One of the most impressive features of the national holiday observances
in Paris on July 14th, 1918, was the parade by Russian troops led by a
giant color-bearer marching along the Grand Boulevard amid the applause
of enormous crowds. These were a portion of the army sent by the Czar,
to fight for the Allies in France. Persistent rumors that thousands of
Russians were landed in England to fight on the Western front proved a
hoax.]
Fay then went back to his experiments and when he felt that he had
practically perfected his device he called upon von Papen for the
second time. This time von Papen’s reply was:
“Well, this thing has been placed before our experts and also we have
gone into the political condition of the whole suggestion. Now in the
first place our experts say this apparatus is not at all seaworthy; but
as regards political conditions I am sorry to say we cannot consider it
and, therefore, we cannot consider the proposition any further.”
In other words, with no thought of the moral turpitude of the scheme,
with no thought of the abuse of diplomatic freedom, but only with
thoughts of the practicability of this device, and of the effect upon
political conditions of its use, von Papen had put the question before
technical men and before von Bernstorff, and their decision had been
adverse solely on those considerations—first, that it would not work,
and second, that it would arouse hostility in the United States. At no
stage, according to Fay’s best face upon the matter, was any thought
given to its character as a hideous crime.