\>/ ;♦ . **'% 5^ "o ♦ » ''AqS .^'"-^. <* .. -4^ '•""' A' ''be 1^ THE ENEMY WITHIN >r«.*"\ 3»'-»'A\ "The Tiger" Prepares for Battle Premier Clemenceau obtains the proof of the Great Consi)iracy and plans the prosecution of the plotters against Franca. Lt. Mornet, chief prose- cutor (on left) ; Captain Bourchardon, chief investigator, next to Morne; M. Ignace, under Secretary of State for Military Affairs (standing) j Clemenceau on extreme right. THE ENEMY WITHIN Hitherto Unpublished Details of the Great Conspiracy to Corrupt and Destroy France By SEVERANCE JOHNSON Special Investigator and Correspondent at the Faris Peace Conference Translations by EDGARD LEON Illustrated 1919 THE JAMES A. McCANN COMPANY NEW YORK Copyright 1919, by THE JAMES A. McCANN COMPANY All Rights Resened M 31 1320 Printed in the U. S. A ©C1,A561694 CONTENTS Chapter I A WOMAN'S CRIME SAVED FRANCE Why Mme. Caillaux Killed Gaston Calraette— Cailla^x's Ante Bellum Alliance With Germany— The First Seeds of the Pestilence— Caillaux Forced Out of Cabinet By Wife's Mad Act, Continues to Plot Against France 1 Chapter II THE BONNET ROUGE GANG A Hotbed of Sedition— Almereyda, Apache Editor- -His Criminal Record—Almereyda, Tool of Caillaux— The Apaches Revel— A Pacifist Reporter. , .' 20 Chapter III CAILLAUX WOULD BE ANOTHER LENINE Awaits German Armies in Paris — Plans Coup d'Etat and Dictator- ship In Private Life, But Still Powerful— Controls State Affairs Through Malvy ' 30 Chapter IV MALVY, CABINET MINISTER, FRIEND OF FOE The Dummy of Caillaux— His Socialistic and Labor Following— His Friendship for Almereyda and the Bonnet Rouge Gang — His Private Life— A Gambler— Caillaux Protected by Bernstorff 48 Chapter V THE ENEMY GROWS BOLDER Defeated in Drive to Capture Paris, Germany Spreads Pestilence Behind the Lines — Almereda and Malvy Protect Alien Enemies — Alraereyda's Sudden Riches — His Lurid Life 61 CONTENTS Chapter VI "THE RED BEE" AND "LA RUCHE" Sebastian Faure and "The Bee Hive" — His Anarchist Pamplets Flood Trenches — Malvy, His Patron — Pacifist Literature Demoralizes Army — Clemenceau's Battle Against the Enemy Within 72 Chapter VII MME. THERESE, ENEMY AGENT, VISITS CAILLAUX Asks Him to Meet Lipscher and Discuss Peace Terms — Caillaux Afraid of Assassination — Mme. Therese Also Meets a Soldier and Tells the Whole Story 81 Chapter VIII BOLO, ADVENTURER His Fantastic Life — A Charmer of Many Hapless Women — Mar- riage as a Fine Art — His Sudden Wealth — How He Became a Pacha — Why He Was Drawn to Germany — His Secret Meetings with Abbas Hilmi — His Great Pacifist Publicity Scheme — German Bribes — Mme. Caillaux and Bolo 95 Chapter IX BOLO FINDS GERMAN GOLD IN AMERICA Sees Pavenstedt in New York — Pavenstedt Sees Von Bernstoflf in Washington — BernstorfF Wires Von Jagow in Berlin — Von Jagow Wires Consent for 10,000,000 Marks — German Banks with French Windows — Bolo and Humbert Visit King Al- fonso Ill Chapter X DUVAL, MISER, HYPOCRITE, PHILOSOPHER Reorganizes the Bonnet Rouge for Germany — His Dreams of Avar- ice — The San Stefano Bubble — Marx, the Mannheim Banker — Marx, the Enemy Pay Master — The Poison of Duval's Edi- torial Irony 125 CONTENTS Chapter XI ALMOST CAUGHT Duval's Trips to Switzerland Arouse Suspicion — Caillaux Alarmed Examines Duval's Dossier — Marion Burns Papers — Mme. Duval's Mind a Blank— Duval Conquered by Mile. Vail — His Gay Ride to Mamers— Marx and Caillaux — Marx's Handwriting in Caillaux's Safe '. . 139 Chapter XII HOW THE BONNET ROUGE BETRAYED ROUMANIA Almereyda Gets Secret Government Reports Revealing Weakness of General Sarrail's Army at Salonica — Has Copies Made — He and Marion Go to Spain — German U Boat Lies in Wait at Carthagina — Germany Attacks Rouraania — Roumania is Lost 14S Chapter XIII MME. POZZOLI'S TELL-TALE DIARY Reveals Caillaux's Conferences With Cavallini, Enemy Agent and Briber— The Luncher^i at Larue's— Caillaux's Italian Jour- ney — His Plans of a Latin Alliance — His Gospel of Dispair and Defeat — Yagghen, Another Oriental Pacifier 162 Chapter XIV CAUGHT The Bonnet Rouge Gets Money from Marx by New Route — The Handy Vercasson — The Omniscient "Gen. N." — Duval's New Brood of Reptiles — Duval's Last Trip to Switzerland — The Fatal 150,000 Franc Check — Barres Unclosets Ghost Which Points at Malvy ' 178 Chapter XV THE "TIGER" LEAPS Clemenceau Attacks Malvy in Senate — Accuses Him of Betraying France — Exposes Minister of Interior as Friend of Enemy Agents— Reveals Apache as Real Head of Police— Almerey- da's Sudden Death— Was He Killed to Protect Others More Powerful? 185 CONTENTS Chapter XVI ALMEREYDA'S SPECTRE AROUSES FRANCE Daudet Calls Malvy Traitor — Painleve Seeks to Drop Scandal — Re- plies by Raids on Daudet's Newspaper — Bolsheviks Triumph in Russia — France Beset with Perils — Clemenceau At Last Called to Premiership — Demands Caillaux Be Tried 196 Chapter XVII "THE HALL OF LOST FOOTSTEPS" The Fateful Chamber of Deputies — Caillaux Fights His Accusers — Paints Blackest Charges with All the Colors of Explana- tion — Strikes at Clemenceau — Caillaux Arrested . . His New Life Behind the Iron Bars of La Sante 210 Chapter XVIII BOLO, TRIED FOR TREASON The Levantine Adventurer Confronted by His "Wives" — The Last Still Faithful— His First Woman Victim Tells Story of Ruined Life — Bolo Weeps — Wife No. 1 Relates How She Discovered His Perfidy — His Brother, a Monsignor, Pleads iu Vain 221 Chapter XIX THE BONNET ROUGE TREASON UNFOLDED Duval, Marion, Joucla, Landau, Goldsky, Leymarie, Vercasson Put on Trial— Lt. Mornet Exposes All Their Plots— Ex- plains How Germany Used Them as Pawns — Bonnet Rouge Peace Articles Identical With Those of German Newspapers —The Tragic Fate of Duval 281 Chapter XX MALVY ESCAPES Tried Before Senate, As High Court — Confronted by Host of Wit- nesses Who Reveal His Perfidy — Army Reports Disclose Mutinies and Rebellions Because of Pacifists He Protected — American Troops Just in Time — Senators Give Malvy Only a Vacation 248 CONTENTS Chapter XXI THE ENEMY WITHIN ASSUMES NEW FORMS Peace Treaty Signed, but War Continues — Germany's Dream of ^ Trade Conquest — Her Latest Propaganda Plots — The Orient-*''''^ al League — French Socialists Still Serve Germany — Berlin Stirs up Irish in America — Big American Army May Be Again Needed for France — The Franco-American Treaty — At the "Door of the Virgin" — Immortal France 263 Appendix ,-, 285 ILLUSTRATIONS The Tigeu Prepares for Battle . . Frontispiece Page Mme. Caillaux . . t. r.i • • 18 CaILLAUX . t.. f.j Vi > • • '5^' BoLo's Wives . . . i.i r.; - • 1^0 Duval . . . »i t.j i. • .126 Almereyda's Death i„ ..... 19-l! BoLo . . . M ?•: i» • • 222 Malvy . ;.j ,.; H [•; »j .• • ^^^ INTRODUCTION France was almost destroyed during the last five years, not by German guns, but by a moral plague. Far beyond the black pall of the enemy's barrage, far, far beyond the range of the most powerful Krupp cannon, there were other, invisible foes spreading contagion everywhere among the French people. It was a pestilence of falsehood, of hatred, of treason. Its manifestations were many and most mysterious. It appeared in munition strikes, army mutinies, the amazing boldness and apparently unrestricted activity of German spies; in pamphlets and newspaper editorials constantly emphasizing the "selfishness" of England, the "money mak- ing ideaHsm" of the United States, the "impregnabihty" of Germany, the need of a "reapproachment with Teuton democracy," and most of all the "blessings of an immediate peace." Some of the men who plotted these crimes were not caught until France was on the brink of ruin. Others, of high sta- tion and mysteriously potent political power, almost escaped under a counterfire of recrimination against those who ex- posed them. For example, the offices of one editor who^ had accused the head of the police of being a traitor were raided. Guns were found, which, the poHce said, indicated a royalist plot. Later investigation showed that these arms were heir- looms, used for decorative purposes. Some of the plotters have been shot as traitors. A few wore caught, as it were, with German gold still sticking to their fingers. But the whole story of this great conspiracy, a stcry which involves not only French policej but a high xm INTRODUCTION Cabinet officer, and even a former Premier of France, a storj that should also be an omen and a warning to every American citizen, has never yet been told. The reader may ask: "How can this be an omen and a warning to the United States?" Because France and the United States have been built upon the same civic foundations. Because in their democratic form of government individual liberty may be easily abused by the political charlatan, the ignorant social agitator, or the paid agent of a foreign foe. Too often, as we Americans well know, has freedom of speech been made the mouthpiece of demagogism and the mask of treason. Furthermore, the ultimate triumph of France over her enemies both within and without should cheer and hearten every American who has faith in democratic institutions. In this story the reader will see how one leader after another rose among the French to free them from the traitors in their midst; and each failed until the strongest man of all emerged in the person of Georges Clemenceau, the last War Premier of France. The forces of social disruption in France were the same Mhich wrecked Russia, the sarne which even now are at work in this country, fomenting class hatred, plotting bomb outr rages, seeking in every insidious and devious way to tear down the social structure to which they contributed nothing, but out of the destruction of which they hope to gain all. Even before the war Germany fostered in France the kind of socialism which became Bolshevism in Russia. The Berlin foreign office had thus planned to weaken the French morale to such a degree that the German armies on breaking through Belgium would find a foe divided against itself. In such an analysis of the French character, German psychology INTRODUCTION showed itself as obtuse as in trying to terrify England with Zeppelin raids. Nevertheless, Germany laid her plans with thorough Ger- man thoroughness. She sought to dominate the French bureaucracy by building up a political machine which would work for the abandonm'ent of the Triple Entente, the isola- tion of England and a new alliance with Germany. At the head of this party Joseph Caillaux rose to great power ; and beside him, always obedient to his master's wishes, was Louis Malvy. Caillaux, the arch German conspirator, might have been master of France when