They, in turn, beset on all sides by a campaign of slander insidiously fostered by men to whom they had given their trust, did exactly what had been expected. They fell right into the arms of that movement which for fourteen years had been subsidized for that very purpose. They ceased to read American newspapers. They read German newspapers, many of which almost openly preached disloyalty to the United States. They became clannish and joined German societies which frequently contained German agents. They began to boycott American business houses and dealt only with those of German affiliations. Germany had gained her point. She alone could gain by the disunity of the country. It was to her advantage that the profits which had formerly gone to American business houses should be deflected to German corporations. _And had she rested her efforts there, she might, as I say, have seen them produce results in the form of riots and armed dissension, which would have effectively prevented the United States from entering the war._ But Germany over-reached herself. Emboldened by the apparent success of their schemes, her principal agents, von Papen, Boy-Ed and von Rintelen (who had begun his work in January, 1915) became careless, so far as secrecy was concerned, and so audacious in their plans that they betrayed themselves, perhaps intentionally, as a final demonstration of their power. The results you know. Insofar as the disclosures of their activities tended further to implicate the German-Americans, they did harm. But by those very disclosures the eyes of many German-Americans were opened to the true nature of the influence to which they had been subjected, and through that fact the worst element of the German propaganda in America received its death blow. To-day the United States is at war and no intelligent man now questions the loyalty of the majority of the citizens of German blood. That in the past their sympathies have been with Germany is unquestioned and, from their standpoint, entirely proper. That in many cases they view the participation of the United States in the war with regret is probable. But that they will stand up and if need be fight as staunchly as any other group in the country, no man may doubt. That is the story of the darkest chapter in the history of German intrigue. Other things have been done in this war at which a humane man may blush. Other crimes have been committed which not even the staunchest partisan can condone. But at least it may be said that those things were done to enemies or to neutral people whom fortune had put in the way of injury. The betrayal of the German-Americans was a wanton crime against men whom every association and every tie of kinship or tradition should have served to protect.