THE EQUIPMENT OF A COLOSSUS
Albert was equipped for the gigantic task, as few men in the world have been equipped. He knew finance, the economy of industry, the finesse of diplomacy and the odd, yet scientific twists of the inventor’s mind. He had been trained in the things that interested kings and the problems that appealed to the labouring man. His field of knowledge was broad, for in preparation for his tasks he had to seek the best commercial, banking, industrial methods and inventions of the world to help Germany. So successful was he that his friends have termed him “The German Yankee.”
Around no German official in America has there hovered so much mystery. A great bulwark of Germany’s propaganda—though no participation in any illegal or criminal acts has been charged against him—he might have remained the greater part of the war under cover had it not been for the activity of secret service agents and for a little nap which Geheimrath Albert, the courteous and overworked, took upon an elevated train one day. When he awoke, his dossier was gone. That portfolio contained a mass of wonderfully illuminating documents, so many and so varied that if the privy councillor is accustomed to take up in one day so many diverse matters it almost staggers the imagination to try to conceive of the tasks which this war brought him. Through them public and official attention was fastened upon him, serving to deepen the folds of mystery about him. Through them the public in America first learned of the vastness of German propaganda. Dr. Albert lost his portfolio in August, 1915.
In the quietness of his little office above humming Broadway and within calling distance of the gold-lined Wall Street into which he so constantly pried, Geheimrath Albert discussed momentous economic problems with Germany’s other big men. In the German Club in the evenings he continued those consultations. In trips to Washington and Chicago and New Orleans and San Francisco, he and his agents conferred with big German business men.
His close confidant was Count von Bernstorff, with whom he had a joint account of several millions of dollars in the Chase National Bank, New York. His two active colleagues were Captain von Papen and Captain Boy-Ed. The association with these men must have been very close and keen; for on von Papen’s recall Dr. Albert wrote him: “I shall feel your departure most keenly; our work together was excellent and was always a great pleasure to me. I hope that in the Fatherland you will have an opportunity for making use of your extraordinary talent in dealing with economic questions. When I think of your and Boy-Ed’s departure and that I alone remain behind in New York, I could—well, better not!”
Dr. Albert learned the output of the steel industries and the financial connections of the big corporations. He had accurate information about the electrical manufacturing concerns in this country, their output, their inventions, the ability and the accomplishments of the engineers at the head of those plants, their training and personal history. He knew all about America’s transportation systems, their financial strength and the real mechanical and constructive ability of the scientific men connected with those systems. His information was as broad as his American activities. Suffice it to say that it was Dr. Albert’s business to get these facts—and he did so.