Before we entered the war, S—— was very bitter in his denunciation of England for going into it. He claimed Russia and France were responsible and that Germany was fighting for her life. He stated that England would rue the day she went in, and that nothing could stand against the Kaiser and his great war machine. He considered the Kaiser the greatest man on earth and the German people superior to all others. He justified the invasion of Belgium as a war necessity and the ravages of that country and of invaded France on the same grounds. He gloried in the sinking of the Lusitania, and stated that all who lost their lives on it deserved to do so. He criticised the general policy of our government and President Wilson.
When we entered the war, S——’s whole attitude changed and immediately he was anxious to fight for his country. He attended the first Officer’s Training Camp at Ft. McPherson, Georgia, but was discharged in a short time. He was bitter about this and stated he had not gotten a square deal.
I have discussed S—— on many occasions with a great many of my friends, and the consensus of opinion is that he is entirely too pro-German to be in our Army in any capacity. Many think he is an agent of the German Government. Personally, I feel that he is an extremely dangerous man. I would not care to serve in the Army under him as an officer, and I would like to see him placed in such a position that he could not possibly do us harm.
Another operative said he did not think S—— a safe man to have in the United States Army. In his presence, S—— approved the sinking of the Lusitania, and said that the people who lost their lives had no business on the ship. He also stated that he had two brothers in business in Germany before the United States entered the war. Operative said that S—— was strongly pro-German in his sympathies. He regarded him as a dangerous man—particularly dangerous if he was in the Intelligence Department. Operative stated that he had no confidence whatever in S——’s loyalty. He stated that S—— admired Germany and thought the Germans were the greatest people on earth.
A third operative prefaced his statement with the remark that he was a warm personal friend of S—— and did not want to do him an injustice. He did say that S——, before the entry of the United States into the war, was intensely pro-German. On being asked if he would like to be a private in a company commanded by S—— and pressed for an answer, he said: “Well, I would like to know my captain hated the Germans a whole lot more than S—— does.” He further said that if S—— were to be captured, he would very soon be on friendly terms with his captors.
Follows a statement of an operative who had known S—— for twenty-five or thirty years, and had been on the terms of the best friendship for several years past:
Prior to the entry of the United States into the war, S—— was rabidly pro-German and expressed himself freely on any and all occasions. He thought that Germany was all-powerful and had nothing to fear from the United States. He favored the German U-Boat policy, and said: “I am damn glad of it!” when he read the newspaper notice of the sinking of the Lusitania. He said furthermore that the people on the ship got just what was coming to them, and they had no business being on it. S—— seemed to be thoroughly imbued with the idea that the Germans are supermen, and that they could do anything. He regarded the Kaiser as the greatest man on earth. He took all the German papers in the country, and received German propaganda from some source unknown. When he went to the Officer’s Training Camp in Atlanta, he wrote a card to one of his friends here asking him to forward his mail but not to forward any newspapers. He was a constant reader of papers of German tendencies. He stated in conversation that the United States had no Navy, and that the safest place for its ships was in our harbors; that there was more danger to our sailors from our own ships than from anything else. He seemed to have a great deal of information concerning the armament and equipment of the United States as regards cannon, small arms and vessels, together with the number of men in our Army and Navy. Mr. R—— did not know where he got the information nor what he did with it. S—— knew all the local anarchists and wild-eyed citizens of German and Russian nationality. One day S—— was talking on the street with a friend when a rough, unkempt, hobo-like man passed them. S—— asked his friend to excuse him a moment as he wanted to speak to that man. He conversed in German with the man for several moments, and on his return said: “He is a Russian anarchist, and he told me that a revolution is brewing in Russia and that the Germans will not have to fight the Russians much longer.” He always expressed great pleasure at any news which was favorable to Germany. He did not think the United States had any business entering the war. He has relatives in Germany now.
When asked the direct question if he thought it advisable for S—— to be in the Intelligence Division of the Army, operative said:
I would not want to be in a company which he commands, and I believe it highly dangerous for him to be in the Intelligence Department. I believe if he was captured by the Germans, he would have nothing to fear.
The report of this operative further says: