The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-12-24
GERMAN EFFORTS ID START REVOLT
 IN INDIA FAILS
Afghanistan Was Territory Selected for Creating Schism in English Rule
 in Far East

| London. December 1.-(Correspond-
 ence of the Associated Press )-After nearly two years of silence regarding l the situation in Afghanistan, where | 1t was known that German agents had
 been active in the early days of the war, | the British government has issued an ac- | count of the failure of the alleged Ger
 man plot for a great Afghan upris- | ing. The sponsors of the scheme, it is said. expected little difficulty in ob- ! taining the assistance of the Ameer of | Afghanistan and planned that the up- | rising would spread quickly across the
 borders into India. The Ameer, how
 ever, dismissed the German emissaries,
 refusing to have anything to do with
 their plots or their offers The British governments account.
 as given in the House of Commons by Austen Chamberlain. secretary of state
 for Indian, is as follows:
 'In the spring of 1915 the German government decided to send a mis-
 sion to Afghanistan. For this purpose l they selected from among a number or Indian anarchists in Berlin young | landowner from Oudh, who posed to
 them as ruling chief, and as such i was received in audience by the En- peror.
 This person was accompanied by a l party of German officers, some Turks, | and another Indian anarchist, a Mos
 lem. The principal German officer, l Lieutenant Von Hentig. was the bearer | of letter from the German chancel- l Tor to the Ameer. in which the lat l-ter was invited to advise the pretended
 rajah how best India might be liber-
 ated from British tyranny. ] Won Hentig was also charged to ] make important revelations to the Ameer regarding the relations which | the German government hoped would 1 in future exist between Afghanistan | Germany, Austria Hungary and Tur- 1 key.
 "The mission broke up in Persia and l succeeded in making its way in small l parties into Afghanistan in the late | summer. They were arrested on ar
 rival and eventually conveyed to Ka- 1 bull toward the end of the year. There Is reason to believe that the Ameer and l his people quickly appraised these Ger mans and the Indian adventurers, by | whom they were accompanied at their ] true value.
 | "It is true that the intervention of l Turkey under German influence ere l d majesty the Ameer in an exceeding ly difficult position.
 1 'But at the outbreak of the war his | majesty gave the viceroy of India the most solemn assurances of his inten- l tion to preserve the neutrality of his
 country and it is with great satis- l faction that I acknowledge on behalf | of his majesty's government the loy- i atty of the Ameer to his pledged word las sacred to the true Moslem as to | ourselves.
 His majesty has firmly refused the | inducements-as seductive as they are 1 ealizable-held out to him to in- duce him to forsake his ally, and has | used his influence to prevent disturb | ances on the frontier.
 l "The Ameer dismissed the mission in | May last. It would not be in the pub
 lie interest to state what has become
 of the various members. but some of j them have been captured by the Rus
 sians and the British after leaving l Afehanistan.
 "The estates of the Indian landown-
 CT have been sequestrated by the gov l ernment of India.
 | "Letters were also addressed by the ! German chancellor to a number of rul- l ing chiefs.'