the war broke and the Huns began marching on Paris had it not been for the fear and hate of a woman. Gaston Calmette, editor of the Figaro, was seek- ing to expose Caillaux, his German plots and counterplots, but before he could drive home the final blow the wife of Caillaux lay in wait for the editor in his office and shot him dead. Caillaux was forced to quit political office. Malvy re- mained. Both continued to work together and their power seemed very little shaken. Malvy, as Minister of the Inte- rior and head of the police and secret service, continued on in the war cabinet of Viviani, the coalition cabinet of Briand, the centralized cabinet of Ribot. Meanwhile the pestilence grew. The police seemed blind. Spies and enemies went and came without molestation. Circulars were distributed among the soldiers urging them to quit fighting and insist on an immediate peace. Complaints were made to Malvy, and the complaints were pigeonholed. Leon Daudet, editor of UAction Frangaise, openly accused Malvy of being a traitor. Other journalists and political leaders attacked Malvy for permitting the most lawless elements of society to spread contagion throughout the country, but Malvy's power was so great that he paid no heed. Even when it was known that Malvy's own private XV INTRODUCTION office was the rendezvous of Almeyreda, editor of the pacifist Bonnet Rouge, an ex-convict, leader of a band of apaches hired by Caillaux during the trial of his wife ; yes, even when it was proved that this desperado was preventing the arrest of enemy aliens and getting them out of concentration camps, Malvy still possessed enough influence to persuade Premier Painleve to drop further investigation. Then the storm broke. Painleve was forced out. Clemenceau, who had attacked Malvy in a memorable speech before the Senate on July 22, 1917, assumed the reins of government. Caillaux was arrested and sent to join his fellow conspirators in the prison of Sante. Spies and agitators were rounded up throughout France, and a broad trail of German intrigue and corruption was uncovered, which led from Paris to Berlin by way of Switzerland and New York. Then, and not till then, did the ravages of the pestilence begin to abate. They have not ceased. The seeds were sown too deep. The roots are still alive. Malvy was condemned, but his punishment was almost an apology. He was per- mitted to retain his citizenship. He was only exiled for five years. When he left Paris for San Sebastian, Spain, on August 12, 1918, a deputation from the General Labor Federation and Radical Socialist party raised the cry: "Vive Malvy!" When I was in Paris, as investigator and correspondent, both before and during the Peace Conference, I learned from various officials how France had fought an enemy within as well as without. It was a story which filled me with a new admiration for the French. It proved that the French, as a people, possess the same heroism as their soldiers, and can keep on fighting despite their wounds. The trials of the chief traitors particularly impressed me. They seemed object lessons, which all, who live in republics, xvi INTRODUCTION should know and understand. Thej taught a moral, which I felt it my duty to bring back to the United States. They revealed how corrupt politicians and demogogue editors can work unspeakable evil, if they are able to use class hatred as a shield as well as a sword. Take the Malvy case, for example. At first it appeared to me amazing that Malvy, who was finally exposed as one of the worst foes of France, could remain in the war cabinets of three successive Premiers. On inquiry I learned that Malvy stayed in power, because of the blind support of the Radical Socialists and the politicial patronage of Caillaux. Each Premier, until Clemenceau assumed control, believed he had to keep Malvy to pacify the socialists, who met all criticism of their Minister of the Interior with the reply : "The capitalists want to throw him out to seize everything for themselves. They cannot fool us with their lies. Malvy must stay, because he represents the proletariat." Many a politician and many an editor has attained great power in the United States by exploiting class hatred. And even in these perilous times, although they are laying the match of Bolshevism and revolution at the very door of our American institutions, the same politicians and editors are still raising the same cry. Not a few are preaching the pro- paganda of Germany's own agents in France, England and the other Allied countries of the Old World. They are cursing the Peace Conference, excoriating President Wilson, tearing the peace treaty to bits, condemning the League of Nations, as a delusion and a snare, spreading racial hatreds among the Irish, the Egyptians, the Hindus and the Moors. In the meantime, Germany's industrial and commercial machinery, uninjured by the war, is preparing to reconquer the markets of the world. Let us search for the enemy within our own gates. Let us not wait too long, as France almost did. The facts in this book are based upon official documents xvii INTRODUCTION of the French government. In my work I found of great value the assistance of Gustave Geffroy, President of the Academy Goncourt, the lifelong friend and biographer of Clemenceau ; George Adam, Paris correspondent of the Lon- don Times; and the editors of Les Proces de Trahison and their reviews of the evidence at the trials of Bolo, Malvy and the Bonnet Rouge plotters. I also wish to thank Noel Dor- ville, the Paris illustrator; and I. Moncayo, the New York artist, for the pictures, with which these pages have been illuminated. xvm THE ENEMY WITHIN The brotherhood of America and France was born in the War of In- dependence. It has never been ob- scured since. It has found its final consecration in the great fight we have just fought shoulder to shoulder for the liberty of the world. It will keep all its strength in the future and contribute to consolidate, in the in- terest of humanity, the peace which has been established, at the cost of so many sacrifices, by the defenders of right. President Poincare (Message to the Lafayette Day Com- mittee of New York, Sept. 6, 1919) XX THE ENEMY WITHIN CHAPTER I A Woman's Crime Saved Feance Why Mme. Caillaux Killed Gaston Calmette — CaUTaux's Antebellum Alliance with Germany — The First Seeds of the Pestilence — Caillaux, Forced out of Cabinet by Wife's Mad Act, Continued to Plot against France — Caillaux's Minions of the Underworld — His Secret Love Plot tings The clocks of Paris were striking the noon hour. It was March 16, 1914, a little more than four months before the world war. The city lay peacefully beneath the warm spring sunshine, through which a few stray clouds drifted lazily. Crowds overflowed the sidewalks of the narrow side-streets and poured into the boulevards in ever broadening streams. Shops and offices were deserted, for all Paris goes to dejeu- ner at twelve and does not return to work until two. The richer storekeeper seeks a chair on the sidewalk in front of his favorite cafe. The more thrifty clerk jumps a motor bus or a subway train and travels all the way home to dine with wife and family. The laborer seats himself in a public square, and over his dinner pail and a bottle of red wine discusses socialism. Peaceful though Paris seemed, nevertheless she was already undermined by the enemy. Foes within and without had planned her doom. The spirit of murder, of force, of abso- lutism was already abroad in France; and the first tragedy of the miUions of tragedies of the war was about to be en- acted that very day and hour. 2 THE ENEMY WITHIN Through the noonday crowds a great, black limousine pushed its way impatiently. Tasselled curtains of delicate pink almost hid the man and woman within. The two were talking excitedly. Their faces reflected the same deathlike pallor. They were no other than Joseph Caillaux, Minister of Finance, the most powerful poHtical' leader in France, and his wife. The car was now crossing the Seine by the Pont de la Concorde. Ahead arose the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, where the public guillotine once stood, where ret- ribution and death were meted out for those who in the past had plotted against France. Past the gaunt pillar, and on through the Rue Royale, where the victims of the Revolution were carried in tumbrels to the place of execution, the auto- mobile hurried still faster. Caillaux continued talking with even more frenzied gestures. "Then you were unable to find anyone who could stop Calmette .f"' he cried, taking his wife's hands, which she had dropped helplessly in his, and pressing them to his face. "No one, no one," she answered in hardly more than a moan. "All say the same thing. Calmette will not stop. The Figaro tomorrow, they say, will publish private papers, taken from your desk, which will drive you out of France." "They are our love letters — oh, God, they are oUr love letters. He is seeking your ruin as well as mine." "Then what are you going to do?" "I will kill him!" exclaimed Caillaux, clasping her hands still tighter. "When, when?" she asked convulsively. "In my own time," he replied. They reached home and sat down to their dejeuner. They were alone in the great dining room. They kept talking always of the same thing. Ftom fa.cts since ob- tained by various governmental investigations, it is now possible to picture this fateful scene. THE ENEMY WITHIN S Caillaux at that very hour was planning to become the Lenine of France. He had been in league with Germany for years, working always in the kiterest of the Kaiser and in co-operation with the Kaiser's agents. He had been building up a socialist party in France, which practically controlled the Chamber of Deputies, and which contained leaders ready to set France aflame with a Bolshevist revolution as soon as BerHn gave the command. For two months Gaston Calmettfe had been attacking Caillaux in the columns of the Figaro. The assaults were becoming fiercer and fiercer each day. Up to that time the private, the domestic life of Caillaux had been allowed to remain in the background of the fight. Only the machina- tions of Caillaux in high finance and in politics were being laid bare to public view, and with only the avowed purpose of proving to the French people that Caillaux was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and that underneath all he was the worst foe of France. Calmette pictured Caillaux as a liar, grafter, blackmailer, thief ; and produced a mass of evidence to prove his charges. Again