The Elbert County tribune., 1917-09-28

ing whatsoever to do with advertising.
! The other was n large safe. bearing the
insignia of the German imperial gov
| ernment
One morning In April. 1915. govern
ment secret service men visited this
| same Wall street office while Won Igel
was preparing a mass of papers which
he had taken from the safe for traDs-
| fer to the German embassy In WASH
| ington.
Find Lists of Spies.
| When the papers were examined by
| the department of Justice the reason for
Won 1geIs determined fight became ap-
| parent Here, in the form of letters.
kilograms. notations. checks. receipts.
| ledgers. cashbooks. cipher codes. lists
| of spies. and other memoranda and rec
| ords were found indications-in some
| instances of the vaguest nature. in
| others of the most damnlng conclusive
ness-that the German Imperial gov
ernment. through it's representatives In
then friendly nation. was concerned
with:
Violation of the laws OF the United
States.
Destruction of lives and property in
merchant vessels on the high seas.
Irish revolutionary plots against
Great Britain.
Fomenting i'll feeling against the
United States In Mexico.
Subornation of American writers and
lecturers.
Financing of propaganda
Maintenance of n spy system under
the guise of a commercial investiga-
tion bureau
Subsidizing of bureau for the pur-
pose of stirring up labor troubles in
munition plants.
The bomb Industry and other related
activities.
koenig-Von Papen Commerce Bureau.
Perhaps the most Illuminating single
document in the collection is a letter of
July 20. 1915. reproduced as II ap-
peared upon the stationery of the Blu
reau of Investigation" This innocent.
pretending agency was at the outset
the secret service of the Hamburg
American Steamship company Under
Paul Koenig. its manager II became an
adjunct to the German diplomatic secret
service. xxx" Is the secret designa
tion of Koenig. who is now under in
dictments on criminal charges in con-
nection with this diplomatic" work
and is interned at Fort Oglethorpe.
The person represented by the figure
az 900" is Captain Won Papen. former
military attache OF the German en-
bassy and the practical executive of its
underground system The document de-
scrIbes the subterfuges of Xxx" (Koe-
nig) so that he might not be identified
by the mysterious - when they met.
xxx" states that money vas to be
drawn for the payment of $3.50 to the
tions. through Check No. 146 on the
Riggs National bank. Washington.
dated July 16. payable to--
signed amount $3.50. No rea-
son was given to why the payment
was made" says the report.
Bombs in Coal.
Several days after the payment the
recipient called at the passenger Of
fce of the line" and made a state
biCh To hnQ tad In, ha
xxx report.
my name is have an office
at the - building but do not care
to state my local address. 1 intend to
cause serious damage to vessels of the
allies leaving ports of the United States
by placing bombs. which / am making
myself. board. These bombs re-
| semble ordinary Jumps of coal and l
am planning to have them concealed in
| the coal to be laden on steamers of
| the allies"
Finally xxx states that ''the caller
brought with him sample bomb,
| such as has been described to you by
| the subscriber" and asks for the in
| structions.
The document is lettered at the foot,
20. R. to 1000" Indicating that the Sc
cret agent known as 20. r." had trans
mitted 1t to Won Papen.
| Check Is Traced.
Now for the proof. direct and unes-
| capable. Check li6 on the Riggs Nation
| al bank has been traced and added to
the secret service collection. 1t is pay
| able to Koenig and signed by Won Papen.
| Therefore Won Papen stands convicted
| on the evidence of a report claimed as
| an official document by the Germans, OF
| paying money to plotter designing to
| blow up merchant ships sailing from the
| port of New York. The person who made
this report is known to department OF
| Justice officials.
| Compare these documents with the fol.
| lowing authorized statement from Ber-
lin. transmitted by wireless for publica.
ton in the New York Times in December
1915:
| 1.-THE German government has, nat
urally. never knowingly accepted the sup
port OF any person. group of persons So
ciety or organization seeking to pro.
mote the cause OF Germany in the United
States by Illegal acts. by counsel or vi
olence by contravention of law, or by
any means whatever that could offend
the American people in the pride of their
own authority"
Destruction was not by any means
the sole interest of Koenig's energetic
bureau. 1t concerned itself also with
spy enterprises. To Koenig wrote Otto
| West, an American citizen and pro
prietor of the Hour Glass, at 3O3 (oi
36O Fifth avenue. recommending a rela.
| tive of his who. according to his de.
scription. must be an interesting anc
somewhat formidable figure Mr. Vests
description, somewhat curtailed. follows
He is a grandson of the late Ober.
hofprediger Strauss of Berlin. brother
of the present Militar Oberpfarrer Strauss
| of Potsdam nephew of the late Admiral
Won Sohleinitz., the late General Won Man.
| tey. etc. This gentleman changed his name
some twenty odd years ago to an Amer.
lean name. and none of his associates sus.
poets his German birth or antecedents
| He Is an international journalist of grea,
| repute, for years at the head of a news
paper organization In England
HE has a personal reason to be very
bitter against England. because two
| years ago tthis letter appears to have
| been written about June /. 1915 whicl
would make the date referred to the
| early summer of 1879 a certain attack