GERMANY IN THE STOCK MARKET
When it appeared that the Kaiser would not yield to demands made by the President, the prices of stocks went down and Germans bought stocks cheaply. After they loaded up a liberal supply, word would come that Germany was yielding and the stock market would become buoyant, thus allowing the German group to sell hundreds of thousands of shares on a substantial profit. There is absolutely no doubt that as a result of every crisis the German Government realized millions of dollars in the market.
An instance of how Dr. Albert had opportunity to get into the market is revealed in a secret letter written to Dr. Albert on July 8, 1915, by a well-known Board of Trade German in Chicago, and associated with a group of German traders. In this letter he refers to Dr. Albert’s “principal,” presumed to be no other than the German Government or the Kaiser himself. His letter says:
“Provisions have been horribly depressed by severe liquidation. We firmly believe that purchase of September lard will make your principal a great deal of money. September lard closes tonight at $8.65. This, with high freight added, will cost under 10 cents delivered Hamburg, where actual prices are around 35 cents per pound.
“I do not want to appear over persistent, but there never was a better proposition than buying this cheap lard for September delivery.”
One of Dr. Albert’s functions was to sift this commercial information and make recommendations to Berlin. He would confer with his coworkers on all military and naval matters having a commercial phase. That he did so is proved by the reports which they made and which went to Dr. Albert for his consideration and further recommendation. Captain von Papen, on July 7, 1915, submitted to Dr. Albert a memorandum headed, “Steps taken to Prevent the Exportation of Liquid Chlorine,” in which he tells of the efforts made by England and France to buy that chemical in America, tells of the output here, and the firms turning it out.