and again the editor of the Figaro also pointed to Caillaux as the secret ally of Germany. He repeated the accusation that Caillaux, when Prime Minister in 1911 dur- ing the Agadir embroglio, clandestinely negociated a treaty with Germany, by which she lost to Germany a vast tract in the French Congo and other vital interests. Caillaux had heard this very day that Calmette had ob- tained possession of two other documents, which proved still more conclusively his alliance with Germany. It was the publication of these papers, which he dreaded most. At the luncheon table, however, he talked about love letters. Three days before, on March 13, Calmette printed a letter, which Caillaux had written his second wife before their marriage, signed "Thy Jo." The editor explained that he did not intend to begin the exposure of Caillaux's home 4 THE ENEMY WITHIN life, and only used the letter to illustrate the hypocrisy of Caillaux's statesmanship. In this letter Caillaux wrote: "I was compelled to endure two trying sittings of the Chamber. However, I scored the finest success, and demol- ished the income tax, while apparently defending it. I earned applause from the Centre and Right, and yet did not displease the Left too greatly. I succeeded in giving a turn of the helm to the Right, which was indispensable." Of letters Caillaux kept talking, of other letters which would disclose the scandal in his own household, of the skeletons in his own closets, which he said the Figaro would soon drag out and parade for public view. It was a sub- ject well adapted to arouse the hate and fury of a woman. Of his first wife he spoke, of Mme. Gueydan, whom he had divorced for the woman opposite him. Always referring to the earlier Mme. Caillaux, as "she," he continued: ''She has given Calmette the photographs of our love let- ters. As I have told you, she burned the originals. When I found she had discovered them in my desk, I promised I would give you up, if she would destroy them." There was only a moan in reply, and Caillaux continued : "She did not believe me. She made photographic copies. Calmette has them. He intends to ruin you as well as me." What the wife said is not known. After her husband left home with the remark that there was a most important meeting of the Finance Committee of the Senate, which he did not feel like attending, and that he must find a deputy to take his place, Mme. Caillaux went to her boudoir and donned the simplest kind of street dress. A moment later she was in her automobile. That evening the Italian Ambassador was to be the host of a state dinner at the Italian Embassy. The following Monday night, Mme. Caillaux had planned a banquet to which many of the same guests had been invited. Despite THE ENEMY WITHIN 5 the tragic thoughts with which her mind was racked, she did not forget the preparations for this banquet. Her first stop was at an employment agency, where she hired a cook.. From there she went to a gun store. The first re- volver she lifted was too heavy. With a lighter one she fired several shots at a target. "This is what I want," she remarked in a rather indiffer- ent manner ; and putting the pistol in her muff, she left the store. On returning home, she dressed again, this time in most elaborate costume. Her mind appeared perfectly calm. She seemed to be in not the slightest hurry. After attend- ing to various, little home duties, she went to her boudoir desk, read some old letters and wrote the following note : "My beloved husband : When I told you this morning of my interview with President Monier, who informed me that we have in France no law to protect us against the calumnies of the press, you said to me that one of these days you would smash the face of the ignoble Calmette. I realized that your decision was irrevocable. My resolve was then made, . , , I shall do justice. France and the Republic need you. "I will do the deed. "If this letter reaches you, you will know that I have done, or tried to do justice. Forgive me, but my patience is exhausted. "I love and embrace you from the depths of my heart. "Your Henriette." (Fernand Monier, President of the Tribunal of the Seine, later denied he had ever made such a statement.) Folding the envelope, Mme. Caillaux called for Miss Bax- ter, the English governess of the Caillaux menage, and said quietly : "If I do not return home by seven, give this to my hus- 6 THE ENEMY WITHIN band. But be sure and do not give it to him before then." As if to remind her mistress, the governess repKed: ''The diiuier at the Italian Embassy is tonight, Madame." "No, no, I am not going. My husband will understand. I am sending his evening clothes to his office." Mme. Caillaux again entered her limousine. She drove directly to the office of the Figaro. Calmette was not in. She said she would wait. "It is not necessary to give my name," was her answer to the persistent office boy. While Mme. Caillaux was waiting, her face buried in her furs, her body bent forward, almost crouching, that she might even hide the muff that held the revolver, the com- positors nearby were putting into type the last Caillaux exposure. It was the copy of a report made by Public Prosecutor Fabre, to the effect that M. Monis, Premier at that time, had been requested by Caillaux to