Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

S?MTEK WATCEQSAX, Eet3b Consolidated Aug. 2,1 MI EXPOSES OTHER TRAITORS Senate Committee Given Facts Indicating Guilt of Senator Hitchcock and Others. OPPONENTS OF WILSON POLICIES GERMAN TOOLS PjXHGerman Propaganda Gath-j . ered in a Number of Promin-! eat Politicians*Who Posed as - Patriots While Doing.. Their Dirty Work Planned by Von Bernstoff. Washington, Dec. 7.?Further chap 4 HerS in the story of the efforts of ?Count von Bernstorff, theformer Ger man amba?sador, and other German agents to influence sentiment in ?America-.towards Germany and to pre vent Ihe shipment of war supplies to the aUiea were revealed in documents laid before the sentae investigating :>coalmittee today by A. Bruce Bielaski of the department of justice. Wreck of the propaganda system built up by Bernard Dernbnrg, the kaiser's personal agent in the United State* by the sinking of the Lusitan ia;* and. the rebuilding of it by Von Bernstorff to a manner which "can 4?>t hurt us if it becomes known" : also were dealt with in ccmmunica . tions from "the former ambassador to the.BerEn foreign-office. There wasialso evidence relating to the organization in 1915 and subse quent activities of the American em bargo association formed with the hope of stopping shipments of war supplies to the allies by so arousing feeling among the voters as to com pel legislative action. One of the communications offered by Mr. Bie laski and purporting - to have been written byF Reiswitz; German consul at: Chicago, dealt with a mass meet ing jof the association soon to be held , and said that among those who had j '^agreed to cooperate" were Senator Hitchcock of Nebraska, chairman of the senate foreign relations commit tee; Former Representaive Buchanan of Illinois who was connected with fc&bcr's National Peace Council; Wil liam Bayard Hale and Dr. Aked, a nimrBtOT: of San Francisco.. .-;Jb?l?sier communiation relating to j a meeting of the embargo association j : -'ilfiiJ. ;said to have been written by G. j iM. Jacobs of Chicago, acting chair- j mat*,- said that former Senator Work?? \ of 'California, and Senator Smith of I Georgia, as well as Senator Hitchcock, j supported the principles of the confer- j ence. Mr. Bielaski read a document signed J by Senator Hitchcock stating that the j senator would do all in his power, j both as a senator and a3 editor of the ! Omaha Worli-Herald, to bring about j an embargo on arms. Reiswitz's let- i ter regarding the embargo association j made this reference to Senator Hitch geek: .'"Hitchcock seemed to be very ; strong for the plan. He told our rep resentative at a conference in Omaha: j 'If this matter is organized in the right; way you will sweep the United States."' Consul Reiswi'tz in ;a letter believed by the department of Justice to have been written to Dr. Heinrich F. Al bert, a former German agent, outlin ed a plan for the acquisition of the Wright airplane factory at Dayton Ohio, as a means of preventing the export^of flying machines from the United States. Mr. Bielaski also testified that to make provisions for the dissemination of pro-Germ?h news through news papers the German agents contem plated the purchase of the American Press Association, which furnished j matter in type to papers, but he said there was no evidence that the deal was carried through. In this connec tion, the witness read an option, drawn up presumably by the agents! of Albert, whereby the association I was to "place its whole organization at the disposal of Albert in order to spread pro-German news and sup- [ press anti-German news." The option was to be valid between July 15 and October 15, 1915, and | during that time Albert was to decide j whether he would purchase control! of the property for ?900,000. Late today the state department | made public the full text of the Bern-! storff documents reading the commit-! tee record by Mr. Bielaski. They were j t?ken from the mass of evidence in i the department's files, disclosing Ger- j man intrigue .before and after the j United States entered the war. The document relating to the ship j wreck of the Dernburg propaganda ? was dated November 1, 1915, and j said: j "As you will have learned from my. previous report, we have, since the j Lusitania case, endeavored to wind up all the so-called German propaganda and especially to get rid of all dubious individuals. I can now say with a good conscience'that we are nc longer compromised. Some of the old affairs still hang on, but we are more or less settled, although they will cause some ? future expenditures. "At the beginning of the war many j things were undertaken by the Dem- , burg propaganda which would never have been undertaken if we could have seen that the war would be so