Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1917-09-27
GERMAN PLOTS
AGAINST j. 5!
Barred BY RAID
!
Kaiser's Spy Net Covered the
Entire Country.
BERNSTORFF WAS THE CHIEF
Teutonic Secret Service, Under Com.
mercIaI Guise, Paid for Placing
Explosives on Ships-German
F! Money Paid for Revolt
in ireland.

The following exposure of Ger
many's espionage and desperate activ-
ity in America is possibly the most
startling made since the first declara-
ton of war in August, 1914. 1t is
based on official documents held by
the United States government which
have not hitherto been made available
to the press.
IBy the Committee on Public Infor-
=. mation.1
Washington, Sept. 24.-Within
lished in this country employed as the
headline to an article dealing with
rumor Of Gernan-American disaffec-
tion in this country the derisive legend,
sLieb' Washington, magst ruhig
Bein."
This is, of course, a parody on the
refrafn Of "Die Wacht am Rhein," the
German national hymn:
"Lieb' Vaterland, magst ruhig sein."
Loved fatherland, be restful Cor
nndisturbeO."
In the parody it carries a sheer COM
prehensible only to one who under
stands the German mode of speech and
thought.
Type of German Propaganda.
OF itself the instance is slight. But
1t typifies a certain important phase
Of the German propaganda which
Bubtly but persistently seeks to pre-
sent Germany's course in America in
the most favorable light, even to the
extent of defending the improper &C
hvities of the Teutonic diplomatic rep
resentatives before their passports
were given them.
Because of this continuing prOpa-
ganda certain documents in the pos
session of the department Of justice
now assume peculiar Importance, in
that they prove undeniably the init
mate relations between the accredited
representatives Of the kaiser in the
United States and plotters against the
laws and the security of this country,
whose enterprise did not fall short of
projected wholesale destruction of life
and property.
In the fall of 1914, when the Ger
man plots against Canada were foment-
Ing in this country, there was estab-
iished at 60 Wall street an "advertis-
Ing" office presided over by big,
Suave man of TeutOnic aspect named
Wolf Won Igel.
There were two peculiar features
about this office. One was that it was
frequented during two years of singu-
larly quiet and unbusinesslike exist
ence chiefly by Germans who had
nothing whatsoever to do with adver-
Using The other was a large safe,
bearing the insignia of the German i'm
perial government.
Won IgeI Defes U. S. Agents.
To this office there came one morn
ing in April, 1916, while Won Igel was
preparing a mass of papers which he
had taken from the safe for transfer
to the German embassy in Washington,
four United States secret service
agents from the department of justice,
who made their way past the guard
dians always ON duty, put Won Igel
nnder arrest and undertook to seize
the papers.
The German was large, powerful
and brave. With the aid of one asso-
2iate he stubbornly fought the officers,
striving to rescue the papers, to close
the safe, to get to the telephone and
communicate with his superiOrs. Re-
volyers were drawn by the secret SER
vice men. They produced 40 effect
lpon the intrepid Won Igile.
''This is German territory" he shout
ed. "Shoot me and you will bring on
war;"
There was no shooting. But after
A protracted struggle the defenders
were overpowered and the papers
seized
Find Proof Plot Was Laid.
When the papers were examined by
the department of justice the reason
for Won Igel's determined fight be-
rame apparent. Here in the form of
letters, kilograms, cashbooks, checks,
receipts, ledgers, cashbooks, cipher
codes, lists of spies, and other memo
randa and records, were found indica-
licns-in some instances Of vaguest ma
ture, in others of the most damning
oOncfusiveness-tha the German i'm
perial government, through it's repre-.
sentatives in q then friendly nation,
was concerned with
Violation of laws of the United
States.
Destruction of lives and property in
merchant vessels on the high seas.
Irish revolutionary plots against
Great Britain.
INnnanr4;rn ;ll foo1inn nno;.,ns A.