February 21, 1918 
Land ^ Water 
13 
extra session of Congress to put an embargo on the shipment 
of arms. 
The suggestions put out by Captain Boy-Ed were directly 
in line with four or five other attempts, made by the Germans 
in America through other channels, to keep the Administra- 
tion at Washington under the belief that Germany was 
anxiously seeking some basis for peace. 
Careful examination of our wireless reports showed a 
constant and suspicious connection between many large 
commercial and shipping houses in the United States and 
the Gennan Foreign Office. Further investigation disclosed 
the fact that the code numbers and combinations of letters 
being used by the German Embassy in its messages to Berlin 
were in many cases duplicated by messages sent out from the 
Atlantic Communication Company (the ostensible owner of 
Sayville, the American wireless station), the Siemens and 
Halske Gimpany of Kew York, the Hamburg-America 
Line and North German Lloyd Line, and many other concerns. 
Starting with this knowledge, it soon developed that the great 
strength of the German propaganda system in America was 
largely due to the fact that these great commercial houses 
were nothing more than outposts of the German Foreign 
Office, heavily subsidised and acting directly under the orders 
of their home offices, which in turn took their orders from 
Foreign Office officials. 
One of the first discoveries made by the Journal was the 
existence of a chart drawn to resemble a family tree, the 
trunk of which bore the label of the Foreigft Office. Spreading 
from this trunk were three branches, and at the bottom of 
each branch the words, " Telefunken Co." Spreading from 
each of these three branches were limbs bearing the names of 
electrical firms throughout the world. 
This tremendous network of great electrical concerns, all 
of them in turn having sub-agencies and all being directly con- 
nected with wireless and telegraphic communication of every 
description, was continuously at the service of the German 
Government. Thanks to heavy Government subsidies these 
concerns were able to underbid, and did underbid, their com- 
petitors in the price of installation of wireless plants through- 
out the American continent, and we discovered in many cases 
before the construction of such plants that they had success- 
fully imposed their will on various Central and South American 
Governments by insisting^in selecting their own locations for 
the construction of these plants. 
The most interesting discovery made in this connection by 
my representatives was that during the time that the United 
States Government was planning a series of wireless stations 
throughout the Philippine Islands the Gesellschaft |Fur 
Drahtlose Telegraphic in Berlin, a branch of the great Tele- 
funken system, sent to its branch in New York City and to 
its office in Manila (represented by the firm of Germann and Co., 
of Hamburg) a long communication setting forth that the 
wireless stations to be constructed by the United States 
Government in the Philippines must be bid for at such a low 
price by their agents that there would be no possibility of 
their losing the contracts. 
A former manager of the Atlantic Communication Company 
notified me that the definite understanding with reference to 
this matter was as follows : " Our superior knowledge of 
wireless must be set forth in arguments to convince United 
States ' wireless ' officials that the stations should be where we 
have designated them on this map, regardless of their own 
desires in the matter, so as to make it certain that if Germany 
comes into control of the Philippine Islands the wireless 
stations shall be in the most advantageous positions for the 
work of the German Government." 
The Hamburg- America Line and the North i German 
Lloyd Line, in addition to being under the direct supervision 
of Captain Boy-Ed (who practically had charge of the move- 
ments of all the ships of both concerns), made regular reports 
through their home office to the Foreign Office in Berlin. 
Among these reports were accounts of disbursements, not 
only for the legitimate outlay of a steamship company, but 
also for the upkeep of two large bodies of secret service men 
who took charge of all fraudulent passport work for the 
German Government, and who between the outbreak of the 
European war and the time of America's entry into the war 
shipped on Swedish and Dutch vessels a large number of 
German reservist officers, and also of German army officers, 
from America. The latter, through briber^', were allowed to 
escape from Siberia after having been captured by the Russians, 
and were brought through Japan or China into the United 
States, held in boarding houses in New York and shipped with 
false passports to Europe as opportunity offered. 
These great corptjrations were used also for other purposes 
by the German and .\ustrian Govemmcnts and the Embassies 
in Washington. A i)iot to blow up the Welland Canal was 
worked out in the Hamburg- America offices by Paul Koenig, 
chief qf^the secret service of that company. In aii-attempt 
to fool the American Government, hundreds of wireless 
messages, ostensibly relating to steamship matters, but really 
secret Government codes, were sent continually to the German 
wireless stations at Nauen and Elivese signed by these steam- 
ship and electrical concerns under orders from von Bemstorff, 
in whose office such messages originated. 
The great majority of the men working in these establish- 
ments were Genrian and Austrian aliens, but they invariably 
included, usually among their general managers or directors, 
several who had acquired American citizenship solely to 
permit them to conduct their propaganda work with more 
freedom. 
Truly, the German Ambassador, von Bemstorff, was not 
The Wireless Station used by the German 
Plotters 
At Sayville, L. I. It was equipped with the German Tele- 
funken apparatus and was owned by the Atlantic Communica- 
tion Company before the United States Government took it 
over after it bad been proved that it was being used to send 
' military information to Germany in violation of our neutrality. 
underestimating the boundless credulity of a democracy 
when he said once in his Embassy, in a burst of pardonable 
pride in his ability to make the American people believe 
what he wanted them to believe : "In dem Lande der un- 
begrenzten Moglichkeiten ist alles tnoglich ! " — " In this land 
of unlimited possibilities everything is possible ! " 
We regret to announce that publication of these 
articles by Mr. ^ohn R. Rathom will have to be 
suspended at the request of the United States 
Authorities. 
