GERMAN INTRIGUE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 510, 28 September 1915, Page 6

GERMAN INTRIGUE.

ORGANISATION IN AMERICA. NEW YORK DISCLOSURES OF PROPAGANDA. [As intricate and perhaps as expensive as the Kaiser's "American secret service" is the system -whereby, the Imperial German Government hopes, principally for the purpose of saving its credit, to sway American public opinion to the side of the Teutonic allies, says the "New York Herald." The ramifications of the pro-German propaganda are many and diverse, and whoever the master .mind of the general gigantic organisation proves to be, he has builded compactly and well, and he has spared no expense.]

For the purpose of maintaining offices and clerks and "propagandists" on practically every street corner it was estimated that 16,000 dollars is spent every week in New York alone, says the "Herald." There are in all about 30 pro-German organisations here whose sole purpose is "to inform the American citizens about the war." They cover every line of endeavour, from the highlyeducated paid writer, who, with the consent of the Imperial German Government, has been abroad and has had every opportunity to see the war "as it is," to the one-time waiter in a 36th Street restaurant, who for two dollars an evening stands in front of a newspaper bulletin board with "canned" arguments learnt by rote and defends;the Lusitania massacre and Belgian atrocities. Each organisation maintains that it is quite separate from every other, and it isy.-exce.pt for the fact that the general lines of endeavour are the same, and the following excuse is always offered without the slightest trace of a smile:—"We are not proGerman; we are merely pro-Ameri-can."

Where do these 30-odd organisations in New York city alone gather funds with which to wage such a widespread campaign? is the question often asked. Their officers to a man answer that they are supported by voluntary subscriptions. The estimate of 10,000 dollars a week does not cover what they may spend for printer's ink and postage with which they do most of their work. What their bills may be can only be surmised by the statement made in the offices of the American Independence Union that that organisation proposes soon to reprint a pro-German book at a cost of between 2000 dollars arid 30Q0 dollars. This is only one jtehi, in the. expenses of that organisation, the literature of which bears the name of Herman Ridder, of the "Staats-Zeitung," .as honorary president. \ Bryan Meeting Cost 5000 Dollars. The famous Bryan peace meeting in Madison Square Garden, it is estimated, cost about 5000 dollars. This amount was expended in a single night, and those who are said to know state that the money for it was forthcoming without any trouble whatever. .

The .peace, campaign thus far has been the : most expensive, it is said* The offices of the Friends of Peace and allied organisations are. quite interesting: Including the "women's bureau," the organisation* has four rooms, with six or seven employees. I was informed that in the women's bureau all service was voluntary. However, in the main office there 1 were three stenographers, a clerk, and a manager. The rent of that building averages about 210 dollars a year for each room, or 840 dollars a year, while a conservative estimate for salaries would be 7000 dollars a year. This initial outlay is said to be the very least of the expenses of this organisation, which sends out thousands of letters and pamphlets daily. The organisation is said to be "raising" for a special:fund for the "National Peace Convention," to be held in Chicago on Septembers and (I. The convention will cost 100,000 dollars, it is estimated, but the contributions will come from all parts of the country for that amount.

On the thirteenth floor of the Nassau Street.building there are located the offices of the Printers' and Publishers' Organisation, and of the German-American Literary Defence League. These organisations maintain a suite of live rooms, at an annual rental of approximately 1000 dollars, while they have half a dozen employees at an estimated salary expense of 15,000 dollars a year. Many Societies at Work.

Other organisations include the American Women for Strict Neutrality, American Truth Society, American Humanity League, American Women of German Descent, American Fair Play Society, Continental League, the German-American Alliance, German .Catholic Federation, United Irish-American Societies, United Austrian and Hungarian-Ame-rican Societies, Upholsterers' International Union, etc. Some of these organisations had their inception before the war, but all of them, it is said, have extra workers employed for the purpose of waging a campaign against Great Britain and for the Fatherland. The American Women of German Descent have for their headquarters a handsome residence, while the American Humanity League has a similar structure where the rents arc said to be high. The American Women for Strict Neutrality recently spent large sums of money for bill posters which asked the public to "uphold the hands of the President" in stopping the export of arms and ammunition 'to the Allies. This poster caused a. protest from several women's organisations on the ground that, as other proGerman propaganda has, it gave a false impression of the. President's ideas on the subject to ignorant persons. , , . Acid for Asphyxiating Gases. The incidential expenses of these

■i organisations are many and various'* and have included hiring automobiles for speakers, printing and distribution of streamers and pamphlets announcing meetings, posters, rental of sign boards, and scores of other small items, which, taken as a whole, run into thousands of dollars. But by far the greatest financial outlay in behalf of the Teutonic allies has been the enormous amount of money expended for news bureaus, moving picture syndicates, and such publications as the 'Tatherland." Not the least of the pro-German propaganda activities is the scheme to start in the near future a daily newspaper devoted to German interests. The new newspaper has an authorised capital stock of $2,000,000, of which ■'$1:600,000 dollars is to be preferred stock, with $400,000 common stock. The organiser, a German chemist, figured in the news recently, for it was he who signed a contract with the American Oil and Supply Company for 1,212,0001b of phenol (carbolic which that corporation had under contract from the Edison Company. The German Government wanted it to make asphyxiating gases.