postpone the trial of Rochette, the notorious swindler. By such delay the charges against Rochette would be outlawed. Men came and men went. Among them were a florid faced individual who evidenced prosperity not only by his diamond cuff links, but an aggravated accumulation of fat beneath the ears ; and a wiry, nervous man, evidently a poor relation of the other, who felt it necessary to keep talking to prove his appreciation of his patron's society. "I read every word of the Caillaux articles," said the old man. "I think the Figaro has already proved that he ought to be shot. Why, take that Prieu case. I kept a clipping of that. Here, I'll read it to you." The fat man was so nearly asleep from the effect of some rare old wine he had swallowed with his dejeuner, that he failed to interrupt. The old man, taking this silence as a good omen, continued: THE ENEMY WITHIN 7 "Here it is. From the Figaro of January 8. The article is called, 'The Secret Deals of M. Caillaux.' " Looking up from the clipping, the old man said: "The point is this. Pierre Prieu was a French merchant who went to Brazil in the seventies. He had thirteen vessels down there, which Brazil seized. The Brazilians thought the ships were smugglers. Prieu put in a claim against the Brazilian government. France took over the claim and tried to collect. Prieu said the French government got from Brazil in 1876, 15,000,000 francs. Prieu tried to get this money from France, but couldn't. From 1878 to 1899 he kept fighting for his money, but never could get it. His direct heir thinking the claim was lost, assigned it to some relatives and friends, who formed a syndicate." The little woman across the room bent still further over her muff. The old man did not see the burning eyes behind the veil. "Well, here is where Caillaux saw a chance to get some more loose gold. No wonder he's one of the richest men in France. They formed a syndicate, I said, Fonville, Boileau, and Sauvage ; and they hired Auguste Schneider to represent them. Schneider saw Caillaux, and Caillaux saw the heirs. Caillaux said he had looked up the matter, and he thought the heirs should get their money, but he added: " 'If you get money, we shall get money.' The next day, Caillaux said that he wanted 80 per cent." Taking up the clipping the old man read as follows : "These are the impudent means which the Finance Min- ister of the French Republic dares to employ to obtain the war funds for his political ends. He takes from the pockets of tax payers the millions which he grants in his omnipotence to the holders of a claim refused for nearly thirty years, and he imposes the formal and sole condition that they place at his disposal part of the sum for his election expenses or his newspapers," 8 THE ENEMY WITHIN With almost a cry, the woman opposite rose from her seat. Again she pleaded with the office boy. "Please tell me, when do you think M. Calmette will come.?" "Any time now," was the laconic reply. The fat man did not stir, and the old man continued : "Well, that's true. Calmette got the statements of the heirs to prove it. "Then there was that Credit Egyptien case. I understood he made a separate fortune out of that. Caillaux, as Minis- ter of Finance, wrote the President of the Council, in De- cember, 1908, I think, that the Credit Foncier Egyptien, a big financial institution, with head offices in Cairo, should not be permitted to place its notices in the bulletins of the Journal Officiel. Later through M. Spitzer, a banker of international power, Caillaux was made President of the administrative council of the Credit Foncier Egyptien, at a big salary. Then, and not till then were the 800,000 shares of the Credit Foncier Egyptien authorized by Cail- laux." As if scenting her prey, Mme. Caillaux leaped from her chair. "M. Calmette has just gone into his office," she whispered to the office boy. "Here is my card." The boy took one look, and jumped back. Then, slowly, and still staring at the card, turning it over and over, and still staring at it, he disappeared through the door of the inner office. There was a companion seated near Calmette, as the boy entered. "What! Mme. Caillaux.?" exclaimed the editor. Looking again at the card, he passed it to his friend, who tossed it back with the warning: "By all means don't see her." ''No," replied Calmette. "I cannot refuse to see any woman who comes to my office. Bring her in." Her head still bent forward, her hands still in her muff, THE ENEMY WITHIN 9 Mme. Caillaux entered. As Calmette was closing the door, she fired. The editor fell dying. As he was borne from his office, he gave one of the staff of the Figaro his keys, pocket book and papers, among which were the documents, that contained the details of Caillaux's secret pact with Germany. These papers, as Calmette once told M. Bailby, editor of L'Intrcmsigeant, he always carried on his person. "Take good care of them," said Calmette. "Make it clear that I have done my duty." The tragedy aroused a storm of controversy throughout France. Despite the faithful support of most of his social- ist followers, Caillaux was forced to quit the Cabinet. He handed his letter of resignation to Premier Doumergue the very next morning after the murder. A woman's crime saved France. If Caillaux had