The Washington herald., 1915-11-24
Is the Unmasking at Hand!

At the opening of the trial. in New York yes
terday, of officials of the Hamburg-Ameriean
Steamship Company on charges of conspiracy to
violate the neutrality of this country represent
stives of the United States government announced
that they expected to prove that it was under the
direction of Capt Boyd, naval attache of the
German Embassy in Washington, that $4,000
was spent in ehartering and supplying neutral
steamers with coal and provisions for German
men-of-war in the Atlantic and Pacific in August,
1914. With such evidence in its possession the
failure of the administration to demand the recall
of Boyd is inexplicablc. unless il be that way
has been found to punish him and his associates
in this country and that on the eve of a
great sensation involving the representatives of
Germany and Austria Hungary. If it is true that
the administration, in refraining from demanding
the recall of Boyd and Won Papen. when such
a course was amply justified, had sterner measures
in view, it must be given credit for radical
change in policy. When the activities of these
two diplomats against industrial interests were
first exposed public sentiment would have been
satisfied with a peremptory demand for their re-
call, and the Berlin government could but have
recognized the justice of the demand and complied
with il, even though it were with no better grace
than in the case of Austria and DR.. Dumba. Now,
however with sensational public exposure of a
series of deliberately hostile acts threatened the
way out is not so easy. Even if the American
public will regard the handing of passports to the
guilty ones as an adequate penalty, this cannot be
done under present circumstances without again
bringing international relations to high tension
The fact that Germany failed to voluntarily
recall Boyd and Won Papen, when it became
plainly apparent that their usefulness in any legt-
mate direction in this country at end, is
no less puzzling than the failure of Washington
to demand that they be ordered home. 1t must
be assumed that it was Berlin's purpose to show
its contempt of US or else that it had work for
these two representatives to do in this country
not in any way connected with the relations of its
embassy to the Washington State Department.
Considering the evidence that has been accumu-
lated, and the fact that the underhanded activities
referred to in DR.. Dumba's letter found upon the
person of Archibald have continued, the latter
view is the more logical The public will be slow
to believe however, that warned it was, our
own government has failed to have the every
movement of these representatives of supposedly
friendly nation vigilantly observed. 1t is incon-
ceivable that they have been permitted to nstgate
any attacks upon our neutrality industrial
interests, and therefore to assume that the
outrages that have been perpetrated within the past
few weeks are due to the operation of machinery
set in motion before the Washington officials
were aroused to the serious import of the
ing they received.
If we approaching general Punishment OF
undesirables and unmasking of false friends
within our borders there will be reason for nation
al rejoicing.