long, because nothing can for long be kept secret in America. "Since the Lusitania case we have strictly confined ourselves to such propaganda as can not hurt us if it becomes known. The sole exception, is perhaps "the peace propaganda, j which has cost us the largest amount 881. SU! MAY POSTPONE ! PEACE LEAGUE [ ,_ ! ! ;. j Paris Newspapers Intimate That Question May Be Left j to Future Conference. ALLIES EVINCE DESIRE TO ; DODGE WILSON'S PLAN Proposed League of Nations to Keep Peace of World and to: Make War Impossible Regard-! ed as a Side Issue. Paris, Dec. 9.?During- the prelim- j inary conversations to fix the program j for the peace conference it is prob- j able that the allied delegates will de cide if the organization of the so- j ciety of nations shall be elaborated. at the peace congress, or left to fur- i ther conference, The Petit Journal says. but which also has been the most sue- j cessful. ?'Latterly, I have been using the em- ; bargo association, and some entirely j reliable private intermediaries. 'T have also made use of the Ger- \ man University League, founded since j the war. This has done its best to j take the place of German Associa- i tion (word not decipherable) which has been of no use during the war on | account of its management. The league has published under my col-1 laboration an excellent collection of! reports on the war which will be of great service to our cause. "The support which I have already given the league, is entered in the first quarter's account, from 1S16, item J^o. 208. On the occasion of later instal ments to thorn I will refer to this re port. "I ask that this may be sanction ed." Another document referred to the j use of the New York representative! of the Wolf bureau, the German semi- j official news organization in sending telegraphic reports to Eerlin. Under date of September 16, 1916, Berlin j warned von Bernstorff that the Wolff j bureau's agent's reports were criti- j cised as too one sided and said more unbiased reports "seem to be urgently j desirable." Bernstorff's message dated August;' 24, 1915, said: "As ycur excellency is aware I > have used the intermediary of the i New York representative of the * Wolff agency, Herr Klaessig, in order j to send telegraphic reports to you. | These telegrams intended for you are j indicated by the fact that they do not. begin by naming the day of the week. "In order that the reports shall not excite attention, it has been necessary in many cases to dis mise them in the form of press extracts, or put into the mouth Of members of congress when in reality they are not intended to be merely the expression of some individual opinion but as being views j which in my opinion, are mportant ! for the direction of our foreign policy, and for a proper comprehension of the local situation." Berlin sent this message via Stock - j holm and Buenos Aires, dated Sep-! j tember 16, 1918: "The reports he Wolff bureau ? agent are rightly . riticised by a part i ? of the German press as one sided, as j he has reported for some time noth ; ing but indignation against English ; encroachment which nobody here i takes seriously. j "As the matter will probably be' ! taken up in the reichstag more un- j I biased reports seem to be urgently ! desirable. i "Please advise Klaessig in this j sense." j Consul Reiswitz's letter regarding: j the embargo conference said that the 'leadership in the movement to stop; j shipments of arms to the allies was in j the hands of two men. one in Chi ! cago and the other in Detroit. There ; was no indication as to the identity of j of the men. This part of the letter j I follows: "For your confidential information I would further inform you that the j leadorship of the movement thus far j lies in the hands of two gentlemen I (one in Detroit and one in Chicago) j who are firmly resolved to work to- j j wards the end that the German com ; munity, which of course will be with j ; us without further urging, shall above all things remain in the background : and that the movement, to all out ward appearances, shall have a pure ly American character. I have known both the gentlemen very well for a long time and know that personal in terest does not count with them; the results will bring their own reward." Mr. Bielaski introduced letters written by G. Thomas at Rotterdam to George Barthelme, former repre sentative here of the Cologne Ga zette, outlining a scheme for outwit ting the British censors and getting German news to the United States and Central and South America. Ac cording to the letters, the plan was' to establish a cable news service sys tem between Holland and America. which ostensibly would be an oppos ing service between a Dutch paper and a newspaper of the news asso ciation in America. The United