remained in the Cabinet when the Germans were marching on Paris four and a half months later, the city finally might have fallen into the hands of the commune with Caillaux at its head. Proof that he plotted a dictatorship will be presented in a later chapter. The Master Mind behind the Great Conspiracy, however, was by no means without power or resources. The reorgan- ized Cabinet still contained Louis Malvy, for long years his faithful henchman. Malvy would have been the Trotsky of France, had Caillaux been its Lenine. Both had worked to- gether in building the Radical Socialist Party into a tre- mendously powerful political machine. Both spent vast sums for newspaper publicity and propaganda of all kinds. And into the treasuries of many of these same newspapers there also flowed a constant stream of German gold. For a time CaiUaux appeared to believe that he could overcome the tide of hostile criticism, and that if he were successful in obtaining the acquittal of his wife, he might step back into the Cabinet. At all events he began a care- 10 THE ENEMY WITHIN fully organized campaign to arouse public sympathy for his wife, to foment hatred for Calmette, to portray him in the newspapers which he controlled as a contemptible dog, that would even tear open a woman's heart with its fangs. Knowing too well the hysteria of the mob, that it may be fanned into a fury or excited to laughter and ridicule by sheer stage play, he hired a number of Apaches to attend the trials of his wife and applaud or jeer at the command of their leader. Another duty of this gang was to accompany Caillaux on various occasions as a bodyguard. So bold did the band become, that it soon acquired the sobriquet of "the Corsican Guard." Its chieftain was Almereyda, an Apache, who at eighteen entered prison, a thief, and who came out, an anarchist. Ever after that his life had been a succession of clashes with the police, arrests and imprisonments, amours and sprees, the plots of an assassin and the counter plots of a stool pigeon. Almereyda was usually to be found in the more exclusive cafes, which bore the names of French patriots, but were owned and managed by Germans. In many of these resorts the Berlin spy system had its various places of rendezvous in Paris ; for at this time Germany had become so bold, so confident of her grip on French politics, French finance, French opinion, that her agents worked without any appar- ent fear of detection. In these same haunts Almereyda ate and drank, most fre- quently with some woman of the demi-monde, and always with a full purse. This then was the kind of man, whom Caillaux hired to organize his Corsican Guard, his claque for the court room, his mercenaries for various secret errands and mysterious missions, which later were discovered by government officials to be the errands and the missions of German spies. Despite the ugly character of most of his associates, THE ENEMY WITHIN 11 Almereyda believed himself a thorough scholar and gentle- man. He had been connected with various anarchistic, socialistic journals, and frequently confessed his desire to immortalize his name with a series of novels based on the next revolution, which he said would overthrow the pluto- crats of France within the next few years. Yet he took the money and did the bidding of the plutocrat of plutocrats, Joseph Caillaux. His lean face, in a frame of long, dishevelled hair, his wild, burning eyes, his nervous lips were those of a genius, which had been cursed by some unexplainably sinister in- fluence. During these same fateful months of April, May, June and July, 1914, Caillaux was also unusually active in the direction of various campaigns of the Radical Socialist party, which looked to a reapproachment of France with Germany and a curtailment of the French military system. Both movements are now known to have originated in Berlin. One was to allay all French suspicion of Germany's war designs ; the other, to render France helpless when the Germans were finally ready to attack. At the Congress at Pau, the preceding October, the Radical Socialists not only made Caillaux president for the ensuing year, but they adopted the policy of reducing the term of the compulsory army service from three to two years. When the first echoes of conflict were heard in the Balkans, there were many French socialists who began to realize the danger. They protested against the Caillaux plan of weakening France, when at the same time Germany and Austria were bending every effort toward larger and more powerful armaments. Viviani was one of these socialists, who rebelled against crippling the French army. After Caillaux's followers had cried, "Down with the three years' service," at the time when Premier Ribot sought to make it a part of his programme, 12 THE ENEMY waTHIN Viviani continued the fight and finally succeeded in defeating the pacifists and forming a Cabinet committed to the prin- ciple of preparedness. At last, on June 20, less than a fortnight before the war, Mme. Caillaux was brought to trial. Long before the hour, a hooting, jostling crowd surged hither and tliither in front of the great columns of the Palais de Justice. The great court room was quickly filled, and then numberless people for whom there was no room kept jamming their