Tactically Germany had attained her objectives; her submarines had obeyed orders and sunk a liner. Strategically Germany had made a gross miscalculation; recruiting in England took a pronounced rise, the Admiralty was shocked into redoubled vigilance, the United States instead of swallowing the affront complicated the question of the freedom of the seas beyond all untangling except by force of arms, and beside the word "Belgium" on the calendar of crime the world wrote the word "_Lusitania_," as equally typical of the warfare of the Hun. CHAPTER XIV COMMERCIAL VENTURES German law in America--Waetzoldt's reports--The British blockade--A report from Washington--Stopping the chlorine supply--Speculation in wool--Dyestuffs and the _Deutschland_--Purchasing phenol--The Bridgeport Projectile Company--The lost portfolio--The recall of the attachés--A summary of Dr. Albert's efforts. In addition to the exercise of its diplomatic functions, now more important than they had ever been before, the German Embassy had assumed the burden of large commercial enterprises. Their execution was entrusted to Dr. Albert, the privy councillor and fiscal agent for the Empire. There was apparently no limit, either financial or territorial, to the scope of his efforts, and the fact that he was able to administrate such a volume of work is no small tribute to his zeal. But that very zeal outran his regard for American law, so in one of his earlier ventures he set out to substitute the law of the Empire for that of the nation to which he was accredited.