +with those in authority with reference to getting their ships +through, etc. Mr. Hoover and I called on the Chancellor and +endeavoured to get him to remit the fine of forty million francs +a month which the Germans had imposed upon Belgium. This, however, +the Chancellor refused to do. Later on in April, 1915, I was +able as an eye-witness to see how efficiently Mr. Hoover's +organisation fed, in addition to the people of Belgium, the French +population in that part of Northern France in the occupation of +the Germans. + +Mr. Hoover surrounded himself with an able staff, Mr. Vernon +Kellogg and others, and in America men like Mr. A. J. Hemphill +were his devoted supporters. + +Early in 1915, Mr. Ernest P. Bicknell, who had first come to +Germany representing the American Red Cross, returned representing +not only that organisation but also the Rockefeller Foundation. With +him was Mr. Wickliffe Rose, also of the Rockefeller Foundation; +and with these two gentlemen I took up the question of the relief +of Poland. Mr. Rose and Mr. Bicknell together visited Poland and +saw with their own eyes the necessity for relief. A meeting was +held in the Reichstag attended by Prince Hatzfeld of the German +Red Cross, Director Guttmann, of the Dresdener Bank, Geheimrat +Lewald, of the Imperial Ministry of the Interior, representing the +German Government, and many others connected with the government, +military and financial interests of Germany. + +The Commission for the Relief in Poland, of which I was to be +chairman, was organised and included the Spanish Ambassador, +His Excellency the Bishop of Posen, the Prince Bishop of Cracow, +Jacob H. Schiff of New York, and others. Messrs. Warwick, Greene +and Wadsworth were to take up the actual executive work. + +In conjunction with Messrs. Rose and Bicknell, I drew up a sort +of treaty, having particularly in mind certain difficulties +encountered by the American Relief Commission in Belgium. The +main point in this treaty was that the German Government agreed +not to requisition either food or money within the limits of the +territory to be relieved, which territory comprised that part +of Poland within German occupation up to within, as I recall it, +fifty kilometres of the firing line. The one exception was that +a fine might be levied on a community where all the inhabitants +had made themselves jointly and severally liable according to the +provisions of the Hague Convention. The Rockefeller Foundation +on its part agreed to pay all the expenses of the executive work +of the commission. This treaty, after being submitted to General +Hindenburg and approved by him, was signed by Dr. Lewald, +representing the German Government, by Mr. Bicknell, representing +the Rockefeller Foundation, and by me, representing the new +commission for the relief of Poland. + +Work was immediately commenced under this arrangement and, so +far as possible, food was purchased in Holland and Denmark, but +there was little to be had in these countries. The Allies, however, +refused to allow food to enter Germany for the purpose of this +commission, and so the matter fell through. Later, when the Allies +were willing to permit the food to enter, it was the German +Government that refused to reaffirm this treaty and refused to +agree that the German army of occupation should not requisition +food in occupied Poland. Of course, under these circumstances, no +one could expect the Allies to consent to the entry of food; because +the obvious result would be that the Germans would immediately, +following the precedent established by them in Northern France, +take all the food produced in the country for their army and +the civil population of Germany, and allow the Poles to be fed +with food sent in from outside, while perhaps their labour was +utilised in the very fields the products of which were destined +for German consumption. + +There is no question that the sufferings of the people of Poland +have been very great, and when the history of Poland during the +war comes to be written the world will stand aghast at the story +of her sufferings. It is a great pity that these various schemes +for relief did not succeed. The Rockefeller Commission, however, +up to the time I left Germany did continue to carryon some measure +of relief and succeeded in getting in condensed milk, to some +extent, for the children of that unfortunate country. These +negotiations brought me in contact with a number of Poles resident +in Berlin, whom I found most eager to do what they could to relieve +the situation. I wish here to express my admiration for the work +of the Rockefeller Commission in Europe. Not only were the ideas +of the Commission excellent and businesslike but the men selected +to carry them into effect were without exception men of high +character and possessed of rare executive ability. + +As I have said in a previous chapter, I was ridiculed in the +American newspapers because I had suggested, in answer to a cable +of the League of Mercy, that some work should be done for the +prisoners of war. I do not know whether the great work undertaken +by Dr. John R. Mott and his associates was suggested by my answer or +not; that does not matter. But this work undertaken by the American +Y. M. C. A. certainly mattered a great deal to the prisoners of +war in Europe. Dr. Mott after serving on the Mexican Commission, +has gone to Russia as a member of the Commission to that country. + +The Y. M. C. A. organisation headed by Dr. Mott, who was most +ably assisted by the Reverend Archibald C. Harte, took up this +work, which was financed, I have been told, by the McCormick +family of Chicago, Cleveland H. Dodge, John D. Rockefeller and +others. Mr. Harte obtained permission from the German authorities +for the erection of meeting halls and for work in German camps. +When he had obtained this authorisation from Germany he went +to Russia, where he was able to get a similar authorisation. + +At first in Russia, I have heard, the prisoners of war were allowed +great liberty and lived unguarded in Siberian villages where they +obtained milk, bread, butter, eggs and honey at very reasonable +rates. As the war went on they were more and more confined to +barracks and there their situation was sad indeed. In the winter +season, it is dark at three in the afternoon and remains dark +until ten the following morning. Of course, I did not see the +Russian prison camps. The work carried on there was similar to +that carried on in the German camps by Mr. Harte and his band +of devoted assistants. + +I was particularly interested in this work because I hoped that +the aid given to the German prisoners of war in Russia would help +to do away with the great hate and prejudice against Americans in +Germany. So I did all I could, not only to forward Mr. Harte's +work, but to suggest and organise the sending of the expedition +of nurses and doctors, which I have already described, to the +Russian camps. + +Of course, Mr. Harte in this work did not attempt to cover all +the prison camps in Germany. He did much to help the mental and +physical conditions of the prisoners in Ruhleben, the English +civilian camp near Berlin. The American Y. M. C. A. built a great +hall where religious exercises were held, plays and lectures +given, and where prisoners had a good place to read and write +in during the day. A library was established in this building. + +The work carried on by the Y. M. C. A. may be briefly described +as coming under the following heads: religious activities; +educational activities; work shops, and gardens; physical exercises +and out-door sports; diet kitchens for convalescents; libraries +and music, including orchestra, choruses, and so on. + +When I left Germany on the breaking of diplomatic relations, a +number of these Y. M. C. A. workers left with me. + +The German women exhibited notable qualities in war. They engaged +in the Red Cross work, including the preparation of supplies and +bandages for the hospitals, and the first day of mobilisation saw +a number of young girls at every railway station in the country +with food and drink for the passing soldiers. At railway junctions +and terminals in the large cities, stations were established +where these Red Cross workers gave a warm meal to the soldiers +passing through. In these terminal stations there were also women +workers possessed of sufficient skill to change the dressings +of the lightly wounded. + +On the Bellevuestrasse, Frau von Ihne, wife of the great architect, +founded a home for blinded soldiers. In this home soldiers were +taught to make brooms, brushes, baskets, etc. + +German women who had country places turned these into homes for +the convalescent wounded. But perhaps the most noteworthy was +the National Frauendienst or Service for Women, organised the +first day of the war. The relief given by the State to the wives +and children of soldiers was distributed from stations in Berlin, +and in the neighbourhood of each of these stations the Frauendienst +established an office where women were always in attendance, +ready to give help and advice to the soldiers' wives. There there +were card-indexes of all the people within the district and of +their needs. At the time I left Germany I believe that there +were upwards of seven thousand women engaged in Berlin in social +service, in instructing the women in the new art of cooking without +milk, eggs or fat and seeing to it that the children had their +fair share of milk. It is due to the efforts of these social +workers that the rate of infant mortality in Berlin decreased +during the war. + +A war always causes a great unsettling in business and trade; +people no longer buy as many articles of luxury and the workers +engaged in the production of these articles are thrown out of +employment. In Germany, the National Women's Service, acting +with the labour exchanges, did its best to find new positions +for those thrown out of work. Women were helped over a period +of poverty until they could find new places and were instructed +in new trades. + +Many women engaged in the work of sending packages containing +food and comforts to the soldiers at the front and to the German +prisoners of war in other countries. + +Through the efforts of the American Association of Commerce and +Trade, and the Embassy, a free restaurant was established in +Berlin in one of the poorer districts. About two hundred people +were fed here daily in a hall decorated with flags and plants. +This was continued even after we left Germany. + +At Christmas, 1916, Mrs. Gerard and I visited this kitchen with +Mr. and Mrs. Wolf and General von Kessel, Commander of the Mark of +Brandenburg, and one of his daughters. Presents were distributed +to the children and the mothers received an order for goods in +one of the department stores. The German Christmas songs were +sung and when a little German child offered a prayer for peace, +I do not think there was any one present who could refrain from +weeping. + +Many of the German women of title, princesses, etc., established +base hospitals of their own and seemed to manage these hospitals +with success. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +HATE + +On my way from Berlin to America, in February, 1917, at a dinner +in Paris, I met the celebrated Italian historian, Ferrero. In a +conversation with him after dinner, I reminded him of the fact +that both he and a Frenchman, named Huret, who had written on +America, had stated in their books that the thing which struck +them most in the study of the American people was the absence +of hate. + +Ferrero recalled this and in the discussion which followed and +in which the French novelist, Marcel Prevost, took part, all +agreed that there was more hate in Europe than in America; first, +because the peoples of Europe were confined in small space and, +secondly, because the European, whatever his rank or station, +lacked the opportunities for advancement and consequently the +eagerness to press on ahead, and that fixing of the thought on +the future, instead of the past, which formed part of the American +character. + +In a few hours in Europe it is possible to travel in an automobile +across countries where the people differ violently from the countries +surrounding them, not only in language, customs and costumes, +but also in methods of thought and physical appearance. + +The day I left Berlin I went to see Herr von Gwinner, head of +the Deutsche Bank, with reference to a charitable fund which +had been collected for widows and orphans in Germany. In our +talk, von Gwinner said that Europeans envied America because we +seemed to be able to assimilate all those people who, as soon +as they landed on our shores, sought to forget their old race +hatreds and endeavoured, as speedily as possible, to adopt American +clothes, language and thought. I told him I thought it was because +in our country we did not try to force anyone; that there was +nothing to prevent a Pole speaking Polish and wearing Polish +dress, if he chose; that the only weapon we used against those +who desired to uphold the customs of Europe was that of ridicule; +and that it was the repressive measures such as, for example, +the repressive action taken by Prussia against the Poles and +the Danes, the Alsatians and the Lorrainers, that had aroused +a combative instinct in these peoples and made them cling to +every vestige of their former nationality. + +At first, with the coming of war, the concentrated hate of the +German people seemed to be turned upon the Russians. Even Liebknecht, +when he called upon me in order to show that he had not been +shot, as reported in America, spoke of the perils of Czarismus +and the hatred of the German people for the Russians. But later, +and directed by the master hand of the governing class, all the +hatred of the Germans was concentrated upon England. + +The cartoon in _Punch_ representing a Prussian family having +its morning "Hate" was, in some aspects, not at all exaggerated. +Hate in Germany is cultivated as a noble passion, and, during the +war, divines and generals vied with each other in its praise. +Early in 1917, the Prussian General in command at Limburg made a +speech in which he extolled the advantages of hate and said that +there was nothing like getting up in the morning after having +passed a night in thought and dreams of hate. + +[Illustration: THIS PAGE FROM THE SCURRILOUS PUBLICATION OF MARTEN +AND HIS COLLEAGUES SHOWS THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE WREATH AND THE +CRAPE-DRAPED AMERICAN FLAG.] + +The phrase "Gott strafe England" seemed to be all over Germany. +It was printed on stamps to be affixed to the back of letters +like our Red Cross stamps. I even found my German body servant +in the Embassy affixing these stamps to the back of all letters, +official and otherwise, that were sent out. He was stopped when +discovered. Paper money was stamped with the words: "Gott strafe +England," "und America" being often added as the war progressed +and America refused to change the rules of the game and stop +the shipment of supplies to the Allies. + +Everyone is familiar with Lissauer's "Hymn of Hate." It is not +extraordinary that one man in a country at war should produce a +composition of this kind; but it is extraordinary as showing the +state of mind of the whole country, that the Emperor should have +given him the high order of the Red Eagle of the Second Class as +a reward for having composed this extraordinary document. + +Undoubtedly at first the British prisoners of war were treated +very roughly and were starved and beaten by their guards on the +way from the front to the concentration camps. Officers, objects +usually considered more than sacred in Germany, even when wounded +were subjected to brutal treatment and in the majority of their +prisons were treated more like convicts than officers and gentlemen. + +As the Germans gradually awoke to the fact that President Wilson +was not afraid of the German vote and that the export of supplies +from America would not be stopped, this stream of hate was turned +on America. There was a belief in Germany that President Wilson +was opposed by a majority of people of the United States, that +he did not represent the real sentiment of America, and that the +sentiment there was favourable to Germany. + +Unfortunately many Americans in Germany encouraged the German +people and the German Government in this belief. Americans used +to travel about, giving lectures and making speeches attacking +their own country and their own President, and the newspapers +published many letters of similar import from Americans resident +in Germany. + +One of the most active of these was a man named Maurice Somborn, +a German American, who represented in Germany an American business +house. He made it a practice to go about in Berlin and other +cities and stand up in cafes and beer halls in order to make +addresses attacking the President and the United States. So bold +did he become that he even, in the presence of a number of people +in my room, one day said that he would like to hang Secretary +Bryan as high as Haman and President Wilson one foot higher. +The American newspapers stated that I called a servant and had +him thrown out of the Embassy. This statement is not entirely +true: I selfishly kept that pleasure for myself. + +The case of Somborn gave me an idea and I cabled to the Department +of State asking authority to take up the passports of all Americans +who abused their own country on the ground that they had violated +the right, by their abuse, to the protection of a passport. The +Department of State sustained my view and, by my direction, the +consul in Dresden took up the passports of a singer named Rains +and a gentleman of leisure named Recknagel who had united in +addressing a letter to the Dresden newspapers abusing the President. +It was sometime before I got Somborn's passport and I later on +received from him the apologies of a broken and contrite man +and obtained permission from Washington to issue him a passport +in order to enable him to return to America. + +Of course, these vilifiers of their own country were loud in their +denunciations of me, but the prospect of losing the protection of +their passports kept many of these men from open and treasonable +denunciation of their own country. + +The Government actually encouraged the formation of societies which +had for their very object the scattering of literature attacking +the President and the United States. The most conspicuous of these +organisations was the so-called League of Truth. Permanently +connected with it was an American dentist who had been in jail +in America and who had been expelled from Dresden by the police +authorities there. The secretary was a German woman who posed as +an American, and had been on the stage as a snake dancer. The +principal organiser was a German named Marten who had won the +favour of the German authorities by writing a book on Belgium +denying that any atrocities had taken place there. Marten secured +subscriptions from many Germans and Americans resident in Germany, +opened headquarters in rooms on the Potsdamerstrasse and engaged +in the business of sending out pamphlets and leaflets attacking +America. One of his principal supporters was a man named Stoddard +who had made a fortune by giving travel lectures in America and +who had retired to his handsome villa, in Meran, in Austria. +Stoddard issued a pamphlet entitled, "What shall we do with Wilson?" +and some atrocious attempts at verse, all of which were sent +broadcast by the League of Truth. + +This was done with the express permission of the German authorities +because during the war no societies or associations of any kind +could meet, be formed or act without the express permission and +superintendence of both the military and police authorities. +Anyone who has lived in Germany knows that it would be impossible +even in peace times to hang a sign or a wreath on a public statue +without the permission of the local authorities; and yet on the +Emperor's birthday, January twenty-seventh, 1916, this League +of Truth was permitted to place an enormous wreath, over four +feet high, on the statue of Frederick the Great, with an American +flag draped in mourning attached, and a silk banner on which was +printed in large letters of gold, "Wilson and his press are not +America." The League of Truth then had a photograph taken of this +wreath which was sent all over Germany, again, of course, with +the permission of the authorities. The wreath and attachments, +in spite of frequent protests on my part to Zimmermann and von +Jagow, remained in this conspicuous position until the sixth of +May, 1916. After the receipt of the _Sussex_ Note, I again +called von Jagow's attention to the presence of this wreath, +and I told him that if this continuing insult to our flag and +President was not taken away that I would go the next day with +a cinematograph operator and take it away myself. The next day +the wreath had disappeared. + +This League, in circulars, occasionally attacked me, and in a +circular which they distributed shortly after my return to Germany +at the end of December, 1916, it was stated, "What do you think +of the American Ambassador? When he came to Germany after his +trip to America he brought a French woman with him." And the +worst of this statement was that it was true. But the League, +of course, did not state that my wife came with me bringing her +French maid by the express permission of the German Foreign Office. + +I have had occasion many times to wonder at the curious twists +of the German mind, but I have never been able to understand on +what possible theory the German Government permitted and even +encouraged the existence of this League of Truth. Certainly the +actions of the League, headed by a snake dancer and a dentist, +would not terrorise the American Congress, President Wilson or me +into falling in with all the views of the German Government, and +if the German Government was desirous of either the President's +friendship or mine why was this gang of good-for-nothings allowed +to insult indiscriminately their country, their President and +their Ambassador? + +One of the friends of Marten, head of this League, was (------) +(---------), a man who at the time he was an officer of the National +Guard of the State of New York, accepted a large sum of money +"for expenses" from Bernstorff. Of course, in any country abroad +acceptance by an officer of money from a foreign Ambassador could +not be explained and could have only one result--a blank wall and +firing party for the receiver of foreign pay. Perhaps we have +grown so indulgent, so soft and so forgetful of the obligations +which officers owe to their flag and country that on (---------)'s +return from Germany he will be able to go on a triumphant lecture +tour through the United States. + +There was published in Berlin in English a rather ridiculous +paper called the _Continental_Times_, owned by an Austrian +Jewess who had been married to an Englishman. The Foreign Office, +after the outbreak of the war, practically took over this sheet by +buying monthly many thousand copies. News coloured hysterically +to favour the Central Empires was printed in this paper, which +was headed "A Paper for Americans," under the editorship of an +Englishman of decent family named Stanhope, who, of course, in +consequence did not have to inhabit the prison camp of Ruhleben. +(--------) was a contributor to this newspaper, and scurrilous +articles attacking President Wilson appeared. Finally (---------) +wrote a lying article for this paper in which he charged that +Conger of the Associated Press had learned of Sir Roger Casement's +proposed expedition; that Conger told me; that I cabled the news to +Washington to the State Department; and that a member of President +Wilson's Cabinet then gave the information to the British Ambassador. +Later in a wireless which the Foreign Office permitted (---------) +to send Senator O'Gorman of New York, (---------) varied his +lie and charged that I had sent the information direct to Great +Britain. + +_The_Continental_Times_ was distributed in the prison camps +and after (---------)'s article I said to von Jagow, "I have +had enough of this nonsense which is supported by the Foreign +Office and if articles of the nature of (---------)'s appear +again I shall make a public statement that the prisoners of war +in Germany are subjected to a cruel and unusual punishment by +having the lying _Continental_Times_ placed in their hands, +a paper which purports to be published for Americans but which +is supported by the Foreign Office, owned by an Austrian and +edited by a renegade Englishman!" + +This _Continental_Times_ business again caused one to wonder +at the German psychology which seems to think that the best way +to make friends is to attack them. The author of "The Gentle +Art of Making Enemies" must have attended a German school. + +An Ambassador is supposed to be protected but not even when I +filed affidavits in the Foreign Office, in 1916, made by the +ex-secretary of the "League of Truth" and by a man who was constantly +with Marten and the dentist, that Marten had threatened to shoot +me, did the Foreign Office dare or wish to do anything against +this ridiculous League. These affidavits were corroborated by +a respectable restaurant keeper in Berlin and his assistants +who testified that Marten with several ferocious looking German +officers had come to his restaurant "looking" for me. I never +took any precaution against these lunatics whom I knew to be +a bunch of cowardly swindlers. + +Marten and his friends were also engaged in a propaganda against +the Jews. + +The activities of Marten were caused by the fact that he made +money out of his propaganda; as numerous fool Germans and traitorous +Americans contributed to his war chest, and by the fact that +his work was so favourably received by the military that this +husky coward was excused from all military service. + +It seemed, too, as if the Government was anxious to cultivate +the hate against America. Long before American ammunition was +delivered in any quantity to England and long before any at all +was delivered to France, not only did the Government influence +newspapers and official gazettes, but the official _Communiques_ +alleged that quantities of American ammunition were being used +on the West front. + +The Government seemed to think that if it could stir up enough +hate against America in Germany on this ammunition question the +Americans would become terrorised and stop the shipment. + +The Government allowed medals to be struck in honour of each +little general who conquered a town--"von Emmich, conqueror of +Liege," etc., a pernicious practice as each general and princeling +wanted to continue the war until he could get his face on a +medal--even if no one bought it. But the climax was reached when +medals celebrating the sinking of the _Lusitania_ were sold +throughout Germany. Even if the sinking of the _Lusitania_ +had been justified only one who has lived in Germany since the +war can understand the disgustingly bad taste which can gloat +over the death of women and babies. + +I can recall now but two writers in all Germany who dared to say +a good word for America. One of these, Regierungsrat Paul Krause, +son-in-law of Field Marshal Von der Goltz, wrote an article in +January, 1917, in the _Lokal_Anzeiger_ pointing out the +American side of the question of this munition shipment; and +that bold and fearless speaker and writer, Maximilian Harden, +dared to make a defence of the American standpoint. The principal +article in one of the issues of his paper, _Die_Zukunft_, +was headed "If I were Wilson." After some copies had been sold +the issue was confiscated by the police, whether at the instance +of the military or at the instance of the Chancellor, I do not +know. Everyone had the impression in Berlin that this confiscation +was by order of General von Kessel, the War Governor of the Mark +of Brandenburg. + +I met Harden before the war and occasionally conversed with him +thereafter. Once in a while he gave a lecture in the great hall +of the Philharmonic, always filling the hall to overflowing. +In his lectures, which, of course, were carefully passed on by +the police, he said nothing startling. His newspaper is a weekly +publication; a little book about seven inches by four and a half, +but wielding an influence not at all commensurate with its size. + +The liberal papers, like the largest paper of Berlin, the +_Tageblatt_, edited by Theodor Wolff, while not violently +against America, were not favourable. But the articles in the +Conservative papers and even some of the organs of the Catholic +Party invariably breathed hatred against everything American. + +In the Reichstag, America and President Wilson were often attacked +and never defended. On May thirtieth, 1916, in the course of a +debate on the censorship, Strasemann, of the National Liberal +Party and of the branch of that party with Conservative leanings, +violently opposed President Wilson and said that he was not wanted +as a peacemaker. + +Government, newspapers and politicians all united in opposing +America. + +I believe that to-day all the bitterness of the hate formerly +concentrated on Great Britain has now been concentrated on the +United States. The German-Americans are hated worse than the +native Americans. They have deeply disappointed the Germans: +first, because although German-Americans contributed enormously +towards German war charities the fact of this contribution was +not known to the recipients in Germany. Money sent to the German +Red Cross from America was acknowledged by the Red Cross; but no +publicity was given in Germany to the fact that any of the money +given was from German-Americans. Secondly, the German-Americans +did not go, as they might have done, to Germany, through neutral +countries, with American passports, and enter the German army; +and, thirdly, the most bitter disappointment of all, the +German-Americans have not yet risked their property and their +necks, their children's future and their own tranquillity, by +taking arms against the government of America in the interest +of the Hohenzollerns. + +For years, a clever propaganda had been carried on in America +to make all Germans there feel that they were Germans of one +united nation, to make those who had come from Hesse and Bavaria, +or Saxony and Wurttemberg, forget that as late as 1866 these +countries had been overrun and conquered by Prussian militarism. +When Prince Henry, the Kaiser's brother, visited America, he +spent most of his time with German-Americans and German-American +societies in order to assist this propaganda. + +Even in peace time, the German-American who returns to the village +in which he lived as a boy and who walks down the village street +exploiting himself and his property, does not help good relations +between the two countries. Envy is the mother of hate and the +envied and returned German-American receives only a lip welcome +in the village of his ancestors. + +Caricatures of Uncle Sam, and of President Wilson were published +in all German papers. A caricature representing our President +releasing the dove of peace with one hand while he poured out +munitions for the Allies with the other was the least unpleasant. + +As I have said, from the tenth of August, 1914, to the twenty-fifth +of September, 1915, the Emperor continually refused to receive +me on the ground that he would not receive the Ambassador of a +country which furnished munitions to the enemies of Germany; and +we were thoroughly black-listed by all the German royalties. I did +not see one, however humble, after the outbreak of the war, with +the exception of Prince Max of Baden, who had to do with prisoners +of war in Germany and in other countries. On one occasion I sent +one of my secretaries to the palace of Princess August Wilhelm, +wife of one of the Kaiser's sons, with a contribution of money +for her hospital, she having announced that she would personally +receive contributions on that day. She took the money from the +secretary and spoke bitterly against America on account of the +shipment of arms. + +Even some boxes of cigarettes we sent another royalty at the front +at Christmas time, 1914, were not acknowledged. + +Dr. Jacobs, who was the correspondent in Berlin of _Musical_America_, +and who remained there until about the twenty-sixth of April, 1917, +was called on about the sixteenth of April, 1917, to the Kommandantur +and subjected to a cross-examination. During this cross-examination +he was asked if he knew about the "League of Truth," and why he +did not join that organisation. Whether it was a result of his +non-joining or not, I do not know, but during the remainder of his +stay in Berlin he was compelled to report twice a day to the police +and was not allowed to leave his house after eight o'clock in the +evening. The question, however, put to him shows the direct interest +that the German authorities took in the existence of this malodorous +organisation. + +It appears in some of the circulars issued by the League of Truth +that I was accused of giving American passports to Englishmen +in order to enable them to leave the country. + +After I left Germany there was an interpellation in the Reichstag +about this, and Zimmermann was asked about the charge which he +said he had investigated and found untrue. + +In another chapter I have spoken of the subject of the selling +of arms and supplies by America to the Allies. No German ever +forgets this. The question of legality or treaties never enters +his mind: he only knows that American supplies and munitions +killed his brother, son or father. It is a hate we must meet for +long years. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS (_Continued_) + +A few days after the events narrated in Chapter XII, von Jagow +called to see me at the Embassy and invited me to visit the Emperor +at the Great General Headquarters; but he did not state why I +was asked, and I do not know to this day whether the Chancellor +and those surrounding the Emperor had determined on a temporary +settlement of the submarine question with the United States and +wished to put that settlement out, as it were, under the protection +of the Emperor, or whether the Emperor was undecided and those +in favour of peace wished me to present to him the American side +of the question. I incline to the latter view. Von Jagow informed +me that an officer from the Foreign Office would accompany me and +that I should be allowed to take a secretary and the huntsman +(_Leibjaeger_), without whom no Ambassador ever travels in +Germany. + +Mr. Grew, our counsellor, was very anxious to go and I felt on +account of his excellent work, as well as his seniority, that +he was entitled to be chosen. Lieutenant von Prittwitz, who was +attached to the Foreign Office as a sort of special aide to von +Jagow, was detailed to accompany us. We were given a special +salon car and left on the evening of Friday, April twenty-eighth. +As we neared the front by way of the line running through Saar +Brucken, our train was often halted because of long trains of +hospital cars on their way from the front to the base hospitals +in the rear; and as we entered France there were many evidences of +the obstinate fights which had raged in this part of the country +in August, 1914. Parts of the towns and villages which we passed +were in ruins, and rough trench lines were to be discerned on +some of the hillsides. At the stations, weeping French women +dressed in black were not uncommon sights, having just heard +perhaps of the death, months before, of a husband, sweetheart +or son who had been mobilised with the French army. + +The fortress city of Metz through which we passed seemed to be as +animated as a beehive. Trains were continuously passing. Artillery +was to be seen on the roads and automobiles were hurrying to and +fro. + +The Great General Headquarters of the Kaiser for the Western +Front is in the town of Charleville-Mezieres, situated on the +Meuse in the Department of the Ardennes, which Department at that +time was the only French Department wholly in the possession of +the Germans. We were received at the railway station by several +officers and escorted in one of the Kaiser's automobiles, which had +been set apart for my use, to a villa in the town of Charleville, +owned by a French manufacturer named Perin. This pretty little red +brick villa had been christened by the Germans, "Sachsen Villa," +because it had been occupied by the King of Saxony when he had +visited the Kaiser. A French family servant and an old gardener +had been left in the villa, but for the few meals which we took +there two of the Emperor's body huntsmen had been assigned, and +they brought with them some of the Emperor's silver and china. + +The Emperor had been occupying a large villa in the town of +Charleville until a few days before our arrival. After the engineer +of his private train had been killed in the railway station by +a bomb dropped from a French aeroplane, and after another bomb +had dropped within a hundred yards of the villa occupied by the +Kaiser, he moved to a red brick chateau situated on a hill outside +of Charleville, known as either the Chateau Bellevue or Bellaire. + +Nearly every day during our stay, we lunched and dined with von +Bethmann-Hollweg in the villa of a French banker, which he occupied. +About ten people were present at these dinners, the Chancellor's +son-in-law, Zech, Prittwitz, two experts in international law, +both attached to the Foreign Office, and, at two dinners, von +Treutler, the Prussian Minister to Bavaria, who had been assigned +to represent the Foreign Office near the person of the Kaiser and +Helfferich who, towards the end of our stay, had been summoned +from Berlin. + +I had been working hard at German and as von Bethmann-Hollweg +does not like to talk English and as some of these persons did not +speak that language we tried to carry on the table conversation +in German, but I know that when I tried to explain, in German, +to Helfferich the various tax systems of America, I swam out +far beyond my linguistic depth. + +During our stay here I received cables from the Department of +State which were transmitted from Berlin in cipher, and which +Grew was able to decipher as he had brought a code book with +him. In one of these it was expressly intimated that in any +settlement of the submarine controversy America would make no +distinction between armed and unarmed merchant ships. + +We formed for a while quite a happy family. The French owners +of the villa seemed to have had a fondness for mechanical toys. +After dinner every night these toys were set going, much to the +amusement of von Bethmann-Hollweg. One of these toys, about two +feet high, was a Hoochi-Koochi dancer and another successful one +was a clown and a trained pig, both climbing a step ladder and +performing marvellous feats thereon. Grew, who is an excellent +musician, played the piano for the Chancellor and at his special +request played pieces by Bach, the favourite composer of von +Bethmann-Hollweg's deceased wife. One day we had tea in the garden +of the villa formerly occupied by the Emperor, with the Prince +of Pless (who is always with the Kaiser, and who seemed to be a +prime favourite with him), von Treutler and others, and motored +with Prince Pless to see some marvellous Himalayan pheasants +reared by an old Frenchman, an ex-jailer, who seemed to have a +strong instinct to keep something in captivity, + +The Kaiser's automobile, which he had placed at my disposal, +had two loaded rifles standing upright in racks at the right +and left sides of the car, ready for instant use. On one day we +motored, always, of course, in charge of the officers detailed +to take care of us, to the ancient walled city of Rocroy and +through the beautiful part of the Ardennes forest lying to the +east of it, returning to Charleville along the heights above +the valley of the Meuse. + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS PARTY IN SEDAN.] + +[Illustration: WITH GERMAN OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE FRENCH +FOOD COMMISSION BEFORE THE COTTAGE AT BAZEILLES, WHERE NAPOLEON +III AND BISMARCK MET AFTER THE BATTLE OF SEDAN.] + +The feeding of the French population, which is carried on by +the American Relief Commission, was a very interesting thing +to see and, in company with one of the members of the French +committee, we saw the workings of this system of American Relief. +We first visited a storehouse in Charleville, the headquarters +for the relief district of which Charleville may be called the +capital. + +For relief purposes Northern France is divided into six districts. +From the central distribution point in each district, food is +sent to the commune within the district, the commune being the +ultimate unit of distribution and each commune containing on +the average about five hundred souls. We then motored to one +of the communes where the distribution of food for the week was +to take place that afternoon. Here in a factory, closed since the +war, the people of the commune were lined up with their baskets +waiting for their share of the rations. On entering a large room +of the factory, each stopped first at a desk and there either paid +in cash for the week's allowance of rations or signed an agreement +to pay at some future date. The individuals who had no prospect +of being able to pay received the rations for nothing. About +one-third were in each class. The money used was not always French, +or real money, but was, as a rule, the paper money issued in +that part of Northern France by each town and redeemable after +the war. + +Signs were hung up showing the quantity that each person was +entitled to receive for the next fifteen days and the sale price +per kilo to each inhabitant. For instance, in this particular +period for the first fifteen days of the month of May, 1916, +each inhabitant could, in this district, receive the following +allowances at the following rates: + + ARTICLE AMOUNT PER HEAD PRICE + Flour 4 K. 500 The Kilogram 0 fr. 48 + Rice K. 500 0 fr. 55 + Beans K. 500 0 fr. 90 + Bacon K. 500 2 fr. 80 + Lard K. 250 2 fr. 30 + Green Coffee K. 250 1 fr. 70 + Crystallized Sugar K. 150 0 fr. 90 + Salt K. 200 0 fr. 10 + Soap (hard) K. 250 1 fr. 00 + +In addition to these articles each inhabitant of the commune +which we visited, also received on the day of our visit a small +quantity of carrot seed to plant in the small plot of ground +which each was permitted to retain out of his own land by the +German authorities. + +The unfortunate people who received this allowance looked very +poor and very hungry and very miserable. Many of them spoke to +me, not only here but also in Charleville, and expressed their +great gratitude to the American people for what was being done +for them. Those in Charleville said that they had heard that I +was in their town because of trouble pending between America +and Germany. They said they hoped that there would be no war +between the two countries because if war came they did not know +what would become of them and that, in the confusion of war, +they would surely be left to starve. + +In Charleville notices were posted directing the inhabitants +not to go out on the streets after, I think, eight o'clock in +the evening, and also notices informing the population that they +would be allowed a small quantity of their own land for the purpose +of growing potatoes. + +After visiting the factory building where the distribution of +rations was taking place, we motored to Sedan, stopping on the +way at the hamlet of Bazeilles, and visiting the cottage where +Bismarck and Emperor Napoleon the Third had their historic interview +after the battle of Sedan. + +The old lady who owns this house received us and showed us bullet +marks made on her house in the war of 1870, as well as in the +present war. She apologised because she had had the window-pane, +broken by a rifle shot in this war, replaced on account of the +cold. As a girl, she had received Bismarck and Napoleon and had +shown them to the room upstairs where they had held their +consultation. I asked her which chair in this room Bismarck had +sat in, and sat in it myself, for luck. I also contributed to the +collection of gold pieces given to her by those who had visited +her cottage. + +In Sedan we visited an old mill where stores of the relief commission +were kept, and in the mayor's office were present at a sort of +consultation between the Prussian officers and members of the +French Committee of Sedan in which certain details relative to +the feeding of the population were discussed. + +The relief work is not, of course, carried on right up to the +battle line but we visited a small village not many kilometres in +the rear of the German line. In this village we were, as before, +shown the stores kept for distribution by the relief commission. +As there were many soldiers in this village I said I thought that +these soldiers must have stores of their own but, in order to +be sure that they were not living on the supplies of the relief +commission, I thought it only fair that I should see where the +soldiers' stores were kept. I was taken across the railroad track +to where their stores were kept and, judging from the labels on +the barrels and boxes, I should say that a great many of these +stores had come from Holland. + +During this trip about the country, I saw a number of women and +girls working, or attempting to work, in the fields. Their appearance +was so different from that of the usual peasant that I spoke to +the accompanying officers about it. I was told, however, that +these were the peasants of the locality who dressed unusually +well in that part of France. Later on in Charleville, at the +lodging of an officer and with Count Wengersky, who was detailed +to act as sort of interpreter and guide to the American Relief +Commission workers, I met the members of the American Relief +Commission who were working in Northern France and who had been +brought on a special train for the purpose of seeing me to +Charleville. This Count Wengersky spoke English well. Having +been for a number of years agent of the Hamburg American Line in +London, he was used to dealing with Americans and was possessed +of more tact than usually falls to the lot of the average Prussian +officer. We had tea and cakes in these lodgings, and then some +of the Americans drew me aside and told me the secret of the +peculiar looking peasants whom I had seen at work in the fields +surrounding Charleville. + +It seems that the Germans had endeavoured to get volunteers from +the great industrial town of Lille, Roubeix and Tourcoing to +work these fields; that after the posting of the notices calling +for volunteers only fourteen had appeared. The Germans then gave +orders to seize a certain number of inhabitants and send them +out to farms in the outlying districts to engage in agricultural +work. The Americans told me that this order was carried out with +the greatest barbarity; that a man would come home at night and +find that his wife or children had disappeared and no one could +tell him where they had gone except that the neighbours would +relate that the German non-commissioned officers and a file of +soldiers had carried them off. For instance, in a house of a +well-to-do merchant who had perhaps two daughters of fifteen and +seventeen, and a man servant, the two daughters and the servant +would be seized and sent off together to work for the Germans +in some little farm house whose location was not disclosed to +the parents. The Americans told me that this sort of thing was +causing such indignation among the population of these towns +that they feared a great uprising and a consequent slaughter and +burning by the Germans. + +That night at dinner I spoke to von Bethmann-Hollweg about this +and told him that it seemed to me absolutely outrageous; and that, +without consulting with my government, I was prepared to protest +in the name of humanity against a continuance of this treatment +of the civil population of occupied France. The Chancellor told +me that he had not known of it, that it was the result of orders +given by the military, that he would speak to the Emperor about +it and that he hoped to be able to stop further deportations. +I believe that they were stopped, but twenty thousand or more who +had been taken from their homes were not returned until months +afterwards. I said in a speech which I made in May on my return to +America that it required the joint efforts of the Pope, the King +of Spain and our President to cause the return of these people to +their homes; and I then saw that some German press agency had +come out with an article that I had made false statements about +this matter because these people were not returned to their homes +as a result of the representations of the Pope, the King of Spain +and our President, but were sent back because the Germans had +no further use for them. It seems to me that this denial makes +the case rather worse than before. + +At the Chancellor's house in the evenings we had discussions +on the submarine situation and I had several long talks with +von Bethmann-Hollweg alone in a corner of the room while the +others listened to music or set the mechanical toys in motion. +These discussions, without doubt, were reported to the Emperor +either by the Chancellor or by von Treutler who at that time +was high in favor with his Majesty. + +I remember on one evening I was asked the question as to what +America could do, supposing the almost impossible, that America +should resent the recommencement of ruthless submarine warfare +by the Germans and declare war. I said that nearly all of the +great inventions used in this war had been made by Americans; +that the very submarine which formed the basis of our discussion +was an American invention, and so were the barbed wire and the +aeroplane, the ironclad, the telephone and the telegraph, so +necessary to trench warfare; that even that method of warfare +had been first developed on something of the present scale in our +Civil War; and that I believed that, if forced to it, American +genius could produce some invention which might have a decisive +effect in this war. My German auditors seemed inclined to believe +that there was something in my contentions. But they said, "While +possibly you might invent something in America, while possibly +you will furnish money and supplies to the Allies, you have no +men; and the public sentiment of your country is such that you +will not be able to raise an army large enough to make any +impression." I said that possibly if hostilities once broke out +with the Germans, the Germans might force us by the commission +of such acts as had aroused England, to pass a law for universal +military service. This proposition of mine was branded by the +Germans as absolutely impossible; and, therefore, I am sure that +the adoption by the United States of universal service in the +first round of the war struck a very severe blow at the morale +of Germany. + +The Chancellor always desired to make any settlement of the submarine +question contingent upon our doing something against England; +but I again and again insisted that we could not agree to do +anything against some other power as a condition of obtaining +a recognition of our rights from the German Empire. + +During my stay at the General Headquarters, General Falkenhayn, +although he was there at the time, carefully avoided me, which +I took to be a sign that he was in favour of war with America. +In fact, I heard afterwards that he had insisted on giving his +views on the subject, but that a very high authority had told +him to confine himself to military operations. + +After we had been a day or so at Charleville, the Vice-Chancellor, +Helfferich, arrived. I have always believed that he was sent for +to add his weight to the arguments in favour of peace and to +point out that it was necessary for Germany to hate the friendship +of America after the war, so as to have markets where she could +place her goods. And I am convinced that at this time, at any rate, +the influence of Helfferich was cast in the scale in favour of +peace. + +Finally, I was told that on the next day, which was Monday, May +first, I was to lunch with the Emperor. Grew was invited to accompany +me, and the Chancellor said that he would call for me about an +hour before the time set for lunch as the Emperor desired to +have a talk with me before lunch. In the afternoon an extract +from the log of a German submarine commander was sent to me in +which the submarine commander had stated that he had sighted a +vessel which he could easily have torpedoed, but as the vessel +was one hundred and twenty miles from land, he had not done so +because the crew might not be able from that distance to reach a +harbour. When the Chancellor called for me the following morning, +he asked me if I had read this extract from the submarine officer's +log, and noted how he had refrained from torpedoing a boat one +hundred and twenty miles from land. I told the Chancellor that I +had read the extract, but that I had also read in the newspaper +that very morning that a ship had been torpedoed in stormy weather +at exactly the same distance from land and the crew compelled +to seek safety in the ship's boats; that, anyway, "one swallow +did not make a summer," and that reports were continually being +received of boats being torpedoed at great distances from land. + +We then got in the motor and motored to the chateau about a mile +off, where the Kaiser resided. We got out of the motor before +going into the courtyard of the chateau, and immediately I was +taken by the Chancellor into a garden on the gently sloping hillside +below the chateau. Here the Emperor, dressed in uniform, was +walking. + +As I drew near the Emperor, he said immediately, "Do you come +like the great pro-consul bearing peace or war in either hand?" +By this he referred, of course, to the episode in which Quintus +Fabius Maximus, chief of the Roman envoys sent to Hannibal in +the Second Punic War, doubled his toga in his hand, held it up +and said: "In this fold I carry peace and war: choose which you +will have." "Give us which you prefer," was the reply. "Then +take war," answered the Roman, letting the toga fall. "We accept +the gift," cried the Carthaginian Senator, "and welcome." + +I said, "No, your Majesty, only hoping that the differences between +two friendly nations may be adjusted." The Emperor then spoke of +what he termed the uncourteous tone of our notes, saying that +we charged the Germans with barbarism in warfare and that, as +Emperor and head of the Church, he had wished to carry on the +war in a knightly manner. He referred to his own speech to the +members of the Reichstag at the commencement of the war and said +that the nations opposed to Germany had used unfair methods and +means, that the French especially were not like the French of +'70, but that their officers, instead of being nobles, came from +no one knew where. He then referred to the efforts to starve out +Germany and keep out milk and said that before he would allow +his family and grand-children to starve he would blow up Windsor +Castle and the whole Royal family of England. We then had a long +discussion in detail of the whole submarine question, in the +course of which the Emperor said that the submarine had come +to stay, that it was a weapon recognised by all countries, and +that he had seen a picture of a proposed giant submarine in an +American paper, the _Scientific_American_. He stated that, +anyway, there was no longer any international law. To this last +statement the Chancellor agreed. He further said that a person +on an enemy merchant ship was like a man travelling on a cart +behind the battle lines--he had no just cause of complaint if +injured. He asked me why we had done nothing to England because +of her alleged violations of international law,--why we had not +broken the British blockade. + +In addition to the technical arguments based on international +law, I answered that no note of the United States had made any +general charge of barbarism against Germany; that we complained +of the manner of the use of submarines and nothing more; that we +could never promise to do anything to England or to any other +country in return for a promise from Germany or any third country +to keep the rules of international law and respect the rights and +lives of our citizens; that we were only demanding our rights +under the recognised rules of international law and it was for +us to decide which rights we would enforce first; that, as I +had already told the Chancellor, if two men entered my grounds +and one stepped on my flower beds and the other killed my sister, +I should probably first pursue the murderer of my sister; that +those travelling on the seas in enemy merchant ships were in a +different position from those travelling in a cart behind the +enemy's battle lines on land because the land travellers were +on enemy's territory, while those on the sea were on territory +which, beyond the three-mile limit, was free and in no sense +enemy's territory. We also discussed the position taken by the +German Government in one of the _Frye_ Notes, in which the +German expert had taken the position that a cargo of food destined +for an armed enemy port was presumed to be for the armies of +the enemy, and therefore contraband. The Emperor spoke of the +case of the _Dacia_ with some bitterness, but when I went +into an explanation the Chancellor joined in the conversation +and said that our position was undoubtedly correct. I said that +it was not our business to break the blockade--that there were +plenty of German agents in the United States who could send food +ships and test the question; that one ship I knew of, the +_Wilhelmina_, laden with food, had been seized by the British, +who then compromised with the owners, paying them, I believed, a +large sum for the disputed cargo. And in taking up the doctrine +of ultimate destination of goods, i.e., goods sent to a neutral +country but really destined for a belligerent, I said I thought +that during our Civil War we had taken against England exactly +the same stand which England now took; and I said I thought that +one of the decisions of our Supreme Court was based on a shipment +to Matamoras, Mexico, but which the Supreme Court had decided +was really for the Confederacy. + +Discussing the submarine question, the Emperor and Chancellor +spoke of the warning given in the _Lusitania_ case; and +I said: "If the Chancellor warns me not to go out on the +Wilhelmplatz, where I have a perfect right to go, the fact that +he gave the warning does not justify him in killing me if I +disregarded his warning and go where I have a right to go." The +conversation then became more general and we finally left the +garden and went into the chateau, where the Emperor's aides and +guests were impatiently waiting for lunch. + +This conversation lasted far beyond lunch time. Anxious heads +were seen appearing from the windows and terraces of the chateau +to which we finally adjourned. I sat between the Emperor and +Prince Pless. Conversation was general for the most of the time, +and subjects such as the suffragettes and the peace expedition +of Henry Ford were amusingly discussed. + +After lunch, I again had a long talk with the Emperor but of a +more general nature than the conversation in the garden. + +That night about eleven o'clock, after again dining with the +Chancellor, we left Charleville in the same special salon car, +arriving at Berlin about four P. M. the next day, where at the +station were a crowd of German and American newspaper correspondents, +all anxious to know what had happened. + +At this last dinner at the Chancellor's he took me off in a corner +and said, "As I understand it, what America wants is cruiser +warfare on the part of the submarines." And I said, "Yes, that +is it exactly. They may exercise the right of visit and search, +must not torpedo or sink vessels without warning, and must not +sink any vessel unless the passengers and crew are put in a place +of safety." + +On the morning of the third of May, I heard that the German note +had been drafted, but that it would contain a clause to the +effect that while the German submarines would not go beyond cruiser +warfare, this rule, nevertheless, would not apply to armed +merchantmen. + +As such a proposition as this would, of course, only bring up +the subject again, I immediately ordered my automobile and called +on the Spanish Ambassador, stating to him what I had heard about +the contents of the note; that this would mean, without doubt, a +break with America; and that, as I had been instructed to hand +the Embassy over to him, I had come to tell him of that fact. I +gave the same information to other colleagues, of course hoping +that what I said would directly or indirectly reach the ears +of the German Foreign Office. Whether it did or not, I do not +know, but the _Sussex_ Note when received did not contain +any exception with reference to armed merchantmen. + +With the receipt of the _Sussex_ Note and the President's +answer thereto, which declined assent to the claim of Germany +to define its attitude toward our rights in accordance with what +we might do in regard to the enforcement of our rights against +England, the submarine question seemed, at least for the moment, +settled. I, however, immediately warned the Department that I +believed that the rulers of Germany would at some future date, +forced by public opinion, and by the von Tirpitz and Conservative +parties, take up ruthless submarine war again, possibly in the +autumn but at any rate about February or March, 1917. + +In my last conversation with the Chancellor before leaving the +Great General Headquarters, when he referred to the cruiser warfare +of the submarines, he also said, "I hope now that if we settle this +matter your President will be great enough to take up the question +of peace." It was as a result of intimations from government +circles that, after my return to Berlin, I gave an interview to +a representative of a Munich newspaper, expressing my faith in +the coming of peace, although I was careful to say that it might +be a matter of months or even years. + +Thereafter, on many occasions the Chancellor impressed upon me +the fact that America must do something towards arranging a peace +and that if nothing was done to this end, public opinion in Germany +would undoubtedly force a resumption of a ruthless submarine war. + +In September of 1916, I having mentioned that Mrs. Gerard was +going to the United States on a short visit, von Jagow insistently +urged me to go also in order to make every effort to induce the +President to do something towards peace; and, as a result of his +urging and as a result of my own desire to make the situation +clear in America, I sailed from Copenhagen on the twenty-eighth +of September with Mrs. Gerard, on the Danish ship, _Frederick_VIII_, +bound for New York. I had spent almost three years in Berlin, +having been absent during that time from the city only five or +six days at Kiel and two week-ends in Silesia in 1914, with two +weeks at Munich in the autumn, two days at Munich and two days at +Parten-Kirchen in 1916, and two week-ends at Heringsdorf, in the +summer of the same year, with visits to British prison camps +scattered through the two and a half years of war. + +On the _Frederick_VIII_ were Messrs. Herbert Swope of the +_New_York_World_ and William C. Bullitt of the _Philadelphia_Ledger_, +who had been spending some time in Germany. I impressed upon each +of these gentlemen my fixed belief that Germany intended shortly, +unless some definite move was made toward peace, to commence +ruthless submarine war; and they made this view clear in the +articles which they wrote for their respective newspapers. + +Mr. Swope's articles which appeared in the _New_York_World_ +were immediately republished by him in a book called "Inside the +German Empire." In Mr. Swope's book on page ninety-four, he says, +"The campaign for the ruthless U-boat warfare is regarded by one +man in this country who speaks with the highest German authority, +as being in the nature of a threat intended to accelerate and +force upon us a movement toward peace. Ambassador Gerard had +his attention drawn to this just before he left Berlin but he +declined to accept the interpretation." + +On page eighty-eight he writes, "Our Embassy in Berlin expected +just such a demonstration as was given by the U-53 in October +when she sank six vessels off Nantucket, as a lesson of what +Germany could do in our waters if war came." + +On page seventy-four he says further, "Throughout Germany the +objection for the resumption of ruthless U-boat warfare of the +_Lusitania_ type grows stronger day by day. The Chancellor +is holding out against it, but how long he can restrain it no one +can say. I left Germany convinced that only peace could prevent +its resumption. And the same opinion is held by every German +with whom I spoke, and it is held also by Ambassador Gerard. +The possibility was so menacing that the principal cause of the +Ambassador's return in October was that he might report to +Washington. The point was set out in press despatches at that +time." + +I wrote a preface to Mr. Swope's book for the express purpose +of informing the American public in this way that I believed +that Germany intended at an early date to resume the ruthless +V-boat warfare. + +Our trip home on the _Frederick_VIII_ was without incident +except for the fact that on the ninth day of October, Swope came to +the door of my stateroom about twelve o'clock at night and informed +me that the captain had told him to tell me that the wireless had +brought the news that German submarines were operating directly +ahead of us and had just sunk six ships in the neighbourhood +of Nantucket. I imagine that the captain slightly changed the +course of our ship, but next day the odour of burning oil was +quite noticeable for hours. + +These Danish ships in making the trip from Copenhagen to New +York were compelled to put in at the port of Kirkwall in the +Orkney Islands, north of Scotland, where the ship was searched by +the British authorities. On the occasion of our visit to Kirkwall, +on this trip, a Swede, who had been so foolish as to make a sketch +of the harbour and defences of Kirkwall from the top deck of the +_Frederick_VIII_, was taken off the boat by the British. The +British had very cleverly spotted him doing this from the shore +or a neighbouring boat, through a telescope. + +Ships can enter Kirkwall only by daylight and at six o'clock +every evening trawlers draw a net across the entrance to the +harbour as a protection against submarines. A passage through +this net is not opened until daylight the following morning. + +Captain Thomson of the _Frederick_VIII_, the ship which +carried us to America and back to Copenhagen, by his evident +mastery of his profession gave to all of his passengers a feeling +of confidence on the somewhat perilous voyage in those dangerous +waters. + +When I reached America, on October eleventh, I was given a most +flattering reception and the freedom of the City of New York. +Within a few days after my arrival, the President sent for me +to visit him at Shadow Lawn, at Long Branch, and I was with him +for over four hours and a quarter in our first conference. I saw +him, of course, after the election, before returning to Germany, +and in fact sailed on the fourth of December at his special request. + +Before I left I was impressed with the idea that he desired above +all things both to keep and to make peace. Of course, this question +of making peace is a very delicate one. A direct offer on our part +might have subjected us to the same treatment which we gave Great +Britain during our Civil War when Great Britain made overtures +looking towards the establishment of peace, and the North answered, +practically telling the British Government that it could attend +to its own business, that it would brook no interference and would +regard further overtures as unfriendly acts. + +The Germans started this war without any consultation with the +United States, and then seemed to think that they had a right +to demand that the United States make peace for them on such +terms and at such time as they chose; and that the failure to +do so gave them a vested right to break all the laws of warfare +against their enemies and to murder the citizens of the United +States on the high seas, in violation of the declared principles +of international law. + +Nevertheless, I think that the inclination of the President was +to go very far towards the forcing of peace. + +Our trip from New York to Copenhagen was uneventful, cold and +dark. We were captured by a British cruiser west of the Orkneys +and taken in for the usual search to the port of Kirkwall where +we remained two days. + +The President impressed upon me his great interest in the Belgians +deported to Germany. The action of Germany in thus carrying a +great part of the male population of Belgium into virtual slavery +had roused great indignation in America. As the revered Cardinal +Farley said to me a few days before my departure, "You have to +go back to the times of the Medes and the Persians to find a +like example of a whole people carried into bondage." + +Mr. Grew had made representations about this to the Chancellor +and, on my return, I immediately took up the question. + +I was informed that it was a military measure, that Ludendorf had +feared that the British would break through and overrun Belgium +and that the military did not propose to have a hostile population +at their backs who might cut the rail lines of communication, +telephones and telegraphs; and that for this reason the deportation +had been decided on. I was, however, told that I would be given +permission to visit these Belgians. The passes, nevertheless, +which alone made such visiting possible were not delivered until +a few days before I left Germany. + +Several of these Belgians who were put at work in Berlin managed +to get away and come to see me. They gave me a harrowing account +of how they had been seized in Belgium and made to work in Germany +at making munitions to be used probably against their own friends. +I said to the Chancellor, "There are Belgians employed in making +shells contrary to all rules of war and the Hague conventions." +He said, "I do not believe it." I said, "My automobile is at the +door. I can take you, in four minutes, to where thirty Belgians +are working on the manufacture of shells." But he did not find +time to go. + +Americans must understand that the Germans will stop at nothing +to win this war, and that the only thing they respect is force. + +While I was in America von Jagow, as had been predicted by his +enemies in Berlin, had fallen and Zimmermann had been given his +place. + +I remained a day in Copenhagen, in order to arrange for the +transportation to Germany of the three tons of food which I had +brought from New York, and, also, in order to lunch with Count +Rantzau, the German Minister, a most able diplomat. + +Therefore, the President's peace note arrived in Berlin just +ahead of me and was delivered by Mr. Grew a few hours before my +arrival. Joseph C. Grew, of Boston, was next in command during +all my stay in Berlin. He most ably carried on the work of the +Embassy during my absence on the trip to America, in the autumn +of 1916; and at all times was of the greatest assistance to me. I +hope to see him go far in his career. This note was dated December +eighteenth, 1916, and was addressed by the Secretary of State +to the American Ambassadors at the capitals of the belligerent +powers. It commenced as follows: "The President directs me to +send you the following communication to be presented immediately +to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the government to which +you are accredited. + +"The President of the United States has instructed me to suggest +to the (here is inserted a designation of the government addressed) +a course of action in regard to the present war which he hopes +that the government will take under consideration as suggested +in the most friendly spirit, etc." + +In the note which was sent to the Central Powers it was stated: +"The suggestion which I am instructed to make, the President +has long had it in mind to offer. He is somewhat embarrassed +to offer it at this particular time because it may now seem to +have been prompted by a desire to play a part in connection with +the recent overtures of the Central Powers." + +Of course, the President thus referred to the address made by +Bethmann-Hollweg in the Reichstag in December, in which, after +reviewing generally the military situation, the Chancellor said: +"In a deep moral and religious sense of duty towards this nation +and beyond it towards humanity, the Emperor now considers that the +moment has come for official action towards peace. His Majesty, +therefore, in complete harmony and in common with our Allies decided +to propose to the hostile powers to enter peace negotiations." +And the Chancellor continued, saying that a note to this effect +had been transmitted that morning to all hostile powers, through +the representatives of these powers to whom the interests and +rights of Germany in the enemy States had been entrusted; and +that, therefore, the representatives of Spain, the United States +and Switzerland had been asked to forward the note. + +Coincidently with this speech of the Chancellor's, which was +December twelfth, 1916, the Emperor sent a message to the commanding +generals reading as follows: "Soldiers! In agreement with the +sovereigns of my Allies and with the consciousness of victory, +I have made an offer of peace to the enemy. Whether it will be +accepted is still uncertain. Until that moment arrives you will +fight on." + +I return to the President's note. + +The President suggested that early occasion be sought to callout +from all the nations now at war an avowal of their respective +views as to the terms upon which the war might be concluded, +and the arrangements which would be deemed satisfactory as a +guarantee against its renewal. + +He called the attention of the world to the fact that according +to the statements of the statesmen of the belligerent powers, +the objects which all sides had in mind seemed to be the same. +And the President finally said that he was not proposing peace, +not even offering mediation; but merely proposing that soundings +be taken in order that all nations might know how near might +be the haven of peace for which all mankind longed. + +Shortly after the publication of this note Secretary Lansing +gave an interview to the representatives of the American press +in which he stated that America was very near war. This interview +he later explained. + +As soon as possible after my return to Berlin I had interviews +with Zimmermann and the Chancellor. Zimmermann said that we were +such personal friends that he was sure we could continue to work, +as we had in the past, in a frank and open manner, putting all +the cards upon the table and working together in the interests of +peace. I, of course, agreed to this and it seemed, on the surface, +as if everything would go smoothly. + +Although the torpedoing without warning of the _Marina_, +while I was in the United States, had resulted in the death of a +number of Americans on board, nevertheless there seemed to be an +inclination on the part of the government and people of the United +States to forget this incident provided Germany would continue to +keep her pledges given in the _Sussex_ Note. During all +the period of the war in Germany I had been on good terms with +the members of the government, namely, the Chancellor, von Jagow, +Zimmermann and the other officials of the Foreign Office, as well +as with Helfferich, Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister, Kaempf, the +President of the Reichstag and a number of the influential men +of Germany such as von Gwinner, of the Deutsche Bank, Gutmann of +the Dresdener Bank, Dr. Walter Rathenau, who for a long time was +at the head of the department for the supply and conservation of +raw materials, General von Kessel, Over-Commander of the Mark of +Brandenburg, in spite of many tiffs with him over the treatment +of prisoners, Theodor Wolff, editor of the _Tageblatt_, Professor +Stein, Maximilian Harden and many others. + +For a long time the fight waged by the Chancellor was America's +fight and a fight for peace, so much so that the newspapers which +attacked the Chancellor were the same ones which had attacked +President Wilson, America and Americans in general, and which had +very often included me in their attacks. During every crisis between +America and Germany I had acted with von Jagow and Zimmermann in +a most confidential way, looking forward always to one object, +namely, the preservation of peace between our respective countries. +Many suggestions were made which, I think, materially aided up +to that time in the preservation of peace. + +The Chancellor and the Foreign Office, however, through sheer +weakness did nothing to prevent the insults to our flag and President +perpetrated by the "League of Truth"; although both under the law +and the regulations of the "State of Siege" this gang could not +operate without the consent of the authorities. So far as I was +concerned personally, a few extra attacks from tooth carpenters +and snake dancers meant nothing, but certainly aroused my interest +in the workings of the Teutonic official brain. + +On my return everyone in official life,--the Chancellor, Zimmermann, +von Stumm who succeeded Zimmermann, von der Busche, formerly +German Minister in the Argentine, who had equal rank with Stumm +in the Foreign Office--all without exception and in the most +convincing language assured me that cases like that of the +_Marina_, for example, were only accidents and that there +was every desire on the part of Germany to maintain the pledges +given in the _Sussex_ Note. + +And the great question to be solved is whether the Germans in +making their offers of peace, in begging me to go to America to +talk peace to the President, were sincerely anxious for peace, +or were only making these general offers of peace in order to +excuse in the eyes of the world a resumption of ruthless submarine +warfare and to win to their side public opinion in the United +States, in case such warfare should be resumed. + +Had the decision rested with the Chancellor and with the Foreign +Office, instead of with the military, I am sure that the decision +would have been against the resumption of this ruthless war. +But Germany is not ruled in war time by the civilian power. +Hindenburg at the time I left for America was at the head of +the General Staff and Ludendorf, who had been Chief of Staff, +had been made the Quartermaster General in order that he might +follow Hindenburg to General Headquarters. + +Hindenburg, shortly before his battle of the Masurian Lakes, +was a General living in retirement at Hanover. Because he had +for years specialised in the study of this region he was suddenly +called to the command of the German army which was opposing the +Russian invasions. Ludendorf, who had been Colonel of a regiment +at the attack on Liege, was sent with him as his Chief of Staff. +The success of Hindenburg in his campaigns is too well known +to require recapitulation here. He became the popular idol of +Germany, the one general-in fact the one man--whom the people felt +that they could idolise. But shortly before my trip to America an +idea was creeping through the mind of the German people leading +them to believe that Hindenburg was but the front, and that the +brains of the combination had been furnished by Ludendorf. Many +Germans in a position to know told me that the real dictator +of Germany was Ludendorf. + +My trip to America was made principally at the instance of von +Jagow and the Chancellor, and, in my farewell talk with the +Chancellor a few days before leaving, I asked if it could not +be arranged, since he was always saying that the civilian power +was inferior to that of the military, that I should see Hindenburg +and Ludendorf before I left. This proposed meeting he either +could not or would not arrange, and shortly after my return I +again asked the Chancellor if I could not see, if not the Emperor, +at least Hindenburg and Ludendorf, who the Chancellor himself +had said were the leaders of the military, and, therefore, the +leaders of Germany. Again I was put off. + +In the meantime and in spite of the official assurance given +to me certain men in Germany, in a position to know, warned me +that the government intended to resume ruthless submarine war. +Ludendorf, they said, had declared in favour of this war and, +according to them, that meant its adoption. + +At first I thought that Germany would approach the resumption of +ruthless submarine war _via_ the armed merchantman issue. + +The case of the _Yarrowdale_ prisoners seemed to bear out +this theory. A German raider captured and sunk a number of enemy +vessels and sent one of the captured boats, the _Yarrowdale_, +with a prize crew to Swinemunde. On board, held as prisoners, +were a number of the crews of the captured vessels; and among +those men I learned "under the rose," were some Americans. The +arrival of the _Yarrowdale_ was kept secret for some time, +but as soon as I received information of its arrival, I sent +note after note to the Foreign Office demanding to know if there +were any Americans among the prisoner crews. + +For a long time I received no answer, but finally Germany admitted +what I knew already, that Americans taken with the crews of captured +ships were being held as prisoners of war, the theory of the +Germans being that all employed on armed enemy merchant ships +were enemy combatants. I supposed that possibly Germany might +therefore approach the submarine controversy by this route and +claim that armed merchantmen were liable to be sunk without notice. + +Instructed by the State Department, I demanded the immediate +release of the _Yarrowdale_ prisoners. This was accorded +by Germany, but, after the breaking of relations, the prisoners +were held back; and it was not until after we left Germany that +they were finally released. + +I asked permission to visit these prisoners and sent Mr. Ayrault +and Mr. Osborne to the place where I knew they were interned. +The permission to visit them arrived, but on the same day orders +were given to remove the prisoners to other camps. Mr. Osborne +and Mr. Ayrault, however, being on the ground, saw the prisoners +before their removal and reported on their conditions. + +On January sixth the American Association of Commerce and Trade +gave me a dinner at the Hotel Adlon. This was made the occasion +of a sort of German-American love-feast. Zimmermann, although +he had to go early in the evening to meet the Foreign Minister +of Austria-Hungary, was present; Helfferich, Vice-Chancellor +and Secretary of the Interior; Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister; +Sydow, Minister of Commerce; Dernburg; von Gwinner of the Deutsche +Bank; Gutmann of the Dresdener Bank; Under Secretary von der +Busche of the Foreign Office; the Mayor and the Police President +of Berlin; the President of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce; Under +Secretary von Stumm of the Foreign Office; and many others of +that office. There were present also Under Secretary Richter +of the Interior Department; Lieutenant Colonel Doeutelmoser of +the General Staff; the editors and proprietors of the principal +newspapers in Berlin; Count Montgelas, who had charge of American +affairs in the Foreign Office; naval officers like Captain Lans; +the American correspondents in Germany; and Prince Isenburg; +rubbing shoulders with the brewers, George Ehret and Krueger, +of New York and Newark. There were literary lights like Ludwig +Fulda, Captain Persius, Professor Hans Delbruck, Dr. Paasche, +Vice-President of the Reichstag, and many others equally celebrated +as the ones that I have named. Speeches were made by Mr. Wolf, +President of the American Association of Commerce and Trade, +Helfferich, Zimmermann, von Gwinner and me. A tone of the greatest +friendliness prevailed. Zimmermann referred to our personal +friendship and said that he was sure that we should be able to +manage everything together. Helfferich in his speech said that +I, by learning German and studying the life of the German people, +was one of the few diplomats that had come to Germany who had +learned something of the real life and psychology of the Germans. +Von Gwinner made a speech in English that would have done credit +to any American after-dinner speaker; and I, in my short address, +said that the relations between the two countries had never been +better and that so long as my personal friends like Zimmermann +and other members of the government, who I named, were in office, +I was sure that the good relations between the two countries +would be maintained. I spoke also of the sums of money that I had +brought back with me for the benefit of the widows and orphans +of Germany. + +The majority of the German newspapers spoke in a very kindly +way about this dinner and about what was said at it. Of course, +they all took what I said as an expression of friendliness, and +only Reventlow claimed that, by referring to the members of the +government, I was interfering in the internal affairs of Germany. + +The speeches and, in fact, this dinner constituted a last desperate +attempt to preserve friendly relations. Both the reasonable men +present and I knew, almost to a certainty, that return to ruthless +submarine war had been decided on and that only some lucky chance +could prevent the military, backed by the made public opinion, from +insisting on a defiance of international law and the laws of humanity. + +The day after the dinner the Chancellor sent for me and expressed +approval of what I said and thanked me for it and on the surface +it seemed as if everything was "as merry as a marriage bell." +Unfortunately, I am afraid that all this was only on the surface, +and that perhaps the orders to the submarine commanders to recommence +ruthless war had been given the day preceding this love-feast. + +The Germans believed that President Wilson had been elected with +a mandate to keep out of war at any cost, and that America could +be insulted, flouted and humiliated with impunity. Even before +this dinner we had begun to get rumours of the resumption of +ruthless submarine war and within a few days I was cabling to +the Department information based not upon absolute facts but upon +reports which seemed reliable and which had been collected through +the able efforts of our very capable naval attache, Commander +Gherardi. + +And this information was confirmed by the hints given to me by +various influential Germans. Again and again after the sixth of +January, I was assured by Zimmermann and others in the Foreign +Office that nothing of the kind was contemplated. + +Now were the German moves in the direction of peace sincere or not? + +From the time when the Chancellor first spoke of peace, I asked +him and others what the peace terms of Germany were. I could +never get any one to state any definite terms of peace and on +several occasions when I asked the Chancellor whether Germany +was willing to withdraw from Belgium, he always said, "Yes, but +with guarantees." Finally in January, 1917, when he was again +talking of peace, I said, "What are these peace terms to which +you refer continually? Will you allow me to ask a few questions +as to the specific terms of peace? First are the Germans willing +to withdraw from Belgium?" The Chancellor answered, "Yes, but +with guarantees." I said, "What are these guarantees?" He said, +"We must possibly have the forts of Liege and Namur; we must +have other forts and garrisons throughout Belgium. We must have +possession of the railroad lines. We must have possession of the +ports and other means of communication. The Belgians will not +be allowed to maintain an army, but we must be allowed to retain +a large army in Belgium. We must have the commercial control of +Belgium." I said, "I do not see that you have left much for the +Belgians except that King Albert will have the right to reside in +Brussels with an honor guard." And the Chancellor said, "We cannot +allow Belgium to be an outpost (_Vorwerk_) of England"; and +I said, "I do not suppose the English, on the other hand, wish +it to become an outpost of Germany, especially as von Tirpitz +has said that the coast of Flanders should be retained in order +to make war on England and America." I continued, "How about +Northern France?" He said, "We are willing to leave Northern +France, but there must be a rectification of the frontier." I +said, "How about the Eastern frontier?" He said, "We must have +a very substantial rectification of our frontier." I said, "How +about Roumania?" He said, "We shall leave Bulgaria to deal with +Roumania." I said, "How about Serbia?" He said, "A very small +Serbia may be allowed to exist, but that is a question for Austria. +Austria must be left to do what she wishes to Italy, and we must +have indemnities from all countries and all our ships and colonies +back." + +Of course, "rectification of the frontier" is a polite term for +"annexation." + +On the twenty-second of January, 1917, our President addressed +the Senate; and in his address he referred to his Note of the +eighteenth of December, sent to all belligerent governments. In +this address he stated, referring to the reply of the Entente +Powers to his Peace Note of the eighteenth of December, "We are +that much nearer to the definite discussion of the peace which +shall end the present war." + +He referred to the willingness of both contestants to