The Web : $b The Authorized History of the American Protective LeagueHough, Emerson
History
The Web : $b The Authorized History of the American Protective League
Hough, Emerson
American Protective League; Propaganda, German; World War, 1914-1918 -- Secret service -- United States
Dr. Scheele told the Department of Justice when he was taken in charge
that for twenty-one years before the outbreak of the European war
he had been stationed in Brooklyn as a representative of the German
government. His “honorarium,” as he called it, was $125 a month. He had
been a German major, yet owned a drug store in Brooklyn. A couple of
months before war was declared by Germany, he was told to get rid of
his drug store—that is to say, to mobilize in America for the German
purposes in the coming war. He said the drug store was doing very well.
Others of these fixed spies got salaries about like that of Scheele,
a retainer of $1,000 nominal salary being more frequent. In charge of
all these lesser regular spies, who had been absorbed in the American
citizenship, were the consuls and the high diplomatic officials of the
Imperial German Government in our country. It would be a very great
deal to hope that this system has been actually extirpated. That it did
exist is true without any doubt or question.
Any A. P. L. man whose work was identified with the larger eastern
cities will note many points of contact of the A. P. L. with D. J. and
M. I. D. in the testimony brought before the Overman Committee. It is,
of course, not too much to say that A. P. L. was at the foundation of
much of that testimony itself. Many of the facts above brought out are
of record in the A. P. L. files.
In yet another line of Government work, the League has been very
useful—that of coöperating with Mr. A. Mitchell Palmer, Custodian of
Alien Property, whose statements, made elsewhere than in the committee,
constitute a rather valuable extension of the committee’s information.
Reference was made before the committee to the Bridgeport Projectile
Company. Mr. Palmer some time ago announced that he had taken over
19,900 of the 20,000 shares of the capital stock of that concern, and
that there had been reported to him other property of approximate value
of $500,000 held by it for and in behalf of Germany.
In a statement accredited to him, Mr. Palmer again bared the efforts of
that malodorous quartet, Count von Bernstorff, Dr. Albert, Dr. Dernburg
and Captain von Papen. It was the obvious intent of these to use the
Bridgeport Projectile Company to prevent the manufacture and shipment
of arms and ammunition to the Allies. The taking over of the stock of
the Bridgeport Projectile Company, and the report by the company of the
property owned by the German government, with the disclosures incident
thereto, followed many months of persistent investigation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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