The Washington herald., 1920-02-22
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.

German agents within our gates and
tracing their activities
The papers included files from the
German Embassy at Washington,
with hundreds of letters between
Ambassador Won Bernstorff and Of
ficials in Berlin. and both the official
and personal files from the office
of DR.. Heinrich Albert, the German
financial agent. Among Won Bern
. storff's and Aibert's correspondents
in this country were many German
Americans in high financial and So
! cial circles, whose real attitude to-
ward the country OF their adoption
the public knows too little about.
Letters Reveal Activities
OF Germnn-Amerlcans-
There were stacks of letters between
Albert and Won Bernstorff. as well as
as a mass of letters and copies of let
ters that passed between Albert and
various German agents. A full set OF
official ledgers. personal account books.
check books and Cancelled vouchers
showed exactly the amounts of money
disbursed to German agents. the dates
of the payments and just who the
agents were that got the money.
agents included secret codes and a
list of. false names under which each
agent was to operate. Several of the
agents had worked out an elaborate
code for meeting places in New York
City. II, for example. certain Ger
man telephoned to one OF his asso-
ciates and suggested meeting him in
front of Borough Hall in Brooklyn at
O'Clock. it means that he would meet
him in a drug store at Times Square
at $50 O'Clock
One set of correspondence and ac-
counts related entirely to the purchase
Jof the New York Evening Mail. but
both Won Bernstorff and Albert evil
IDENTIFY were unwilling to have detailed
Information about this a matter Of
common knowledge to members Of the
embassy STAFF who might have access
to the account books. Consequently
the Evening Mail account was known
simply as Account ""
At the time Ambassador Won Bern
storff was sent away and the Swiss
Minister. as a neutral envoy. assumed
charge OF German diplomatic affairs in
this country, a hurried and excited et-
fort had to be made to find a safe
storage place for the vast files of Ger
man documents that it was impossible
to send safely abroad. That was how
they came to be stored in the office OF
the Swiss consul in New York.
documents Kept to show
Record of GermEn ms In United States
Why. one may ask. was so much
damaging evidence allowed to re-
main in existence when it could
easily have been placed in a fur
mace. or even in bonfire. and de-
stroyed forever by the simple ap-
pIication Of so ordinary an article
of everyday commerce as safety
match
The answer is that Germany. al
that time. had not the remotest
idea Of losing the war. and. in the
event of German success. the docu-
ments would have been OF immense
value. not only to the German gov
ernment. but also to numerous in
dividuals. Every hyphenated Ger
man living in America who had
/. done something against the allies
or against America in behalf of the
Fatherland would desire to have
the proofs of his loyal service in
his possession so that he might
he in Nne for whatever reward oil
decoration the German chiefs might
deem fitting and proper.
Indeed. among the documents were
more than a dozen iron crosses
which had been sent here from
Germany for bestowal upon Ger
mans living in the United States
There was also. gold cross. OF
the Sixth Order of the Crown, thai
the Kaiser had ordered sent here
for someone then in America. JUS
who was to have had this bit oi
grandeur has never. | believe, beer
definitely determined,
swiss Consult Regarded
Trust as Almost Sacred.
1t is unlikely that the Swiss con,
sui had the remotest idea of the
exact nature of the papers left ir
his custody more than that they
were of the greatest Importance
and must be looked upon by no liv,
ing creature until they were safely
returned, after the close of the
war, into German hands. As the
representative of a neutral gov.