The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-12-10
GOVERNMENT HAS
. MASS OF EVIDENCE


Frank Won Rintelen reached New
York yesterday from England and was
arrested aboard the liner before he land.
ed, having been sent back to the United
States by the British government. His
activities in the United States have
been knOWnsto the authorities for some
time and he was being used as an un-
conscious decoy by the secret service
men in the nationwide investigation
which has been under way. Becoming
suspicious that he was under surveil-
lance, he attempted to escape, boarding
a liner for England under an assumed
name and forged passport.
he was arrested by the British au
thorities and held as prisoner in the
Tower of London, his position in Ger
man court circles making him prison
er Of importance, an importance which
was proved when the Kaiser offered to
exchange several British and French Of
fcers for him, offers which the British,
in communication with Washington, de-
clined to entertain.
Won Rintelen 3 arrest Is regarded rs
very important in connection with the
general investigation of the war plots.
The New York press has discussed his
connection with the use of the alleged
German corruption fund and has specu-
lated on the probability of his surrender
to the United States by the British.
The New York Times of November
%, discussing his case and the general
"war plot situation, says that the
government has massed its evidence
against German and Austro Hungar ian
conspiratOrs who since the beginning of
the war have plotted to prevent war
munitions from reaching the Allies, and
is soon to place it all in the hands Of
federal grand jury in the Southern
District of New York for action. This
means, in the opinion of those in n posi-
tion to know, that blanket indictment
will be asked against all the persons in
volved who can be reached under the
laws of the United States.
The evidence now being whipped
into shape covers practically the whole
field of the pro-German activities of a
criminal kind. 1t goes back to the very
beginning of the war, when the traffic
in fraudulent passports was at it's height
and when German supply ships, which
the United States government contends
were nothing more or less than German
naval auxiliaries, were clearing from
various American ports to go to the aid
of the German raiders then operating
in the Atlantic,
Prominent Men Involved
But the passport frauds are perhaps
the least important of all the dis
closures to be laid before the grand
jury. No names will be withheld, not
even those of persOnages who because
of their status are immune from ar
rest or prosecution while in thrs cOun-
try. The roll of names will include
several diplomats, at fewest two of
them of worldwide fame; consular of
fcials, American citizens who have as
sisted the conspirators; Germans, Aus
TRANS and Hungarians, such as Robert
Fay, the indicted and confessed muni.
ton ship plOtter and Gustav Stahl,
who is in the federal penitentiary in
Atlanta serving sentence for his
part in passport frauds.
Some of those who are American
citizens are said to be prominent in
vOlved. And all of these people, it
will be shown, took orders from the
same persons "higher up"
SO vast is the amount of evidence,
documentary and otherwise, that it
would take weeks to present it in its
complete form. For that reason, it is
understood it will be placed before the
grand jury in skeleton form.
The documentary evidence was gath
cred both in this country and in for
eign lands, and u part of IL is said
to be unpublished correspondence and
documents found in the possession of
an American citizen who recently was
held up by the British authorities
Copies &C this correspondence was
placed in the hands Of the government.