For in spite of his remarkable grasp of the facts of Empire, the deeper human realities have passed him by. For years he has had a private clipping bureau for his own information; but he does not know that he has never seen any but the clippings that the Junkers--those who stood to gain by the success of his present course--have wished him to see. He does not know that he has been shut out from many chapters of the world's real history; or that this insidious censorship has kept from him those things which, I am sure, had he known in the days when his intellect was susceptible to the influence of fact, would have made him a man instead of an Emperor.
Here was a man who honestly believed that he was doing what was best for his people, but so hopelessly warped by his training and so closely surrounded by satellites that even had the truth borne wings it could not have reached him.
To me it seems that the menace of the Hohenzollerns lies in this: not that they are worse than other men, not that they mean ill to the world, but that time and experience have left them unaroused by what others know as progress. They stand in the pathway of the world to-day, believing themselves right and regarding themselves as victims of an oppressive rivalry. They do not know that their viewpoint is as tragically perverted as that of the fox which, feeling that it must live, steals the farmer's hens. But, like the farmer, the world knows only that it is injured; and just as the farmer realises that he must rid himself of the fox, so the world knows, to-day, and says that the Hohenzollerns must go!
CHAPTER IX
MY ARREST AND CONFESSION
In England, and how I reached there I am arrested and imprisoned for fifteen months What von Papen's baggage contained. I make a sworn statement.
BACK in Berlin I sought out Major Kohnemann, and together we spent many days in planning my future course of action. It was a war council in effect, for the object towards which we aimed was nothing less than the crippling of the United States by a campaign of terrorism and conspiracy. It was not pleasant work that I was to do, but I knew, as every informed German did, that it was necessary. Therefore I accepted it.
What would you have? Germany was in the war to conquer or be conquered. America, the source of supply for the Allies, stood in the way. Knowing these things, we set about the task of preventing America from aiding our enemies by using whatever means we could. We did not feel either compunction or hostility. It was war diplomatic rather than military, but war none the less.
I do not intend to go into the details of our plans at the present moment. Enough to say that after a brief visit to both the Eastern and Western fronts I left Germany for England en route to America with a programme which, in ruthlessness or efficiency, left nothing to be desired.
But before going to England it was necessary that I should take every possible precaution against exposure there. My passport might be sufficient identification, but I knew that since the arrest of Carl Lody and other German spies in England the British authorities were examining passports t with a great deal more care than they had formerly exercised. Accordingly, one morning, Mr. Bridgeman Taylor presented himself at the American Embassy for financial aid with which to leave Germany. There was good reason for this. To ask a Consulate or Embassy to vise a passport when that is not necessary may easily seem suspicious. But the applicant for aid receives not only additional identification in the form of a record of his movements, but also secures an advantage in that his passport bears an endorsement of his appeal for assistance, in my case signed with the name of the Ambassador. At The Hague I again applied for help from the United States Relief Commission. I amused myself on this occasion by making two drafts: one for $15 on Mr. John F. Ryan of Buffalo, N.Y., and one for $30 on "Mr. Papen "of New York City.
I was fairly secure, then, I thought. If suspicion did fall upon me it would be simple to prove that I had submitted my passport to a number of American officials, and had consequently satisfied them of my good faith as well as that the passport had not been issued to someone other than myself, as in the case of Lody.
As a final step I took care to divide my personal papers into two groups: those which were perfectly harmless, such as my Mexican commission and leave of absence, and those which would tend to establish my identity as a German agent. These I deposited in two separate safe deposit vaults in Rotterdam, taking care to remember in which each group was placed and that done, with a feeling of personal security, and even a certain amount of zest for the adventure, I boarded a Channel steamer for England.
I was absolutely safe, I felt. In my confidence I went about very freely, ignoring the fact that England was at the moment in the throes of a spy scare, and even so well recommended a German-American as Mr. Bridgeman Taylor was not likely to escape scrutiny.
And yet, I believe that I should not have been caught at all if I had not stopped one day in front of the Horse Guards and joined the crowd that was watching guard mount. Why I did it it is impossible for me to say. There was no military advantage to be gained; that is certain. And I had seen guard mount often enough to find no element of novelty in it. Whim, I suppose, drew me there; and as luck would have it, it drew me into a particularly congested portion of the crowd. And then chance played another card by causing a small boy to step on my foot. I lost my temper and abused the lad roundly for his carelessness so roundly, in fact, that a man standing in front of me turned and looked into my face.
I recognised him at once as an agent of the Ilussian Government, whom I had once been instrumental in exposing as a spy in Germany. I saw him look at me closely for a moment, and I could tell by his expression, although he said no word, that he had recognised me also. Thrusting a penny into the boy's hand I made haste to get out of the crowd as quickly as I could.
Here was a pleasant situation, I thought, as I made my way very quietly to my hotel. I could not doubt that the Russian would report me but what then? His word against mine would not convict me of anything, but it might lead to an inconvenient period of detention. I sat down to consider the situation.
After all, I decided, the situation was serious but not absolutely hopeless. Unquestionably 1 should be reported to the police; unquestionably a careful investigation would result in the discovery that there was no Bridgeman H. Taylor at the address in El Paso which I had given to the Relief Commission at The Hague. For the rest, my accent would prove only that I was of German blood; not that I was a German subject.
So far, so bad. But what then? I had, in the safe deposit vaults in Rotterdam, papers proving that I was a Mexican officer on leave. It would be a simple matter to send for these papers, to admit that I was Horst von der Goltz, and to state that I was in England en route from a visit to my family in Germany and now bound for Mexico to resume my services. There remained but one matter to explain: why I was using an American passport bearing a name that was not mine.
That should not be a difficult task. Huerta had been overthrown barely a week before my leave of absence was issued. Carranza's Government had not yet been recognised, and already my general, Villa, had quarrelled with him, so that it L was impossible for me to procure a passport from the Mexican Government. In my dilemma I had taken advantage of the offer of an American exporter, who had been kind enough to lend me his passport, which he had secured and found he did not need at the time. As for my name, it ,was not a particularly good one under which to travel in England, so I had naturally been obliged to use the one on my passport.
It was a good story and had somewhat the appearance of truth. The question was, would it be believed? Even if it were, it had its disadvantages; for I should certainly be arrested as an enemy alien, and after a delay fatal to all my plans, I should probably be deported. I decided to try a bolder scheme.
In Parliamentary White Paper, Miscellaneous No. 13 (1916), you will find a statement which explains my next step.
"Horst von der Goltz," it says, "arrived in England from Holland on November 4, 1914
He offered information upon projected air raids, the source whence the Emden derived her information as to British shipping, and how the Leipzig was obtaining her coal supply. He offered to go back to Germany to obtain information) and all he asked for in the first instance was his travelling expenses."
What is the meaning of these amazing statements? Simply this. I realised that even if the story I had concocted were believed it would mean a considerable delay and ultimate deportation. And as I had no mind to submit to either of these things if I could avoid them, I decided to forestall my Russian friend by taking the only possible step one commendable for its audacity if for nothing else. Accordingly I walked straight to Downing Street and into the Foreign Office. I asked to see Mr. X, of the Secret Intelligence Department. This was walking into the jaws of the lion with a vengeance.
I told Mr. X that I wished to enter the British Secret Service; that I was in a position to secure much valuable information.