The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-04-11

VOn 6ernSJon, over the recall of the notorious Captains von Papen and Boy-Ed, the kaisers military and naval at. taches in America.
 The formula was there, but ben- citing by the experiences of those earlier cases there was no rnon- keying this time. The issue was put squarely up to the Italians to recall the admiral immediately as persona non grata," and while there was no specific mention of misdeeds in the note which MT. Hull sent to Ambassador Don Ascanio dei principi Colonna, the Coast Guard had all the goods on the admiral as chief inciter to the recent Italian monkey wrench throwing party in which the 1tal- ian ships machinery was sabo- tagged. It was @ Coast Guard tri- umph, by the way, and the G-men had no share in the haul.
 There were similar charges only worse, against the German Captains von Papen and Boy-Ed In 1915, for these two arch-plot- ters were thought to be the brains of widespread acts of dynamiting of railroads and bridges, bombing of factories working on British and French war orders, and in general scheming to sabotage American industrial production.
 WANTED TO MAKE
 SOMETHING OF IT
 With the war then little more than @ year old, the United States was trying to keep neutral, but the United, States was bit green in this game of European diplomacy and when, on December 1, 1915, Secretary Lansing suggested polite- ly to Won Bernstorff that the Ger man attaches be recalled, the am bassador was inclined to argue about 1t.
 A plea was made that Captain Boy-Ed be permitted to talk to the State Department about his case, and when Lansing denied this, on Sunday, December 5, Won Bernstorff asked for detailed charges. He got an answer back the same day, even If 1t was Sunday, denying the request, saying in effect that the Germans knew what 1t was all about, that the two schemers were no longer welcome and wouldn't the German government please go ahead with the recall.
 There was no answer for five days, so Lansing reminded Won Bernstorf of the case and got re- suits. On December 15 safe-conducts were requested to pass the con- spirators through the British blockade and lines, and on De- cember IS passes were given for the two captains and their servants, but 1t took IS days to get them on their way.
 Reference to these two cases gave the State Department its course in the case of Italian Ad- miral Lais, but the action was for tified by two laws passed in 1917. Strangely enough, the acts were passed in order to protect the ships of any nationality from sab- otage while in our ports, and to prevent the use of ships In United States ports as centers for organ izing sabotage.
 FACE 20.YEAR
 TERMS
 The first act provides for a fine of $l0,000 or 20 years or both. The second $10,000 or two years or both. These are the acts under which the crew. members and officers will be prosecuted by the Department of Justice. Admiral Lais, being on dip- lomatic service, could not be prose- cuted, and therefore his recall was the only action possible.
 Decision to ask for the admirals recall was made on Wednesday. The letter was drafted during the day, approved by the State De- partment officials and the Presi- dent, and that night 1t was handed to the Italian ambassador. Gen. eral announcement was not made until IS hours later, and in that interval the admiral had ample opportunity to disappear, tempo rarily, from the Washington scene.
 One of the queer angles of the case was the fact that during pre- vious service in the United States the admiral had married an Amer ican woman, the former Leonore Sutton Evans, daughter of Q New York doctor. They had one child girl in her teens, who recently has been her fathers Washingtc . hostess, the mother remaining in New York. If Signora Lais had, previous to 1922 applied for American citizenship, then she and her daughter might have re- mained in America as United States citizens. If, however, Si- gnora Lais had adopted the Italian citizenship of her husband, she would be compelled by law to re- turn to Italy with her daughter. Ambassador von Bernstorff's wife was American born, too, and she had no alternative other than to return to Germany with him