discuss +terms of peace, as follows: "The Central Powers united in reply +which stated merely that they were ready to meet their antagonists +in conference to discuss terms of peace. The Entente Powers have +replied much more definitely and have stated, in general terms, +indeed, but with sufficient definiteness to imply details, the +arrangements, guarantees and acts of reparation which they deem +to be the indispensable conditions of a satisfactory settlement. +We are that much nearer a definite discussion of the peace which +shall end the present war." The President further referred to a +world concert to guarantee peace in the future and said, "The +present war must first be ended, but we owe it to candour and +to a just regard for the opinion of mankind to say that so far +as our participation in guarantees of future peace is concerned, +it makes a great deal of difference in what way and upon what +terms it is ended." He said that the statesmen of both of the +groups of nations at war had stated that it was not part of the +purpose they had in mind to crush their antagonists, and he said +that it must be implied from these assurances that the peace +to come must be "a peace without victory." + +In the course of his address he said: "Statesmen everywhere are +agreed that there should be a united, independent and autonomous +Poland." In another place he said: "So far as practicable, moreover, +every great people now struggling toward a full development of +its resources and its powers should be assured a direct outlet +to the highways of the sea." Where this cannot be done by cession +of territory it can no doubt be arranged by the neutralisation +of direct rights of way; and he closed by proposing in effect +that the nations of the world should adopt the Monroe Doctrine +and that no nation should seek to explain its policy for any +other nation or people. + +After the receipt of the Ultimatum of January thirty-first from +Germany, the Chancellor, in a conversation I had with him, referred +to this Peace Note of December eighteenth and to the speech of +January twenty-second. + +[Illustration: A POSTER FROM THE CHARLEVILLE DISTRICT, SHOWING +THE ALLOTMENT OF FOOD TO EACH PERSON FOR THE FIRST FIFTEEN DAYS +OF MAY, 1916.] + +I must say here that on my return to Germany I went very far +in assuring the Chancellor and other members of the Government +of the President's desire to see peace established in the world; +and I told them that I believed that the President was ready +to go very far in the way of coercing any nation which refused +a reasonable peace; but I also impressed on all the members of +the Government with whom I came in contact my belief that the +election had not in any way altered the policy of the President, +and I warned them of the danger to our good relations if ruthless +submarine warfare should be resumed. + +Von Bethmann-Hollweg, however, at this interview after the +thirty-first of January, said that he had been compelled to take +up ruthless submarine war because it was evident that President +Wilson could do nothing towards peace. He spoke particularly of +the President's speech of January twenty-second and said that +in that speech the President had made it plain that he considered +that the answer of the Entente Powers to his Peace Note formed a +basis for peace, which was a thing impossible for Germany even +to consider; and said further (and this was a criticism I heard +not only from him, but also from many Germans), that when the +President spoke of a united and independent Poland he evidently +meant to take away from Germany that part of Poland which had been +incorporated in the Kingdom of Prussia and give it to this new +and independent Kingdom, thereby bringing the Eastern frontier of +Germany within two hours by motor from Berlin; and that, further, +when the President spoke of giving each nation a highway to the +sea, he meant that the German port of Dantzig should be turned over +to this new State of Poland, thereby not only taking a Prussian +port but cutting the extreme Eastern part of Prussia from the +remainder of the country. I said that these objections appeared +to me very frivolous; that the President, of course, like a clever +lawyer endeavouring to gain his end, which was peace, had said +that all parties were apparently agreed that there should be a +peace; that if Germany were fighting a merely defensive war, +as she had always claimed, she should be greatly delighted when +the President declared that all the weight of America was in +favor of a peace without victory, which meant, of course, that +Germany should be secured from that crushing and dismemberment +which Germany's statesmen had stated so often that they feared. +I said, further, that I was sure that when the President spoke +of the united and independent State of Poland he had not, of +course, had reference to Poland at any particular period of its +history, but undoubtedly to Poland as constituted by Germany +and Austria themselves; and that, in referring to the right of +a nation to have access to the sea, he had in mind Russia and +the Dardanelles rather than to any attempt to take a Prussian +port for the benefit of Poland. + +Von Bethmann-Hollweg said that one of the principal reasons why +Germany had determined upon a resumption of ruthless submarine +warfare was because of this speech of the President to the American +Senate. Of course, the trouble with this feeling and the criticism +of the President's speech made by the Chancellor is that the +orders for the resumption of ruthless submarine warfare had been +given long before the news of the speech came to Germany. + +I had cabled the information collected by Commander Gherardi +as to the orders given to submarines long before the date of +the President's speech, and it happened that on the night after +I had received the German note announcing this resumption I was +taking a walk after dinner about the snow-covered streets of +Berlin. In the course of this walk I met a young German woman of +my acquaintance who was on intimate terms with the Crown Princess. +She was on her way on foot from the opera house, where she had +been with the Crown Princess, to the underground station, for +by this time, of course, taxis had become an unknown luxury in +Berlin, and I joined her. I told her of the Ultimatum which, I +had received at six o'clock that evening from Zimmermann and I +told her that I was sure that it meant the breaking of diplomatic +relations and our departure from Germany. She expressed great +surprise that the submarine warfare was set to commence on the +thirty-first of January and said that weeks before they had been +talking over the matter at the Crown Princess's and that she +had heard then that the orders had been given to commence it on +the fifteenth. In any event it is certain that the orders to the +submarine commanders had been given long prior to the thirty-first +and probably as early as the fifteenth. + +I sincerely believe that the only object of the Germans in making +these peace offers was first to get the Allies, if possible, in +a conference and there detach some or one of them by the offer +of separate terms; or, if this scheme failed, then it was believed +that the general offer and talk about peace would create a sentiment +so favourable to the Germans that they might, without fear of +action by the United States, resume ruthless submarine warfare +against England. + +A week or two before the thirty-first of January, Dr. Solf asked +me if I did not think that it would be possible for the United +States to permit the resumption of ruthless submarine warfare +against Great Britain. He said that three months time was all +that would be required to bring Great Britain to her knees and end +the war. And in fact so cleverly did von Tirpitz, Grand Admiral +von Meuster, the Conservatives and the enemies of the Chancellor +and other advocates of submarine war carry on their propaganda +that the belief was ingrained in the whole of the German nation +that a resumption of this ruthless war would lead within three +months to what all Germans so ardently desired--peace. It was +impossible for any government to resist the popular demand for +the use of this illegal means of warfare, because army and navy +and people were convinced that ruthless submarine war spelled +success and a glorious peace. + +But this peace, of course, meant only a German peace, a peace +as outlined to me by the Chancellor; a peace impossible for the +Allies and even for the world to accept; a peace which would +leave Germany immensely powerful and ready immediately after +the war to take up a campaign against the nations of the Western +hemisphere; a peace which would compel every nation, so long +as German autocracy remained in the saddle, to devote its best +energies, the most fruitful period of each man's life, to +preparations for war. + +On January thirtieth, I received a definite intimation of the +coming Ultimatum the next day and, judging that the hint meant +the resumption of ruthless submarine war, I telegraphed a warning +to the American Ambassadors and Ministers as well as to the State +Department. On January thirty-first at about four o'clock in the +afternoon I received from Zimmermann a short letter of which +the following is a copy: + + "The Secretary of State of the Foreign Office, Zimmermann, + requests the honor of the visit of his Excellency, the + Ambassador of the United States of America, this afternoon + at six o'clock in the Foreign Office, Wilhelmstrasse 75/76. + + "Berlin, the 31st January, 1917." + +Pursuant to this letter, I went to the Foreign Office at six +o'clock. Zimmermann then read to me in German a note from the +Imperial Government, announcing the creation of the war zones +about Great Britain and France and the commencement of ruthless +submarine warfare at twelve P. M. that night. I made no comment, +put the note in my pocket and went back to the Embassy. It was +then about seven P. M. and, of course, the note was immediately +translated and despatched with all speed to America. + +After the despatch of the note I had an interview with the Chancellor +in which he, as I have stated above, criticised both the Peace +Note of December eighteenth as not being definite enough and +the speech to the Senate of January twenty-second; and further +said that he believed that the situation had changed, that, in +spite of what the President had said in the note before the +_Sussex_ settlement, he was now for peace, that he had been +elected on a peace platform, and that nothing would happen. +Zimmermann at the time he delivered the note told me that this +submarine warfare was a necessity for Germany, and that Germany +could not hold out a year on the question of food. He further +said, "Give us only two months of this kind of warfare and we +shall end the war and make peace within three months." + +Saturday, February third, the President announced to Congress +the breaking of diplomatic relations with Germany. The news of +this, of course, did not reach Berlin until the next day; and on +this Saturday afternoon Mrs. Gerard and I had an engagement to go +to the theatre with Zimmermann and Mrs. Friedlaender-Fuld-Mitford, +a young lady whose father is considered the richest man in Berlin, +and who had been married to a young Englishman, named Mitford, a +son of Lord Redesdale. Through no fault on the lady's part, there +had been an annulment of this marriage; and she was occupying a +floor of her own in the handsome house of her father and mother +on the Pariser-Platz in Berlin. We stopped for Mrs. Mitford and +took her to the theatre where we saw a very clever play, I think +by Thoma, called "Die Verlorene Tochter" (The Prodigal Daughter). +Zimmermann did not come to the play but joined us later at the +Friedlaender-Fuld House where we had a supper of four in Mrs. +Miiford's apartments. After supper, while I was talking to +Zimmermann, he spoke of the note to America and said: "During +the past month, this is what I have been doing so often at the +General Headquarters with the Emperor. I often thought of telling +you what was going on as I used to tell you in the old days, +but I thought that you would only say that such a course would +mean a break of diplomatic relations, and so I thought there was +no use in telling you. But as you will see, everything will be +all right. America will do nothing, for President Wilson is for +peace and nothing else. Everything will go on as before. I have +arranged for you to go to the Great General Headquarters and see +the Kaiser next week and everything will be all right." + +The next day, Sunday, we had a German who is connected with the +Foreign Office and his American wife to lunch, and another German +who had been in America, also connected with the Foreign Office. +Just as we were going in to lunch some one produced a copy of the +"_B._Z._", the noon paper published in Berlin, which contained what +seemed to be an authentic account of the breaking of diplomatic +relations by America. The lunch was far from cheerful. The Germans +looked very sad and said practically nothing, while I tried to +make polite conversation at my end of the table. + +The next day I went over to see Zimmermann, having that morning +received the official despatch from Washington, and told him +that I had come to demand my passports. + +Of course, Zimmermann by that time had received the news and +had had time to compose himself. The American correspondents +told me that when he saw them on the day before, he had at first +refused to say anything and then had been rather violent in his +language and had finally shown great emotion. I am sure, from +everything I observed, that the break of diplomatic relations +came as an intense surprise to him and to the other members of +the government, and yet I cannot imagine why intelligent men +should think that the United States of America had fallen so low +as to bear without murmur this sudden kick in the face. + +The police who had always been about our Embassy since the +commencement of the war, were now greatly increased in numbers; +and guarded not only the front of the house, but also the rear and +the surrounding streets; but there was no demonstration whatever +on the part of the people of Berlin. On Tuesday afternoon I went +out for a walk, walking through most of the principal streets +of Berlin, absolutely alone, and on my return to the Embassy +I found Count Montgelas, who, with the rank of Minister, was +at the head of the department which included American affairs +in the Foreign Office. I asked Montgelas why I had not received +my passports, and he said that I was being kept back because +the Imperial Government did not know what had happened to Count +Bernstorff and that there had been rumours that the German ships +in America had been confiscated by our government. I said that +I was quite sure that Bernstorff was being treated with every +courtesy and that the German ships had not been confiscated. I +said, moreover, "I do not see why I have to disprove your idea that +Bernstorff is being maltreated and the German ships confiscated. It +seems to me it is for you to prove this; and, at any event, why +don't you have the Swiss Government, which now represents you, +cable to its Minister in Washington and get the exact facts?" He +said, "Well, you know, the Swiss are not used to cabling." + +He then produced a paper which was a re-affirmation of the treaty +between Prussia and the United States of 1799, with some very +extraordinary clauses added to it. He asked me to read this over +and either to sign it or to get authority to sign it, and said +that if it was not signed it would be very difficult for Americans +to leave the country, particularly the American correspondents. +I read this treaty over and then said, "Of course I cannot sign +this on my own responsibility and I will not cable to my government +unless I can cable in cipher and give them my opinion of this +document." He said, "That is impossible." This treaty was as +follows: + + Agreement between Germany and the United States of America + concerning the treatment of each other's citizens and their + private property after the severance of diplomatic relations. + + _Article_1._ + + After the severance of diplomatic relations between Germany and + the United States of America and in the event of the outbreak of + war between the two Powers the citizens of either party and their + private property in the territory of the other party shall be + treated according to Article 23 of the treaty of amity and + commerce between Prussia and the United States of 11 July, 1799, + with the following explanatory and supplementary clauses. + + _Article_2._ + + German merchants in the United States and American merchants + in Germany shall so far as the treatment of their persons and + their property is concerned be held in every respect on a par + with the other persons mentioned in Article 23. Accordingly + they shall even after the period provided for in Article 23 has + elapsed be entitled to remain and continue their profession in + the country of their residence. + + Merchants as well as the other persons mentioned in Article 23 + may be excluded from fortified places or other places of military + importance. + + _Article_3._ + + Germans in the United States and Americans in Germany shall + be free to leave the country of their residence within the + times and by the routes that shall be assigned to them by the + proper authorities. + + The persons departing shall be entitled to take along their + personal property including money, valuables and bank accounts + excepting such property the exportation of which is prohibited + according to general provisions. + + _Article_4._ + + The protection of Germans in the United States and of Americans + in Germany and of their property shall be guaranteed in accordance + with the laws existing in the countries of either party. They + shall be under no other restrictions concerning the enjoyment of + their private rights and the judicial enforcement of their rights + than neutral residents; they may accordingly not be transferred + to concentration camps nor shall their private property be subject + to sequestration or liquidation or other compulsory alienation + except in cases that under the existing laws apply also to neutrals. + + As a general rule, German property in the United States and + American property in Germany shall not be subject to sequestration + or liquidation or other compulsory alienation under other + conditions than neutral property. + + _Article_5._ + + Patent rights or other protected rights held by Germans in the + United States or Americans in Germany shall not be declared + void; nor shall the exercise of such rights be impeded nor shall + such rights be transferred to others without the consent of the + person entitled thereto; provided that regulations made exclusively + in the interest of the State shall apply. + + _Article_6._ + + Contracts made between Germans and Americans either before or + after the severance of diplomatic relations, also obligations + of all kinds between Germans and Americans shall not be declared + cancelled, void or in suspension except under provisions applicable + to neutrals. + + Likewise the citizens of either party shall not be impeded in + fulfilling their liabilities arising from such obligations either + by injunctions or by other provisions unless these apply also to + neutrals. + + _Article_7._ + + The provisions of the sixth Hague Convention relative to the + treatment of enemy merchant ships at outbreak of hostilities + shall apply to the merchant vessels of either party and their + cargo. + + The aforesaid ships may not be forced to leave port unless at + the same time they be given a pass recognised as binding by all + the enemy sea powers to a home port or a port of an allied country + or to another port of the country in which the ship happens to be. + + _Article_8._ + + The regulations of chapter 3 of the eleventh Hague Convention + relative to certain restrictions in the exercise of the right + of capture in maritime war shall apply to the captains, officers + and members of the crews of merchant ships specified in Article + 7 and of such merchant ships that may be captured in the course + of a possible war. + + _Article_9._ + + This agreement shall apply also to the colonies and other + foreign possessions of either party. + + Berlin, February, 1917. + +I then said, "I shall not cable at all. Why do you come to me with +a proposed treaty after we have broken diplomatic relations and +ask an Ambassador who is held as a prisoner to sign it? Prisoners +do not sign treaties and treaties signed by them would not be +worth anything." And I also said, "After your threat to keep +Americans here and after reading this document, even if I had +authority to sign it I would stay here until hell freezes over +before I would put my name to such a paper." + +Montgelas seemed rather rattled, and in his confusion left the +paper with me--something, I am sure, he did not intend to do +in case of a refusal. Montgelas was an extremely agreeable man +and I think at all times had correctly predicted the attitude +of America and had been against acts of frightfulness, such as +the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_ and the resumption of +ruthless submarine war. I am sure that a gentleman like Montgelas +undertook with great reluctance to carry out his orders in the +matter of getting me to sign this treaty. + +I must cheerfully certify that even the most pro-German American +correspondents in Berlin, when I told them of Montgelas' threat, +showed the same fine spirit as their colleagues. All begged me +not to consider them or their liberty where the interests of +America were involved. + +As soon as diplomatic relations were broken, and I broke them +formally not only in my conversation with Zimmermann of Monday +morning but also by sending over a formal written request for my +passports on the evening of that day, our telegraph privileges were +cut off. I was not even allowed to send telegrams to the American +consuls throughout Germany giving them their instructions. Mail +also was cut off, and the telephone. My servants were not even +permitted to go to the nearby hotel to telephone. In the meantime +we completed our preparations for departure. We arranged to turn +over American interests, and the interests of Roumania and Serbia +and Japan, to the Spanish Embassy; and the interests of Great +Britain to the Dutch. I have said already that I believe that +Ambassador Polo de Bernabe will faithfully protect the interests +of America, and I believe that Baron Gevers will fearlessly fight +the cause of the British prisoners. + +We sold our automobiles; and two beautiful prize winning saddle +horses, one from Kentucky and one from Virginia, which I had +brought with me from America, went on the stage, that is, I sold +them to the proprietor of the circus in Berlin! + +The three tons of food which we had brought with us from America +we gave to our colleagues in the diplomatic corps,--the Spaniards, +Greeks, Dutch and the Central and South Americans. I had many +friends among the diplomats of the two Americas who were all +men of great ability and position in their own country. I think +that most of them know only too well the designs against Central +and South America cherished by the Pan-Germans. + +Finally, I think on the morning of Friday, Mr. Oscar King Davis, +correspondent of the _New_York_Times_, received a wireless +from Mr. Van Anda, editor of the _New_York_Times_, telling +him that Bernstorff and his staff were being treated with every +courtesy and that the German ships had not been confiscated. In +the evening our telephone was reconnected, and we were allowed to +receive some telegrams and to send open telegrams to the consuls, +etc. throughout Germany; and we were notified that we would probably +be allowed to leave the next day in the evening. + +Always followed by spies, I paid as many farewell visits to my +diplomatic colleagues as I was able to see; and on Saturday I +thought that, in spite of the ridiculous treatment accorded us in +cutting off the mail and telephone and in holding me for nearly +a week, I would leave in a sporting spirit: I therefore, had +my servant telephone and ask whether Zimmermann and von +Bethmann-Hollweg would receive me. I had a pleasant farewell +talk of about half an hour with each of them and I expressly told +the Chancellor that I had come to bid him a personal farewell, +not to make a record for any White Book, and that anything he +said would remain confidential. I also stopped in to thank Dr. +Zahn, of the Foreign Office, who had arranged the details of our +departure and gave him a gold cigarette case as a souvenir of +the occasion. At the last moment, the Germans allowed a number +of the consuls and clerks who had been working in the Embassy, +and the American residents in Berlin, to leave on the train with +us; so that we were about one hundred and twenty persons in all +on this train, which left the Potsdamer station at eight-ten in +the evening. The time of our departure had not been publicly +announced, but although the automobiles, etc. in front of the +Embassy might have attracted a crowd, there was no demonstration +whatever; and, in fact, during this week that I was detained in +Berlin I walked allover the city every afternoon and evening, +went into shops, and so on, without encountering any hostile +demonstration. + +There was a large crowd in the station to see us off. All the +Spanish Embassy, Dutch, Greeks and many of our colleagues from +Central and South America were there. There were, from the Foreign +Office, Montgelas, Dr. Roediger, Prittwitz and Horstmann. As the +train pulled out, a number of the Americans left in Berlin who +were on the station platform raised quite a vigorous cheer. + +Two officers had been sent by the Imperial Government to accompany +us on this train; one, a Major von der Hagen, sent by the General +Staff and the other, a representative of the Foreign Office, Baron +Wernher von Ow-Wachendorf. It was quite thoughtful of the Foreign +Office to send this last officer, as it was by our efforts that +he had secured his exchange when he was a prisoner in England; +and he, therefore, would be supposed to entertain kindly feelings +for our Embassy. + +I had ordered plenty of champagne and cigars to be put on the +train and we were first invited to drink champagne with the officers +in the dining car; then they joined us in the private salon car +which we occupied in the end of the train. The journey was +uneventful. Outside some of the stations a number of people were +drawn up who stared at the train in a bovine way, but who made +no demonstration of any kind. + +We went through Wurttemburg and entered Switzerland by way of +Schaffhausen. The two officers left us at the last stop on the +German side. I had taken the precaution before we left Berlin to +find out their names, and, as they left us, I gave each of them +a gold cigarette case inscribed with his name and the date. + +At the first station on the Swiss side a body of Swiss troops +were drawn up, presenting arms, and the Colonel commanding the +Swiss army (there are no generals in Switzerland), attended by +several staff officers, came on the train and travelled with +us nearly to Zurich. + +I started to speak French to one of these staff officers, but +he interrupted me by saying in perfect English, "You do not have +to speak French to me. My name is Iselin, many of my relations +live in New York and I lived there myself some years." + +At Zurich we left the German special train, and were met on the +platform by some grateful Japanese, the American Consul and a +number of French and Swiss newspaper reporters, thus ending our +exodus from Germany. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +LIBERALS AND REASONABLE MEN + +I have already expressed a belief that Germany will not be forced +to make peace because of a revolution, and that sufficient food +will be somehow found to carry the population during at least +another year of war. + +What then offers a prospect of reasonable peace, supposing, of +course, that the Germans fail in the submarine blockade of England +and that the crumbling up of Russia does not release from the +East frontier soldiers enough to break the lines of the British +and French in France? + +I think that it is only by an evolution of Germany herself toward +liberalism that the world will be given such guarantees of future +peace as will justify the termination of this war. + +There is, properly speaking, no great liberal party in the political +arena in Germany. As I have said, the Reichstag is divided roughly +into Conservatives, Roman Catholics, or Centrum, and Social +Democrats. The so-called National Liberal party has in this war +shown itself a branch of the Conservative party, and on some issues +as bitter, as conservative, as the Junkers themselves. Herr +Bassermann and Herr Stresemann have not shown themselves leaders of +liberal thought, nor has their leadership been such as to inspire +confidence in their political sagacity. + +It was Stresemann who on May thirtieth, 1916, said in the Reichstag +referring to President Wilson as a peacemaker, "We thrust the +hand of Wilson aside." On the day following, the day on which +the President announced to Congress the breaking of diplomatic +relations, news of that break had not yet arrived in Berlin and +Herr Stresemann on that peaceful Sunday morning was engaged in +making a speech to the members of the National Liberal party +in which he told them that as a result of his careful study of +the American situation, of his careful researches into American +character and politics, he could assure them that America would +never break with Germany. As he concluded his speech and sat +down amid the applause of his admirers, a German who had been +sitting in the back of the room rose and read from the noon paper, +the "_B._Z._", a despatch from Holland giving the news that +America had broken relations with Germany. The political skill +and foresight of Herr Stresemann may be judged from the above +incident. + +The Socialists, or Social Democrats, more properly speaking, +have shown themselves in opposition to the monarchical form of +government in Germany. This has put them politically, militarily +and socially beyond the pale. + +After a successful French attack in the Champagne, I heard it +said of a German woman, whose husband was thought to be killed, +that her rage and despair had been so great that she had said she +would become a Social Democrat; and her expression was repeated +as showing to what lengths grief had driven her. This girl was +the wife of an ordinary clerk working in Berlin. + +The Social Democrats are not given offices, are not given titles: +they never join the class of "_Rat_," and they cannot hope +to become officers of the army. Did not Lieutenant Forstner, +the notorious centre of the Zabern Affair, promise a reward to +the first one of his men who in case of trouble should shoot +one "of those damn Social Democrats"? + +There is, therefore, no refuge at present politically, for the +reasonable men of liberal inclinations; and it is these liberal +men who must themselves create a liberal party: a party, membership +in which will not entail a loss of business, a loss of prospects +of promotion and social degradation. + +There are many such men in Germany to-day; perhaps some of the +conservative Socialists will join such a party, and there are +men in the government itself whose habits of mind and thought +are not incompatible with membership in a liberal organisation. +The Chancellor himself is, perhaps, at heart a Liberal. He comes +of a banking family in Frankfort and while there stands before +his name the "von" which means nobility, and while he owns a +country estate, the whole turn of his thought is towards a +philosophical liberalism. Zimmermann, the Foreign Secretary, +although the mental excitement caused by his elevation to the +Foreign Office at a time of stress, made him go over to the advocates +of ruthless submarine war, lock, stock and barrel, is nevertheless +at heart a Liberal and violently opposed to a system which draws +the leaders of the country from only one aristocratic class. +Dr. Solf, the Imperial Colonial Minister, while devoted to the +Emperor and his family is a man so reasonable in his views, so +indulgent of the views of others, and indulgent without weakness, +that he would make an ideal leader of a liberalised Germany. +The great bankers, merchants and manufacturers, although they +appreciate the luscious dividends that they have received during +the peaceful years since 1870, nevertheless feel under their +skins the ignominy of living in a country where a class exists +by birth, a class not even tactful enough to conceal its ancient +contempt for all those who soil their hands business or trade. + +In fact such a party is a necessity for Germany as a buffer against +the extreme Social Democrats. + +At the close of the war the soldiers who have fought in the mud +of the trenches for three years will most insistently demand a +redistricting of the Reichstag and an abolition of the inadequate +circle voting of Prussia. And when manhood suffrage comes in +Prussia and when the industrial population of Germany gets that +representation in the Reichstag out of which they have been brazenly +cheated for so many years, it may well be that a great liberal +party will be the only defence of private property against the +assault of an enraged and justly revengeful social democracy. + +The workingmen of Germany have been fooled for a long time. They +constitute that class of which President Lincoln spoke, "You +can fool some of the people all of the time"; and the middle +class of manufacturers, merchants, etc. have acquiesced in the +system because of the profits that they have made. + +The difficulty of making peace with Germany, as at present +constituted, is that the whole world feels that peace made with +its present government would not be lasting; that such a peace +would mean the detachment of some of the Allies from the present +world alliance against Germany; preparation by Germany, in the +light of her needs as disclosed by this war; and the declaration +of a new war in which there would be no battle of the Marne to +turn back the tide of German world conquest. + +For a long time before this war, radicals in Great Britain pinned +a great faith to the Socialist party of Germany. How little that +faith was justified appeared in July and August of 1914 when the +Socialist party tamely voted credits for the war; a war declared +by the Emperor on the mere statement that it was a defensive +war; declared because it was alleged that certain invasions of +German territory, never since substantiated, had taken place. + +The Socialist party is divided. It is a great pity that the world +cannot deal with men of the type of Scheidemann, who, in other +democracies, would appear so conservative as to be almost +reactionary. But Scheidemann and his friends, while they have, +in their attempted negotiations with the Socialists of other +countries, the present protection of the Imperial Government, +will have no hand in dictating terms of peace so long as that +government is in existence. They are being used in an effort +to divide the Allies. + +As President Wilson said in his message to Russia of May +twenty-sixth, 1917: "The war has begun to go against Germany, +and, in their desperate desire to escape the inevitable ultimate +defeat, those who are in authority in Germany are using every +possible instrumentality, are making use even of the influence of +the groups and parties among their own subjects to whom they have +never been just or fair or even tolerant to promote a propaganda on +both sides of the sea which will preserve for them their influence +at home and their power abroad, to the undoing of the very men +they are using." + +There is an impression abroad that the Social Democratic party +of Germany, usually known abroad as the Socialist party, partakes +of at least some of the characteristics of a great liberal party. +This is far from being the case. By their acts, if not by their +express declarations, they have shown themselves as opposed to +the monarchical form of government and their leaders are charged +with having declared themselves openly in favour of free love +and against religion. The Roman Catholic Church recognises in +Social Democracy its greatest enemy, and has made great efforts +to counteract its advance by fostering a sort of Roman Catholic +trades-union for a religious body of Socialists. The Social Democrat +in Germany is almost an outcast. Although one third of the members +of the Reichstag belong to this party, its members are never +called to hold office in the government; and the attitude of +the whole of the governing class, of all the professors, +school-teachers, priests of both Protestant and Roman Catholic +religions of the prosperous middle classes, is that of violent +opposition to the doctrines of Social Democracy. The world must +entertain no illusion that the Social Democratic leaders speak +for Germany. + +If the industrial populations had their fair share of representation +in the Reichstag they might perhaps even control that body. But, +as I have time and again reiterated, the Reichstag has only the +power of public opinion; and the Germany of to-day is ruled by +officials appointed from above downwards. All of these officials in +Germany must be added to the other classes that I have mentioned. +There are more officials there than in any other country in the +world. As they owe their very existence to the government, they +must not only serve that government, but also make the enemies +of that government their own. Therefore, they and the circle +of their connections are opponents of the Social Democrats. + +All this shows how difficult it is at present for the men of +reasonable and liberal views, who do not wish to declare themselves +against both religion and morality, to find a political refuge. + +The Chancellor, himself a liberal at heart, as I have said, has +declared that there must be changes in Germany. It is perhaps +within the bounds of probability that a great new liberal party +will be formed to which I have referred, composed of the more +conservative Social Democrats, of the remains of the National +Liberal and Progressive parties and of the more liberal of the +Conservatives. The important question is then whether the Roman +Catholic party or Centrum will voluntarily dissolve and its members +cease to seek election merely as representatives of the Roman +Catholic Church. + +It is perhaps too much to expect that the Centrum party, as a +whole and as at present constituted, will declare for liberalism +and parliamentary government and for a fair redistricting of +the divisions in Germany which elect members to the Reichstag, +but there are many wise and farseeing men in this party; and +its leaders, Dr. Spahn and Erzberger, are fearless and able men. + +For some years a movement has been going on in the Centrum party +looking to this end. Many members believed that the time had +come when it was no longer necessary that the Roman Catholics +in order to safeguard their religious liberties continue the +political existence of the Centrum, and attempts were made to +bring about this change. It was decided adversely, however, by +the Roman Catholics. But the question is not dead. Voluntary +dissolution of the Centrum as a Roman Catholic party would +immediately bring about a creation of a true liberal party to +which all Germans could belong without a loss of social prestige, +without becoming declared enemies of the monarchy and without +declaring themselves against religion and morality. + +At the Congress which will meet after the war it will be easy +for the nations of the world to deal with the representatives +of a liberal Germany, with representatives of a government still +monarchical in form, but possessed of either a constitution like +that of the United States or ruled by a parliamentary government. +I believe that the tendency of German liberalism is towards the +easiest transition, that of making the Chancellor and his ministers +responsible to the Reichstag and bound to resign after a vote +of want of confidence by that body. + +At the time of the Zabern Affair, Scheidemann claimed that the +resignation of the Chancellor must logically follow a vote of +want of confidence; and it was von Bethmann-Hollweg who refused +to resign, saying that he was responsible to the Emperor alone. +It requires no violent change to bring about this establishment +of parliamentary government, and, if the members of the Reichstag +should be elected from districts fairly constituted, the world +would then be dealing with a liberalised Germany, and a Germany +which has become liberalised without any violent change in the +form of its government. + +Of course, coincident with this parliamentary reform, the vicious +circle system of voting in Prussia must end. + +This change to a government by a responsible ministry can be +accomplished under the constitution of the German Empire by a +mere majority vote of the Reichstag and a vote in the Bundesrat, +in which less than fourteen votes are against the proposed change +in the constitution. This means that the consent of the Emperor +as Prussian King must be obtained, and that of a number of the +rulers of the German States. + +In the reasonable liberalisation of Germany, if it comes, Theodor +Wolff and his father-in-law, Mosse, will play leading parts. +The great newspaper, the _Tageblatt_, which Mosse owns and +Wolff edits, has throughout the war been a beacon light at once +of reason and of patriotism. And other great newspapers will +take the same enlightened course. + +I am truly sorry for Georg Bernhard, the talented editor of the +_Vossiche_Zeitung_, who, a Liberal and a Jew, wears the +livery of Junkerdom, I am sure to his great distaste. + +After I left Germany the _Vossiche_Zeitung_ made the most +ridiculous charges against me, such as that I issued American +passports to British subjects. The newspaper might as well have +solemnly charged that I sent notes to the Foreign Office in sealed +envelopes. Having charge of British interests, I could not issue +British passports to British citizens allowed to leave Germany, +but, according to universal custom in similar cases and the express +consent of the Imperial Foreign Office, I gave these returning +British, American passports superstamped with the words "British +subject." A mare's nest, truly! + +The fall of von Bethmann-Hollweg was a triumph of kitchen intrigue +and of Junkerism. I believe that he is a liberal at heart, that +it was against his best judgment that the ruthless submarine +war was resumed, the pledges of the _Sussex_ Note broken +and Germany involved in war with America. If he had resigned, +rather than consent to the resumption of V-boat war, he would +have stood out as a great Liberal rallying point and probably +have returned to a more real power than he ever possessed. But +half because of a desire to retain office, half because of a +mistaken loyalty to the Emperor, he remained in office at the +sacrifice of his opinions; and when he laid down that office no +title of Prince or even of Count waited him as a parting gift. +In his retirement he will read the lines of Schiller--a favourite +quotation in Germany--"Der Mohr hat seine Schuldigkeit gethan, +der Mohr kann gehen." "The Moor has done his work, the Moor can +go." And in his old age he will exclaim, as Shakespeare makes +the great Chancellor of Henry the Eighth exclaim, "Oh Cromwell, +Cromwell! Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served +my King, He would not, in mine age, have left me naked to mine +enemies." But this God is not the private War God of the Prussians +with whom they believe they have a gentlemen's working agreement, +but the God of Christianity, of humanity and of all mankind. + +It would have been easier for Germany to make peace with von +Bethmann-Hollweg at the helm. The whole world knows him and honours +him for his honesty. + +Helfferich remained as Vice-Chancellor and Minister of the Interior: +a powerful, and agile intellect, a man, I am sure, opposed to +militarism. Reasonable in his views, one can sit at the council +table with him and arrive at compromises and results, but his +intense patriotism and surpassing ability make him an opponent +to be feared. + +Kuhlmann has the Foreign Office. Far more wily than Zimmermann, +he will continue to strive to embroil us with Japan and Mexico, +but he will not be caught. Second in command in London, he reported +then that England would enter the war. The rumours scattered +broadcast, as he took office, to the effect that he was opposed +to ruthless V-boat war were but evidences of a more skilful hand +in a campaign to predispose the world in his favour and, therefore, +to assist him in any negotiations he might have on the carpet. +Beware of the wily Kuhlmann! + +Baiting the Chancellor is the favourite sport of German political +life. No sooner does the Kaiser name a Chancellor than hundreds +of little politicians, Reichstag members, editors, reporters +and female intriguers try to drive him from office. When von +Bethmann-Hollweg showed an inclination towards Liberalism, and +advocated a juster electoral system for Prussia, the Junkers, the +military and the upholders of the caste system joined their forces +to those of the usual intriguers; and it was only a question of +time until the Chancellor's official head fell in the basket. + +His successor is a Prussian bureaucrat. No further description +is necessary. + +Of course no nation will permit itself to be reformed from without. +The position of the world in arms with reference to Germany is +simply this. It is impossible to make peace with Germany as at +present constituted, because that peace will be but a truce, +a short breathing space before the German military autocrats +again send the sons of Germany to death in the trenches for the +advancement of the System and the personal glory and advantage +of stuffy old generals and prancing princes. + +The world does not believe that a free Germany will needlessly +make war, believe in war for war's sake or take up the profession +of arms as a national industry. + +The choice lies with the German people. And how admirably has +our great President shown that people that we war not with them +but with the autocracy which has led them into the shambles of +dishonour. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE GERMAN PEOPLE IN WAR + +With the declaration of war the ultimate power in Germany was +transferred from the civil to the military authorities. + +At five o'clock on the afternoon of Friday, and immediately after +the declaration of a State of War, the Guard of the Grenadier +Regiment Kaiser Alexander, under the command of a Lieutenant with +four drummers, took its place before the monument of Frederick +the Great in the middle of the Unter den Linden. The drummers +sounded a ruffle on their drums and the Lieutenant read an order +beginning with the words "By all highest order: A State of War +is proclaimed in Berlin and in the Province of Brandenburg." +This order was signed by General von Kessel as Over-Commander +of the Mark of Brandenburg; and stated that the complete power +was transferred to him; that the civil officials might remain +in office, but must obey the orders and regulations of the +Over-Commander; that house-searchings and arrests by officials +thereto empowered could take place at any time; that strangers +who could not show good reason for remaining in Berlin, had +twenty-four hours in which to leave; that the sale of weapons, +powder and explosives to civilians was forbidden; and that civilians +were forbidden to carry weapons without permission of the proper +authorities. + +The same transfer of authority took place in each army +corps--_Bezirk_, or province or district in Germany; and +in each army corps district or province the commanding general +took over the ultimate power. In Berlin it was necessary to create +a new officer, the Over-Commander of the Mark, because two army +corps, the third and the army corps of the guards, had their +head-quarters in Berlin. These army corps commanders were not +at all bashful about the use of the power thus transferred to +them. Some of them even prescribed the length of the dresses +to be worn by the women; and many women, having followed the +German sport custom of wearing knickerbockers in the winter sports +resorts of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Generalkommando, or +Headquarters for Bavaria issued in January, 1917, the following +order: "The appearance of many women in Garmisch-Partenkirchen +has excited lively anger and indignation in the population there. +This bitterness is directed particularly against certain women, +frequently of ripe age, who do not engage in sports, but nevertheless +show themselves in public continually clad in knickerbockers. It +has even happened that women so dressed have visited churches +during the service. Such behaviour is a cruelty to the earnest +minds of the mountain population and, in consequence, there are +often many disagreeable occurrences in the streets. Officials, +priests and private citizens have turned to the Generalkommando +with the request for help; and the Generalkommando has, therefore, +empowered the district officials in Garmisch-Partenkirchen to +take energetic measures against this misconduct; if necessary +with the aid of the police." + +I spent two days at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in February, 1916. +Some of the German girls looked very well in their "knickers," +but I agree with the Generalkommando that the appearance of some +of the older women was "cruelty" not only to the "earnest mountain +population" but to any observer. + +These corps commanders are apparently responsible direct to the +Emperor; and therefore much of the difficulty that I had concerning +the treatment of prisoners was due to this system, as each corps +commander considered himself supreme in his own district not +only over the civil and military population but over the prison +camps within his jurisdiction. + +On the fourth of August, 1914, a number of laws were passed, +which had been evidently prepared long in advance, making various +changes made necessary by war, such as alteration of the Coinage +Law, the Bank Law, and the Law of Maximum Prices. Laws as to +the high prices were made from time to time. For instance, the +law of the twenty-eighth of October, 1914, provided in detail +the maximum prices for rye in different parts of Germany. The +maximum price at wholesale per German ton of native rye must +not exceed 220 marks in Berlin, 236 marks in Cologne, 209 marks +in Koenigsberg, 228 marks in Hamburg, 235 marks in Frankfort a/M. + +The maximum price for the German ton of native wheat was set at +forty marks per ton higher than the above rates for rye. This +maximum price was made with reference to deliveries without sacks +and for cash payments. + +The law as to the maximum prices applied to all objects of daily +necessity, not only to food and fodder but to oil, coal and wood. +Of course, these maximum prices were changed from time to time, +but I think I can safely state that at no time in the war, while +I was in Berlin, were the simple foods more expensive than in +New York. + +The so-called "war bread," the staple food of the population, +which was made soon after the commencement of the war, was composed +partially of rye and potato flour. It was not at all unpalatable, +especially when toasted; and when it was seen that the war would +not be as short as the Germans had expected, the bread cards +were issued. That is, every Monday morning each person was given +a card which had annexed to it a number of little perforated +sections about the size of a quarter of a postage stamp, each +marked with twenty-five, fifty or one hundred. The total of these +figures constituted the allowance of each person in grammes per +week. The person desiring to buy bread either at a baker's or in +a restaurant must turn in these little stamped sections for an +amount equivalent to the weight of bread purchased. Each baker +was given a certain amount of meal at the commencement of each +week, and he had to account for this meal at the end of the week +by turning in its equivalent in bread cards. + +As food became scarce, the card system was applied to meat, potatoes, +milk, sugar, butter and soap. Green vegetables and fruits were +exempt from the card system, as were for a long time chickens, +ducks, geese, turkeys and game. Because of these exemptions the +rich usually managed to live well, although the price of a goose +rose to ridiculous heights. There was, of course, much underground +traffic in cards and sales of illicit or smuggled butter, etc. +The police were very stern in their enforcement of the law and +the manager of one of the largest hotels in Berlin was taken to +prison because he had made the servants give him their allowance +of butter, which he in turn sold to the rich guests of the hotel. + +No one over six years of age at the time I left could get milk +without a doctor's certificate. One result of this was that the +children of the poor were surer of obtaining milk than before +the war, as the women of the Frauendienst and social workers +saw to it that each child had its share. + +The third winter of the war, owing to a breakdown of means of +transportation and want of laborers, coal became very scarce. +All public places, such as theatres, picture galleries, museums, +and cinematograph shows, were closed in Munich for want of coal. +In Berlin the suffering was not as great but even the elephants +from Hagenbeck's Show were pressed into service to draw the coal +carts from the railway stations. + +Light was economized. All the apartment houses (and all Berlin +lives in apartment houses) were closed at nine o'clock. Stores +were forbidden to illuminate their show windows and all theatres +were closed at ten. Only every other street electric light was +lit; of the three lights in each lamp, only one. + +As more and more men were called to the front, women were employed +in unusual work. The new underground road in Berlin is being +built largely by woman labour. This is not so difficult a matter +in Berlin as in New York, because Berlin is built upon a bed +of sand and the difficulties of rock excavation do not exist. +Women are employed on the railroads, working with pickaxes on +the road-bed. Women drive the great yellow post carts of Berlin. +There were women guards on the underground road, women conductors +on the tramways and women even become motor men on the tramcars. +Banks, insurance companies and other large business institutions +were filled with women workers who invaded the sacred precincts +of many military and governmental offices. + +A curious development of the hate of all things foreign was the +hunt led by the Police President of Berlin, von Jagow (a cousin +of the Foreign Minister), for foreign words. Von Jagow and his +fellow cranks decided that all words of foreign origin must be +expunged from the German language. The title of the Hotel Bristol +on the Unter den Linden disappeared. The Hotel Westminster on +the same street became Lindenhof. There is a large hotel called +"The Cumberland," with a pastry department over which there was +a sign, the French word, _Confisserie_. The management was +compelled to take this sign down, but the hotel was allowed to +retain the name of Cumberland, because the father-in-law of the +Kaiser's only daughter is the Duke of Cumberland. The word +"chauffeur" was eliminated, and there, were many discussions as +to what should be substituted. Many declared for Kraftwagenfuhrer +or "power wagon driver." + +But finally the word was Germanised as "Schauffoer." Prussians +took down the sign, _Confektion_, but the climax came when +the General in command of the town of Breslau wrote a confectioner +telling him to stop the use of the word "_bonbon_" in selling +his candy. The confectioner, with a sense of humour and a nerve +unusual in Germany, wrote back to the General that he would gladly +discontinue the use of the word "_bonbon_" when the General +ceased to call himself "General," and called the attention of +this high military authority to the fact that "General" was as +much a French word as "_bonbon_." + +Unusual means were adopted in order to get all the gold coins +in the country into the Imperial Bank. There were signs in every +surface and underground car which read, "Whoever keeps back a +gold coin injures the Fatherland." And if a soldier presented +to his superiors a twenty mark gold piece, he received in return +twenty marks in paper money and two days leave of absence. In +like manner a school boy who turned in ten marks in gold received +ten marks in paper and was given a half holiday. Cinematograph +shows gave these patrons who paid in gold an extra ticket, good +for another day. An American woman residing at Berlin was awakened +one morning at eight o'clock by two police detectives who told +her that they had heard that she had some gold coins in her +possession, and that if she did not turn them in for paper money +they would wreck her apartment in their search for them. She, +therefore, gave them the gold which I afterwards succeeded in +getting the German Government to return to her. Later, the export +of gold was forbidden, and even travellers arriving with gold +were compelled to give it up in return for paper money. + +While, of course, I cannot ascertain the exact amounts, I found, +nevertheless, that great quantities of food and other supplies +came into Germany from Holland and the Scandinavian countries, +particularly from Sweden. Now that we are in the war we should +take strong measures and cut off exports to these countries which +export food, raw material, etc. to Germany. Sweden is particularly +active in this traffic, but I understand that sulphur pyrites +are sent from Norway, and sulphuric acid made therefrom is an +absolute essential to the manufacture of munitions of war. + +Potash, which is found as a mineral only in Germany and Austria, +was used in exchange of commodities with Sweden and in this way +much copper, lard, etc. reached Germany. + +Early in the summer of 1915, the first demonstration took place +in Berlin. About five hundred women collected in front of the +Reichstag building. They were promptly suppressed by the police +and no newspaper printed an account of the occurrence. These +women were rather vague in their demands. They called von Buelow +an old fat-head for his failure in Italy and complained that the +whipped cream was not so good as before the war. There was some +talk of high prices for food, and the women all said that they +wanted their men back from the trenches. + + * * * * * + +Early summer brought also a number of cranks to Berlin. Miss Jane +Addams and her fellow suffragists, after holding a convention +in Holland, moved on Berlin. I succeeded in getting both the +Chancellor and von Jagow to consent to receive them, a meeting to +which they looked forward with unconcealed perturbation. However, +one of them seems to have impressed Miss Addams, for, as I write +this, I read in the papers that she is complaining that we should +not have gone to war because we thereby risk hurting somebody's +feelings. + + * * * * * + +On July twenty-seventh, 1915, I reported that I had learned that +the Germans were picking out the Revolutionists and Liberals +from the many Russian prisoners of war, furnishing them with +money and false passports and papers, and sending them back to +Russia to stir up a revolution. + + * * * * * + +A German friend of mine told me that a friend of his who manufactured +field glasses had received a large order from the Bulgarian +Government. This manufacturer went to the Foreign Office and +asked whether he should deliver the goods. He was told not only +to deliver them but to do it as quickly as possible. By learning +of this I was able to predict long in advance the entry of Bulgaria +on the side of the Central Powers. + + * * * * * + +Even a year after the commencement of the war there were reasonable +people in Germany. I met Ballin, head of the great Hamburg American +Line, on August ninth. I said to him, "When are you going to +stop this crazy fighting?" The next day Ballin called on me and +said that the sensible people of Germany wanted peace and that +without annexation. He told me that every one was afraid to talk +peace, that each country thought it a sign of weakness, and that +he had advised the Chancellor to put a statement in an official +paper to say that Germany fought only to defend herself and was +ready to make an honourable peace. He told me that the Emperor at +that time was against the annexation of Belgium. + + * * * * * + +In calculating the great war debt built up by Germany, it must +not be forgotten that German municipalities and other political +districts have incurred large debts for war purposes, such as +extra relief given to the wives and children of soldiers. + + * * * * * + +In November, 1915, there were food disturbances and a serious +agitation against a continuance of the war; and, in Leipzig, +a Socialist paper was suppressed. + + * * * * * + +The greatest efforts were made at all times to get in gold; and +some time before I left Germany an advertisement was published +in the newspapers requesting Germans to give up their jewelry for +the Fatherland. Many did so: among them, I believe, the Empress +and other royalties. + + * * * * * + +In December, 1915, a prominent banker in Berlin said to me that +the Germans were sick of the war; that the Krupps and other big +industries were making great sums of money and were prolonging +the war by insisting upon the annexation of Belgium; and that +the Junkers were also in favour of the continuance of the war +because of the fact that they were getting four or five times +the money for their products while their work was being done by +prisoners. He said that the _Kaufleute_ (merchant middle class) +will have to pay the cost of the war and that the Junkers will +not be taxed. + + * * * * * + +In December, butter became very scarce and the women waiting +in long lines before the shops often rushed the shops. In this +month many copper roofs were removed from buildings in Berlin. +I was told by a friend in the Foreign Office that the notorious +von Rintelen was sent to America to buy up the entire product of +the Dupont powder factories, and that he exceeded his authority +if he did anything else. + +In December, on the night of the day of the peace interpellation +in the Reichstag a call was issued by placards for a meeting +on the Unter den Linden. I went out on the streets during the +afternoon and found that the police had so carefully divided +the city into districts that it was impossible for a crowd of +any size to gather on the Unter den Linden. There was quite a +row at the session in the Reichstag. Scheidemann, the Socialist, +made a speech very moderate in tone; but he was answered by the +Chancellor and then an endeavour was made to close the debate. +The Socialists made such a noise, however, that the majority gave +way and another prominent Socialist, Landsberger, was allowed +to speak for the Socialists. He also made a reasonable speech +in the course of which he said that even Socialists would not +allow Alsace-Lorraine to go back to France. He made use of a +rather good phrase, saying that the "Dis-United States of Europe +were making war to make a place for the United States of America." + + * * * * * + +The banks sent out circulars to all holders of safe deposit boxes, +asking them to disclose the contents. This was part of the campaign +to get in hoarded gold. + + * * * * * + +In January, 1916, we had many visitors. S. S. McClure, Hermann +Bernstein, Inez Milholland Boissevain--all of the Ford Peace +Ship--appeared in Berlin. I introduced Mrs. Boissevain to Zimmermann +who admired her extremely. + + * * * * * + +In January, 1916, I visited Munich and from there a Bavarian +officer prison camp and the prison camp for private soldiers, +both at Ingolstadt. I also conferred with Archdeacon Nies of +the American Episcopal Church who carried on a much needed work +in visiting the prison camps in Bavaria. + + * * * * * + +The American Colony in Munich maintained with the help of friends +in America, a Red Cross hospital under the able charge of Dr. +Jung, a Washington doctor, and his wife. The nursing was done by +American and German girls. The American Colony at Munich also fed +a number of school children every day. I regret to say, however, +that many of the Americans in Munich were loud in their abuse of +President Wilson and their native country. + + * * * * * + +In March, 1916, I was sounded on the question of Germany's sending +an unofficial envoy, like Colonel House, to America to talk +informally to the President and prominent people. I was told that +Solf would probably be named. + + * * * * * + +In 1916, the importation of many articles of luxury into Germany +was forbidden. This move was naturally made in order to keep +money in the country. + + * * * * * + +A Dane who had a quantity of manganese in Brazil sold it to a +Philadelphia firm for delivery to the United States Steel Company. +The German Government in some way learned of this and the Dane +was arrested and put in jail. His Minister had great difficulty +in getting him out. + + * * * * * + +Liebknecht, in April of 1916, made matters lively at the Reichstag +sessions. During the Chancellor's speech, Liebknecht interrupted +him and said that the Germans were not free; next he denied that +the Germans had not wished war; and, another time, he called +attention to the attempts of the Germans to induce the Mohammedan +and Irish prisoners of war to desert to the German side. Liebknecht +finally enraged the government supporters by calling out that +the subscription to the loan was a swindle. + + * * * * * + +After the _Sussex_ settlement I think that the Germans wished +to inaugurate an era of better feeling between Germany and the +United States. At any rate, and in answer to many anonymous attacks +made against me, the _North_German_Gazette_, the official +newspaper, published a sort of certificate from the government +to the effect that I was a good boy and that the rumours of my +bitter hostility to Germany were unfounded. + + * * * * * + +In May, 1916, Wertheim, head of the great department store in +Berlin, told me that they had more business than in peace times. + + * * * * * + +Early in June 1 had two long talks with Prince von Buelow. He +speaks English well and is suspected by his enemies of having +been polishing it up lately in order to make ready for possible +peace conferences. He is a man of a more active brain than the +present Chancellor, and is very restless and anxious in some +way to break into the present political situation. + + * * * * * + +In June, the anonymous attacks on the Chancellor by pamphlet +and otherwise, incensed him to such a degree that he made an +open answer in the Reichstag and had rather the best of the +situation. Many anonymous lies and rumours were flying about +Berlin at this period, and even Helfferich had to deny publicly +the anonymous charges that he had been anonymously attacking +the Chancellor. + + * * * * * + +In July, the committee called the National Committee for an +Honourable Peace was formed with Prince Wedel at its head. Most +of the people in this League were friends of the Chancellor, and +one of the three real heads was the editor of the +_Frankfurter_Zeitung_, the Chancellor's organ. It was planned that +fifty speakers from this committee would begin to speak all over +Germany on August first, but when they began to speak their views +were so dissimilar and the speeches of most of them so ridiculous +that the movement failed. + + * * * * * + +In August, I spent two Saturdays and Sundays at Heringsdorf, +a summer resort on the Baltic. Before going there I had to get +special permission from the military authorities through the +Foreign Office, as foreigners are not allowed to reside on the +coast of Germany. Regulations that all windows must be darkened +at night and no lights shown which could be seen from the sea +were strictly enforced by the authorities. + +There are three bathing places. In each of them the bath houses, +etc. surround three sides of a square, the sea forming the fourth +side. Bathing is allowed only on this fourth side for a space +of sixty-five yards long. One of these bathing places is for +women and one for men, and the third is the so-called Familienbad +(family bath) where mixed bathing is allowed. German women are +very sensible in the matter of their bathing costumes and do +not wear the extraordinary creations seen in America. They wear +bathing sandals but no stockings, and, as most of them have fine +figures but dress badly, they appear at their best at Heringsdorf. +Both sea and air seemed somewhat cold for bathing. On account +of their sensible dress, most of the German women are expert +swimmers. + +I noticed one very handsome blonde girl who sat on her bathing +mantle exciting the admiration of the beach because of her fine +figure. She suddenly dived into the pockets of the bathing mantle +and produced an enormous black bread sandwich which she proceeded +to consume quite unconsciously, after which she swam out to sea. +No healthy German can remain long separated from food; and I +noticed in the prospectus of the different boarding-houses at +Heringsdorf that patrons were offered, in addition to about four +meals or more a day, an extra sandwich to take to the beach to +be consumed during the bathing hour. + + * * * * * + +There is a beautiful little English church in Berlin which was +especially favoured by the Kaiser's mother during her life. Because +of this, the Kaiser permitted this church to remain open, and +the services were continued during the war. The pastor, Rev. Mr. +Williams, obtained permission to visit the British prisoners, +and most devotedly travelled from one prison camp to another. +Both he and his sister, whose charitable work for the British +deserves mention, were at one time thrown into jail, charged +with spying. + + * * * * * + +I at first attended the hybrid American church, but when, in +1915, I think, the committee hired a German _woman_ preacher +I ceased to attend. The American, the Reverend Dr. Crosser, who +was in charge when I arrived in Berlin left, to my everlasting +regret, in the spring before the war. + + * * * * * + +Poor Creelman, the celebrated newspaper correspondent, died in +Berlin. We got him in to a good hospital and some one from the +Embassy visited him every day. + +The funeral services were conducted in the American Church by +the Rev. Dr. Dickie, long a resident of Berlin, whose wife had +presented the library to the American church. The Foreign Office +sent Herr Horstmann as its representative. + + * * * * * + +While to-day all royalties and public men pose for the movies, +Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria and his family are probably the first +royalties to act in a cinematograph. In 1916, there was released +in Berlin a play in which Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria, his wife +and two daughters by a former wife appeared, acting as Bulgarian +royalties in the development of the plot. + + * * * * * + +The difference between von Jagow and Zimmermann was that von +Jagow had lived abroad, had met people from all countries and +knew that there was much to learn about the psychology of the +inhabitants of countries other than Germany. Zimmermann, in the +early part of his career, had been consul at Shanghai; and, on +his way back, had passed through America, spending two days in +San Francisco and three in New York. He seemed to think that +this transcontinental trip had given him an intimate knowledge +of American character. Von Jagow, on the other hand, almost as +soon as war began, spent many hours talking to me about America +and borrowed from me books and novels on that country. The novel +in which he took the greatest interest was "Turmoil," by Booth +Tarkington. + + * * * * * + +I think there must have been a period quite recently when the +German Government tried to imbue the people with a greater degree +of frightfulness, because all of us in visiting camps, etc. observed +that the _landsturm_ men or older soldiers were much more merciful +than the younger ones. + + * * * * * + +Alexander Cochran, a New York yachtsman, volunteered to become a +courier between the London Embassy and ours. On his first trip, +although he had two passports (his regular passport and a special +courier's passport), he was arrested and compelled to spend the +night on the floor of the guard-room at the frontier town of +Bentheim. This ended his aspirations to be a courier. He is now +a commander in the British Navy, having joined it with his large +steam yacht, the _Warrior_ some time before the United States +entered the war. In the piping times of peace he had been the +guest of the Emperor at Kiel. + + * * * * * + +A British prisoner, who escaped from Ruhleben, was caught in a +curious manner. Prisoners in Ruhleben received bread from outside, +as I have explained in the chapter on prisoners of war. This bread +is white, something unknown in Germany since the war. The escaped +prisoner took with him some sandwiches made of the bread he had +received in Ruhleben and most incautiously ate one of these +sandwiches in a railway station. He was immediately surrounded +by a crowd of Germans anxious to know where he had obtained the +white bread, and, in this way, was detected and returned to prison. + + * * * * * + +On our way out in September, 1916, we were given a large dinner +in Copenhagen by our skilful minister there, the Hon. Maurice +F. Egan, who has devoted many years of his life to the task of +adding the three beautiful Danish islands to the dominions of the +United States. He is an able diplomat, very popular in Copenhagen, +where he is dean of the diplomatic corps. At this dinner we met +Countess Hegerman-Lindencron, whose interesting books, "The Sunny +Side of Diplomatic Life" and "The Courts of Memory," have had +a large circulation in America. In Copenhagen, too, both on the +way out and in, we lunched with Count Rantzau-Brockedorff, then +German Minister there. Count Rantzau is skilful and wily, and not +at all military in his instincts; and, I should say, far more +inclined to arrive at a reasonable compromise than the average +German diplomat. He is a charming International, with none of the +rough points and aggressive manners which characterise so many +Prussian officials. + + * * * * * + +In judging the German people, we must remember that, while they +have made great progress in the last forty years in commerce +and chemistry, the very little liberty they possess is a plant +of very recent growth. About the year 1780, Frederick the Great +having sent some money to restore the burned city of Greiffenberg, +in Silesia, the magistrates of that town called upon him to thank +him. They kneeled and their spokesman said, "We render unto your +Majesty in the name of the inhabitants of Greiffenberg, our humble +thanks for the most gracious gift which your Majesty deigned to +bestow in aid and to assist us in rebuilding our homes. + +"The gratitude of such dust as we, is, as we are aware, of no +moment or value to you. We shall, however, implore God to grant +your Majesty His divine favours in return for your royal bounty." + +Too many Germans, to-day, feel that they are mere dust before +the almost countless royalties of the German Empire. And these +royalties are too prone to feel that the kingdoms, dukedoms and +principalities of Germany and their inhabitants are their private +property. The Princes of Nassau and Anspach and Hesse, at the +time of our Revolution, sold their unfortunate subjects to the +British Government to be exported to fight the Americans. Our +American soil covers the bones of many a poor German peasant +who gave up his life in a war from which he gained nothing. + + * * * * * + +When Frederick the Great, the model and exemplar of all German +royalties; died in 1786, he disposed of the Kingdom of Prussia +in his will as if it had been one of his horses. "I bequeath +unto my dear nephew, Frederick William, as unto my immediate +successor, the Kingdom of Prussia, the provinces, towns, palaces, +forts, fortresses, all ammunition and arsenals, all lands mine +by inheritance or right of conquest, the crown jewels, gold and +silver service of plate in Berlin, country houses, collections +of coins, picture galleries, gardens, and so forth." Contrast +this will with the utterances of Washington and Hamilton made +at the same time! + +In the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg, serfdom was not abolished +until 1819. + + * * * * * + +The spies and the influencers of American correspondents made +their headquarters at a large Berlin hotel. A sketch of their +activities is given by de Beaufort in his book, "Behind the German +Veil." + + * * * * * + +Among the American correspondents in Berlin during the war great +credit should be given to Carl W. Ackerman and Seymour B. Conger, +correspondents of the United and Associated Presses respectively, +who at all times and in spite of their surroundings and in the +face of real difficulties preserved their Americanism unimpaired +and refused to succumb to the alluring temptations held out to +them. I do not mean to imply that the other correspondents were +not loyal, but the pro-Germanism of many of them unfortunately +gave the Imperial Foreign Office and the great general staff a +wrong impression of Americans. It is the splendid patriotism +under fire of Ackerman and Conger that deserves special mention. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +LAST + +I was credited by the Germans with having hoodwinked and jollied +the Foreign Office and the Government into refraining for two +years from using illegally their most effective weapon. + +This, of course, is not so. I always told the Foreign Office the +plain simple truth and the event showed that I correctly predicted +the attitude of America. + +Our American national game, poker, has given us abroad an unfair +reputation. We are always supposed to be bluffing. A book was +published in Germany about the President called, "President Bluff." + +I only regret that those high in authority in Germany should +have preferred to listen to pro-German correspondents who posed +as amateur super-Ambassadors rather than to the authorised +representatives of America. I left Germany with a clear conscience +and the knowledge that I had done everything possible to keep +the peace. + +An Ambassador, of course, does not determine the policy of his +own country. One of his principal duties, if not the principal +one, is to keep his own country informed--to know beforehand what +the country to which he is accredited will do, and I think that +I managed to give the State Department advance information of +the moves of the rulers of Germany. + +I had the support of a loyal and devoted staff of competent +secretaries and assistants, and both Secretaries Bryan and Lansing +were most kind in the backing given by their very ably organised +department. + +I sent Secretary Lansing a confidential letter every week and, of +course, received most valuable hints from him. Secretary Lansing +was very successful in his tactful handling of the American +Ambassadors abroad and in getting them to work together as cheerful +members of the same team. + +When I returned to America, after living for two and a half years +in the centre of this world calamity, everything seemed petty +and small. I was surprised that people could still seek little +advantages, still be actuated by little jealousies and revenges. +Freed from the round of daily work I felt for the first time the +utter horror and uselessness of all the misery these Prussian +military autocrats had brought upon the world; and what a reckoning +there will be in Germany some day when the plain people realise +the truth, when they learn what base motives actuated their rulers +in condemning a whole generation of the earth to war and death! + +Is it not a shame that the world should have been so disturbed; +that peaceful men are compelled to lie out in the mud and filth +in the depth of raw winter, shot at and stormed at and shelled, +waiting for a chance to murder some other inoffensive fellow +creature? Why must the people in old Poland die of hunger, not +finding dogs enough to eat in the streets of Lemberg? The long +lines of broken peasants in Serbia and in Roumania; the population +of Belgium and Northern France torn from their homes to work +as slaves for the Germans; the poor prisoners of war starving +in their huts or working in factories and mines; the cries of +the old and the children, wounded by bombs from Zeppelins; the +wails of the mothers for their sons; the very rustling of the air +as the souls of the ten million dead sweep to another world,--why +must all these horrors come upon a fair green earth, where we +believed that love and help and friendship, genius and science +and commerce, religion and civilisation, once ruled? + +It is because in the dark, cold Northern plains of Germany there +exists an autocracy, deceiving a great people, poisoning their +minds from one generation to another and preaching the virtue +and necessity of war; and until that autocracy is either wiped +out or made powerless, there can be no peace on earth. + +The golden dream of conquest was almost accomplished. A little +more advance, a few more wagon loads of ammunition, and there +would have been no battle of the Marne, no Joffre, a modern Martel, +to hammer back the invading hordes of barbarism. + +I have always stated that Germany is possessed yet of immense +military power; and, to win, the nations opposed to Germany must +learn to think in a military way. The mere entrance, even of +a great nation like our own, into the war, means nothing in a +military way unless backed by military power. + +And there must be no German peace. The old _regime_, left +in control of Germany, of Bulgaria, of Turkey, would only seek +a favourable moment to renew the war, to strive again for the +mastery of the world. + +Fortunately America bars the way,--America led by a fighting +President who win allow no compromise with brutal autocracy. + + +THE END + + +[Illustration: THIS AND THE FOLLOWING FIVE PAGES ARE A FAC-SIMILE +REPRODUCTION OF THE TELEGRAM IN THE KAISER'S OWN HANDWRITING +WHICH HE GAVE AMBASSADOR GERARD TO CABLE TO PRESIDENT WILSON.] + +[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF SECRETARY OF STATE ZIMMERMAN'S REQUEST +TO AMBASSADOR GERARD TO CALL IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE ANNOUNCEMENT +OF RUTHLESS SUBMARINE WARFARE AGAINST THE ALLIES.] + +[Illustration: THE REMODELLED DRAFT OF THE TREATY OF 1799 BETWEEN +THE UNITED STATES AND PRUSSIA, WHICH AMBASSADOR GERARD WAS ASKED +TO SIGN WHEN LEAVING GERMANY AFTER DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS HAD BEEN +SEVERED.] + +[Illustration: A FAC-SIMILE REPRODUCTION OF A MULTIGRAPH SET OF +INSTRUCTIONS SENT OUT BY THE GERMAN PRESS BUREAU TO THE NEWSPAPERS +FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENABLING THEM TO WRITE UP THE LATEST ZEPPELIN +RAID ON LONDON. THE INSTRUCTIONS WARN THEM THAT THEIR ACCOUNTS +MUST NOT READ LIKE A REPRINT, BUT MUST SEEM TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN +INDEPENDENTLY.] + +[Illustration: A PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, +CIRCULATED FOR SIGNATURES AMONG THE AMERICANS IN EUROPE, OSTENSIBLY +TO PROTEST AGAINST THE AMERICAN MANUFACTURE OF MUNITIONS OF WAR.] + +[Illustration: FIRST PAGE OF A PAMPHLET FOR PROPAGANDA PURPOSES, +IN WHICH WIDE PUBLICITY WAS GIVEN TO LISSAUER'S FAMOUS "HYMN +OF HATE".] + +[Illustration: AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF TEUTONIC EFFICIENCY. MINUTE +REGULATIONS IN REGARD TO PRESENTATION AT COURT.] + +[Illustration: A BERLIN EXTRA. GERMANY DISCLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY +FOR THE WAR.] + +[Illustration: INVITATION TO SAIL ON S. M. J. "METEOR".] + +[Illustration: INVITATION TO DINE ON THE KAISER'S YACHT, +"HOHENZOLLERN," AT KIEL.] + +[Illustration: INVITATION TO THE GARDEN PARTY AT KIEL OF PRINCE +HENRY OF PRUSSIA, WHICH WAS GIVEN UP BECAUSE OF THE NEWS OF THE +MURDERS AT SARAJEVO.] + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's My Four Years in Germany, by James W. Gerard + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY *** + +This file should be named 7mfyg10.txt or 7mfyg10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7mfyg11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7mfyg10a.txt + +Produced by Robert J. Hall + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: My Four Years in Germany + +Author: James W. Gerard + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7238] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on March 30, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY *** + + + + +Produced by Robert J. Hall + + + + + +[Illustration: AN INVITATION TO ATTEND THE OPENING OF THE ROYAL +ACADEMY.] + +[Illustration: AN INVITATION TO A COURT BALL.] + +[Illustration: SAFE CONDUCT FOR AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS FAMILY, +UNDER THE SIGNATURE OF SECRETARY ZIMMERMANN, FEBRUARY, 5, 1917.] + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD SAYING GOOD-BYE TO THE AMERICANS +LEAVING ON A SPECIAL TRAIN, AUGUST, 1914.] + + + + +MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY + +BY JAMES W. GERARD + +LATE AMBASSADOR TO THE GERMAN IMPERIAL COURT + + + + +TO MY SMALL BUT TACTFUL FAMILY OF ONE + +MY WIFE + + + +FOREWORD + +I am writing what should have been the last chapter of this book +as a foreword because I want to bring home to our people the +gravity of the situation; because I want to tell them that the +military and naval power of the German Empire is unbroken; that of +the twelve million men whom the Kaiser has called to the colours +but one million, five hundred thousand have been killed, five +hundred thousand permanently disabled, not more than five hundred +thousand are prisoners of war, and about five hundred thousand +constitute the number of wounded or those on the sick list of +each day, leaving at all times about nine million effectives +under arms. + +I state these figures because Americans do not grasp either the +magnitude or the importance of this war. Perhaps the statement +that over five million prisoners of war are held in the various +countries will bring home to Americans the enormous mass of men +engaged. + +There have been no great losses in the German navy, and any losses +of ships have been compensated for by the building of new ones. +The nine million men, and more, for at least four hundred thousand +come of military age in Germany every year, because of their +experience in two and a half years of war are better and more +efficient soldiers than at the time when they were called to +the colours. Their officers know far more of the science of this +war and the men themselves now have the skill and bearing of +veterans. + +Nor should anyone believe that Germany will break under starvation +or make peace because of revolution. + +The German nation is not one which makes revolutions. There will +be scattered riots in Germany, but no simultaneous rising of the +whole people. The officers of the army are all of one class, +and of a class devoted to the ideals of autocracy. A revolution +of the army is impossible; and at home there are only the boys +and old men easily kept in subjection by the police. + +There is far greater danger of the starvation of our Allies than +of the starvation of the Germans. Every available inch of ground +in Germany is cultivated, and cultivated by the aid of the old +men, the boys and the women, and the two million prisoners of +war. + +The arable lands of Northern France and of Roumania are being +cultivated by the German army with an efficiency never before +known in these countries, and most of that food will be added +to the food supplies of Germany. Certainly the people suffer; +but still more certainly this war will not be ended because of +the starvation of Germany. + +Although thinking Germans know that if they do not win the war +the financial day of reckoning will come, nevertheless, owing to +the clever financial handling of the country by the government +and the great banks, there is at present no financial distress in +Germany; and the knowledge that, unless indemnities are obtained +from other countries, the weight of the great war debt will fall +upon the people, perhaps makes them readier to risk all in a +final attempt to win the war and impose indemnities upon not +only the nations of Europe but also upon the United States of +America. + +We are engaged in a war against the greatest military power the +world has ever seen; against a people whose country was for so +many centuries a theatre of devastating wars that fear is bred +in the very marrow of their souls, making them ready to submit +their lives and fortunes to an autocracy which for centuries has +ground their faces, but which has promised them, as a result of +the war, not only security but riches untold and the dominion of +the world; a people which, as from a high mountain, has looked +upon the cities of the world and the glories of them, and has +been promised these cities and these glories by the devils of +autocracy and of war. + +We are warring against a nation whose poets and professors, whose +pedagogues and whose parsons have united in stirring its people +to a white pitch of hatred, first against Russia, then against +England and now against America. + +The U-Boat peril is a very real one for England. Russia may either +break up into civil wars or become so ineffective that the millions +of German troops engaged on the Russian front may be withdrawn +and hurled against the Western lines. We stand in great peril, +and only the exercise of ruthless realism can win this war for us. +If Germany wins this war it means the triumph of the autocratic +system. It means the triumph of those who believe not only in +war as a national industry, not only in war for itself but also +in war as a high and noble occupation. Unless Germany is beaten +the whole world will be compelled to turn itself into an armed +camp, until the German autocracy either brings every nation under +its dominion or is forever wiped out as a form of government. + +We are in this war because we were forced into it: because Germany +not only murdered our citizens on the high seas, but also filled +our country with spies and sought to incite our people to civil +war. We were given no opportunity to discuss or negotiate. The +forty-eight hour ultimatum given by Austria to Serbia was not, +as Bernard Shaw said, "A decent time in which to ask a man to +pay his hotel bill." What of the six-hour ultimatum given to +me in Berlin on the evening of January thirty-first, 1917, when +I was notified at six that ruthless warfare would commence at +twelve? Why the German government, which up to that moment had +professed amity and a desire to stand by the _Sussex_ pledges, +knew that it took almost two days to send a cable to America! I +believe that we are not only justly in this war, but prudently +in this war. If we had stayed out and the war had been drawn +or won by Germany we should have been attacked, and that while +Europe stood grinning by: not directly at first, but through an +attack on some Central or South American State to which it would +be at least as difficult for us to send troops as for Germany. +And what if this powerful nation, vowed to war, were once firmly +established in South or Central America? What of our boasted +isolation then? + +It is only because I believe that our people should be informed +that I have consented to write this book. There are too many +thinkers, writers and speakers in the United States; from now +on we need the doers, the organisers, and the realists who alone +can win this contest for us, for democracy and for permanent +peace! + +Writing of events so new, I am, of course, compelled to exercise +a great discretion, to keep silent on many things of which I +would speak, to suspend many judgments and to hold for future +disclosure many things, the relation of which now would perhaps +only serve to increase bitterness or to cause internal dissension +in our own land. + +The American who travels through Germany in summer time or who +spends a month having his liver tickled at Homburg or Carlsbad, +who has his digestion restored by Dr. Dapper at Kissingen or +who relearns the lost art of eating meat at Dr. Dengler's in +Baden, learns little of the real Germany and its rulers; and in +this book I tell something of the real Germany, not only that +my readers may understand the events of the last three years +but also that they may judge of what is likely to happen in our +future relations with that country. + + + + +CONTENTS + + FOREWORD. + I MY FIRST YEAR IN GERMANY. + II POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL. + III DIPLOMATIC WORK OF FIRST WINTER IN BERLIN. + IV MILITARISM IN GERMANY AND THE ZABERN AFFAIR. + V PSYCHOLOGY AND CAUSES WHICH PREPARED THE NATION FOR WAR. + VI AT KIEL JUST BEFORE THE WAR. + VII THE SYSTEM. + VIII THE DAYS BEFORE THE WAR. + IX THE AMERICANS AT THE OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES. + X PRISONERS OF WAR. + XI FIRST DAYS OF THE WAR: POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC. + XII DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS. + XIII MAINLY COMMERCIAL. + XIV WORK FOR THE GERMANS. + XV WAR CHARITIES. + XVI HATE. + XVII DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS. (Continued). + XVIII LIBERALS AND REASONABLE MEN. + XIX THE GERMAN PEOPLE IN WAR. + XX LAST. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + AMBASSADOR GERARD SAYING GOOD-BYE TO THE AMERICANS LEAVING ON + A SPECIAL TRAIN, AUGUST, 1914. + AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO PRESENT HIS LETTERS OF CREDENCE + TO THE EMPEROR. + THE HOUSE RENTED FOR USE AS EMBASSY. + A SALON IN THE EMBASSY. + THE BALL-ROOM OF THE EMBASSY. + PROGRAMME OF THE MUSIC AFTER DINNER AT THE ROYAL PALACE. + THE ROYAL PALACE AT POTSDAM. + DEMONSTRATION OF SYMPATHY FOR THE AMERICANS AT THE TOWN HALL, + AUGUST, 1914. + RACING YACHTS AT KIEL. + THE KAISER'S YACHT, "HOHENZOLLERN". + AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO HIS SHOOTING PRESERVE. + A KEEPER AND BEATERS ON THE SHOOTING PRESERVE. + CROWDS IN FRONT OF THE EMBASSY, AUGUST, 1914. + OUTSIDE THE EMBASSY IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR. + AT WORK IN THE EMBASSY BALL-ROOM, AUGUST, 1914. + AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS STAFF. + COVER OF THE RUHLEBEN MONTHLY. + SPECIMEN PAGE OF DRAWINGS FROM THE RUHLEBEN MONTHLY. + ALLEGED DUM-DUM BULLETS. + THE "LUSITANIA" MEDAL. + PAGE FROM "FOR LIGHT AND TRUTH". + AMBASSADOR GERARD AND PARTY IN SEDAN. + IN FRONT OF THE COTTAGE AT BAZEILLES. + FOOD ALLOTMENT POSTER FROM THE CHARLEVILLE DISTRICT. + FAC-SIMILE REPRODUCTION OF THE KAISER'S PERSONAL TELEGRAM TO + PRESIDENT WILSON. + FAC-SIMILE OF SECRETARY OF STATE'S REQUEST TO AMBASSADOR GERARD + TO CALL IN ORDER TO RECEIVE SUBMARINE ANNOUNCEMENT. + THE REMODELLED DRAFT OF THE TREATY OF 1799. + INSTRUCTIONS SENT TO THE GERMAN PRESS ON WRITING UP A ZEPPELIN + RAID. + PETITION CIRCULATED FOR SIGNATURE AMONG AMERICANS IN EUROPE. + PAGE FROM LISSAUER'S PAMPHLET SHOWING "HYMN OF HATE". + INSTRUCTIONS REGULATING APPEARANCE AT COURT. + A BERLIN EXTRA. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MY FIRST YEAR IN GERMANY + +The second day out on the _Imperator_, headed for a summer's +vacation, a loud knocking woke me at seven A. M. The radio, handed +in from a friend in New York, told me of my appointment as Ambassador +to Germany. + +Many friends were on the ship. Henry Morgenthau, later Ambassador +to Turkey, Colonel George Harvey, Adolph Ochs and Louis Wiley +of the _New_York_Times_, Clarence Mackay, and others. + +The _Imperator_ is a marvellous ship of fifty-four thousand +tons or more, and at times it is hard to believe that one is +on the sea. In addition to the regular dining saloon, there is +a grill room and Ritz restaurant with its palm garden, and, of +course, an Hungarian Band. There are also a gymnasium and swimming +pool, and, nightly, in the enormous ballroom dances are given, +the women dressing in their best just as they do on shore. + +Colonel Harvey and Clarence Mackay gave me a dinner of twenty-four +covers, something of a record at sea. For long afterwards in +Germany, I saw everywhere pictures of the _Imperator_ including +one of the tables set for this dinner. These were sent out over +Germany as a sort of propaganda to induce the Germans to patronise +their own ships and indulge in ocean travel. I wish that the +propaganda had been earlier and more successful, because it is +by travel that peoples learn to know each other, and consequently +to abstain from war. + +On the night of the usual ship concert, Henry Morgenthau translated +a little speech for me into German, which I managed to get through +after painfully learning it by heart. Now that I have a better +knowledge of German, a cold sweat breaks out when I think of +the awful German accent with which I delivered that address. + +A flying trip to Berlin early in August to look into the house +question followed, and then I returned to the United States. + +In September I went to Washington to be "instructed," talked +with the President and Secretary, and sat at the feet of the +Assistant Secretary of State, Alvey A. Adee, the revered Sage +of the Department of State. + +On September ninth, 1913, having resigned as Justice of the Supreme +Court of the State of New York, I sailed for Germany, stopping on +the way in London in order to make the acquaintance of Ambassador +Page, certain wise people in Washington having expressed the +belief that a personal acquaintance of our Ambassadors made it +easier for them to work together. + +Two cares assail a newly appointed Ambassador. He must first +take thought of what he shall wear and where he shall live. All +other nations have beautiful Embassies or Legations in Berlin, +but I found that my two immediate predecessors had occupied a +villa originally built as a two-family house, pleasantly enough +situated, but two miles from the centre of Berlin and entirely +unsuitable for an Embassy. + +There are few private houses in Berlin, most of the people living +in apartments. After some trouble I found a handsome house on +the Wilhelm Platz immediately opposite the Chancellor's palace +and the Foreign Office, in the very centre of Berlin. This house +had been built as a palace for the Princes Hatzfeld and had later +passed into the possession of a banking family named von Schwabach. + +The United States Government, unlike other nations, does not +own or pay the rent of a suitable Embassy, but gives allowance +for offices, if the house is large enough to afford office room +for the office force of the Embassy. The von Schwabach palace +was nothing but a shell. Even the gas and electric light fixtures +had been removed; and when the hot water and heating system, +bath-rooms, electric lights and fixtures, etc., had been put +in, and the house furnished from top to bottom, my first year's +salary had far passed the minus point. + +The palace was not ready for occupancy until the end of January, +1914, and, in the meantime, we lived at the Hotel Esplanade, +and I transacted business at the old, two-family villa. + +There are more diplomats in Berlin than in any other capital in +the world, because each of the twenty-five States constituting +the German Empire sends a legation to Berlin; even the free cities +of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen have a resident minister at the +Empire's capital. + +Invariable custom requires a new Ambassador in Berlin to give +two receptions, one to the Diplomatic Corps and the other to +all those people who have the right to go to court. These are +the officials, nobles and officers of the army and navy, and +such other persons as have been presented at court. Such people +are called _hoffähig_, meaning that they are fit for court. + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO PRESENT HIS LETTERS +OF CREDENCE TO THE EMPEROR.] + +[Illustration: THE HOUSE ON THE WILHELM PLATZ, RENTED FOR USE +AS THE EMBASSY.] + +It is interesting here to note that Jews are not admitted to +court. Such Jews as have been ennobled and allowed to put the +coveted "von" before their names have first of all been required +to submit to baptism in some Christian church. Examples are the +von Schwabach family, whose ancestral house I occupied in Berlin, +and Friedlaender-Fuld, officially rated as the richest man in +Berlin, who made a large fortune in coke and its by-products. + +These two receptions are really introductions of an Ambassador +to official and court society. + +Before these receptions, however, and in the month of November, +I presented my letters of credence as Ambassador to the Emperor. +This presentation is quite a ceremony. Three coaches were sent +for me and my staff, coaches like that in which Cinderella goes +to her ball, mostly glass, with white wigged coachmen, outriders +in white wigs and standing footmen holding on to the back part +of the coach. Baron von Roeder, introducer of Ambassadors, came +for me and accompanied me in the first coach; the men of the +Embassy staff sat in the other two coaches. Our little procession +progressed solemnly through the streets of Berlin, passing on +the way through the centre division of the arch known as the +Brandenburger Thor, the gateway that stands at the head of the +Unter den Linden, a privilege given only on this occasion. + +We mounted long stairs in the palace, and in a large room were +received by the aides and the officers of the Emperor's household, +of course all in uniform. Then I was ushered alone into the adjoining +room where the Emperor, very erect and dressed in the black uniform +of the Death's Head Hussars, stood by a table. I made him a little +speech, and presented my letters of credence and the letters +of recall of my predecessor. The Emperor then unbent from his +very erect and impressive attitude and talked with me in a very +friendly manner, especially impressing me with his interest in +business and commercial affairs. I then, in accordance with custom, +asked leave to present my staff. The doors were opened. The staff +came in and were presented to the Emperor, who talked in a very +jolly and agreeable way to all of us, saying that he hoped above +all to see the whole of the Embassy staff riding in the Tier +Garten in the mornings. + +The Emperor is a most impressive figure, and, in his black uniform +surrounded by his officers, certainly looked every inch a king. +Although my predecessors, on occasions of this kind, had worn a +sort of fancy diplomatic uniform designed by themselves, I decided +to abandon this and return to the democratic, if unattractive and +uncomfortable, dress-suit, simply because the newspapers of America +and certain congressmen, while they have had no objection to the +wearing of uniforms by the army and navy, police and postmen, +and do not expect officers to lead their troops into battle in +dress-suits, have, nevertheless, had a most extraordinary prejudice +against American diplomats following the usual custom of adopting +a diplomatic uniform. + +Some days after my presentation to the Emperor, I was taken to +Potsdam, which is situated about half an hour's train journey from +Berlin, and, from the station there, driven to the new palace and +presented to the Empress. The Empress was most charming and affable, +and presented a very distinguished appearance. Accompanied by Mrs. +Gerard, and always, either by night or by day, in the infernal +dress-suit, I was received by the Crown Prince and Princess, and +others of the royal princes and their wives. On these occasions +we sat down and did not stand, as when received by the Emperor +and Empress, and simply made "polite conversation" for about +twenty minutes, being received first by the ladies-in-waiting +and aides. These princes were always in uniform of some kind. + +At the reception for the _hoffähig_ people Mrs. Gerard stood +in one room and I in another, and with each of us was a +representative of the Emperor's household to introduce the people +of the court, and an army officer to introduce the people of the +army. The officer assigned to me had the extraordinary name of +der Pfortner von der Hoelle, which means the "porter of Hell." +I have often wondered since by what prophetic instinct he was +sent to introduce me to the two years and a half of world war +which I experienced in Berlin. This unfortunate officer, a most +charming gentleman, was killed early in the war. + +The Berlin season lasts from about the twentieth of January for +about six weeks. It is short in duration because, if the +_hoffähig_ people stay longer than six weeks in Berlin, they +become liable to pay their local income tax in Berlin, where +the rate is higher than in those parts of Germany where they +have their country estates. + +The first great court ceremonial is the _Schleppencour_, +so-called from the long trains or _Schleppen_ worn by the +women. On this night we "presented" Mr. and Mrs. Robert K. Cassatt +of Philadelphia, Mrs. Ernest Wiltsee, Mrs. and Miss Luce and +Mrs. Norman Whitehouse. On the arrival at the palace with these +and all the members of the Embassy Staff and their wives, we +were shown up a long stair-case, at the top of which a guard of +honour, dressed in costume of the time of Frederick the Great, +presented arms to all Ambassadors, and ruffled kettle-drums. +Through long lines of cadets from the military schools, dressed +as pages, in white, with short breeches and powdered wigs, we +passed through several rooms where all the people to pass in +review were gathered. Behind these, in a room about sixty feet by +fifty, on a throne facing the door were the Emperor and Empress, +and on the broad steps of this throne were the princes and their +wives, the court ladies-in-waiting and all the other members of +the court. The wives of the Ambassadors entered the room first, +followed at intervals of about twenty feet by the ladies of the +Embassy and the ladies to be presented. As they entered the room +and made a change of direction toward the throne, pages in white +straightened out the ladies' trains with long sticks. Arrived +opposite the throne and about twenty feet from it, each Ambassador's +wife made a low curtsey and then stood on the foot of the throne, +to the left of the Emperor and Empress, and as each lady of the +Embassy, not before presented, and each lady to be presented +stopped beside the throne and made a low curtsey, the Ambassadress +had to call out the name of each one in a loud voice; and when +the last one had passed she followed her out of the room, walking +sideways so as not to turn her back on the royalties,--something +of a feat when towing a train about fifteen feet long. When all the +Ambassadresses had so passed, it was the turn of the Ambassadors, +who carried out substantially the same programme, substituting low +bows for curtsies. The Ambassadors were followed by the Ministers' +wives, these by the Ministers and these by the dignitaries of +the German Court. All passed into the adjoining hall, and there +a buffet supper was served. The whole affair began at about eight +o'clock and was over in an hour. + +At the court balls, which also began early in the evening, a +different procedure was followed. There the guests were required +to assemble before eight-twenty in the ball-room. As in the +_Schleppencour_, on one side of the room was the throne with +seats for the Emperor and Empress, and to the right of this throne +were the chairs for the Ambassadors' wives who were seated in the +order of their husbands' rank, with the ladies of their Embassy, +and any ladies they had brought to the ball standing behind them. +After them came the Ministers' wives, sitting in similar fashion; +then the Ambassadors, standing with their staffs behind them on +raised steps, with any men that they had asked invitations for, +and the Ministers in similar order. To the left of the throne +stood the wives of the Dukes and dignitaries of Germany and then +their husbands. When all were assembled, promptly at the time +announced, the orchestra, which was dressed in mediæval costume +and sat in a gallery, sounded trumpets and then the Emperor and +Empress entered the room, the Emperor, of course, in uniform, +followed by the ladies and gentlemen of the household all in +brilliant uniforms, and one or two officers of the court regiment, +picked out for their great height and dressed in the kind of +uniform Rupert of Hentzau wears on the stage,--a silver helmet +surmounted by an eagle, a steel breast-plate, white breeches +and coat, and enormous high boots coming half way up the thigh. +The Grand Huntsman wore a white wig, three-cornered hat and a +long green coat. + +On entering the room, the Empress usually commenced on one side +and the Emperor on the other, going around the room and speaking +to the Ambassadors' wives and Ambassadors, etc., in turn, and +the Empress in similar fashion, chatting for a moment with the +German dignitaries and their wives lined up on the opposite side +of the room. After going perhaps half way around each side, the +Emperor and Empress would then change sides. This going around +the room and chatting with people in turn is called "making the +circle", and young royalties are practised in "making the circle" +by being made to go up to the trees in a garden and address a +few pleasant words to each tree, in this manner learning one +of the principal duties of royalty. + +The dancing is only by young women and young officers of noble +families who have practised the dances before. They are under +the superintendence of several young officers who are known as +_Vortänzer_ and when anyone in Berlin in court society gives +a ball these _Vortänzer_ are the ones who see that all dancing +is conducted strictly according to rule and manage the affairs +of the ball-room with true Prussian efficiency. Supper is about +ten-thirty at a court ball and is at small tables. Each royalty +has a table holding about eight people and to these people are +invited without particular rule as to precedence. The younger +guests and lower dignitaries are not placed at supper but find +places at tables to suit themselves. After supper all go back +to the ball-room and there the young ladies and officers, led +by the _Vortänzer_ execute a sort of lancers, in the final +figure of which long lines are formed of dancers radiating from +the throne; and all the dancers make bows and curtsies to the +Emperor and Empress who are either standing or sitting at this +time on the throne. At about eleven-thirty the ball is over, +and as the guests pass out through the long hall, they are given +glasses of hot punch and a peculiar sort of local Berlin bun, in +order to ward off the lurking dangers of the villainous winter +climate. + +At the court balls the diplomats are, of course, in their best +diplomatic uniform. All Germans are in uniform of some kind, but the +women do not wear the long trains worn at the _Schleppencour_. +They wear ordinary ball dresses. In connection with court dancing +it is rather interesting to note that when the tango and turkey +trot made their way over the frontiers of Germany in the autumn +of 1913, the Emperor issued a special order that no officers of +the army or navy should dance any of these dances or should go +to the house of any person who, at any time, whether officers +were present or not, had allowed any of these new dances to be +danced. This effectually extinguished the turkey trot, the bunny +hug and the tango, and maintained the waltz and the polka in their +old estate. It may seem ridiculous that such a decree should +be so solemnly issued, but I believe that the higher authorities +in Germany earnestly desired that the people, and, especially, +the officers of the army and navy, should learn not to enjoy +themselves too much. A great endeavour was always made to keep +them in a life, so far as possible, of Spartan simplicity. For +instance, the army officers were forbidden to play polo, not +because of anything against the game, which, of course, is splendid +practice for riding, but because it would make a distinction in +the army between rich and poor. + +[Illustration: A SALON IN THE AMERICAN EMBASSY.] + +[Illustration: THE BALLROOM OF THE EMBASSY. THIS WAS AFTERWARD +TURNED INTO A WORKROOM FOR THE RELIEF OF AMERICANS IN WAR DAYS.] + +The Emperor's birthday, January twenty-seventh, is a day of great +celebration. At nine-thirty in the morning the Ambassadors, Ministers +and all the dignitaries of the court attend Divine Service in the +chapel of the palace. On this day in 1914, the Queen of Greece and +many of the reigning princes of the German States were present. +In the evening there was a gala performance in the opera house, +the entire house being occupied by members of the court. Between +the acts in the large foyer, royalties "made the circle," and I +had quite a long conversation with both the Emperor and Empress +and was "caught" by the King of Saxony. Many of the Ambassadors +have letters of credence not only to the court at Berlin but +also to the rulers of the minor German States. For instance, +the Belgian Minister was accredited to thirteen countries in +Germany and the Spanish Ambassador to eleven. For some reason +or other, the American and Turkish Ambassadors are accredited +only to the court at Berlin. Some of the German rulers feel this +quite keenly, and the King of Saxony, especially. I had been +warned that he was very anxious to show his resentment of this +distinction by refusing to shake hands with the American Ambassador. +He was in the foyer on the occasion of this gala performance +and said that he would like to have me presented to him. I, of +course, could not refuse, but forgot the warning of my predecessors +and put out my hand, which the King ostentatiously neglected to +take. A few moments later the wife of the Turkish Ambassador was +presented to the King of Saxony and received a similar rebuff; +but, as she was a daughter of the Khedive of Egypt, and therefore +a Royal Highness in her own right, she went around the King of +Saxony, seized his hand, which he had put behind him, brought +it around to the front and shook it warmly, a fine example of +great presence of mind. + +Writing of all these things and looking out from a sky-scraper +in New York, these details of court life seem very frivolous +and far away. But an Ambassador is compelled to become part of +this system. The most important conversations with the Emperor +sometimes take place at court functions, and the Ambassador and +his secretaries often gather their most useful bits of information +over tea cups or with the cigars after dinner. + +Aside from the short season, Berlin is rather dull; Bismarck +characterised it as a "desert of bricks and newspapers." + +In addition to making visits to the royalties, custom required +me to call first upon the Imperial Chancellor and the Minister +of Foreign Affairs. The other ministers are supposed to call +first, although I believe the redoubtable von Tirpitz claimed +a different rule. So, during the first winter I gradually made +the acquaintance of those people who sway the destinies of the +German Empire and its seventy millions. + +I dined with the Emperor and had long conversations with him on +New Year's Day and at the two court balls. + +All during this winter Germans from the highest down tried to +impress me with the great danger which they said threatened America +from Japan. The military and naval attachés and I were told that +the German information system sent news that Mexico was full +of Japanese colonels and America of Japanese spies. Possibly +much of the prejudice in America against the Japanese was cooked +up by the German propagandists whom we later learned to know +so well. + +It is noteworthy that during the whole of my first winter in +Berlin I was not officially or semi-officially afforded an +opportunity to meet any of the members of the Reichstag or any +of the leaders in the business world. The great merchants, whose +acquaintance I made, as well as the literary and artistic people, +I had to seek out; because most of them were not _hoffähig_ +and I did not come in contact with them at any court functions, +official dinners or even in the houses of the court nobles or +those connected with the government. + +A very interesting character whom I met during the first winter +and often conversed with, was Prince Henkel-Donnersmarck. Prince +Donnersmarck, who died December, 1916, at the age of eighty-six +years, was the richest male subject in Germany, the richest subject +being Frau von Krupp-Böhlen, the heiress of the Krupp cannon +foundry. He was the first governor of Lorraine during the war of +1870 and had had a finger in all of the political and commercial +activities of Germany for more than half a century. He told me, on +one occasion, that he had advocated exacting a war indemnity of +thirty milliards from France after the war of 1870, and said that +France could easily pay it--and that that sum or much more should +be exacted as an indemnity at the conclusion of the World War of +1914. He said that he had always advocated a protective tariff +for agricultural products in Germany as well as encouragement of +the German manufacturing interests: that agriculture was necessary +to the country in order to provide strong soldiers for war, and +manufacturing industries to provide money to pay for the army and +navy and their equipment. He made me promise to take his second +son to America in order that he might see American life, and the +great iron and coal districts of Pennsylvania. Of course, most +of these conversations took place before the World War. After +two years of that war and, as prospects of paying the expenses +of the war from the indemnities to be exacted from the enemies +of Germany gradually melted away, the Prince quite naturally +developed a great anxiety as to how the expenses of the war should +be paid by Germany; and I am sure that this anxiety had much to +do with his death at the end of the year, 1916. + +Custom demanded that I should ask for an appointment and call on +each of the Ambassadors on arrival. The British Ambassador was +Sir Edward Goschen, a man of perhaps sixty-eight years, a widower. +He spoke French, of course, and German; and, accompanied by his +dog, was a frequent visitor at our house. I am very grateful +for the help and advice he so generously gave me--doubly valuable +as coming from a man of his fame and experience. Jules Cambon was +the Ambassador of France. His brother, Paul, is Ambassador to +the Court of St. James. Jules Cambon is well-known to Americans, +having passed five years in this country. He was Ambassador to +Spain for five years, and, at the time of my arrival, had been +about the same period at Berlin. In spite of his long residence +in each of these countries, he spoke only French; but he possessed +a really marvellous insight into the political life of each of +these nations. Bollati, the Italian Ambassador, was a great admirer +of Germany; he spoke German well and did everything possible +to keep Italy out of war with her former Allies in the Triple +Alliance. + +Spain was represented by Polo de Bernabe, who now represents +the interests of the United States in Germany, as well as those +of France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia and Roumania. It is a curious +commentary on the absurdity of war that, on leaving Berlin, I +handed over the interests of the United States to this Ambassador, +who, as Spanish minister to the United States, was handed his +passports at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war! I am sure +that not only he, but all his Embassy, will devotedly represent +our interests in Germany. Sverbeeu represented the interests +of Russia; Soughimoura, Japan; and Mouktar Pascha, Turkey. The +wife of the latter was a daughter of the Khedive of Egypt, and +Mouktar Pascha himself a general of distinction in the Turkish +army. + +An Ambassador must keep on intimate terms with his colleagues. +It is often through them that he learns of important matters +affecting his own country or others. All of these Ambassadors +and most of the Ministers occupied handsome houses furnished +by their government. They had large salaries and a fund for +entertaining. + +During this first winter before the war, I saw a great deal of +the German Crown Prince as well as of several of his brothers. + +I cannot subscribe to the general opinion of the Crown Prince. I +found him a most agreeable man, a sharp observer and the possessor +of intellectual attainments of no mean order. He is undoubtedly +popular in Germany, excelling in all sports, a fearless rider +and a good shot. He is ably seconded by the Crown Princess. The +mother of the Crown Princess is a Russian Grand Duchess, and +her father was a Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She is a very +beautiful woman made popular by her affable manners. The one +defect of the Crown Prince has been his eagerness for war; but, +as he has characterised this war as the most stupid ever waged +in history, perhaps he will be satisfied, if he comes to the +throne, with what all Germany has suffered in this conflict. + +The Crown Prince was very anxious, before the war, to visit the +United States; and we had practically arranged to make a trip +to Alaska in search of some of the big game there, with stops +at the principal cities of America. + +The second son of the Kaiser, Prince Eitel Fritz, is considered +by the Germans to have distinguished himself most in this war. +He is given credit for great personal bravery. + +Prince Adalbert, the sailor prince, is quite American in his +manners. In February, 1914, the Crown Prince and Princes Eitel +Fritz and Adalbert came to our Embassy for a very small dance to +which were asked all the pretty American girls then in Berlin. + +It is never the custom to invite royalties to an entertainment. +They invite themselves to a dance or a dinner, and the list of +proposed guests is always submitted to them. When a royalty arrives +at the house, the host (and the hostess, if the royalty be a +woman) always waits at the front door and escorts the royalties +up-stairs. Allison Armour also gave a dance at which the Crown +Prince was present, following a dinner at the Automobile Club. +Armour has been a constant visitor to Germany for many years, +usually going in his yacht to Kiel in summer and to Corfu, where +the Emperor goes, in winter. As he has never tried to obtain +anything from the Emperor, he has become quite intimate with him +and with all the members of the royal family. + +The Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg, is an enormous man of perhaps +six feet five or six. He comes of a banking family in Frankfort. +It is too soon to give a just estimate of his acts in this war. +When I arrived in Berlin and until November, 1916, von Jagow +was Minister of Foreign Affairs. In past years he had occupied +the post of Ambassador to Italy, and with great reluctance took +his place at the head of the Foreign Office. Zimmermann was +an Under Secretary, succeeding von Jagow when the latter was +practically forced out of office. Zimmermann, on account of his +plain and hearty manners and democratic air, was more of a favourite +with the Ambassadors and members of the Reichstag than von Jagow, +who, in appearance and manner, was the ideal old-style diplomat +of the stage. + +Von Jagow was not a good speaker and the agitation against him +was started by those who claimed that, in answering questions +in the Reichstag, he did not make a forceful enough appearance +on behalf of the government. Von Jagow did not cultivate the +members of the Reichstag and his delicate health prevented him +from undertaking more than the duties of his office. + +As a matter of fact, I believe that von Jagow had a juster estimate +of foreign nations than Zimmermann, and more correctly divined the +thoughts of the American people in this war than did his successor. +I thought that I enjoyed the personal friendship of both von +Jagow and Zimmermann and, therefore, was rather unpleasantly +surprised when I saw in the papers that Zimmermann had stated in +the Reichstag that he had been compelled, from motives of policy, +to keep on friendly terms with me. I sincerely hope that what he +said on this occasion was incorrectly reported. Von Jagow, after +his fall, took charge of a hospital at Libau in the occupied +portion of Russia. This shows the devotion to duty of the Prussian +noble class, and their readiness to take up any task, however +humble, that may help their country. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL + +My commission read, "Ambassador to Germany." + +It is characteristic of our deep ignorance of all foreign affairs +that I was appointed Ambassador to a place which does not exist. +Politically, there is no such place as "Germany." There are the +twenty-five States, Prussia, Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, etc., +which make up the "German Empire," but there is no such political +entity as "Germany." + +These twenty-five States have votes in the Bundesrat, a body +which may be said to correspond remotely to our United States +Senate. But each State has a different number of votes. Prussia +has seventeen, Bavaria six, Württemberg and Saxony four each, +Baden and Hesse three each, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Brunswick +two each, and the rest one each. Prussia controls Brunswick. + +The Reichstag, or Imperial Parliament, corresponds to our House +of Representatives. The members are elected by manhood suffrage of +those over twenty-five. But in practice the Reichstag is nothing +but a debating society because of the preponderating power of the +Bundesrat, or upper chamber. At the head of the ministry is the +Chancellor, appointed by the Emperor; and the other Ministers, such +as Colonies, Interior, Education, Justice and Foreign Affairs, +are but underlings of the Chancellor and appointed by him. The +Chancellor is not responsible to the Reichstag, as Bethmann-Hollweg +clearly stated at the time of the Zabern affair, but only to the +Emperor. + +It is true that an innovation properly belonging only to a +parliamentary government was introduced some seven years ago, +viz., that the ministers must answer questions (as in Great Britain) +put them by the members of the Reichstag. But there the likeness +to a parliamentary government begins and ends. + +The members of the Bundesrat are named by the Princes of the +twenty-five States making up the German Empire. Prussia, which +has seventeen votes, may name seventeen members of the Bundesrat +or one member, who, however, when he votes casts seventeen votes. +The votes of a State must always be cast as a unit. In the usual +procedure bills are prepared and adopted in the Bundesrat and +then sent to the Reichstag whence, if passed, they return to the +Bundesrat where the final approval must take place. Therefore, +in practice, the Bundesrat makes the laws with the assent of +the Reichstag. The members of the Bundesrat have the right to +appear and make speeches in the Reichstag. The fundamental +constitution of the German Empire is not changed, as with us, by +a separate body but is changed in the same way that an ordinary +law is passed; except that if there are fourteen votes against +the proposed change in the Bundesrat the proposition is defeated, +and, further, the constitution cannot be changed with respect +to rights expressly granted by it to anyone of the twenty-five +States without the assent of that State. + +In order to pass a law a majority vote in the Bundesrat and Reichstag +is sufficient if there is a quorum present, and a quorum is a +majority of the members elected in the Reichstag: in the Bundesrat +the quorum consists of such members as are present at a regularly +called meeting, providing the Chancellor or the Vice-Chancellor +attends. + +The boundaries of the districts sending members to the Reichstag +have not been changed since 1872, while, in the meantime, a great +shifting of population, as well as great increase of population +has taken place. And because of this, the Reichstag to-day does +not represent the people of Germany in the sense intended by the +framers of the Imperial Constitution. + +Much of the legislation that affects the everyday life of a German +emanates from the parliaments of Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony, +etc., as with us in our State Legislatures. The purely legislative +power of the ministers and Bundesrat is, however, large. These +German States have constitutions of some sort. The Grand Duchies +of Mecklenburg have no constitution whatever. It is understood +that the people themselves do not want one, on financial grounds, +fearing that many expenses now borne by the Grand Duke out of +his large private income, would be saddled on the people. The +other States have Constitutions varying in form. In Prussia there +are a House of Lords and a House of Deputies. The members of +the latter are elected by a system of circle votes, by which +the vote of one rich man voting in circle number one counts as +much as thousands voting in circle number three. It is the +recognition by Bethmann-Hollweg that this vicious system must +be changed that brought down on him the wrath of the Prussian +country squires, who for so long have ruled the German Empire, +filling places, civil and military, with their children and +relatives. + +In considering Germany, the immense influence of the military +party must not be left out of account; and, with the developments +of the navy, that branch of the service also claimed a share in +guiding the policy of the Government. + +The administrative, executive and judicial officers of Prussia +are not elected. The country is governed and judged by men who +enter this branch of the government service exactly as others +enter the army or navy. These are gradually promoted through +the various grades. This applies to judges, clerks of courts, +district attorneys and the officials who govern the political +divisions of Prussia, for Prussia is divided into circles, +presidencies and provinces. For instance, a young man may enter +the government service as assistant to the clerk of some court. +He may then become district attorney in a small town, then clerk +of a larger court, possibly attached to the police presidency +of a large city; he may then become a minor judge, etc., until +finally he becomes a judge of one of the higher courts or an +over-president of a province. Practically the only elective officers +who have any power are members of the Reichstag and the Prussian +Legislature, and there, as I have shown, the power is very small. +Mayors and City Councillors are elected in Prussia, but have +little power; and are elected by the vicious system of circle +voting. + +Time and again during the course of the Great War when I made +some complaint or request affecting the interests of one of the +various nations I represented, I was met in the Foreign Office +by the statement, "We can do nothing with the military. Please +read Bismarck's memoirs and you will see what difficulty he had +with the military." Undoubtedly, owing to the fact that the +Chancellor seldom took strong ground, the influence which both +the army and navy claimed in dictating the policy of the Empire +was greatly increased. + +Roughly speaking there are three great political divisions or +parties in the German Reichstag. To the right of the presiding +officer sit the Conservatives. Most of these are members from the +Prussian Junker or squire class. They are strong for the rights +of the crown and against any extension of the suffrage in Prussia +or anywhere else. They form probably the most important body of +conservatives now existing in any country in the world. Their +leader, Heydebrand, is known as the uncrowned king of Prussia. On +the left side the Social Democrats sit. As they evidently oppose +the kingship and favour a republic, no Social Democratic member +has ever been called into the government. They represent the great +industrial populations of Germany. Roughly, they constitute about +one-third of the Reichstag, and would sit there in greater numbers +if Germany were again redistricted so that proper representation +were given to the cities, to which there has been a great rush +of population since the time when the Reichstag districts were +originally constituted. + +In the centre, and holding the balance of power, sit the members +of the Centrum or Catholic body. Among them are many priests. It +is noteworthy that in this war Roman Catholic opinion in neutral +countries, like Spain, inclines to the side of Germany; while +in Germany, to protect their religious liberties, the Catholic +population vote as Catholics to send Catholic members to the +Reichstag, and these sit and vote as Catholics alone. + +Germans high in rank in the government often told me that no part +of conquered Poland would ever be incorporated in Prussia or the +Empire, because it was not desirable to add to the Roman Catholic +population; that they had troubles enough with the Catholics now +in Germany and had no desire to add to their numbers. This, and +the desire to lure the Poles into the creation of a national +army which could be utilised by the German machine, were the +reasons for the creation by Germany (with the assent of Austria) +of the new country of Poland. + +This Catholic party is the result in Germany of the +_Kulturkampf_ or War for Civilisation, as it was called by +Bismarck, a contest dating from 1870 between the State in Germany +and the Roman Catholic Church. + +Prussia has always been the centre of Protestantism in Germany, +although there are many Roman Catholics in the Rhine Provinces +of Prussia, and in that part of Prussia inhabited principally +by Poles, originally part of the Kingdom of Poland. + +Baden and Bavaria, the two principal South German States, and +others are Catholic. In 1870, on the withdrawal of the French +garrison from Rome, the Temporal Power of the Pope ended, and +Bismarck, though appealed to by Catholics, took no interest in the +defence of the Papacy. The conflict between the Roman Catholics +and the Government in Germany was precipitated by the promulgation +by the Vatican Council, in 1870, of the Dogma of the Infallibility +of the Pope. + +A certain number of German pastors and bishops refused to subscribe +to the new dogma. In the conflict that ensued these pastors and +bishops were backed by the government. The religious orders were +suppressed, civil marriage made compulsory and the State assumed +new powers not only in the appointment but even in the education +of the Catholic priests. The Jesuits were expelled from Germany +in 1872. These measures, generally known as the May Laws, because +passed in May, 1873, 1874 and 1875, led to the creation and +strengthening of the Centrum or Catholic party. For a long period +many churches were vacant in Prussia. Finally, owing to the growth +of the Centrum, Bismarck gave in. The May Laws were rescinded +in 1886 and the religious orders, the Jesuits excepted, were +permitted to return in 1887. Civil marriage, however, remained +obligatory in Prussia. + +Ever since the _Kulturkampf_ the Centrum has held the balance +of power in Germany, acting sometimes with the Conservatives +and sometimes with the Social Democrats. + +In addition to these three great parties, there are minor parties +and groups which sometimes act with one party and sometimes with +another, the National Liberals, for example, and the Progressives. +Since the war certain members of the National Liberal party were +most bitter in assailing President Wilson and the United States. +In the demand for ruthless submarine war they acted with the +Conservatives. There are also Polish, Hanoverian, Danish and +Alsatian members of the Reichstag. + +There are three great race questions in Germany. First of all, +that of Alsace-Lorraine. It is unnecessary to go at length into +this well-known question. In the chapter on the affair at Zabern, +something will be seen of the attitude of the troops toward the +civil population. At the outbreak of the war several of the deputies, +sitting in the Reichstag as members from Alsace-Lorraine, crossed +the frontier and joined the French army. + +If there is one talent which the Germans superlatively lack, it +is that of ruling over other peoples and inducing other people +to become part of their nation. + +It is now a long time since portions of the Kingdom of Poland, +by various partitions of that kingdom, were incorporated with +Prussia, but the Polish question is more alive to-day than at +the time of the last partition. + +The Poles are of a livelier race than the Germans, are Roman +Catholics and always retain their dream of a reconstituted and +independent Kingdom of Poland. + +It is hard to conceive that Poland was at one time perhaps the +most powerful kingdom of Europe, with a population numbering +twenty millions and extending from the Baltic to the Carpathians +and the Black Sea, including in its territory the basins of the +Warta, Vistula, Dwina, Dnieper and Upper Dniester, and that it +had under its dominion besides Poles proper and the Baltic Slavs, +the Lithuanians, the White Russians and the Little Russians or +Ruthenians. + +The Polish aristocracy was absolutely incapable of governing its +own country, which fell an easy prey to the intrigues of Frederick +the Great and the two Empresses, Maria Theresa of Austria and +Catherine of Russia. The last partition of Poland was in the +year 1795. + +Posen, at one time one of the capitals of the old kingdom of +Poland, is the intellectual centre of that part of Poland which has +been incorporated into Prussia. For years Prussia has alternately +cajoled and oppressed the Poles, and has made every endeavour to +replace the Polish inhabitants with German colonists. A commission +has been established which buys estates from Poles and sells +them to Germans. This commission has the power of condemning +the lands of Poles, taking these lands from them by force, +compensating them at a rate determined by the commission and +settling Germans on the lands so seized. This commission has +its headquarters in Posen. The result has not been successful. +All the country side surrounding Posen and the city itself are +divided into two factions. By going to one hotel or the other +you announce that you are pro-German or pro-Polish. Poles will +not deal in shops kept by Germans or in shops unless the signs +are in Polish. + +The sons of Germans who have settled in Poland under the protection +of the commission often marry Polish women. The invariable result +of these mixed marriages is that the children are Catholics and +Poles. Polish deputies voting as Poles sit in the Prussian +legislature and in the Reichstag, and if a portion of the old +Kingdom of Poland is made a separate country at the end of this +war, it will have the effect of making the Poles in Prussia more +restless and more aggressive than ever. + +In order to win the sympathies of the Poles, the Emperor caused +a royal castle to be built within recent years in the city of +Posen, and appointed a popular Polish gentleman who had served +in the Prussian army and was attached to the Emperor, the Count +Hutten-Czapski, as its lord-warden. In this castle was a very +beautiful Byzantine chapel built from designs especially selected +by the Emperor. In January, 1914, we went with Allison Armour +and the Cassatts, Mrs. Wiltsee and Mrs. Whitehouse on a trip +to Posen to see this chapel. + +Some of our German friends tried to play a joke on us by telling +us that the best hotel was the hotel patronised by the Poles. To +have gone there would have been to declare ourselves anti-German +and pro-Polish, but we were warned in time. The castle has a +large throne room and ball-room; in the hall is a stuffed aurochs +killed by the Emperor. The aurochs is a species of buffalo greatly +resembling those which used to roam our western prairies. The +breed has been preserved on certain great estates in eastern +Germany and in the hunting forests of the Czar in the neighbourhood +of Warsaw. + +Some of the Poles told me that at the first attempt to give a +court ball in this new castle the Polish population in the streets +threw ink through the carriage windows on the dresses of the +ladies going to the ball and thus made it a failure. The chapel +of the castle is very beautiful and is a great credit to the +Emperor's taste as an architect. + +While being shown through the Emperor's private apartments in +this castle, I noticed a saddle on a sort of elevated stool in +front of a desk. I asked the guide what this was for: he told +me that the Emperor, when working, always sits in a saddle. + +In Posen, in a book-store, the proprietor brought out for me a +number of books caricaturing the German rule of Alsace-Lorraine. +It is curious that a community of interests should make a market +for these books in Polish Posen. + +Although not so well advertised, the Polish question is as acute +as that of Alsace-Lorraine. + +After its successful war in 1866 against Austria, Bavaria, Saxony, +Baden, Hanover, etc., Prussia became possessed of the two duchies +of Schleswig-Holstein, which are to the south of Denmark on the +Jutland Peninsula. Here, strangely enough, there is a Danish +question. A number of Danes inhabit these duchies and have been +irritated by the Prussian officials and officers into preserving +their national feeling intact ever since 1866. Galling restrictions +have been made, the very existence of which intensifies the hatred +and prevents the assimilation of these Danes. For instance, Amundsen, +the Arctic explorer, was forbidden to lecture in Danish in these +duchies during the winter of 1913-14, and there were regulations +enforced preventing more than a certain number of these Danish +people from assembling in a hotel, as well as regulations against +the employment of Danish servants. + +In 1866, after its successful war, Prussia wiped out the old +kingdom of Hanover and drove its king into exile in Austria. +To-day there is still a party of protest against this aggression. +The Kaiser believes, however, that the ghost of the claim of +the Kings of Hanover was laid when he married his only daughter +to the heir of the House of Hanover and gave the young pair the +vacant Duchy of Brunswick. That this young man will inherit the +great Guelph treasure was no drawback to the match in the eyes +of those in Berlin. + +There is a hatred of Prussia in other parts of Germany, but coupled +with so much fear that it will never take practical shape. In +Bavaria, for example, even the comic newspapers have for years +ridiculed the Prussians and the House of Hohenzollern. The smashing +defeat by Prussia of Austria and the allied German States, Bavaria, +Saxony, Hesse, Hanover, etc., in 1866, and the growth of Prussianism +since then in all of these countries, keep the people from any +overt act. It is a question, perhaps, as to how these countries, +especially Bavaria, would act in case of the utter defeat of +Germany. But at present they must be counted on only as faithful +servants, in a military way, of the German Emperor. + +Montesquieu, the author of the "Esprit des Lois," says, "All law +comes from the soil," and it has been claimed that residence in +the hot climate of the tropics in some measure changes Anglo-Saxon +character. It is, therefore, always well in judging national +character to know something of the physical characteristics and +climate of the country which a nation inhabits. + +The heart of modern Germany is the great north central plain which +comprises practically all of the original kingdom of Prussia, +stretching northward from the Saxon and Hartz mountains to the +North and Baltic seas. It is from this dreary and infertile plain +that for many centuries conquering military races have poured +over Europe. The climate is not so cold in winter as that of +the northern part of the United States. There is much rain and +the winter skies are so dark that the absence of the sun must +have some effect upon the character of the people. The Saxons +inhabit a more mountainous country; Württemberg and Baden are +hilly; Bavaria is a land of beauty, diversified with lovely lakes +and mountains. The soft outlines of the vine-covered hills of +the Rhine Valley have long been the admiration of travellers. + +The inhabitants of Prussia were originally not Germanic, but +rather Slavish in type; and, indeed, to-day in the forest of +the River Spree, on which Berlin is situated, and only about +fifty miles from that city, there still dwell descendants of +the original Wendish inhabitants of the country who speak the +Wendish language. The wet-nurses, whose picturesque dress is so +noticeable on the streets of Berlin, all come from this Wendish +colony, which has been preserved through the many wars that have +swept over this part of Germany because of the refuge afforded +in the swamps and forests of this district. + +The inhabitants of the Rhine Valley drink wine instead of beer. +They are more lively in their disposition than the Prussians, +Saxons and Bavarians, who are of a heavy and phlegmatic nature. +The Bavarians are noted for their prowess as beer drinkers, and +it is not at all unusual for prosperous burghers of Munich to +dispose of thirty large glasses of beer in a day; hence the cures +which exist all over Germany and where the average German business +man spends part, at least, of his annual vacation. + +In peace times the Germans are heavy eaters. As some one says, +"It is not true that the Germans eat all the time, but they eat +all the time except during seven periods of the day when they +take their meals." And it is a fact that prosperous merchants of +Berlin, before the war, had seven meals a day; first breakfast +at a comfortably early hour; second breakfast at about eleven, of +perhaps a glass of milk or perhaps a glass of beer and sandwiches; +a very heavy lunch of four or five courses with wine and beer; +coffee and cakes at three; tea and sandwiches or sandwiches and +beer at about five; a strong dinner with several kinds of wines +at about seven or seven-thirty; and a substantial supper before +going to bed. + +The Germans are wonderful judges of wines, and, at any formal +dinner, use as many as eight varieties. The best wine is passed +in glasses on trays, and the guests are not expected, of course, +to take this wine unless they actually desire to drink it. I +know one American woman who was stopping at a Prince's castle +in Hungary and who, on the first night, allowed the butler to +fill her glasses with wine which she did not drink. The second +evening the butler passed her sternly by, and she was offered +no more wine during her stay in the castle. + +Many of the doctors who were with me thought that the heavy eating +and large consumption of wine and beer had unfavourably affected the +German national character, and had made the people more aggressive +and irritable and consequently readier for war. The influence of diet +on national character should not be under-estimated. Meat-eating +nations have always ruled vegetarians. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +DIPLOMATIC WORK OF FIRST WINTER IN BERLIN + +During this first winter in Berlin, I spent each morning in the +Embassy office, and, if I had any business at the Foreign Office, +called there about five o'clock in the afternoon. It was the +custom that all Ambassadors should call on Tuesday afternoons +at the Foreign Office, going in to see the Foreign Minister in +the order of their arrival in the waiting-room, and to have a +short talk with him about current diplomatic affairs. + +In the previous chapter I have given a detailed account of the +ceremonies of court life, because a knowledge of this life is +essential to a grasp of the spirit which animates those ruling +the destinies of the German Empire. + +My first winter, however, was not all cakes and ale. There were +several interesting bits of diplomatic work. First, we were then +engaged in our conflict with Huerta, the Dictator of Mexico, +and it was part of my work to secure from Germany promises that +she would not recognise this Mexican President. + +I also spent a great deal of time in endeavouring to get the +German Government to take part officially in the San Francisco +Fair, but, so far as I could make out, Great Britain, probably +at the instance of Germany, seemed to have entered into some +sort of agreement, or at any rate a tacit understanding, that +neither country would participate officially in this Exposition. + +After the lamentable failure of the Jamestown Exposition, the +countries of Europe were certainly not to be blamed for not spending +their money in aid of a similar enterprise. But I believe that the +attitude of Germany had a deeper significance, and that certain, +at least, of the German statesmen had contemplated a +_rapprochement_ with Great Britain and a mutual spanking +of America and its Monroe Doctrine by these two great powers. +Later I was informed, by a man high in the German Foreign Office, +that Germany had proposed to Great Britain a joint intervention +in Mexico, an invasion which would have put an end forever to +the Monroe Doctrine, of course to be followed by the forceful +colonisation of Central and South America by European Powers. I +was told that Great Britain refused. But whether this proposition +and refusal in fact were made, can be learned from the archives +of the British Foreign Office. + +During this period of trouble with Mexico, the German Press, +almost without exception, and especially that part of it controlled +by the Government and by the Conservatives or Junkers, was most +bitter in its attitude towards America. + +The reason for this was the underlying hatred of an autocracy +for a successful democracy, envy of the wealth, liberty and +commercial success of America, and a deep and strong resentment +against the Monroe Doctrine which prevented Germany from using +her powerful fleet and great military force to seize a foothold +in the Western hemisphere. + +Germany came late into the field of colonisation in her endeavour +to find "a place in the sun." The colonies secured were not habitable +by white men. Togo, Kameroons, German East Africa, are too tropical +in climate, too subject to tropical diseases, ever to become +successful German colonies. German Southwest Africa has a more +healthy climate but is a barren land. About the only successful +industry there has been that of gathering the small diamonds that +were discovered in the sands of the beaches and of the deserts +running back from the sea. + +On the earnest request of Secretary Bryan, I endeavoured to persuade +the German authorities to have Germany become a signatory to the +so-called Bryan Peace Treaties. After many efforts and long +interviews, von Jagow, the Foreign Minister, finally told me +that Germany would not sign these treaties because the greatest +asset of Germany in war was her readiness for a sudden assault, +that they had no objection to signing the treaty with America, +but that they feared they would then be immediately asked to +sign similar treaties with Great Britain, France and Russia, +that if they refused to sign with these countries the refusal +would almost be equivalent to a declaration of war, and, if they +did sign, intending in good faith to stand by the treaty, that +Germany would be deprived of her greatest asset in war, namely, +her readiness for a sudden and overpowering attack. + +I also, during this first winter, studied and made reports on +the commercial situation of Germany and especially the German +discriminations against American goods. To these matters I shall +refer in more detail in another chapter. + +Opposition and attention to the oil monopoly project also occupied +a great part of my working hours. Petroleum is used very extensively +in Germany for illuminating purposes by the poorer part of the +population, especially in the farming villages and industrial +towns. This oil used in Germany comes from two sources of supply, +from America and from the oil wells of Galicia and Roumania. The +German American Oil Company there, through which the American +oil was distributed, although a German company, was controlled by +American capital, and German capital was largely interested in +the Galician and Roumanian oil fields. The oil from Galicia and +Roumania is not so good a quality as that imported from America. + +[Illustration: PROGRAMME OF THE MUSIC AFTER DINNER WITH THE KAISER +AT THE ROYAL PALACE, BERLIN.] + +Before my arrival in Germany the government had proposed a law +creating the oil monopoly; that is to say, a company was to be +created, controlled by the government for the purpose of carrying +on the entire oil business of Germany, and no other person or +company, by its provisions, was to be allowed to sell any +illuminating oil or similar products in the Empire. The bill +provided that the business of those engaged in the wholesale +selling of oil, and their plants, etc., should be taken over +by this government company, condemned and paid for. The German +American Company, however, had also a retail business and plant +throughout Germany for which it was proposed that no compensation +should be given. The government bill also contained certain curious +"jokers"; for instance, it provided for the taking over of all +plants "within the customs limit of the German Empire," thus +leaving out of the compensation a refinery which was situated +in the free part of Hamburg, although, of course, by operation +of this monopoly bill the refinery was rendered useless to the +American controlled company which owned it. + +In the course of this investigation it came to light that the +Prussian state railways were used as a means of discriminating +against the American oil. American oil came to Germany through +the port of Hamburg, and the Galician and Roumanian oil through +the frontier town of Oderberg. Taking a delivery point equally +distant between Oderberg and Hamburg, the rate charged on oil +from Hamburg to this point was twice as great as that charged +for a similar quantity of oil from Oderberg. + +I took up this fight on the line that the company must be compensated +for all of its property, that used in retail as well as in wholesale +business, and, second, that it must be compensated for the good-will +of its business, which it had built up through a number of years +by the expenditure of very large sums of money. Of course where +a company has been in operation for years and is continually +advertising its business, its good-will often is its greatest +asset and has often been built up by the greatest expenditure +of money. For instance, in buying a successful newspaper, the +value does not lie in the real-estate, presses, etc., but in +the good-will of the newspaper, the result of years of work and +expensive advertising. + +I made no objection that the German government did not have a +perfect right to create this monopoly and to put the American +controlled company entirely out of the field, but insisted upon +a fair compensation for all their property and good-will. Even a +fair compensation for the property and good-will would have started +the government monopoly company with a large debt upon which it +would have been required to pay interest, and this interest, of +course, would have been added to the cost of oil to the German +consumers. In my final conversation on the subject with von +Bethmann-Hollweg, he said, "You don't mean to say that President +Wilson and Secretary Bryan will do anything for the Standard +Oil Company?" I answered that everyone in America knew that +the Standard Oil Company had neither influence with nor control +over President Wilson and Secretary Bryan, but that they both +could and would give the Standard Oil Company the same measure +of protection which any American citizen doing business abroad +had a right to expect from his government. I also said that I +thought they had done enough for the Germans interested in the +Galician and Roumanian oil fields when they had used the Prussian +state railways to give these oil producers an unfair advantage +over those importing American oil. + +Shortly after this the question of the creation of this oil monopoly +was dropped and naturally has not been revived during the war, +and I very much doubt whether, after the war, the people of +liberalised Germany will consent to pay more for inferior oil in +order to make good the investments of certain German banks and +financiers in Galicia and Roumania. I doubt whether a more liberal +Germany will wish to put the control of a great business in the +hands of the government, thereby greatly increasing the number +of government officials and the weight of government influence +in the country. Heaven knows there are officials enough to-day +in Germany, without turning over a great department of private +industry to the government for the sole purpose of making good +bad investments of certain financiers and adding to the political +influence of the central government. + +In May, 1914, Colonel House and his beautiful wife arrived to pay +us a visit in Berlin. He was, of course, anxious to have a talk +with the Emperor, and this was arranged by the Emperor inviting +the Colonel and me to what is called the _Schrippenfest_, +at the new palace at Potsdam. + +For many years, in fact since the days of Frederick the Great, +the learning (_Lehr_) battalion, composed of picked soldiers +from all the regiments of Prussia, has been quartered at Potsdam, +and on a certain day in April this battalion has been given a +dinner at which they eat white rolls (_Schrippen_) instead +of the usual black bread. This feast has been carried on from +these older days and has become quite a ceremony. + +The Colonel and I motored to Potsdam, arrayed in dress-suits, and +waited in one of the salons of the ground floor of the new palace. +Finally the Emperor and the Empress and several of the Princes and +their wives and the usual dignitaries of the Emperor's household +arrived. The Colonel was presented to the royalties and then a +Divine Service was held in the open air at one end of the palace. +The Empress and Princesses occupied large chairs and the Emperor +stood with his sons behind him and then the various dignitaries +of the court. The Lehr Battalion was drawn up behind. There were +a large band and the choir boys from the Berlin cathedral. The +service was very impressive and not less so because of a great +Zeppelin which hovered over our heads during the whole of the +service. + +After Divine Service, the Lehr Battalion marched in review and +then was given food and beer in long arbours constructed in front +of the palace. While the men were eating, the Emperor and Empress +and Princes passed among the tables, speaking to the soldiers. +We then went to the new palace where in the extraordinary hall +studded with curious specimens of minerals from all countries, +a long table forming three sides of a square was set for about +sixty people. Colonel House and I sat directly across the table +from the Emperor, with General Falkenhayn between us. The Emperor +was in a very good mood and at one time, talking across the table, +said to me that the Colonel and I, in our black dress-suits, +looked like a couple of crows, that we were like two undertakers +at a feast and spoiled the picture. After luncheon the Emperor +had a long talk with Colonel House, and then called me into the +conversation. + +On May twenty-sixth, I arranged that the Colonel should meet +von Tirpitz at dinner in our house. We did not guess then what +a central figure in this war the great admiral was going to be. +At that time and until his fall, he was Minister of Marine, which +corresponds to our Secretary of the Navy Department, and what +is called in German _Reichsmarineamt_. The Colonel also +met the Chancellor, von Jagow, Zimmermann and many others. + +There are two other heads of departments, connected with the +navy, of equal rank with the Secretary of the Naval Department +and not reporting to him. These are the heads of the naval staff +and the head of what is known as the Marine Cabinet. The head +of the naval staff is supposed to direct the actual operations +of warfare in the navy, and the head of the Marine Cabinet is +charged with the personnel of the navy, with determining what +officers are to be promoted and what officers are to take over +ships or commands. + +While von Tirpitz was Secretary of the Navy, by the force of +his personality, he dominated the two other departments, but +since his fall the heads of these two other departments have +held positions as important, if not more important, than that +of Secretary of the Navy. + +On May thirty-first, we took Colonel and Mrs. House to the aviation +field of Joachimsthal. Here the Dutch aviator Fokker was flying and +after being introduced to us he did some stunts for our benefit. +Fokker was employed by the German army and later became a naturalised +German. The machines designed by him, and named after him, for +a long time held the mastery of the air on the West front. + +The advice of Colonel House, a most wise and prudent counsellor, +was at all times of the greatest value to me during my stay in +Berlin. We exchanged letters weekly, I sending him a weekly bulletin +of the situation in Berlin and much news and gossip too personal +or too indefinite to be placed in official reports. + +War with Germany seemed a thing not even to be considered when +in this month of May, 1914, I called on the Foreign Office, by +direction, to thank the Imperial Government for the aid given +the Americans at Tampico by German ships of war. + +Early in February, Mr. S. Bergmann, a German who had made a fortune +in America and who had returned to Germany to take up again his +German citizenship, invited me to go over the great electrical +works which he had established. Prince Henry of Prussia, the +brother of the Emperor, was the only other guest and together +we inspected the vast works, afterwards having lunch in Mr. +Bergmann's office. Prince Henry has always been interested in +America since his visit here. On that visit he spent most of +his time with German societies, etc. Of course, now we know he +came as a propagandist with the object of welding together the +Germans in America and keeping up their interest in the Fatherland. +He made a similar trip to the Argentine just before the Great +War, with a similar purpose, but I understand his excursion was +not considered a great success, from any standpoint. A man of +affable manners, no one is better qualified to go abroad as a +German propagandist than he. If all Germans had been like him +there would have been no World War in 1914. + +On March eighteenth, we were invited to a fancy-dress ball at +the palace of the Crown Prince. The guests were mostly young +people and officers. The Crown Princess wore a beautiful Russian +dress with its characteristic high front piece on the head. The +Crown Prince and all the officers present were in the picturesque +uniforms of their respective regiments of a period of one hundred +years ago. Prince Oscar, the fifth son of the Kaiser, looked +particularly well. + +The hours for balls in Berlin, where officers attended, were a +good example for hostesses in this country. The invitations read +for eight o'clock and that meant eight o'clock. A cold dinner +of perhaps four courses is immediately served on the arrival of +the guests, who, with the exception of a very few distinguished +ones, are not given any particular places. At a quarter to nine +the dancing begins, supper is at about eleven and the guests go +home at twelve, at an hour which enables the officers to get +to bed early. During the season there were balls at the British +and French Embassy and performances by the Russian Ballet, then +in Berlin, at the Russian Embassy. + +The wonderful new Royal Library, designed by Ihne, was opened +on March twenty-second. The Emperor attended, coming in with +the beautiful Queen of Roumania walking by his side. She is an +exceedingly handsome woman, half English and half Russian. Some +days later I was presented to her at a reception held at the +Roumanian Minister's and found her as pleasant to talk to as good +to look upon. + +At the end of March there was a Horse Show. The horses did not +get prizes for mere looks and manners in trotting and cantering, +as here. They must all do something, for the horse is considered +primarily as a war horse; such, for instance, as stopping suddenly +and turning at a word of command. The jumping was excellent, +officers riding in all the events. It was not a function of +"society," but all "society" was there and most keenly interested; +for in a warlike country, just as in the Middle Ages, the master's +life may depend upon the qualities of his horse. + +I have always been fond of horses and horse-racing, and the +race-tracks about Berlin were always an attraction for me. + +Many of the drivers and jockeys were Americans. Taral was a +successful jockey for my father-in-law, Marcus Daly. He is the +trainer of one of the best racing stables in Germany, that of +the brothers Weinberg, who made a fortune in dye-stuffs. "Pop" +Campbell, who trained Mr. Daly's Ogden, a Futurity winner, is +also a Berlin trainer. The top notch jockey was Archibald of +California. McCreery, who once trained for one of my brothers, +had the stable which rivalled the Weinbergs', that of Baron +Oppenheim, a rich banker of Cologne. + +The German officers are splendid riders and take part in many +races. The Crown Prince himself is a successful jockey and racing +stable owner. + +On June fifth, at the annual hunt race, the big steeplechase of +the year, the Emperor himself appeared at the Grünewald track, +occupying his private box, a sort of little house beyond the +finish. + +Bookmakers are not allowed in Germany. The betting is in mutual +pools. About seventeen per cent of the money paid is taken by the +Jockey Club, the State and charities, so that the bettor, with +this percentage running always against him, has little chance +of ultimate success. + +Many of the races are confined to horses bred in Denmark and the +Central Empires. + +All of us in the Embassy joined the Red White Tennis Club situated +in the Grünewald about five miles from the centre of Berlin. +The Crown Prince was a member and often played there. He is an +excellent player, not quite up to championship form, but he can +give a good account of himself in any company short of the top +class. He has the advantage of always finding that the best players +are only too glad to have an opportunity to play with him. At +this Tennis Club during all the period of the feeling of hatred +against America we were treated with, extreme courtesy by all +our German fellow members. + +We saw a great deal of the two exchange professors in the winter +of 1913-14, Professor Paul Shorey of the University of Chicago +and Professor Archibald Coolidge of Harvard. These exchange +professors give courses and lectures in the universities and +their first appearance is quite an event. On this first day in +1913, they each delivered a lecture in the University of Berlin, +and on this lecture day Prince August Wilhelm, representing the +Kaiser, attended. The Kaiser used invariably to attend, but of +late years I am afraid has rather lost interest in this enterprise +at first so much favoured by him. + +The _Cologne_Gazette_ at one time after the commencement +of the war, in an article, expressed great surprise that America +should permit the export of munitions of war to the Allies and +said, quite seriously, that Germany had done everything possible +to win the favour of America, that Roosevelt had been offered a +review of German troops, that the Emperor had invited Americans +who came to Kiel on their yachts to dine with him, and that he +had even sat through the lectures given by American exchange +professors. + +Before the war there was but one cable direct from Germany to +America. This cable was owned by a German company and reached +America via the Azore Islands. I endeavoured to obtain permission +for the Western Union Company to land a cable in Germany, but +the opposition of the German company, which did not desire to +have its monopoly interfered with, caused the applications of +the Western Union to be definitely pigeon-holed. In August, 1914, +after the outbreak of the war, when I told this to Ballin of +the Hamburg American Line and von Gwinner, head of the Deutsche +Bank, and when they thought of how much they could have saved +for themselves and Germany and their companies if there had been +an American owned cable landing in Germany, their anger at the +delay on the part of official Germany knew no bounds. Within a +very short time I received an answer from the Foreign Office +granting the application of the Western Union Company, providing +the cable went direct to America. This concession, however, came +too late and, naturally, the Western Union did not take up the +matter during the war. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +MILITARISM IN GERMANY AND THE ZABERN AFFAIR + +In 1913-1914 occurred a series of events known as the "Zabern +Affair," which to my mind decided the "system"--the military +autocracy--for a speedy war. In this affair the German people +appeared at last to be opening their eyes, to recover in some +degree from the panic fear of their neighbours which had made them +submit to the arrogance and exactions of the military caste and to +be almost ready to demilitarise themselves, a thing abhorrent to +the upholders of caste, the system, the army and the Hohenzollerns. + +This writing on the wall--these letters forming the word +"Zabern"--the actions of the Social Democrats and their growing +boldness, all were warnings to the autocracy of its waning power, +and impelled that autocracy towards war as a bloodletting cure +for popular discontent. + +Prussia, which has imposed its will, as well as its methods of +thought and life on all the rest of Germany, is undoubtedly a +military nation. + +More than one hundred and twenty-five years ago Mirabeau, the great +French orator at the commencement of the Revolution, said, "War is +the national industry of Prussia." Later, Napoleon remarked that +Prussia "was hatched from a cannon ball," and shortly before the +Franco-Prussian war of 1870 the French military _attaché_, in +reporting to his government, wrote that "other countries possessed +an army, but in Prussia the army possessed the country." + +In practice the class of nobles in Prussia owns the army. Officers +may enter the army in two ways, either by enlisting in the regiment, +first as private and then being rapidly promoted to the position +of non-commissioned officer, and then probationary ensign, or +_avantageur_; or the young aspirant may come directly from +a two years' course in one of the cadet schools and enter the +regiment as probationary ensign. In both cases the young officer +is observed by the officers during a period of probation and +can become an officer of that regiment only by the consent of +the regimental officers. In other words, each regiment is like +a club, the officers having the right of black-ball. + +This system has practically confined the professional officers to +a class of nobles. It is not at all unusual to find in a regiment +officers whose ancestors were officers of the same regiment two +hundred years or more ago. + +In addition to these officers who make the army their career, +a certain number of Germans, after undergoing an enlistment in +the army of one year and two periods of training thereafter, +are made reserve officers. These reserve officers are called to +the colours for manoeuvres and also, of course, when the whole +nation is arrayed in war. These reserve officers seldom attain +a rank higher than that of captain. They may, however, while +exercising civil functions, be promoted, and in this manner the +Chancellor, while occupying civil positions, has gradually been +promoted to the rank of General and von Jagow, during the war, to +the rank of Major. As a rule reserve officers are the one-yearers, +or _Einjähriger_, who, because they have attained a certain +standard of education, serve only one year with the army instead +of the two required from others. The Bavarian army is in a sense +independent of Prussia, but is modelled on the same system. + +For years officers of the army, both in the discharge of their +duties and outside, have behaved in a very arrogant way toward +the civil population. Time and again, while I was in Germany +waiting in line at some ticket office, an officer has shoved +himself ahead of all others without even a protest from those +waiting. On one occasion, I went to the races in Berlin with my +brother-in-law and bought a box. While we were out looking at +the horses between the races, a Prussian officer and his wife +seated themselves in our box. I called the attention of one of +the ushers to this, but the usher said that he did not dare ask +a Prussian officer to leave, and it was only after sending for +the head usher and showing him my Jockey Club badge and my pass +as Ambassador, that I was able to secure possession of my own +box. + +There have been many instances in Germany where officers having +a slight dispute with civilians have instantly cut the civilian +down. Instances of this kind and the harsh treatment of the Germans +by officers and under-officers, while serving in the army, +undoubtedly created in Germany a spirit of antagonism not only +to the army itself but to the whole military system of Prussia. +Affairs were brought to a head by the so-called Zabern Affair. In +this affair the internal antagonism between the civil population +and professional soldiers, which had assumed great proportions +in a period of long peace, seemed to reach its climax. Of course +this antagonism had increased with the increase in 1913-14 of +the effective strength of the standing army, bringing a material +increase in the numbers of officers and non-commissioned officers +who represent military professionalism. + +The Imperial Provinces or Reichsland, as Alsace and Lorraine are +called, had been in a peculiar position within the body politic +of Germany since their annexation in 1870. The Reichsland, as +indicated by its name, was to be considered as common property +of the German Empire and was not annexed to any one German State. +Its government is by an Imperial Viceroy, with a kind of cabinet +consisting of one Secretary of State, Civil and Under Secretaries +and Department heads, assisted by a legislative body of two chambers, +one elected by popular vote and the other consisting of members +partly elected by municipal bodies, universities, churches and so +forth, and partly appointed by the Imperial Government. The Viceroy +and his cabinet are appointed by the Emperor in his capacity of +the sovereign of the Reichsland. Until the thirty-first of May, +1911, the Reichsland had no constitution of its own, the form +of its government being regulated by the Reichstag and Federal +Council (Bundesrat) in about the same way as the territories +of the United States are ruled by Congress and the President. +In 1911, Alsace-Lorraine received a constitution which gave it +representation in the Federal Council, representation in the +Reichstag having already been granted as early as 1871. The sympathy +of Alsace-Lorraine for France had been increased by the policy of +several of the German viceroys,--von Manteuffel, Prince Hohenlohe, +Prince Münster and Count Wedel, who had, in their administrations, +alternated severe measures with great leniency and had not improved +conditions, so that the population, essentially South German, +was undoubtedly irritated by the tone and manner of the North +German officials. + +Great industries had been developed by the Imperial Government, +especially textile and coal mining, and the industrial population +centering in Mülhausen was hotly and thoroughly Social Democratic. +The upper or well-to-do classes were tied to France by family +connections and by religion. The bourgeois remained mildly +anti-German, more properly speaking, anti-government, for similar +reasons, and the working men were opposed to the government on +social and economic grounds. The farming population, not troubling +much about the politics, but being affected by the campaign of +the nationalistic press, were in sympathy with France; so the +atmosphere was well prepared for the coming storm. + +Zabern, or in French, Saverne, is a little town of between eight +and nine thousand inhabitants, beautifully situated at the foot +of the Vosges Mountains on the banks of the Rhine-Marne Canal. +Its garrison comprised the staff and two battalions of Infantry +Regiment, Number Ninety-nine, commanded by von Reuter, and among +its officers was a Lieutenant von Forstner, a young man only +twenty years old, whose boyish appearance had excited the school +children and boys working in nearby iron factories to ridicule +him. It became known that this young officer, while instructing +his men, had insulted the French flag and had called the Alsatian +recruits _Wackes_, a nick-name meaning "square-head," and +frequently used by the people of Alsace-Lorraine in a jocular +way, but hotly resented by them if used towards them by others. +It was further reported that he had promised his men a reward +of ten marks if one of them, in case of trouble, should bring +down a Social Democrat. Forstner had told his men to beware, +and warned them against listening to French foreign agents, whom +the Germans claimed were inducing French soldiers to desert in +order to join the French legion. It is probable that Forstner, +in talking to his men of the French Foreign Legion, used language +offensive to French ears. He admitted that he had used the word +_Wackes_ in defiance of an order of the commanding general, +and for this he had been punished with several days' confinement +in a military prison. Lieutenant von Forstner, who was ordered +to instruct his squad about the regulations in case of trouble +with the civil population, claimed that he had only added to the +usual instructions a statement that every true soldier should +do his best to suppress any disturbances and that he, Forstner, +would give a special reward to any of his men who would arrest +one of "those damned Social Democrats." + +Reports of the acts of Forstner and other officers were rapidly +spread among the population. The two newspapers of Zabern published +articles. The excitement grew, and there were demonstrations +against the officials and especially against Forstner. Finally, +conditions became so bad that Colonel von Reuter requested the +head of the local civil administration, Director Mahler, to restore +order, stating that he would take the matter into his own hands +if order was not restored. The director, a native of a small +village near Zabern, replied coolly that he saw no necessity +for interfering with peace loving and law abiding people. On +November twenty-ninth, 1913, a large crowd assembled in front +of the barracks. Colonel von Reuter ordered Lieutenant Schad, +commanding the Guard as officer of the day, to disperse the crowd. +Accordingly Lieutenant Schad called the Guard to arms and three +times summoned the crowd to disperse and go home. The soldiers +charged and drove the multitude across the Square and into a +side street and arrested about fifteen persons, among them the +President, two Judges and the State Attorney of the Zabern Supreme +Court, who had just come out from the court building and who were +caught in the crowd. They were subsequently released. The rest +of the persons arrested were kept in the cellar of the barracks +over night. + +The report of these occurrences caused immense excitement throughout +Germany. A great outcry went up against militarism, even in quarters +where no socialistic tendencies existed. This feeling was not +helped by the fact that the General commanding the fifteenth +army to which the Zabern regiment belonged was an exponent of +extreme militaristic ideas; a man, who several years before, as +Colonel of the Colonial troops, representing the war ministry +before the Reichstag and debating there the question of the number +of troops to be kept in German South West Africa, had most clearly +shown his contempt for the Reichstag. + +Colonel von Reuter and Lieutenant Schad, when court-martialled +for their acts in ordering the troops to move against the civil +population, claimed the benefit of a Prussian law of 1820, which +provided that in any city, town or village, the highest military +officer in command must assume the authority, usually vested +in the civil government, whenever for any reason the civil +administration neglects to keep order. The Colonel and Lieutenant +were subsequently acquitted on the ground that they had acted +under the provisions of this law. + +The excitement throughout Germany was further increased by other +circumstances. The Emperor remained during these critical days at +Donaueschingen, the princely estate of his friend and favourite, +Prince Fürstenberg, enjoying himself with fox-hunting, torch-light +processions and cabaret performances. Of course, all this had been +arranged long before anyone dreamed of any trouble in Zabern, and +the Emperor could scarcely be expected to realise the gravity of +the situation which suddenly arose. But this very fact created a +bad impression. It was even rumoured that the Empress, alarmed by +the situation, had ordered a train to be made ready in order to +go to him and try to convince him of the necessity of returning +to Berlin. + +[Illustration: THE GLORY WHICH IS POTSDAM. SUMMER RESIDENCE OF +THE KAISER IN THE PARK OF SANS SOUCI.] + +[Illustration: DEMONSTRATION OF SYMPATHY FOR THE AMERICANS, AT +THE TOWN HALL, AUGUST, 1914.] + +The newly appointed minister of war, Falkenhayn, went to +Donaueschingen, where he was joined by von Deimling. This action +aggravated the situation, because the public concluded that the +Emperor would hear the advice and report of military officers +only. The sudden death, by heart failure, of the Emperor's closest +friend, von Hulsen, chief of the Emperor's Military Cabinet, +during a banquet at Donaueschingen, gave the rapidly developing +events a tragic and mysterious colouring, and these conferences +in Donaueschingen resulted in the tendering of their resignations +by the Viceroy, von Wedel, and Secretary of State Zorn von Bulach, +Viceroy and Secretary of State of Alsace-Lorraine, who felt that +the military party had gained an upper hand in the conflict with the +civil authorities. The Chancellor then hurried to Donaueschingen, +arriving a few hours before the departure of the Emperor; and a +subsequent order of the Emperor to General von Deimling to see +to it that the military officers did not overstep their authority +and directing him to investigate the occurrences and take measures +to punish all guilty parties, somewhat quieted the nation and +caused the two highest civil officials of Alsace-Lorraine to +withdraw their resignations. + +Zabern, where a brigadier-general had been sent by von Deimling +to restore civil government, had begun to quiet down. But the +Chancellor had hardly returned to Berlin when another incident +stirred Germany. While practising field service in the neighbourhood +of Zabern and marching through a village, Lieutenant von Forstner +had an altercation with a lame shoemaker and cut him down. This +brutal act of militarism caused a new outburst throughout Germany. +Forstner was tried by a court-martial for hitting and wounding +an unarmed civilian, and sentenced by the lower court to one +year's imprisonment, but acquitted by the higher court as having +acted in "supposed self-defence." + +No less than three parties, the Centrum, the Progressives and +the Social Democrats, addressed interpellations to the Chancellor +about this occurrence at Zabern. I was present at the debate in +the Reichstag, which took place on the fourth, fifth and sixth +of December, 1913. Three South Germans, a member of the Centrum, +Hauss, a Progressive named Roser, and the Socialist deputy from +Mülhausen in Alsace, Peirotes, commenced by moving and seconding +the interpellation and related in vehement language the occurrences +at Zabern. The Chancellor replied in defence of the government. +Unfortunately he had that morning received family news of a most +unpleasant character, which added to his nervousness. He spoke +with a low voice and looked like a downhearted and sick man. It +was whispered afterwards in the lobbies that he had forgotten +the most important part of his speech. The unfavourable impression +which he made was increased by von Falkenhayn, appearing for the +first time before the Reichstag. If the Reichstag members had +been disappointed by the Chancellor, they were stirred to the +highest pitch of bitterness by the speech of the War Minister. In +a sharp, commanding voice he told them that the military officers +had only done their duty, that they would not be swerved from their +path by press agents or hysterical individuals, that Forstner +was a very young officer who had been severely punished, but +that this kind of courageous young officer was the kind that +the country needed, etc. Immediately after this speech the +Progressive party moved that the attitude of the Chancellor did +not meet the approval of the representatives of the people, and +it became evident that, for the first time in the history of the +German Empire, a vote of censure directed against the government +would be debated. The debate was continued all the next day, the +Chancellor making another speech and saying what he probably had +intended to say the day before. He related what he had achieved +at Donaueschingen; that the Emperor had issued a cabinet order +saying that the military authorities should be kept within legal +bounds, that all the guilty persons would be punished, that the +Regiment, Number Ninety-nine, had been removed from Zabern, that +the absolute law of 1820 had been abolished for Alsace-Lorraine, +and that no Chancellor should for one moment tolerate disregard +of law by any government officials, civil or military, and remain +in his position. + +This second speech of the Chancellor made a better impression +and somewhat affected the more extreme members of the Reichstag, +but it came too late to prevent the passage of the vote of censure +by the remarkable majority of two hundred and ninety-three to +fifty-four. Only the Conservatives voted against it. A few days +later, when the Social Democrats demanded that the Chancellor +take the consequence of the vote of distrust and resign, the +attitude of the members of all the other parties, who had been +favourably impressed by the second speech of the Chancellor, +showed that they were not yet prepared to go the length of holding +that a vote of distrust in the Reichstag must necessarily mean +the resignation of the Chancellor. + +Public excitement gradually calmed down, and a complete change of +the officials at Zabern helped to bring about a normal condition +of affairs. The Viceroy, Count Wedel, and Secretary of State +Zorn von Bulach, resigned and were replaced by von Dallwitz and +Count Rödern. + +However, the everlasting question came up again a little later +during the regular budget debate of the Reichstag. The Chancellor +made his speech, giving a review of the political international +situation. He was followed by Herr Scheidemann, leader of the +Social Democrats, who mercilessly attacked the. Chancellor and +stated that if the Chancellor still thought that he was the right +man at the helm, he, Scheidemann, would show that the contrary was +the case. He then enumerated what he called the many political +failures of the Chancellor, the failure of the bill to amend +the Prussian franchise law, and stated that the few bills which +had been passed, such as the bill giving Alsace-Lorraine a real +constitution, had been carried only with the help of the Social +Democratic party. The speaker then once more rehashed the incidents +of the Zabern matter, referred to the attitude of the Emperor, +who, he said, had evidently been too busy with hunting and +festivities to devote time to such trivial matters as the Zabern +Affair, and also said that, if the Chancellor had refused to +withdraw, the only possible conclusion from the vote of the two +hundred and ninety-three Reichstag members, who were certainly +not influenced by personal feelings against the Chancellor, was +that the Chancellor must be sticking to his post only because +of the mistaken idea of the Emperor's authority and because he +must believe in the fetish of personal government. Scheidemann +begged that the same majority which had passed the vote of censure +should now follow it up by voting down the Chancellor's salary +and thus force him out of office. + +The Chancellor immediately replied, saying that he needed no +advice from Herr Scheidemann, and that when the government had +consented to change the rules of the Reichstag he had expressly +reserved the authority either to regard or disregard any resolution +passed after an interpellation, and that formerly, after discussing +an interpellation and the answer of the government, no vote could +be taken to approve or reject a resolution expressing its opinion +of such course of action. Such resolutions might be considered as +valuable material, but it had been agreed that they could have +no binding effect either upon the government or any member of it, +and that nobody had ever dreamed that by a mere change of business +rules the whole constitution of the Empire was being changed and +authority given to the Reichstag to dismiss ministers at will; +that in France and Great Britain conditions were different, but +that parliamentary government did not exist in Germany; that it +was the constitutional privilege of the Emperor to appoint the +Chancellor without any assistance or advice from the Reichstag; +that he, the Chancellor, would resist with all his might every +attempt to change this system; and that he, therefore, refused +to resign because the resolution had no other effect than to +make it evident that a difference of opinion existed between the +Reichstag and the government. + +This debate took place on December ninth, 1913, and, with the +exception of the Social Democrats and the Polish deputies, the +leaders of all parties supported the view of the Chancellor. +The motion to strike out the Chancellor's salary was voted down, +only the Social Democrats and Poles voting in favour of it. + +It is unquestioned, however, that this Zabern Affair and the +consequent attitude of the whole nation, as well as the extraordinary +vote in the Reichstag, greatly alarmed the military party. + +It was perhaps the final factor which decided the advocates of +the old military system of Germany in favour of a European war. +Usually in past years when the Reichstag in adjournments had risen +and cheered the name of the Emperor, the Social Democrats absented +themselves from the Chamber, but when the Reichstag adjourned on +May twentieth, 1914, these members remained in the Chamber and +refused either to rise or to cheer the Emperor. The President +of the Reichstag immediately called attention to this breach +of respect to the Emperor, upon which the Socialists shouted, +"That is our affair," and tried to drown the cheers with hoots +and hisses at which the other parties applauded tumultuously + +This occurrence I know greatly incensed the Emperor and did much, +I believe, to win his consent to the war. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PSYCHOLOGY AND CAUSES WHICH PREPARED THE NATION FOR WAR + +To the outsider, the Germans seem a fierce and martial nation. +But, in reality, the mass of the Germans, in consenting to the +great sacrifice entailed by their enormous preparations for war, +have been actuated by fear. + +This fear dates from the Thirty Years' War, the war which commenced +in 1618 and was terminated in 1648. In 1648, when the Treaty +of Westphalia was concluded, Germany was almost a desert. Its +population had fallen from twenty millions to four millions. +The few remaining people were so starved that cannibalism was +openly practised. In the German States polygamy was legalised, +and was a recognised institution for many years thereafter. + +Of thirty-five thousand Bohemian villages, only six thousand +were left standing. In the lower Palatinate only one-tenth of the +population survived; in Württemberg, only one-sixth. Hundreds of +square miles of once fertile country were overgrown with forests +inhabited only by wolves. + +A picture of this horrible period is found in the curious novel, +"The Adventurous Simplicissimus," written by Grimmelshausen, and +published in 1669, which describes the adventures of a wise peasant +who finally leaves his native Germany and betakes himself to a desert +island which he refuses to leave when offered an opportunity to +go back to the Fatherland. He answers those who wish to persuade +him to go back with words which seem quite appropriate to-day: +"My God, where do you want to carry me? Here is peace. There is +war. Here I know nothing of the arts of the court, ambitions, +anger, envy, deceit, nor have I cares concerning my clothing and +nourishment.... While I still lived in Europe everything was +(O, woe that I must appear witness to such acts of Christians!) +filled with war, burning, murder, robbery, plundering and the +shame of women and virgins." The Munich weekly, "Simplicissimus," +whose powerful political cartoons have often startled Europe, +takes its name from this character. + +After the conclusion of the Thirty Years' War, Germany was again +and again ravaged by smaller wars, culminating in the Seven Years' +War of Frederick the Great and the humbling of Germany under +the heel of Napoleon. In the wars Of Frederick the Great, one +tenth of the population was killed. Even the great Battle of +the Nations at Leipsic in 1813 did not free Germany from wars, +and in 1866 Prussia and the smaller North German States, with +Italy, defeated Austria, assisted by Bavaria, Hesse-Cassel, +Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, Saxony, Baden, Württemberg and Hanover. + +I am convinced that the fear of war induced by a hereditary instinct, +caused the mass of the Germans to become the tools and dupes of +those who played upon this very fear in order to create a military +autocracy. On the other hand, and, especially, in the noble class, +we have in Germany a great number of people who believe in war for +its own sake. In part, these nobles are the descendants of the +Teutonic Knights who conquered the Slav population of Prussia, +and have ever since bound that population to their will. + +The Prussian army was created by the father of Frederick the +Great, who went to the most ridiculous extremes in obtaining tall +men at all costs for his force. + +The father of Frederick the Great gave the following written +instructions to the two tutors of his son. "Above all let both +tutors exert themselves to the utmost to inspire him with a love +of soldiery and carefully impress upon his mind that, as nothing +can confer honour and fame upon a prince except the sword, the +monarch who seeks not his sole satisfaction in it must ever appear +a contemptible character in the eyes of the world." + +Frederick the Great left, by the death of that father who had +once threatened to execute him, at the head of a marvellous army +with a full treasury, finally decided upon war, as he admits in +his own letters, "in order to be talked about," and his desire +to be talked about led to the Seven Years' War. + +The short war against Denmark in 1864, against Austria, Bavaria, +etc., in 1866 and against France in 1870, enormously increased +both the pride and prestige of the Prussian army. It must not +be forgotten that at all periods of history it seems as if some +blind instinct had driven the inhabitants of the inhospitable +plains of North Germany to war and to conquest. The Cimbri and +Teutones--the tribes defeated by Marius; Ariovistus, who was +defeated by Julius Caesar; the Goths and the Visi-Goths; the +Franks and the Saxons; all have poured forth from this infertile +country, for the conquest of other lands. The Germans of to-day +express this longing of the North Germans for pleasanter climes +in the phrase in which they demand "a place in the sun." + +The nobles of Prussia are always for war. The business men and +manufacturers and shipowners desire an increasing field for their +activities. The German colonies were uninhabitable by Europeans. +All his life the glittering Emperor and his generals had planned +and thought of war; and the Crown Prince, surrounded by his +remarkable collection of relics and reminders of Napoleon, dreamed +only of taking the lead in a successful war of conquest. Early in +the winter of 1913-14, the Crown Prince showed his collection of +Napoleana to a beautiful American woman of my acquaintance, and +said that he hoped war would occur while his father was alive, +but, if not, he would start a war the moment he came to the throne. + +Since writing the above, the American woman who had this conversation +with the Crown Prince wrote out for me the exact conversation +in her own words, as follows: "I had given him Norman Angell's +book, 'The Great Illusion,' which seeks to prove that war is +unprofitable. He (the Crown Prince) said that whether war was +profitable or not, when he came to the throne there would be war, +if not before, just for the fun of it. On a previous occasion +he had said that the plan was to attack and conquer France, then +England, and after that my country (the United States of America); +Russia was also to be conquered, and Germany would be master of +the world." + +The extraordinary collection of relics, statues, busts, souvenirs, +etc., of the first Napoleon, collected by the Crown Prince, which +he was showing at the time of the first of these conversations +to this American lady, shows the trend of his mind and that all +his admiration is centred upon Napoleon, the man who sought the +mastery of the world, and who is thought by admirers like the +Crown Prince to have failed only because of slight mistakes which +they feel, in his place, they would not have made. + +If the Germans' long preparations for war were to bear any fruit, +countless facts pointed to the summer of 1914 as the time when the +army should strike that great and sudden blow at the liberties +of the world. + +It was in June, 1914, that the improved Kiel Canal was reopened, +enabling the greatest warships to pass from the Baltic to the +North Sea. + +In the Zeppelins the Germans had arms not possessed by any other +country and with which they undoubtedly believed that they could +do much more damage to England than was the case after the actual +outbreak of hostilities. They had paid great attention to the +development of the submarine. Their aeroplanes were superior to +those of other nations. They believed that in the use of poison +gas, which was prepared before the outbreak of the war, they had +a prize that would absolutely demoralise their enemy. They had +their flame throwers and the heavy artillery and howitzers which +reduced the redoubtable forts of Liege and Namur to fragments +within a few hours, and which made the holding of any fortresses +impossible. + +On their side, by the imposition of a heavy tax called the +_Wehrbeitrag_ or supplementary defence tax, they had, in +1913, increased their army by a number of army corps. On the +other hand, the law for three years' military service voted in +France had not yet gone into effect, nor had the law for universal +military service voted by the Belgian Chambers. Undoubtedly the +Germans based great hopes upon the Bagdad railway which was to +carry their influence to the East, and even threatened the rule +of England in Egypt and India. Undoubtedly there was talk, too, +of a Slav railroad to run from the Danube to the Adriatic which +would cut off Germany from access to the Southern Sea. Francis +Deloisi, the Frenchman, in his book published before the great +war, called "De la Guerre des Balkans à la Guerre Européenne," +says, "In a word, the present war (Balkan) is the work of Russia, +and the Danube Asiatic railway is a Russian project. If it succeeds, +a continuous barrier of Slav peoples will bar the way to the +Mediterranean of the path of Austro-German expansion from the +Black Sea to the Adriatic. But here again the Romanoffs confront +the Hapsburgs, the Austro-Serb conflict becomes the Austro-Russian +conflict, two great groups are formed, and the Balkan conflict +becomes the European conflict." + +Another reason for an immediate war was the loan by France to +Russia made on condition that additional strategic railways were +to be constructed by the Russians in Poland. Although this money +had been received, the railways had not been constructed at the +time of the opening of the Great War. Speaking of this situation, +the Russian General Kuropatkin, in his report for the year 1900, +said, "We must cherish no illusions as to the possibility of an +easy victory over the Austrian army," and he then went on to say, +"Austria had eight railways to transport troops to the Russian +frontier while Russia had only four; and, while Germany had seventeen +such railways running to the German-Russian frontier, the Russians +had only five." Kuropatkin further said, "The differences are too +enormous and leave our neighbours a superiority which cannot be +overcome by the numbers of our troops, or their courage." + +Comparing the two armies, he said, "The invasion of Russia by +German troops is more probable than the invasion of Germany by +Russian troops"; and, "Our Western frontier, in the event of +a European war, would be in such danger as it never has known +in all the history of Russia." + +Agitation by workmen in Russia was believed in Germany to be +the beginning of a revolution. Illuminating figures may be seen +in the gold purchase of the German Imperial Bank: in 1911, +174,000,000 marks; in 1912, 173,000,000 marks; but in 1913, +317,000,000 marks. + +There was a belief in Germany that the French nation was degenerate +and corrupt and unprepared for war. This belief became conviction +when, in the debates of the French Senate, Senator Humbert, early +in 1914, publicly exposed what he claimed to be the weakness +and unpreparedness of France. + +Prince Lichnowsky, the German Ambassador in London, certainly +reported to his government that England did not wish to enter +the war. He claims now that he did not mean that England would +not fight at all events, but undoubtedly the German Foreign Office +believed that England would remain out of the war. The raising of +the Ulster army by Sir Edward Carson, one of the most gigantic +political bluffs in all history, which had no more revolutionary +or military significance than a torchlight parade during one of +our presidential campaigns, was reported by the German spies +as a real and serious revolutionary movement; and, of course, it +was believed by the Germans that Ireland would rise in general +rebellion the moment that war was declared. In the summer of +1914 Russia was believed to be on the edge of revolution. + +As I have said in a previous chapter, the movement against +militarism, culminating in the extraordinary vote in the Reichstag +against the government at the time of the Zabern Affair, warned +the government and military people that the mass of Germans were +coming to their senses and were preparing to shake off the bogy of +militarism and fear, which had roosted so long on their shoulders +like a Prussian old-man-of-the-sea. The Pan-Germans and the +Annexationists were hot for war. The people alive could recall +only three wars, the war against Denmark in 1864, which was settled +in a few days and added the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein to +the Prussian crown, and the war of 1866 in which Bavaria, Baden, +Württemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Saxony were defeated, when the +Austrian kingdom of Hanover disappeared and the territories of +Hesse-Cassel and Nassau, and the free city of Frankfort were +added to Prussia. This war, from its declaration to the battle +of Königgratz in which the Austrians were completely defeated, +lasted only two weeks. In 1870 France was defeated within a month +and a half after the opening of hostilities; so that the Kaiser +was implicitly believed when, on the first day of the war, he +appeared on the balcony of the palace and told the crowds who +were keen for war, that "before the leaves have fallen from the +trees you will be back in your homes." The army and all Germany +believed him and believed, too, that a few short weeks would +see the destruction of France and the consequent seizure of her +rich colonies; that Russia could then be struck a good quick +blow before she could concentrate her army and resources; that +England would remain neutral; and that Germany would consequently +become, if not the actual owner, at least the dictator of the +world. Some one has since said that the Emperor must have meant +pine trees. + +Working ever in the dark, either owning or influencing newspapers, +the great munition and arms factory of the Krupp's insidiously +poisoned the minds of the people with the microbe of war. + +Prince Lichnowsky, the German Ambassador to London, called upon +me often after the outbreak of the war, and insisted that he +had correctly reported the sentiments of England in saying that +England did not want war. After his return to Germany the Germans +quite unfairly treated him as a man who had failed and seemed +to blame him because England had taken the only possible course +open to her and ranged herself on the side of France and Russia. + +The dedication at Leipzig, in the year 1913, of the great monument +to celebrate what is called the "War of Liberation," and the +victory of Leipzig in the War of the Nations, 1813, had undoubtedly +kindled a martial spirit in Germany. To my mind, the course which +really determined the Emperor and the ruling class for war was +the attitude of the whole people in the Zabern Affair and their +evident and growing dislike of militarism. The fact that the +Socialists, at the close of the session of the Reichstag, boldly +remained in the Chamber and refused to rise or to cheer the name +of the Emperor indicated a new spirit of resistance to autocracy; +and autocracy saw that if it was to keep its hold upon Germany +it must lead the nation into a short and successful war. + +This is no new trick of a ruling and aristocratic class. From +the days when the patricians of Rome forced the people into war +whenever the people showed a disposition to demand their rights, +autocracies have always turned to war as the best antidote against +the spirit of democracy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AT KIEL JUST BEFORE THE WAR + +Kiel, situated on the Baltic, on the eastern side of the peninsula +of Jutland near the Baltic entrance of the Kiel Canal, is the +principal naval centre of Germany. + +When the Germans decided to build up a great fleet the Emperor +used every means to encourage a love of yachting and of the sea, +and endeavoured to make the Kiel Week a rival of the week at +Cowes, the English yachting centre. + +With this end in view, the rich Germans were encouraged and almost +commanded to build and race yachts; and Americans and others who +visited Kiel in their yachts were entertained by the Emperor +in an intimacy impossible if they had come to Berlin merely as +tourists, residing in a hotel. + +In June, 1914, we went to Kiel as guests of Allison Armour of +Chicago, on his yacht, the _Utowana_. I was detained by +business in Berlin and Mrs. Gerard preceded me to Kiel. I arrived +there on Saturday, the twenty-seventh of June, and that night +went with Armour to dine with the Emperor on board the Emperor's +yacht, _Hohenzollern_. + +In the harbour were a fair number of German yachts, mostly sailing +yachts, taking part in the races; the fine old yacht of Lord +Brassey, _The_Sunbeam_, and the yacht of the Prince of Monaco, +in which he conducts his scientific voyages. A great English +fleet, comprising some of the most powerful dreadnoughts, had +also arrived, sent as an earnest of the good will and kindly +feeling then supposed to exist between Great Britain and Germany. +The redoubtable von Tirpitz was present on a German battleship, +and the Hamburg American Line had an old transatlantic steamer, +the _Deutschland_, rechristened the _Victoria_Luise_, +filled with guests, most of whom were invited on a hint from +the Emperor. + +At dinner on the _Hohenzollern_ a number of English people +were present. The Kaiser had on one side of him the wife of the +British Admiral, Lady Maud Warrender, and on the other side, the +Countess of March, whose husband is heir to the Duke of Richmond. +I sat between Princess Münster and the Countess of March, and +after dinner the Emperor drew me over to the rail of the ship, +and talked to me for some time. I wish that diplomatic etiquette +would permit me to reveal what he said, but even in war time I +do not think I ought to violate the confidence that hospitality +seals. However important and interesting, especially to the tame +Socialists of Germany, I do not give this conversation with the +Emperor, nor the conversation with him and Colonel House at the +_Schrippenfest_, because I was his guest. Conversations +with the Emperor which I had on later occasions were at official +audiences and to these the same rule does not apply. He also +invited me to sail with him in his yacht, the _Meteor_, in +the races from Kiel to Eckernfjord on the coming Tuesday. + +[Illustration: THE EMPEROR'S RACING YACHT, AND OTHERS, AT KIEL.] + +[Illustration: THE "HOHENZOLLERN".] + +Sunday afternoon Prince Henry and his wife, who reside in the +castle at Kiel, were to give an afternoon reception and garden +party; but on arriving at the gates we were told that the party +would not take place. After going on board the _Utowana_, +Frederick W. Wile, the celebrated correspondent of the +_London_Daily_Mail_, ranged up alongside in a small launch and +informed us that the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the +Austrian throne, and his wife had been assassinated at Sarajevo. +There was much rushing to and fro in fast launches, the Emperor +himself being summoned from the race which was in progress. That +night we dined on board the yacht of the Prince of Monaco. All the +diplomats and notables whom I met during the afternoon and evening +seemed to think that there was no chance that the tragedy at +Sarajevo would lead to war. The next morning the Emperor left +early for Berlin, but expressly directed that the festivities +and races at Kiel should be carried out as arranged. + +Monday afternoon there was a _Bierabend_ in the large hall +of the yacht club at Kiel. The Emperor was to have presided at +this dinner, but his place was taken by his brother, Prince Henry. +Sir Edward Goschen, the British Ambassador, who was living on one +of the British battleships, sat on his right and I sat on his +left. During the evening a curious incident happened. The Prince +and I were talking of the dangers of after-dinner speaking and what +a dangerous sport it was. In the midst of our conversation some +one whispered to the Prince and he rose to his feet, proposed the +health of the visiting British Admiral and fleet, and made a little +speech. As he concluded, he said, addressing the officers of the +British fleet: "We are sorry you are going and we are sorry you +came." It is remarkable as showing the discipline of the German +nation and their respect for authority that thereafter no German +ever referred to this curious slip of the tongue. The night was +rather mild and after dinner we walked about the gardens of the +yacht club. I had a long and interesting conversation with the +Prince of Monaco. That Prince, who receives such a large income +from the company which carries on the gambling rooms at Monte +Carlo, is a man of the world intensely interested in scientific +research: there is practically no corner of the seven seas into +which his yacht has not poked her nose in the search for material +for the Sea Museum which he has established at Monaco. + +On Tuesday Armour and I boarded the Emperor's sailing yacht, +the new _Meteor_. The race was a beautiful run from Kiel +to Eckernfjord and was won by the _Meteor_. As the Emperor +was not on board, I did not get one of the souvenir scarf-pins +always given to guests who sail with him on a winning race. Among +our crew was Grand Admiral von Köster, subsequently an advocate +of the ruthless submarine war. + +Eckernfjord is a little fishing and bathing town. Near by is +the country residence of Prince Henry, a rather modest house, +built in brick in English Elizabethan style. The wife of Prince +Henry was a Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt and is the sister of the +Czarina of Russia. We had tea with Prince and Princess Henry, +their family, the Duke of Sonderburg-Glücksburg and several others +of his family. The billiard room of the house is decorated with +the large original caricatures made by McCutcheon of the Prince's +stay in America. Prince and Princess Henry came out to dine on +the _Utowana_, and Armour and the Prince went ashore to +attend another _Bierabend_, but I dodged the smoke and beer +and remained on board. Before he left the yacht, I had a talk +with Prince Henry. He seemed most exercised over the dislike of +the Germans by all other peoples and asked me why I thought it +existed. I politely told him that I thought it existed because of +the success which the Germans had had in all fields of endeavour, +particularly in manufacturing and commerce. He said, with great +truth, that he believed a great deal of it came from the bad +manners of the travelling Germans. Prince Henry is an able and +reasonable man with a most delightful manner. He speaks English +with a perfect English accent, and I think would be far happier +as an English country gentleman than as the Grand Admiral of the +German Baltic Fleet. He has been devoted to automobiling and +has greatly encouraged that industry in Germany. The Automobile +Club of Berlin is his particular pet. + +On returning to Kiel next day we spent several days longer there. +I lunched on board his battleship with Grand Admiral von Tirpitz, +sitting next to him at the table. He struck me then as an amiable +sea dog, combining much political and worldly wisdom with his +knowledge of the sea. From Kiel we motored one night to dine +with a Count and Countess in their country house. This house +had been built perhaps two hundred years, and was on one side of +a square, the other three sides being formed by the great stone +barns in which the produce of the estate was stored. Although +the first floor of the house was elevated about eight feet above +the ground, the family, on account of the dampness of that part +of the world, lived in the second story, and the dining room +was on this story. An ancestor of the Count had, at a time when +this part of the country was part of Denmark and about the year +1700, lent all his available money to the King of Denmark. A +crude painting in the hall showed him sitting in the hall of +this particular house, smoking a long pipe and surrounded by +three or four sisters who were all spinning. Our hostess told us +that this picture represented the lending ancestor being supported +by his sisters while waiting the return of the loan which he +had made to the Danish king, an early example of the situation +disclosed by the popular song which runs: "Everybody works but +father." Of course, no one ever expected a Prussian nobleman to +do any work except in the line of war or in governing the inferior +classes of the country. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE SYSTEM + +People of other countries have been wondering why it is that +the German government is able so easily to impose its will upon +the German people. I have set out in another chapter, in detail, +the political system from which you have seen that the Reichstag +is nothing but a debating society; that the Prussians do not +really have universal suffrage but, by reason of the vicious +circle system of voting, the elective franchise remains in the +hands of the few; and that the government of the country through the +_Landräte_, _Regierungspräsidenten_ and _Oberpräsidenten_ +is a central system from above downwards and not the election +of the rulers by the people; and, in the chapter on militarism +and Zabern, I have told by what means the control of the army +is kept in the hands of the class of nobles. + +These are not the only means by which the system controls the +country. These alone would not suffice. From the time when he +is four years old, the German is disciplined and taught that +his government is the only good and effective form. The teachers +in the schools are all government paid and teach the children +only the principles desired by the rulers of the German people. +There are no Saturday holidays in the German schools and their +summer holidays are for only three to five weeks. You never see +gangs of small boys in Germany. Their games and their walks are +superintended by their teachers who are always inculcating in +them reverence and awe for the military heroes of the past and +present. On Saturday night the German boy is turned over by the +State paid school teacher to the State paid pastor who adds divine +authority to the principles of reverence for the German system. + +There is a real system of caste in Germany. For instance, I was +playing tennis one day with a man and, while dressing afterwards, +I asked him what he was. He answered that he was a _Kaufmann_, +or merchant. For the German this answer was enough. It placed him +in the merchant class. I asked him what sort of a _Kaufmann_ +he was. He then told me he was president of a large electrical +company. Of course, with us he would have answered first that +he was president of the electrical company, but being a German +he simply disclosed his caste without going into details. It is +a curious thing on the registers of guests in a German summer +resort to see Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze registered +with Mrs. Landrat Schwartz and Mrs. Second Lieutenant von Bing. +Of course, there is no doubt as to the relative social positions +of Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze and Mrs. Second Lieutenant +von Bing. Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze may have a steam +yacht and a tiara, an opera box and ten million marks. She may +be an old lady noted for her works of charity. Her husband may +have made discoveries of enormous value to the human race, but +she will always be compelled to take her place behind Mrs. Second +Lieutenant von Bing, even if the latter is only seventeen years +old. + +Of course, occasionally, officers of the army and navy condescend +to marry into the merchant caste, and if a girl has a choice +of three equally attractive young men, one a doctor, earning +ten thousand dollars a year; one a manufacturer, earning the +same amount; and one an army officer with a "von" before his +name and three thousand dollars a year, there is no hesitation +on her part: she takes the noble and the army officer. + +For years all the highest official positions of the government +have been held by members of the Prussian noble class, and when +Zimmermann, of a substantial family in East Prussia, but not of +noble birth, was made Foreign Minister, the most intense surprise +was exhibited all over Germany at this innovation. + +One of the most successful ways of disciplining the people is +by the _Rat_ system. _Rat_ means councillor, and is +a title of honour given to any one who has attained a certain +measure of success or standing in his chosen business or profession. +For instance, a business man is made a commerce _Rat_; a +lawyer, a justice _Rat_; a doctor, a sanitary _Rat_; +an architect or builder, a building _Rat_; a keeper of the +archives, an archive _Rat_; and so on. They are created in +this way: first, a man becomes a plain _Rat_, then, later on, +he becomes a secret _Rat_ or privy councillor; still later, +a court secret _Rat_ and, later still, a _wirklicher_, +or really and truly secret court _Rat_ to which may be added +the title of Excellency, which puts the man who has attained +this absolutely at the head of the _Rat_ ladder. + +But see the insidious working of the system. By German custom +the woman always carries the husband's title. The wife of a +successful builder is known as Mrs. Really Truly Secret Court +Building _Rat_ and her social precedence over the other women +depends entirely upon her husband's position in the _Rat_ +class. Titles of nobility alone do not count when they come in +contact with a high government position. Now if a lawyer gets to +be about forty years old and is not some sort of a _Rat_, +his wife begins to nag him and his friends and relations look at +him with suspicion. There must be something in his life which +prevents his obtaining the coveted distinction and if there is +anything in a man's past, if he has shown at any time any spirit of +opposition to the government, as disclosed by the police registers, +which are kept written up to date about every German citizen, +then he has no chance of obtaining any of these distinctions +which make up so much of the social life of Germany. It is a +means by which the government keeps a far tighter hold on the +intellectual part of its population than if they were threatened +with torture and the stake. The Social Democrats, who, of course, +have declared themselves against the existing system of government +and in favour of a republic, can receive no distinctions from +the government because they dared to lift their voices and their +pens in criticism of the existing order. For them there is the +fear of the law. Convictions for the crime of _Lèse-Majesté_ +are of almost daily occurrence and, at the opening of the war, an +amnesty was granted in many of these cases, the ministry of war +withdrawing many prosecutions against poor devils waiting their +trial in jail because they had dared to speak disrespectfully of +the army. The following quotation from a German book, written +since the war, shows very clearly that this state of affairs +existed: "In the beneficent atmosphere of general amnesty came the +news that the Minister of War had withdrawn pending prosecutions +against newspapers on account of their insults to the army or +its members." (Dr. J. Jastrow, "Im Kriegszustand.") + +Besides the _Rat_ system and the military system, there +exists the enormous mass of Prussian officials. In a country +where so many things are under government control these officials +are almost immeasurably more numerous than in other countries. +In Prussia, for example, all the railways are government-owned, +with the exception of one road about sixty miles long and a few +small branch roads. This army of officials are retainers of the +government, and not only, of course, themselves refrain from +criticising the system, but also use their influence upon the +members of their own family and all with whom they come in contact. +They are subject to trial in special secret courts and one of +them who dared in any way to criticise the existing system would +not for long remain a member of it. Of course, the members of the +Reichstag have the privilege of free speech without responsibility, +and there are occasional Socialists, who know that they have +nothing to expect from the government, who dare to speak in +criticism. + +All the newspapers are subject to control as in no other country. +In the first place their proprietors are subject to the influence +of the _Rat_ system as is every other German, and the newspaper +proprietor, whose sons perhaps enter the army, whose daughters +may be married to naval officers or officials, and who seeks +for his sons promotion as judge, state's attorney, etc., has +to be very careful that the utterances of his newspaper do not +prevent his promotion in the social scale or interfere with the +career of his family and relations. + +Since the war while a preventive censure does not exist in Germany +nevertheless a newspaper may be suppressed at will; a fearful +punishment for a newspaper, which, by being suppressed for, say, +five days or a week, has its business affairs thrown into the utmost +confusion and suffers an enormous direct loss. + +Many of the larger newspapers are either owned or influenced by +concerns like the Krupps'. For instance, during this war, all +news coming from Germany to other countries has been furnished +by either the Over-Seas Or Trans-Ocean service, both news agencies +in which the Krupps are large stockholders. The smaller newspapers +are influenced directly by the government. + +In the Middle Ages there was often declared a sort of truce to +prevent fighting in a city, which was called the _Burgfrieden_ +or "peace of the city," and, at the beginning of this war, all +political parties were supposed to declare a sort of +_Burgfrieden_ and not try to obtain any political advantage. + +There was, therefore, intense indignation among the Social Democrats +of Germany when it was discovered, in the spring of 1916, that +the Minister of the Interior was making arrangements to send out +news service to be furnished free to the smaller newspapers, and +that he was engaged in instructing the various _Landräte_ +and other officials of the Interior Department how effectively to +use this machinery in order to gull the people to the advantage +of the government, and to keep them in ignorance of anything +which might tend to turn them against the system. + +Besides the _Rat_ system there is, of course, the system +of decorations. Countless orders and decorations are given in +Germany. At the head is the Order of the Black Eagle; there are +the Order of the Red Eagle, the Prussian Order of the Crown, +the orders, "_Pour_le_Mérite_," the Order of the House of +Hohenzollern, and many others, and in each of the twenty-five +States there are also orders, distinctions and decorations. These +orders in turn are divided into numerous classes. For instance, a +man can have the Red Eagle order of the first, second, third or +fourth class, and these may be complicated with a laurel crown, +with an oak crown, with swords and with stars, etc. Even domestic +servants, who have served a long time in one family, receive +orders; and faithful postmen and other officials who have never +appeared on the police books for having made statements against +the government or the army are sure of receiving some sort of +order. + +Once a year in Berlin a great festival is held called the +_Ordensfest_, when all who hold orders or decorations of any +kind are invited to a great banquet. The butler, who has served +for twenty-five years, there rubs shoulders with the diplomat who +has received a Black Eagle for adding a colony to the German +Empire, and the faithful cook may be seated near an officer who +has obtained "_Pour_le_Mérite_" for sinking an enemy warship. +All this in one sense is democratic, but in its effect it tends +to induce the plain people to be satisfied with a piece of ribbon +instead of the right to vote, and to make them upholders of a +system by which they are deprived of any opportunity to make +a real advance in life. + +This system is the most complete that has ever existed in any +country, because it has drawn so many of the inhabitants of the +country into its meshes. Practically, the industrial workers +of the great towns and the stupid peasants in the country are +the only people in Germany left out of its net. + +I had a shooting place very near Berlin, in fact I could reach +it in three quarters of an hour by motor from the Embassy door, +and there I had an opportunity of studying the conditions of +life of the peasant class. + +Germany is still a country of great proprietors. Lands may be held +there by a tenure which was abolished in Great Britain hundreds of +years ago. In Great Britain, property may only be tied up under +fixed conditions during the lives of certain chosen people, in +being at the death of the testator. In the State of New York, +property may only be tied up during the lives of two persons, +in being at the death of the person making the will, and for +twenty-one years (the minority of an infant) thereafter. But +in the Central Empires, property still may be tied up for an +indefinite period under the feudal system, so that great estates, +no matter how extravagant the life tenant may be, are not sold +and do not come into the market for division among the people. + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD ON THE WAY TO HIS SHOOTING +PRESERVE.] + +[Illustration: A KEEPER AND BEATERS ON THE SHOOTING PRESERVE. +IT SHOWS THE EARLY INNOCULATION OF DISCIPLINE INTO THE GERMAN +SMALL BOY.] + +For instance, to-day there exist estates in the Central Empires +which must pass from oldest son to oldest son indefinitely and, +failing that, to the next in line, and so on; and conditions +have even been annexed by which children cannot inherit if their +father has married a woman not of a stated number of quarterings +of nobility. There is a Prince holding great estates in Hungary. +He is a bachelor and if he desires his children to inherit these +estates there are only thirteen girls in the world whom he can +marry, according to the terms of the instrument by which some +distant ancestor founded this inheritance. + +This vicious system has prevented extensive peasant proprietorship. +The government, however, to a certain extent, has encouraged peasant +proprietorship, but only with very small parcels of land; and it +would be an unusual thing in Germany, especially in Prussia, +to find a peasant owning more than twenty or thirty acres of +land, most of the land being held by the peasants in such small +quantities that after working their own lands they have time +left to work the lands of the adjoining landed proprietor at a +very small wage. + +All the titles, of the nobility are not confined to the oldest +son. The "Pocketbook of Counts," published by the same firm which +publishes the "Almanac de Gotha," contains the counts of Austria, +Germany and Hungary together, showing in this way the intimate +personal relation between the noble families of these three +countries. All the sons of a count are counts, and so on, ad +infinitum. Thus in Hungary there are probably seventy Counts +Szecheny and about the same number of Zichy, etc. Some of the +German noble families are not far behind. In fact it may be said +that almost any person, in what is known as "society" in the +Central Empires, has a title of some sort. The prefix "von" shows +that the person is a noble and is often coupled with names of +people who have no title. By custom in Germany, a "von" when +he goes abroad is allowed to call himself Baron. But in Germany +he could not do so. These noble families in the Central Empires, +by the system of _Majorat_ which I have described, hold +large landed estates, and naturally exert a great influence upon +their labourers. As a rule the system of tenant farming does not +exist; that is, estates are not leased to small farmers as was +the custom in Ireland and is still in Great Britain, but estates +are worked as great agricultural enterprises under superintendents +appointed by the proprietor. This system, impossible in America or +even in Great Britain, is possible in the Central Empires where +the villages are full of peasants who, not so many generations +ago, were serfs attached to the land and who lived in wholesome +fear of the landed proprietors. + +This is the first method by which influence is exercised on the +population. There is also the restricted franchise or "circle +voting" which gives the control of the franchise to a few rich +proprietors. + +As a rule, the oldest son enters the army as an officer and may +continue, but if he has not displayed any special aptitude for +the military profession he retires and manages his estate. These +estates are calculated by their proprietors to give at least four +per cent interest income on the value of the land. Many younger +sons after a short term of service in the army, usually as officers +and not as _Einjähriger_ leave the army and enter diplomacy +or some other branch of the government service. The offices of +judge, district attorney, etc., not being elective, this career +as well as that leading to the position of _Landrat_ and +over-president of a province is open to those who, because they +belong to old Prussian landed families, find favour in the eyes +of the government. Much is heard in Germany and out of Germany +of the Prussian Squire or Junker. + +There is no leisure class among the, Junkers. They are all workers, +patriotic, honest and devoted to the Emperor and the Fatherland. +If it is possible that government by one class is to be suffered, +then the Prussian Junkers have proved themselves more fit for rule +than any class in all history. Their virtues are Spartan, their +minds narrow but incorruptible, and their bravery and patriotism +undoubted. One can but admire them and their stern virtues. This +class, largely because of its poverty and its constant occupation, +does not travel; nor does the casual tourist or health seeker in +Germany come in contact with these men. The Junkers will fight +hard to keep their privileges, and the throne will fight hard +for the Junkers because they are the greatest supporters of the +Hohenzollerns. + +The workingmen in the cities are hard workers and probably work +longer and get less out of life than any workingmen in the world. +The laws so much admired and made ostensibly for their protection, +such as insurance against unemployment, sickness, injury, old +age, etc., are in reality skilful measures which bind them to +the soil as effectively as the serfs of the Middle Ages were +bound to their masters' estates. + +I have had letters from workingmen who have worked in America +begging me for a steerage fare to America, saying that their +insurance payments were so large that they could not save money +out of their wages. Of course, after having made these payments +for some years, the workingman naturally hesitates to emigrate +and so lose all the premiums he has paid to the State. In peace +times a skilled mechanic in Germany received less than two dollars +a day, for which he was compelled to work at least ten hours. +Agricultural labourers in the Central Empires are poorly paid. +The women do much of the work done here by men. For instance, +once when staying at a nobleman's estate in Hungary, I noticed +that the gardeners were all women, and, on inquiring how much they +received, I was told they were paid about twenty cents a day. The +women in the farming districts of Germany are worked harder than +the cattle. In summer time they are out in the fields at five or +six in the morning and do not return until eight or later at night. +For this work they are sometimes paid as high as forty-eight +cents a day in harvest time. Nevertheless, these small wages +tempt many Russians to Germany during the harvest season. At the +outbreak of the war there were perhaps fifty thousand Russians +employed in Germany; men, women and girls. These the Germans +retained in a sort of slavery to work the fields. I spoke to +one Polish girl who was working on an estate over which I had +shooting rights, near Berlin. She told me that at the commencement +of the war she and her family were working in Germany and that +since the war they all desired to return to Poland but that the +Germans would not permit it. + +This hard working of women in agricultural pursuits tends to +stupefy and brutalise the rural population and keeps them in a +condition of subjection to the Prussian Church and the Prussian +system, and in readiness for war. Both Prussian Junkers and the +German manufacturers look with favour upon the employment of +so many women in farm work because the greater the number of +the labourers, the smaller their wages throughout the country. + +When I first came to Germany I, of course, was filled with the +ideas that prevailed in America that the German workingman had +an easy time. My mind was filled with pictures of the German +workingmen sitting with their families at tables, drinking beer +and listening to classical music. After I had spent some time in +Germany, I found that the reason that the German workingmen sat +about the tables was because they were too tired to do anything +else. + +I sincerely hope that after the war the workingmen of this country +will induce delegates of their German brothers to make a tour +of America. For when the German workingmen see how much better +off the Americans are, they will return to Germany and demand +shorter hours and higher wages; and the American will not be +brought into competition with labour slaves such as the German +workingmen of the period before the war. + +As one goes through the streets of Berlin there are no evidences +of poverty to be seen; but over fifty-five per cent of the families +in Berlin are families living in one room. + +The Germans are taken care of and educated very much in the same +way that the authorities here look after the inmates of a poor-house +or penitentiary. Such a thing as a German railway conductor rising +to be president of the road is an impossibility in Germany; and +the list of self-made men is small indeed,--by that I mean men +who have risen from the ranks of the working-men. + +The Socialists, representing the element opposed to the +Conservatives, elect a few members to the Prussian Lower House +and about one-third of the members to the Reichstag, but otherwise +have no part whatever in the government. No Socialist would have +any chance whatever if he set out to enter the government service +with the ambition of becoming a district attorney or judge. Jews +have not much chance in the government service. A few exceptions +have been made. At one time Dernburg, who carried on the propaganda +in America during the first year of the war, and who is a Jew, was +appointed Colonial Minister of the Empire. + +In my opinion, the liberalisation of Prussia has been halted +by the fact that there has been no party of protest except that +of the Socialists, and the Socialists, because they have, in +effect, demanded abolition of the monarchy and the establishment +of a republic as part of their programme, have been unable to +do anything in the obtaining of the reforms. + +Up to the beginning of the war there was great dissatisfaction. +The people were irritated by certain direct taxes such as the +tax upon matches, and because every Protestant in Prussia was +compelled to pay a tax for the support of the church, unless +he made a declaration that he was an atheist. + +The only class in Germany which knows something of the outside +world is the _Kaufmann_ class. Prussian nobles of the ruling +class are not travellers. They are always busy with the army and +navy, government employments or their estates; and, as a rule, +too poor to travel. The poor, of course, do not travel, and the +_Kaufmann_, although he learns much in his travels in other +countries to make him dissatisfied with the small opportunity +which he has in a political way in Germany, is satisfied to let +things stand because of the enormous profits which he makes +through the low wages and long hours of the German workingman. + +Lawyers and judges amount to little in Germany and we do not +find there a class of political lawyers who, in republics, always +seem to get the management of affairs in their own hands. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE DAYS BEFORE THE WAR + +After my return from Kiel to Berlin a period of calm ensued. +No one seemed to think that the murders at Sarajevo would have +any effect upon the world. + +The Emperor had gone North on his yacht, but, as I believe, not +until a certain line of action had been agreed upon. + +Most of the diplomats started on their vacations. Sir Edward +Goschen, British Ambassador, as well as the Russian Ambassador, +left Berlin. This shows, of course, how little war was expected +in diplomatic circles. + +I went on two visits to German country-houses in Silesia, where +the richest estates are situated. One of these visits was to the +country-house of a Count, one of the wealthiest men in Germany, +possessed of a fortune of about twenty to thirty million dollars. +He has a great estate in Silesia, farmed, as I explained, not by +tenant farmers, but by his own superintendents. In the centre is +a beautiful country house or castle. We were thirty-two guests in +the house-party. This Count and his charming wife had travelled +much and evidently desired to model their country life on that +of England. Our amusements were tennis, swimming and clay-pigeon +shooting, with dancing and music at night. Life such as this, +and especially, the lavish entertainment of so many guests, is +something very exceptional in Prussian country life and quite +a seven months' wonder for the country side. + +Some days after my return to Berlin the ultimatum of Austria +was sent to Serbia. Even then there was very little excitement, +and, when the Serbian answer was published, it was believed that +this would end the incident, and that matters would be adjusted +by dilatory diplomats in the usual way. + +On the twenty-sixth of July, matters began to boil. The Emperor +returned on this day and, from the morning of the twenty-seventh, +took charge. On the twenty-seventh, also, Sir Edward Goschen +returned to Berlin. I kept in touch, so far as possible, with +the other diplomats, as the German officials were exceedingly +uncommunicative, although I called on von Jagow every day and tried +to get something out of him. On the night of the twenty-ninth, +the Chancellor and Sir Edward had their memorable conversation in +which the Chancellor, while making no promises about the French +colonies, agreed, if Great Britain remained neutral, to make +"no territorial aggressions at the expense of France." + +The Chancellor further stated to Sir Edward, that ever since he +had been Chancellor the object of his policy had been to bring +about an understanding with England and that he had in mind a +general neutrality agreement between Germany and England. + +On the thirtieth, Sir Edward Grey refused the bargain proposed, +namely that Great Britain should engage to stand by while the +French colonies were taken and France beaten, so long as French +territory was not taken. Sir Edward Grey said that the so-called +bargain at the expense of France would constitute a disgrace +from which the good name of Great Britain would never recover. +He also refused to bargain with reference to the neutrality of +Belgium. + +Peace talk continued, however, on both the thirtieth and +thirty-first, and many diplomats were still optimistic. On the +thirty-first I was lunching at the Hotel Bristol with Mrs. Gerard +and Thomas H. Birch, our minister to Portugal, and his wife. +I left the table and went over and talked to Mouktar Pascha, +the Turkish Ambassador, who assured me that there was no danger +whatever of war. But in spite of his assurances and judging by +the situation and what I learned from other diplomats, I had +cabled to the State Department on the morning of that day saying +that a general European war was inevitable. On the thirty-first, +_Kriegsgefahrzustand_ or "condition of danger of war" was +proclaimed at seven P. M., and at seven P. M. the demand was made +by Germany that Russia should demobilise within twelve hours. On +the thirtieth, I had a talk with Baron Beyens, the Minister of +Belgium, and Jules Cambon, the French Ambassador, in the garden +of the French Embassy in the afternoon. They both agreed that +nothing could prevent war except the intervention of America. + +Both Ambassador Cambon and Minister Beyens were very sad and +depressed. After leaving them I met Sir Edward Grey upon the +street and had a short conversation with him. He also was very +depressed. + +Acting on my own responsibility, I sent the following letter to +the Chancellor: + + "Your Excellency: + + Is there nothing that my country can do? Nothing that I can + do towards stopping this dreadful war? + + I am sure that the President would approve any act of mine + looking towards peace. + + Yours ever, + (Signed) JAMES W. GERARD." + +To this letter I never had any reply. + +On the first of August at five P. M. the order for mobilisation +was given, and at seven-ten P. M. war was declared by Germany on +Russia, the Kaiser proclaiming from the balcony of the palace +that "he knew no parties more." + +Of course, during these days the population of Berlin was greatly +excited. Every night great crowds of people paraded the streets +singing "Deutschland Ueber Alles" and demanding war. Extras, +distributed free, were issued at frequent intervals by the +newspapers, and there was a general feeling among the Germans +that their years of preparation would now bear fruit, that Germany +would conquer the world and impose its _Kultur_ upon all nations. + +On the second of August, I called in the morning to say good-bye +to the Russian Ambassador. His Embassy was filled with unfortunate +Russians who had gone there to seek protection and help. Right +and left, men and women were weeping and the whole atmosphere +seemed that of despair. + +On the day the Russian Ambassador left, I sent him my automobile +to take him to the station. The chauffeur and footman reported to +me that the police protection was inadequate, that the automobile +was nearly overturned by the crowd, and that men jumped on the +running board and struck the Ambassador and the ladies with him +in the face with sticks. His train was due to leave at one-fifteen +P. M. At about ten minutes of one, while I was standing in my +room in the Embassy surrounded by a crowd of Americans, Mrs. +James, wife of the Senator from Kentucky and Mrs. Post Wheeler, +wife of our Secretary to the Embassy in Japan, came to me and +said that they were anxious to get through to Japan via Siberia +and did not know what to do. I immediately scribbled a note to +the Russian Ambassador asking him to take them on the train with +him. This, and the ladies, I confided to the care of a red-headed +page boy of the Embassy who spoke German. By some miracle he +managed to get them to the railroad station before the Ambassador's +train left, the Ambassador kindly agreeing to take them with +him. His train, however, instead of going to Russia, was headed +for Denmark; and from there the two ladies crossed to Sweden, +thence to England, and so home, it being perhaps as well for them +that they did not have an opportunity to attempt the Siberian +journey during this period of mobilisation. + +The Russian Ambassador reciprocated by confiding to me a Russian +Princess who had intended to go out with him but who, intimidated, +perhaps, by the scenes on the way to the station, had lost her +nerve at the railway station and refused to depart with the +Ambassador. She remained for a while in Berlin, and after some +weeks recovered sufficient courage to make the trip to Denmark. + +On the morning of August fourth, having received an invitation +the day before, I "attended" at the Palace in Berlin. In the room +where the court balls had been held in peace times, a certain +number of the members of the Reichstag were assembled. The diplomats +were in a gallery on the west side of the room. Soon the Emperor, +dressed in field grey uniform and attended by several members of +his staff and a number of ladies, entered the room. He walked +with a martial stride and glanced toward the gallery where the +diplomats were assembled, as if to see how many were there. Taking +his place upon the throne and standing, he read an address to +the members of the Reichstag. The members cheered him and then +adjourned to the Reichstag where the Chancellor addressed them, +making his famous declaration about Belgium, stating that "necessity +knew no law," and that the German troops were perhaps at that +moment crossing the Belgian frontier. Certain laws which had +been prepared with reference to the government of the country, +and which I will give in more detail in another place, as well as +the war credit, were voted upon by the Reichstag. The Socialists +had not been present in the Palace, but joined now in voting the +necessary credits. + +On the afternoon of August fourth, I went to see von Jagow to +try and pick up any news. The British Ambassador sat in the +waiting-room of the Foreign Office. Sir Edward told me that he +was there for the purpose of asking for his passports. He spoke +in English, of course, and I am sure that he was overheard by a +man sitting in the room who looked to me like a German newspaper +man, so that I was not surprised when, late in the afternoon, +extra sheets appeared upon the street announcing that the British +Ambassador had asked for his passports and that Great Britain +had declared war. + +At this news the rage of the population of Berlin was indescribable. +The Foreign Office had believed, and this belief had percolated +through all classes in the capital, that the English were so +occupied with the Ulster rebellion and unrest in Ireland that +they would not declare war. + +[Illustration: CROWDS IN FRONT OF THE EMBASSY AWAITING BULLETINS, +AUGUST, 1914.] + +[Illustration: THE AMERICAN EMBASSY WAS THE CENTRE OF INTEREST +TO MANY IN THOSE EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR.] + +After dinner I went to the station to say good bye to the French +Ambassador, Jules Cambon. The route from the French Embassy by +the Branderburg Thor to the Lehrter railway station was lined +with troops and police, so that no accident whatever occurred. +There was no one at the station except a very inferior official +from the German Foreign Office. Cambon was in excellent spirits +and kept his nerve and composure admirably. His family, luckily, +were not in Berlin at the time of the outbreak of the war. Cambon +instead of being sent out by way of Switzerland, whence of course +the road to France was easy, was sent North to Denmark. He was +very badly treated on the train, and payment for the special +train, in gold, was exacted from him by the German government. + +Then I went for a walk about Berlin, soon becoming involved in +the great crowd in front of the British Embassy on the Wilhelm +Strasse. The crowd threw stones, etc., and managed to break all +the windows of the Embassy. The Germans charged afterwards that +people in the Embassy had infuriated the crowd by throwing pennies +to them. I did not see any occurrences of this kind. As the Unter +den Linden and the Wilhelm Platz are paved with asphalt the crowd +must have brought with them the missiles which they used, with +the premeditated design of smashing the Embassy windows. A few +mounted police made their appearance but were at no time in +sufficient numbers to hold the crowd in check. + +Afterwards I went around to the Unter den Linden where there was +a great crowd in front of the Hotel Adlon. A man standing on the +outskirts of the crowd begged me not to go into the hotel, as he +said the people were looking for English newspaper correspondents. + +So threatening was the crowd towards the English correspondents +that Wile rang up the porter of the Embassy after we had gone +to bed and, not wishing to disturb us, he occupied the lounge in +the porter's rooms. + +Believing that possibly the British Embassy might be in such +a condition that Sir Edward Goschen, the British Ambassador, +might not care to spend the night there, I ordered an automobile +and went up through the crowd which still choked the Wilhelm +Strasse, with Holand Harvey, the Second Secretary to the British +Embassy. Sir Edward and his secretaries were perfectly calm and +politely declined the refuge which I offered them in our Embassy. +I chatted with them for a while, and, as I was starting to leave, a +servant told me that the crowds in the street had greatly increased +and were watching my automobile. I sent out word by the servant +to open the automobile, as it was a landau, and to tell the +chauffeur, when I got in, to drive very slowly. + +I drove slowly through the crowd, assailed only by the peculiar +hissing word that the Germans use when they are especially angry +and which is supposed to convey the utmost contempt. This word +is "_Pfui_" and has a peculiar effect when hissed out from +thousands of Teutonic throats. + +As we left the outskirts of the crowd, a man of respectable +appearance jumped on the running board of the automobile, spit +at me, saying "_Pfui_," and struck Harvey in the face with +his hat. I stopped the automobile, jumped out and chased this man +down the street and caught him. My German footman came running +up and explained that I was the American Ambassador and not an +Englishman. The man who struck Harvey thereupon apologised and +gave his card. He was a Berlin lawyer who came to the Embassy +next morning and apologised again for his "mistake." + +The following day, August fifth, I spent part of the time taking +over from Sir Edward the British interests. Joseph C. Grew, our +First Secretary, and I went to the British Embassy; seals were +placed upon the archives, and we received such instructions and +information as could be given us, with reference to the British +subjects in Germany and their interests. The British correspondents +were collected in the Embassy and permission was obtained for +them to leave on the Embassy train. + +During the day British subjects, without distinction as to age +or sex, were seized, wherever found, and sent to the fortress +of Spandau. I remonstrated with von Jagow and told him that that +was a measure taken only in the Middle Ages, and I believe that +he remonstrated with the authorities and arranged for a cessation +of the arbitrary arrests of women. + +Frederick W. Wile, the well-known American correspondent of the +_London_Daily_Mail_, was to go out also with the British +party, on the ground that he had been a correspondent of a British +newspaper. In the evening I went to the Foreign Office to get his +passport, and, while one of the department chiefs was signing +the passport, he stopped in the middle of his signature, threw +down the pen on the table, and said he absolutely refused to +sign a passport for Wile because he hated him so and because +he believed he had been largely instrumental in the bringing +about of the war. Of course this latter statement was quite +ridiculous, but it took me some time before I could persuade +this German official to calm his hate and complete his signature. + +I have heard a few people say that Wile was unduly fearful of +what the Germans might do to him, but the foregoing incident +shows that his fears were well grounded, and knowing of this +incident, which I did not tell him, I was very glad to have him +accept the hospitality of the Embassy for the night preceding +his departure. He was perfectly cool, although naturally much +pleased when I informed him that his departure had been arranged. + +Sir Edward and his staff and the British correspondents left next +morning early, about six A. M. No untoward incidents occurred +at the time of their departure which was, of course, unknown to +the populace of Berlin. + +During these first days there was a great spy excitement in Germany. +People were seized by the crowds in the streets and, in some +instances, on the theory that they were French or Russian spies, +were shot. Foreigners were in a very dangerous situation throughout +Germany, and many Americans were subjected to arrest and indignities. + +A curious rumour spread all over Germany to the effect that +automobiles loaded with French gold were being rushed across the +country to Russia. Peasants and gamekeepers and others turned +out on the roads with guns, and travelling by automobile became +exceedingly dangerous. A German Countess was shot, an officer +wounded and the Duchess of Ratibor was shot in the arm. It was +sometime before this excitement was allayed, and many notices +were published in the newspapers before this mania was driven +from the popular brain. + +There were rumours also that Russians had poisoned the Muggelsee, +the lake from whence Berlin draws part of its water supply. There +were constant rumours of the arrest of Russian spies disguised as +women throughout Germany. + +Many Americans were detained under a sort of arrest in their +hotels; among these were Archer Huntington and his wife; Charles +H. Sherrill, formerly our minister to the Argentine and many +others. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE AMERICANS AT THE OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES + +Of course, as soon as there was a prospect of war, the Embassy +was overrun with Americans. Few Americans had taken the precaution +of travelling with passports, and passports had become a necessity. +All of the Embassy force and all the volunteers that I could +prevail upon to serve, even a child of eleven years old, who +was stopping in the house with us, were taking applications of +the Americans who literally in thousands crowded the Wilhelm +Platz in front of the Embassy. + +The question of money became acute. Travellers who had letters +of credit and bank checks for large sums could not get a cent +of money in Germany. The American Express Company, I believe, +paid all holders of its checks. When, with Mr. Wolf, President +of the American Association of Commerce and Trade in Berlin, I +called upon the director of the Imperial Bank and begged him +to arrange something for the relief of American travellers in +Germany, he refused to do anything; and I then suggested to him +that he might give paper money, which they were then printing +in Germany, to the Americans for good American credits such as +letters of credit and bank checks, and that they would then have a +credit in America which might become very valuable in the future. +He, however, refused to see this. Director Herbert Gutmann of +the Dresdener Bank was the far-seeing banker who relieved the +situation. Gutmann arranged with me that the Dresdener Bank, +the second largest bank in Germany, would cash the bank checks, +letters of credit and the American Express Company's drafts and +international business checks, etc., of Americans for reasonable +amounts, provided the Embassy seal was put on the letter of credit +or check to show that the holder was an American, and, outside +of Berlin, the seal of the American Consulate. This immediately +relieved the situation. + +With the exception of Mr. Wolf who was, however, quite busy with +his own affairs, I had no American Committees such as were organised +in London and Paris to help me in Berlin. In Munich, however, the +Americans there organised themselves into an efficient committee. +Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Pulitzer were in Berlin and immediately went +to work in our Embassy. Mr. Pulitzer busied himself at giving +out passports and Mrs. Pulitzer proved herself a very efficient +worker. She and Mrs. Ruddock, wife of our Third Secretary, and +Mrs. Gherhardi, wife of the Naval Attaché, with Mrs. Gerard formed +a sort of relief committee to look after the Americans who were +without help or resources. + +I arranged, with the very efficient help of Lanier Winslow, for +special trains to carry the Americans in Germany to Holland. +Trains were run from Switzerland, Munich and Carlsbad across +Germany to Holland, and from Berlin were run a number of trains +to Holland. + +The first room on entering the Embassy was the ticket-office, +and there, first Mr. Winslow, and afterwards Captain Fenton, +sold tickets, giving tickets free to those who were certified +to be without funds by the committee of Mrs. Pulitzer and Mrs. +Gerard. This committee worked on the second floor of the Embassy +in the ballroom, part of it being roped off to keep the crowds +back from the ladies. + +Each week I bought a number of steerage passages from the Holland +American Line and the ladies resold them in the ballroom. We had +to do this because the Holland American Line had no licence to sell +steerage tickets in Germany; but by buying two or three hundred +at a time direct from the Company, I was enabled to peddle them +out in our ballroom to those Americans who, in their eagerness to +reach their own country, were willing to endure the discomforts +of travel in the steerage. + +Winslow accompanied one special train to Holland, and I must +say that I sympathised with him when I learned of what he had +to do in the way of chasing lost hand-baggage and finding milk +for crying babies. + +These special trains were started from the Charlottenburg station, +in a quiet part of Berlin so that no crowd was attracted by the +departure of the Americans. The Carlsbad train went through very +successfully, taking the Americans who had been shut up in Carlsbad +since the commencement of the war. + +One of the curious developments of this time was a meeting of +sympathy for the Americans stranded in Germany, held in the town +hall of Berlin on the eleventh of August. This meeting was commenced +in one of the meeting rooms of the town hall, but so many people +attended that we were compelled to adjourn to the great hall. +There speeches were made by the over-Burgomaster, von Gwinner, +Professor von Harnack and me. Another professor, who spoke excellent +English, with an English accent, made a bitter attack upon Great +Britain. In the pamphlet in which the speeches of Harnack and +the over-Burgomaster were published this professor's speech was +left out. In his speech stating the object of the meeting, the +over-Burgomaster said: "Since we hear that a large number of +American citizens in the German Empire, and, especially, in Berlin, +find themselves in embarrassments due to the shutting off of +means of return to their own country, we here solemnly declare +it to be our duty to care for them as brethren to the limit of +our ability, and we appeal to all citizens of Berlin and the +whole of the German Empire to co-operate with us to this end." + +Professor von Harnack, head of the Royal Library in Berlin, is +one of the ablest of the German professors. In his speech he gave +expression to the feeling that was prevalent in the first days +of the war that Germany was defending itself against a Russian +invasion which threatened to blot out the German _Kultur_. He +said, after referring to Western civilisation: "But in the face +of this civilisation, there arises now before my eyes another +civilisation, the civilisation of the tribe, with its patriarchal +organisation, the civilisation of the horde that is gathered and +kept together by despots,--the Mongolian Muscovite civilisation. +This civilisation could not endure the light of the eighteenth +century, still less the light of the nineteenth century, and +now in the twentieth century it breaks loose and threatens us. +This unorganised Asiatic mass, like the desert with its sands, +wants to gather up our fields of grain." + +Nothing was done for the Americans stranded in Germany by the +Germans with the exception of the arrangements for the payment +of funds by the Dresdener Bank on the letters of credit and the +dispatching of special trains by the railroad department of the +German government. As a matter of fact, nothing more could have +been required of the Germans, as it was naturally the duty of +the American government to take care of its citizens stranded +abroad. + +Almost the instant that war was declared, I cabled to our government +suggesting that a ship should be sent over with gold because, +of course, with gold, no matter what the country, necessaries +can always be bought. Rumours of the dispatch of the Tennessee +and other ships from America, reached Berlin and a great number +of the more ignorant of the Americans got to believe that these +ships were being sent over to take Americans home. + +[Illustration: WORKING IN THE EMBASSY BALLROOM AT THE OUTBREAK +OF HOSTILITIES, AUGUST, 1914.] + +[Illustration: WAR DAYS IN BERLIN. AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS STAFF.] + +One morning an American woman spoke to me and said she would +consent to go home on one of these ships provided she was given +a state-room with a bath and Walker-Gordon milk for her children, +while another woman of German extraction used to sit for hours +in a corner of the ballroom, occasionally exclaiming aloud with +much feeling, "O God, will them ships never come?" + +In these first days of the war we also made a card index of all +the Americans in Berlin, and, so far as possible, in Germany; +in order to weed out those who had received the passports in +the first days when possibly some people not entitled to them +received them, and to find the deserving cases. All Americans +were required to present themselves at the Embassy and answer +a few questions, after which, if everything seemed all right, +their passports were marked "recommended for transportation to +America." + +I sent out circulars from time to time to the consuls throughout +Germany giving general instructions with regard to the treatment +of Americans. The following circular sent out on August twelfth +is a sample: + + "AMERICAN EMBASSY, + BERLIN, August 12, 1914. + + "_To_the_Consular_Representatives_ + _of_the_United_States_in_Germany,_ + _and_for_the_general_information_of_ + _American_Citizens._ + + "A communication will to-morrow be published in the _Berlin_ + _Lokal_Anzeiger_ regarding the sending of a special train to + the Dutch frontier for the special conveyance of Americans. + Other trains will probably be arranged for from time to time. + No further news has been received regarding the sending of + transports from the United States, but applications for + repatriation are being considered by the Embassy and the + various consular offices throughout Germany according to the + Embassy's last circular and the announcements published in + the _Lokal_Anzeiger_. + + "All Americans leaving Berlin must have their passports stamped + by the Foreign Office, for which purpose they should apply to + _Geheimer_Legationsrat_ Dr. Eckhardt at Wilhelmstrasse + 76. Americans residing outside of Berlin should ascertain from + their respective consular representatives what steps they should + take in this regard. + + "Letters for the United States may be sent to the Embassy and + will be forwarded at the first opportunity. + + "German subjects who desire to communicate with friends in + Great Britain, Russia, France or Belgium, or who desire to + send money, should make their requests to the Imperial Foreign + Office. Americans are permitted to enter Italy. The steamers + of the Italian lines are running at present, but are full for + some time in advance. The Embassy is also informed that the + steamer from Vlissingen, Holland, runs daily at 11 A. M. The + Ambassador cannot, however, recommend Americans to try to + reach Holland by the ordinary schedule trains, as he has + received reports of delays _en_route_, owing to the fact + that all civil travellers are ejected from trains when troops + require accommodations. It is better to wait for special trains + arranged for by the Embassy. + + "The Dresdener Bank and its branches throughout Germany will + cash _for_Americans_only_ letters of credit and checks + issued by good American banks in limited amounts. Included + in this category are the checks of the Bankers' Association, + Bankers' Trust Company, International Mercantile Marine Company, + and American Express Company. All checks and letters of credit + must, however, be stamped by American consuls, and consuls must + see that the consular stamp is affixed to those checks and + letters of credit only as are the bona fide property of American + citizens. The Commerz & Disconto Bank makes the same offer and + the Deutsche Bank will cash checks and letters of credit drawn + by its correspondents. + + "American consular officers may also draw later on the Dresdener + Bank for their salaries and the official expenses of their + consulates. Before drawing such funds from the bank, however, + all consular officers should submit their expense accounts to me + for approval. These expense accounts should be transmitted to + the Embassy at the earliest opportunity. + + "THE AMBASSADOR." + +It will be noticed from the above circular that all Americans +were required to have their passports stamped at the Foreign +Office. One American did not receive back his passport, although +he had left it at the Foreign Office. The Foreign Office claimed +that it had delivered the passport to some one from the Embassy, +but we were not very much surprised when this identical passport +turned up later in the possession of Lodi, the confessed German +spy, who was shot in the Tower of London. + +After a time the American Government cabled me to advance money +to destitute Americans; and the ladies in the ballroom, with +their assistants, attended to this branch, advancing money where +needed or so much as a person needed to make up the balance of +passage on steerage tickets from Holland to the United States. +At the same time we gradually built up a banking system. Those +in the United States who had friends or relatives in Germany +sent them money by giving the money to our State Department, +and the State Department in turn cabled me to make a payment. +This payment was made by my drawing a draft for the amount stated +on the State Department, the recipient selling this draft at a +fixed rate to the Deutsche Bank in Berlin. This business assumed +great proportions, and after the Americans who were in a hurry to +go home had disappeared, the ones remaining were kept in funds +by their friends and relatives through this sort of bank under +our management. + +On August twenty-third, Assistant Secretary of War Breckenridge, +who had come from America on the warship _Tennessee_, bringing +gold with him, and a certain number of army officers, arrived +in Berlin and took over our relief organisation in so far as it +applied to the repatriation of Americans, housing it in rooms +hired in a nearby hotel, the Kaiserhoff. This commission: was +composed of Majors J. A. Ryan, J. H. Ford and G. W. Martin and +Captains Miller and Fenton, but the relief committee and the +banking office were still continued in the Embassy ballroom. + +A bulletin was published under the auspices of the American +Association of Commerce and Trade and the advice there given was +that all Americans having the means to leave should do so when +the opportunity for leaving by special trains was presented, and +proceed direct to London whence they could obtain transportation +to the United States. All Americans without means were directed +to apply to the relief commission which was authorized to pay +for the transportation and subsistence of stranded Americans +in order to enable them to return home. + +The enormous quantity of baggage left behind by Americans in +Germany was a problem requiring solution. + +In spite of repeated advice to leave, many Americans insisted +on remaining in Germany. Few of them were business people; there +were many song-birds, piano players, and students. We had much +trouble with these belated Americans. For example, one woman +and her daughter refused to leave when advised, but stayed on +and ran up bills for over ten thousand marks; and as arrest for +debt exists in Germany, they could not leave when they finally +decided to go. All of us in the Embassy had to subscribe the +money necessary to pay their most pressing debts and they finally +left the country, leaving an added prejudice against Americans. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PRISONERS OF WAR + +During the period of the first months of the war, in addition +to other work, it became necessary to look after those subjects +of other nations who had been confided to my care. + +At first the British were allowed considerable liberty, although +none were permitted to leave the country. They were required to +report to the police at stated times during the day and could +not remain out late at night. + +The Japanese had received warning from their Embassy as to the +turn that events might take and, before sending its ultimatum, +the Japanese government had warned its citizens, so that a great +number of them had left Germany. After the declaration of war by +Japan, all the Japanese in Germany were immediately imprisoned. +This was stated to be in order to save them from the fury of +the population and certainly the people seemed to be greatly +incensed against the Japanese. When I finally obtained permission +for their release and departure from Germany I had to send some +one with the parties of Japanese to the Swiss frontier in order +to protect them from injury. They were permitted to leave only +through Switzerland and, therefore, had to change cars at Munich. +Before sending any of them to Munich I invariably telegraphed +our Consul there to notify the Munich police so that proper +protection could be provided at the railway station. + +On one occasion a number of Japanese were waiting in the Embassy +in order to take the night train for Munich. I sent a servant +to take them out in order that they might get something to eat +in a restaurant, but as no restaurant in Berlin would sell them +food, arrangements were made to give them meals in the Embassy. + +The members of the Siamese Legation, who in appearance greatly +resemble the Japanese, were often subjected to indignities, and +for a long time did not dare move about freely in Berlin, or +even leave their houses. + +The Japanese were marvels of courtesy. After I visited some of +them at the civilian camp of Ruhleben, they wrote me a letter +thanking me for the visit. Nearly every Japanese leaving Germany +on his arrival in Switzerland wrote me a grateful letter. + +When I finally left Germany, as I stepped from the special train +at Zürich, a Japanese woman, who had been imprisoned in Germany +and whose husband I had visited in a prison, came forward to thank +me. A Japanese man was waiting in the hotel office in Berne when +I arrived there, for a similar purpose, and the next morning +early the Japanese Minister called and left a beautiful clock for +Mrs. Gerard as an expression of his gratitude for the attention +shown to his countrymen. It was really a pleasure to be able to +do something for these polite and charming people. + +On August twentieth I paid my first visit to a German prison +camp. This was to the camp at Doeberitz situated about eight +miles west of Berlin, a sort of military camp with permanent +barracks. Some of these barracks were used for the confinement +of such British civilians as the Germans had arrested in the +first days of the war. There were only a few British among the +prisoners, with a number of Russian and French. I was allowed +to converse freely with the prisoners and found that they had +no complaints. As the war went on, however, a number of British +prisoners of war were taken by the Germans during the course of +the great retreat of the British in Northern France. Then officers +and privates began to come into Germany and were distributed +in various camps. Finally, in the autumn of 1914, the British +Government decided on interning a great number of Germans in +Great Britain; and the German government immediately, and as +a reprisal, interned all the British civilian men who, up to +this time, had enjoyed comparative freedom in Berlin and other +cities of the Empire. The British civilians were shut up in a +race track about five miles from the centre of Berlin, called +Ruhleben. This race track in peace times was used for contests +of trotting horses and on it were the usual grandstands and brick +stable buildings containing box stalls with hay lofts above, +where the race horses were kept. + +On August twentieth I paid my first visit to the police presidency +in Berlin where political prisoners, when arrested, were confined. A +small number of British prisoners subject to especial investigation +were there interned. This prison, which I often subsequently +visited, was clean and well kept, and I never had any particular +complaints from the prisoners confined there, except, of course, +as the war progressed, concerning the inadequacy of the food. + +I had organised a special department immediately on the breaking +out of the war to care for the interests of the British. At first +Mr. Boylston Beal, a lawyer of Boston, assisted by Mr. Rivington +Pyne of New York, was at the head of this department, of which +later the Honourable John B. Jackson, formerly our Minister to +the Balkan States, Greece and Cuba, took charge. He volunteered +to give his assistance at the commencement of the war and I was +glad of his help, especially as he had been twelve years secretary +in the Berlin Embassy and, therefore, was well acquainted not +only with Germany but with German official life and customs. Mr. +Jackson was most ably assisted by Charles H. Russell, Jr., of +New York, and Lithgow Osborne. Of course, others in the Embassy +had much to do with this department. + +The first privates, prisoners of war, came to the camp of Doeberitz +near Berlin. Early in the war Mr. Grew, our First Secretary, and +Consul General Lay visited the camp for officers at Torgau. The +question of the inspection of prisoners of the camps and the rights +of Ambassadors charged with the interests of hostile powers was +quite in the clouds. So many reports came to Germany about the +bad treatment in England of German prisoners of war that I finally +arranged to have Mr. Jackson visit them and report. This was arranged +by my colleague, our Ambassador to Great Britain, and in the first +winter Mr. Jackson made his trip there. His report of conditions +there did much to allay the German belief as to the ill-treatment +of their subjects who were prisoners in Great Britain and helped +me greatly in bringing about better conditions in Germany. After +vainly endeavouring to get the German government to agree to some +definite plan for the inspection of the prisoners, after my notes +to the Foreign Office had remained unanswered for a long period of +time, and after sending a personal letter to von Jagow calling his +attention to the fact that the delay was injuring German prisoners +in other countries, I finally called on von Bethmann-Hollweg +and told him that my notes concerning prisoners were sent by +the Foreign Office to the military authorities: that, while I +could talk with officials of the Foreign Office, I never came into +contact with the people who really passed upon the notes sent by +me, and who made the decisions as to the treatment of prisoners +of war and inspection of their camps; and I begged the Chancellor +to break down diplomatic precedent and allow me to speak with +the military authorities who decided these questions. I said, +"If I cannot get an answer to my proposition about prisoners, I +will take a chair and sit in front of your palace in the street +until I receive an answer." + +The result was a meeting in my office. + +I discussed the question involved with two representatives from +the Foreign Office, two from the General Staff, two from the War +Department and with Count Schwerin who commanded the civilian camp +at the Ruhleben race track. In twenty minutes we managed to reach +an agreement which I then and there drew up: the substance of +which, as between Great Britain and Germany, was that the American +Ambassador and his representatives in Germany and the American +Ambassador and his representatives in Great Britain should have +the right to visit the prison camps on giving reasonable notice, +which was to be twenty-four hours where possible, and should have +the right to converse with the prisoners, within sight but out +of hearing, of the camp officials; that an endeavour should be +made to adjust matters complained of with the camp authorities +before bringing them to the notice of higher authorities; that +ten representatives should be named by our Ambassador and that +these should receive passes enabling them to visit the camps +under the conditions above stated. This agreement was ratified +by the British and German Governments and thereafter for a long +time we worked under its provisions and in most questions dealt +direct with the War Department. + +Of course, before this meeting I had managed to get permission +to visit the camps of Ruhleben and Doeberitz near Berlin; and +Mr. Michaelson, our consul at Cologne, and Mr. Jackson and others +at the Embassy had been permitted to visit certain camps. But +immediately preceding the meeting on the fourth of March and +while matters were still being discussed we were compelled to +a certain extent to suspend our visits. + +In the first days of the war it was undoubtedly and unfortunately +true that prisoners of war taken by the Germans, both at the time +of their capture and in transit to the prison camps, were often +badly treated by the soldiers, guards or the civil population. + +The instances were too numerous, the evidence too overwhelming, +to be denied. In the prison camps themselves, owing to the peculiar +system of military government in Germany, the treatment of the +prisoners varied greatly. As I have, I think, stated in another +place, Germany is divided into army corps districts. Over each +of these districts is, in time of war, a representative corps +commander who is clothed with absolute power in that district, +his orders superseding those of all civilian officials. These +corps commanders do not report to the war department but are +in a measure independent and very jealous of their rights. For +instance, to show the difficulty of dealing with these corps +commanders, after my arrangements concerning the inspection of +prisoners of war had been ratified by both the Imperial and British +governments, I went to Halle to inspect the place of detention +for officers there. Halle is some hours from Berlin and when +I had driven out to the camp, I was met by the commander who +told me that I might visit the camp but that I could not speak +to the prisoners out of hearing. I told him that our arrangement +was otherwise, but, as he remained firm I returned to Berlin. +I complained to the Foreign Office and was told there that the +matter would be arranged and so I again, some days later, returned +to Halle. My experience on the second trip was exactly the same +as the first. I spoke to von Jagow who explained the situation to +me, and advised me to visit first the corps commander at Magdeburg +and try and arrange the matter with him. I did so and was finally +permitted to visit this camp and to talk to the officers out of +ear-shot. + +This camp of Halle was continued during the war, although not at +all a fit place for the detention of officers, who were lodged in +the old factory buildings surrounded by a sort of courtyard covered +with cinders. This building was situated in the industrial part +of the town of Halle. There was no opportunity for recreation +or games, although several enterprising officers had tried to +arrange a place where they could knock, a tennis ball against +the wall. + +It was the policy of the Germans to put some prisoners of each +nation in each camp. This was probably so that no claim could +be made that the prisoners from one nation among the Allies were +treated better or worse than the prisoners from another nation. + +In the beginning of the war the Germans were surprised by the great +number of prisoners taken and had made no adequate preparations +for their reception. Clothing and blankets were woefully wanting, +so I immediately bought what I could in the way of underclothes +and blankets at the large department stores of Berlin and the +wholesalers and sent these to the camps where the British prisoners +were confined. I also sent to the Doeberitz camp articles such +as sticks for wounded men who were recovering, and crutches, +and even eggs and other nourishing delicacies for the sick. + +At first the prisoners were not compelled to work to any extent, +but at the time I left Germany the two million prisoners of war +were materially assisting the carrying on of the agriculture +and industries of the Empire. + +The League of Mercy of New York having telegraphed me in 1914, +asking in what way funds could best be used in the war, I suggested +in answer that funds for the prisoners of war were urgently needed. +Many newspapers poked fun at me for this suggestion, and one bright +editor said that if the Germans did not treat their prisoners +properly they should be made to! Of course, unless this particular +editor had sailed up the Spree in a canoe and bombarded the royal +palace, I know of no other way of "making" the Germans do anything. +The idea, however, of doing some work for the prisoners of war was +taken up by the Young Men's Christian Association. Dr. John R. +Mott was at the head of this work and was most ably and devotedly +assisted by the Rev. Archibald C. Harte. I shall give an account +of their splendid work in a chapter devoted to the charitable +work of the war. + +At only one town in Germany was any interest in the fate of the +prisoners of war evinced. This was, I am glad to say, in the +quaint university town of Göttingen. I visited this camp with +Mr. Harte, in April, 1915, to attend the opening of the first +Y. M. C. A. camp building in Germany. The camp was commanded by +Colonel Bogen, an officer strict in his discipline, but, as all +the prisoners admitted, just in his dealings with them. There +were, as I recall, about seven thousand prisoners in this camp, +Russian, French, Belgian and British. It is a pity that the methods +of Colonel Bogen and his arrangements for camp buildings, etc., +were not copied in other camps in Germany. Here, as I have said, +the civil population took some interest in the fate of the +unfortunate prisoners within their gates, led in this by several +professors in the University. The most active of these professors +was Professor Stange who, working with a French lawyer who had been +captured near Arras while in the Red Cross, provided a library +for the prisoners and otherwise helped them. Of course, these +charitable acts of Professor Stange did not find favor with many +of his fellow townsmen of Göttingen, and he was not surprised +when he awoke one morning to find that during the night his house +had been painted red, white and blue, the colours of France, +England and America. + +I heard of so many instances of the annoyance of prisoners by +the civil population that I was quite pleased one day to read +a paragraph in the official newspaper, the _North_German +_Gazette_, which ran somewhat as follows: "The following +inhabitants of (naming a small town near the borders of Denmark), +having been guilty of improper conduct towards prisoners of war, +have been sentenced to the following terms of imprisonment and +the following fines and their names are printed here in order +that they may be held up to the contempt of all future generations +of Germans." And then followed a list of names and terms of +imprisonment and fines. I thought that this was splendid, that +the German government had at last been aroused to the necessity +of protecting their prisoners of war from the annoyances of the +civil population, and I wrote to our consul in Kiel and asked him +to investigate the case. From him I learned that some unfortunate +prisoners passing through the town (in a part of Germany inhabited +by Scandinavians) had made signs that they were suffering from +hunger and thirst, that some of the kind-hearted people among +the Scandinavian population had given them something to eat and +drink and for this they were condemned to fines, to prison and +to have their names held up to the contempt of Germans for all +time. + +I do not know of anyone thing that can give a better idea of +the official hate for the nations with which Germany was at war +than this. + +The day after visiting the camp at Göttingen, I visited the +officers' camp situated at the town of Hanover Münden. Here +about eight hundred officers, of whom only thirteen were British, +were confined in an old factory building situated on the bank of +the river below the town. The Russian officers handed me some +arrows tipped with nails which had been shot at them by the +kind-hearted little town boys, and the British pointed out to me +the filthy conditions of the camp. In this, as in unfortunately +many other officer camps, the inclination seemed to be to treat the +officers not as captured officers and gentlemen, but as convicts. +I had quite a sharp talk with the commander of this camp before +leaving and he afterwards took violent exception to the report +which I made upon his camp. However, I am pleased to say that +he reformed, as it were, and I was informed by my inspectors +that he had finally made his camp one of the best in Germany. + +Much as I should have liked to, I could not spend much time myself +in visiting the prison camps; many duties and frequent crises kept +me in Berlin, but members of the Embassy were always travelling +in this work of camp inspection. + +For some time my reports were published in parliamentary "White +Papers," but in the end our government found that the publication +of these reports irritated the Germans to such a degree that the +British Government was requested not to publish them any more. +Copies of the reports were always sent by me both to Washington +and to London, and handed to the Berlin Foreign Office. + +[Illustration: A COVER OF THE MONTHLY ISSUED BY THE RUHLEBEN +PRISONERS.] + +While Winston Churchill was at the head of the British Admiralty, +it was stated that the German submarine prisoners would not be +treated as ordinary prisoners of war; but would be put in a place +by themselves on the ground that they were pirates and murderers, +and not entitled to the treatment accorded in general to prisoners +of war. Great indignation was excited by this in Germany; the +German government immediately seized thirty-seven officers, picking +those whom they supposed related to the most prominent families +in Great Britain, and placed them in solitary confinement. A +few were confined in this way in Cologne, but the majority were +put in the ordinary jails of Magdeburg and Burg. + +As soon as I heard of this, accompanied by Mr. Charles H. Russell, +Jr., of my staff, I went to Magdeburg, using my ordinary pass +for the visiting of prisoners. The German authorities told me +afterwards that if they had known I was going to make this visit +they would not have permitted it, but on this occasion the corps +commander system worked for me. Accompanied by an adjutant, in +peace times a local lawyer from the corps commander's office in +Magdeburg, and other officers, I visited these British officers +in their cells in the common jail at Magdeburg. They were in +absolutely solitary confinement, each in a small cell about eleven +feet long and four feet wide. Some cells were a little larger, +and the prisoners were allowed only one hour's exercise a day in +the courtyard of the prison. The food given them was not bad, but +the close confinement was very trying, especially to Lieutenant +Goschen, son of the former Ambassador to Germany, who had been +wounded and in the hospital at Douai. Among them I found an old +acquaintance, Captain Robin Grey, who had been often in New York. +The German authorities agreed to correct several minor matters of +which the officers complained and then we went to the neighbouring +town of Burg, where other officers were confined in the same manner +and under similar conditions in the ordinary jail. After visiting +these prisoners and obtaining for them from the authorities some +modifications of the rules which had been established we visited +the regular officers' camp at Burg. + +This was at that time what I should call a bad camp, crowded and +with no space for recreation. Later, conditions were improved +and more ground allowed to the prisoners for games, etc. At the +time of my first visit I found that the commander, a polite but +peppery officer, was in civil life a judge of the Supreme Court +at Leipzig, the highest court in the Empire. As I had been a +judge in the State of New York, we foregathered and adjourned +for lunch with his staff to the hotel in Burg. + +After Churchill left the British Admiralty, his successor reversed +his ruling and the submarine prisoners were placed in the ordinary +confinement of prisoners of war. When the Germans were assured of +this, the thirty-seven officers who had been in reprisal placed +in solitary confinement were sent back to ordinary prison camps. +In fact in most cases I managed to get the Germans to send them +to what were called "good" camps. + +Lieutenant Goschen, however, became quite in and was taken to the +hospital in Magdeburg. At the time of his capture, the Germans +had told me, in answer to my inquiries, that he was suffering +from a blow on the head with the butt end of a rifle, but an +X-ray examination at Magdeburg showed that fragments of a bullet +had penetrated his brain and that he was, therefore, hardly a +fit subject to be chosen as one of the reprisal prisoners. I +told von Jagow that I thought it in the first place a violation +of all diplomatic courtesy to pick out the son of the former +Ambassador to Germany as a subject for reprisals and secondly +that, in picking him, they had taken a wounded man; that the +fact that they did not know that he had fragments of a bullet in +his brain made the situation even worse because that ignorance +was the result of the want of a proper examination in the German +hospitals; and I insisted that, because of this manifestly unfair +treatment which had undoubtedly caused the very serious condition +of Lieutenant Goschen, he should be returned to England in the +exchange of those who were badly wounded. I am pleased to say +that von Jagow saw my point of view and finally secured permission +for Lieutenant Goschen to leave for England. + +Dr. Ohnesorg, one of our assistant Naval Attachés, went with +him to England on account of the seriousness of his condition, +and I was very glad to hear from his father that he had arrived +safely in London. + +Undoubtedly the worst camp which I visited in Germany was that +of Wittenberg. Wittenberg is the ancient town where Luther lived +and nailed his theses to the church door. The camp is situated +just outside the city in a very unattractive spot next to the +railway. An outbreak of typhus fever prevented us from visiting +the camp, although Mr. Jackson conversed with some of the prisoners +from outside the barrier of barbed wire. When the typhus was +finally driven out, Mr. Lithgow Osborne visited the camp and his +report of conditions there was such that I visited it myself, +in the meantime holding up his report until I had verified it. + +With Mr. Charles H. Russell, Jr., I visited the camp. Typhus +fever seems to be continually present in Russia. It is carried by +the body louse and it is transmitted from one person to another. +Russian soldiers seem to carry this disease with them without +apparently suffering much from it themselves. The Russian soldiers +arriving at Wittenberg were not properly disinfected and, in +consequence, typhus fever broke out in camp. Several British +medical officers were there with their prisoners, because, by the +provisions of the Hague conventions, captured medical officers +may be kept with the troops of their nation, if prisoners have +need of their services. These medical officers protested with +the camp commander against the herding together of the French +and British prisoners with the Russians, who, as I have said, +were suffering from typhus fever. But the camp commander said, +"You will have to know your Allies;" and kept all of his prisoners +together, and thus as surely condemned to death a number of French +and British prisoners of war as though he had stood them against +the wall and ordered them shot by a firing squad. Conditions in +the camp during the period of this epidemic were frightful. The +camp was practically deserted by the Germans and I understand +that the German doctor did not make as many visits to the camp +as the situation required. + +At the time I visited the camp the typhus epidemic, of course, +had been stamped out. The Germans employed a large number of +police dogs in this camp and these dogs not only were used in +watching the outside of the camp in order to prevent the escape +of prisoners but also were used within the camp. Many complaints +were made to me by prisoners concerning these dogs, stating that +men had been bitten by them. It seemed undoubtedly true that the +prisoners there had been knocked about and beaten in a terrible +manner by their guards, and one guard went so far as to strike one +of the British medical officers. There were about thirty-seven +civilian prisoners in the camp who had been there all through +the typhus epidemic. I secured the removal of these civilian +prisoners to the general civilian camp at Ruhleben, and the +conditions at Wittenberg may be judged by the fact that when +it was announced to these civilians that they were to be taken +from Wittenberg to another camp one of them was so excited by +the news of release that he fell dead upon the spot. + +In talking over conditions at Wittenberg with von Jagow I said, +"Suppose I go back to Wittenberg and shoot some of these dogs, +what can you do to me?" Soon after the dogs disappeared from +the camp. + +The food in all these camps for civilians and for private soldiers +was about the same. It consisted of an allowance of bread of +the same weight as that given the civilian population. This was +given out in the morning with a cup of something called coffee, +but which in reality was an extract of acorns or something of the +kind without milk or sugar; in the middle of the day, a bowl of +thick soup in which the quantity of meat was gradually diminished +as war went on, as well as the amount of potatoes for which at +a later period turnips and carrots were, to a large extent, +substituted; and in the evening in good camps there was some sort +of thick soup given out or an apple, or an almost infinitesimal +piece of cheese or sausage. + +In the war department at Berlin there was a Prisoners of War +Department in charge of Colonel, later General, Friedrich. This +department, however, did not seem to be in a position to issue +orders to the corps commanders commanding the army corps districts +of Germany, who had absolute control of the prison camps within +their districts. Colonel Friedrich, however, and his assistants +endeavoured to standardise the treatment of prisoners of war in +the different corps districts, and were able to exert a certain +amount of pressure on the corps commanders. They determined on +the general reprisals to be taken in connection with prisoners +of war. For instance, when some of the Germans, who had been +taken prisoners by the British and who were in England, were +sent to work in the harbour of Havre, the Germans retaliated +by sending about four times the number of British prisoners to +work at Libau in the part of Russia then occupied by the Germans. +But while the British permitted our Embassy in Paris to inspect +the prisoners of war at Havre, the Germans for months refused +to allow me permission to send anyone to inspect those British +prisoners at Libau. + +Cases came to my attention where individual corps commanders +on their own initiative directed punitive measures against the +prisoners of war in their districts, on account of the rumours +of the bad treatment of German citizens in England. Thus the +commander in the district where the camp of Doeberitz was situated +issued an order directing reprisals against prisoners under his +command on account of what he claimed to be the bad treatment +of German women in England. It required constant vigilance to +seek out instances of this kind and cause them to be remedied. + +I did not find the Germans at all efficient in the handling of +prisoners of war. The authority was so divided that it was hard +to find who was responsible for any given bad conditions. For +instance, for a long period of time I contended with the German +authorities for better living conditions at the civilian camp of +Ruhleben. I was promised time and again by Colonel Friedrich, +by the camp commander and by the Foreign + +Office that these conditions would be remedied. In that camp men +of education, men in delicate health, were compelled to sleep +and live six in a box stall or so closely that the beds touched +each other in hay-lofts, the outside walls of which were only +four feet high. + +I finally almost in despair wrote identical personal letters, +after having exhausted all ordinary diplomatic steps, to General +von Kessel, Commander of the Mark of Brandenburg, to the commander +of the corps district in which the Ruhleben camp was situated, +and to the Minister of War: and the only result was that each +of the officers addressed claimed that he had been personally +insulted by me because I had presumed to call his attention to +the inhuman conditions under which the prisoners were compelled +to live in the Ruhleben camp. + +The commander of this civilian camp of Ruhleben was a very handsome +old gentleman, named Count Schwerin. His second in command for +a long time was a Baron Taube. Both of these officers had been +long retired from the army and were given these prison commands +at the commencement of the war. Both of them were naturally +kind-hearted but curiously sensitive and not always of even temper. +On the whole I think that they sympathised with the prisoners +and did their best to obtain a bettering of the conditions of +their confinement. The prisoners organised themselves in their +various barracks, each barrack having a captain of the barrack, +the captains electing one of their number as a camp captain or +_Obmann_. + +The man who finally appeared as head man of the camp was an +ex-cinematograph proprietor, named Powell. In my mind he, assisted +by Beaumont and other captains, conducted the affairs of the camp +as well as possible, given the difficulty of dealing with the +prisoners on one hand and the prison authorities on the other +hand. Naturally he was always subject to opposition from many +prisoners, among whom those of aristocratic tendencies objected +to being under the control of one not of the highest caste in +Great Britain; and there were others who either envied him his +authority or desired his place. The camp authorities allowed +Powell to visit the Embassy at least once a week and in that +way I was enabled, to keep in direct touch with the camp. At +two periods during my stay in Berlin I spent enough days at the +camp to enable every prisoner who had a complaint of any kind +to present it personally to me. + +The organisation of this camp was quite extraordinary. I found +it impossible to get British prisoners to perform the ordinary +work of cleaning up the camp, and so forth, always expected of +prisoners themselves; and so, with the funds furnished me from +the British Government, the camp captain was compelled to pay a +number of the poorer prisoners to perform this work. Secretaries +Ruddock and Kirk of our Embassy undertook the uninteresting and +arduous work of superintending these payments as well as of our +other financial affairs. This work was most trying and they deserve +great credit for their self-denial. By arrangement with the British +Government, I was also enabled to pay the poorer prisoners an +allowance of five marks a week, thus permitting them to buy little +luxuries and necessities and extra food at the camp canteen which +was early established in the camp. I also furnished the capital to +the camp canteen, enabling it to make its purchases and carry on +its business. In this establishment everything could be purchased +which was purchasable in Germany, and for months after the +commencement of the war articles of luxury were sold at a profit +and articles of food sold at a loss for the benefit of those +who required an addition to the camp diet. There was a street +in the camp of little barracks or booths which the prisoners +christened Bond Street, and where many stores were in operation +such as a tailor shop, shoe-maker's, watch-maker's, etc. Acting +with Powell, I succeeded in getting the German authorities to +turn over the kitchens to the prisoners. Four of the prisoners +who did most excellent self-denying work in these kitchens deserve +to be specially mentioned. They were Ernest L. Pyke, Herbert. +Kasmer, Richard H. Carrad and George Fergusson. + +The men in this camp subsisted to a great extent upon the packages +of food sent to them from England. Credit must be given to the +German authorities for the fairly prompt and efficient delivery +of the packages of food sent from England, Denmark and Switzerland +to prisoners of war in all camps. + +In Ruhleben the educated prisoners volunteered to teach the ignorant: +two hundred and ninety-seven different educational courses were +offered to those who desired to improve their minds. A splendid +orchestra was organised, a dramatic society which gave plays in +French and one which gave plays in English and another one which +gave operas. On New Year's day, 1916, I attended at Ruhleben do +really wonderful performance of the pantomime of "Cinderella"; +and, in January, 1917, a performance of "The Mikado" in a theatre +under one of the grand stands. In these productions, of course, +the female parts were taken by young men and the scenery, costumes +and accessories were all made by the prisoners. There was a camp +library of over five thousand volumes sent over by the British +Government and a reading and meeting hall, erected by the American +Y. M. C. A. There was even a system of postal service with special +stamps so that a prisoner in one barrack could write to a friend in +another and have a letter delivered by the camp postal authorities. +The German authorities had not hired the entire race track from +the Race Track Association so that I made a special contract +with the race track owners and hired from them the in-field and +other portions not taken over by German authorities. Here the +prisoners had tennis courts and played hockey, foot-ball and +cricket and held athletic games. Expert dentists in the camp +took care of the poorer prisoners as did an oculist hired by me +with British funds, and glasses were given them from the same +funds. + +The prisoners who needed a little better nourishment than that +afforded by the camp diet and their parcels from England, could +obtain cards giving them the right to eat in the Casino or camp +official restaurant where they were allowed a certain indicated +amount of wine or beer with their meals, and finally arrangements +were arrived at by which the German guards left the camp, simply +guarding it from the outside; and the policing was taken over +by the camp police department, under the charge of the prison +camp commander and committee. The worst features, of course, +were the food and housing. Human nature seems always to be the +same. Establishment of clubs seems inherent to the Anglo-Saxon +nature. Ten or more persons would combine together and erect a +sort of wooden shed against the brick walls of a barrack, hire +some poorer person to put on a white jacket and be addressed as +"steward," put in the shed a few deck chairs and a table and +enjoy the sensation of exclusiveness and club life thereby given. + +Owing to the failure of Germany and Great Britain to come to an +agreement for a long time as to the release of captured crews +of ships, there were in Ruhleben men as old as seventy-five years +and boys as young as fifteen. There were in all between fifty and +sixty of these ships' boys. They lived in a barrack by themselves +and under the supervision of a ship's officer who volunteered to +look after them as sort of a monitor. They were taught navigation +by the older prisoners and I imagine were rather benefited by their +stay in the camp. I finally made arrangements by which these boys +were released from England and Germany. With the exception of +the officers and crews of the ships, prisoners were not interned +who were over fifty-five. + +The British Government was generous in the allowance of money for +Ruhleben prisoners. The amount allowed by the German Government to +the camp commanders for feeding the prisoners was extremely small, +only sixty pfennigs a day. At first many of the camp commanders +made contracts with caterers for the feeding of the prisoners +and as the caterers' profit had to come out of this very small +sum the amount of food which the remainder purchased for the +prisoners was small indeed. As the war went on the prisoners' +department of the war office tried to induce the camp commanders to +abandon the contractors' system and purchase supplies themselves. +A sort of convention of camp commanders was held in Berlin which I +attended. Lectures were there given on food and its purchase, and +methods of disinfecting prisoners, on providing against typhus, +and on housing and other subjects. A daily lunch was served, +supposed to be composed of the exact rations given at the prison +camps. + +The schedules of food, etc., made out by the camp commanders +and furnished to foreign correspondents were often not followed +in practice. I know on one occasion when I was at the camp at +Doeberitz, the camp commander gave me his schedule of food for +the week. This provided that soup with pieces of meat was to be +given on the day of my visit, but on visiting the camp kitchen I +found that the contractor was serving fish instead of meat. Some +of the camp commanders not only treated their prisoners kindly but +introduced manufactures of furniture, etc., to help the prisoners +to pass their time. The camps of Krossen and Göttingen deserve +special mention. At Giessen, the camp commander had permitted +the erection of a barrack in which certain prisoners who were +electrical experts gave lessons in electrical fitting, etc., +to their fellow prisoners. There was also a studio in this camp +where prisoners with artistic talent were furnished with paints +and allowed to work. As more and more people were called to the +front in Germany, greater use was made of the prisoners, and in +the summer of 1916 practically all the prisoners were compelled +to work outside of the camps. They were paid a small extra sum +for this, a few cents a day, and as a rule were benefited by the +change of scene and occupation. The Russians especially became +very useful to the Germans as agricultural laborers. + +Professor Alonzo E. Taylor of the University of Pennsylvania, +a food expert, and Dr. D. J. McCarthy, also of Philadelphia, +joined my staff in 1916 and proved most efficient and fearless +inspectors of prison camps. Dr. Taylor could use the terms calories, +proteins, etc., as readily as German experts and at a greater +rate of speed. His report showing that the official diet of the +prisoners in Ruhleben was a starvation diet incensed the German +authorities to such fury that they forbade him to revisit Ruhleben. +Professor Buckhaus, the German expert, agreed with him in some of +his findings. I do not know what will happen to the Professor, +who seemed willing to do his best for the prisoners. He wrote a +booklet on the prison camps which he asked permission to dedicate +to me, but the War Office, which published the book, refused +to allow him to make this dedication. It was a real pleasure +to see the way in which Dr. Taylor carried on his work of food +inspection; and his work, as well as that of the other doctors +sent from America to join my staff, Drs. Furbush, McCarthy, Roler, +Harns, Webster and Luginbuhl, did much to better camp conditions. + +Dr. Caldwell, the sanitary expert, known for his great work in +Serbia, now I believe head of the hospital at Pittsburgh, reported +in regard to the prison diet: "While of good quality and perhaps +sufficient in quantity by weight, it is lacking in the essential +elements which contribute to the making of a well-balanced and +satisfactory diet. It is lacking particularly in fat and protein +content which is especially desirable during the colder months +of the year. There is considerable doubt whether this diet alone +without being supplemented by the articles of food received by +the prisoners from their homes would in any way be sufficient +to maintain the prisoners in health and strength." + +Dr. Caldwell also visited Wittenberg and found the commander by +temperament, and so on, unfitted for such a position. + +The Germans, as Dr. Taylor has pointed out, tried to feed prisoners +on schedule like horses. There is, however, a nervous discrimination +in eating so far as man is concerned; and a diet, scientifically +fitted to keep him alive, may fail because of its mere monotony. + +Think of living as the prisoners of war in Germany have for years, +without ever having anything (except black bread) which cannot +be eaten with a spoon. + +Officer prisoners were, after matters had settled down and after +several bitter contests which I had with the German authorities, +fairly well treated. There was, as in the case of the camps for +the privates, a great difference between camps, and a great +difference between camp commanders. Mr. Jackson did most of the +visiting of the officers' camps. In many camps the officers were +allowed a tennis court and other amusements, as well as light +wine or beer at meals, but the length of the war had a bad effect +on the mental condition of many of the officers. + +A great step forward was made when arrangements were entered +into between Germany and Great Britain whereby wounded and sick +officers and men, when passed by the Swiss Commission which visited +both countries, were sent to Switzerland; sent still as prisoners +of war, subject to return to Germany or England respectively, but +the opportunity afforded by change of food and scene, as well as +reunion of families, saved many a life. By arrangements between +the two countries, also, the severely wounded prisoners were set +free. I believe that this exchange of the heavily wounded between +the Germans and the Russians was the factor which prevented the +entrance of Sweden into the war. These wounded men traversed the +whole length of Sweden in the railway, and the spectacle afforded +to the Swedish population of these poor stumps of humanity, victims +of war, has quite effectually kept the Swedish population from +an attack of unnecessary war fever. + +Officers and men who tried to escape were not very severely punished +in Germany unless they had broken or stolen something in their +attempt. Officers were usually subjected to a jail confinement +for a period and then often sent to a sort of punitive camp. +Such a camp was situated in one of the Ring forts surrounding +the city of Kustrin which I visited in September, 1916. There +the officers had no opportunity for exercise except in a very +small courtyard or on the roof, which was covered with grass, of +the building in which they were confined. I arranged, however, +on my visit for the construction of a tennis court outside. The +British officers in Germany practically subsisted on their parcels +received from home, and during the end of my stay a much better +tea could be had with the prison officers than with the camp +commander. The prisoners had real tea and marmalade and white +bread to offer, luxuries which had long since disappeared from all +German tables. On the whole, the quarters given to the officers' +prisons in Germany were not satisfactory, and were not of the +kind that should have been offered to officer prisoners of war. + +At the time I left Germany there were nearly two million prisoners +of war in the Empire, of whom about ten thousand were Russian +officers, nine thousand French officers and about one thousand +British officers. + +As a rule our inspectors found the hospitals, where the prisoners +of war were, in as good condition as could be expected. + +I think this was largely due to the fact that so many doctors +in Germany are Jews. The people who are of the Jewish race are +people of gentle instincts. In these hospitals a better diet +was given to the prisoners. There were, of course, in addition +to the regular hospitals, hospitals where the severely wounded +prisoners were sent. Almost uniformly these hospitals were clean +and the prisoners were well taken care of. + +[Illustration: IN RUHLEBEN CAMP. A SPECIMEN BOTH OF THE +PRISONER-ARTIST'S WORK AND OF THE TYPES ABOUT HIM.] + +At Ruhleben there was a hospital which in spite of many +representations was never in proper shape. In addition, there +was in the camp a special barrack established by the prisoners +themselves for the care of those who were so ill or so weak as +to require special attention but who were not ill enough to be +sent to the hospital. This barrack was for a long time in charge +of a devoted gentleman, a prisoner, whose name I have unfortunately +forgotten, but whose self-sacrifice deserves special mention. + +I arranged with the camp authorities and the German authorities +for permission to enter into a contract with Dr. Weiler. Under +this contract Dr. Weiler, who had a sanatorium in the West of +Berlin, received patients from Ruhleben. Those who were able paid +for themselves, the poorer ones being paid for by the British +Government. This sanatorium, occupied several villas. I had many +disputes with Dr. Weiler, but finally managed to get this sanatorium +in such condition that the prisoners who resided there were fairly +well taken care of. + +An arrangement was made between Great Britain and Germany by +which civilians unfit for military service were sent to their +respective countries, and just before I left I effected an +arrangement by which all civilians over forty-five years old, +with the exception of twenty who might be held by each country +for military reasons, were to be released. I do not know whether +this arrangement was actually carried out in full. With the lapse +of time the mental condition of the older prisoners in Ruhleben +had become quite alarming. Soldier prisoners, when they enter the +army, are always in good physical condition and enter with the +expectation of either being killed or wounded or taken prisoner, +and have made their arrangements accordingly. But these unfortunate +civilian prisoners were often men in delicate health, and all +were in a constant state of great mental anxiety as to the fate +of their business and their enterprises and their families. In +1916, not only Mr. Grafton Minot, who for some time had devoted +himself exclusively to the Ruhleben prisoners, but also Mr. Ellis +Dresel, a distinguished lawyer of Boston, who had joined the +Embassy as a volunteer, took up the work. Mr. Dresel visited +Ruhleben almost daily and by listening to the stories and complaints +of the prisoners materially helped their mental condition. + +The Germans collected all the soldier prisoners of Irish nationality +in one camp at Limburg not far from Frankfurt a. M. These efforts +were made to induce them to join the German army. The men were +well treated and were often visited by Sir Roger Casement who, +working with the German authorities, tried to get these Irishmen +to desert their flag and join the Germans. A few weaklings were +persuaded by Sir Roger who finally discontinued his visits, after +obtaining about thirty recruits, because the remaining Irishmen +chased him out of the camp. + +I received information of the shooting of one prisoner, and although +the camp authorities had told Dr. McCarthy that the investigation +had been closed and the guard who did the shooting exonerated, +nevertheless, when I visited the camp in order to investigate, I +was told that I could not do so because the matter of the shooting +was still under investigation. Nor was I allowed to speak to those +prisoners who had been witnesses at the time of the shooting. +I afterwards learned that another Irishman had been shot by a +guard on the day before my visit, and the same obstacles to my +investigation were drawn about this case. + +The Irishmen did not bear confinement well, and at the time of +my visit among them many of them were suffering from tuberculosis +in the camp hospital. They seemed also peculiarly subject to +mental breakdowns. Two devoted Catholic priests, Father Crotty +and a Brother Warren from a religious house in Belgium, were +doing wonderful work among these prisoners. + +The sending out of the prisoners of war to work throughout Germany +has had one very evil effect. It has made it to the financial +advantage of certain farmers and manufacturers to have the war +continued. The Prussian land owners or Junkers obtain four or +five times as much for their agricultural products as they did +before the war and have the work on their farms performed by +prisoners of war to whom they are required to pay only six cents +a day. When the _Tageblatt_ called attention to this it was +suppressed for several days. + +At many of these so-called working camps our inspectors were +refused admission on the ground that they might learn trade or +war secrets. They succeeded, however, in having the men sent +outside in order that they might inspect them and hear their +complaints. There were in Germany about one hundred central camps +and perhaps ten thousand or more so-called working camps, in +summer time, throughout the country. Some of the British prisoners +were put to work on the sewage farm of Berlin but we succeeded +in getting them sent back to their parent camp. + +The prisoners of war were often accused of various breaches of +discipline and crimes. Members of the Embassy would attend these +trials, and we endeavoured to see that the prisoners were properly +represented. But the Germans often refused us an opportunity +to see the prisoners before their trial, or even before their +execution. The case of Captain Fryatt is in point. + +Captain Fryatt who commanded a British merchant ship was captured +and taken to the civilian camp at Ruhleben. In searching him the +Germans claimed that he wore a watch presented to him for an +attempt to ram a German submarine. They, therefore, took Fryatt +from the Ruhleben camp and sent him to Bruges for trial. When I +heard of this I immediately sent two formal notes to the German +Foreign Office demanding the right to see Fryatt and hire counsel +to represent him, inquiring what sort of counsel would be permitted +to attend the trial and asking for postponement of the trial +until these matters could be arranged. The German Foreign Office +had informed me that they had backed up these requests and I +believe them, but the answer of the German admiralty to my notes +was to cause the trial to proceed the morning after the day on +which my notes were delivered and to shoot Fryatt before noon +of the same day. + +As to the evidence regarding the watch, the British Foreign Office +learned that, when captured, Captain Fryatt had neither a watch +nor any letter to indicate that he had tried to ram a submarine! + +This cruel and high-handed outrage caused great indignation in +England, and even in certain circles in Germany; and the manner +in which my request was treated was certainly a direct insult +to the country which I represented. In conversation with me, +Zimmermann and the Chancellor and von Jagow all expressed the +greatest regret over this incident, which shows how little control +the civilian branch of the government has over the military in +time of war. Later on, when similar charges were made against +another British sea captain, the Foreign Office, I think through +the influence of the Emperor, was able to prevent a recurrence +of the Fryatt outrage. + +As I have said, many of the camp commanders in Germany were men, +excellent and efficient and kind hearted, who did what they could +for the prisoners. It is a pity that these men should bear the +odium which attaches to Germany because of the general bad treatment +of prisoners of war in the first days of the war, and because +certain commanders of prison camps were not fitted for their +positions. + +The commander at the camp at Wittenberg was replaced, but the +Germans have never acknowledged that bad conditions had existed +in that camp. Shortly before we left Germany the war department +seemed to gain more control of the prisoners of war situation, +and on our representations at least one camp commander was +permanently relieved. If examples had been made early in the +war of the camp commanders who were not fit for their places +and of those who had in any way mishandled prisoners of war, the +German people as a whole would not have had to bear the burden +of this odium. The many prisoners will return to their homes +with a deep and bitter hatred of all things German. + +The British Government took a great interest in the British prisoners +in Germany. Nothing was omitted and every suggestion made by me +was immediately acted on; while many most valuable hints were +given me from London as to prisoners' affairs. Their Majesties, +the King and Queen, showed a deep personal concern in the welfare +of the unfortunate British in German hands; and this concern +never flagged during the period of my stay in Berlin. Lord Robert +Cecil and Lord Newton were continually working for the benefit +of British prisoners. + +At a time when the British prisoners were without proper clothing, +the British Government sent me uniforms, overcoats, etc., and I +hired a warehouse in Berlin as a distributing point; but, after +some months, the German authorities refused to allow me to continue +this method of distribution on the ground that it was the duty +of Germany to provide the prisoners with clothes. But Germany +was not performing this duty and the British prisoners had to +suffer because of this German official woodenheadedness. + +In the spring of 1916, quite characteristically, the Germans +broke their "treaty" concerning visits to prisoners, and refused +to permit us to speak to prisoners out of hearing. Von Jagow +told me that this was because of the trouble made among Russian +prisoners by the visits of Madam Sazonoff, but this had nothing +to do with the arrangement between Great Britain and Germany. + +I think that the Germans suspected that I had learned from fellow +prisoners of the cruel and unnecessary shooting of two Irish +prisoners at Limburg. It was not from prisoners, however, that +I obtained this information. but from Germans who wrote to me. + +In addition to the English and Japanese, I had the protection +of the Serbian and Roumanian subjects and the protection of the +interests of a very small country, the Republic of San Marino. +Soon after the Serbians and Roumanians appeared in the prison +camps of Germany we made reports on the condition and treatment +of these prisoners, as well as reports concerning the British. + +I was able to converse with some Serbians, in the first days +of the war, in their native tongue, which, curiously enough, +was Spanish. Immediately after the persecution of the Jews in +Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella and other monarchs, a number of +Spanish Jews emigrated to Serbia where they have remained ever +since, keeping their old customs and speaking the old Spanish +of the time of Cervantes. + +The German authorities, in the most petty manner, often concealed +from me the presence of British prisoners, especially civilians, +in prison camps. For a long time I was not informed of the presence +of British civilians in Sennelager and it was only by paying +a surprise visit by motor to the camp at Brandenburg that I +discovered a few British, the crew of a trawler, there. It was +on information contained in an anonymous letter, evidently from +the wife of some German officer, that I visited Brandenburg where +the crew of this trawler, deprived of money, were without any of +the little comforts or packages that mitigate life in a German +prison camp. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +FIRST DAYS OF THE WAR: POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC + +At the commencement of the war for some days I was cut off from +communication with the United States; but we soon established a +chain of communication, at first through Italy and later by way +of Denmark. At all times cables from Washington to Berlin, or +_vice_versa_, took, on the average, two days in transmission. + +After the fall of Liège, von Jagow sent for me and asked me if +I would transmit through the American Legation a proposition +offering Belgium peace and indemnity if no further opposition +were made to the passage of German troops through Belgium. As the +proposition was a proposition for peace, I took the responsibility +of forwarding it and sent the note of the German Government to +our Minister at the Hague for transmission to our Minister in +Belgium. + +Dr. Van Dyke, our Minister at the Hague, refused to have anything +to do with the transmission of this proposition and turned the +German note over to the Holland Minister for Foreign Affairs, +and through this channel the proposition reached the Belgian +Government. + +The State Department cabled me a message from the President to +the Emperor which stated that the United States stood ready at +any time to mediate between the warring powers, and directed +me to present this proposition direct to the Emperor. + +I, therefore, asked for an audience with the Emperor and received +word from the chief Court Marshal that the Emperor would receive +me at the palace in Berlin on the morning of August tenth. I +drove in a motor into the courtyard of the palace and was there +escorted to the door which opened on a flight of steps leading +to a little garden about fifty yards square, directly on the +embankment of the River Spree, which flows past the Royal Palace. +As I went down the steps, the Empress and her only daughter, +the Duchess of Brunswick, came up. Both stopped and shook hands +with me, speaking a few words. I found the Emperor seated at a +green iron table under a large canvas garden umbrella. Telegraph +forms were scattered on the table in front of him and basking in +the gravel were two small dachshunds. I explained to the Emperor +the object of my visit and we had a general conversation about +the war and the state of affairs. The Emperor took some of the +large telegraph blanks and wrote out in pencil his reply to the +President's offer, This reply, of course, I cabled immediately +to the State Department. + + _For_the_President_of_the_ + _United_States_personally:_ + + 10/VIII 14. + + 1. H. R. H. Prince Henry was received by his Majesty King George + V in London, who empowered him to transmit to me verbally, that + England would remain neutral if war broke out on the Continent + involving Germany and France, Austria and Russia. This message + was telegraphed to me by my brother from London after his + conversation with H. M. the King, and repeated verbally on the + twenty-ninth of July. + + 2. My Ambassador in London transmitted a message from Sir E. + Grey to Berlin saying that only in case France was likely to + be crushed England would interfere. + + 3. On the thirtieth my Ambassador in London reported that Sir + Edward Grey in course of a "private" conversation told him that + if the conflict remained localized between _Russia_--not + Serbia--and _Austria_, England would not move, but if we + "mixed" in the fray she would take quick decisions and grave + measures; i. e., if I left my ally Austria in the lurch to + fight alone England would not touch me. + + 4. This communication being directly counter to the King's + message to me, I telegraphed to H. M. on the twenty-ninth or + thirtieth, thanking him for kind messages through my brother + and begging him to use all his power to keep France and + Russia--his Allies--from making any war-like preparations + calculated to disturb my work of mediation, stating that I + was in constant communication with H. M. the Czar. In the + evening the King kindly answered that he had ordered his + Government to use every possible influence with his Allies + to refrain from taking any provocative military measures. At + the same time H. M. asked me if I would transmit to Vienna + the British proposal that Austria was to take Belgrade and a + few other Serbian towns and a strip of country as a "main-mise" + to make sure that the Serbian promises on paper should be + fulfilled in reality. This proposal was in the same moment + telegraphed to me from Vienna for London, quite in conjunction + with the British proposal; besides, I had telegraphed to H. M. + the Czar the same as an idea of mine, before I received the two + communications from Vienna and London, as both were of the same + opinion. + + 5. I immediately transmitted the telegrams _vice_versa_ to + Vienna and London. I felt that I was able to tide the question + over and was happy at the peaceful outlook. + + 6. While I was preparing a note to H. M. the Czar the next + morning, to inform him that Vienna, London and Berlin were agreed + about the treatment of affairs, I received the telephones from + H. E. the Chancellor that in the night before the Czar had given + the order to mobilize the whole of the Russian army, which was, + of course, also meant against Germany; whereas up till then the + southern armies had been mobilized against Austria. + + 7. In a telegram from London my Ambassador informed me he + understood the British Government would guarantee neutrality + of France and wished to know whether Germany would refrain from + attack. I telegraphed to H. M. the King personally that + mobilization being already carried out could not be stopped, but + if H. M. could guarantee with his armed forces the neutrality of + France I would refrain _from_attacking_her_, _leave_her_alone_ + and employ my troops elsewhere. H. M. answered that he thought my + offer was based on a misunderstanding; and, as far as I can make + out, Sir E. Grey never took my offer into serious consideration. + He never answered it. Instead, he declared England had to defend + Belgian neutrality, which had to be violated by Germany on + strategical grounds, news having been received that France was + already preparing to enter Belgium, and the King of Belgians + having refused my petition for a free passage under guarantee + of his country's freedom. I am most grateful for the President's + message. + + WILLIAM, H. R. + +When the German Emperor in my presence indited his letter to +President Wilson of August tenth, 1914, he asked that I cable +it immediately to the State Department and that I simultaneously +give it to the press. As I have already stated, I cabled the +document immediately to the State Department at Washington, but +I withheld it from publication. + +My interview with the Emperor was in the morning. That afternoon +a man holding a high position in Germany sent for me. I do not +give his name because I do not wish to involve him in any way +with the Emperor, so I shall not even indicate whether he is a +royalty or an official. He said: + +"You had an interview today with the Emperor. What happened?" + +I told of the message given me for the President which was intended +for publication by the Emperor. He said: + +"I think you ought to show that message to me; you know the Emperor +is a constitutional Emperor and there was once a great row about +such a message." + +I showed him the message, and when he had read it he said: "I +think it would be inadvisable for us to have this message published, +and in the interest of good feeling between Germany and America. +If you cable it ask that publication be withheld." + +I complied with his request and it is characteristic of the +President's desire to preserve good relations that publication +was withheld. Now, when the two countries are at war; when the +whole world, and especially our own country, has an interest in +knowing how this great calamity of universal war came to the +earth, the time has come when this message should be given out +and I have published it by permission. + +This most interesting document in the first place clears up one +issue never really obscure in the eyes of the world--the deliberate +violation of the neutrality of Belgium, whose territory "had to +be violated by Germany on strategical grounds." The very weak +excuse is added that "news had been received that France was +already preparing to enter Belgium,"--not even a pretense that +there had ever been any actual violation of Belgium's frontier +by the French prior to the German invasion of that unfortunate +country. Of course the second excuse that the King of the Belgians +had refused entrance to the Emperor's troops under guarantee of +his country's freedom is even weaker than the first. It would +indeed inaugurate a new era in the intercourse of nations if a +small nation could only preserve its freedom by at all times, +on request, granting free passage to the troops of a powerful +neighbour on the march to attack an adjoining country. + +And aside from the violation of Belgian neutrality, what would +have become of England and of the world if the Prussian autocracy +had been left free to defeat--one by one--the nations of the +earth? First, the defeat of Russia and Serbia by Austria and +Germany, the incorporation of a large part of Russia in the German +Empire, German influence predominant in Russia and all the vast +resources of that great Empire at the command of Germany. All the +fleets in the world could uselessly blockade the German coasts +if Germany possessed the limitless riches of the Empire of the +Romanoffs. + +[Illustration: ALLEGED DUM-DUM BULLETS, WHICH THE GERMANS DECLARED +HAD BEEN FOUND IN LONGWY.] + +The German army drawing for reserves on the teeming populations +of Russia and Siberia would never know defeat. And this is not +idle conjecture, mere dreaming in the realm of possibilities, +because the Russian revolution has shown us how weak and tottering +in reality was the dreaded power of the Czar. + +Russia, beaten and half digested, France would have been an easy +prey, and England, even if then joining France in war, would +have a far different problem to face if the V-boats were now +sailing from Cherbourg and Calais and Brest and Bordeaux on the +mission of piracy and murder, and then would come our turn and +that of Latin America. The first attack would come not on us, +but on South or Central America--at some point to which it would +be as difficult for us to send troops to help our neighbor as +it would be for Germany to attack. + +Remember that in Southern Brazil nearly four hundred thousand +Germans are sustained, as I found out, in their devotion to the +Fatherland by annual grants of money for educational purposes +from the Imperial treasury in Berlin. + +It was not without reason that at this interview, when the Kaiser +wrote this message to the President, he said that the coming +in of England had changed the whole situation and would make +the war a long one. The Kaiser talked rather despondently about +the war. I tried to cheer him up by saying the German troops +would soon enter Paris, but he answered, "The English change +the whole situation--an obstinate nation--they will keep up the +war. It cannot end soon." + +It was the entry of England into the war, in defence of the rights +of small nations, in defence of the guaranteed neutrality of +Belgium, which saved the world from the harsh dominion of the +conquest-hungry Prussians and therefore saved as well the two +Americas and their protecting doctrine of President Monroe. + +The document, which is dated August tenth, 1914, supersedes the +statement made by the German Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg in +his speech before the Reichstag on August fourth, 1914, in which +he gave the then official account of the entrance into the war of +the Central Empires. It will be noted that von Bethmann-Hollweg +insisted that France began the war in the sentence reading: "There +were bomb-throwing fliers, cavalry patrols, invading companies +in the Reichsland (Alsace-Lorraine). Thereby France, although +the condition of war had not yet been declared, had attacked our +territory." But the Emperor makes no mention of this fact, of +supreme importance if true, in his writing to President Wilson +six days later. + +Quite curiously, at this time there was a belief on the part +of the Germans that Japan would declare war on the Allies and +range herself on the side of the Central Powers. In fact on one +night there was a friendly demonstration in front of the Japanese +Embassy, but these hopes were soon dispelled by the ultimatum +of Japan sent on the sixteenth of August, and, finally, by the +declaration of war on August twenty-third. + +During the first days of the war the warring powers indulged in +mutual recriminations as to the use of dumdum bullets and I was +given several packages of cartridges containing bullets bored out +at the top which the Germans said had been found in the French +fortress of Longwy, with a request that I send an account of them +to President Wilson and ask for his intervention in the matter. +Very wisely President Wilson refused to do anything of the kind, +as otherwise he would have been deluged with constant complaints +from both sides as to the violations of the rules of war. + +The cartridges given to me were in packages marked on the outside +"_Cartouches_de_Stand_" and from this I took it that possibly +these cartridges had been used on some shooting range near the +fort and the bullets bored out in order that they might not go +too far, if carelessly fired over the targets. + +On August fifth, with our Naval Attaché, Commander Walter Gherardi, +I called upon von Tirpitz, to learn from him which ports be +considered safest for the ships to be sent from America with gold +for stranded Americans. He recommended Rotterdam. + +I also had a conversation on this day with Geheimrat Letze of +the Foreign Office with reference to the proposition that English +and German ships respectively should have a delay of until the +fourteenth of August in which to leave the English or German +ports in which they chanced to be. + +The second week in August, my wife's sister and her husband, +Count Sigray, arrived in Berlin. Count Sigray is a reserve officer +of the Hungarian Hussars and was in Montana when the first rumours +of war came. He and his wife immediately started for New York and +sailed on the fourth of August. They landed in England, and as +England had not yet declared war on Austria, they were able to +proceed on their journey. With them were Count George Festetics +and Count Cziraki, the former from the Austrian Embassy in London +and the latter from that in Washington. They were all naturally +very much excited about war and the events of their trip. The +Hungarians as a people are quite like Americans. They have agreeable +manners and are able to laugh in a natural way, something which +seems to be a lost art in Prussia. Nearly all the members of +Hungarian noble families speak English perfectly and model their +clothes, sports and country life, as far as possible, after the +English. + +The thirteenth saw the departure of our first special train +containing Americans bound for Holland. I saw the Americans off +at the Charlottenburg station. They all departed in great spirits +and very glad of an opportunity to leave Germany. + +I had some negotiations about the purchase by America or Americans +of the ships of the North German Lloyd, but nothing came of these +negotiations. Trainloads of Americans continued to leave, but +there seemed to be no end to the Americans coming into Berlin +from all directions. + +On August twenty-ninth, Count Szoegyeny, the Austrian Ambassador, +left Berlin. He had been Ambassador there for twenty-two years and +I suppose because of his advancing years the Austrian Government +thought that he had outlived his usefulness. Quite a crowd of +Germans and diplomats were at the station to witness the rather +sad farewell. His successor was Prince Hohenlohe, married to a +daughter of Archduke Frederick. She expressly waived her right +to precedence as a royal highness, and agreed to take only the +precedence given to her as the wife of the Ambassador, in order not +to cause feeling in Berlin. Prince Hohenlohe, a rather easy-going +man, who had been most popular in Russia and Austria, immediately +made a favourable impression in Berlin and successfully occupied +the difficult position of mediator between the governments of +Berlin and Vienna. + +On September fourth the Chancellor gave me a statement to give +to the reporters in which he attacked England, claiming that +England did not desire the friendship of Germany but was moved by +commercial jealousy and a desire to crush her; that the efforts +made for peace had failed because Russia, under all circumstances, +was resolved upon war; and that Germany had entered Belgium in +order to forestall the planned French advance. He also claimed +that England, regardless of consequences to the white race, had +excited Japan to a pillaging expedition, and claimed that Belgian +girls and women had gouged out the eyes of the wounded; that +officers had been invited to dinner and shot across the table; +and Belgian women had cut the throats of soldiers quartered in +their houses while they were asleep. The Chancellor concluded by +saying, in this statement, that everyone knows that the German +people is not capable of unnecessary cruelty or of any brutality. + +We were fully occupied with taking care of the English prisoners +and interests, the Americans, and negotiations relating to commercial +questions, and to getting goods required in the United States out +of Germany, when, on October seventh, a most unpleasant incident, +and one which for some time caused the members of our Embassy +to feel rather bitterly toward the German Foreign Office, took +place. + +A great number of British civilians, men and women, were stranded +in Berlin. To many of these were paid sums of money in the form +of small allowances on behalf of the British Government. In order +to facilitate this work, we placed the clerks employed in this +distribution in the building formerly occupied by the British Consul +in Berlin. Of course, the great crowds of Americans resorting to +our Embassy, when combined with the crowds of British, made it +almost impossible even to enter the Embassy, and establishment +of this outlying relief station materially helped this situation. +I occupied it, and employed English men and English women in this +relief work by the express permission of the Imperial Foreign +Office, which I thought it wise to obtain in view of the fact +that the Germans seemed daily to become more irritable and +suspicious, especially after the Battle of the Marne. + +On the night of October second, our Second Secretary, Harvey, went +to this relief headquarters at about twelve o'clock at night, and +was witness to a raid made by the Berlin police on this establishment +of ours. The men and women working were arrested, and all books +and papers which the police could get at were seized by them. +The next morning I went around to the place and on talking with +the criminal detectives in charge, was told by them that they had +made the raid by the orders of the Foreign Office. When I spoke +to the Foreign Office about this, they denied that they had given +directions for the raid and made a sort of half apology. The raid +was all the more unjustified because only the day before I had had +a conversation with the Adjutant of the Berlin Kommandantur and +told him that, although I had permission from the Foreign Office, +I thought it would be better to dismiss the English employed and +employ only Americans or Germans; and I sent round to my friend, +Herr von Gwinner, head of the Deutsche Bank, and asked him to +recommend some German accountants to me. + +The Kommandantur is the direct office of military control. When +the Adjutant heard of the raid he was almost as indignant as I +was, and on the tenth of October informed me that he had learned +that the raid had been made on the joint orders of the Foreign +Office and von Tirpitz's department. + +The books and papers of an Embassy, including those relating +to the affairs of foreign nations temporarily in the Embassy's +care, are universally recognised in international law as not, +subject to seizure, nor did the fact that I was carrying on this +work outside the actual Embassy building have any bearing on +this point so long as the building was directly under my control +and, especially, as the only work carried on was work properly +in my hands in my official capacity. The Foreign Office saw that +they had made a mistake, but at Zimmermann's earnest request +I agreed, as it were, to forget the incident. Later on, this +precedent might have been used by our government had they desired +to press the matter of the seizure of von Igel's papers. Von Igel, +it will be remembered, was carrying on business of a private +nature in a private office hired by him. Nevertheless, as he +had been employed in some capacity in the German Embassy at +Washington, Count von Bernstorff claimed immunity from seizure +for the papers found in that office. + +On August sixteenth the Kaiser left Berlin for the front. I wrote +to his master of the household, saying that I should like an +opportunity to be at the railway station to say good-bye to the +Emperor, but was put off on various excuses. Thereafter the Emperor +practically abandoned Berlin and lived either in Silesia, at +Pless, or at some place near the Western front. + +At first, following the precedent of the war of 1870, the more +important members of the government followed the Kaiser to the +front, even the Chancellor and the Minister of Foreign Affairs +abandoning their offices in Berlin. Not long afterwards, when it +was apparent that the war must be carried on on several fronts +and that it was not going to be the matter of a few weeks which +the Germans had first supposed, these officials returned to their +offices in Berlin. In the meantime, however, much confusion had +been caused by this rather ridiculous effort to follow the customs +of the war of 1870. + +When von Jagow, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was absent at the +Great General Headquarters, the diplomats remaining behind conducted +their negotiations with Zimmermann, who in turn had to transmit +everything to the great general headquarters. + +In August, there were apparently rumours afloat in countries +outside of Germany that prominent Socialists at the outbreak of +the war had been shot. The State Department cabled me to find +out whether there was any truth in these rumours, with particular +reference to Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. + +Liebknecht is a lawyer practicing in Berlin and so I telephoned +him, asking him to come and see me. He did so, and of course, by +his presence verified the fact that he had not been executed. +He told me that the rumours as to the treatment of the Socialists +were entirely unfounded and said that he had no objection to my +cabling a statement that the Socialists were opposed to Czarismus +and that he personally had confidence in the German army and the +cause of the German people. + +Many people confuse Liebknecht with his father, now dead. Liebknecht, +the son, is a man of perhaps forty-three years, with dark bushy +hair and moustache and wearing eye-glasses, a man of medium height +and not at all of strong build. In the numerous interruptions +made by him during the debates in the Reichstag, during the first +year of the war, his voice sounded high and shrill. Of course, +anyone who defies the heavy hand of autocracy must suffer from +nervousness. We all knew that sooner or later autocracy would +"get" Liebknecht, and its opportunity came when he appeared in +citizen's clothes at an attempted mass-meeting at the Potsdamerplatz. +For the offence of appearing out of uniform after being called +and mobilized, and for alleged incitement of the people, he was +condemned for a long term of imprisonment. One can but admire +his courage. I believe that he earns his living by the practice +of law before one of the minor courts. It is hard to say just +what _rôle_ he will play in the future. It is probable that +when the Socialists settle down after the war and think things +over, they will consider that the leadership of Scheidemann has +been too conservative; that he submitted too readily to the powers +of autocracy and too easily abandoned the program of the Socialists. +In this case, Liebknecht perhaps will be made leader of the +Socialists, and it is within the bounds of probability that +Scheidemann and certain of his party may become Liberals rather +than Socialists. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS + +In the autumn of 1914, the rush of getting the Americans out +of Germany was over. The care of the British civilians was on a +business basis and there were comparatively few camps of prisoners +of war. Absolutely tired by working every day and until twelve +at night, I went to Munich for a two weeks' rest. + +On February fourth, 1915, Germany announced that on February +eighteenth the blockade of England through submarines would commence. + +Some very peculiar and mysterious negotiations thereafter ensued. +About February eighth, an American who was very intimate with +the members of the General Staff came to me with a statement +that Germany desired peace and was ready to open negotiations +to that end. It was, however, to be made a condition of these +peace negotiations that this particular American should go to +Paris and to Petrograd and inform the governments there of the +overwhelming strength of the German armies and of their positions, +which knowledge, it was said, he had obtained by personally visiting +both the fronts. it was further intimated that von Tirpitz himself +was anxious that peace should be concluded, possibly because of +his fear that the proposed blockade would not be successful. + +Of course, I informed the State Department of these mysterious +manoeuvres. + +I was taken by back stairways to a mysterious meeting with von +Tirpitz at night in his rooms in the Navy Department. When I was +alone with him, however, he had nothing definite to say or to +offer; if there was any opportunity at that time to make peace +nothing came of it. It looked somewhat to me as if the whole +idea had been to get this American to go to Paris and Petrograd, +certify from his personal observation to the strength of the +German armies and position, and thereby to assist in enticing +one or both of these countries to desert the allied cause. All of +this took place about ten days before the eighteenth of February, +the time named for the announcement of the blockade of England. + +Medals were struck having the head of von Tirpitz on one side +and on the other the words "Gott strafe England," and a picture +of a sort of Neptune assisted by a submarine rising from the +sea to blockade the distant English coast. + +The Ambassador is supposed to have the right to demand an audience +with the Kaiser at any time, and as there were matters connected +with the treatment of prisoners as well as this coming submarine +warfare which I wished to take up with him, I had on various +occasions asked for an audience with him; on each occasion my +request had been refused on some excuse or other, and I was not +even permitted to go to the railway station to bid him good-bye +on one occasion when he left for the front. + +When our Military Attaché, Major Langhorne, left in March, 1915, +he had a farewell audience with the Kaiser and I then asked him +to say to the Kaiser that I had not seen him for so long a time +that I had forgotten what he looked like. Langhorne reported +to me that he had given his message to the Kaiser and that the +Kaiser said, "I have nothing against Mr. Gerard personally, but +I will not see the Ambassador of a country which furnishes arms +and ammunition to the enemies of Germany." + +Before the departure of Langhorne, I had succeeded in getting +Germany to agree that six American army officers might visit +Germany as military observers. When they arrived, I presented +them at the Foreign Office, etc., and they were taken on trips +to the East and West fronts. + +They were not allowed to see much, and their request to be attached +to a particular unit was refused. Nearly everywhere they were +subject to insulting remarks or treatment because of the shipment +of munitions of war to the Allies from America; and finally after +they had been subjected to deliberate insults at the hands of +several German generals, Mackensen particularly distinguishing +himself, the United States Government withdrew them from Germany. + +Colonel (now General) Kuhn, however, who was of these observers, +was appointed Military Attaché in place of Major Langhorne. Speaking +German fluently and acting with great tact, he managed for a long +time to keep sufficiently in the good graces of the Germans to +be allowed to see something of the operations of the various +fronts. There came a period in 1916 when he was no longer invited +to go on the various excursions made by the foreign military +attachés and finally Major Nicolai, the general intelligence +officer of the Great General Headquarters, sent for him early in +the autumn of 1916, and informed him that he could no longer go +to any of the fronts. Colonel Kuhn answered that he was aware of +this already. Major Nicolai said that he gave him this information +by direct order of General Ludendorf, that General Ludendorf had +stated that he did not believe America could do more damage to +Germany than she had done if the two countries were actually +at war, and that he considered that, practically, America and +Germany were engaged in hostilities. On this being reported to +Washington, Colonel Kuhn was quite naturally recalled. + +I cannot praise too highly the patience and tact shown by Colonel +Kuhn in dealing with the Germans. Although accused in the German +newspapers of being a spy, and otherwise attacked, he kept his +temper and observed all that he could for the benefit of his own +country. As he had had an opportunity to observe the Russian-Japanese +war, his experiences at that time, coupled with his experiences +in Germany, make him, perhaps, our greatest American expert on +modern war. + +It was with the greatest pleasure that I heard from Secretary +Baker that he had determined to promote Colonel Kuhn to the rank +of General and make him head of our War College, where his teachings +will prove of the greatest value to the armies of the United States. + +Colonel House and his wife arrived to pay us a visit on March 19, +1915, and remained until the twenty-eighth. During this period the +Colonel met all the principal members of the German Government and +many men of influence and prominence in the world of affairs, such +as Herr von Gwinner, head of the Deutsche Bank, and Dr. Walter +Rathenau, who succeeded his father as head of the Allgemeine +Elektricitats Gesellschaft and hundreds of other corporations. The +Colonel dined at the house of Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister, +and lunched with von Gwinner. + +In April, negotiations were continued about the sinking of the +_William_P._Fry_, an American boat loaded with food and +destined for Ireland. The American Government on behalf of the +owners of the _William_P._Fry_ claimed damages for the boat. +Nothing was said about the cargo, but in the German answer it was +stated that the cargo of the _William_P._Fry_ consisting of +foodstuffs destined for an armed port of the enemy and, therefore, +presumed to be destined for the armed forces of the enemy was, +because of this, contraband. I spoke to von Jagow about this and +told him that I thought that possibly this would seem to amount +to a German justification of the British blockade of Germany. +He said that this note had been drawn by Director Kriege who +was their expert on international law, and that he would not +interfere with Kriege's work. Of course, as a matter of fact, +all foodstuffs shipped to Germany would have to be landed at +some armed port, and, therefore, according to the contentions +of Germany, these would be supposed to be destined to the armed +forces of the enemy and become contraband of war. + +At international law, it had always been recognised that private +individuals and corporations have the right to sell arms and +ammunitions of war to any belligerent and, in the Hague Convention +held in 1907, this right was expressly ratified and confirmed. +This same Director Kriege who represented Germany at this Hague +Conference in 1907, in the debates on this point said: "The neutral +boats which engage in such a trade, commit a violation of the +duties of neutrality. However, according to a principle generally +recognised, the State of which the boat flies the flag is not +responsible for this violation. The neutral States are not called +upon to forbid their subjects a commerce which, from the point of +view of the belligerents, ought to be considered as unlawful." +(Conférence International de la Paix, La Haye, 15 Juin-18 Octobre +1907. Vol. III, p. 859.) + +During our trouble with General Huerta, arms and ammunition for +Huerta's forces from Germany were landed from German ships in +Mexico. During the Boer war the Germans, who openly sympathised +with the Boers, nevertheless furnished to England great quantities +of arms and munitions, expressly destined to be used against +the Boers; and this, although it was manifest that there was +no possibility whatever that the Boers could obtain arms and +munitions from German sources during the war. For instance, the +firm of Eberhardt in Dusseldorf furnished one hundred and nine +cannon, complete, with wagons, caissons and munitions, etc., to +the English which were expressly designed for use against the +Boers. + +At one time the Imperial Foreign Office sent me a formal note +making reference to a paragraph in former Ambassador Andrew D. +White's autobiography with reference to the alleged stoppage +in a German port of a boat laden with arms and ammunition, for +use against the Americans in Cuba during the Spanish War. Of +course, former Ambassador White wrote without having the Embassy +records at hand and those records show that the position he took +at the time of this alleged stoppage was eminently correct. + +The files show that he wrote the letter to the State Department +in which he stated that knowledge came to him of the proposed +sailing of this ship, but he did not protest because he had been +advised by a Naval Attaché that the United States did not have +the right to interfere. The Department of State wrote to him +commending his action in not filing any protest and otherwise +interfering. + +It seemed as if the German Government expressly desired to stir +up hatred against America on this issue in order to force the +American Government through fear of either the German Government, +or the German-American propagandists at home, to put an immediate +embargo on the export of these supplies. + +In the autumn of 1914 Zimmermann showed me a long list sent him +by Bernstorff showing quantities of saddles, automobiles, motor +trucks, tires, explosives, foodstuffs and so on, exported from +America to the Allies and intimated that this traffic had reached +such proportions that it should be stopped. + +In February, 1915, in the official _Communiqué_ of the day +appeared the following statement: "Heavy artillery fire in certain +sections of the West front, mostly with American ammunition;" +and in April in the official _Communiqué_ something to this +effect: "Captured French artillery officers say that they have +great stores of American ammunition." I obtained through the State +Department in Washington a statement from the French Ambassador +certifying that up to that time, the end of April, 1915, no shells +whatever of the French artillery had been furnished from America. + +Nothing, however, would satisfy the Germans. They seemed determined +that the export of every article, whether of food or munitions +which might prove of use to the Allies in the war, should be +stopped. Newspapers were filled with bitter attacks upon America +and upon President Wilson, and with caricatures referring to +the sale of munitions. + +It never seemed to occur to the Germans that we could not violate +the Hague Convention in order to change the rules of the game +because one party, after the commencement of hostilities, found +that the rule worked to his disadvantage. Nor did the Germans +consider that America could not vary its international law with +the changing fortunes of war and make one ruling when the Germans +lost control of the sea and another ruling if they regained it. + +From early in 1915 until I left Germany, I do not think I ever +had a conversation with a German without his alluding to this +question. Shortly before leaving Germany, in January, 1917, and +after I had learned of the probability of the resumption of ruthless +submarine war, at an evening party at the house of Dr. Solf, the +Colonial Minister, a large German who turned out to be one of +the Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, planted himself some +distance away from me and addressed me in German saying, "You are +the American Ambassador and I want to tell you that the conduct +of America in furnishing arms and ammunition to the enemies of +Germany is stamped deep on the German heart, that we will never +forget it and will some day have our revenge." He spoke in a +voice so loud and slapped his chest so hard that everyone in +the room stopped their conversation in order to hear. He wore +on his breast the orders of the Black Eagle, the Red Eagle, the +Elephant and the Seraphim, and when he struck all this menagerie +the rattle alone was quite loud. I reminded him politely of the +Hague Convention, of the fact that we could not change international +law from time to time with the change in the situation of the war, +and that Germany had furnished arms to England to use against the +Boers. But he simply answered, "We care nothing for treaties," +and my answer, "That is what they all say," was a retort too +obvious to be omitted. + +The German press continually published articles to the effect +that the war would be finished if it were not for the shipment +of supplies from America. All public opinion was with the German +Government when the warning was issued on February fourth, 1915, +stating that the blockade of England would commence on the eighteenth +and warning neutral ships to keep out of the war zone. From then +on we had constant cases and crises with reference to the sinking +of American boats by the German submarine. There were the cases +of the _Gulfflight_ and the _Cushing_ and the _Falaba_, an English +boat sunk without warning on which Americans were killed. On May +sixth, 1915, Director Kriege of the Foreign Office asked Mr. Jackson +to call and see him, and told him that he would like to have the +following three points brought to the attention of the American +public: + + "1. As the result of the English effort to stop all foreign + commerce with Germany, Germany would do everything in her power + to destroy English commerce and merchant shipping. There was, + however, never at any time an intention to destroy or interfere + with neutral commerce or to attack neutral shipping unless + engaged in contraband trade. In view of the action of the + British Government in arming merchant vessels and causing + them to disguise their national character, the occasional + destruction of a neutral ship was unavoidable. Naval officers + in command of submarines had been instructed originally, and + new and more stringent instructions had been issued repeatedly, + to use the utmost care, consistent with their own safety, to + avoid attacks on neutral vessels. + + "2. In case a neutral ship should be destroyed by a submarine + the German Government is prepared to make an immediate and + formal expression of its regret and to pay an indemnity, without + having recourse to a prize court. + + "3. All reports with regard to the destruction of a neutral + vessel by a German submarine are investigated at once by both + the German Foreign Office and Admiralty and the result is + communicated to the Government concerned, which is requested in + return to communicate to the German Government the result of its + own independent investigation. Where there is any material + divergence in the two reports as to the presumed cause of + destruction (torpedo or mine), the question is to be submitted + to investigation by a commission composed of representatives of + the two nations concerned, with a neutral arbiter whose decision + will be final. This course has already been adopted in two cases, + in which a Dutch and a Norwegian vessel, respectively, were + concerned. The German Government reserves its right to refuse + this international arbitration in exceptional cases where for + military reasons the German Admiralty are opposed to its taking + place." + +Director Kriege told Mr. Jackson that a written communication in +which the substance of the foregoing would be contained, would +soon to be made to the Embassy. + +Mr. Jackson put this conversation down in the form above given +and showed Director Kriege a copy of it. Later in the day Geheimrat +Simon called on Mr. Jackson at the Embassy and said that Dr. +Kriege would like to have point two read as follows: + + "In case _through_any_unfortunate_mistake_a_neutral_ship_," + and continuing to the end; and that Dr. Kriege would like to + change what was written on point three beginning with "Where + there is" so that it should read, as follows:--"Where there is + any material divergence in the two reports as to the presumed + cause of destruction (torpedo or mine), the German Government has + already in several instances declared its readiness to submit + the question to the decision of an international commission in + accordance with the Hague Convention for the friendly settlement + of international disputes." + +This had been suggested by Director Kriege in case it should +be decided to make a communication to the American Press. Mr. +Jackson told Geheimrat Simon that he would report the subject of +his conversation to me, but that it would depend upon me whether +any communication should be made to the American Government or +to the press upon the subject. + +Of course, the news of the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_ on +May seventh and of the great loss of American lives brought +about a very critical situation, and naturally nothing was done +with Kriege's propositions. + +It is unnecessary here for me to go into the notes which were +exchanged between the two governments because all that is already +public property. + +Sometime after I had delivered our first _Lusitania_ Note of +May 11th, 1915, Zimmermann was lunching with us. A good looking +American woman, married to a German, was also of the party and +after lunch although I was talking to some one else I overheard +part of her conversation with Zimmermann. When Zimmermann left +I asked her what it was that he had said about America, Germany, +Mr. Bryan and the _Lusitania_. She then told me that she +had said to Zimmermann that it was a great pity that we were +to leave Berlin as it looked as if diplomatic relations between +the two countries would be broken, and that Zimmermann told her +not to worry about that because they had just received word from +the Austrian Government that Dr. Dumba, the Austrian Ambassador +in Washington, had cabled that the _Lusitania_ Note from +America to Germany was only sent as a sop to public opinion in +America and that the government did not really mean what was +said in that note. I then called on Zimmermann at the Foreign +Office and he showed me Dumba's telegram which was substantially +as stated above. Of course, I immediately cabled to the State +Department and also got word to President Wilson. The rest of +the incident is public property. I, of course, did not know what +actually occurred between Mr. Bryan and Dr. Dumba, but I am sure +that Dr. Dumba must have misunderstood friendly statements made +by Mr. Bryan. + +It was very lucky that I discovered the existence of this Dumba +cablegram in this manner which savours almost of diplomacy as +represented on the stage. If the Germans had gone on in the belief +that the _Lusitania_ Note was not really meant, war would +have inevitably resulted at that time between Germany and America, +and it shows how great events may be shaped by heavy luncheons +and a pretty woman. + +Before this time much indignation had been caused in Germany +by the fact that the _Lusitania_ on her eastward voyage +from New York early in February, 1915, had raised the American +flag when nearing British waters. + +Shortly after this incident had become known, I was at the +Wintergarten, a large concert hall in Berlin, with Grant Smith, +First Secretary of the Embassy at Vienna and other members of +my staff. We naturally spoke English among ourselves, a fact +which aroused the ire of a German who had been drinking heavily +and who was seated in the next box. He immediately began to call +out that some one was speaking English and when told by one of +the attendants that it was the American Ambassador, he immediately +cried in a loud voice that Americans were even worse than English +and that the _Lusitania_ had been flying the American flag as +protection in British waters. + +The audience, however, took sides against him and told him to +shut up and as I left the house at the close of the performance, +some Germans spoke to me and apologised for his conduct. The +next day the manager of the Wintergarten called on me also to +express his regret for the occurrence. + +About a year afterwards I was at the races one day and saw this +man and asked him what he meant by making such a noise at the +Wintergarten. He immediately apologised and said that he had +been drinking and hoped that I would forget the incident. This +was the only incident of the kind which occurred to me during +all the time that I was in Germany. + +Both before and after the sinking of the _Lusitania_, the +German Foreign Office put forward all kinds of proposals with +reference to American ships in the war zone. On one afternoon, +Zimmermann, who had a number of these proposals drafted in German, +showed them to me and I wrote down the English translation for him +to see how it would look in English. These proposals were about +the sailing from America of what might be called certified ships, +the ships to be painted and striped in a distinctive way, to come +from certified ports at certain certified times, America to agree +that these ships should carry no contraband whatever. All these +proposals were sternly rejected by the President. + +On February sixteenth, the German answer to our note of February +tenth had announced that Germany declined all responsibility for +what might happen to neutral ships and, in addition, announced +that mines would be allowed in waters surrounding Great Britain +and Ireland. This note also contained one of Zimmermann's proposed +solutions, namely, that American warships should convoy American +merchantmen. + +The German note of the sixteenth also spoke about the great traffic +in munitions from the United States to the Allies, and contained +a suggestion that the United States should induce the Allies to +adopt the Declaration of London and omit the importation not +only of food but also of all raw materials into Germany. + +February twentieth was the date of the conciliatory note addressed +by President Wilson to both Great Britain and Germany; and contained +the suggestion that submarines should not be employed against +merchant vessels of any nationality and that food should be allowed +to go through for the civil population of Germany consigned to +the agencies named by the United States in Germany, which were +to see that the food was received and distributed to the civil +population. + +In the meantime the mines on the German coast had destroyed two +American ships, both loaded with cotton for Germany; one called +the _Carib_ and the other the _Evelyn_. + +In America, Congress refused to pass a law to put it in the power +of the President to place an embargo on the export of munitions +of war. + +In April, Count Bernstorff delivered his note concerning the +alleged want of neutrality of the United States, referring to +the numerous new industries in war materials being built up in +the United States, stating, "In reality the United States is +supplying only Germany's enemies, a fact which is not in any +way modified by the theoretical willingness to furnish Germany +as well." + +To this note, Secretary Bryan in a note replied that it was +impossible, in view of the indisputable doctrines of accepted +international law, to make any change in our own laws of neutrality +which meant unequally affecting, during the progress of the war, +the relations of the United States with the various nations at +war; and that the placing of embargoes on the trade in arms which +constituted such a change would be a direct violation of the +neutrality of the United States. + +But all these negotiations, reproaches and recriminations were +put an end to by the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_, with the +killing of American women and civilians who were passengers on +that vessel. + +I believed myself that we would immediately break diplomatic +relations, and prepared to leave Germany. On May eleventh, I +delivered to von Jagow the _Lusitania_ Note, which after +calling attention to the cases of the sinking of American boats, +ending with the _Lusitania_, contained the statement, "The +Imperial German Government will not expect the Government of +the United States to omit any word or any act necessary to the +sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and +its citizens and of safeguarding their free exercises and +enjoyments." + +During this period I had constant conversations with von Jagow +and Zimmermann, and it was during the conversations about this +submarine warfare that Zimmermann on one occasion said to me: +"The United States does not dare to do anything against Germany +because we have five hundred thousand German reservists in America +who will rise in arms against your government if your government +should dare to take any action against Germany." As he said this, +he worked himself up to a passion and repeatedly struck the table +with his fist. I told him that we had five hundred and one thousand +lamp posts in America, and that was where the German reservists +would find themselves if they tried any uprising; and I also +called his attention to the fact that no German-Americans making +use of the American passports which they could easily obtain, +were sailing for Germany by way of Scandinavian countries in +order to enlist in the German army. I told him that if he could +show me one person with an American passport who had come to +fight in the German army I might more readily believe what he +said about the Germans in America rising in revolution. + +As a matter of fact, during the whole course of the war, I knew +of only one man with American citizenship who enlisted in the +German army. This was an American student then in Germany who +enlisted in a German regiment. His father, a business man in New +York, cabled me asking me to have his son released from the German +army; so I procured the discharge of the young man who immediately +wrote to me and informed me that he was over twenty-one, and +that he could not see what business his father had to interfere +with his military ambitions. I thereupon withdrew my request +with reference to him, but he had already been discharged from +the army. When his regiment went to the West front he stowed +away on the cars with it, was present at the attack on Ypres, +and was shot through the body. He recovered in a German hospital, +received the Iron Cross, was discharged and sailed for America. +What has since become of him I do not know. + +I do not intend to go in great detail into this exchange of notes +and the public history of the submarine controversy, as all that +properly belongs to the history of the war rather than to an +account of my personal experiences; and besides, as Victor Hugo +said, "History is not written with a microscope." All will remember +the answer of Germany to the American _Lusitania_ Note, which +answer, delivered on May twenty-ninth, contained the charge that +the _Lusitania_ was armed and carried munitions, and had been +used in the transport of Canadian troops. In the meantime, however, +the American ship, _Nebraskan_, had been torpedoed off the coast +of Ireland on the twenty-sixth; and, on May twenty-eighth, Germany +stated that the American steamer, _Gulfflight_, had been torpedoed +by mistake, and apologised for this act. + +Von Jagow gave me, about the same time, a Note requesting that +American vessels should be more plainly marked and should illuminate +their marking at night. + +The second American _Lusitania_ Note was published on June +eleventh, 1915; and its delivery was coincident with the resignation +of Mr. Bryan as Secretary of State. In this last Note President +Wilson (for, of course, it is an open secret that he was the +author of these Notes) made the issue perfectly plain, referring +to the torpedoing of enemy passenger ships. "Only her actual +resistance to capture or refusal to stop when ordered to do so +for the purpose of visit could have afforded the commander of the +submarine any justification for so much as putting the lives of +those on board the ship in jeopardy." On July eighth the German +answer to this American _Lusitania_ Note was delivered, and +again stated that "we have been obliged to adopt a submarine war +to meet the declared intentions of our enemies and the method of +warfare adopted by them in contravention of international law". +Again referring to the alleged fact of the _Lusitania's_ +carrying munitions they said: "If the _Lusitania_ had been +spared, thousands of cases of munitions would have been sent to +Germany's enemies and thereby thousands of German mothers and +children robbed of breadwinners." The note then contained some +of Zimmermann's favourite proposals, to the effect that German +submarine commanders would be instructed to permit the passage of +American steamers marked in a special way and of whose sailing +they had been notified in advance, provided that the American +Government guaranteed that these vessels did not carry contraband +of war. It was also suggested that a number of neutral vessels +should be added to those sailing under the American flag, to +give greater opportunity for those Americans who were compelled +to travel abroad, and the Note's most important part continued: +"In particular the Imperial Government is unable to admit that +the American citizens can protect an enemy ship by mere fact +of their presence on board." + +July twenty-first, the American Government rejected the proposals +of Germany saying, "The lives of noncombatants may in no case +be put in jeopardy unless the vessel resists or seeks to escape +after being summoned to submit to examination," and disposed +of the claim that the acts of England gave Germany the right +to retaliate, even though American citizens should be deprived +of their lives in the course of retaliation by stating: "For a +belligerent act of retaliation is _per_se_ an act beyond the +law, and the defense, of an act as retaliatory, is an admission +that it is illegal." Continuing it said: "If a belligerent cannot +retaliate against an enemy without injuring the lives of neutrals, +as well as their property, humanity, as well as justice and a +due regard for the dignity of neutral powers, should dictate +that the practice be discontinued." + +It was also said: "The United States cannot believe that the +Imperial Government will longer refrain from disavowing the wanton +act of its naval commander in sinking the _Lusitania_ or +from offering reparation for the American lives lost, so far +as reparation can be made for the needless destruction of human +life by an illegal act." And the meat of the Note was contained +in the following sentence: "Friendship itself prompts it (the +United States) to say to the Imperial Government that repetition +by the commanders of German naval vessels of acts in contravention +of those rights must be regarded by the Government of the United +States, when they affect American citizens, as being deliberately +unfriendly." + +There the matter has remained so far as the Lusitania was concerned +until now. In the meantime, the attack of the American ship, +_Nebraskan_, was disavowed; the German Note stating that +"the torpedo was not meant for the American flag and is to be +considered an unfortunate accident." + +The diplomatic situation with regard to the use of the submarine +and the attack on many merchant ships without notice and without +putting the passengers in safety was still unsettled when on +August nineteenth, 1915, the British ship _Arabic_, was +torpedoed, without warning, not far from the place where the +_Lusitania_ had gone down. Two Americans were among the +passengers killed. + +The German Government, after the usual quibbling, at length, +in its Note of September seventh, claimed that the Captain of +the German submarine, while engaged in preparing to sink the +_Dunsley_, became convinced that the approaching _Arabic_ +was trying to ram him and, therefore, fired his torpedo. The +Imperial Government refused to admit any liability but offered +to arbitrate. + +There followed almost immediately the case of the _Ancona_, +sunk by a submarine flying the Austrian flag. This case was naturally +out of my jurisdiction, but formed a link in the chain, and then +came the sinking of the _Persia_ in the Mediterranean. On this +boat our consul to Aden lost his life. + +In the Note of Count Bernstorff to Secretary Lansing, dated September +first, 1915, Count Bernstorff said that liners would not be sunk +by German submarines without warning, and without putting the +passengers in safety, provided that the liners did not try to +escape or offer resistance; and it was further stated that this +policy was in effect before the sinking of the _Arabic_. + +There were long negotiations during this period concerning the +_Arabic_. At one time it looked as if diplomatic relations +would be broken; but finally the Imperial Government consented +to acknowledge that the submarine commander had been wrong in +assuming that the _Arabic_ intended to ram his boat, offered +to pay an indemnity and disavowed the act of the commander. It +was stated that orders so precise had been given to the submarine +commanders that a "recurrence of incidents similar to the +_Arabic_ is considered out of the question." + +In the same way the Austrian Government gave way to the demands +of America in the _Ancona_ case at the end of December, 1915. +Ambassador Penfield, in Austria, won great praise by his admirable +handling of this case. + +The negotiations as to the still pending _Lusitania_ case +were carried on in Washington by Count Bernstorff and Secretary +Lansing, and finally Germany offered to pay an indemnity for +the death of the Americans on the _Lusitania_ whose deaths +Germany "greatly regretted," but refused to disavow the act of +the submarine commander in sinking the _Lusitania_ or to admit +that such act was illegal. + +About this time our State Department sent out a Note proposing +in effect that submarines should conform to "cruiser" warfare, +only sinking a vessel which defended itself or tried to escape, +and that before sinking a vessel its passengers and crew should +be placed in safety; and that, on the other hand, merchant vessels +of belligerent nationality should be prohibited from carrying +any armaments whatever. This suggestion was not followed up. + +Zimmermann (not the one in the Foreign Office) wrote an article +in the _Lokal_Anzeiger_ of which he is an editor, saying +that the United States had something on their side in the question +of the export of munitions. I heard that von Kessel, commander of +the _Mark_of_Brandenburg_ said that he, Zimmermann, ought to be +shot as a traitor. Zimmermann hearing of this made von Kessel +apologise, but was shortly afterwards mobilised. + +Colonel House had arrived in Germany at the end of January, 1916, +and remained only three days. He was quite worried by the situation +and by an interview he had had with Zimmermann in which Zimmermann +expressed the readiness of Germany to go to war with the United +States. + +In February, 1916, the Junkers in the Prussian Lower House started +a fight against the Chancellor and discussed submarine war, a +matter out of their province. The Chancellor hit back at them hard +and had the best of the exchange. At this period it was reported +that the Emperor went to Wilhelmshafen to warn the submarine +commanders to be careful. + +About March first it was reported that a grand council of war +was held at Charleville and that in spite of the support of von +Tirpitz by Falkenhayn, the Chief of Staff, the Chancellor was +supported by the Emperor, and once more beat the propositions +to recommence ruthless submarine war. + +In March too, the "illness" of von Tirpitz was announced, followed +shortly by his resignation. On March nineteenth, his birthday, +a demonstration was looked for and I saw many police near his +dwelling, but nothing unusual occurred. I contemplated a trip +to America, but both the Chancellor and von Jagow begged me not +to go. + +From the time of the _Lusitania_ sinking to that of the _Sussex_ +all Germany was divided into two camps. The party of the Chancellor +tried to keep peace with America and did not want to have Germany +branded as an outlaw among nations. Von Tirpitz and his party of +naval and military officers called for ruthless submarine war, and +the Conservatives, angry with Bethmann-Hollweg because of his +proposed concession as to the extension of the suffrage, joined +the opposition. The reception of our last _Lusitania_ Note in +July, 1915, was hostile and I was accused of being against Germany, +although, of course, I had nothing to do with the preparation of +this Note. + +In August, 1915, the deputies representing the great industrials +of Germany joined in the attack on the Chancellor. These men +wished to keep Northern France and Belgium, because they hoped +to get possession of the coal and iron deposits there and so +obtain a monopoly of the iron and steel trade of the continent. +Accelerators of public opinion, undoubtedly hired by the Krupp +firm, were hard at work. These Annexationists were opposed by the +more reasonable men who signed a petition against the annexation +of Belgium. Among the signers of this reasonable men's petition +were Prince Hatzfeld (Duke of Trachenberg) head of the Red Cross, +Dernburg, Prince Henkel Donnersmarck, Professor Delbrück, von +Harnack and many others. + +The rage of the Conservatives at the _Arabic_ settlement +knew no bounds, and after a bitter article had appeared in the +_Tageszeitung_ about the _Arabic_ affair, that newspaper was +suppressed for some days,--a rather unexpected showing of backbone +on the part of the Chancellor. Reventlow who wrote for this newspaper +is one of the ablest editorial writers in Germany. An ex-naval +officer, he is bitter in his hatred of America. It was said that +he once lived in America and lost a small fortune in a Florida +orange grove, but I never succeeded in having this verified. + +In November, 1915, after the _Arabic_ settlement there followed +a moment for us of comparative calm. Mrs. Gerard was given the +Red Cross Orders of the first and third classes, and Jackson +and Rives of the Embassy Staff the second and third class. The +third class is always given because one cannot have the first +and second unless one has the third or lowest. + +There were rumours at this time of the formation of a new party; +really the Socialists and Liberals, as the Socialists as such were +too unfashionable, in too bad odour, to open a campaign against +the military under their own name. This talk came to nothing. + +The Chancellor always complained bitterly that he could not +communicate in cipher _via_ wireless with von Bernstorff. +On one occasion he said to me, "How can I arrange as I wish to +in a friendly way the _Ancona_ and _Lusitania_ cases +if I cannot communicate with my Ambassador? Why does the United +States Government not allow me to communicate in cipher?" I said, +"The Foreign Office tried to get me to procure a safe-conduct for +the notorious von Rintelen on the pretense that he was going to do +charitable work for Belgium in America; perhaps Washington thinks +you want to communicate with people like that." The Chancellor then +changed the subject and said that there would be bad feeling in +Germany against America after the war. I answered that that idea +had been expressed by a great many Germans and German newspapers, +and that I had had private letters from a great many Americans +who wrote that if Germany intended to make war on America, after +this war, perhaps we had better go in now. He then very amiably +said that war with America would be ridiculous. He asked me why +public opinion in America was against Germany, and I answered +that matters like the Cavell case had made a bad impression in +America and that I knew personally that even the Kaiser did not +approve of the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_. The Chancellor +said, "How about the _Baralong_?" I replied that I did not +know the details and that there seemed much doubt and confusion +about that affair, but that there was no doubt about the fact +that Miss Cavell was shot and that she was a woman. I then took +up in detail with him the treatment of British prisoners and +said that this bad treatment could not go on. This was only one +of the many times when I complained to the Chancellor about the +condition of prisoners. I am sure that he did not approve of the +manner in which prisoners of war in Germany were treated; but +he always complained that he was powerless where the military +were concerned, and always referred me to Bismarck's memoirs. + +During this winter of submarine controversy an interview with +von Tirpitz, thinly veiled as an interview with a "high naval +authority," was published in that usually most conservative of +newspapers, the _Frankfurter_Zeitung_. In this interview the +"high naval authority" advocated ruthless submarine war with +England, and promised to bring about thereby the speedy surrender +of that country. After the surrender, which was to include the +whole British fleet, the German fleet with the surrendered British +fleet added to its force, was to sail for America, and exact from +that country indemnities enough to pay the whole cost of the war. + +After his fall, von Tirpitz, in a letter to some admirers who +had sent him verses and a wreath, advocated holding the coast of +Flanders as a necessity for the war against England and America. + +The successor of von Tirpitz was Admiral von Holtzendorff, whose +brother is Ballin's right hand man in the management of the Hamburg +American Line. Because of the more reasonable influence and +surroundings of von Holtzendorff, I regarded his appointment as +a help towards peaceful relations between Germany and America. + +I have told in another chapter how the Emperor had refused to +receive me as Ambassador of a country which was supplying munitions +to the Allies. + +From time to time since I learned of this in March, 1915, I kept +insisting upon my right as Ambassador to be received by the Emperor; +and finally early in October, 1915, wrote the following letter +to the Chancellor: + + "Your Excellency: + + Some time ago I requested you to arrange an audience for me + with his majesty. + + Please take no further trouble about this matter. + + Sincerely yours, + + JAMES W. GERARD." + +This seemed to have the desired effect. I was informed that I +would be received by the Emperor in the new palace at Potsdam +on October twenty-second. He was then to pay a flying visit to +Berlin to receive the new Peruvian Minister and one or two others. +We went down in the train to Potsdam, von Jagow accompanying us, +in the morning; and it was arranged that we should return on +the train leaving Potsdam a little after one o'clock. I think +that the authorities of the palace expected that I would be with +the Emperor for a few minutes only, as when I was shown into the +room where he was, a large room opening from the famous shell +hall of the palace, the Peruvian Minister and the others to be +received were standing waiting in that hall. + +The Emperor was alone in the room and no one was present at our +interview. He was dressed in a Hussar uniform of the new field +grey, the parade uniform of which the frogs and trimmings were +of gold. A large table in the corner of the room was covered +with maps, compasses, scales and rulers; and looked as if the +Emperor there, in company with some of his aides, or possibly +the chief of staff, had been working out the plan of campaign +of the German armies. + +The Emperor was standing; so, naturally, I stood also; and, according +to his habit, which is quite Rooseveltian, he stood very close to +me and talked very earnestly. I was fortunately able to clear +up two distinct points which he had against America. + +The Emperor said that he had read in a German paper that a number +of submarines built in America for England had crossed the Atlantic +to England, escorted by ships of the American Navy. I was, of +course, able to deny this ridiculous story at the time and furnish +definite proofs later. The Emperor complained because a loan to +England and France had been floated in America. I said that the +first loan to a belligerent floated in America was a loan to +Germany. The Emperor sent for some of his staff and immediately +inquired into the matter. The members of the staff confirmed my +statement. The Emperor said that he would not have permitted +the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_ if he had known, and that +no gentleman would kill so many women and children. He showed, +however, great bitterness against the United States and repeatedly +said, "America had better look out after this war:" and "I shall +stand no nonsense from America after the war." + +The interview lasted about an hour and a quarter, and when I finally +emerged from the room the officers of the Emperor's household were +in such a state of agitation that I feel sure they must have +thought that something fearful had occurred. As I walked rapidly +towards the door of the palace in order to take the carriage which +was to drive me to the train, one of them walked along beside +me saying, "Is it all right? Is it all right?" + +The unfortunate diplomats who were to have been received and +who had been standing all this time outside the door waiting for +an audience missed their train and their luncheon. + +At this interview, the Emperor looked very careworn and seemed +nervous. When I next saw him, however, which was not until the +end of April, 1916, he was in much better condition. + +I was so fearful in reporting the dangerous part of this interview, +on account of the many spies not only in my own Embassy but also +in the State Department, that I sent but a very few words in a +roundabout way by courier direct to the President. + +The year, 1916, opened with this great question still unsettled +and, in effect, Germany gave notice that after March first, 1916, +the German submarines would sink all armed merchantmen of the +enemies of Germany without warning. It is not my place here to +go into the agitation of this question in America or into the +history of the votes in Congress, which in fact upheld the policy +of the President. A proposal as to armed merchantmen was issued by +our State Department and the position taken in this was apparently +abandoned at the time of the settlement of the _Sussex_ case +to which I now refer. + +In the latter half of March, 1916, a number of boats having Americans +on board were torpedoed without warning. These boats were the +_Eaglejoint_, the _Englishman_, the _Manchester_Engineer_ and the +_Sussex_. One American was killed or drowned on the _Englishman_, +but the issue finally came to a head over the torpedoing of the +channel passenger boat, _Sussex_ which carried passengers between +Folkstone and Dieppe, France. + +On March twenty-fourth the _Sussex_ was torpedoed near the +coast of France. Four hundred and thirty-six persons, of whom +seventy-five were Americans, were on board. The captain and a +number of the passengers saw the torpedo and an endeavour was +made to avoid it. After the boat was struck the many passengers +took to the boats. Three Americans were injured and over forty +persons lost their lives, although the boat was not sunk but +was towed to Boulogne. + +I was instructed to inquire from the German Government as to +whether a German submarine had sunk the _Sussex_. The Foreign +Office finally, at my repeated request, called on the Admiralty +for a report of the torpedoing of the _Sussex_; and finally +on the tenth of April the German Note was delivered to me. In the +meantime, and before the delivery of this Note I had been assured +again and again that the _Sussex_ had not been torpedoed by +a German submarine. In this Note a rough sketch was enclosed, +said to have been made by the officer commanding the submarine, of +a vessel which he admitted he had torpedoed, in the same locality +where the _Sussex_ had been attacked and at about the same +time of day. It was said that this boat which was torpedoed was +a mine layer of the recently built _Arabic_ class and that a +great explosion which was observed to occur in the torpedoed ship +warranted the certain conclusion that great amounts of munitions +were on board. The Note concluded: "The German Government must +therefore assume that injury to the _Sussex_ was attributable +to another cause than attack by a German submarine." The Note +contained an offer to submit any difference of opinion that might +develop to be investigated by a mixed commission in accordance +with the Hague Convention of 1907. The _Englishman_ and +the _Eaglepoint_, it was claimed, were attacked by German +submarines only after they had attempted to escape, and an +explanation was given as to the _Manchester_Engineer_. With +reference to the _Sussex_, the note continued: "Should the +American Government have at its disposal other material at the +conclusion of the case of the _Sussex_, the German Government +would ask that it be communicated, in order to subject this material +also to investigation." + +In the meantime, American naval officers, etc., had been engaged +in collecting facts as to the sinking of the _Sussex_, and +this evidence, which seemed overwhelming and, in connection with +the admissions in the German note, absolutely conclusive, was +incorporated in the note sent to Germany in which Germany was +notified: "Unless the Imperial Government should now immediately +declare and effect abandonment of this present method of submarine +warfare against passenger and freight carrying vessels, the +Government of the United States can have no choice but to sever +diplomatic relations with the German Empire altogether." + +The issue was now clearly defined. + +I have already spoken of the fact that for a long time there had +been growing up two parties in Germany. One party headed by von +Tirpitz in favour of what the Germans called _rücksichtloser_, +or ruthless submarine war, in which all enemy merchant ships +were to be sunk without warning, and the party then headed by +the Chancellor which desired to avoid a conflict with America +on this issue. + +As I have explained in a former chapter, the military have always +claimed to take a hand in shaping the destinies and foreign policies +of Germany. When the Germans began to turn their attention to the +creation of a fleet, von Tirpitz was the man who, in a sense, +became the leader of the movement and, therefore, the creator of +the modern navy of Germany. A skilful politician, he for years +dominated the Reichstag and on the question of submarine warfare +was most efficiently seconded by the efforts of the Navy League, +an organization having perhaps one million members throughout +Germany. Although only one of the three heads of the navy (he +was Secretary of the Navy), by the force of his personality, by +the political position which he had created for himself, and by +the backing of his friends in the Navy League he really dominated +the other two departments of the navy, the Marine Staff and the +Marine Cabinet. + +Like most Germans of the ruling class, ambition is his only passion. +These Spartans do not care either for money or for the luxury +which it brings. Their life is on very simple lines, both in +the Army and Navy, in order that the officers shall not vie with +one another in expenditure, and in order that the poorer officers +and their wives shall not be subject to the humiliation which +would be caused if they had to live in constant contact with +brother officers living on a more luxurious footing. + +Von Tirpitz' ambition undoubtedly led him to consider himself +as a promising candidate for Bethmann-Hollweg's shoes. The whole +submarine issue, therefore, became not only a question of military +expediency and a question for the Foreign Office to decide in +connection with the relations of America to Germany, but also a +question of internal politics, a means of forcing the Chancellor +out of office. The advocates for the ruthless war were drawn from +the Navy and from the Army, and those who believed in the use +of any means of offence against their enemies and particularly +in the use of any means that would stop the shipment of munitions +of war to the Allies. The Army and the Navy were joined by the +Conservatives and by all those who hoped for the fall of the +Chancellor. The conservative newspapers, and even the Roman Catholic +newspapers were violent in their call for ruthless submarine war +as well as violent in their denunciations of the United States +of America. + +American passengers on merchant ships of the enemy were called +_Schutzengel_ (guardian angels), and caricatures were published, +such as one which showed the mate reporting to the Captain of +an English boat that everything was in readiness for sailing +and the Captain's inquiry, "Are you sure that the American +_Schutzengel_ is on board?" The numerous notes sent by America +to Germany also formed a frequent subject of caricature and I +remember particularly one quite clever one in the paper called +_Brummer_, representing the celebrations in a German port +on the arrival of the one hundredth note from America when the +Mayor of the town and the military, flower girls and singing +societies and _Turnverein_ were drawn up in welcoming array. + +The liberal papers were inclined to support the Chancellor in +his apparent intention to avoid an open break with America. But +even the liberal papers were not very strong in their stand. + +The military, of course, absolutely despised America and claimed +that America could do no more harm by declaring war than it was +doing then to Germany; and that possibly the war preparations +of America might cut down the amount of the munitions available +for export to the enemies of the Empire. As to anything that +America could do in a military way, the Navy and the Army were +unanimous in saying that as a military or naval factor the United +States might be considered as less than nothing. This was the +situation when the last _Sussex_ Note of America brought +matters to a crisis, and even the crisis itself was considered +a farce as it had been simmering for so long a period. + +I arranged that Colonel House should have an interview with the +Chancellor at this time, and after dinner one night he had a long +talk with the Chancellor in which the dangers of the situation +were pointed out. + +With this arrival of the last American _Sussex_ Note, I +felt that the situation was almost hopeless; that this question +which had dragged along for so long must now inevitably lead +to a break of relations and possibly to war. Von Jagow had the +same idea and said that it was "fate," and that there was nothing +more to be done. I myself felt that nothing could alter public +opinion in Germany; that in spite of von Tirpitz' fall, which had +taken place some time before, the advocates of ruthless submarine +warfare would win, and that to satisfy them Germany would risk +a break with America. + +I was sitting in my office in a rather dazed and despairing state +when Professor Ludwig Stein, proprietor of a magazine called +_North_and_South_ and a writer of special articles on Germany's +foreign relations for the _Vossische_Zeitung_, under the +name of "Diplomaticus," called to see me. + +He informed me that he thought the situation was not yet hopeless, +that there was still a large party of reasonable men in Germany +and that he thought much good could be done if I should go to +the great general headquarters and have a talk with the Kaiser, +who, he informed me, was reported to be against a break. + +I told Dr. Stein that, of course, I was perfectly willing to +go if there was the slightest chance of preventing war; and I +also told the Chancellor that if he was going to decide this +question in favor of peace it would be possibly easier for him +if the decision was arrived at under the protection, as it were, +of the Emperor; or that, if the decision lay with the Emperor, +I might possibly be able to help in convincing him if I had an +opportunity to lay the American side of the case before him. I +said, moreover, that I was ready at any time on short notice +to proceed to the Emperor's headquarters. + +Dr. Hecksher, a member of the Reichstag, who must be classed +among the reasonable men of Germany, also advocated my speaking +directly to the Kaiser. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MAINLY COMMERCIAL + +Nothing surprised me more, as the war developed, than the discovery +of the great variety and amount of goods exported from Germany to +the United States. + +Goods sent from the United States to Germany are mainly prime +materials: approximately one hundred and sixty million dollars a +year of cotton; seventy-five million dollars of copper; fifteen +millions of wheat; twenty millions of animal fats; ten millions +of mineral oil and a large amount of vegetable oil. Of course, +the amount of wheat is especially variable. Some manufactured +goods from America also find their way to Germany to the extent +of perhaps seventy millions a year, comprising machinery such as +typewriters and a miscellaneous line of machinery and manufactures. +The principal exports from Germany to America consist of dye +stuffs and chemical dyes, toys, underwear, surgical instruments, +cutlery, stockings, knit goods, etc., and a raw material called +potash, also known as kali. The last is a mineral found nowhere +in the world except in Germany and a few places in Austria. Potash +is essential to the manufacture of many fertilizers, fertilizer +being composed as a rule of potash, phosphates and nitrates. +The nitrates in past years have been exported to all countries +from Chile. Phosphate rock is mined in South Carolina and Florida +and several other places in the world. Curiously enough, both +nitrates and potash are essential ingredients also of explosives +used in war. Since the war, the German supply from Chile was +cut off; but the Germans, following a system used in Norway for +many years before the war, established great electrical plants +for the extraction of nitrates from the atmosphere. Since the +war, American agriculture has suffered for want of potash and +German agriculture has suffered for want of phosphates, possibly +of nitrates also; because I doubt whether sufficient nitrogen +is extracted from the air in Germany to provide for more than +the needs of the explosive industry. + +The dyestuff industry had been developed to such a point in Germany +that Germany supplied the whole world. In the first months of the +war some enterprising Americans, headed by Herman Metz, chartered +a boat, called _The_Matanzas_, and sent it to Rotterdam +where it was loaded with a cargo of German dyestuffs. Th boat +sailed under the American flag and was not interfered with by +the English. Later on the German Department of the Interior, +at whose head was Delbrück, refused to allow dyestuffs to leave +Germany except in exchange for cotton, and, finally, the export of +dyestuffs from Germany ceased and other countries were compelled +to take up the question of manufacture. This state of affairs +may lead to the establishment of the industry permanently in the +United States, although that industry will require protection +for some years, as, undoubtedly, Germany in her desperate effort +to regain a monopoly of this trade will be ready to spend enormous +sums in order to undersell the American manufacturers and drive +them out of business. + +The commercial submarines, _Deutschland_ and _Bremen_, +were to a great extent built with money furnished by the dyestuff +manufacturers, who hoped that by sending dyestuffs in this way to +America they could prevent the development of the industry there. +I had many negotiations with the Foreign Office with reference +to this question of dyestuffs. + +The export of toys from Germany to the United States forms a +large item in the bill which we pay annually to Germany. Many +of these toys are manufactured by the people in their own homes +in the picturesque district known as the Black Forest. Of course, +the war cut off, after a time, the export of toys from Germany; +and the American child, having in the meantime learned to be +satisfied with some other article, his little brother will demand +this very article next Christmas, and thus, after the war, Germany +will find that much of this trade has been permanently lost. + +Just as the textile trade of the United States was dependent upon +the German dyestuffs for colours, so the sugar beet growers of +America were dependent upon Germany for their seed. I succeeded, +with the able assistance of the consul at Magdeburg and Mr. Winslow +of my staff, in getting shipments of beet seed out of Germany. I +have heard since that these industries too, are being developed +in America, and seed obtained from other countries, such as Russia. + +Another commodity upon which a great industry in the United States +and Mexico depends is cyanide. The discovery of the cyanide process +of treating gold and silver ores permitted the exploitation of +many mines which could not be worked under the older methods. +At the beginning of the war there was a small manufactory of +cyanide owned by Germans at Perth Amboy and Niagara Falls, but +most of the cyanide used was imported from Germany. The American +German Company and the companies manufacturing in Germany and +in England all operated under the same patents, the English and +German companies having working agreements as to the distribution +of business throughout the world. + +The German Vice-Chancellor and head of the Department of the +Interior, Delbrück, put an export prohibition on cyanide early in +the war; and most pigheadedly and obstinately claimed that cyanide +was manufactured nowhere but in Germany, and that, therefore, if +he allowed cyanide to leave Germany for the United States or +Mexico the English would capture it and would use it to work +South African mines, thus adding to the stock of gold and power +in war of the British Empire. It was a long time before the German +manufacturers and I could convince this gentleman that cyanide +sufficient to supply all the British mines was manufactured near +Glasgow, Scotland. He then reluctantly gave a permit for the +export of a thousand tons of cyanide; and its arrival in the +United States permitted many mines there and in Mexico to continue +operations, and saved many persons from being thrown out of +employment. When Delbrück finally gave a permit for the export +of four thousand tons more of cyanide, the psychological moment +had passed and we could not obtain through our State Department +a pass from the British. + +I am convinced that Delbrück made a great tactical mistake on +behalf of the German Government when he imposed this prohibition +against export of goods to America. Many manufacturers of textiles, +the users of dyestuffs, medicines, seeds and chemicals in all forms, +were clamouring for certain goods and chemicals from Germany. But it +was the prohibition against export by the Germans which prevented +their receiving these goods. If it had been the British blockade +alone a cry might have arisen in the United States against this +blockade which might have materially changed the international +situation. + +The Germans also refused permission for the export of potash +from Germany. They hoped thereby to induce the United States +to break the British blockade, and offered cargoes of potash +in exchange for cargoes of cotton or cargoes of foodstuffs. The +Germans claimed that potash was used in the manufacture of munitions +and that, therefore, in no event would they permit the export +unless the potash was consigned to the American Government, with +guarantees against its use except in the manufacture of fertilizer, +this to be checked up by Germans appointed as inspectors. All +these negotiations, however, fell through and no potash has been +exported from Germany to the United States since the commencement +of the war. Enough potash, however, is obtained in the United +States for munition purposes from the burning of seaweed on the +Pacific Coast, from the brines in a lake in Southern California +and from a rock called alunite in Utah. Potash is also obtainable +from feldspar, but I do not know whether any plant has been +established for its production from this rock. I recently heard +of the arrival of some potash from a newly discovered field in +Brazil, and there have been rumours of its discovery in Spain. +I do not know how good this Spanish and Brazilian potash is, and +I suppose the German potash syndicate will immediately endeavour +to control these fields in order to hold the potash trade of the +world in its grip. + +It was a long time after the commencement of the war before England +declared cotton a contraband. I think this was because of the fear +of irritating the United States; but, in the meantime, Germany +secured a great quantity of cotton, which, of course, was used or +stored for the manufacture of powder. Since the cotton imports +have been cut off the Germans claim that they are manufacturing +a powder equally good by using wood pulp. Of course, I have not +been able to verify this, absolutely. + +Germany had endeavoured before the war in every way to keep American +goods out of the German markets, and even the Prussian state +railways are used, as I have shown in the article where I speak +of the attempt to establish an oil monopoly in Germany, in order +to discriminate against American mineral oils. This same method +has been applied to other articles such as wood, which otherwise +might be imported from America and in some cases regulations +as to the inspection of meat, etc., have proved more effective +in keeping American goods out of the market than a prohibitive +tariff. + +The meat regulation is that each individual package of meat must +be opened and inspected; and, of course, when a sausage has been +individually made to sit up and bark no one desires it as an +article of food thereafter. American apples were also discriminated +against in the custom regulations of Germany. Nor could I induce +the German Government to change their tariff on canned salmon, +an article which would prove a welcome addition to the German diet. + +The German workingman, undoubtedly the most exploited and fooled +workingman in the world, is compelled not only to work for low +wages and for long hours, but to purchase his food at rates fixed +by the German tariff made for the benefit of the Prussian Junkers +and landowners. + +Of course, the Prussian Junkers excuse the imposition of the +tariff on food and the regulations made to prevent the entry +of foodstuffs on the ground that German agriculture must be +encouraged, first, in order to enable the population to subsist +in time of war and blockade; and, secondly, in order to encourage +the peasant class which furnishes the most solid soldiers to +the Imperial armies. + +The nations and business men of the world will have to face after +the war a new condition which we may call socialized buying and +socialized selling. + +Not long after the commencement of the war the Germans placed a +prohibitive tariff upon the import of certain articles of luxury +such as perfumes; their object, of course, being to keep the +German people from sending money out of the country and wasting +their money in useless expenditures. At the same time a great +institution was formed called the Central Einkauf Gesellschaft. +This body, formed under government auspices of men appointed from +civil life, is somewhat similar to one of our national defence +boards. Every import of raw material into Germany falls into the +hands of this central buying company, and if a German desires +to buy any raw material for use in his factory he must buy it +through this central board. + +I have talked with members of this board and they all unite in +the belief that this system will be continued after the war. + +For instance, if a man in Germany wishes to buy an automobile +or a pearl necklace or a case of perfumery, he will be told, +"You can buy this if you can buy it in Germany. But if you have +to send to America for the automobile, if you have to send to +Paris for the pearls or the perfumery, you cannot buy them." +In this way the gold supply of Germany will be husbanded and +the people will either be prevented from making comparatively +useless expenditures or compelled to spend money to benefit home +industry. + +On the other hand, when a man desires to buy some raw material, +for example, copper, cotton, leather, wheat or something of that +kind, he will not be allowed to buy abroad on his own hook. The +Central Einkauf Gesellschaft will see that all those desiring to +buy cotton or copper put in their orders on or before a certain +date. When the orders are all in, the quantities called for will +be added up by this central board; and then one man, representing +the board, will be in a position to go to America to purchase +the four million bales of cotton or two hundred million pounds +of copper. + +The German idea is that this one board will be able to force the +sellers abroad to compete against each other in their eagerness +to sell. The one German buyer will know about the lowest price at +which the sellers can sell their product. By the buyer's standing +out alone with this great order the Germans believe that the +sellers, one by one, will fall into his hands and sell their +product at a price below that which they could obtain if the +individual sellers of America were meeting the individual buyers +of Germany in the open market. + +When the total amount of the commodity ordered has been purchased, +it will be divided up among the German buyers who put in their +orders with the central company, each order being charged with +its proportionate share of the expenses of the commission and, +possibly, an additional sum for the benefit of the treasury of +the Empire. + +Before the war a German manufacturer took me over his great factory +where fifteen thousand men and women were employed, showed me +great quantities of articles made from copper, and said: "We buy +this copper in America and we get it a cent and a half a pound +less than we should pay for it because our government permits us +to combine for the purpose of buying, but your government does +not allow your people to combine for the purpose of selling. +You have got lots of silly people who become envious of the rich +and pass laws to prevent combination, which is the logical +development of all industry." + +The government handling of exchange during the war was another +example of the use of the centralised power of the Government +for the benefit of the whole nation. + +In the first year of the war, when I desired money to spend in +Germany, I drew a check on my bank in New York in triplicate +and sent a clerk with it to the different banks in Berlin, to +obtain bids in marks, selling it then, naturally, to the highest +bidder. But soon the Government stepped in. The Imperial Bank +was to fix a daily rate of exchange, and banks and individuals +were forbidden to buy or sell at a different rate. That this +fixed rate was a false one, fixed to the advantage of Germany, I +proved at the time when the German official rate was 5.52 marks +for a dollar, by sending my American checks to Holland, buying +Holland money with them and German money with the Holland money, +in this manner obtaining 5.74 marks for each dollar. And just +before leaving Germany I sold a lot of American gold to a German +bank at the rate of 6.42 marks per dollar, although on that day +the official rate was 5.52 and although the buyer of the gold, +because the export of gold was forbidden, would have to lose +interest on the money paid me or on the gold purchased, until +the end of the war. What the Germans thought of the value of +the mark is shown by this transaction. + +The only thing that can maintain a fair price after the war for +the products of American firms, miners and manufacturers is +permission to combine for selling abroad. There is before Congress +a bill called the Webb Bill permitting those engaged in export +trade to combine, and this bill, which is manifestly for the +benefit of the American producer of raw materials and foods and +manufactured articles, should be passed. + +It was also part of our commercial work to secure permits for +the exportation from Belgium of American owned goods seized by +Germany. We succeeded in a number of cases in getting these goods +released. In other cases, the American owned property was taken +over by the government, but the American owners were compensated +for the loss. + +Germany took over belligerent property and put it in the hands +of receivers. In all cases where the majority of the stock of a +German corporation was owned by another corporation or individuals +of belligerent nationality, the German corporation was placed in +the hands of a receiver. The German Government, however, would +not allow the inquiry into the stock ownership to go further than +the first holding corporation. There were many cases where the +majority of the stock of a German corporation was owned by an +English corporation and the majority of the stock of the English +corporation, in turn, owned by an American corporation or by +Americans. In this case the German Government refused to consider +the American ownership of the English stock, and put the German +company under government control. + +With the low wages paid to very efficient workingmen who worked +for long hours and with no laws against combination, it was always +a matter of surprise to me that the Germans who were in the process +of getting all the money in the world should have allowed their +military autocracy to drive them into war. + +I am afraid that, after this war, if we expect to keep a place for +our trade in the world, we may have to revise some of our ideas as +to so-called trusts and the Sherman Law. Trusts or combinations +are not only permitted, but even encouraged in Germany. They are +known there as "cartels" and the difference between the American +trust and the German cartel is that the American trust has, as +it were, a centralised government permanently taking over and +combining the competing elements in any given business, while in +Germany the competing elements form a combination by contract for +a limited number of years. This combination is called a cartel +and during these years each member of the cartel is assigned a +given amount of the total production and given a definite share +of the profits of the combination. The German cartel, therefore, +as Consul General Skinner aptly said, may be likened to a +confederation existing by contract for a limited period of time +and subject to renewal only at the will of its members. + +It may be that competition is a relic of barbarism and that one +of the first signs of a higher civilisation is an effort to modify +the stress of competition. The debates of Congress tend to show +that, in enacting the Sherman Law, Congress did not intend to forbid +the restraint of competition among those in the same business but +only intended to prohibit the forming of a combination by those +who, combined, would have a monopoly of a particular business or +product. It is easy to see why all the coal mines in the country +should be prohibited from combining; but it is not easy to see +why certain people engaged in the tobacco business should be +prohibited from taking their competitors into their combination, +because tobacco is a product which could be raised upon millions +of acres of our land and cannot be made the subject of a monopoly. + +The German courts have expressly said that if prices are so low +that the manufacturers of a particular article see financial +ruin ahead, a formation of a cartel by them must be looked upon +as a justified means of self-preservation. The German laws are +directed to the end to which it seems to be such laws should +logically be directed; namely, to the prevention of unfair +competition. + +So long as the question of monopoly is not involved, competition +can always be looked for when a combination is making too great +profits; and the new and competing corporation and individuals +should be protected by law against the danger of price cutting +for the express purpose of driving the new competitor out of +business. However, it must be remembered that a combination acting +unfairly in competition may be more oppressive than a monopoly. +I myself am not convinced by the arguments of either side. It +is a matter for the most serious study. + +The object of the American trust has been to destroy its competitors. +The object of the German cartel to force its competitors to join the +cartel. + +In fact the government in Germany becomes part of these cartels +and takes an active hand in them, as witness the participation +of the German Government in the potash syndicate, when contracts +made by certain American buyers with German mines were cancelled +and all the potash producing mines of Germany and Austria forced +into one confederation; and witness the attempt by the government, +which I have described in another chapter, to take over and +make a monopoly of the wholesale and retail oil business of the +country. + +The recent closer combination of dyestuff industries of Germany, +with the express purpose of meeting and destroying American +competition after the war, is interesting as showing German methods. +For a number of years the dye-stuff industry of Germany was +practically controlled by six great companies, some of these +companies employing as high as five hundred chemists in research +work. In 1916 these six companies made an agreement looking to a +still closer alliance not only for the distribution of the product +but also for the distribution of ideas and trade secrets. For +years, these great commercial companies supplied all the countries +of the world not only with dyestuffs and other chemical products +but also with medicines discovered by their chemists and made +from coal tar; which, although really nothing more than patent +medicines, were put upon the market as new and great and beneficial +discoveries in medicine. The Badische Anilin and Soda Fabrik, +with a capital of fifty-four million marks has paid dividends +in the ten years from 1903 to 1913, averaging over twenty-six +per cent. + +The Farbwerke Meister Lucius und Bruning at Hoeckst, near Frankfort, +during the same period, with a capital of fifty million marks, +has paid dividends averaging over twenty-seven per cent; and +the chemical works of Bayer and Company, near Cologne, during +the same period with a capital of fifty-four millions of marks +has paid dividends averaging over thirty per cent. + +Much of the commercial success of the Germans during the last +forty years is due to the fact that each manufacturer, each +discoverer in Germany, each exporter knew that the whole weight +and power of the Government was behind him in his efforts to +increase his business. On the other hand, in America, business +men have been terrorized, almost into inaction, by constant +prosecutions. What was a crime in one part of the United States, +under one Circuit Court of Appeals, was a perfectly legitimate +act in another. + +If we have to meet the intense competition of Germany after the +war, we have got to view all these problems from new angles. For +instance, there is the question of free ports. Representative +Murray Hulbert has introduced, in the House of Representatives, a +resolution directing the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary +of War and the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress as +to the advisability of the establishment of free ports within +the limits of the established customs of the United States. +Free ports exist in Germany and have existed for a long time, +although Germany is a country with a protective tariff. In a +free port raw goods are manufactured and then exported, of course +to the advantage of the country permitting the establishment of +free ports, because by this manufacture of raw materials and +their re-export, without being subject to duty, money is earned +by the manufacturers to the benefit of their own country and +employment is given to many workingmen. This, of course, improves +the condition of these workingmen and of all others in the country; +as it is self-evident that the employment of each workingman in +an industry, which would not exist except for the existence of +the free port, withdraws that workingman from the general labour +market and, therefore, benefits the position of his remaining +fellow labourers. + +Although free ports do not exist in the United States, an attempt +has been made to give certain industries, by means of what are +known as "drawbacks," the same benefit that they would enjoy +were free ports existant in our country. + +Thus the refiners of raw sugar from Cuba pay a duty on this sugar +when it enters the United States, but receive this duty back when +a corresponding amount of refined sugar is exported to other +countries. + +There has lately been an attack made upon this system in the +case, however, of the sugar refiners only, and the question has +been treated in some newspapers as if these refiners were obtaining +some unfair advantage from the government, whereas, as a matter +of fact, the allowance of these "drawbacks" enables the sugar +refiners to carry on the refining of the sugar for export much +as they would if their refineries existed in free ports modelled +on the German system. + +The repeal of the provision of allowing "drawbacks" in this and +other industries will probably send the industries to Canada or +some other territory where this system, equivalent to the free +port, is permitted to exist. + +A few days before I left Germany I had a conversation with a +manufacturer of munitions who employs about eighteen thousand +people in his factories, which, before the war, manufactured +articles other than munitions. I asked him how the government +treated the manufacturers of munitions, and he said that they +were allowed to make good profits, although they had to pay out +a great proportion of these profits in the form of taxes on their +excess or war profits; that the government desired to encourage +manufacturers to turn their factories into factories for the +manufacture of all articles in the war and required by the nation +in sustaining war; and that the manufacturers would do this provided +that it were only a question as to how much of their profits +they would be allowed to keep, but that if the Government had +attempted to fix prices so low that there would have been a doubt +as to whether the manufacturer could make a profit or not, the +production of articles required for war would never have reached +the high mark that it had in Germany. + +As a matter of fact, about the only tax imposed in Germany since +the outbreak of the war has been the tax upon cost or war profits. +It has been the policy of Germany to pay for the war by great +loans raised by popular subscription, after authorisation by the +Reichstag. I calculate that the amounts thus raised, together +with the floating indebtedness, amount to date to about eighty +billions of marks. + +For a long time the Germans expected that the expenses of the +war would be paid from the indemnities to be recovered by Germany +from the nations at war with it. + +Helfferich shadowed this forth in his speech in the Reichstag, +on August 20, 1915, when he said: "If we wish to have the power +to settle the terms of peace according to our interests and our +requirements, then we must not forget the question of cost. We +must have in view that the whole future activity of our people, +so far as this is at all possible, shall be free from burdens. +The leaden weight of billions has been earned by the instigators +of this war, and in the future they, rather than we, will drag +it about after them." + +Of course, by "instigators of the war" Helfferich meant the opponents +of Germany, but I think that unconsciously he was a true prophet +and that the "leaden weight of the billions" which this war has +cost Germany will be dragged about after the war by Germany, +the real instigator of this world calamity. + +In December, 1915, Helfferich voiced the comfortable plea that, +because the Germans were spending their money raised by the war +loans in Germany, the weight of these loans was not a real weight +upon the German people. He said: "We are paying the money almost +exclusively to ourselves; while the enemy is paying its loans +abroad--a guarantee that in the future we shall maintain the +advantage." + +This belief of the Germans and Helfferich is one of the notable +fallacies of the war. The German war loans have been subscribed +mainly by the great companies of Germany; by the Savings Banks, +the Banks, the Life and Fire Insurance and Accident Insurance +Companies, etc. + +Furthermore, these loans have been pyramided; that is to say, +a man who subscribed and paid for one hundred thousand marks +of loan number one could, when loan number two was called for, +take the bonds he had bought of loan number one to his bank and +on his agreement to spend the proceeds in subscribing to loan +number two, borrow from the bank eighty thousand marks on the +security of his first loan bonds, and so on. + +There is an annual increment, not easily ascertainable with +exactness, but approximately ascertainable to the wealth of every +country in the world. Just as when a man is working a farm there +is in normal years an increment or accretion of wealth or income +to him above the cost of the production of the products of the +soil which he sells, there is such an annual increment to the +wealth of each country taken as a whole. Some experts have told +me they calculated that, at the outside, in prosperous peace times +the annual increment of German wealth is ten billion marks. + +Now when we have the annual interest to be paid by Germany exceeding +the annual increment of the country, the social and even moral +bankruptcy of the country must ensue. If repudiation of the loan +or any part of it is then forced, the loss naturally falls upon +those who have taken the loan. The working-man or small capitalist, +who put all his savings in the war loan, is without support for his +old age, and so with the man who took insurance in the Insurance +Companies or put his savings in a bank. If that bank becomes +bankrupt through repudiation of the war loan, you then have the +country in a position where the able-bodied are all working to +pay what they can towards the interest of the government loan, +after earning enough to keep themselves and their families alive; +and the old and the young, without support and deprived of their +savings, become mere poor-house burdens on the community. + +Already the mere interest of the war loan of Germany amounts to +four billions of marks a year; to this must be added, of course, +the interest of the previous indebtedness of the country and +of each political subdivision thereof, including cities, all +of which have added to their before-the-war debt, by incurring +great debts to help the destitute in this war; and, of course, +to all this must be added the expenses of the administration +of the government and the maintenance of the army and navy. + +It is the contemplation of this state of affairs, when he is +convinced that indemnities are not to be exacted from other +countries, that will do most to persuade the average intelligent +German business man that peace must be had at any cost. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WORK FOR THE GERMANS + +The interests of Germany in France, England and Russia were placed +with our American Ambassadors in these countries. This, of course, +entailed much work upon our Embassy, because we were the medium of +communication between the German Government and these Ambassadors. +I found it necessary to establish a special department to look +after these matters. At its head was Barclay Rives who had been +for many years in our diplomatic service and who joined my Embassy +at the beginning of the war. First Secretary of our Embassy in +Vienna for ten or twelve years, he spoke German perfectly and +was acquainted with many Germans and Austrians. Inquiries about +Germans who were prisoners, negotiations relative to the treatment +of German prisoners, and so on, came under this department. + +One example will show the nature of this work. When the Germans +invaded France, a German cavalry patrol with two officers, von +Schierstaedt and Count Schwerin, and several men penetrated as +far as the forest of Fontainebleau, south of Paris. There they got +out of touch with the German forces and wandered about for days in +the forest. In the course of their wanderings they requisitioned +some food from the inhabitants, and took, I believe, an old coat +for one of the officers who had lost his, and requisitioned a +wagon to carry a wounded man. After their surrender to the French, +the two officers were tried by a French court martial, charged +with pillaging and sentenced to be degraded from their rank and +transported to Cayenne (the Devil's Island of the Dreyfus case). +The Germans made strong representations, and our very skilled +Ambassador in Paris, the Honourable William C. Sharp, took up +the matter with the Foreign Office and succeeded in preventing +the transportation of the officers. The sending of the officers +and men, however, into a military prison where they were treated +as convicts caused great indignation throughout Germany. The +officers had many and powerful connections in their own country +who took up their cause. There were bitter articles in the German +press and caricatures and cartoons were published. + +I sent Mr. Rives to Paris and told him not to leave until he +had seen these officers. He remained in Paris some weeks and +finally through Mr. Sharp obtained permission to visit the officers +in the military prison. Later the French showed a tendency to +be lenient in this case, but it was hard to find a way for the +French Government to back down gracefully. Schierstaedt having +become insane in the meantime, a very clever way out of the +difficulty was suggested, I believe by Mr. Sharp. Schierstaedt +having been found to be insane was presumably insane at the time +of the patrol's wandering in the forest of Fontainebleau. As he +was the senior officer, the other officer and the men under him +were not responsible for obeying his commands. The result was +that Schwerin and the men of the patrol were put in a regular +prison camp and Schierstaedt was very kindly sent by the French +back to Germany, where he recovered his reason sufficiently to +be able to come and thank me for the efforts made on his behalf. + +I made every endeavour so far as it lay in my power to oblige +the Germans. We helped them in the exchange of prisoners and +the care of German property in enemy countries. + +There were rumours in Berlin that Germans taken as prisoners in +German African Colonies were forced to work in the sun, watched +and beaten by coloured guards. This was taken up by one of the +Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg who had been Governor of Togoland +and who also took great interest in sending clothes, etc., to +these prisoners. Germany demanded that the prisoners in Africa +be sent to a more temperate climate. + +Another royalty who was busied with prisoners' affairs was Prince +Max of Baden. He is heir to the throne of Baden, although not a +son of the reigning Duke. He is very popular and, for my part, +I admire him greatly. He travels with Emerson's essays in his +pocket and keeps up with the thought and progress of all countries. +Baden will be indeed happy in having such a ruler. Prince Max was +a man so reasonable, so human, that I understand that von Jagow +was in favour of putting him at the head of a central department +for prisoners of war. I agreed with von Jagow that in such case +all would go smoothly and humanely. Naturally, von Jagow could +only mildly hint at the desirability of this appointment. A prince, +heir to one of the thrones of Germany, with the rank of General +in the army, he seemed ideally fitted for such a position, but +unfortunately the opposition of the army and, particularly, of +the representative corps commanders was so great that von Jagow +told me the plan was impossible of realisation. I am sure if +Prince Max had been at the head of such a department, Germany +would not now be suffering from the odium of mistreating its +prisoners and that the two million prisoners of war in Germany +would not return to their homes imbued with an undying hate. + +Prince Max was very helpful in connection with the American mission +to Russia for German prisoners which I had organised and which I +have described in the chapter on war charities. + +All complaints made by the Imperial Government with reference +to the treatment of German prisoners, and so forth, in enemy +countries were first given to me and transmitted by our Embassy +to the American Ambassadors having charge of German interests +in enemy countries. All this, with the correspondence ensuing, +made a great amount of clerical work. + +I think that every day I received one or more Germans, who were +anxious about prisoner friends, making inquiries, and wishing +to consult me on business matters in the United States, etc. +All of these people showed gratitude for what we were able to +do for them, but their gratitude was only a drop in the ocean +of officially inspired hatred of America. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +WAR CHARITIES + +As soon as the war was declared and millions of men marched forward +intent upon killing, hundreds of men and women immediately took up +the problem of helping the soldiers, the wounded and the prisoners +and of caring for those left behind by the men who had gone to +the front. + +The first war charity to come under my observation was the American +Red Cross. Two units containing three doctors and about twelve +nurses, each, were sent to Germany by the American National Red +Cross. Before their arrival I took up with the German authorities +the questions as to whether these would be accepted and where +they would be placed. The German authorities accepted the units +and at first decided to send one to each front. The young man +assigned to the West front was Goldschmidt Rothschild, one of the +last descendants of the great Frankfort family of Rothschild. He +had been attached to the German Embassy in London before the war. +The one assigned to the unit for the East front was Count Hélie +de Talleyrand. Both of these young men spoke English perfectly +and were chosen for that reason, and both have many friends in +England and America. + +Talleyrand was of a branch of the celebrated Talleyrand family and +possessed German citizenship. During the Napoleonic era the great +Talleyrand married one of his nephews to a Princess of Courland +who, with her sister, was joint heiress of the principality of +Sagan in Germany. The share of the other sister was bought by +the sister who married young Talleyrand, and the descendants of +that union became princes of Sagan and held the Italian title +of Duke de Dino and the French title of Duke de Valençay. + +Some of the descendants of this nephew of the great Talleyrand +remained in Germany, and this young Talleyrand, assigned to the +Red Cross unit, belonged to that branch. Others settled in France, +and among these was the last holder of the title and the Duke +de Dino, who married, successively, two Americans, Miss Curtis +and Mrs. Sampson. It was a custom in this family that the holder +of the principal title, that of the Prince of Sagan, allowed +the next two members in succession to bear the titles of Duke +de Dino and Duke de Valençay. Before the last Prince of Sagan +died in France, his son Hélie married the American, Anna Gould, +who had divorced the Count Castellane. On the death of his father +and in accordance with the statutes of the House of Sagan the +members of the family who were German citizens held a family +council and, with the approval of the Emperor of Germany, passed +over the succession from Anna Gould's husband to her son, so +that her son has now the right to the title and not his father, +but the son must become a German citizen at his majority. + +The younger brother of the husband of Anna Gould bears the title +of Duke de Valençay and is the divorced husband of the daughter +of Levi P. Morton, formerly Vice-President of the United States. +This young Talleyrand to whom I have referred and who was assigned +to the American Red Cross unit, although he was a German by +nationality, did not wish to fight in this war against France in +which country he had so many friends and relations and, therefore, +this assignment to the American Red Cross was most welcome to +him. + +On the arrival of the American doctors and nurses in Berlin, +it was decided to send both units to the East front and to put +one in the small Silesian town of Gleiwitz and the other in +the neighbouring town of Kosel. Count Talleyrand went with these +two units, Goldschmidt Rothschild being attached to the Prussian +Legation in Munich. + +We had a reception in the Embassy for these doctors and nurses +which was attended by Prince Hatzfeld, Duke of Trachenberg, who +was head of the German Red Cross, and other Germans interested +in this line of work. The Gleiwitz and Kosel units remained in +these towns for about a year until the American Red Cross withdrew +its units from Europe. + +At about the time of the withdrawal of these units, I had heard +much of the sufferings of German prisoners in Russia. I had many +conversations with Zimmermann of the German Foreign Office and +Prince Hatzfeld on this question, as well as with Prince Max +of Baden, the heir presumptive to the throne of that country; +and I finally arranged that such of these American doctors and +nurses as volunteered should be sent to Russia to do what they +could for the German prisoners of war there. Nine doctors and +thirty-eight nurses volunteered. They were given a great reception +in Berlin, the German authorities placed a large credit in the +hands of this mission, and, after I had obtained through our +State Department the consent of the Russian Government for the +admission of the mission, it started from Berlin for Petrograd. +The German authorities and the Germans, as a whole, were very +much pleased with this arrangement. Officers of the Prussian army +were present at the departure of the trains and gave flowers to +all the nurses. It is very unfortunate that after their arrival +in Russia this mission was hampered in every way, and had the +greatest difficulty in obtaining permission to do any work at +all. Many of them, however, managed to get in positions where +they assisted the German prisoners. For instance, in one town +where there were about five thousand Germans who had been sent +there to live one of our doctors managed to get appointed as +city physician and, aided by several of the American nurses, +was able to do a great work for the German population. Others of +our nurses managed to get as far as Tomsk in Siberia and others +were scattered through the Russian Empire. + +Had this mission under Dr. Snoddy been able to carry out its +work as originally planned, it would not only have done much +good to the German prisoners of war, but would have helped a +great deal to do away with the bitter feeling entertained by +Germans towards Americans. Even with the limited opportunity given +this mission, it undoubtedly materially helped the prisoners. + +On arriving in Berlin on their way home to America from Gleiwitz +and Kosel, the doctors and nurses of these American units were +all awarded the German Red Cross Order of the second class and +those who had been in Austria were similarly decorated by the +Austro-Hungarian Government. + +Among those who devoted themselves to works of charity during +this war no one stands higher than Herbert C. Hoover. + +I cannot find words to express my admiration for this man whose +great talents for organisation were placed at the service of +humanity. Every one knows of what he accomplished in feeding the +inhabitants of Belgium and Northern France. Mr. Hoover asked me +to become one of the chairmen of the International Commission for +the Relief of Belgium and I was happy to have the opportunity in +Berlin to second his efforts. There was considerable business in +connection with the work of the commission. I had many interviews +with those in authority with reference to getting their ships +through, etc. Mr. Hoover and I called on the Chancellor and +endeavoured to get him to remit the fine of forty million francs +a month which the Germans had imposed upon Belgium. This, however, +the Chancellor refused to do. Later on in April, 1915, I was +able as an eye-witness to see how efficiently Mr. Hoover's +organisation fed, in addition to the people of Belgium, the French +population in that part of Northern France in the occupation of +the Germans. + +Mr. Hoover surrounded himself with an able staff, Mr. Vernon +Kellogg and others, and in America men like Mr. A. J. Hemphill +were his devoted supporters. + +Early in 1915, Mr. Ernest P. Bicknell, who had first come to +Germany representing the American Red Cross, returned representing +not only that organisation but also the Rockefeller Foundation. With +him was Mr. Wickliffe Rose, also of the Rockefeller Foundation; +and with these two gentlemen I took up the question of the relief +of Poland. Mr. Rose and Mr. Bicknell together visited Poland and +saw with their own eyes the necessity for relief. A meeting was +held in the Reichstag attended by Prince Hatzfeld of the German +Red Cross, Director Guttmann, of the Dresdener Bank, Geheimrat +Lewald, of the Imperial Ministry of the Interior, representing the +German Government, and many others connected with the government, +military and financial interests of Germany. + +The Commission for the Relief in Poland, of which I was to be +chairman, was organised and included the Spanish Ambassador, +His Excellency the Bishop of Posen, the Prince Bishop of Cracow, +Jacob H. Schiff of New York, and others. Messrs. Warwick, Greene +and Wadsworth were to take up the actual executive work. + +In conjunction with Messrs. Rose and Bicknell, I drew up a sort +of treaty, having particularly in mind certain difficulties +encountered by the American Relief Commission in Belgium. The +main point in this treaty was that the German Government agreed +not to requisition either food or money within the limits of the +territory to be relieved, which territory comprised that part +of Poland within German occupation up to within, as I recall it, +fifty kilometres of the firing line. The one exception was that +a fine might be levied on a community where all the inhabitants +had made themselves jointly and severally liable according to the +provisions of the Hague Convention. The Rockefeller Foundation +on its part agreed to pay all the expenses of the executive work +of the commission. This treaty, after being submitted to General +Hindenburg and approved by him, was signed by Dr. Lewald, +representing the German Government, by Mr. Bicknell, representing +the Rockefeller Foundation, and by me, representing the new +commission for the relief of Poland. + +Work was immediately commenced under this arrangement and, so +far as possible, food was purchased in Holland and Denmark, but +there was little to be had in these countries. The Allies, however, +refused to allow food to enter Germany for the purpose of this +commission, and so the matter fell through. Later, when the Allies +were willing to permit the food to enter, it was the German +Government that refused to reaffirm this treaty and refused to +agree that the German army of occupation should not requisition +food in occupied Poland. Of course, under these circumstances, no +one could expect the Allies to consent to the entry of food; because +the obvious result would be that the Germans would immediately, +following the precedent established by them in Northern France, +take all the food produced in the country for their army and +the civil population of Germany, and allow the Poles to be fed +with food sent in from outside, while perhaps their labour was +utilised in the very fields the products of which were destined +for German consumption. + +There is no question that the sufferings of the people of Poland +have been very great, and when the history of Poland during the +war comes to be written the world will stand aghast at the story +of her sufferings. It is a great pity that these various schemes +for relief did not succeed. The Rockefeller Commission, however, +up to the time I left Germany did continue to carryon some measure +of relief and succeeded in getting in condensed milk, to some +extent, for the children of that unfortunate country. These +negotiations brought me in contact with a number of Poles resident +in Berlin, whom I found most eager to do what they could to relieve +the situation. I wish here to express my admiration for the work +of the Rockefeller Commission in Europe. Not only were the ideas +of the Commission excellent and businesslike but the men selected +to carry them into effect were without exception men of high +character and possessed of rare executive ability. + +As I have said in a previous chapter, I was ridiculed in the +American newspapers because I had suggested, in answer to a cable +of the League of Mercy, that some work should be done for the +prisoners of war. I do not know whether the great work undertaken +by Dr. John R. Mott and his associates was suggested by my answer or +not; that does not matter. But this work undertaken by the American +Y. M. C. A. certainly mattered a great deal to the prisoners of +war in Europe. Dr. Mott after serving on the Mexican Commission, +has gone to Russia as a member of the Commission to that country. + +The Y. M. C. A. organisation headed by Dr. Mott, who was most +ably assisted by the Reverend Archibald C. Harte, took up this +work, which was financed, I have been told, by the McCormick +family of Chicago, Cleveland H. Dodge, John D. Rockefeller and +others. Mr. Harte obtained permission from the German authorities +for the erection of meeting halls and for work in German camps. +When he had obtained this authorisation from Germany he went +to Russia, where he was able to get a similar authorisation. + +At first in Russia, I have heard, the prisoners of war were allowed +great liberty and lived unguarded in Siberian villages where they +obtained milk, bread, butter, eggs and honey at very reasonable +rates. As the war went on they were more and more confined to +barracks and there their situation was sad indeed. In the winter +season, it is dark at three in the afternoon and remains dark +until ten the following morning. Of course, I did not see the +Russian prison camps. The work carried on there was similar to +that carried on in the German camps by Mr. Harte and his band +of devoted assistants. + +I was particularly interested in this work because I hoped that +the aid given to the German prisoners of war in Russia would help +to do away with the great hate and prejudice against Americans in +Germany. So I did all I could, not only to forward Mr. Harte's +work, but to suggest and organise the sending of the expedition +of nurses and doctors, which I have already described, to the +Russian camps. + +Of course, Mr. Harte in this work did not attempt to cover all +the prison camps in Germany. He did much to help the mental and +physical conditions of the prisoners in Ruhleben, the English +civilian camp near Berlin. The American Y. M. C. A. built a great +hall where religious exercises were held, plays and lectures +given, and where prisoners had a good place to read and write +in during the day. A library was established in this building. + +The work carried on by the Y. M. C. A. may be briefly described +as coming under the following heads: religious activities; +educational activities; work shops, and gardens; physical exercises +and out-door sports; diet kitchens for convalescents; libraries +and music, including orchestra, choruses, and so on. + +When I left Germany on the breaking of diplomatic relations, a +number of these Y. M. C. A. workers left with me. + +The German women exhibited notable qualities in war. They engaged +in the Red Cross work, including the preparation of supplies and +bandages for the hospitals, and the first day of mobilisation saw +a number of young girls at every railway station in the country +with food and drink for the passing soldiers. At railway junctions +and terminals in the large cities, stations were established +where these Red Cross workers gave a warm meal to the soldiers +passing through. In these terminal stations there were also women +workers possessed of sufficient skill to change the dressings +of the lightly wounded. + +On the Bellevuestrasse, Frau von Ihne, wife of the great architect, +founded a home for blinded soldiers. In this home soldiers were +taught to make brooms, brushes, baskets, etc. + +German women who had country places turned these into homes for +the convalescent wounded. But perhaps the most noteworthy was +the National Frauendienst or Service for Women, organised the +first day of the war. The relief given by the State to the wives +and children of soldiers was distributed from stations in Berlin, +and in the neighbourhood of each of these stations the Frauendienst +established an office where women were always in attendance, +ready to give help and advice to the soldiers' wives. There there +were card-indexes of all the people within the district and of +their needs. At the time I left Germany I believe that there +were upwards of seven thousand women engaged in Berlin in social +service, in instructing the women in the new art of cooking without +milk, eggs or fat and seeing to it that the children had their +fair share of milk. It is due to the efforts of these social +workers that the rate of infant mortality in Berlin decreased +during the war. + +A war always causes a great unsettling in business and trade; +people no longer buy as many articles of luxury and the workers +engaged in the production of these articles are thrown out of +employment. In Germany, the National Women's Service, acting +with the labour exchanges, did its best to find new positions +for those thrown out of work. Women were helped over a period +of poverty until they could find new places and were instructed +in new trades. + +Many women engaged in the work of sending packages containing +food and comforts to the soldiers at the front and to the German +prisoners of war in other countries. + +Through the efforts of the American Association of Commerce and +Trade, and the Embassy, a free restaurant was established in +Berlin in one of the poorer districts. About two hundred people +were fed here daily in a hall decorated with flags and plants. +This was continued even after we left Germany. + +At Christmas, 1916, Mrs. Gerard and I visited this kitchen with +Mr. and Mrs. Wolf and General von Kessel, Commander of the Mark of +Brandenburg, and one of his daughters. Presents were distributed +to the children and the mothers received an order for goods in +one of the department stores. The German Christmas songs were +sung and when a little German child offered a prayer for peace, +I do not think there was any one present who could refrain from +weeping. + +Many of the German women of title, princesses, etc., established +base hospitals of their own and seemed to manage these hospitals +with success. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +HATE + +On my way from Berlin to America, in February, 1917, at a dinner +in Paris, I met the celebrated Italian historian, Ferrero. In a +conversation with him after dinner, I reminded him of the fact +that both he and a Frenchman, named Huret, who had written on +America, had stated in their books that the thing which struck +them most in the study of the American people was the absence +of hate. + +Ferrero recalled this and in the discussion which followed and +in which the French novelist, Marcel Prevost, took part, all +agreed that there was more hate in Europe than in America; first, +because the peoples of Europe were confined in small space and, +secondly, because the European, whatever his rank or station, +lacked the opportunities for advancement and consequently the +eagerness to press on ahead, and that fixing of the thought on +the future, instead of the past, which formed part of the American +character. + +In a few hours in Europe it is possible to travel in an automobile +across countries where the people differ violently from the countries +surrounding them, not only in language, customs and costumes, +but also in methods of thought and physical appearance. + +The day I left Berlin I went to see Herr von Gwinner, head of +the Deutsche Bank, with reference to a charitable fund which +had been collected for widows and orphans in Germany. In our +talk, von Gwinner said that Europeans envied America because we +seemed to be able to assimilate all those people who, as soon +as they landed on our shores, sought to forget their old race +hatreds and endeavoured, as speedily as possible, to adopt American +clothes, language and thought. I told him I thought it was because +in our country we did not try to force anyone; that there was +nothing to prevent a Pole speaking Polish and wearing Polish +dress, if he chose; that the only weapon we used against those +who desired to uphold the customs of Europe was that of ridicule; +and that it was the repressive measures such as, for example, +the repressive action taken by Prussia against the Poles and +the Danes, the Alsatians and the Lorrainers, that had aroused +a combative instinct in these peoples and made them cling to +every vestige of their former nationality. + +At first, with the coming of war, the concentrated hate of the +German people seemed to be turned upon the Russians. Even Liebknecht, +when he called upon me in order to show that he had not been +shot, as reported in America, spoke of the perils of Czarismus +and the hatred of the German people for the Russians. But later, +and directed by the master hand of the governing class, all the +hatred of the Germans was concentrated upon England. + +The cartoon in _Punch_ representing a Prussian family having +its morning "Hate" was, in some aspects, not at all exaggerated. +Hate in Germany is cultivated as a noble passion, and, during the +war, divines and generals vied with each other in its praise. +Early in 1917, the Prussian General in command at Limburg made a +speech in which he extolled the advantages of hate and said that +there was nothing like getting up in the morning after having +passed a night in thought and dreams of hate. + +[Illustration: THIS PAGE FROM THE SCURRILOUS PUBLICATION OF MARTEN +AND HIS COLLEAGUES SHOWS THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE WREATH AND THE +CRAPE-DRAPED AMERICAN FLAG.] + +The phrase "Gott strafe England" seemed to be all over Germany. +It was printed on stamps to be affixed to the back of letters +like our Red Cross stamps. I even found my German body servant +in the Embassy affixing these stamps to the back of all letters, +official and otherwise, that were sent out. He was stopped when +discovered. Paper money was stamped with the words: "Gott strafe +England," "und America" being often added as the war progressed +and America refused to change the rules of the game and stop +the shipment of supplies to the Allies. + +Everyone is familiar with Lissauer's "Hymn of Hate." It is not +extraordinary that one man in a country at war should produce a +composition of this kind; but it is extraordinary as showing the +state of mind of the whole country, that the Emperor should have +given him the high order of the Red Eagle of the Second Class as +a reward for having composed this extraordinary document. + +Undoubtedly at first the British prisoners of war were treated +very roughly and were starved and beaten by their guards on the +way from the front to the concentration camps. Officers, objects +usually considered more than sacred in Germany, even when wounded +were subjected to brutal treatment and in the majority of their +prisons were treated more like convicts than officers and gentlemen. + +As the Germans gradually awoke to the fact that President Wilson +was not afraid of the German vote and that the export of supplies +from America would not be stopped, this stream of hate was turned +on America. There was a belief in Germany that President Wilson +was opposed by a majority of people of the United States, that +he did not represent the real sentiment of America, and that the +sentiment there was favourable to Germany. + +Unfortunately many Americans in Germany encouraged the German +people and the German Government in this belief. Americans used +to travel about, giving lectures and making speeches attacking +their own country and their own President, and the newspapers +published many letters of similar import from Americans resident +in Germany. + +One of the most active of these was a man named Maurice Somborn, +a German American, who represented in Germany an American business +house. He made it a practice to go about in Berlin and other +cities and stand up in cafes and beer halls in order to make +addresses attacking the President and the United States. So bold +did he become that he even, in the presence of a number of people +in my room, one day said that he would like to hang Secretary +Bryan as high as Haman and President Wilson one foot higher. +The American newspapers stated that I called a servant and had +him thrown out of the Embassy. This statement is not entirely +true: I selfishly kept that pleasure for myself. + +The case of Somborn gave me an idea and I cabled to the Department +of State asking authority to take up the passports of all Americans +who abused their own country on the ground that they had violated +the right, by their abuse, to the protection of a passport. The +Department of State sustained my view and, by my direction, the +consul in Dresden took up the passports of a singer named Rains +and a gentleman of leisure named Recknagel who had united in +addressing a letter to the Dresden newspapers abusing the President. +It was sometime before I got Somborn's passport and I later on +received from him the apologies of a broken and contrite man +and obtained permission from Washington to issue him a passport +in order to enable him to return to America. + +Of course, these vilifiers of their own country were loud in their +denunciations of me, but the prospect of losing the protection of +their passports kept many of these men from open and treasonable +denunciation of their own country. + +The Government actually encouraged the formation of societies which +had for their very object the scattering of literature attacking +the President and the United States. The most conspicuous of these +organisations was the so-called League of Truth. Permanently +connected with it was an American dentist who had been in jail +in America and who had been expelled from Dresden by the police +authorities there. The secretary was a German woman who posed as +an American, and had been on the stage as a snake dancer. The +principal organiser was a German named Marten who had won the +favour of the German authorities by writing a book on Belgium +denying that any atrocities had taken place there. Marten secured +subscriptions from many Germans and Americans resident in Germany, +opened headquarters in rooms on the Potsdamerstrasse and engaged +in the business of sending out pamphlets and leaflets attacking +America. One of his principal supporters was a man named Stoddard +who had made a fortune by giving travel lectures in America and +who had retired to his handsome villa, in Meran, in Austria. +Stoddard issued a pamphlet entitled, "What shall we do with Wilson?" +and some atrocious attempts at verse, all of which were sent +broadcast by the League of Truth. + +This was done with the express permission of the German authorities +because during the war no societies or associations of any kind +could meet, be formed or act without the express permission and +superintendence of both the military and police authorities. +Anyone who has lived in Germany knows that it would be impossible +even in peace times to hang a sign or a wreath on a public statue +without the permission of the local authorities; and yet on the +Emperor's birthday, January twenty-seventh, 1916, this League +of Truth was permitted to place an enormous wreath, over four +feet high, on the statue of Frederick the Great, with an American +flag draped in mourning attached, and a silk banner on which was +printed in large letters of gold, "Wilson and his press are not +America." The League of Truth then had a photograph taken of this +wreath which was sent all over Germany, again, of course, with +the permission of the authorities. The wreath and attachments, +in spite of frequent protests on my part to Zimmermann and von +Jagow, remained in this conspicuous position until the sixth of +May, 1916. After the receipt of the _Sussex_ Note, I again +called von Jagow's attention to the presence of this wreath, +and I told him that if this continuing insult to our flag and +President was not taken away that I would go the next day with +a cinematograph operator and take it away myself. The next day +the wreath had disappeared. + +This League, in circulars, occasionally attacked me, and in a +circular which they distributed shortly after my return to Germany +at the end of December, 1916, it was stated, "What do you think +of the American Ambassador? When he came to Germany after his +trip to America he brought a French woman with him." And the +worst of this statement was that it was true. But the League, +of course, did not state that my wife came with me bringing her +French maid by the express permission of the German Foreign Office. + +I have had occasion many times to wonder at the curious twists +of the German mind, but I have never been able to understand on +what possible theory the German Government permitted and even +encouraged the existence of this League of Truth. Certainly the +actions of the League, headed by a snake dancer and a dentist, +would not terrorise the American Congress, President Wilson or me +into falling in with all the views of the German Government, and +if the German Government was desirous of either the President's +friendship or mine why was this gang of good-for-nothings allowed +to insult indiscriminately their country, their President and +their Ambassador? + +One of the friends of Marten, head of this League, was (------) +(---------), a man who at the time he was an officer of the National +Guard of the State of New York, accepted a large sum of money +"for expenses" from Bernstorff. Of course, in any country abroad +acceptance by an officer of money from a foreign Ambassador could +not be explained and could have only one result--a blank wall and +firing party for the receiver of foreign pay. Perhaps we have +grown so indulgent, so soft and so forgetful of the obligations +which officers owe to their flag and country that on (---------)'s +return from Germany he will be able to go on a triumphant lecture +tour through the United States. + +There was published in Berlin in English a rather ridiculous +paper called the _Continental_Times_, owned by an Austrian +Jewess who had been married to an Englishman. The Foreign Office, +after the outbreak of the war, practically took over this sheet by +buying monthly many thousand copies. News coloured hysterically +to favour the Central Empires was printed in this paper, which +was headed "A Paper for Americans," under the editorship of an +Englishman of decent family named Stanhope, who, of course, in +consequence did not have to inhabit the prison camp of Ruhleben. +(--------) was a contributor to this newspaper, and scurrilous +articles attacking President Wilson appeared. Finally (---------) +wrote a lying article for this paper in which he charged that +Conger of the Associated Press had learned of Sir Roger Casement's +proposed expedition; that Conger told me; that I cabled the news to +Washington to the State Department; and that a member of President +Wilson's Cabinet then gave the information to the British Ambassador. +Later in a wireless which the Foreign Office permitted (---------) +to send Senator O'Gorman of New York, (---------) varied his +lie and charged that I had sent the information direct to Great +Britain. + +_The_Continental_Times_ was distributed in the prison camps +and after (---------)'s article I said to von Jagow, "I have +had enough of this nonsense which is supported by the Foreign +Office and if articles of the nature of (---------)'s appear +again I shall make a public statement that the prisoners of war +in Germany are subjected to a cruel and unusual punishment by +having the lying _Continental_Times_ placed in their hands, +a paper which purports to be published for Americans but which +is supported by the Foreign Office, owned by an Austrian and +edited by a renegade Englishman!" + +This _Continental_Times_ business again caused one to wonder +at the German psychology which seems to think that the best way +to make friends is to attack them. The author of "The Gentle +Art of Making Enemies" must have attended a German school. + +An Ambassador is supposed to be protected but not even when I +filed affidavits in the Foreign Office, in 1916, made by the +ex-secretary of the "League of Truth" and by a man who was constantly +with Marten and the dentist, that Marten had threatened to shoot +me, did the Foreign Office dare or wish to do anything against +this ridiculous League. These affidavits were corroborated by +a respectable restaurant keeper in Berlin and his assistants +who testified that Marten with several ferocious looking German +officers had come to his restaurant "looking" for me. I never +took any precaution against these lunatics whom I knew to be +a bunch of cowardly swindlers. + +Marten and his friends were also engaged in a propaganda against +the Jews. + +The activities of Marten were caused by the fact that he made +money out of his propaganda; as numerous fool Germans and traitorous +Americans contributed to his war chest, and by the fact that +his work was so favourably received by the military that this +husky coward was excused from all military service. + +It seemed, too, as if the Government was anxious to cultivate +the hate against America. Long before American ammunition was +delivered in any quantity to England and long before any at all +was delivered to France, not only did the Government influence +newspapers and official gazettes, but the official _Communiqués_ +alleged that quantities of American ammunition were being used +on the West front. + +The Government seemed to think that if it could stir up enough +hate against America in Germany on this ammunition question the +Americans would become terrorised and stop the shipment. + +The Government allowed medals to be struck in honour of each +little general who conquered a town--"von Emmich, conqueror of +Liege," etc., a pernicious practice as each general and princeling +wanted to continue the war until he could get his face on a +medal--even if no one bought it. But the climax was reached when +medals celebrating the sinking of the _Lusitania_ were sold +throughout Germany. Even if the sinking of the _Lusitania_ +had been justified only one who has lived in Germany since the +war can understand the disgustingly bad taste which can gloat +over the death of women and babies. + +I can recall now but two writers in all Germany who dared to say +a good word for America. One of these, Regierungsrat Paul Krause, +son-in-law of Field Marshal Von der Goltz, wrote an article in +January, 1917, in the _Lokal_Anzeiger_ pointing out the +American side of the question of this munition shipment; and +that bold and fearless speaker and writer, Maximilian Harden, +dared to make a defence of the American standpoint. The principal +article in one of the issues of his paper, _Die_Zukunft_, +was headed "If I were Wilson." After some copies had been sold +the issue was confiscated by the police, whether at the instance +of the military or at the instance of the Chancellor, I do not +know. Everyone had the impression in Berlin that this confiscation +was by order of General von Kessel, the War Governor of the Mark +of Brandenburg. + +I met Harden before the war and occasionally conversed with him +thereafter. Once in a while he gave a lecture in the great hall +of the Philharmonic, always filling the hall to overflowing. +In his lectures, which, of course, were carefully passed on by +the police, he said nothing startling. His newspaper is a weekly +publication; a little book about seven inches by four and a half, +but wielding an influence not at all commensurate with its size. + +The liberal papers, like the largest paper of Berlin, the +_Tageblatt_, edited by Theodor Wolff, while not violently +against America, were not favourable. But the articles in the +Conservative papers and even some of the organs of the Catholic +Party invariably breathed hatred against everything American. + +In the Reichstag, America and President Wilson were often attacked +and never defended. On May thirtieth, 1916, in the course of a +debate on the censorship, Strasemann, of the National Liberal +Party and of the branch of that party with Conservative leanings, +violently opposed President Wilson and said that he was not wanted +as a peacemaker. + +Government, newspapers and politicians all united in opposing +America. + +I believe that to-day all the bitterness of the hate formerly +concentrated on Great Britain has now been concentrated on the +United States. The German-Americans are hated worse than the +native Americans. They have deeply disappointed the Germans: +first, because although German-Americans contributed enormously +towards German war charities the fact of this contribution was +not known to the recipients in Germany. Money sent to the German +Red Cross from America was acknowledged by the Red Cross; but no +publicity was given in Germany to the fact that any of the money +given was from German-Americans. Secondly, the German-Americans +did not go, as they might have done, to Germany, through neutral +countries, with American passports, and enter the German army; +and, thirdly, the most bitter disappointment of all, the +German-Americans have not yet risked their property and their +necks, their children's future and their own tranquillity, by +taking arms against the government of America in the interest +of the Hohenzollerns. + +For years, a clever propaganda had been carried on in America +to make all Germans there feel that they were Germans of one +united nation, to make those who had come from Hesse and Bavaria, +or Saxony and Württemberg, forget that as late as 1866 these +countries had been overrun and conquered by Prussian militarism. +When Prince Henry, the Kaiser's brother, visited America, he +spent most of his time with German-Americans and German-American +societies in order to assist this propaganda. + +Even in peace time, the German-American who returns to the village +in which he lived as a boy and who walks down the village street +exploiting himself and his property, does not help good relations +between the two countries. Envy is the mother of hate and the +envied and returned German-American receives only a lip welcome +in the village of his ancestors. + +Caricatures of Uncle Sam, and of President Wilson were published +in all German papers. A caricature representing our President +releasing the dove of peace with one hand while he poured out +munitions for the Allies with the other was the least unpleasant. + +As I have said, from the tenth of August, 1914, to the twenty-fifth +of September, 1915, the Emperor continually refused to receive +me on the ground that he would not receive the Ambassador of a +country which furnished munitions to the enemies of Germany; and +we were thoroughly black-listed by all the German royalties. I did +not see one, however humble, after the outbreak of the war, with +the exception of Prince Max of Baden, who had to do with prisoners +of war in Germany and in other countries. On one occasion I sent +one of my secretaries to the palace of Princess August Wilhelm, +wife of one of the Kaiser's sons, with a contribution of money +for her hospital, she having announced that she would personally +receive contributions on that day. She took the money from the +secretary and spoke bitterly against America on account of the +shipment of arms. + +Even some boxes of cigarettes we sent another royalty at the front +at Christmas time, 1914, were not acknowledged. + +Dr. Jacobs, who was the correspondent in Berlin of _Musical_America_, +and who remained there until about the twenty-sixth of April, 1917, +was called on about the sixteenth of April, 1917, to the Kommandantur +and subjected to a cross-examination. During this cross-examination +he was asked if he knew about the "League of Truth," and why he +did not join that organisation. Whether it was a result of his +non-joining or not, I do not know, but during the remainder of his +stay in Berlin he was compelled to report twice a day to the police +and was not allowed to leave his house after eight o'clock in the +evening. The question, however, put to him shows the direct interest +that the German authorities took in the existence of this malodorous +organisation. + +It appears in some of the circulars issued by the League of Truth +that I was accused of giving American passports to Englishmen +in order to enable them to leave the country. + +After I left Germany there was an interpellation in the Reichstag +about this, and Zimmermann was asked about the charge which he +said he had investigated and found untrue. + +In another chapter I have spoken of the subject of the selling +of arms and supplies by America to the Allies. No German ever +forgets this. The question of legality or treaties never enters +his mind: he only knows that American supplies and munitions +killed his brother, son or father. It is a hate we must meet for +long years. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS (_Continued_) + +A few days after the events narrated in Chapter XII, von Jagow +called to see me at the Embassy and invited me to visit the Emperor +at the Great General Headquarters; but he did not state why I +was asked, and I do not know to this day whether the Chancellor +and those surrounding the Emperor had determined on a temporary +settlement of the submarine question with the United States and +wished to put that settlement out, as it were, under the protection +of the Emperor, or whether the Emperor was undecided and those +in favour of peace wished me to present to him the American side +of the question. I incline to the latter view. Von Jagow informed +me that an officer from the Foreign Office would accompany me and +that I should be allowed to take a secretary and the huntsman +(_Leibjaeger_), without whom no Ambassador ever travels in +Germany. + +Mr. Grew, our counsellor, was very anxious to go and I felt on +account of his excellent work, as well as his seniority, that +he was entitled to be chosen. Lieutenant von Prittwitz, who was +attached to the Foreign Office as a sort of special aide to von +Jagow, was detailed to accompany us. We were given a special +salon car and left on the evening of Friday, April twenty-eighth. +As we neared the front by way of the line running through Saar +Brucken, our train was often halted because of long trains of +hospital cars on their way from the front to the base hospitals +in the rear; and as we entered France there were many evidences of +the obstinate fights which had raged in this part of the country +in August, 1914. Parts of the towns and villages which we passed +were in ruins, and rough trench lines were to be discerned on +some of the hillsides. At the stations, weeping French women +dressed in black were not uncommon sights, having just heard +perhaps of the death, months before, of a husband, sweetheart +or son who had been mobilised with the French army. + +The fortress city of Metz through which we passed seemed to be as +animated as a beehive. Trains were continuously passing. Artillery +was to be seen on the roads and automobiles were hurrying to and +fro. + +The Great General Headquarters of the Kaiser for the Western +Front is in the town of Charleville-Mézières, situated on the +Meuse in the Department of the Ardennes, which Department at that +time was the only French Department wholly in the possession of +the Germans. We were received at the railway station by several +officers and escorted in one of the Kaiser's automobiles, which had +been set apart for my use, to a villa in the town of Charleville, +owned by a French manufacturer named Perin. This pretty little red +brick villa had been christened by the Germans, "Sachsen Villa," +because it had been occupied by the King of Saxony when he had +visited the Kaiser. A French family servant and an old gardener +had been left in the villa, but for the few meals which we took +there two of the Emperor's body huntsmen had been assigned, and +they brought with them some of the Emperor's silver and china. + +The Emperor had been occupying a large villa in the town of +Charleville until a few days before our arrival. After the engineer +of his private train had been killed in the railway station by +a bomb dropped from a French aeroplane, and after another bomb +had dropped within a hundred yards of the villa occupied by the +Kaiser, he moved to a red brick château situated on a hill outside +of Charleville, known as either the Château Bellevue or Bellaire. + +Nearly every day during our stay, we lunched and dined with von +Bethmann-Hollweg in the villa of a French banker, which he occupied. +About ten people were present at these dinners, the Chancellor's +son-in-law, Zech, Prittwitz, two experts in international law, +both attached to the Foreign Office, and, at two dinners, von +Treutler, the Prussian Minister to Bavaria, who had been assigned +to represent the Foreign Office near the person of the Kaiser and +Helfferich who, towards the end of our stay, had been summoned +from Berlin. + +I had been working hard at German and as von Bethmann-Hollweg +does not like to talk English and as some of these persons did not +speak that language we tried to carry on the table conversation +in German, but I know that when I tried to explain, in German, +to Helfferich the various tax systems of America, I swam out +far beyond my linguistic depth. + +During our stay here I received cables from the Department of +State which were transmitted from Berlin in cipher, and which +Grew was able to decipher as he had brought a code book with +him. In one of these it was expressly intimated that in any +settlement of the submarine controversy America would make no +distinction between armed and unarmed merchant ships. + +We formed for a while quite a happy family. The French owners +of the villa seemed to have had a fondness for mechanical toys. +After dinner every night these toys were set going, much to the +amusement of von Bethmann-Hollweg. One of these toys, about two +feet high, was a Hoochi-Koochi dancer and another successful one +was a clown and a trained pig, both climbing a step ladder and +performing marvellous feats thereon. Grew, who is an excellent +musician, played the piano for the Chancellor and at his special +request played pieces by Bach, the favourite composer of von +Bethmann-Hollweg's deceased wife. One day we had tea in the garden +of the villa formerly occupied by the Emperor, with the Prince +of Pless (who is always with the Kaiser, and who seemed to be a +prime favourite with him), von Treutler and others, and motored +with Prince Pless to see some marvellous Himalayan pheasants +reared by an old Frenchman, an ex-jailer, who seemed to have a +strong instinct to keep something in captivity, + +The Kaiser's automobile, which he had placed at my disposal, +had two loaded rifles standing upright in racks at the right +and left sides of the car, ready for instant use. On one day we +motored, always, of course, in charge of the officers detailed +to take care of us, to the ancient walled city of Rocroy and +through the beautiful part of the Ardennes forest lying to the +east of it, returning to Charleville along the heights above +the valley of the Meuse. + +[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS PARTY IN SEDAN.] + +[Illustration: WITH GERMAN OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE FRENCH +FOOD COMMISSION BEFORE THE COTTAGE AT BAZEILLES, WHERE NAPOLEON +III AND BISMARCK MET AFTER THE BATTLE OF SEDAN.] + +The feeding of the French population, which is carried on by +the American Relief Commission, was a very interesting thing +to see and, in company with one of the members of the French +committee, we saw the workings of this system of American Relief. +We first visited a storehouse in Charleville, the headquarters +for the relief district of which Charleville may be called the +capital. + +For relief purposes Northern France is divided into six districts. +From the central distribution point in each district, food is +sent to the commune within the district, the commune being the +ultimate unit of distribution and each commune containing on +the average about five hundred souls. We then motored to one +of the communes where the distribution of food for the week was +to take place that afternoon. Here in a factory, closed since the +war, the people of the commune were lined up with their baskets +waiting for their share of the rations. On entering a large room +of the factory, each stopped first at a desk and there either paid +in cash for the week's allowance of rations or signed an agreement +to pay at some future date. The individuals who had no prospect +of being able to pay received the rations for nothing. About +one-third were in each class. The money used was not always French, +or real money, but was, as a rule, the paper money issued in +that part of Northern France by each town and redeemable after +the war. + +Signs were hung up showing the quantity that each person was +entitled to receive for the next fifteen days and the sale price +per kilo to each inhabitant. For instance, in this particular +period for the first fifteen days of the month of May, 1916, +each inhabitant could, in this district, receive the following +allowances at the following rates: + + ARTICLE AMOUNT PER HEAD PRICE + Flour 4 K. 500 The Kilogram 0 fr. 48 + Rice K. 500 0 fr. 55 + Beans K. 500 0 fr. 90 + Bacon K. 500 2 fr. 80 + Lard K. 250 2 fr. 30 + Green Coffee K. 250 1 fr. 70 + Crystallized Sugar K. 150 0 fr. 90 + Salt K. 200 0 fr. 10 + Soap (hard) K. 250 1 fr. 00 + +In addition to these articles each inhabitant of the commune +which we visited, also received on the day of our visit a small +quantity of carrot seed to plant in the small plot of ground +which each was permitted to retain out of his own land by the +German authorities. + +The unfortunate people who received this allowance looked very +poor and very hungry and very miserable. Many of them spoke to +me, not only here but also in Charleville, and expressed their +great gratitude to the American people for what was being done +for them. Those in Charleville said that they had heard that I +was in their town because of trouble pending between America +and Germany. They said they hoped that there would be no war +between the two countries because if war came they did not know +what would become of them and that, in the confusion of war, +they would surely be left to starve. + +In Charleville notices were posted directing the inhabitants +not to go out on the streets after, I think, eight o'clock in +the evening, and also notices informing the population that they +would be allowed a small quantity of their own land for the purpose +of growing potatoes. + +After visiting the factory building where the distribution of +rations was taking place, we motored to Sedan, stopping on the +way at the hamlet of Bazeilles, and visiting the cottage where +Bismarck and Emperor Napoleon the Third had their historic interview +after the battle of Sedan. + +The old lady who owns this house received us and showed us bullet +marks made on her house in the war of 1870, as well as in the +present war. She apologised because she had had the window-pane, +broken by a rifle shot in this war, replaced on account of the +cold. As a girl, she had received Bismarck and Napoleon and had +shown them to the room upstairs where they had held their +consultation. I asked her which chair in this room Bismarck had +sat in, and sat in it myself, for luck. I also contributed to the +collection of gold pieces given to her by those who had visited +her cottage. + +In Sedan we visited an old mill where stores of the relief commission +were kept, and in the mayor's office were present at a sort of +consultation between the Prussian officers and members of the +French Committee of Sedan in which certain details relative to +the feeding of the population were discussed. + +The relief work is not, of course, carried on right up to the +battle line but we visited a small village not many kilometres in +the rear of the German line. In this village we were, as before, +shown the stores kept for distribution by the relief commission. +As there were many soldiers in this village I said I thought that +these soldiers must have stores of their own but, in order to +be sure that they were not living on the supplies of the relief +commission, I thought it only fair that I should see where the +soldiers' stores were kept. I was taken across the railroad track +to where their stores were kept and, judging from the labels on +the barrels and boxes, I should say that a great many of these +stores had come from Holland. + +During this trip about the country, I saw a number of women and +girls working, or attempting to work, in the fields. Their appearance +was so different from that of the usual peasant that I spoke to +the accompanying officers about it. I was told, however, that +these were the peasants of the locality who dressed unusually +well in that part of France. Later on in Charleville, at the +lodging of an officer and with Count Wengersky, who was detailed +to act as sort of interpreter and guide to the American Relief +Commission workers, I met the members of the American Relief +Commission who were working in Northern France and who had been +brought on a special train for the purpose of seeing me to +Charleville. This Count Wengersky spoke English well. Having +been for a number of years agent of the Hamburg American Line in +London, he was used to dealing with Americans and was possessed +of more tact than usually falls to the lot of the average Prussian +officer. We had tea and cakes in these lodgings, and then some +of the Americans drew me aside and told me the secret of the +peculiar looking peasants whom I had seen at work in the fields +surrounding Charleville. + +It seems that the Germans had endeavoured to get volunteers from +the great industrial town of Lille, Roubeix and Tourcoing to +work these fields; that after the posting of the notices calling +for volunteers only fourteen had appeared. The Germans then gave +orders to seize a certain number of inhabitants and send them +out to farms in the outlying districts to engage in agricultural +work. The Americans told me that this order was carried out with +the greatest barbarity; that a man would come home at night and +find that his wife or children had disappeared and no one could +tell him where they had gone except that the neighbours would +relate that the German non-commissioned officers and a file of +soldiers had carried them off. For instance, in a house of a +well-to-do merchant who had perhaps two daughters of fifteen and +seventeen, and a man servant, the two daughters and the servant +would be seized and sent off together to work for the Germans +in some little farm house whose location was not disclosed to +the parents. The Americans told me that this sort of thing was +causing such indignation among the population of these towns +that they feared a great uprising and a consequent slaughter and +burning by the Germans. + +That night at dinner I spoke to von Bethmann-Hollweg about this +and told him that it seemed to me absolutely outrageous; and that, +without consulting with my government, I was prepared to protest +in the name of humanity against a continuance of this treatment +of the civil population of occupied France. The Chancellor told +me that he had not known of it, that it was the result of orders +given by the military, that he would speak to the Emperor about +it and that he hoped to be able to stop further deportations. +I believe that they were stopped, but twenty thousand or more who +had been taken from their homes were not returned until months +afterwards. I said in a speech which I made in May on my return to +America that it required the joint efforts of the Pope, the King +of Spain and our President to cause the return of these people to +their homes; and I then saw that some German press agency had +come out with an article that I had made false statements about +this matter because these people were not returned to their homes +as a result of the representations of the Pope, the King of Spain +and our President, but were sent back because the Germans had +no further use for them. It seems to me that this denial makes +the case rather worse than before. + +At the Chancellor's house in the evenings we had discussions +on the submarine situation and I had several long talks with +von Bethmann-Hollweg alone in a corner of the room while the +others listened to music or set the mechanical toys in motion. +These discussions, without doubt, were reported to the Emperor +either by the Chancellor or by von Treutler who at that time +was high in favor with his Majesty. + +I remember on one evening I was asked the question as to what +America could do, supposing the almost impossible, that America +should resent the recommencement of ruthless submarine warfare +by the Germans and declare war. I said that nearly all of the +great inventions used in this war had been made by Americans; +that the very submarine which formed the basis of our discussion +was an American invention, and so were the barbed wire and the +aeroplane, the ironclad, the telephone and the telegraph, so +necessary to trench warfare; that even that method of warfare +had been first developed on something of the present scale in our +Civil War; and that I believed that, if forced to it, American +genius could produce some invention which might have a decisive +effect in this war. My German auditors seemed inclined to believe +that there was something in my contentions. But they said, "While +possibly you might invent something in America, while possibly +you will furnish money and supplies to the Allies, you have no +men; and the public sentiment of your country is such that you +will not be able to raise an army large enough to make any +impression." I said that possibly if hostilities once broke out +with the Germans, the Germans might force us by the commission +of such acts as had aroused England, to pass a law for universal +military service. This proposition of mine was branded by the +Germans as absolutely impossible; and, therefore, I am sure that +the adoption by the United States of universal service in the +first round of the war struck a very severe blow at the morale +of Germany. + +The Chancellor always desired to make any settlement of the submarine +question contingent upon our doing something against England; +but I again and again insisted that we could not agree to do +anything against some other power as a condition of obtaining +a recognition of our rights from the German Empire. + +During my stay at the General Headquarters, General Falkenhayn, +although he was there at the time, carefully avoided me, which +I took to be a sign that he was in favour of war with America. +In fact, I heard afterwards that he had insisted on giving his +views on the subject, but that a very high authority had told +him to confine himself to military operations. + +After we had been a day or so at Charleville, the Vice-Chancellor, +Helfferich, arrived. I have always believed that he was sent for +to add his weight to the arguments in favour of peace and to +point out that it was necessary for Germany to hate the friendship +of America after the war, so as to have markets where she could +place her goods. And I am convinced that at this time, at any rate, +the influence of Helfferich was cast in the scale in favour of +peace. + +Finally, I was told that on the next day, which was Monday, May +first, I was to lunch with the Emperor. Grew was invited to accompany +me, and the Chancellor said that he would call for me about an +hour before the time set for lunch as the Emperor desired to +have a talk with me before lunch. In the afternoon an extract +from the log of a German submarine commander was sent to me in +which the submarine commander had stated that he had sighted a +vessel which he could easily have torpedoed, but as the vessel +was one hundred and twenty miles from land, he had not done so +because the crew might not be able from that distance to reach a +harbour. When the Chancellor called for me the following morning, +he asked me if I had read this extract from the submarine officer's +log, and noted how he had refrained from torpedoing a boat one +hundred and twenty miles from land. I told the Chancellor that I +had read the extract, but that I had also read in the newspaper +that very morning that a ship had been torpedoed in stormy weather +at exactly the same distance from land and the crew compelled +to seek safety in the ship's boats; that, anyway, "one swallow +did not make a summer," and that reports were continually being +received of boats being torpedoed at great distances from land. + +We then got in the motor and motored to the château about a mile +off, where the Kaiser resided. We got out of the motor before +going into the courtyard of the château, and immediately I was +taken by the Chancellor into a garden on the gently sloping hillside +below the château. Here the Emperor, dressed in uniform, was +walking. + +As I drew near the Emperor, he said immediately, "Do you come +like the great pro-consul bearing peace or war in either hand?" +By this he referred, of course, to the episode in which Quintus +Fabius Maximus, chief of the Roman envoys sent to Hannibal in +the Second Punic War, doubled his toga in his hand, held it up +and said: "In this fold I carry peace and war: choose which you +will have." "Give us which you prefer," was the reply. "Then +take war," answered the Roman, letting the toga fall. "We accept +the gift," cried the Carthaginian Senator, "and welcome." + +I said, "No, your Majesty, only hoping that the differences between +two friendly nations may be adjusted." The Emperor then spoke of +what he termed the uncourteous tone of our notes, saying that +we charged the Germans with barbarism in warfare and that, as +Emperor and head of the Church, he had wished to carry on the +war in a knightly manner. He referred to his own speech to the +members of the Reichstag at the commencement of the war and said +that the nations opposed to Germany had used unfair methods and +means, that the French especially were not like the French of +'70, but that their officers, instead of being nobles, came from +no one knew where. He then referred to the efforts to starve out +Germany and keep out milk and said that before he would allow +his family and grand-children to starve he would blow up Windsor +Castle and the whole Royal family of England. We then had a long +discussion in detail of the whole submarine question, in the +course of which the Emperor said that the submarine had come +to stay, that it was a weapon recognised by all countries, and +that he had seen a picture of a proposed giant submarine in an +American paper, the _Scientific_American_. He stated that, +anyway, there was no longer any international law. To this last +statement the Chancellor agreed. He further said that a person +on an enemy merchant ship was like a man travelling on a cart +behind the battle lines--he had no just cause of complaint if +injured. He asked me why we had done nothing to England because +of her alleged violations of international law,--why we had not +broken the British blockade. + +In addition to the technical arguments based on international +law, I answered that no note of the United States had made any +general charge of barbarism against Germany; that we complained +of the manner of the use of submarines and nothing more; that we +could never promise to do anything to England or to any other +country in return for a promise from Germany or any third country +to keep the rules of international law and respect the rights and +lives of our citizens; that we were only demanding our rights +under the recognised rules of international law and it was for +us to decide which rights we would enforce first; that, as I +had already told the Chancellor, if two men entered my grounds +and one stepped on my flower beds and the other killed my sister, +I should probably first pursue the murderer of my sister; that +those travelling on the seas in enemy merchant ships were in a +different position from those travelling in a cart behind the +enemy's battle lines on land because the land travellers were +on enemy's territory, while those on the sea were on territory +which, beyond the three-mile limit, was free and in no sense +enemy's territory. We also discussed the position taken by the +German Government in one of the _Frye_ Notes, in which the +German expert had taken the position that a cargo of food destined +for an armed enemy port was presumed to be for the armies of +the enemy, and therefore contraband. The Emperor spoke of the +case of the _Dacia_ with some bitterness, but when I went +into an explanation the Chancellor joined in the conversation +and said that our position was undoubtedly correct. I said that +it was not our business to break the blockade--that there were +plenty of German agents in the United States who could send food +ships and test the question; that one ship I knew of, the +_Wilhelmina_, laden with food, had been seized by the British, +who then compromised with the owners, paying them, I believed, a +large sum for the disputed cargo. And in taking up the doctrine +of ultimate destination of goods, i.e., goods sent to a neutral +country but really destined for a belligerent, I said I thought +that during our Civil War we had taken against England exactly +the same stand which England now took; and I said I thought that +one of the decisions of our Supreme Court was based on a shipment +to Matamoras, Mexico, but which the Supreme Court had decided +was really for the Confederacy. + +Discussing the submarine question, the Emperor and Chancellor +spoke of the warning given in the _Lusitania_ case; and +I said: "If the Chancellor warns me not to go out on the +Wilhelmplatz, where I have a perfect right to go, the fact that +he gave the warning does not justify him in killing me if I +disregarded his warning and go where I have a right to go." The +conversation then became more general and we finally left the +garden and went into the château, where the Emperor's aides and +guests were impatiently waiting for lunch. + +This conversation lasted far beyond lunch time. Anxious heads +were seen appearing from the windows and terraces of the château +to which we finally adjourned. I sat between the Emperor and +Prince Pless. Conversation was general for the most of the time, +and subjects such as the suffragettes and the peace expedition +of Henry Ford were amusingly discussed. + +After lunch, I again had a long talk with the Emperor but of a +more general nature than the conversation in the garden. + +That night about eleven o'clock, after again dining with the +Chancellor, we left Charleville in the same special salon car, +arriving at Berlin about four P. M. the next day, where at the +station were a crowd of German and American newspaper correspondents, +all anxious to know what had happened. + +At this last dinner at the Chancellor's he took me off in a corner +and said, "As I understand it, what America wants is cruiser +warfare on the part of the submarines." And I said, "Yes, that +is it exactly. They may exercise the right of visit and search, +must not torpedo or sink vessels without warning, and must not +sink any vessel unless the passengers and crew are put in a place +of safety." + +On the morning of the third of May, I heard that the German note +had been drafted, but that it would contain a clause to the +effect that while the German submarines would not go beyond cruiser +warfare, this rule, nevertheless, would not apply to armed +merchantmen. + +As such a proposition as this would, of course, only bring up +the subject again, I immediately ordered my automobile and called +on the Spanish Ambassador, stating to him what I had heard about +the contents of the note; that this would mean, without doubt, a +break with America; and that, as I had been instructed to hand +the Embassy over to him, I had come to tell him of that fact. I +gave the same information to other colleagues, of course hoping +that what I said would directly or indirectly reach the ears +of the German Foreign Office. Whether it did or not, I do not +know, but the _Sussex_ Note when received did not contain +any exception with reference to armed merchantmen. + +With the receipt of the _Sussex_ Note and the President's +answer thereto, which declined assent to the claim of Germany +to define its attitude toward our rights in accordance with what +we might do in regard to the enforcement of our rights against +England, the submarine question seemed, at least for the moment, +settled. I, however, immediately warned the Department that I +believed that the rulers of Germany would at some future date, +forced by public opinion, and by the von Tirpitz and Conservative +parties, take up ruthless submarine war again, possibly in the +autumn but at any rate about February or March, 1917. + +In my last conversation with the Chancellor before leaving the +Great General Headquarters, when he referred to the cruiser warfare +of the submarines, he also said, "I hope now that if we settle this +matter your President will be great enough to take up the question +of peace." It was as a result of intimations from government +circles that, after my return to Berlin, I gave an interview to +a representative of a Munich newspaper, expressing my faith in +the coming of peace, although I was careful to say that it might +be a matter of months or even years. + +Thereafter, on many occasions the Chancellor impressed upon me +the fact that America must do something towards arranging a peace +and that if nothing was done to this end, public opinion in Germany +would undoubtedly force a resumption of a ruthless submarine war. + +In September of 1916, I having mentioned that Mrs. Gerard was +going to the United States on a short visit, von Jagow insistently +urged me to go also in order to make every effort to induce the +President to do something towards peace; and, as a result of his +urging and as a result of my own desire to make the situation +clear in America, I sailed from Copenhagen on the twenty-eighth +of September with Mrs. Gerard, on the Danish ship, _Frederick_VIII_, +bound for New York. I had spent almost three years in Berlin, +having been absent during that time from the city only five or +six days at Kiel and two week-ends in Silesia in 1914, with two +weeks at Munich in the autumn, two days at Munich and two days at +Parten-Kirchen in 1916, and two week-ends at Heringsdorf, in the +summer of the same year, with visits to British prison camps +scattered through the two and a half years of war. + +On the _Frederick_VIII_ were Messrs. Herbert Swope of the +_New_York_World_ and William C. Bullitt of the _Philadelphia_Ledger_, +who had been spending some time in Germany. I impressed upon each +of these gentlemen my fixed belief that Germany intended shortly, +unless some definite move was made toward peace, to commence +ruthless submarine war; and they made this view clear in the +articles which they wrote for their respective newspapers. + +Mr. Swope's articles which appeared in the _New_York_World_ +were immediately republished by him in a book called "Inside the +German Empire." In Mr. Swope's book on page ninety-four, he says, +"The campaign for the ruthless U-boat warfare is regarded by one +man in this country who speaks with the highest German authority, +as being in the nature of a threat intended to accelerate and +force upon us a movement toward peace. Ambassador Gerard had +his attention drawn to this just before he left Berlin but he +declined to accept the interpretation." + +On page eighty-eight he writes, "Our Embassy in Berlin expected +just such a demonstration as was given by the U-53 in October +when she sank six vessels off Nantucket, as a lesson of what +Germany could do in our waters if war came." + +On page seventy-four he says further, "Throughout Germany the +objection for the resumption of ruthless U-boat warfare of the +_Lusitania_ type grows stronger day by day. The Chancellor +is holding out against it, but how long he can restrain it no one +can say. I left Germany convinced that only peace could prevent +its resumption. And the same opinion is held by every German +with whom I spoke, and it is held also by Ambassador Gerard. +The possibility was so menacing that the principal cause of the +Ambassador's return in October was that he might report to +Washington. The point was set out in press despatches at that +time." + +I wrote a preface to Mr. Swope's book for the express purpose +of informing the American public in this way that I believed +that Germany intended at an early date to resume the ruthless +V-boat warfare. + +Our trip home on the _Frederick_VIII_ was without incident +except for the fact that on the ninth day of October, Swope came to +the door of my stateroom about twelve o'clock at night and informed +me that the captain had told him to tell me that the wireless had +brought the news that German submarines were operating directly +ahead of us and had just sunk six ships in the neighbourhood +of Nantucket. I imagine that the captain slightly changed the +course of our ship, but next day the odour of burning oil was +quite noticeable for hours. + +These Danish ships in making the trip from Copenhagen to New +York were compelled to put in at the port of Kirkwall in the +Orkney Islands, north of Scotland, where the ship was searched by +the British authorities. On the occasion of our visit to Kirkwall, +on this trip, a Swede, who had been so foolish as to make a sketch +of the harbour and defences of Kirkwall from the top deck of the +_Frederick_VIII_, was taken off the boat by the British. The +British had very cleverly spotted him doing this from the shore +or a neighbouring boat, through a telescope. + +Ships can enter Kirkwall only by daylight and at six o'clock +every evening trawlers draw a net across the entrance to the +harbour as a protection against submarines. A passage through +this net is not opened until daylight the following morning. + +Captain Thomson of the _Frederick_VIII_, the ship which +carried us to America and back to Copenhagen, by his evident +mastery of his profession gave to all of his passengers a feeling +of confidence on the somewhat perilous voyage in those dangerous +waters. + +When I reached America, on October eleventh, I was given a most +flattering reception and the freedom of the City of New York. +Within a few days after my arrival, the President sent for me +to visit him at Shadow Lawn, at Long Branch, and I was with him +for over four hours and a quarter in our first conference. I saw +him, of course, after the election, before returning to Germany, +and in fact sailed on the fourth of December at his special request. + +Before I left I was impressed with the idea that he desired above +all things both to keep and to make peace. Of course, this question +of making peace is a very delicate one. A direct offer on our part +might have subjected us to the same treatment which we gave Great +Britain during our Civil War when Great Britain made overtures +looking towards the establishment of peace, and the North answered, +practically telling the British Government that it could attend +to its own business, that it would brook no interference and would +regard further overtures as unfriendly acts. + +The Germans started this war without any consultation with the +United States, and then seemed to think that they had a right +to demand that the United States make peace for them on such +terms and at such time as they chose; and that the failure to +do so gave them a vested right to break all the laws of warfare +against their enemies and to murder the citizens of the United +States on the high seas, in violation of the declared principles +of international law. + +Nevertheless, I think that the inclination of the President was +to go very far towards the forcing of peace. + +Our trip from New York to Copenhagen was uneventful, cold and +dark. We were captured by a British cruiser west of the Orkneys +and taken in for the usual search to the port of Kirkwall where +we remained two days. + +The President impressed upon me his great interest in the Belgians +deported to Germany. The action of Germany in thus carrying a +great part of the male population of Belgium into virtual slavery +had roused great indignation in America. As the revered Cardinal +Farley said to me a few days before my departure, "You have to +go back to the times of the Medes and the Persians to find a +like example of a whole people carried into bondage." + +Mr. Grew had made representations about this to the Chancellor +and, on my return, I immediately took up the question. + +I was informed that it was a military measure, that Ludendorf had +feared that the British would break through and overrun Belgium +and that the military did not propose to have a hostile population +at their backs who might cut the rail lines of communication, +telephones and telegraphs; and that for this reason the deportation +had been decided on. I was, however, told that I would be given +permission to visit these Belgians. The passes, nevertheless, +which alone made such visiting possible were not delivered until +a few days before I left Germany. + +Several of these Belgians who were put at work in Berlin managed +to get away and come to see me. They gave me a harrowing account +of how they had been seized in Belgium and made to work in Germany +at making munitions to be used probably against their own friends. +I said to the Chancellor, "There are Belgians employed in making +shells contrary to all rules of war and the Hague conventions." +He said, "I do not believe it." I said, "My automobile is at the +door. I can take you, in four minutes, to where thirty Belgians +are working on the manufacture of shells." But he did not find +time to go. + +Americans must understand that the Germans will stop at nothing +to win this war, and that the only thing they respect is force. + +While I was in America von Jagow, as had been predicted by his +enemies in Berlin, had fallen and Zimmermann had been given his +place. + +I remained a day in Copenhagen, in order to arrange for the +transportation to Germany of the three tons of food which I had +brought from New York, and, also, in order to lunch with Count +Rantzau, the German Minister, a most able diplomat. + +Therefore, the President's peace note arrived in Berlin just +ahead of me and was delivered by Mr. Grew a few hours before my +arrival. Joseph C. Grew, of Boston, was next in command during +all my stay in Berlin. He most ably carried on the work of the +Embassy during my absence on the trip to America, in the autumn +of 1916; and at all times was of the greatest assistance to me. I +hope to see him go far in his career. This note was dated December +eighteenth, 1916, and was addressed by the Secretary of State +to the American Ambassadors at the capitals of the belligerent +powers. It commenced as follows: "The President directs me to +send you the following communication to be presented immediately +to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the government to which +you are accredited. + +"The President of the United States has instructed me to suggest +to the (here is inserted a designation of the government addressed) +a course of action in regard to the present war which he hopes +that the government will take under consideration as suggested +in the most friendly spirit, etc." + +In the note which was sent to the Central Powers it was stated: +"The suggestion which I am instructed to make, the President +has long had it in mind to offer. He is somewhat embarrassed +to offer it at this particular time because it may now seem to +have been prompted by a desire to play a part in connection with +the recent overtures of the Central Powers." + +Of course, the President thus referred to the address made by +Bethmann-Hollweg in the Reichstag in December, in which, after +reviewing generally the military situation, the Chancellor said: +"In a deep moral and religious sense of duty towards this nation +and beyond it towards humanity, the Emperor now considers that the +moment has come for official action towards peace. His Majesty, +therefore, in complete harmony and in common with our Allies decided +to propose to the hostile powers to enter peace negotiations." +And the Chancellor continued, saying that a note to this effect +had been transmitted that morning to all hostile powers, through +the representatives of these powers to whom the interests and +rights of Germany in the enemy States had been entrusted; and +that, therefore, the representatives of Spain, the United States +and Switzerland had been asked to forward the note. + +Coincidently with this speech of the Chancellor's, which was +December twelfth, 1916, the Emperor sent a message to the commanding +generals reading as follows: "Soldiers! In agreement with the +sovereigns of my Allies and with the consciousness of victory, +I have made an offer of peace to the enemy. Whether it will be +accepted is still uncertain. Until that moment arrives you will +fight on." + +I return to the President's note. + +The President suggested that early occasion be sought to callout +from all the nations now at war an avowal of their respective +views as to the terms upon which the war might be concluded, +and the arrangements which would be deemed satisfactory as a +guarantee against its renewal. + +He called the attention of the world to the fact that according +to the statements of the statesmen of the belligerent powers, +the objects which all sides had in mind seemed to be the same. +And the President finally said that he was not proposing peace, +not even offering mediation; but merely proposing that soundings +be taken in order that all nations might know how near might +be the haven of peace for which all mankind longed. + +Shortly after the publication of this note Secretary Lansing +gave an interview to the representatives of the American press +in which he stated that America was very near war. This interview +he later explained. + +As soon as possible after my return to Berlin I had interviews +with Zimmermann and the Chancellor. Zimmermann said that we were +such personal friends that he was sure we could continue to work, +as we had in the past, in a frank and open manner, putting all +the cards upon the table and working together in the interests of +peace. I, of course, agreed to this and it seemed, on the surface, +as if everything would go smoothly. + +Although the torpedoing without warning of the _Marina_, +while I was in the United States, had resulted in the death of a +number of Americans on board, nevertheless there seemed to be an +inclination on the part of the government and people of the United +States to forget this incident provided Germany would continue to +keep her pledges given in the _Sussex_ Note. During all +the period of the war in Germany I had been on good terms with +the members of the government, namely, the Chancellor, von Jagow, +Zimmermann and the other officials of the Foreign Office, as well +as with Helfferich, Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister, Kaempf, the +President of the Reichstag and a number of the influential men +of Germany such as von Gwinner, of the Deutsche Bank, Gutmann of +the Dresdener Bank, Dr. Walter Rathenau, who for a long time was +at the head of the department for the supply and conservation of +raw materials, General von Kessel, Over-Commander of the Mark of +Brandenburg, in spite of many tiffs with him over the treatment +of prisoners, Theodor Wolff, editor of the _Tageblatt_, Professor +Stein, Maximilian Harden and many others. + +For a long time the fight waged by the Chancellor was America's +fight and a fight for peace, so much so that the newspapers which +attacked the Chancellor were the same ones which had attacked +President Wilson, America and Americans in general, and which had +very often included me in their attacks. During every crisis between +America and Germany I had acted with von Jagow and Zimmermann in +a most confidential way, looking forward always to one object, +namely, the preservation of peace between our respective countries. +Many suggestions were made which, I think, materially aided up +to that time in the preservation of peace. + +The Chancellor and the Foreign Office, however, through sheer +weakness did nothing to prevent the insults to our flag and President +perpetrated by the "League of Truth"; although both under the law +and the regulations of the "State of Siege" this gang could not +operate without the consent of the authorities. So far as I was +concerned personally, a few extra attacks from tooth carpenters +and snake dancers meant nothing, but certainly aroused my interest +in the workings of the Teutonic official brain. + +On my return everyone in official life,--the Chancellor, Zimmermann, +von Stumm who succeeded Zimmermann, von der Busche, formerly +German Minister in the Argentine, who had equal rank with Stumm +in the Foreign Office--all without exception and in the most +convincing language assured me that cases like that of the +_Marina_, for example, were only accidents and that there +was every desire on the part of Germany to maintain the pledges +given in the _Sussex_ Note. + +And the great question to be solved is whether the Germans in +making their offers of peace, in begging me to go to America to +talk peace to the President, were sincerely anxious for peace, +or were only making these general offers of peace in order to +excuse in the eyes of the world a resumption of ruthless submarine +warfare and to win to their side public opinion in the United +States, in case such warfare should be resumed. + +Had the decision rested with the Chancellor and with the Foreign +Office, instead of with the military, I am sure that the decision +would have been against the resumption of this ruthless war. +But Germany is not ruled in war time by the civilian power. +Hindenburg at the time I left for America was at the head of +the General Staff and Ludendorf, who had been Chief of Staff, +had been made the Quartermaster General in order that he might +follow Hindenburg to General Headquarters. + +Hindenburg, shortly before his battle of the Masurian Lakes, +was a General living in retirement at Hanover. Because he had +for years specialised in the study of this region he was suddenly +called to the command of the German army which was opposing the +Russian invasions. Ludendorf, who had been Colonel of a regiment +at the attack on Liège, was sent with him as his Chief of Staff. +The success of Hindenburg in his campaigns is too well known +to require recapitulation here. He became the popular idol of +Germany, the one general-in fact the one man--whom the people felt +that they could idolise. But shortly before my trip to America an +idea was creeping through the mind of the German people leading +them to believe that Hindenburg was but the front, and that the +brains of the combination had been furnished by Ludendorf. Many +Germans in a position to know told me that the real dictator +of Germany was Ludendorf. + +My trip to America was made principally at the instance of von +Jagow and the Chancellor, and, in my farewell talk with the +Chancellor a few days before leaving, I asked if it could not +be arranged, since he was always saying that the civilian power +was inferior to that of the military, that I should see Hindenburg +and Ludendorf before I left. This proposed meeting he either +could not or would not arrange, and shortly after my return I +again asked the Chancellor if I could not see, if not the Emperor, +at least Hindenburg and Ludendorf, who the Chancellor himself +had said were the leaders of the military, and, therefore, the +leaders of Germany. Again I was put off. + +In the meantime and in spite of the official assurance given +to me certain men in Germany, in a position to know, warned me +that the government intended to resume ruthless submarine war. +Ludendorf, they said, had declared in favour of this war and, +according to them, that meant its adoption. + +At first I thought that Germany would approach the resumption of +ruthless submarine war _via_ the armed merchantman issue. + +The case of the _Yarrowdale_ prisoners seemed to bear out +this theory. A German raider captured and sunk a number of enemy +vessels and sent one of the captured boats, the _Yarrowdale_, +with a prize crew to Swinemunde. On board, held as prisoners, +were a number of the crews of the captured vessels; and among +those men I learned "under the rose," were some Americans. The +arrival of the _Yarrowdale_ was kept secret for some time, +but as soon as I received information of its arrival, I sent +note after note to the Foreign Office demanding to know if there +were any Americans among the prisoner crews. + +For a long time I received no answer, but finally Germany admitted +what I knew already, that Americans taken with the crews of captured +ships were being held as prisoners of war, the theory of the +Germans being that all employed on armed enemy merchant ships +were enemy combatants. I supposed that possibly Germany might +therefore approach the submarine controversy by this route and +claim that armed merchantmen were liable to be sunk without notice. + +Instructed by the State Department, I demanded the immediate +release of the _Yarrowdale_ prisoners. This was accorded +by Germany, but, after the breaking of relations, the prisoners +were held back; and it was not until after we left Germany that +they were finally released. + +I asked permission to visit these prisoners and sent Mr. Ayrault +and Mr. Osborne to the place where I knew they were interned. +The permission to visit them arrived, but on the same day orders +were given to remove the prisoners to other camps. Mr. Osborne +and Mr. Ayrault, however, being on the ground, saw the prisoners +before their removal and reported on their conditions. + +On January sixth the American Association of Commerce and Trade +gave me a dinner at the Hotel Adlon. This was made the occasion +of a sort of German-American love-feast. Zimmermann, although +he had to go early in the evening to meet the Foreign Minister +of Austria-Hungary, was present; Helfferich, Vice-Chancellor +and Secretary of the Interior; Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister; +Sydow, Minister of Commerce; Dernburg; von Gwinner of the Deutsche +Bank; Gutmann of the Dresdener Bank; Under Secretary von der +Busche of the Foreign Office; the Mayor and the Police President +of Berlin; the President of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce; Under +Secretary von Stumm of the Foreign Office; and many others of +that office. There were present also Under Secretary Richter +of the Interior Department; Lieutenant Colonel Doeutelmoser of +the General Staff; the editors and proprietors of the principal +newspapers in Berlin; Count Montgelas, who had charge of American +affairs in the Foreign Office; naval officers like Captain Lans; +the American correspondents in Germany; and Prince Isenburg; +rubbing shoulders with the brewers, George Ehret and Krueger, +of New York and Newark. There were literary lights like Ludwig +Fulda, Captain Persius, Professor Hans Delbrück, Dr. Paasche, +Vice-President of the Reichstag, and many others equally celebrated +as the ones that I have named. Speeches were made by Mr. Wolf, +President of the American Association of Commerce and Trade, +Helfferich, Zimmermann, von Gwinner and me. A tone of the greatest +friendliness prevailed. Zimmermann referred to our personal +friendship and said that he was sure that we should be able to +manage everything together. Helfferich in his speech said that +I, by learning German and studying the life of the German people, +was one of the few diplomats that had come to Germany who had +learned something of the real life and psychology of the Germans. +Von Gwinner made a speech in English that would have done credit +to any American after-dinner speaker; and I, in my short address, +said that the relations between the two countries had never been +better and that so long as my personal friends like Zimmermann +and other members of the government, who