New Britain herald., 1918-12-13
HUN PROPAGANDISTS TOLD
 OF COMING WORLD WAR ON JULY 10, 1914 AT BERLIN
Government Advised 130
 Civilian Employees of Fact and Sent Them Abroad to Stimulate Pan-Germanism

Washington, Dec. 13.-The Ger man government on July 10, 191 I informed about 130 German civilian employees at a conference il Berlin that a world war would be started soon, Captain G. B. Lester of the army intelligence records showing day before the senate committee in vestigating German and brewers propaganda.
 31 Sent to America.
 These employees then were de- spatched to all parts of the world, 31 coming to the United States, to stim- ulate German propaganda, Cap tain Lester declared. He said his in formation came from an unnamed Informant, now interned in this cOun- Cry.
 The German propagandists landed in the United States in August 1914 on the same boat with Dr. H. r. AL bert, known as the paymaster of the enemy propaganda system il this country, and immediately formed the nucleus for German propaganda.
 Hearst Printed Propaganda.
 Testimony that Eward Lyell Fox, a writer, was sent to Germany in 1915 by the German embassy to write German propaganda, which was distributed by the Hearst Interna- tjonal News Service, was also pre- sented to the senate committee i'm vestigating brewers and enemy prop Rganda, by Captain G. B. Lester. , h response to questions, Captain Lester said there is nothing in the army intelligence records showing whether either MT. Hearst or man. agers of the International News Ser rySo of the German government.
 The witness read a telegram sent from the German embassy in Wash ington to the German foreign office, September 9, 1914 saving:
 Chicago Tribune friendly pa per" Tried to Offset Belgian Stories.
 The witness said he obtained from Fox an admission that an article ap- bearing in the New York American on September IS. 1915, dealing with alleged atrocities by Russian Cos sacks was written by him under in s sstructions from German officers as a means of offsetting the stories of German atrocities in Belgium that had begun to come out about that time.
 70 Wrote Under Hun Orders.
 T obtained from Fox his original notes written in lead pencil on the Cossack story, Captain Lester said, and he admitted he never saw any of :. the atrocities referred to and that to his knowledge none of them ever were committed. Fox was given cour- tesies from German officers that no other correspondent was able to ob- tain.
 Captain Lester said that Fox con- fessed to him that while in Germany he had an understanding that he would write anything he was told to write by the German publicity bureau Ia. at Berlin.
 : Propaganda in Movies.
 Captain Lester said that as a result of a request by President Wilson at a personal interview with William Randolph Hearst, changes were made in the film play "Patria," produced serially in the United States early in 1917 picturing Japan and Mexico in An alliance against the United States. The witness cited this film as one bearing earmarks of German propa- ganda.
 Between 100000 and 900,000 per- sons of pro-German sympathles in cluding many Americans, volunteered before the United States entered the war to obtain information of all kinds for the German espionage system in this country and reported to flocal German consuIs and propaganda agents, Captain Lester testified.