THE SPY RINTELEN

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 225, 11 June 1918, Page 6

THE SPY RINTELEN

| 'GERMANY ANXIOUS FOR HIS RELEASE iv. ~~~ : Threat of reprisals and !' ... counter-reprisals r ■ ; • Washington, June 7. i . Germany has, threatened reprisals egainst Americans unless America .re- {■ leases Von Rintelen, the German spy, • now serving a sentence," in the United j States. Answering theHlnvat, America ■'-. etates: "Reprisal will inevitably invite ; similar action upon great numbers of j German subjects in the United States." i f-Aus.-N.Z. uablo Ascsn. |; "■ THE MYSTERy"¥7oN RINTELEN i America first canio into contact with | . Captain Franz von Rintelen in other i guise. In ISOG a. tall young German of distinguished bearing arrived' jn New York to "study American business metheds" (savs Mr. E. It. Smith in the New I'ork "World"). In tho course of this visit Von Rintelen made manv social acquaintances. Backed by the German Embassy, he was almost universally received, and he did not fail to acquit himself with distinction. When the time came for Germany to bo represented at the celebration in honour of John Paul Jones, Von Rintelen was selected as-dele-gate from the German Navy. In connection, with these festivities he had opportunity to meet many American women in exalted social positions. With Lis reputed nobility, his elevated position, his wealth, .and his fine personal equipment, Von Rintelen found no trouble in becoming 'intimate with persons of future value to him. He already had been making "studies" of England s system when he came to America. He continued to Canada and Mexico, deToting a deal of time to his considerations of that Latin republic. Here Von , . iliintelen spent some three years on. these labours. In 1909, according to best reckoning, ho returned to Germany. He was now fully equipped for the part he ;was- subsequently to play., His Activities.

Von Eintelen got the passport of one Emily V. Grasse, a citizen of Switzer- , land, and said to bo his sister.. He ■■.■.'.•. erased the "y" at the end of the first i name, and passed himself off aB-Emil. "With this false paper ho mado his way to America about six months after the first onset. He found a considerable pacifist sentiment extant in these Stales, a sentiment opposed to furnishing deadly .weapons and explosives to combatants, especially to one side to the exclusion of the other. What he did not find he attempted to create. This activity finally took form in the MTJemore resolution, .aii attempt to embargo arms and munitions.' Secondly, Voii Eintelen net about buying up munitions and forcing up the prices, an endeavour in which ho found ' hearty support among the makers. .Thirdv ly, he extended the same activity to '/'■■ many necessaries, especially- food- . ■ stuffs and the. basic ' materials of war manufacture. Then : the/plotter's activities swung off into :• .more direct and more violent channels, . some of which have led him to prison. \ His fourth plan; was to foment labour troubles and bring about strikes,' in order to curtail production. Fifth, going still further, German agents, probably under his financial support if not directly employed by him, began a series of•; incendiary attacks on American factories, warehouses, wharves, munition plants, slaughter-houses, what not? Sixth, bombs were laid in ships carrying munitions and supplies to the Allies. But tho final marvel of this German's astuteness lies be.vond . these comoara- ' tively minor It consisted of' nothing less than an attempt to force t American intervention in Mexico, with the certain result of a war or at least a campaign of occupation. It should be noted that Eintelen's prime motive here again was not ill-will against America. / nor yet a desire to sep Mexico overrun by foreign legions. The object of the thing was to cause America to seize the munitions output of the country far use in its own war and'thus cut off the Allies and leave them, to their fate. The -Mexican coup was attempted in .many and devious ways. Finally that redoubtable old vulture Yictorio.no Huerta was brrfught from his exile in Spain for the purpose of introducing him into Mexico and fomenting a' coun-ter-revolution.' The United States had once interfered against Huerta, and was likely to do so again, in the event of his restoration. The capture of Huerta on the border, as he was about to cross, and hit! subsequent death need not be gone ■ into. They were the high-tide marks which record the defeat of-tho plot. Laid by the Heels. At all these contrary machinations our mystifying-friend Kiutelen was busy for about ten months. Then, as things .were' getting decidedly /hot, he suddenly , took counsel /with caution and attempted to get back to Germany. The British were too .watchful, held np his .ship, and took him- off. He was held alternately in prison camps and in the Tower of London, and death came much 'closer than ho may care Jo contemplate. He lay in British prisons until early in. 1917, when, indictments having been returned against him in this country, ho was handed over by the British authori-, ties and brought here for the trials which resulted in his two sentences. For those who want details, his sentences aggregate about four years, enough to keep lini occupied until peace, it is to .be hoped. Meantime, while the man was confined in England,. came developments which gave colour to. all the speculation as to his identity. First came his ' extraordinary assurance. It was as though he knew himself to be too important to be sent off-hand to the muzzles of any firing .squad. Next was tho in-' 'flexible silence of. other German plotters arrested here and abroad. None of them knew a word. Finally came the confirmation of the Berlin. War Office. Any ten British officers held in Germany were offered as ransom for this man. The British declined. The number of exchanges was raised to twenty. Finally Germany offered 23 of the most distinguished British prisoners, submitting a list of their names, in exchange for this one man. Downing Street wisely concluded that if he was so valuable to Berlin he might well remain in England. > Who is He? Who is he? It hns been Baid that Captain Franz von Eintelen is in fact Duke Adolf of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, one of the minor principalities of the German Empire. His lief is a small place of about 5000 square miles, directly east of Schleswig-Holstein, in North Germany, and its population somewhat less numerous than that of the Bronx Borough, New York City. Grand Duke Adolf has long been accounted the leading German sportsman, motorist, and . royal adventurer. His journey across the heart of the African wilderness was one of the later pieces of exploration comparable to Livingstone's, and, so far as scientific results are concerned, considerably moro fruitful. He has also been an automobilo racer and balloonist —in short, a man of adventurous type and one of strong initiative and con- , siderable administrative ability. Quixotic as it may seem to suppose that a reigning grand duke might be sent on such a mission as Eintelen's, it is lent some added colour by the very character of the man and by tho importance of the duties. Those who like this theory of tho Rintclen mystery point out some points of resemblance between the grand duko and the enigmatic prisonor of White Plains. Their apparent ages agree—somewhere near forty. In height and general build they are much alike, and a comparison of their photographs shows at least surface resemblances. There is, superficially at least, the same formation of the ear and much the same cranial height above the ear. The hair, - the forehead, and the set' of the lower . jaw also yield particulars on which the dsvotee of this hypothesis may base his -• convictions. Why then, you will ask, the feverish desire of the Berlin office to « pet (he man out of the hands of the English Why then tho strong British resolution to keep hands on him? Who is he that he is worth the ransom of 23 of the foremost Britons captive in Germany? '