The Washington times., 1917-10-21

the German governmet Immediately,
and as a reprisal, interned all the
British civilian men who, up to this
time, had enjoyed comparative free
dom in Berlin and other cities OF the
empire.
The British civilians were shut up
in q race track about fve miles from
the center of Berlin, called Ruhleben.
This race track in peace times was
used for contests OF trotting horses,
and on It were the usual grand
stands and brick stable buildings CON
! tanning box stalls with hay Ioits
above, where the race horses were
kept.
On August 20 / paid my hrst visit
to the police presidency In Berlin,
| where political prisoners, when ar
I rested. were confined. A small num-
Der Of English prisoners subject 10
special investigation were there In
termed. This prison, which often
! subsequently visited, was clean ana
well kept, and / never had any par
I ticular complaints fro mthe prisoners
| confined there-except, of course as
the war progressed, concerning the
4 inadeQuacy OF the food.
Special Care for Pr1soner.-
I had organized q special depart
ment Immediately on the breaking out
OF the war to care for the interests
of the English. At frst Mr.. Boyiston
Beal, q lawyer OF Boston. assisted py
Rivington Pyne, Of New York was at
the head Of this department OF which
later the Hon. John B. Jackson, for
noerIy our minister to the Balkan
I states, Greece and Cuba, took charge.
/ ne volunteered to give his assistance
at thu commencement of the war, ana
Twas glad Of his help. especially as he
had been twelve years secretary IN tne
Berlin embassy; therefore, he was weir
Acquainted, not only with German. but
with German official life and customs.
Mr.. jackson was most ably assisted BY
Charles H. Russell, jr., OF New York.
and Lithgow Osborn. OF course
I Others in the embassy had much TO
do with this department
The first priVates, prisoners OF war
! came to the camp of Doeberitz near
Berlin. Early in the war Mr.. Grew,
our FIRST secretary, and Consul General
Lay visited the camp for officers at
Torgau. The question OF the inspee-
tion Of prisoners Of the camps and the
rights OF ambassadors charged with
the interests OF hostile powers was
quite in the clouds. So many reports
came to Germany about the bad treat
! ment in England of German prisoners
OF war that finally arranged to have
Mr.. jackson visit England and report.
This was arranged by my colleague,
our ambassador to England. and in
the first winter Mr.. Jackson made his
trip to England. His report OF con-
ditIons there did much to allay the
to - ~ Nr aNwTla mt
of their subjects who were prisoners
in England, and helped me greatly in
bringing about better conditions in
Germany. After vainly endeavoring
to get the German government to
agree to some definite plan for the in
spection of the prisoners; after my
notes to the foreign office had re-
manned unanswered for a long period
Of time, and after sending a personal
letter to Won Jagow. calling his at
tention to the fact that the delay was
Injuring German prisoners in other
countries, 1 finally called on Chan
ceIlor Won Bethmann-Hollweg and
told him that my notes concerning
! prisoners were sent by the foreign
office to the military authorities. and
that, while could talk with officials
OF the foreign office, / never came In
passed upon the notes sent by me and
who made the decisions as to the
treatment of prisoners of war and in
spction of their camps. I begged the
chancellor to break down diplomatic
precedent and allow me to speak with
the military authorities who decided
the questions. And / said, "If can
not get an answer to my proposition
about prisoners. 1 will take a chair
and sit in front of your palace in the
street until I receive an answer"
The result was a meeting in my Of
hce.
Agreement In Twenty Minutes
i I discussed the question with two
representatives from the foreign Of
nee. two from the general stan, two
fro mthe war department, and Count
Schwerin, who commanded the civil
ian camp at the Ruthleben race track.
In twenty minutes we managed to
reach an agreement. which 1 then and
there drew up: the substance Of which
was, that as between England and
Germany, the American ambassador
and his representatives in Germany
and the American ambassador and his
representatives in England should
have the right to visit the prison
camps on giving reasonable notice,
which was to be twenty-four hours
where possible, and should have the
right to converse with the prisoners
within sight. but out OF hearing OF
the camp officials. An endeavor should
be made to adjust matters complained
Of with the camp authorities before
bringing them to the notice of higher
authorities. Ten Representatives
should be named by our ambassador.
and these should receive passes en-
ablIng them to visit the camps under
the conditions above stated.
This agreement was ratified by the
British and German governments, and
thereafter for q long time we worked