From time to time one is encouraged to believe that the German Superman seems cleverer than he actually is, and that the British Underdog is less of a fool than he seems. Indeed we could scarcely be so inane and idiotic as British Governments would make us out to be. There must be some explanation of our world-wide reputation for Machiavellism, which can hardly repose on the public utterances of Lord Lansdowne or Lord Crewe in the House of Lords, or those of our Foreign Minister in the House of Commons. It is possibly attributable to the pungent contrast between the guileless attitude of simple-minded statesmen who would not hurt a fly, and the sharp and effective action of British subordinate officials of all Departments operating beyond the purview of the Deadheads of Downing Street, who have proved over and over again that when they get a free hand they can be as keen and capable as our Parliamentarians are the reverse. We have to pretend that all Germans are very wonderful, otherwise we should never get anything done and moreover, the German Government qua Government is ten times more efficient than the British Government because it is manned by men of action instead of by men of words-and as the Germans pretend the same a fictitious legend is propagated concerning German capacity. As a matter of fact, wherever and whenever he is given a fighting chance the Briton is man for man incomparably better than his enemythe British sailor than the German sailor, the British soldier than the German soldier, the British official than the German official-even our despised and much abused diplomats than German diplomats, tied though the former be to one end of a wire with Lord Haldane at the other. The British journal

ist is certainly superior to the German journalist, as we learn every day from such performances as those of "The Man who dined with the Kaiser.' The Lokal Anzeiger could not arrange for any member of its staff to dine with the King at Buckingham Palace or during any of His Majesty's visits to the Front in France!

Sub

If we could only scrap our politicians, who are useless except for speech-making, which in itself is useless in war, all would be well with our cause. We are reminded afresh of the smartness of British agents by a series of events in the United States, of which no very clear account has yet been published in this country, including the clever seizure of the paper of a notorious German agent named Albert, upon whom an ingenious trick was played some months ago in the Elevated Railway of New York, which caused him to look the other way while his bag was being appropriated. sequently came the equally clever capture of the compromising documents found on an American journalist named Archibald at Falmouth last August, which afforded conclusive evidence of the dangerous machinations of the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador in Washington, Dr. Dumba, which ultimately led to the latter's recall. The German Embassy was equally implicated through the person of its Military Attaché, a certain Captain von Papen, who under cover of his diplomatic position in Washington has divided his time between trying to buy munitions for Germany and organizing outrages against the United States by explosions and otherwise.

Owing to "The German Vote," which has of late years been welded into a formidable political factor under the auspices of the German Embassy in Washington, the American Government

was painfully anxious to confine the controversy to Austro-Hungarian channels, there being no “Austro-Hungarian Vote" to speak of, but encouraged by his prolonged immunity, Captain von Papen, with his precious colleague Captain Boy-Ed, German Naval Attaché, went to such outrageous lengths as anarchist and incendiary that it became impossible to wink at their performances any longer, and ultimately the American Government was compelled to suggest their recall, in which Germany reluctantly acquiesced. The Mailed Fist had the humiliation of being constrained to beg Washington to ask the Allies to afford "safe conducts" to von Papen and Boy-Ed, for their return to the Fatherland. In announcing this favor (December 15, 1915) the American Secretary of State, Mr. Robert Lansing, wrote Count Bernstorff, the German Ambassador: "It is also understood that they will, of course, perform no unneutral act such as carrying dispatches to the German Government, etc." Needless to say, German diplomats, who are bound by no obligations, ignored this request, stupidly forgetting that the "safe conduct" for their persons did not cover illicit documents, with the result that our exceedingly well-informed Intelligence Department, which deserves the utmost credit for this feat, took possession of Captain von Papen's papers on his arrival at Falmouth on January 2, 1916. From these a selection has been published in a White Paper and presented to Parliament, from which we make copious extracts which throw a flood of light on German propaganda in the United States and incidentally contain information upon German problems and difficulties not to be found elsewhere. While the officials responsible for this coup are to be warmly congratulated on their performance, one cannot help regretting that the editing of the Papen papers should have

been in the hands of the anæmic sentimentalists of the Foreign Office, in whose eyes British interests invariably occupy a subordinate position to foreign susceptibilities, whether neutral or hostile. As a consequence this White Paper is full of asterisks signifying omissions. Who is responsible for these omissions? Are they inspired by a proper discretion or by a desire to protect personages and interests not entitled to protection?

It is unnecessary to emphasize the salient points which, so to speak, strike one in the face. The operations of "German attachés" enjoying diplomatic privilege will be no surprise to students of German methods. Nor have we any right nowadays to affect astonishment at the vagaries of the Washington Government. Otherwise one could hardly repress one's amazement at the continuance of Count Bernstorff in Washington in the face of Annex 1 and Annex 2, which show that though Papen may have organized the chief outrages, Bernstorff was always behind Papen. He paid the piper and presumably called the tune. Every German wants value for his money, and we may be quite sure that Bernstorff exacted "strict accountability" from his subordinate for the dollars disbursed from the Embassy Exchequer. The reader will gather from the "Table showing sums paid into Captain von Papen's account" in Annex 2 that the German Military Attaché received from Count Bernstorff salary and expenses at the rate of $583.10 per month, say £116. There were besides large lump sums paid in at irregular dates, clearly for special objects. Thus, on November 25, 1914, the German Embassy paid $2000 into von Papen's account, which was about the time that large payments were being made by Papen to Herr von Wedell, who was implicated in the forgery of passports in the United States and subsequently left New York