The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-09-18
my -Four Years In Germany
Ambassador Gerard,s Experiences at German Court
Until Entrance of The United States Into
the Great War
Raid BY Police on Embassy---Employes and
Papers Seized on Orders Of Foreign Office
and Von 7rptz

Germany had entered Belgium in or
der to forestall the planned French
advance. He also declared that Eng
land. regardless of consequences to
the white race. had melted Japan to
a pillaCing expedition, and said that
Belgian girls and women had gouged
out the eyes of the wounded. that Off
GERS had been invited to dinner and
shot across tho table and that Bel ,
eian women had cut the threats of
soldiers quartered in their houses
while they We're asleep. The chan
cellor concluded by saying. in this
statement that every one knows that
the German people are incapable of
unnec essary cruelty or Of any bru
tality.
We were fully occupied with TAX
ing care OF the English prisoners and
interests. OF Americans and with ne
gotiations relating to commercial
questions and To getting goods re
quired in the United States out OF
Germany, when. on October !. a.
which for some time caused the
members Of our embassy to feel
rather bitterly toward the German
foreign office. took place
RAID ON AMERICAN
EMBASSY IN BERLIN
A great number of British civil
ans, men and womaH. We're stranded
in Berlin To manv Of these were
paid sums of money in the form OF
small allowances on Behalf OF the
British government In order 10 ia
cilitate this work we placed the
clerks employed in this distribution
In the building formerly occupied
by the British consul in Berlin. or
course. the great crowds Of Ameri-
} cans rosortirg 10 our embassy, when
com bined with the crowds of British.
made II almost impossible to enter
even the embassy. and establishment
Of this outlying relief station mate
rally helped this situation J occu~
pied If and employed English men
and women In this relief work by the
express permission Of the imperial
foreign office, which | thought il wise.
to obtain, In view Of the fact that the
Germans seemed daily to become
moro irritable and suspicious, espe-
cially after the battle of the Marine
on The night of October ? our sec
ond secretary. Harvey, went TO this
= relief headquarters at about t2
/ o'clock at nieht TT7d was witness to
\ raid made hV the Berlin police on
this establishment Of ours. The mon
and women working were arrested
and all books and papers which the
! them The next morning I went.
around to the place. and on talking
( with the. criminal detectives In
charge was told by them that they
made the raid nv the orders of the
foreign Office
When I spoke Ia the foreign office
about this its officials denied that
they had given directions for the
raid and made n sort Of half apology
I Tho raid wa "a hp W., n oH
+ because only the day before I had
had n conversation with the adiu-
tant Of the Berlin Recommendations
( and told him although 7 had permits
sion from the foreign office, that I
! thoueht II would he better to dismiss
the English employed in the embassy
and emplov only Americans or Ger
mans. 7 sent AROUND to my friend,
, Herr Won Gwtnner, head of the Deut-
sche hank, and asked him TO recon-
mend some German accountants to
: me
! The kommandantur IS the direct
/ office Of military control when the
| adtutant heard of the raid he was
/ almost as indignant as l was and ON
I the tenth Of October Informed me
that he had learned that the raid had
! been made on tho ioint orders of the
| foreign office and Won Tirpitzs de-
! partmcnt
| The books aud papers OF an ON
/ hassy, including those relating to the
affairs of foreign nations temporarily
! in the emhassv's care, are universally
/ recognized in International law rs not
subject to seizure; nor did the "a TT that
| was carving on this work outside the
iactual embassy building have any
4 hearing on this point, so long as the
/ building was directly under NV con
i troll, especially as the only work car
ried on was work properly in my
+ hands IN NV official capacity.
! The foreign office saw that 1t had
made a mistake. But at thinner
roanns earnest REQUEST AGREED as
/ il were. to forget the incident
! Later on this precedent might have
been used nv our government had IL
desired to nress the matter Of the
seizure of Won IeePs napers Won
TreI. IL will he remembered was
carving on business of private
nature in private Office hired hv
him Nevertheless as he had been
emploved in some capacitv in the
I German emhassv at Washington,
Count Won Bernstorff claimed immu-
nifty from seizure for the papers
1 found in that office.