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Show I CONSPIRACY FOR OB-TAININB OB-TAININB US. PASSPORTS I Alleged They Were to be Furnished to Ger- I man Army Officers and Reservists. I That They Might .Return to Germany I Unmolested. New York, Jan. 2. All alleged con spiracy to furnish German Army of; f. ' fleers and reservists with Amerlcnu If passports fraudulently obtained to en nblo them to return to Germany from this country without danger of moll mo-ll lestatlon by French or English null nu-ll thorltles was brought to light today II by tho department of Justice. If Tho disclosure camo with tho nr- II rest late this aftornoon of Col. Carl H Ruroedo, a farmer agent for tho" U North-Qerman'Lloyd Steamship lino, I and with the removal from tha out- I ward-bound steamer Berjenafjord cf I a German army officer and three Ger- n man resorvlsts. All of them were charged with conslracy to defraud J the United States government thru the use of American passparti. Ring Leader Tho four soldiers were taken oft the steamor, which was bound for Her gen, Norway, Just as Bho was passing quarantine, and brought back to Now York on a rovenuo cutter. All four boro photograph passports, Issued by the stato department to Americans and alleged to havo been furnished them by Huroed. Other arrests aro expected In tho near futuro, ono a prominent German-American In this oltv. Iluroedo said tonight, according to agents of tho department of justlco who questioned him, that whatever he had dono had been on his own Initiative Initia-tive and was Inspired by patriotic motives. mo-tives. Ho was hold In $20,000 ball, which ho was unablo to furnish tonight. to-night. With hlra was arrested John Archer, his alleged assoclate.who was also held In $20,000 bail, and Iluro edo's 17-year-old son, who was released re-leased on his own recognizance. Tho Germnn army offlcor , Lieut Arthur Wllhelm Zacho, was paroled , on his honor "as an officer and a ! gentleman," not to lcavo Now York I during tho pendancy of tho present I proceedings. Tho threo desorvlsts, I Waltor Mullor, August Meyer and Herman Wagner, who recently camo Wk here from Chile, were hold In $5,000 fbail each. Thoro was detained albo under $5uu0 ball each four others as material witnesses, wit-nesses, two with American and two with German names. Arrests a Culmination. Tho arrests wero the culmination, It wns said at tho department of Justice hero tonight, of an investigation which resulted In the arrest In Eng land of Carl Lody, who was subsequently subse-quently executed In the tower of London Lon-don a a German spy. Lody had a passport Issued to an American and It became known to the department of Justice that other American pass- ports wero In tho hands of German citizens. This dlscovory wag of great concern to tho state department, as it was feared that Americans holding perfectly good passports would bo open to suspicion and possible peril of tholr lives In tho countries belllger-ont belllger-ont to Germany. Dlst. Atty. Marshall In a statement Issued tonight, said that In vlow of this dangor, now emphasized by to day's arrost, tho stato department has established a system by which If any American passport Is exposed to question ques-tion "the nearest diplomatic consular offlcer of this government will on request, re-quest, send a cable of tho essential facts which the stato department will investigate and causo verification of the passport from tho officer, who Inaugurated In-augurated tho inquiry." Ruroede Under Surveillance. Mr. Marshall added that throuogh Investigation has disclosed tho fact that very few United Statos passports had been fraudulently obtained. Ru-roedo Ru-roedo has been under survcllianco y secret ngents for about six weeks Ho left his employment with tho firm of Oelrlchs company, agents for tho North German Lloyd lln", and cstab llBhcd nn olllco in tho down town dls-rlct, dls-rlct, Tho detectives learnod, It was said, that ho was In communication with German reservists In all parts of tho country, whllo ho received many of them every day at his olllco. Large numbers of them wero furnished by Ruroede with S.lb5 and Rumanian passparts, It alleged, -but American passports wero considered far moro deslrablo, If they could bo secured. To obtain theso it is charged, Uuroede employed naturalized Germans to apply ap-ply for passports, palng them from $25 to $50 apleco for tholr services If necessary. Once certified by the clerk of tho United States district court, tho passports wore sent to Washington for stgnaturo by Secy. Bryan and tho seal of the state department", de-partment", nnd on lielng returned wero glvon to the resorvlsts. Seal Authentic. Tho passports found on tho four Gormans nrrested today each boro tho photograph of their hearer stamped with tho stato department's seal, but wore mado out, respectively, Sadie's to Howard Paul Wright, Mullor'a to Herbert S. Wilson, Meyer's to Peter Hansen and Wagoner's to Stanley F. Martin. It was said that there was no doubt as to the authenticity of the seal of tho stato department on the. photographs, or as to Mr. Bryan's signature, but how the photographs had been placed on tho passports without creating suspicion that they were not likenesses of tho persons to whom the passports wero issued, was not disclosed. It was further alleged that Uuroede. In order to complete tho docoptlon , furnished resorvlsts with engravod cards bearing names and occupations to correspond with tho passports, and oven with fictitious typewritten correspondence nddressed to them in tholr assumed names. Made Case Complete. Tho department's agents had known for several dayb, It was stated, that tho four Gormans had obtained tho passports, but decided to mako their case coraploto by waiting until they I wore aboard tho ships before ai resting rest-ing them. It w-ns suspected that oth or fraudulent passports might bo found on other passengers aboard tho BorgenBfJord, but although nlno do-toctlves do-toctlves searched overy passenger on tho ship, holding tho vessel In tho harbor for moro than two hours nono was dlscovorod. All the defendants walvod examination. examin-ation. Their caso will go to tho grand Jury. In arrangnlng Lieut. 8ache and tho three privates, Assistant Assist-ant District Attornoy. Content told United States Commissioner Houghton Hough-ton that the government did not consider con-sider their alleged offenso In any way criminal In Its naturo. 'Wo realize," he said, "that these four defendants wero inspired by tho highest patriotic motives. They wero going homo to fight for tholr country. coun-try. This Is the tall end of a conspiracy con-spiracy In which thoy aro unfortunately unfortun-ately for thom, involved, and In tho interests of Justlco Uioy must bo detained de-tained within tho Jurisdiction of tho court." Lieut. Sache't Parole This Is tho parolo to which Llout. Sacho, whoM tacs wo scarrod a it from wounds recolved In tho German student sport of duelling Blgned his namo: "I sailed today from tho Hush ter mlnnl dock In Brooklyn on tho steamship Borgensfjord. I was ar-rostcd ar-rostcd after tho uhlp had passed out Into tho harbor. My rank In tho Gorman army Is lloutcnant. I desire de-sire to bo discharged on my own recognizance and If this Is dono, I give my word of honor as an officer and a gentleman that I will keep the United States district attornoy for the Southern district of New York advised of my whereabouts, and I will not leave the city of Now York until tho proceeding Is terminated In which I havo been arrested. I also agreo on receipt of notice from said United States district attorney Immediately Im-mediately to surrender mysolf and glvo ball In this proceeding." District Attorney Marshall said tonight to-night that ho wished to emphasize that tho stato department had recently recent-ly esabllsbed new and stringent regulations regu-lations in tho lssuanco of passports which, It is believed, cannot bo ovad-o4. |