States broke diplomatic relations with Germany before the plan was put in- j to operation. Organizations of the j citizens for food shipments was os tensibly formed to send food to Ger man civilians, said Mr. Bielaski, but he asserted that the apparent expen ditures for postal shipments of con densed milk amounted to more than the value of the goods shipped : Thirty thousand dollars obtained by the organization under the guise of. intending to send food to Germany. id Fear not?Yjei afl tbe ends Thon Air LTE&, S. C., WfiDNESE People Grow More Cordial As | Army of Occupation Moves j Elastward. IN SOME OF THE PLACES THEY REJOICE OPENLY i i Authorities Say That They Fear, Their Own People Released: From Control and Also Star vation. London, Dec. 9.?The German popu-! lation west of the Rhine becomes '? more cordial in their attitude toward j the British as they move eastward, j according to the correspondent of! The Daily Mail. He says "the au- \ thorities in such places as D?ren says, j undisguisedly, that they rejoice at our arrival. They give two reasons, that j "hey are afraid of their own people, j and afraid of starvation." - Cotton Restriction Is Now Removed j Speculative Selling of Contracts; for Export Will Be Resumed. New York, Dec. 9.?The prohibi tion against foroign speculative ex- j port selling of contracts on the New York and New Orleans cotton ex changes were removed today by or der of the committee on cotton dis ting for the war industries board. Fire In Atlanta ? Furniture Company Damaged Nearly $100,000. Atlanta, Dec. 9.?The stock and i part of the building occupied by! Sterchi Furniture Company on Mitch-! oil St., was partially destroyed by fire ! this morning. The losses are estimat- j ed at nearly one hundred thousand : dollars. apparently, was sent, for-oiher carosiisJ he said.. The committee was formed,j Mr. Bielaski said, at the home of j Samuel Untermeyer in New York. The German Publication Society, to distribute German classics, also was i formed, Mr. Bielaski said. Dr. Albert { giving $25,000 for the purpose. "As usual," said the witness, j "George Sylvester Viereck had some thing to do with this organization j even after the United States entered ; the war, but he ceased his activities j after the passage of the espionage i act." Mr. Bielaski submitted to the com- ! mittee copies of lottere showing that several lecturers who toured th% ' country speaking in favor of Gcr- j many were paid by Von Bernstoff, j One of these, Mrs. Ray Beveridge, re-j ceived $3,00A lor her services, he said. Mrs. Bev *idge frequently commum- j es te^ - i -,xi Von Bernstorff, tho wit - ; ness declared, and at one time j brought a parcel of pro-German pic-: ture films to him from Germany. Louis Garthe, Washington corres-1 pondent of the Baltimore American.! mentioned by Bielaski as a contribu- j tor to National Courier, said tonight j he had written Chairman Overman | for permission to appear before th committee and file copies of articles, all of which, he stated, advocated ur. swearing loyalty by German-Ameri- j cans to America. Mr. Bielaski will continue his tes timony Monday. : New York, Dec. 7.?A denial that he had ever served as agent, couns* 1 ox* in any capacity in the interest of. the German government was issued here tonight by Samuel Untermeyer.1 who asserted that his suggestion in 1916 to Dr. Heinrich Albert, commer cial attache of the German embassy, i that the latter acquire an interest in ; a New York newspaper was a purely j personal negotiation. As far back as 1911, Mr. Unter-: meyer said, he and a group of friends, had considered acquiring control of a !' metropolitan journal and Dr. Albert had shown interest in the project. ! When an apparent opportunity to. carry out the plan developed, Mr. Untermeyer stated, he offered the German attache a minority interest. Though upholding the propriety of any lawyer serving as a legal coun-\ selor to the German government in this country while the United Staffs was neutral. Mr. Untermeyer stated' that he had repeatedly refused to ( perform professional services for, Ambassador von "Bernstorff and his assistants. Dr. William Bayard Hale issued a formal statement tonight denying' that he had received funds from the German government while he was serving in Berlin as special corres pondent of the New York American. "The statement." said Dr. HaK-, "by whomsoever made, that while in the employ of the New York Amer can. I ever received one; penny from j anybody connected with the German government, or the German govern ment, directly or indirectly, is false. "The allegation that the German government or anybody connect* ^ with the German government, direct ly or indirectly, contributed one cent toward the payment of my expenses in Berlin is false." Chicago. Dec. 