I named, were in office, +I was sure that the good relations between the two countries +would be maintained. I spoke also of the sums of money that I had +brought back with me for the benefit of the widows and orphans +of Germany. + +The majority of the German newspapers spoke in a very kindly +way about this dinner and about what was said at it. Of course, +they all took what I said as an expression of friendliness, and +only Reventlow claimed that, by referring to the members of the +government, I was interfering in the internal affairs of Germany. + +The speeches and, in fact, this dinner constituted a last desperate +attempt to preserve friendly relations. Both the reasonable men +present and I knew, almost to a certainty, that return to ruthless +submarine war had been decided on and that only some lucky chance +could prevent the military, backed by the made public opinion, from +insisting on a defiance of international law and the laws of humanity. + +The day after the dinner the Chancellor sent for me and expressed +approval of what I said and thanked me for it and on the surface +it seemed as if everything was "as merry as a marriage bell." +Unfortunately, I am afraid that all this was only on the surface, +and that perhaps the orders to the submarine commanders to recommence +ruthless war had been given the day preceding this love-feast. + +The Germans believed that President Wilson had been elected with +a mandate to keep out of war at any cost, and that America could +be insulted, flouted and humiliated with impunity. Even before +this dinner we had begun to get rumours of the resumption of +ruthless submarine war and within a few days I was cabling to +the Department information based not upon absolute facts but upon +reports which seemed reliable and which had been collected through +the able efforts of our very capable naval attaché, Commander +Gherardi. + +And this information was confirmed by the hints given to me by +various influential Germans. Again and again after the sixth of +January, I was assured by Zimmermann and others in the Foreign +Office that nothing of the kind was contemplated. + +Now were the German moves in the direction of peace sincere or not? + +From the time when the Chancellor first spoke of peace, I asked +him and others what the peace terms of Germany were. I could +never get any one to state any definite terms of peace and on +several occasions when I asked the Chancellor whether Germany +was willing to withdraw from Belgium, he always said, "Yes, but +with guarantees." Finally in January, 1917, when he was again +talking of peace, I said, "What are these peace terms to which +you refer continually? Will you allow me to ask a few questions +as to the specific terms of peace? First are the Germans willing +to withdraw from Belgium?" The Chancellor answered, "Yes, but +with guarantees." I said, "What are these guarantees?" He said, +"We must possibly have the forts of Liege and Namur; we must +have other forts and garrisons throughout Belgium. We must have +possession of the railroad lines. We must have possession of the +ports and other means of communication. The Belgians will not +be allowed to maintain an army, but we must be allowed to retain +a large army in Belgium. We must have the commercial control of +Belgium." I said, "I do not see that you have left much for the +Belgians except that King Albert will have the right to reside in +Brussels with an honor guard." And the Chancellor said, "We cannot +allow Belgium to be an outpost (_Vorwerk_) of England"; and +I said, "I do not suppose the English, on the other hand, wish +it to become an outpost of Germany, especially as von Tirpitz +has said that the coast of Flanders should be retained in order +to make war on England and America." I continued, "How about +Northern France?" He said, "We are willing to leave Northern +France, but there must be a rectification of the frontier." I +said, "How about the Eastern frontier?" He said, "We must have +a very substantial rectification of our frontier." I said, "How +about Roumania?" He said, "We shall leave Bulgaria to deal with +Roumania." I said, "How about Serbia?" He said, "A very small +Serbia may be allowed to exist, but that is a question for Austria. +Austria must be left to do what she wishes to Italy, and we must +have indemnities from all countries and all our ships and colonies +back." + +Of course, "rectification of the frontier" is a polite term for +"annexation." + +On the twenty-second of January, 1917, our President addressed +the Senate; and in his address he referred to his Note of the +eighteenth of December, sent to all belligerent governments. In +this address he stated, referring to the reply of the Entente +Powers to his Peace Note of the eighteenth of December, "We are +that much nearer to the definite discussion of the peace which +shall end the present war." + +He referred to the willingness of both contestants to discuss +terms of peace, as follows: "The Central Powers united in reply +which stated merely that they were ready to meet their antagonists +in conference to discuss terms of peace. The Entente Powers have +replied much more definitely and have stated, in general terms, +indeed, but with sufficient definiteness to imply details, the +arrangements, guarantees and acts of reparation which they deem +to be the indispensable conditions of a satisfactory settlement. +We are that much nearer a definite discussion of the peace which +shall end the present war." The President further referred to a +world concert to guarantee peace in the future and said, "The +present war must first be ended, but we owe it to candour and +to a just regard for the opinion of mankind to say that so far +as our participation in guarantees of future peace is concerned, +it makes a great deal of difference in what way and upon what +terms it is ended." He said that the statesmen of both of the +groups of nations at war had stated that it was not part of the +purpose they had in mind to crush their antagonists, and he said +that it must be implied from these assurances that the peace +to come must be "a peace without victory." + +In the course of his address he said: "Statesmen everywhere are +agreed that there should be a united, independent and autonomous +Poland." In another place he said: "So far as practicable, moreover, +every great people now struggling toward a full development of +its resources and its powers should be assured a direct outlet +to the highways of the sea." Where this cannot be done by cession +of territory it can no doubt be arranged by the neutralisation +of direct rights of way; and he closed by proposing in effect +that the nations of the world should adopt the Monroe Doctrine +and that no nation should seek to explain its policy for any +other nation or people. + +After the receipt of the Ultimatum of January thirty-first from +Germany, the Chancellor, in a conversation I had with him, referred +to this Peace Note of December eighteenth and to the speech of +January twenty-second. + +[Illustration: A POSTER FROM THE CHARLEVILLE DISTRICT, SHOWING +THE ALLOTMENT OF FOOD TO EACH PERSON FOR THE FIRST FIFTEEN DAYS +OF MAY, 1916.] + +I must say here that on my return to Germany I went very far +in assuring the Chancellor and other members of the Government +of the President's desire to see peace established in the world; +and I told them that I believed that the President was ready +to go very far in the way of coercing any nation which refused +a reasonable peace; but I also impressed on all the members of +the Government with whom I came in contact my belief that the +election had not in any way altered the policy of the President, +and I warned them of the danger to our good relations if ruthless +submarine warfare should be resumed. + +Von Bethmann-Hollweg, however, at this interview after the +thirty-first of January, said that he had been compelled to take +up ruthless submarine war because it was evident that President +Wilson could do nothing towards peace. He spoke particularly of +the President's speech of January twenty-second and said that +in that speech the President had made it plain that he considered +that the answer of the Entente Powers to his Peace Note formed a +basis for peace, which was a thing impossible for Germany even +to consider; and said further (and this was a criticism I heard +not only from him, but also from many Germans), that when the +President spoke of a united and independent Poland he evidently +meant to take away from Germany that part of Poland which had been +incorporated in the Kingdom of Prussia and give it to this new +and independent Kingdom, thereby bringing the Eastern frontier of +Germany within two hours by motor from Berlin; and that, further, +when the President spoke of giving each nation a highway to the +sea, he meant that the German port of Dantzig should be turned over +to this new State of Poland, thereby not only taking a Prussian +port but cutting the extreme Eastern part of Prussia from the +remainder of the country. I said that these objections appeared +to me very frivolous; that the President, of course, like a clever +lawyer endeavouring to gain his end, which was peace, had said +that all parties were apparently agreed that there should be a +peace; that if Germany were fighting a merely defensive war, +as she had always claimed, she should be greatly delighted when +the President declared that all the weight of America was in +favor of a peace without victory, which meant, of course, that +Germany should be secured from that crushing and dismemberment +which Germany's statesmen had stated so often that they feared. +I said, further, that I was sure that when the President spoke +of the united and independent State of Poland he had not, of +course, had reference to Poland at any particular period of its +history, but undoubtedly to Poland as constituted by Germany +and Austria themselves; and that, in referring to the right of +a nation to have access to the sea, he had in mind Russia and +the Dardanelles rather than to any attempt to take a Prussian +port for the benefit of Poland. + +Von Bethmann-Hollweg said that one of the principal reasons why +Germany had determined upon a resumption of ruthless submarine +warfare was because of this speech of the President to the American +Senate. Of course, the trouble with this feeling and the criticism +of the President's speech made by the Chancellor is that the +orders for the resumption of ruthless submarine warfare had been +given long before the news of the speech came to Germany. + +I had cabled the information collected by Commander Gherardi +as to the orders given to submarines long before the date of +the President's speech, and it happened that on the night after +I had received the German note announcing this resumption I was +taking a walk after dinner about the snow-covered streets of +Berlin. In the course of this walk I met a young German woman of +my acquaintance who was on intimate terms with the Crown Princess. +She was on her way on foot from the opera house, where she had +been with the Crown Princess, to the underground station, for +by this time, of course, taxis had become an unknown luxury in +Berlin, and I joined her. I told her of the Ultimatum which, I +had received at six o'clock that evening from Zimmermann and I +told her that I was sure that it meant the breaking of diplomatic +relations and our departure from Germany. She expressed great +surprise that the submarine warfare was set to commence on the +thirty-first of January and said that weeks before they had been +talking over the matter at the Crown Princess's and that she +had heard then that the orders had been given to commence it on +the fifteenth. In any event it is certain that the orders to the +submarine commanders had been given long prior to the thirty-first +and probably as early as the fifteenth. + +I sincerely believe that the only object of the Germans in making +these peace offers was first to get the Allies, if possible, in +a conference and there detach some or one of them by the offer +of separate terms; or, if this scheme failed, then it was believed +that the general offer and talk about peace would create a sentiment +so favourable to the Germans that they might, without fear of +action by the United States, resume ruthless submarine warfare +against England. + +A week or two before the thirty-first of January, Dr. Solf asked +me if I did not think that it would be possible for the United +States to permit the resumption of ruthless submarine warfare +against Great Britain. He said that three months time was all +that would be required to bring Great Britain to her knees and end +the war. And in fact so cleverly did von Tirpitz, Grand Admiral +von Meuster, the Conservatives and the enemies of the Chancellor +and other advocates of submarine war carry on their propaganda +that the belief was ingrained in the whole of the German nation +that a resumption of this ruthless war would lead within three +months to what all Germans so ardently desired--peace. It was +impossible for any government to resist the popular demand for +the use of this illegal means of warfare, because army and navy +and people were convinced that ruthless submarine war spelled +success and a glorious peace. + +But this peace, of course, meant only a German peace, a peace +as outlined to me by the Chancellor; a peace impossible for the +Allies and even for the world to accept; a peace which would +leave Germany immensely powerful and ready immediately after +the war to take up a campaign against the nations of the Western +hemisphere; a peace which would compel every nation, so long +as German autocracy remained in the saddle, to devote its best +energies, the most fruitful period of each man's life, to +preparations for war. + +On January thirtieth, I received a definite intimation of the +coming Ultimatum the next day and, judging that the hint meant +the resumption of ruthless submarine war, I telegraphed a warning +to the American Ambassadors and Ministers as well as to the State +Department. On January thirty-first at about four o'clock in the +afternoon I received from Zimmermann a short letter of which +the following is a copy: + + "The Secretary of State of the Foreign Office, Zimmermann, + requests the honor of the visit of his Excellency, the + Ambassador of the United States of America, this afternoon + at six o'clock in the Foreign Office, Wilhelmstrasse 75/76. + + "Berlin, the 31st January, 1917." + +Pursuant to this letter, I went to the Foreign Office at six +o'clock. Zimmermann then read to me in German a note from the +Imperial Government, announcing the creation of the war zones +about Great Britain and France and the commencement of ruthless +submarine warfare at twelve P. M. that night. I made no comment, +put the note in my pocket and went back to the Embassy. It was +then about seven P. M. and, of course, the note was immediately +translated and despatched with all speed to America. + +After the despatch of the note I had an interview with the Chancellor +in which he, as I have stated above, criticised both the Peace +Note of December eighteenth as not being definite enough and +the speech to the Senate of January twenty-second; and further +said that he believed that the situation had changed, that, in +spite of what the President had said in the note before the +_Sussex_ settlement, he was now for peace, that he had been +elected on a peace platform, and that nothing would happen. +Zimmermann at the time he delivered the note told me that this +submarine warfare was a necessity for Germany, and that Germany +could not hold out a year on the question of food. He further +said, "Give us only two months of this kind of warfare and we +shall end the war and make peace within three months." + +Saturday, February third, the President announced to Congress +the breaking of diplomatic relations with Germany. The news of +this, of course, did not reach Berlin until the next day; and on +this Saturday afternoon Mrs. Gerard and I had an engagement to go +to the theatre with Zimmermann and Mrs. Friedlaender-Fuld-Mitford, +a young lady whose father is considered the richest man in Berlin, +and who had been married to a young Englishman, named Mitford, a +son of Lord Redesdale. Through no fault on the lady's part, there +had been an annulment of this marriage; and she was occupying a +floor of her own in the handsome house of her father and mother +on the Pariser-Platz in Berlin. We stopped for Mrs. Mitford and +took her to the theatre where we saw a very clever play, I think +by Thoma, called "Die Verlorene Tochter" (The Prodigal Daughter). +Zimmermann did not come to the play but joined us later at the +Friedlaender-Fuld House where we had a supper of four in Mrs. +Miiford's apartments. After supper, while I was talking to +Zimmermann, he spoke of the note to America and said: "During +the past month, this is what I have been doing so often at the +General Headquarters with the Emperor. I often thought of telling +you what was going on as I used to tell you in the old days, +but I thought that you would only say that such a course would +mean a break of diplomatic relations, and so I thought there was +no use in telling you. But as you will see, everything will be +all right. America will do nothing, for President Wilson is for +peace and nothing else. Everything will go on as before. I have +arranged for you to go to the Great General Headquarters and see +the Kaiser next week and everything will be all right." + +The next day, Sunday, we had a German who is connected with the +Foreign Office and his American wife to lunch, and another German +who had been in America, also connected with the Foreign Office. +Just as we were going in to lunch some one produced a copy of the +"_B._Z._", the noon paper published in Berlin, which contained what +seemed to be an authentic account of the breaking of diplomatic +relations by America. The lunch was far from cheerful. The Germans +looked very sad and said practically nothing, while I tried to +make polite conversation at my end of the table. + +The next day I went over to see Zimmermann, having that morning +received the official despatch from Washington, and told him +that I had come to demand my passports. + +Of course, Zimmermann by that time had received the news and +had had time to compose himself. The American correspondents +told me that when he saw them on the day before, he had at first +refused to say anything and then had been rather violent in his +language and had finally shown great emotion. I am sure, from +everything I observed, that the break of diplomatic relations +came as an intense surprise to him and to the other members of +the government, and yet I cannot imagine why intelligent men +should think that the United States of America had fallen so low +as to bear without murmur this sudden kick in the face. + +The police who had always been about our Embassy since the +commencement of the war, were now greatly increased in numbers; +and guarded not only the front of the house, but also the rear and +the surrounding streets; but there was no demonstration whatever +on the part of the people of Berlin. On Tuesday afternoon I went +out for a walk, walking through most of the principal streets +of Berlin, absolutely alone, and on my return to the Embassy +I found Count Montgelas, who, with the rank of Minister, was +at the head of the department which included American affairs +in the Foreign Office. I asked Montgelas why I had not received +my passports, and he said that I was being kept back because +the Imperial Government did not know what had happened to Count +Bernstorff and that there had been rumours that the German ships +in America had been confiscated by our government. I said that +I was quite sure that Bernstorff was being treated with every +courtesy and that the German ships had not been confiscated. I +said, moreover, "I do not see why I have to disprove your idea that +Bernstorff is being maltreated and the German ships confiscated. It +seems to me it is for you to prove this; and, at any event, why +don't you have the Swiss Government, which now represents you, +cable to its Minister in Washington and get the exact facts?" He +said, "Well, you know, the Swiss are not used to cabling." + +He then produced a paper which was a re-affirmation of the treaty +between Prussia and the United States of 1799, with some very +extraordinary clauses added to it. He asked me to read this over +and either to sign it or to get authority to sign it, and said +that if it was not signed it would be very difficult for Americans +to leave the country, particularly the American correspondents. +I read this treaty over and then said, "Of course I cannot sign +this on my own responsibility and I will not cable to my government +unless I can cable in cipher and give them my opinion of this +document." He said, "That is impossible." This treaty was as +follows: + + Agreement between Germany and the United States of America + concerning the treatment of each other's citizens and their + private property after the severance of diplomatic relations. + + _Article_1._ + + After the severance of diplomatic relations between Germany and + the United States of America and in the event of the outbreak of + war between the two Powers the citizens of either party and their + private property in the territory of the other party shall be + treated according to Article 23 of the treaty of amity and + commerce between Prussia and the United States of 11 July, 1799, + with the following explanatory and supplementary clauses. + + _Article_2._ + + German merchants in the United States and American merchants + in Germany shall so far as the treatment of their persons and + their property is concerned be held in every respect on a par + with the other persons mentioned in Article 23. Accordingly + they shall even after the period provided for in Article 23 has + elapsed be entitled to remain and continue their profession in + the country of their residence. + + Merchants as well as the other persons mentioned in Article 23 + may be excluded from fortified places or other places of military + importance. + + _Article_3._ + + Germans in the United States and Americans in Germany shall + be free to leave the country of their residence within the + times and by the routes that shall be assigned to them by the + proper authorities. + + The persons departing shall be entitled to take along their + personal property including money, valuables and bank accounts + excepting such property the exportation of which is prohibited + according to general provisions. + + _Article_4._ + + The protection of Germans in the United States and of Americans + in Germany and of their property shall be guaranteed in accordance + with the laws existing in the countries of either party. They + shall be under no other restrictions concerning the enjoyment of + their private rights and the judicial enforcement of their rights + than neutral residents; they may accordingly not be transferred + to concentration camps nor shall their private property be subject + to sequestration or liquidation or other compulsory alienation + except in cases that under the existing laws apply also to neutrals. + + As a general rule, German property in the United States and + American property in Germany shall not be subject to sequestration + or liquidation or other compulsory alienation under other + conditions than neutral property. + + _Article_5._ + + Patent rights or other protected rights held by Germans in the + United States or Americans in Germany shall not be declared + void; nor shall the exercise of such rights be impeded nor shall + such rights be transferred to others without the consent of the + person entitled thereto; provided that regulations made exclusively + in the interest of the State shall apply. + + _Article_6._ + + Contracts made between Germans and Americans either before or + after the severance of diplomatic relations, also obligations + of all kinds between Germans and Americans shall not be declared + cancelled, void or in suspension except under provisions applicable + to neutrals. + + Likewise the citizens of either party shall not be impeded in + fulfilling their liabilities arising from such obligations either + by injunctions or by other provisions unless these apply also to + neutrals. + + _Article_7._ + + The provisions of the sixth Hague Convention relative to the + treatment of enemy merchant ships at outbreak of hostilities + shall apply to the merchant vessels of either party and their + cargo. + + The aforesaid ships may not be forced to leave port unless at + the same time they be given a pass recognised as binding by all + the enemy sea powers to a home port or a port of an allied country + or to another port of the country in which the ship happens to be. + + _Article_8._ + + The regulations of chapter 3 of the eleventh Hague Convention + relative to certain restrictions in the exercise of the right + of capture in maritime war shall apply to the captains, officers + and members of the crews of merchant ships specified in Article + 7 and of such merchant ships that may be captured in the course + of a possible war. + + _Article_9._ + + This agreement shall apply also to the colonies and other + foreign possessions of either party. + + Berlin, February, 1917. + +I then said, "I shall not cable at all. Why do you come to me with +a proposed treaty after we have broken diplomatic relations and +ask an Ambassador who is held as a prisoner to sign it? Prisoners +do not sign treaties and treaties signed by them would not be +worth anything." And I also said, "After your threat to keep +Americans here and after reading this document, even if I had +authority to sign it I would stay here until hell freezes over +before I would put my name to such a paper." + +Montgelas seemed rather rattled, and in his confusion left the +paper with me--something, I am sure, he did not intend to do +in case of a refusal. Montgelas was an extremely agreeable man +and I think at all times had correctly predicted the attitude +of America and had been against acts of frightfulness, such as +the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_ and the resumption of +ruthless submarine war. I am sure that a gentleman like Montgelas +undertook with great reluctance to carry out his orders in the +matter of getting me to sign this treaty. + +I must cheerfully certify that even the most pro-German American +correspondents in Berlin, when I told them of Montgelas' threat, +showed the same fine spirit as their colleagues. All begged me +not to consider them or their liberty where the interests of +America were involved. + +As soon as diplomatic relations were broken, and I broke them +formally not only in my conversation with Zimmermann of Monday +morning but also by sending over a formal written request for my +passports on the evening of that day, our telegraph privileges were +cut off. I was not even allowed to send telegrams to the American +consuls throughout Germany giving them their instructions. Mail +also was cut off, and the telephone. My servants were not even +permitted to go to the nearby hotel to telephone. In the meantime +we completed our preparations for departure. We arranged to turn +over American interests, and the interests of Roumania and Serbia +and Japan, to the Spanish Embassy; and the interests of Great +Britain to the Dutch. I have said already that I believe that +Ambassador Polo de Bernabe will faithfully protect the interests +of America, and I believe that Baron Gevers will fearlessly fight +the cause of the British prisoners. + +We sold our automobiles; and two beautiful prize winning saddle +horses, one from Kentucky and one from Virginia, which I had +brought with me from America, went on the stage, that is, I sold +them to the proprietor of the circus in Berlin! + +The three tons of food which we had brought with us from America +we gave to our colleagues in the diplomatic corps,--the Spaniards, +Greeks, Dutch and the Central and South Americans. I had many +friends among the diplomats of the two Americas who were all +men of great ability and position in their own country. I think +that most of them know only too well the designs against Central +and South America cherished by the Pan-Germans. + +Finally, I think on the morning of Friday, Mr. Oscar King Davis, +correspondent of the _New_York_Times_, received a wireless +from Mr. Van Anda, editor of the _New_York_Times_, telling +him that Bernstorff and his staff were being treated with every +courtesy and that the German ships had not been confiscated. In +the evening our telephone was reconnected, and we were allowed to +receive some telegrams and to send open telegrams to the consuls, +etc. throughout Germany; and we were notified that we would probably +be allowed to leave the next day in the evening. + +Always followed by spies, I paid as many farewell visits to my +diplomatic colleagues as I was able to see; and on Saturday I +thought that, in spite of the ridiculous treatment accorded us in +cutting off the mail and telephone and in holding me for nearly +a week, I would leave in a sporting spirit: I therefore, had +my servant telephone and ask whether Zimmermann and von +Bethmann-Hollweg would receive me. I had a pleasant farewell +talk of about half an hour with each of them and I expressly told +the Chancellor that I had come to bid him a personal farewell, +not to make a record for any White Book, and that anything he +said would remain confidential. I also stopped in to thank Dr. +Zahn, of the Foreign Office, who had arranged the details of our +departure and gave him a gold cigarette case as a souvenir of +the occasion. At the last moment, the Germans allowed a number +of the consuls and clerks who had been working in the Embassy, +and the American residents in Berlin, to leave on the train with +us; so that we were about one hundred and twenty persons in all +on this train, which left the Potsdamer station at eight-ten in +the evening. The time of our departure had not been publicly +announced, but although the automobiles, etc. in front of the +Embassy might have attracted a crowd, there was no demonstration +whatever; and, in fact, during this week that I was detained in +Berlin I walked allover the city every afternoon and evening, +went into shops, and so on, without encountering any hostile +demonstration. + +There was a large crowd in the station to see us off. All the +Spanish Embassy, Dutch, Greeks and many of our colleagues from +Central and South America were there. There were, from the Foreign +Office, Montgelas, Dr. Roediger, Prittwitz and Horstmann. As the +train pulled out, a number of the Americans left in Berlin who +were on the station platform raised quite a vigorous cheer. + +Two officers had been sent by the Imperial Government to accompany +us on this train; one, a Major von der Hagen, sent by the General +Staff and the other, a representative of the Foreign Office, Baron +Wernher von Ow-Wachendorf. It was quite thoughtful of the Foreign +Office to send this last officer, as it was by our efforts that +he had secured his exchange when he was a prisoner in England; +and he, therefore, would be supposed to entertain kindly feelings +for our Embassy. + +I had ordered plenty of champagne and cigars to be put on the +train and we were first invited to drink champagne with the officers +in the dining car; then they joined us in the private salon car +which we occupied in the end of the train. The journey was +uneventful. Outside some of the stations a number of people were +drawn up who stared at the train in a bovine way, but who made +no demonstration of any kind. + +We went through Württemburg and entered Switzerland by way of +Schaffhausen. The two officers left us at the last stop on the +German side. I had taken the precaution before we left Berlin to +find out their names, and, as they left us, I gave each of them +a gold cigarette case inscribed with his name and the date. + +At the first station on the Swiss side a body of Swiss troops +were drawn up, presenting arms, and the Colonel commanding the +Swiss army (there are no generals in Switzerland), attended by +several staff officers, came on the train and travelled with +us nearly to Zurich. + +I started to speak French to one of these staff officers, but +he interrupted me by saying in perfect English, "You do not have +to speak French to me. My name is Iselin, many of my relations +live in New York and I lived there myself some years." + +At Zurich we left the German special train, and were met on the +platform by some grateful Japanese, the American Consul and a +number of French and Swiss newspaper reporters, thus ending our +exodus from Germany. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +LIBERALS AND REASONABLE MEN + +I have already expressed a belief that Germany will not be forced +to make peace because of a revolution, and that sufficient food +will be somehow found to carry the population during at least +another year of war. + +What then offers a prospect of reasonable peace, supposing, of +course, that the Germans fail in the submarine blockade of England +and that the crumbling up of Russia does not release from the +East frontier soldiers enough to break the lines of the British +and French in France? + +I think that it is only by an evolution of Germany herself toward +liberalism that the world will be given such guarantees of future +peace as will justify the termination of this war. + +There is, properly speaking, no great liberal party in the political +arena in Germany. As I have said, the Reichstag is divided roughly +into Conservatives, Roman Catholics, or Centrum, and Social +Democrats. The so-called National Liberal party has in this war +shown itself a branch of the Conservative party, and on some issues +as bitter, as conservative, as the Junkers themselves. Herr +Bassermann and Herr Stresemann have not shown themselves leaders of +liberal thought, nor has their leadership been such as to inspire +confidence in their political sagacity. + +It was Stresemann who on May thirtieth, 1916, said in the Reichstag +referring to President Wilson as a peacemaker, "We thrust the +hand of Wilson aside." On the day following, the day on which +the President announced to Congress the breaking of diplomatic +relations, news of that break had not yet arrived in Berlin and +Herr Stresemann on that peaceful Sunday morning was engaged in +making a speech to the members of the National Liberal party +in which he told them that as a result of his careful study of +the American situation, of his careful researches into American +character and politics, he could assure them that America would +never break with Germany. As he concluded his speech and sat +down amid the applause of his admirers, a German who had been +sitting in the back of the room rose and read from the noon paper, +the "_B._Z._", a despatch from Holland giving the news that +America had broken relations with Germany. The political skill +and foresight of Herr Stresemann may be judged from the above +incident. + +The Socialists, or Social Democrats, more properly speaking, +have shown themselves in opposition to the monarchical form of +government in Germany. This has put them politically, militarily +and socially beyond the pale. + +After a successful French attack in the Champagne, I heard it +said of a German woman, whose husband was thought to be killed, +that her rage and despair had been so great that she had said she +would become a Social Democrat; and her expression was repeated +as showing to what lengths grief had driven her. This girl was +the wife of an ordinary clerk working in Berlin. + +The Social Democrats are not given offices, are not given titles: +they never join the class of "_Rat_," and they cannot hope +to become officers of the army. Did not Lieutenant Forstner, +the notorious centre of the Zabern Affair, promise a reward to +the first one of his men who in case of trouble should shoot +one "of those damn Social Democrats"? + +There is, therefore, no refuge at present politically, for the +reasonable men of liberal inclinations; and it is these liberal +men who must themselves create a liberal party: a party, membership +in which will not entail a loss of business, a loss of prospects +of promotion and social degradation. + +There are many such men in Germany to-day; perhaps some of the +conservative Socialists will join such a party, and there are +men in the government itself whose habits of mind and thought +are not incompatible with membership in a liberal organisation. +The Chancellor himself is, perhaps, at heart a Liberal. He comes +of a banking family in Frankfort and while there stands before +his name the "von" which means nobility, and while he owns a +country estate, the whole turn of his thought is towards a +philosophical liberalism. Zimmermann, the Foreign Secretary, +although the mental excitement caused by his elevation to the +Foreign Office at a time of stress, made him go over to the advocates +of ruthless submarine war, lock, stock and barrel, is nevertheless +at heart a Liberal and violently opposed to a system which draws +the leaders of the country from only one aristocratic class. +Dr. Solf, the Imperial Colonial Minister, while devoted to the +Emperor and his family is a man so reasonable in his views, so +indulgent of the views of others, and indulgent without weakness, +that he would make an ideal leader of a liberalised Germany. +The great bankers, merchants and manufacturers, although they +appreciate the luscious dividends that they have received during +the peaceful years since 1870, nevertheless feel under their +skins the ignominy of living in a country where a class exists +by birth, a class not even tactful enough to conceal its ancient +contempt for all those who soil their hands business or trade. + +In fact such a party is a necessity for Germany as a buffer against +the extreme Social Democrats. + +At the close of the war the soldiers who have fought in the mud +of the trenches for three years will most insistently demand a +redistricting of the Reichstag and an abolition of the inadequate +circle voting of Prussia. And when manhood suffrage comes in +Prussia and when the industrial population of Germany gets that +representation in the Reichstag out of which they have been brazenly +cheated for so many years, it may well be that a great liberal +party will be the only defence of private property against the +assault of an enraged and justly revengeful social democracy. + +The workingmen of Germany have been fooled for a long time. They +constitute that class of which President Lincoln spoke, "You +can fool some of the people all of the time"; and the middle +class of manufacturers, merchants, etc. have acquiesced in the +system because of the profits that they have made. + +The difficulty of making peace with Germany, as at present +constituted, is that the whole world feels that peace made with +its present government would not be lasting; that such a peace +would mean the detachment of some of the Allies from the present +world alliance against Germany; preparation by Germany, in the +light of her needs as disclosed by this war; and the declaration +of a new war in which there would be no battle of the Marne to +turn back the tide of German world conquest. + +For a long time before this war, radicals in Great Britain pinned +a great faith to the Socialist party of Germany. How little that +faith was justified appeared in July and August of 1914 when the +Socialist party tamely voted credits for the war; a war declared +by the Emperor on the mere statement that it was a defensive +war; declared because it was alleged that certain invasions of +German territory, never since substantiated, had taken place. + +The Socialist party is divided. It is a great pity that the world +cannot deal with men of the type of Scheidemann, who, in other +democracies, would appear so conservative as to be almost +reactionary. But Scheidemann and his friends, while they have, +in their attempted negotiations with the Socialists of other +countries, the present protection of the Imperial Government, +will have no hand in dictating terms of peace so long as that +government is in existence. They are being used in an effort +to divide the Allies. + +As President Wilson said in his message to Russia of May +twenty-sixth, 1917: "The war has begun to go against Germany, +and, in their desperate desire to escape the inevitable ultimate +defeat, those who are in authority in Germany are using every +possible instrumentality, are making use even of the influence of +the groups and parties among their own subjects to whom they have +never been just or fair or even tolerant to promote a propaganda on +both sides of the sea which will preserve for them their influence +at home and their power abroad, to the undoing of the very men +they are using." + +There is an impression abroad that the Social Democratic party +of Germany, usually known abroad as the Socialist party, partakes +of at least some of the characteristics of a great liberal party. +This is far from being the case. By their acts, if not by their +express declarations, they have shown themselves as opposed to +the monarchical form of government and their leaders are charged +with having declared themselves openly in favour of free love +and against religion. The Roman Catholic Church recognises in +Social Democracy its greatest enemy, and has made great efforts +to counteract its advance by fostering a sort of Roman Catholic +trades-union for a religious body of Socialists. The Social Democrat +in Germany is almost an outcast. Although one third of the members +of the Reichstag belong to this party, its members are never +called to hold office in the government; and the attitude of +the whole of the governing class, of all the professors, +school-teachers, priests of both Protestant and Roman Catholic +religions of the prosperous middle classes, is that of violent +opposition to the doctrines of Social Democracy. The world must +entertain no illusion that the Social Democratic leaders speak +for Germany. + +If the industrial populations had their fair share of representation +in the Reichstag they might perhaps even control that body. But, +as I have time and again reiterated, the Reichstag has only the +power of public opinion; and the Germany of to-day is ruled by +officials appointed from above downwards. All of these officials in +Germany must be added to the other classes that I have mentioned. +There are more officials there than in any other country in the +world. As they owe their very existence to the government, they +must not only serve that government, but also make the enemies +of that government their own. Therefore, they and the circle +of their connections are opponents of the Social Democrats. + +All this shows how difficult it is at present for the men of +reasonable and liberal views, who do not wish to declare themselves +against both religion and morality, to find a political refuge. + +The Chancellor, himself a liberal at heart, as I have said, has +declared that there must be changes in Germany. It is perhaps +within the bounds of probability that a great new liberal party +will be formed to which I have referred, composed of the more +conservative Social Democrats, of the remains of the National +Liberal and Progressive parties and of the more liberal of the +Conservatives. The important question is then whether the Roman +Catholic party or Centrum will voluntarily dissolve and its members +cease to seek election merely as representatives of the Roman +Catholic Church. + +It is perhaps too much to expect that the Centrum party, as a +whole and as at present constituted, will declare for liberalism +and parliamentary government and for a fair redistricting of +the divisions in Germany which elect members to the Reichstag, +but there are many wise and farseeing men in this party; and +its leaders, Dr. Spahn and Erzberger, are fearless and able men. + +For some years a movement has been going on in the Centrum party +looking to this end. Many members believed that the time had +come when it was no longer necessary that the Roman Catholics +in order to safeguard their religious liberties continue the +political existence of the Centrum, and attempts were made to +bring about this change. It was decided adversely, however, by +the Roman Catholics. But the question is not dead. Voluntary +dissolution of the Centrum as a Roman Catholic party would +immediately bring about a creation of a true liberal party to +which all Germans could belong without a loss of social prestige, +without becoming declared enemies of the monarchy and without +declaring themselves against religion and morality. + +At the Congress which will meet after the war it will be easy +for the nations of the world to deal with the representatives +of a liberal Germany, with representatives of a government still +monarchical in form, but possessed of either a constitution like +that of the United States or ruled by a parliamentary government. +I believe that the tendency of German liberalism is towards the +easiest transition, that of making the Chancellor and his ministers +responsible to the Reichstag and bound to resign after a vote +of want of confidence by that body. + +At the time of the Zabern Affair, Scheidemann claimed that the +resignation of the Chancellor must logically follow a vote of +want of confidence; and it was von Bethmann-Hollweg who refused +to resign, saying that he was responsible to the Emperor alone. +It requires no violent change to bring about this establishment +of parliamentary government, and, if the members of the Reichstag +should be elected from districts fairly constituted, the world +would then be dealing with a liberalised Germany, and a Germany +which has become liberalised without any violent change in the +form of its government. + +Of course, coincident with this parliamentary reform, the vicious +circle system of voting in Prussia must end. + +This change to a government by a responsible ministry can be +accomplished under the constitution of the German Empire by a +mere majority vote of the Reichstag and a vote in the Bundesrat, +in which less than fourteen votes are against the proposed change +in the constitution. This means that the consent of the Emperor +as Prussian King must be obtained, and that of a number of the +rulers of the German States. + +In the reasonable liberalisation of Germany, if it comes, Theodor +Wolff and his father-in-law, Mosse, will play leading parts. +The great newspaper, the _Tageblatt_, which Mosse owns and +Wolff edits, has throughout the war been a beacon light at once +of reason and of patriotism. And other great newspapers will +take the same enlightened course. + +I am truly sorry for Georg Bernhard, the talented editor of the +_Vossiche_Zeitung_, who, a Liberal and a Jew, wears the +livery of Junkerdom, I am sure to his great distaste. + +After I left Germany the _Vossiche_Zeitung_ made the most +ridiculous charges against me, such as that I issued American +passports to British subjects. The newspaper might as well have +solemnly charged that I sent notes to the Foreign Office in sealed +envelopes. Having charge of British interests, I could not issue +British passports to British citizens allowed to leave Germany, +but, according to universal custom in similar cases and the express +consent of the Imperial Foreign Office, I gave these returning +British, American passports superstamped with the words "British +subject." A mare's nest, truly! + +The fall of von Bethmann-Hollweg was a triumph of kitchen intrigue +and of Junkerism. I believe that he is a liberal at heart, that +it was against his best judgment that the ruthless submarine +war was resumed, the pledges of the _Sussex_ Note broken +and Germany involved in war with America. If he had resigned, +rather than consent to the resumption of V-boat war, he would +have stood out as a great Liberal rallying point and probably +have returned to a more real power than he ever possessed. But +half because of a desire to retain office, half because of a +mistaken loyalty to the Emperor, he remained in office at the +sacrifice of his opinions; and when he laid down that office no +title of Prince or even of Count waited him as a parting gift. +In his retirement he will read the lines of Schiller--a favourite +quotation in Germany--"Der Mohr hat seine Schuldigkeit gethan, +der Mohr kann gehen." "The Moor has done his work, the Moor can +go." And in his old age he will exclaim, as Shakespeare makes +the great Chancellor of Henry the Eighth exclaim, "Oh Cromwell, +Cromwell! Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served +my King, He would not, in mine age, have left me naked to mine +enemies." But this God is not the private War God of the Prussians +with whom they believe they have a gentlemen's working agreement, +but the God of Christianity, of humanity and of all mankind. + +It would have been easier for Germany to make peace with von +Bethmann-Hollweg at the helm. The whole world knows him and honours +him for his honesty. + +Helfferich remained as Vice-Chancellor and Minister of the Interior: +a powerful, and agile intellect, a man, I am sure, opposed to +militarism. Reasonable in his views, one can sit at the council +table with him and arrive at compromises and results, but his +intense patriotism and surpassing ability make him an opponent +to be feared. + +Kühlmann has the Foreign Office. Far more wily than Zimmermann, +he will continue to strive to embroil us with Japan and Mexico, +but he will not be caught. Second in command in London, he reported +then that England would enter the war. The rumours scattered +broadcast, as he took office, to the effect that he was opposed +to ruthless V-boat war were but evidences of a more skilful hand +in a campaign to predispose the world in his favour and, therefore, +to assist him in any negotiations he might have on the carpet. +Beware of the wily Kühlmann! + +Baiting the Chancellor is the favourite sport of German political +life. No sooner does the Kaiser name a Chancellor than hundreds +of little politicians, Reichstag members, editors, reporters +and female intriguers try to drive him from office. When von +Bethmann-Hollweg showed an inclination towards Liberalism, and +advocated a juster electoral system for Prussia, the Junkers, the +military and the upholders of the caste system joined their forces +to those of the usual intriguers; and it was only a question of +time until the Chancellor's official head fell in the basket. + +His successor is a Prussian bureaucrat. No further description +is necessary. + +Of course no nation will permit itself to be reformed from without. +The position of the world in arms with reference to Germany is +simply this. It is impossible to make peace with Germany as at +present constituted, because that peace will be but a truce, +a short breathing space before the German military autocrats +again send the sons of Germany to death in the trenches for the +advancement of the System and the personal glory and advantage +of stuffy old generals and prancing princes. + +The world does not believe that a free Germany will needlessly +make war, believe in war for war's sake or take up the profession +of arms as a national industry. + +The choice lies with the German people. And how admirably has +our great President shown that people that we war not with them +but with the autocracy which has led them into the shambles of +dishonour. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE GERMAN PEOPLE IN WAR + +With the declaration of war the ultimate power in Germany was +transferred from the civil to the military authorities. + +At five o'clock on the afternoon of Friday, and immediately after +the declaration of a State of War, the Guard of the Grenadier +Regiment Kaiser Alexander, under the command of a Lieutenant with +four drummers, took its place before the monument of Frederick +the Great in the middle of the Unter den Linden. The drummers +sounded a ruffle on their drums and the Lieutenant read an order +beginning with the words "By all highest order: A State of War +is proclaimed in Berlin and in the Province of Brandenburg." +This order was signed by General von Kessel as Over-Commander +of the Mark of Brandenburg; and stated that the complete power +was transferred to him; that the civil officials might remain +in office, but must obey the orders and regulations of the +Over-Commander; that house-searchings and arrests by officials +thereto empowered could take place at any time; that strangers +who could not show good reason for remaining in Berlin, had +twenty-four hours in which to leave; that the sale of weapons, +powder and explosives to civilians was forbidden; and that civilians +were forbidden to carry weapons without permission of the proper +authorities. + +The same transfer of authority took place in each army +corps--_Bezirk_, or province or district in Germany; and +in each army corps district or province the commanding general +took over the ultimate power. In Berlin it was necessary to create +a new officer, the Over-Commander of the Mark, because two army +corps, the third and the army corps of the guards, had their +head-quarters in Berlin. These army corps commanders were not +at all bashful about the use of the power thus transferred to +them. Some of them even prescribed the length of the dresses +to be worn by the women; and many women, having followed the +German sport custom of wearing knickerbockers in the winter sports +resorts of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Generalkommando, or +Headquarters for Bavaria issued in January, 1917, the following +order: "The appearance of many women in Garmisch-Partenkirchen +has excited lively anger and indignation in the population there. +This bitterness is directed particularly against certain women, +frequently of ripe age, who do not engage in sports, but nevertheless +show themselves in public continually clad in knickerbockers. It +has even happened that women so dressed have visited churches +during the service. Such behaviour is a cruelty to the earnest +minds of the mountain population and, in consequence, there are +often many disagreeable occurrences in the streets. Officials, +priests and private citizens have turned to the Generalkommando +with the request for help; and the Generalkommando has, therefore, +empowered the district officials in Garmisch-Partenkirchen to +take energetic measures against this misconduct; if necessary +with the aid of the police." + +I spent two days at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in February, 1916. +Some of the German girls looked very well in their "knickers," +but I agree with the Generalkommando that the appearance of some +of the older women was "cruelty" not only to the "earnest mountain +population" but to any observer. + +These corps commanders are apparently responsible direct to the +Emperor; and therefore much of the difficulty that I had concerning +the treatment of prisoners was due to this system, as each corps +commander considered himself supreme in his own district not +only over the civil and military population but over the prison +camps within his jurisdiction. + +On the fourth of August, 1914, a number of laws were passed, +which had been evidently prepared long in advance, making various +changes made necessary by war, such as alteration of the Coinage +Law, the Bank Law, and the Law of Maximum Prices. Laws as to +the high prices were made from time to time. For instance, the +law of the twenty-eighth of October, 1914, provided in detail +the maximum prices for rye in different parts of Germany. The +maximum price at wholesale per German ton of native rye must +not exceed 220 marks in Berlin, 236 marks in Cologne, 209 marks +in Koenigsberg, 228 marks in Hamburg, 235 marks in Frankfort a/M. + +The maximum price for the German ton of native wheat was set at +forty marks per ton higher than the above rates for rye. This +maximum price was made with reference to deliveries without sacks +and for cash payments. + +The law as to the maximum prices applied to all objects of daily +necessity, not only to food and fodder but to oil, coal and wood. +Of course, these maximum prices were changed from time to time, +but I think I can safely state that at no time in the war, while +I was in Berlin, were the simple foods more expensive than in +New York. + +The so-called "war bread," the staple food of the population, +which was made soon after the commencement of the war, was composed +partially of rye and potato flour. It was not at all unpalatable, +especially when toasted; and when it was seen that the war would +not be as short as the Germans had expected, the bread cards +were issued. That is, every Monday morning each person was given +a card which had annexed to it a number of little perforated +sections about the size of a quarter of a postage stamp, each +marked with twenty-five, fifty or one hundred. The total of these +figures constituted the allowance of each person in grammes per +week. The person desiring to buy bread either at a baker's or in +a restaurant must turn in these little stamped sections for an +amount equivalent to the weight of bread purchased. Each baker +was given a certain amount of meal at the commencement of each +week, and he had to account for this meal at the end of the week +by turning in its equivalent in bread cards. + +As food became scarce, the card system was applied to meat, potatoes, +milk, sugar, butter and soap. Green vegetables and fruits were +exempt from the card system, as were for a long time chickens, +ducks, geese, turkeys and game. Because of these exemptions the +rich usually managed to live well, although the price of a goose +rose to ridiculous heights. There was, of course, much underground +traffic in cards and sales of illicit or smuggled butter, etc. +The police were very stern in their enforcement of the law and +the manager of one of the largest hotels in Berlin was taken to +prison because he had made the servants give him their allowance +of butter, which he in turn sold to the rich guests of the hotel. + +No one over six years of age at the time I left could get milk +without a doctor's certificate. One result of this was that the +children of the poor were surer of obtaining milk than before +the war, as the women of the Frauendienst and social workers +saw to it that each child had its share. + +The third winter of the war, owing to a breakdown of means of +transportation and want of laborers, coal became very scarce. +All public places, such as theatres, picture galleries, museums, +and cinematograph shows, were closed in Munich for want of coal. +In Berlin the suffering was not as great but even the elephants +from Hagenbeck's Show were pressed into service to draw the coal +carts from the railway stations. + +Light was economized. All the apartment houses (and all Berlin +lives in apartment houses) were closed at nine o'clock. Stores +were forbidden to illuminate their show windows and all theatres +were closed at ten. Only every other street electric light was +lit; of the three lights in each lamp, only one. + +As more and more men were called to the front, women were employed +in unusual work. The new underground road in Berlin is being +built largely by woman labour. This is not so difficult a matter +in Berlin as in New York, because Berlin is built upon a bed +of sand and the difficulties of rock excavation do not exist. +Women are employed on the railroads, working with pickaxes on +the road-bed. Women drive the great yellow post carts of Berlin. +There were women guards on the underground road, women conductors +on the tramways and women even become motor men on the tramcars. +Banks, insurance companies and other large business institutions +were filled with women workers who invaded the sacred precincts +of many military and governmental offices. + +A curious development of the hate of all things foreign was the +hunt led by the Police President of Berlin, von Jagow (a cousin +of the Foreign Minister), for foreign words. Von Jagow and his +fellow cranks decided that all words of foreign origin must be +expunged from the German language. The title of the Hotel Bristol +on the Unter den Linden disappeared. The Hotel Westminster on +the same street became Lindenhof. There is a large hotel called +"The Cumberland," with a pastry department over which there was +a sign, the French word, _Confissérie_. The management was +compelled to take this sign down, but the hotel was allowed to +retain the name of Cumberland, because the father-in-law of the +Kaiser's only daughter is the Duke of Cumberland. The word +"chauffeur" was eliminated, and there, were many discussions as +to what should be substituted. Many declared for Kraftwagenfuhrer +or "power wagon driver." + +But finally the word was Germanised as "Schauffoer." Prussians +took down the sign, _Confektion_, but the climax came when +the General in command of the town of Breslau wrote a confectioner +telling him to stop the use of the word "_bonbon_" in selling +his candy. The confectioner, with a sense of humour and a nerve +unusual in Germany, wrote back to the General that he would gladly +discontinue the use of the word "_bonbon_" when the General +ceased to call himself "General," and called the attention of +this high military authority to the fact that "General" was as +much a French word as "_bonbon_." + +Unusual means were adopted in order to get all the gold coins +in the country into the Imperial Bank. There were signs in every +surface and underground car which read, "Whoever keeps back a +gold coin injures the Fatherland." And if a soldier presented +to his superiors a twenty mark gold piece, he received in return +twenty marks in paper money and two days leave of absence. In +like manner a school boy who turned in ten marks in gold received +ten marks in paper and was given a half holiday. Cinematograph +shows gave these patrons who paid in gold an extra ticket, good +for another day. An American woman residing at Berlin was awakened +one morning at eight o'clock by two police detectives who told +her that they had heard that she had some gold coins in her +possession, and that if she did not turn them in for paper money +they would wreck her apartment in their search for them. She, +therefore, gave them the gold which I afterwards succeeded in +getting the German Government to return to her. Later, the export +of gold was forbidden, and even travellers arriving with gold +were compelled to give it up in return for paper money. + +While, of course, I cannot ascertain the exact amounts, I found, +nevertheless, that great quantities of food and other supplies +came into Germany from Holland and the Scandinavian countries, +particularly from Sweden. Now that we are in the war we should +take strong measures and cut off exports to these countries which +export food, raw material, etc. to Germany. Sweden is particularly +active in this traffic, but I understand that sulphur pyrites +are sent from Norway, and sulphuric acid made therefrom is an +absolute essential to the manufacture of munitions of war. + +Potash, which is found as a mineral only in Germany and Austria, +was used in exchange of commodities with Sweden and in this way +much copper, lard, etc. reached Germany. + +Early in the summer of 1915, the first demonstration took place +in Berlin. About five hundred women collected in front of the +Reichstag building. They were promptly suppressed by the police +and no newspaper printed an account of the occurrence. These +women were rather vague in their demands. They called von Buelow +an old fat-head for his failure in Italy and complained that the +whipped cream was not so good as before the war. There was some +talk of high prices for food, and the women all said that they +wanted their men back from the trenches. + + * * * * * + +Early summer brought also a number of cranks to Berlin. Miss Jane +Addams and her fellow suffragists, after holding a convention +in Holland, moved on Berlin. I succeeded in getting both the +Chancellor and von Jagow to consent to receive them, a meeting to +which they looked forward with unconcealed perturbation. However, +one of them seems to have impressed Miss Addams, for, as I write +this, I read in the papers that she is complaining that we should +not have gone to war because we thereby risk hurting somebody's +feelings. + + * * * * * + +On July twenty-seventh, 1915, I reported that I had learned that +the Germans were picking out the Revolutionists and Liberals +from the many Russian prisoners of war, furnishing them with +money and false passports and papers, and sending them back to +Russia to stir up a revolution. + + * * * * * + +A German friend of mine told me that a friend of his who manufactured +field glasses had received a large order from the Bulgarian +Government. This manufacturer went to the Foreign Office and +asked whether he should deliver the goods. He was told not only +to deliver them but to do it as quickly as possible. By learning +of this I was able to predict long in advance the entry of Bulgaria +on the side of the Central Powers. + + * * * * * + +Even a year after the commencement of the war there were reasonable +people in Germany. I met Ballin, head of the great Hamburg American +Line, on August ninth. I said to him, "When are you going to +stop this crazy fighting?" The next day Ballin called on me and +said that the sensible people of Germany wanted peace and that +without annexation. He told me that every one was afraid to talk +peace, that each country thought it a sign of weakness, and that +he had advised the Chancellor to put a statement in an official +paper to say that Germany fought only to defend herself and was +ready to make an honourable peace. He told me that the Emperor at +that time was against the annexation of Belgium. + + * * * * * + +In calculating the great war debt built up by Germany, it must +not be forgotten that German municipalities and other political +districts have incurred large debts for war purposes, such as +extra relief given to the wives and children of soldiers. + + * * * * * + +In November, 1915, there were food disturbances and a serious +agitation against a continuance of the war; and, in Leipzig, +a Socialist paper was suppressed. + + * * * * * + +The greatest efforts were made at all times to get in gold; and +some time before I left Germany an advertisement was published +in the newspapers requesting Germans to give up their jewelry for +the Fatherland. Many did so: among them, I believe, the Empress +and other royalties. + + * * * * * + +In December, 1915, a prominent banker in Berlin said to me that +the Germans were sick of the war; that the Krupps and other big +industries were making great sums of money and were prolonging +the war by insisting upon the annexation of Belgium; and that +the Junkers were also in favour of the continuance of the war +because of the fact that they were getting four or five times +the money for their products while their work was being done by +prisoners. He said that the _Kaufleute_ (merchant middle class) +will have to pay the cost of the war and that the Junkers will +not be taxed. + + * * * * * + +In December, butter became very scarce and the women waiting +in long lines before the shops often rushed the shops. In this +month many copper roofs were removed from buildings in Berlin. +I was told by a friend in the Foreign Office that the notorious +von Rintelen was sent to America to buy up the entire product of +the Dupont powder factories, and that he exceeded his authority +if he did anything else. + +In December, on the night of the day of the peace interpellation +in the Reichstag a call was issued by placards for a meeting +on the Unter den Linden. I went out on the streets during the +afternoon and found that the police had so carefully divided +the city into districts that it was impossible for a crowd of +any size to gather on the Unter den Linden. There was quite a +row at the session in the Reichstag. Scheidemann, the Socialist, +made a speech very moderate in tone; but he was answered by the +Chancellor and then an endeavour was made to close the debate. +The Socialists made such a noise, however, that the majority gave +way and another prominent Socialist, Landsberger, was allowed +to speak for the Socialists. He also made a reasonable speech +in the course of which he said that even Socialists would not +allow Alsace-Lorraine to go back to France. He made use of a +rather good phrase, saying that the "Dis-United States of Europe +were making war to make a place for the United States of America." + + * * * * * + +The banks sent out circulars to all holders of safe deposit boxes, +asking them to disclose the contents. This was part of the campaign +to get in hoarded gold. + + * * * * * + +In January, 1916, we had many visitors. S. S. McClure, Hermann +Bernstein, Inez Milholland Boissevain--all of the Ford Peace +Ship--appeared in Berlin. I introduced Mrs. Boissevain to Zimmermann +who admired her extremely. + + * * * * * + +In January, 1916, I visited Munich and from there a Bavarian +officer prison camp and the prison camp for private soldiers, +both at Ingolstadt. I also conferred with Archdeacon Nies of +the American Episcopal Church who carried on a much needed work +in visiting the prison camps in Bavaria. + + * * * * * + +The American Colony in Munich maintained with the help of friends +in America, a Red Cross hospital under the able charge of Dr. +Jung, a Washington doctor, and his wife. The nursing was done by +American and German girls. The American Colony at Munich also fed +a number of school children every day. I regret to say, however, +that many of the Americans in Munich were loud in their abuse of +President Wilson and their native country. + + * * * * * + +In March, 1916, I was sounded on the question of Germany's sending +an unofficial envoy, like Colonel House, to America to talk +informally to the President and prominent people. I was told that +Solf would probably be named. + + * * * * * + +In 1916, the importation of many articles of luxury into Germany +was forbidden. This move was naturally made in order to keep +money in the country. + + * * * * * + +A Dane who had a quantity of manganese in Brazil sold it to a +Philadelphia firm for delivery to the United States Steel Company. +The German Government in some way learned of this and the Dane +was arrested and put in jail. His Minister had great difficulty +in getting him out. + + * * * * * + +Liebknecht, in April of 1916, made matters lively at the Reichstag +sessions. During the Chancellor's speech, Liebknecht interrupted +him and said that the Germans were not free; next he denied that +the Germans had not wished war; and, another time, he called +attention to the attempts of the Germans to induce the Mohammedan +and Irish prisoners of war to desert to the German side. Liebknecht +finally enraged the government supporters by calling out that +the subscription to the loan was a swindle. + + * * * * * + +After the _Sussex_ settlement I think that the Germans wished +to inaugurate an era of better feeling between Germany and the +United States. At any rate, and in answer to many anonymous attacks +made against me, the _North_German_Gazette_, the official +newspaper, published a sort of certificate from the government +to the effect that I was a good boy and that the rumours of my +bitter hostility to Germany were unfounded. + + * * * * * + +In May, 1916, Wertheim, head of the great department store in +Berlin, told me that they had more business than in peace times. + + * * * * * + +Early in June 1 had two long talks with Prince von Buelow. He +speaks English well and is suspected by his enemies of having +been polishing it up lately in order to make ready for possible +peace conferences. He is a man of a more active brain than the +present Chancellor, and is very restless and anxious in some +way to break into the present political situation. + + * * * * * + +In June, the anonymous attacks on the Chancellor by pamphlet +and otherwise, incensed him to such a degree that he made an +open answer in the Reichstag and had rather the best of the +situation. Many anonymous lies and rumours were flying about +Berlin at this period, and even Helfferich had to deny publicly +the anonymous charges that he had been anonymously attacking +the Chancellor. + + * * * * * + +In July, the committee called the National Committee for an +Honourable Peace was formed with Prince Wedel at its head. Most +of the people in this League were friends of the Chancellor, and +one of the three real heads was the editor of the +_Frankfurter_Zeitung_, the Chancellor's organ. It was planned that +fifty speakers from this committee would begin to speak all over +Germany on August first, but when they began to speak their views +were so dissimilar and the speeches of most of them so ridiculous +that the movement failed. + + * * * * * + +In August, I spent two Saturdays and Sundays at Heringsdorf, +a summer resort on the Baltic. Before going there I had to get +special permission from the military authorities through the +Foreign Office, as foreigners are not allowed to reside on the +coast of Germany. Regulations that all windows must be darkened +at night and no lights shown which could be seen from the sea +were strictly enforced by the authorities. + +There are three bathing places. In each of them the bath houses, +etc. surround three sides of a square, the sea forming the fourth +side. Bathing is allowed only on this fourth side for a space +of sixty-five yards long. One of these bathing places is for +women and one for men, and the third is the so-called Familienbad +(family bath) where mixed bathing is allowed. German women are +very sensible in the matter of their bathing costumes and do +not wear the extraordinary creations seen in America. They wear +bathing sandals but no stockings, and, as most of them have fine +figures but dress badly, they appear at their best at Heringsdorf. +Both sea and air seemed somewhat cold for bathing. On account +of their sensible dress, most of the German women are expert +swimmers. + +I noticed one very handsome blonde girl who sat on her bathing +mantle exciting the admiration of the beach because of her fine +figure. She suddenly dived into the pockets of the bathing mantle +and produced an enormous black bread sandwich which she proceeded +to consume quite unconsciously, after which she swam out to sea. +No healthy German can remain long separated from food; and I +noticed in the prospectus of the different boarding-houses at +Heringsdorf that patrons were offered, in addition to about four +meals or more a day, an extra sandwich to take to the beach to +be consumed during the bathing hour. + + * * * * * + +There is a beautiful little English church in Berlin which was +especially favoured by the Kaiser's mother during her life. Because +of this, the Kaiser permitted this church to remain open, and +the services were continued during the war. The pastor, Rev. Mr. +Williams, obtained permission to visit the British prisoners, +and most devotedly travelled from one prison camp to another. +Both he and his sister, whose charitable work for the British +deserves mention, were at one time thrown into jail, charged +with spying. + + * * * * * + +I at first attended the hybrid American church, but when, in +1915, I think, the committee hired a German _woman_ preacher +I ceased to attend. The American, the Reverend Dr. Crosser, who +was in charge when I arrived in Berlin left, to my everlasting +regret, in the spring before the war. + + * * * * * + +Poor Creelman, the celebrated newspaper correspondent, died in +Berlin. We got him in to a good hospital and some one from the +Embassy visited him every day. + +The funeral services were conducted in the American Church by +the Rev. Dr. Dickie, long a resident of Berlin, whose wife had +presented the library to the American church. The Foreign Office +sent Herr Horstmann as its representative. + + * * * * * + +While to-day all royalties and public men pose for the movies, +Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria and his family are probably the first +royalties to act in a cinematograph. In 1916, there was released +in Berlin a play in which Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria, his wife +and two daughters by a former wife appeared, acting as Bulgarian +royalties in the development of the plot. + + * * * * * + +The difference between von Jagow and Zimmermann was that von +Jagow had lived abroad, had met people from all countries and +knew that there was much to learn about the psychology of the +inhabitants of countries other than Germany. Zimmermann, in the +early part of his career, had been consul at Shanghai; and, on +his way back, had passed through America, spending two days in +San Francisco and three in New York. He seemed to think that +this transcontinental trip had given him an intimate knowledge +of American character. Von Jagow, on the other hand, almost as +soon as war began, spent many hours talking to me about America +and borrowed from me books and novels on that country. The novel +in which he took the greatest interest was "Turmoil," by Booth +Tarkington. + + * * * * * + +I think there must have been a period quite recently when the +German Government tried to imbue the people with a greater degree +of frightfulness, because all of us in visiting camps, etc. observed +that the _landsturm_ men or older soldiers were much more merciful +than the younger ones. + + * * * * * + +Alexander Cochran, a New York yachtsman, volunteered to become a +courier between the London Embassy and ours. On his first trip, +although he had two passports (his regular passport and a special +courier's passport), he was arrested and compelled to spend the +night on the floor of the guard-room at the frontier town of +Bentheim. This ended his aspirations to be a courier. He is now +a commander in the British Navy, having joined it with his large +steam yacht, the _Warrior_ some time before the United States +entered the war. In the piping times of peace he had been the +guest of the Emperor at Kiel. + + * * * * * + +A British prisoner, who escaped from Ruhleben, was caught in a +curious manner. Prisoners in Ruhleben received bread from outside, +as I have explained in the chapter on prisoners of war. This bread +is white, something unknown in Germany since the war. The escaped +prisoner took with him some sandwiches made of the bread he had +received in Ruhleben and most incautiously ate one of these +sandwiches in a railway station. He was immediately surrounded +by a crowd of Germans anxious to know where he had obtained the +white bread, and, in this way, was detected and returned to prison. + + * * * * * + +On our way out in September, 1916, we were given a large dinner +in Copenhagen by our skilful minister there, the Hon. Maurice +F. Egan, who has devoted many years of his life to the task of +adding the three beautiful Danish islands to the dominions of the +United States. He is an able diplomat, very popular in Copenhagen, +where he is dean of the diplomatic corps. At this dinner we met +Countess Hegerman-Lindencron, whose interesting books, "The Sunny +Side of Diplomatic Life" and "The Courts of Memory," have had +a large circulation in America. In Copenhagen, too, both on the +way out and in, we lunched with Count Rantzau-Brockedorff, then +German Minister there. Count Rantzau is skilful and wily, and not +at all military in his instincts; and, I should say, far more +inclined to arrive at a reasonable compromise than the average +German diplomat. He is a charming International, with none of the +rough points and aggressive manners which characterise so many +Prussian officials. + + * * * * * + +In judging the German people, we must remember that, while they +have made great progress in the last forty years in commerce +and chemistry, the very little liberty they possess is a plant +of very recent growth. About the year 1780, Frederick the Great +having sent some money to restore the burned city of Greiffenberg, +in Silesia, the magistrates of that town called upon him to thank +him. They kneeled and their spokesman said, "We render unto your +Majesty in the name of the inhabitants of Greiffenberg, our humble +thanks for the most gracious gift which your Majesty deigned to +bestow in aid and to assist us in rebuilding our homes. + +"The gratitude of such dust as we, is, as we are aware, of no +moment or value to you. We shall, however, implore God to grant +your Majesty His divine favours in return for your royal bounty." + +Too many Germans, to-day, feel that they are mere dust before +the almost countless royalties of the German Empire. And these +royalties are too prone to feel that the kingdoms, dukedoms and +principalities of Germany and their inhabitants are their private +property. The Princes of Nassau and Anspach and Hesse, at the +time of our Revolution, sold their unfortunate subjects to the +British Government to be exported to fight the Americans. Our +American soil covers the bones of many a poor German peasant +who gave up his life in a war from which he gained nothing. + + * * * * * + +When Frederick the Great, the model and exemplar of all German +royalties; died in 1786, he disposed of the Kingdom of Prussia +in his will as if it had been one of his horses. "I bequeath +unto my dear nephew, Frederick William, as unto my immediate +successor, the Kingdom of Prussia, the provinces, towns, palaces, +forts, fortresses, all ammunition and arsenals, all lands mine +by inheritance or right of conquest, the crown jewels, gold and +silver service of plate in Berlin, country houses, collections +of coins, picture galleries, gardens, and so forth." Contrast +this will with the utterances of Washington and Hamilton made +at the same time! + +In the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg, serfdom was not abolished +until 1819. + + * * * * * + +The spies and the influencers of American correspondents made +their headquarters at a large Berlin hotel. A sketch of their +activities is given by de Beaufort in his book, "Behind the German +Veil." + + * * * * * + +Among the American correspondents in Berlin during the war great +credit should be given to Carl W. Ackerman and Seymour B. Conger, +correspondents of the United and Associated Presses respectively, +who at all times and in spite of their surroundings and in the +face of real difficulties preserved their Americanism unimpaired +and refused to succumb to the alluring temptations held out to +them. I do not mean to imply that the other correspondents were +not loyal, but the pro-Germanism of many of them unfortunately +gave the Imperial Foreign Office and the great general staff a +wrong impression of Americans. It is the splendid patriotism +under fire of Ackerman and Conger that deserves special mention. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +LAST + +I was credited by the Germans with having hoodwinked and jollied +the Foreign Office and the Government into refraining for two +years from using illegally their most effective weapon. + +This, of course, is not so. I always told the Foreign Office the +plain simple truth and the event showed that I correctly predicted +the attitude of America. + +Our American national game, poker, has given us abroad an unfair +reputation. We are always supposed to be bluffing. A book was +published in Germany about the President called, "President Bluff." + +I only regret that those high in authority in Germany should +have preferred to listen to pro-German correspondents who posed +as amateur super-Ambassadors rather than to the authorised +representatives of America. I left Germany with a clear conscience +and the knowledge that I had done everything possible to keep +the peace. + +An Ambassador, of course, does not determine the policy of his +own country. One of his principal duties, if not the principal +one, is to keep his own country informed--to know beforehand what +the country to which he is accredited will do, and I think that +I managed to give the State Department advance information of +the moves of the rulers of Germany. + +I had the support of a loyal and devoted staff of competent +secretaries and assistants, and both Secretaries Bryan and Lansing +were most kind in the backing given by their very ably organised +department. + +I sent Secretary Lansing a confidential letter every week and, of +course, received most valuable hints from him. Secretary Lansing +was very successful in his tactful handling of the American +Ambassadors abroad and in getting them to work together as cheerful +members of the same team. + +When I returned to America, after living for two and a half years +in the centre of this world calamity, everything seemed petty +and small. I was surprised that people could still seek little +advantages, still be actuated by little jealousies and revenges. +Freed from the round of daily work I felt for the first time the +utter horror and uselessness of all the misery these Prussian +military autocrats had brought upon the world; and what a reckoning +there will be in Germany some day when the plain people realise +the truth, when they learn what base motives actuated their rulers +in condemning a whole generation of the earth to war and death! + +Is it not a shame that the world should have been so disturbed; +that peaceful men are compelled to lie out in the mud and filth +in the depth of raw winter, shot at and stormed at and shelled, +waiting for a chance to murder some other inoffensive fellow +creature? Why must the people in old Poland die of hunger, not +finding dogs enough to eat in the streets of Lemberg? The long +lines of broken peasants in Serbia and in Roumania; the population +of Belgium and Northern France torn from their homes to work +as slaves for the Germans; the poor prisoners of war starving +in their huts or working in factories and mines; the cries of +the old and the children, wounded by bombs from Zeppelins; the +wails of the mothers for their sons; the very rustling of the air +as the souls of the ten million dead sweep to another world,--why +must all these horrors come upon a fair green earth, where we +believed that love and help and friendship, genius and science +and commerce, religion and civilisation, once ruled? + +It is because in the dark, cold Northern plains of Germany there +exists an autocracy, deceiving a great people, poisoning their +minds from one generation to another and preaching the virtue +and necessity of war; and until that autocracy is either wiped +out or made powerless, there can be no peace on earth. + +The golden dream of conquest was almost accomplished. A little +more advance, a few more wagon loads of ammunition, and there +would have been no battle of the Marne, no Joffre, a modern Martel, +to hammer back the invading hordes of barbarism. + +I have always stated that Germany is possessed yet of immense +military power; and, to win, the nations opposed to Germany must +learn to think in a military way. The mere entrance, even of +a great nation like our own, into the war, means nothing in a +military way unless backed by military power. + +And there must be no German peace. The old _régime_, left +in control of Germany, of Bulgaria, of Turkey, would only seek +a favourable moment to renew the war, to strive again for the +mastery of the world. + +Fortunately America bars the way,--America led by a fighting +President who win allow no compromise with brutal autocracy. + + +THE END + + +[Illustration: THIS AND THE FOLLOWING FIVE PAGES ARE A FAC-SIMILE +REPRODUCTION OF THE TELEGRAM IN THE KAISER'S OWN HANDWRITING +WHICH HE GAVE AMBASSADOR GERARD TO CABLE TO PRESIDENT WILSON.] + +[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF SECRETARY OF STATE ZIMMERMAN'S REQUEST +TO AMBASSADOR GERARD TO CALL IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE ANNOUNCEMENT +OF RUTHLESS SUBMARINE WARFARE AGAINST THE ALLIES.] + +[Illustration: THE REMODELLED DRAFT OF THE TREATY OF 1799 BETWEEN +THE UNITED STATES AND PRUSSIA, WHICH AMBASSADOR GERARD WAS ASKED +TO SIGN WHEN LEAVING GERMANY AFTER DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS HAD BEEN +SEVERED.] + +[Illustration: A FAC-SIMILE REPRODUCTION OF A MULTIGRAPH SET OF +INSTRUCTIONS SENT OUT BY THE GERMAN PRESS BUREAU TO THE NEWSPAPERS +FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENABLING THEM TO WRITE UP THE LATEST ZEPPELIN +RAID ON LONDON. THE INSTRUCTIONS WARN THEM THAT THEIR ACCOUNTS +MUST NOT READ LIKE A REPRINT, BUT MUST SEEM TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN +INDEPENDENTLY.] + +[Illustration: A PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, +CIRCULATED FOR SIGNATURES AMONG THE AMERICANS IN EUROPE, OSTENSIBLY +TO PROTEST AGAINST THE AMERICAN MANUFACTURE OF MUNITIONS OF WAR.] + +[Illustration: FIRST PAGE OF A PAMPHLET FOR PROPAGANDA PURPOSES, +IN WHICH WIDE PUBLICITY WAS GIVEN TO LISSAUER'S FAMOUS "HYMN +OF HATE".] + +[Illustration: AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF TEUTONIC EFFICIENCY. MINUTE +REGULATIONS IN REGARD TO PRESENTATION AT COURT.] + +[Illustration: A BERLIN EXTRA. GERMANY DISCLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY +FOR THE WAR.] + +[Illustration: INVITATION TO SAIL ON S. M. J. "METEOR".] + +[Illustration: INVITATION TO DINE ON THE KAISER'S YACHT, +"HOHENZOLLERN," AT KIEL.] + +[Illustration: INVITATION TO THE GARDEN PARTY AT KIEL OF PRINCE +HENRY OF PRUSSIA, WHICH WAS GIVEN UP BECAUSE OF THE NEWS OF THE +MURDERS AT SARAJEVO.] + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's My Four Years in Germany, by James W. Gerard + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY *** + +This file should be named 8mfyg10.txt or 8mfyg10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8mfyg11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8mfyg10a.txt + +Produced by Robert J. Hall + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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