Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-12-14

the German propaganda system in the United States through which valuable information for transmission to Der in, was gathered at the same time that German doctrines were spread over the country, were laid bare to- day by Captain c. B. Lester, of the army intelligence service, in testi- mOny before the senate committee, in- vestigating brewers and German prop aganda. Most of the evidence re- lated to activity of Teutonic agents before the United States entered the war.
 Captain Lester declared that an un- named informant, now interned, told him that the Berlin government on July 10th, 1914 nearly month before the war stated, called into conference about 130 trained and educated Ger man propagandists, sent them to all parts of the world, with instructions to prepare for the world war which they were told, was about to be precipitated. Thirty one of these land ed in the United States two weeks af- ter hostilities started and became the nucleus for an organization of between 100000 and 30O,OOO volunteers, main- ly German-Americans who gathered information of all kinds and reported it to German consuls and agents in hundreds of communities.
 William Bayard Hale, writer for the Hearst newspapers, and formerly confidential representative of Presi- dent Wilson, in Mexico, eventually be- came head of the publicity branch of hn nioot h,,i1 rrr rfo; Lester said. The officer also testified that newspapers and writers were in- fluenced to promote German prOpa- ganda, film plays were produced pro- noting distrust of Japan and Mexico, a Washington newspaper man was hired to report government secrets to the German headquarters, writers were sent to Germany to send back dispatches praising the German cause, and Golden BoOk,' was circulated throughout the United States to get signatures of American citizens lean ing toward pro-German sympathies.
 J. J. Dickinson, a newspaper man, and former major in the army, was hired at $40 week to report on con- fidential interviews with officials, to German headquarters in New York, said Captain Lester
 Dickinson claimed that he had con- fidential relations with cabinet mem, bers, that he could get "in the back door of the White House," and boasted that he was responsible for the mo- tOrious leak on the peace note, Captain Lester declared the witness admitted that records showed Dickinson did have considerable accurate official information of a confidential nature, and gave it to the German represen- tatives.
 Captain Lester, continuing his testi- mony tomorrow expects to tell how the German agents tried to stir up revolt among American negroes to serve German purposes.
 The intensive German propaganda efforts had their beginnings. Captain Lester said, in series of lectures giv- representatives of the foreign office and other German government agen-s cies Elaborate memoranda were pre- pared on detailed subjects and armed with these, thirty one sailed from Copenhagen for the United States Aug ust 4th, 1914, arriving August 18th, on the same boat with Dr. Heinnerich AL bert, paymaster for the propaganda forces. The only names of these men mentioned by Captains Lester were Dr. Adolph Mecklenberg, Dr. Brick Kraska and Dr. Phillip Bonn, all of whom have returned to German. He explained that for military reasons other names could not be disclosed.
 The group sent to America as wei! as those sent elsewhere, had speci- fic functions laid out for it. One group of the men was to deal with commercial matters another with political matters and a third was to specialize in Janpanese. Chinese and South American and Mexican rela- tiOnS.
 The delegation on arriving in this country established headquarters at 112 Broadway. arrangement having
 teen made in advance Captain Les ter said by George Sylvester vierick, then publisher of weekly paper
 known as the vaterland. Mathew B. Claussen, publicity. manager for the Hamburger-American interests, the witness testified. directed work of ! the German press bureau at first, but