The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-08-03
HOW AGENTS THE.
KAISER PLOTTED IN
FEW MILES TH|sC|TY

The following summary of German
intrigue, in connection with the Ger
man-American Lumber Co., which has
been sent out to the press of the coun-
try, by the Bureau of Public Infor-
nation, Washington, D. c., will be
read with, interest in this section, as
1t places the stamp of official proof
on reports which have been current
Tor some time:
Ii you are an American business
man You have seen the weaving of the
German web. Day by day it has
grown. for half a century. It's slender
| threads of influence have reached out
and fastened themselves in the>re-
hottest Of our possessions It's invisible
strands have been wound about the
| towers of New York skyscrappers and
| around the matched huts of tropical
plantations. Every American city has
been caught in its meshes. Not one
gainfu trade has escaped the notice of
the alien enterpriser.
A Little Business in Lumber.
When the United States navy was
looking for a new naval base on the
Gulf of Mexico, st. Andrews Bay
| for some reason Pensacola was Sc
lected instead. Later on American
business men who attempted to de-
velop it as a port found their way
blocked by a corporation calling itself
the German-American Lumber Co.,
which had SO intrenched itself with
| land holdings around the ship basin as
to successfully keep out intruders.
This company did a trifling business
| in lumber, although it owned about
10000 acres of timberland. 1t got its
funds from Germany, and appeared to
be spending thousands of dollars
every year, with nothing to show for
it. Few books were kept. After Bit
ter fight a single wood burning rail-
road was put through to the bay, by
condemning every inch of the right-of-
way. After he got in, the man who
built this railroad was told by the
Germans that they did not want out
siders coming into their midst.
When the United States entered the
war, 1t was demonstrated beyond
question that the German-American
Lumber Co. was owned by individuals
who were alient enemies within the
who were alien enemies within the
act. One of the chief owners was a
German princeling. in line of success
sion for the rulership of one of the
German states The property was
therefore taken over by the alien
property custodian, and when gov
eminent officials went to examine the
| eminent officials went to examine the
| drew's Bay, they found room after
room, shelf upon shelf of German
propa ganda literature stored there
| Clearly, numbering was nothing but a
cover for the real business which was
done by the company.
An Operating Base.
Furthermore, the favorable position
of St. Andrews Bay just outside the
hurricane belt and in straight line
between New York and the Panama
Canal, makes it logical port for ship
ping 8 Id receiving the trade from the
west coast of South America, and a
strategic point for all military, naval
and commercial purposes. Without
doubt the Germans planned to make
this valuable harbor an important OPP
Grating base in their project to sub
due and take over the new world.
To prevent the fruition Of Germany's
the midst of the American people, con-
gress, as stated above, voted last year
to take over all enemy-held property.
President Wilson was empowered to
appoint an alien property custodian.
who should hold and administer all
the properties seized. The president
chose A. Mitchell Palmer, a Pennsyl-
vania Quaker, for this highly RESPONSE
bic position.