The most amazing instance thus far discovered of the German
government’s lavish waste of the German people’s money for useless
intrigues in other countries is that revealed after the arrest of Paul
Bolo, alias Bolo Pasha, in Paris, Sept. 29, 1917. The following account
is taken from the _New York Times Current History_:
“Bolo had long been under suspicion and had been temporarily under
arrest several weeks before, but only upon receipt of important
evidence from the United States was he imprisoned without bail. He is
a Frenchman, born at Marseilles, and, according to an article in the
Paris _Matin_, is a brother of an eloquent French prelate of that
name. He has had an adventurous career in various countries, including
Egypt, and at the beginning of the war he was penniless; but when
in Switzerland in March, 1915, he met Abbas Hilmi, former Khédive
of Egypt, and apparently concluded an arrangement by which he was
to receive $2,500,000 to be used in influencing the French press in
favor of a German peace. The plan was approved by Gottlieb von Jagow,
German Foreign Minister, who was to pay the money partly through the
ex-Khédive and partly through Swiss and American banks.
“In accordance with this arrangement $1,000,000 was paid by roundabout
methods through Swiss banks, to avert suspicion. Abbas Hilmi and an
associate are said to have collected $50,000 as a commission. After
that time Bolo Pasha and Abbas Hilmi seemed to have fallen out, for
their relations ceased. At the time of his arrest Bolo was said to have
received $8,000,000 from Germany, of which $2,500,000 had been traced
to the Deutsche Bank. Large portions of this sum were said to have been
paid through an American channel. The actual facts, now proved by the
documents, go far toward confirming those original estimates.
“Bolo arrived in New York on February 22, 1916, and left on March 17
following. He had rooms at the Plaza Hotel, and was careful not to
be seen in public with German agents. He saw Bernstorff secretly in
Washington.
“When the French government got an inkling of his traitorous activities
it appealed to Governor Whitman of New York for evidence, and ten days’
work by Merton E. Lewis, the Attorney General of the State, assisted
by an expert accountant, resulted in sensational disclosures which
were made public on the evening of October 3. The evidence, which
included photographic reproductions of many telltale checks, letters,
and telegrams, revealed the fact that Count Bernstorff, then German
Ambassador at Washington, had eagerly fallen in with Bolo’s proposition
to betray France by corrupting the press in favor of a premature
peace and had advanced him the enormous sum of $1,683,500 to finance
the plot. The State Department and Ambassador Jusserand examined the
evidence and attested its genuineness.
[Illustration:
From _Punch_, Sept. 9, 1914.