en who originated the scheme,
acted as almoners or treasurers, or supervised, as executives, the
horde of German and Austrian agents intriguing on the lower slopes
under their instructions.

CHAPTER III

VON RINTELEN'S ACTIVITIES--CONGRESSMAN INVOLVED--GERMANY'S
REPUDIATIONS--DISMISSAL OF CAPTAINS BOY-ED AND VON PAPEN

In this quest the mysterious movements and connections of one German
agent broadly streaked the entire investigation. This person was Von
Rintelen, supposed to be Dr. Dumba's closest lieutenant ere that
envoy's presence on American soil was dispensed with by President
Wilson. Von Rintelen's activities belonged to the earlier period of
the war, before the extensive ramifications of the criminal phases of
the German propaganda were known. At present he was an enforced
absentee from the scenes of his exploits, being either immured by the
British in the Tower of London, or in a German concentration camp as a
spy. This inglorious interruption to the role he appeared to play
while in the United States as a peripatetic Midas, setting plots in
train by means of an overflowing purse, was due to an attempt to
return to Germany on the liner _Noordam_ in July, 1915. The British
intercepted him at Falmouth, and promptly made him a prisoner of war
after examining his papers.

Whatever was Von Rintelen's real mission in the United States in the
winter of 1914-15, he was credited with being a personal emissary and
friend of the kaiser, bearing letters of credit estimated to vary
between $50,000,000 and $100,000,000. The figure probably was
exaggerated in view of the acknowledged inability of the German
interests in the United States to command anything like the lesser sum
named to acquire all they wanted--control of the munition plants. His
initial efforts appeared to have been directed to a wide advertising
campaign to sway American sentiment against the export of arms
shipments. His energies, like those of others, having been fruitless
in this field, he was said to have directed his attention to placing
large orders under cover for munitions with the object of depleting
the source of such supplies for the Allies, and aimed to control some
of the plants by purchasing their stocks. The investigation in these
channels thus contributed to confirm the New York "World's" charges
against German officialdom, based on its expose of the Albert
documents. Mexican troubles, according to persistent rumor, inspired
Von