The most sensational of the revelations of German plotting in the
United States was made by Secretary Lansing on September 21, 1916,
when he published without comment a telegram written by Ambassador
Bernstorff himself and asking his government for $50,000 to be used
in influencing Congress. This was not one of the papers taken from
von Igel, but was of much later date, and Mr. Lansing stated that the
cablegram had not been sent to Germany through the State Department,
leaving it to be implied that it went by way of some neutral legation.
There was a veritable storm of excitement in Congress over the
imputation of bribery, some Congressmen in the heat of the moment
intimating that they knew what members had benefited from the fund.
But later it was made evident that Bernstorff had no idea of bribery
but of starting a volume of letters and telegrams from various parts
of the country to influence Congressmen against a declaration of war.
Some time afterwards Secretary Lansing made public the fact that when
Bernstorff asked for the $50,000 to influence the American Congress
he was already aware that Germany was about to resume her ruthless
submarine warfare which she had assured the United States would be
abandoned.