In all branch establishments of German banking houses in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, China and the United States, special military accounts have been opened for special war necessities. Main headquarters authorizes you to use these credits to an unlimited extent for the purpose of destroying factories, workshops, camps, and the most important centers of military and civil supply belonging to the enemy. In addition to the incitement of labor troubles, measures must be taken for the damaging of engines and machinery plants, the destruction of vessels carrying war material to enemy countries, the burning of stocks of raw materials and finished goods, and the depriving of large industrial centers of electric power, fuel and food. Special agents, who will be placed at your disposal, will supply you with the necessary means for effecting explosions and fires, as well as with a list of people in the country under your supervision who are willing to undertake the task of destruction. (Signed) DR. E. FISCHER.
Shortly after the establishment of the German employment bureau,
Ambassador Dumba sent the following communication to the Austrian
Foreign Office:
It is my impression that we can disorganize and hold up for months, if not entirely prevent, the manufacture of munitions in Bethlehem and the Middle West, which, in the opinion of the German military attache, is of importance and amply outweighs the comparatively small expenditure of money involved.
Concerning the operations of the arson and murder squad organized by von Bernstorff, Dumba and their associates, it is only necessary to turn to the records of the criminal courts of the United States and Canada. Take for example the case against Albert Kaltschmidt, living in Detroit, Michigan. The United States grand jury sitting in Detroit indicted Kaltschmidt and his fellow conspirators upon the following counts:
"To blow up the factory of the Peabody's Company, Limited, at Walkerville, Ontario, … engaged in manufacturing uniforms, clothing and military supplies …
"To blow up the building known as the Windsor Armories of the City of
Windsor.
"To blow up and destroy other plants and buildings in said Dominion of Canada, which were used for the manufacture of munitions of war, clothing and uniforms.
"To blow up and destroy the great railroad bridges of the Canadian
Pacific Railroad at Nipigon. . . .
"To employ and send into said Dominion of Canada spies to obtain military information."
Besides the acts enumerated in the indictment it was proved upon trial that Kaltschmidt and his gang planned to blow up the Detroit Screw Works where shrapnel was being manufactured, and to destroy the St. Clair tunnel, connecting Canada with the United States. Both of these plans failed. Associated with Kaltschmidt in these plots were Captain von Papen, Baron Kurt von Reiswitz, German consul-general in Chicago; Charles F. Respa, Richard Herman, and William M. Jarasch, the latter two German reservists. Testifying in the case Jarasch, a bartender, said: "Jacobsen (an aide) told me that munition factories in Canada were to be blown up. Before I left for Detroit, Jacobsen and I went to the consulate. We saw the consul and he shook hands with me and wished me success."