7.?Roger C. Sulli van, of Chieago. who was named at the brewers' hearing today in a letter signed by P. Reiswitz, former Ger man consul at Chicago, referring to the embargo league, tonight said: "I never heard of either Reiswitz or the embargo le^suf? before. The statement thnt I am an enemy of President Wilson is not true, in fact.. the entire reference to my attitude is; entirely false." '' iTt at be thy Country's, Thy God'* a AY, DECEMBER 11, 18 President of American Tele-: graph and Telephone Com pany Advises Postmas ter Burleson. RECOMMENDS COMBINA ' TION OF WIRE SERVICE I i i i Letter to Postmaster Genera1. Burleson Says Arrangement] Can be Brought About With-; out Dismemberment of Prop-j erties?Cable Situation Con-! sidered Grave., - Washington, Dec. S.?Pooling of th? ? telephone and telegraph facilites of \ the country on the one hand and the I marine cable lines on the other, each i with a comprehensive operating or- ! ganization under a single executive head, is recommended to Postmaster General Burleson by Theodore X. Vail, president of the American Tele graph and Telephone Company. In his letter, made public tod Mr. Vail said the pooling arrangen. -j. <. vvoulo be brought about without dismember ment of the properties and in such a manner that they could be turned back to private ownership at the ex piration of the period of government control. "What should be done to create an ideal system," said Mr. Vail, "can not be done because of existing laws, nor would complete consolidation be Justi fied since to undo such a consolidated system into its former units would icad to ujiwarranted waste. "There are, however, many things which can be done which would pre vent waste and which might, by im provement of service, help to further educate the public and^create an ac tively favorable attitude to\vard some correlation or coordination of opera tion and service with the control of regulations and restriction, through yome combination of governmental authority and private ownership re taining all the advantages and incen tives of both. Mr. Vail, who is acting as confiden tial adviser to Postmaster General Burleson in the control of the -wire communication system taken over by the government, discussed the land ;nd marine wire organizations sepa rately. If the United States, he said, is to become a commercial and in dustrial world centor, an American ca ">le system consonant with the obli gations and opportunities of the coun try must be organized. . "There must be a United States sys .tem which will place this cour.tr>' di rectly in communictaion with ever country with which we have or hopr to have important commercial rela tions." declared Mr. Vail. "As it is now we are on one side of the world system. We must be made one of the centers of tho world system if we ex pect to compete on even terms with, che world or be properly considered iby the countries we wish to reach. "The immediate and pressing neces sity is for the East Coast-South Amer ican Cable to give this country and the Hiver Platte countries direct cable communication. "Of what use 'in commerce will be cur investment of billions in ships to carry commerce if we do not give them and the busness agents of all commerce direct communication with their home ports and home business h ouses ? "Congress has authorized combina tion in foreign commercial enterprises If the advantages and necessities were J properly presented it should be pos sible to obtain promptly such author- j ization or legislation as would give, j under the agencies of the govern-! rront. authority for combination, and 1 operation of all electric intercommuni- j cation systems, in direct connection ; and coordination with the national! wire system between this country and , all foreign countries. t "There is ono thing that calls for immediate action. The cable situation I is and has been grave. Congestion is now the rule and accumulation of business is at times serious, and when the activities of the peace conference are really commenced in Europe it will be greatly increased. "By one traffic head controlling ca ble operation and a few slight changes in the physical property which could centralize the cable terminals as it were the efficiency can be somewhat increased. "If it were lawful or if it could be brought about-by consent of the pro prietors, it would be a great feature for the commercial and political in terest of the United States and of ad vantage to every' country reached by direct communication if tho cable sys tems could be consolidated into one system end the cable systems rear ranged and extended more or less. "Such a combination would at once bring about an important saving in cost of operation and eventually brtn.? about considerable reductions in charges. "A broader, cheaper and more abundant service will be a most ef fectual adjunct to our own abundant service in securing business of the I.'nited States industries. There is al ready an active movement being in augurated ' particularly in South America by German commercial agents to recover their pre-war con ditions and which must be promptly met if the United States is to get any advantage from the present situation." For the unification of the land i ad Tntfcfe" THE TBUI 18. RED CROSS ROLL CALL President Wilson Urges People j to Join Great Humanitarian Society. CHRISTMAS MESSAGE j TEACHING CHARITY. I Achievements of Red Cross in' War Work the Best and Mo Convincing Recommendation to American People for Con tinued Support. Washington, Dec. 8.?President Wison, in a proclamation made pub lic today, called on every American ro join the American Red Cross Christmas "Roll Call Week," Decem l ber 16 to 23, "and thus send forth tc the whole human family the Christ - | mas greeting for which it awaits and j for which it stands in greatest ne;-:d." j The proclamation, prepared before ; the president departed for Europe, i follows: j "The White House, Washington, D. j C, November 26, 1918. j "To the American People: I "One year ago 22,000,000 Ameri ! cans, by onrolfmg as members of the I lied Cross at Christmas time, sent ! to the men who were fighting our bat : ties oversea a stimulating message of i cheer and good will. They made it j cTear that "ixr people were of their i own free choice united with their gov ( crnment in the determination not only j to wage war with the instruments of j destruction, but also by every means j in their power to repair the ravages j of the invader and sustain and renew j the homes which they represented. ? The friends of the American Red j Cross in Italy. Belgium and France ! have told, and will tell again, the j story of how the Red Cross workers I restored morale in the hospitals, in the camps and at the cantonments, j ::nd we ought to be very proud that ! we have been permitted to be of ser I vice to those whose sufferings and i whose glory are the heritage of hu : manity. I \"No\v, by God's grace, the Red I Cross Christmas message of 1918 is tc ! bo a message of peace as well as. a rmessage of good will." But peace does J not mean that we can fold our hands ! It means further sacrifice. Our mem ! bership must hold togeth and be in ! creased for the great t to come j We just prove conclusively to an at ! tontive world that America is perma i nently aroused to the needs of the j new era, our old indifference gone ! forever. "The exact nature of the future j service c C the Red Cross will depend j on the program of the associated gov ; ?Arnments. but there is immediate need i today for every heartening work and ; for every helpful service. We must j not forget that our soldiers and our I sailors are still under orders and still j have duties to perform of the highest j consequence and that the Red Cross : Christmas membership means a great I deal to them. I "The people of the saddened lands, j moreover, returning home today. ' where there are no homes, must have the assurance that the hearts of our people are with them in the dark and . doubtful days ahead. Det us, so far j as we can. help them back to faith in ; mercy and in future happiness, j "As president of the Red Cross. ; conscious in this great hour of the value of such a message from the 1 American people. I should be glad if J every American would Join the Red i Cross for 1919 and thus send forth I to the whole human family the Christ mas greeting for which it waits and I for which it stands in greatest need. (Signed) "Woodrow Wilson." More Hun Propaganda Bielaski Continues Revelations Before Senate Investigating Committee. Washington. Dec. 9.?More letters from the secret files of von Bernstorff were read to the senate committee in vestigating the German and brewery propaganda today by Secret Service Agent Bielaski. Among them were instructions to all German consuls in the United States to get German sub jects out of plants producing mater- i ials for the allies. Consuls were or-: dered to stop Germans above the rank of common laborer from working in . such plants, under a section of the im perial code requiring them to report to the German consulate at New Vork. wires, Mr. Vail suggested creation of Three operating divisions, each em bracing the distinctive operation of "telephone service" and "telegraph J service" and "the maintenance and manipulation of wires of sj'stems" as distinct from traffic operations. Be low those divisions the organzation could be amplified and arranged to meet the necessities, he said, and the whole should operate under one execu tive head. Tolegraph and telephone wires. Mr. Vail declared, could be utilized for both purposes without any merger or change other than to bring them into one switching terminal at each great center. All operations could be so correlated and coordinated, he said, as to bring about a very considerable In crease in efficiency and. much economy without doing anything which could not he undone at the end of the pe riod of government control. ij 5 SQUTHEON, EgtabUabed 3?a*i VoLXLvTI. No. 34. TIME IS FIXED FOR CONFERENCE j Peace Delegates to Meet in Paris Early in Janu !