The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-12
LONG LIST OF QUESTIONS

LONG LIST. OF QUESTIONS
 Then followed a bewildering succession of questions, the purpose of which was not at all ciear to me. We had pecu~ liar conversaion-half in German, half in English. The rcichskanzler did not speak
 English particularly well.
 How are things in America" he asked. Did you have any opportunity to gauge the political situation? Who do you think will be the hext President? Do you think that Americans are opposed to peace because that would end their chance to make money out of he,war?' Are your
 people so$mercenary that they would like to see the war prolonged for the sake ot
 the money they can make out of it?'
 No, your excellency,'' replied, you are quite wrong if you imagine that my countrymen would like to prolons the war for the sake of war profits. That IS very far from being the case On the contrary. the country at large is anxious for peace"
 r Don't forget your people are making a lot of money out of this war" the reichskanzler persisted. They are be- coming very rich. They will soon have all the gold in the world. Putting an end to the war would to a great extent end American opportunities for making money on this enormous scale"
 That may be all true" l replied, but fortunately my countrymen think more of the blessings of peace and liberty than they do of war and profits, and the sooner peace can be brought about on basis which will have some assurance of permanency the better we will like it..
 TREATMENT IN AMERICA
 He switched the subject He asked me how I had been treated in America
 in view of the fact that had come from Germany.
 Tt made difference, your excelen- cy" I replied, 'when I first arrived in port That is to say, I was examined more thoroughly by the officials than I had ever been before 1t was consid- erable of an ordeal they put me through before they established the fact to their own satisfaction that was not a spy, but when it was all over l felt rather glad to feel that my country was as keenly alive to the fact that the greatest precau- tions were necessary.
 "Wilson has the greatest opportunity ever presented to man to make his name immortality bringing about peace in the world" he went on.~ We feel now that he is not our friend, but friend ly to the. allies; but nevertheless, he may be able 10 see that if this war is pro longed indefinitely it will mean tue oe- struction of all the nations involved in it. Do you think there Is possibility of America entering the war; "That, Of course, will depend, your excellency.' I answered, 'upon develop raents. I don't believe my country IS anxious to fight, but I'm quite sure that nothing in the world will keep us out of 1t if our rights as neutral naeioh are not respected"
 eve certainly don't like the way MT. Hughes has been talking on the. stump. . declared the reichskanzer. 'Did you hear any of his speeches or any of Wilson s! I said I had had no opportunity to hear any of the campaign speeches, but that had followed them in the news papers. read that the American people want 1 to see peace in Europe or do they want the war to go on so they can continue to make fortunes out of it?'' Again I replied that l was certain our country would never be influenced ! by such sordid considerations as were implied in the Reichskanzlers ques- tions. but that if the right kind of peace could be brought about, the wnole country would eagerly embrace it. REFLECTIONS ON INTERVIEW When our interview came to an end Lit had lasted three-quarters of an hour-I had but a hazy idea or what the ReichSkanZler was trying 10 get out of me. I felt that Germany's resources lwere possibly exhausted. that she real lly wanted peace and that they wanted to gauge Americas attitude toward serious peace proposal
 The subject of the U-boat campaign was never mentioned and it was not until several months later when the submarine warfare was started again on a greater scale than ever that l realized that the whole purpose Of this interview was to ascertain IT they could. without telling me their inten- | tions. who was the candidate. Hughes l of Wilson, who would be least dan- gerous to them If more American ves- sells were sunk in the ruthless subma-
 rine campaign they were then contem- plating.
 The fact that they appealed to me. q
 private individual with no political con
 nections, indicated that they were very
 much concerned about the coming elec- | tion Evidently they wanted to throw
 their influence into the scale. but were
 at loss to know which candidate was
 the more favorable from their stand point. e
 ELECTION DRAWING NEAR
 The election was drawing close; il was necessary to notify Von Bernstorfl of Potsdam's preference; the Kaiser l believed that perhaps he held the de- ciding ballot in his hand in the shape of the German American vote and he i 1r,fk lrrA + f, nJt