The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-03-27
AGITATORS IN ARGENTINA
German Agents Creating Discord and
Labor Troubles i'm South America.

spondence of The Associated Press)-
Belief that German agitators still are
using large sums of German money
transferred from New York TO TO-
uent revolutionary labor troubles in
Argentina and Uruguay is widespread
IN both countries. 1t has been stated
Ia government circles here that Am
bassador NaOn was bringing from
Washington proofs of the activity of
German agents in fostering conspira-
cies against the governments of those
two South American countries and
Brazil.
Ii is widely believed here that both
Argentina and Uruguay have been
kcpr in continual turmoil through Ia
bor troubles and anarchistic out
breaks solely for the purpose of inter-
fering with any assistance they are
able to give the entente allies and
with the object of indirectly affecting
the allied cause by seriously damaging
the financial condition of allied in
dustries which have been established
IN these two republics.
Argentine officials have received of
iicial information regarding large de-
posits of German funds i'm New YORK
which were transferred to South
America when the United States was
on the brink Of war, it being appar-
ent that the money could be used to
better advantage in neutral countries
These funds were sent to Rio de janet
10. Montevideo, Lima. Santaiagp de
Chile and Buenos Aires, with the
largest deposits centered in this city
The Buenos Aires fund alone at one
time is said to have reached q balance
OF 25.000,OO0 marks, distributed
among several German banking
houses here.
1t is stated that amounts of this
money were spent for the purchase
OF arms and ammunition for use i'm
Brazil and it is frankly admitted, even
IN Brazil, that only the entrance of
Brazil into the war put definite end
to these plans.
While these plans were solely mill
tary as far as Brazil was concerned.
the German agitatOrs in Uruguay and
Argentina have been content to spend
their money keeping laborers and an
archists busy in their work of de-
struction. 1t is believed here that
most OF the agitations have been led
by German agents who came here
from the United States, and that one
serious railroad strike in Argentina
was engineered by the same German
subject who attempted u similar pa
ralyzation of traffic i'm the United
states
The first serious outbreak of this
Kind was at the American packing
house in Montevideo. This strike was
sudden and entirely unexpected and
the government was puzzled at the
length of time during which appar-
entity penniless laborers were able to
hold out i'm the unusual and unreason-
able demands that had been framed
for them by the strike agitators.
These labor troubles soon spread
across the river into Argentina and
the country has not been free of more
or less serious uprisings among labor
ers and anarchists for the last four
| months. Property has been destroy
ed. soldiers and innocent people shot
down and many acres of crops burn
cd. In several instances, especially
in the case of packing house strikes.
not one employe of the companies af-
| fected has been represented on the
strike committees that visited the
managers.
There are evidences that Ambassa-
dor Naon has kept i'm close touch with
the American Department of state re-
garding German activities in Argen-
tina and the people here were looking
forward To new exposures when he
met President Irigoyen on returning
from Washington.