e in question, which was known as the Luebau Bureau
from the name of its chief, was started by Captain von Papen with
the assistance of the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador, after Dr. Dumba
and I had pointed out clearly to our fellow-countrymen working in
the American munition factories that any of them who took part in
the manufacture of arms or supplies for our enemies would render
themselves liable to be tried for high treason in their native
land. After this it was the bounden duty of both Embassies to find
employment for all those who voluntarily resigned from the factories
working for the Entente; and from first to last this office, which
had branches in Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and
provided about 4,500 men with fresh employment of an unobjectionable
nature, was never guilty of any illegal act.
My open reference to the German law of high treason, however, was
much criticized by the greater part of the American Press, which
stigmatized it as an attempt "to introduce the German criminal
code into America," and as an infringement of the sovereignty of
the United States. Such criticism appears somewhat unwarranted in
view of the wide application given to the law of treason by the
Americans themselves shortly afterwards.
After this digression on the subject of the conspiracies which
had been previously imputed to us, but were now dropped out of
Bielaski's list, I propose to return to the instances of illegal
action which were definitely laid to our charge.
The first of these is the action of Werner Horn, a retired German
officer, which gained us for the first time the opprobrious epithet
of "dynamiters." Horn, of whose presence in America I was not aware
until the story of his crime appeared in the papers, contrived
in February, 1915, to blow up a railway bridge near Vaneboro, in
the territory of Canada, on the line running through the State
of Maine to Halifax. Apparently he believed, as did many other
people, that this railway was being utilized for the transport
of Canadian troops. As the act was quite senseless, and could at
worst only have held up traffic for a few hours, Captain von Papen
saw no objection to advancing to Horn, who was without means, a
sum sufficient to pay the fees of his defending counsel. To the
best of my knowledge Horn was simply kept under observation for
some time, and it was only after America's entry into the war that
he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment fo
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