The opportunity for attracting the co-operation of commercial factions in Germany was greatly propitiated by the unfortunate Stokes incident. Stokes, a British subject, once a missionary, had become an itinerant trader, and came into the Congo State from German East Africa, where he had established headquarters. His caravan was largely composed of natives from German territory, and the goods they carried for the purpose of barter were to a large extent of German manufacture. When Stokes was caught, red-handed, bartering guns and ammunition with the native enemies of the Free State for ivory which they had unlawfully acquired, he was tried and executed. This summary disposal of a trader who had been undermining Belgian and native security in the Congo met with vehement protests in Germany as well as in England. Other factors began to operate in favour of an Anglo-German alliance against the Free State, not the least of which was the apprehension felt in Hamburg, Bremen, and Berlin over the remarkable progress the Belgians were making with their transport facilities, whereby the trade of German East Africa was being diverted to the Free State. For a time, therefore, the German press joined the British in decrying the Belgian Government in Central Africa. German attacks upon the Congo State economic policy have, however, been largely confined to interested merchants or enlisted politicians. Herr von Bornhaupt, Prince F. d’Arenberg, and Consul Vohsen have been actively identified with German criticism of the Congo State’s policy, notwithstanding that Germany, as shown in a previous chapter, has inaugurated a land policy founded upon precisely the same principles as those which prevail in the Belgian Congo. The statement of Consul Vohsen that “the Congo State’s methods were diverting trade from the German East African colonies,” betrays, perhaps, the only pretext upon which the criticism of German merchants may rest.