-V, ary0 ^ ; ^ PRESIDENT ADVISED OF MATURING PLANS jkWoodrow Wilson Told By Wire less of Recent Gathering of j Supreme War Council in Lon j don?Reports That He Has Approved Are Premature, Paris, Dec. 6 (By the Associated j Press).?President Wilson will be in ; formed by wireles today of the plans j for the assembling of the inter-allied j conference and the meeting of the j peace congress. He will also be advis : ed concerning the recent gathering of j the supreme war council at London. I In the meantime, reports that the j president had approved of anything I done at the supreme council r.re pre I mature, as the steps taken at that ! meeting will not be made known to him until today. The plans concerning the peace meetings are the results of Col. E. M. House's long talk with Premier Clemenceau, following a conference with Baron Sonnino, the Italian- for eign minister, and the Earl of Derby, the British ambassador to France. The inter-allied conference wiU re assemble on December 16 or 17. The meetings will be at the foreign office in the Quai d'Orsay.. and not at Ver* sailles. David Lloyd George, the Brit ish premier, and A. J. Balfour, the foreign minister, expect to come here at that time to meet President Wilson ^ and attend the conference but tho elections in Great Britain may not permit them to remain more than two or three days. The opening of the peace congress is set for the first week in January. It was the desire of che Americans to begin at the earliest possible moment. Other delegations felt that a later date would be necessary, owing to the. Christmas holidays and; the official functions connected with the jtoesence > j of President Wilson and King Victor i j Emmanuel of Italy, but the first week in January -finally was chosen:' The first meetings will he for the actual framing of the preliminariesJ>f_pj&j&^> . I with the representatives oT the ene .' my powers, who will be present. . j The names of the French delegates j to the peace congress have not as yet ?j been announced, but it is understood , they will be three members of the j government and possibly a fourth j member. The British delegates will be Premier Lloyd George, A. J. Bal I four, foreign minister; Andrew Bo | nar Law, chancellor of the exchequer; : George Nicoll Barnes, labor member of the war cabinet, and a fifth dele j gate not yet selected. It is anticipat j ed that the peace deliberations wilt last about four months and unless j unforeseen obstacles arise, that final . action will be reached toward the I early part of May. The Dutch Plead For Kaiser William Will Urge Allies to Consent to Life Internment in Dutch Colony. j London, Dec. 7.?If the allies insist} I upon the delivery of the former Ger I man emperor and crown prince to j an international court of justice, Hol . land will yield, but will first urge that the allies content themselves with an ; undertaking! by Holland to interri them for life in one of the Dutch col onies, according to an Amsterdam telegram to the Express. ON TO BERLIN Five Additional Divisions As signed for Occupation of Germany. Washington, Dec. 7.?Five addition al divisions have been defintely as signed to the American army of occu (pation advancing into Germany, Gen. March announced today. The per sonnel assigned by Gen. Pershing for early return home was given by Gen. /March as 5.325 officers and 125,515 men. Additional units of the Ninety second and Eighty-seventh divisions with some coast artillery, and engi neers are included. Gen. March announced that at home during the past week more than two hundred thousand men had been re leased. The discharge system is be ing rapidly speeded up. WHY PROPAGANDA FAILED. Americans Would Not Stand for Sub sidized Press or Lusitania Outrage. Washington, Dec. 7.?The ship Wreck of the German propaganda initiated in America by Bernard Dern berg was attributed by Count BernJ storff in his explanation to the Ber lin foreign office of the impossibility of keeping secret the fact that an American newspaper is subsidized and to the sinking of the Lusitanla. Moultrie. Ga., Dec. 7.?The build ings and two thousand bales of cotton stored at the Moultrie Compress Co., ..vP'-e de<?t-?ved t-day by a fire of un known origin, ^he loss is estimated at ?225,000.