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Show WHY VON WEILL LEFT m HOME Was Too Closely Pursued by the Secret Service of the U.S. . (Special Correspondence.) NEW YORK. March 8. A letter written by Hans Adam von Wedell to Ambassador von Bernstorff to justify his action in abandoning tho work of gathoring passports for fraudulent use, is shown in facsimilio in the "World's Work for March. It is an Interesting document, not only because It reveals a lot of weak human nature in the agents of "German efficiency," but also because it definitely rovoaled Von Pappn and Albert as principals in the German plots as early as three months aftor tho war started: HOTEL ST. GEORGE, Folix Fiegcr. Proprietor, Nyack-on-Hudson, December Decem-ber 26. 1914. His Excellency tho Imperial Im-perial Gorman Ambassador Count Von Bernstorff, Washington, D. C. Your Excellency : Allow me most obediently to put before you the following facts: Io seems that an attempt has been made to produce tho impression upon you that I prematurely abandoned my post In New York. That is not true. I. My word was done. At my departure de-parture 1 loft the service, woll organized organ-ized and worked out to Its minutest details, in tho hands of my successor, Mr. Carl Ruroede, picked out by myself, my-self, and, despite many warnings, still tarried for several days in New York in order to give him tho necessary final directions and in order to hold lii uuiin. iu uiuuruu cui u 1 o bui u 11 u v.. my hands by tho German officers until after tho passage of my travelers through Gibraltar, in which I succeeded.' suc-ceeded.' Mr Ruroede will testify to you that without my suitable preliminary prelim-inary labors, in which I loft no conceivable con-ceivable means untried and in which I took not tho slightest consideration of my personal weal or woe, It would be impossible for him, as woll as for Mr. i Von Papen, to forward officers and "aspirants" in any number whatever, to Europe. This merit I lay claim to and tho occurrences of the last days have unfortunately compollod me, out of sheor self-respect, to emphasize this to Your Excellency. II. The motlvos which induced mo to leavo New York and whicu, to my astonishment, were not communicated to you, are the following: 1. I knew that the stato department depart-ment had, for threo weeks, withheld a passport application forged by mo. Why? 2. Ten days before my departure I learned from a telegram sent me by Mr. Von Papon, whioh stirred me up very much, and further through tho omission of a cable, that Doctor Stark had fallen into tho hands of tho English. Eng-lish. That gcntloman'a forged papers were liable to come back any day and could, owing chiefly to his lack of caution, cau-tion, easily bo traced back to mo. 3. Officers and aspirants of the class which I had to forward ovor, namely tho people, saddled mo with a lot of criminals and blackmailers, whoso eventual revelations wero liable lia-ble to bring about any day tho explosion explo-sion of the bomb. 4. Mr. Von Papen had repeatedly urgently ordered mo to hldo myself. 5. Mr. Igol had told mo I was talcing talc-ing tho matter altogether too lightly and ought to foi God's sake disappear. disap-pear. 6. My. counsel, . , , had-advised me to hastily quit New York, inasmuch inas-much as a local detective agency was ordered to go after tho passport for geries. 7. It had become clear to me that eventual arrest might yet injure the worthy undertaking and that my dis-ppparance dis-ppparance would probably put a stop o all investigation in this direction How urgent It was for me to go away s shown by the fact that, two days iffer my departure, detectives, who had followed up my telephone calls, hunted up my wife's harmless and un- : suspecting cousin in Brooklyn and H subjected her to interrogatory. M With expressions of the most ex- B quisite consideration, I am, your Ex- cellency, very respectfully, I (Signed) HANS ADAM VON WEDELL |