way in. The place seethed with excitement. Every class, every type of French society was there. The exquisitely dressed royalist, barbered and manicured as for a dinner party ; the newly rich bourgeois, aggressive in cos- tume, speech, and gesture, to emphasize his belief in his own success in the world ; the student from the Latin quarter with long hair and great, black, fantastically knotted neck tie ; the socialist labor leader, always arguing with somebody ; the delicately perfumed, bejewelled, silken lady of the ambassa- dorial set ; the gross, painted, bleached, Montmartre cabaret singer ; all were there. In tight fitting cutaway Caillaux moved from place to place, like a stage director. He had even more than his ordinary dash and forcefulness. Short, fat, bald, he looked, ,when at ease, like some prosperous and not over intellectual tradesman ; but in action his speech and movement evidenced great mental power, the power to think and to act quickly, to command and to enforce obedience. Another crowd, even more motley than the one within, clung to the entrance and the great enclosure in front of the building, waiting to see Mme. Caillaux arrive from the Con- ciergerie. Thither she had been transferred the day before from St. Lazare prison. And there she had been placed in a large, roomy cell, not far from where Marie Antoinette once awaited trial and death. A moving picture man, who had climbed one of the statues THE ENEMY WITHIN 13 of the facade to find a good point of vantage, caught a signal from a gendarme inside and shouted: "They are taking her in by a hidden passage." Whereupon the crowd yelled and hooted in a frenzy of disappointment. As soon as the prisoner entered the court room, a storm of applause and handclappings burst upon her, which made her seem to shrink into herself all the more. She crouched in her chair, until Judge Albanel after the perfunctory pre- liminaries began to question her. "You are called Genevieve Josephine Henriette Ray- nouard, are you not, and you were born Oct. 6, 181 4i?" he asked gently. "Yes, sir," was the faint reply. Quietly, hesitatingly, she told the story of her life. She was the daughter of a bourgeois family, where the sterner precepts of life and of morality were made the foundation of France. By these humbler people the Parisian liberie de la vie which excuses the faithless husband, the dissolute wife, the immoral youth, is believed to be the broad and certain road to destruction, infamy and death. "For three months I mounted Calvary," she said. "Such agony I do not wish my worst enemy. No one can imagine what I went through. I feared for myself, my husband, my child. I feared for myself, because if part of those letters were published, my deepest, my innermost secrets would be displayed before the world. My woman's honor would be stripped and naked. "I was reared by aged parents. My father was the son of a wealthy bourgeois of the period of 18S0, devoted to the ideas of that epoch. My poor father, who last year told me that a wife M'ho had a lover was a woman without honor, never would have set foot in my house had he known of my liaison with M. Caillaux. 14. , THE ENEMY WITHIN "I was married at nineteen to Leo Claretie. We had two daughters. One of them died when she was only six months old. The other, Germaine, is now nineteen. A divorce was granted in April, 1908, in my favor ; and the guardianship of our daughter was given to me." Behind this testimony lay a picture which the witness did not remove from the shadows of the past. It was the pic- ture of her first married life. Claretie was a newspaper man, for years the literary editor of the Figaro. Through him she was lifted out of the common place, narrow life of a bourgeois daughter into a different sphere. Through her husband she met the brilliant, the powerful men of the day, and among them, Caillaux. She saw in Caillaux a road to wealth and greatness ; a road that poor Claretie could never follow, a road for which she finally abandoned all. She spoke of her marriage with Caillaux with pride. "He was Premier," she said. ''In marrying him I found complete happiness. I thought all would be happy ; but alas my life began to be poisoned by calumnies." A man with long black hair, who had been sitting as near the witness as possible lifted his left hand. Immediately there was a chorus of hisses. "The campaign against my husband then began. (More hisses.) All the people in the salons that I frequented re- ceived me with smiles that were intended to wound me. One person said behind me that my husband had taken money from Germany to cede the Congo. (Prolonged hisses.) These slanderous rumors penetrated every part of society. I was no longer able to go to sittings of the Chamber of I>eputies, because I was the object of unpleasant attention in the galleries. One day someone shouted : " 'To Berlin ! Caillaux ! Congo !' The left hand of the long haired man again waved; and again the Caillaux claque stifled all other outcry with its hisses. THE ENEMY WITHIN 15 "The newspapers read by society were filled with such spiteful articles that I was afraid to call on my friends. One day at a fashionable dressmaker's, two women sat op- posite me. One leaned over to the other and said : " 'See that woman in black? Well, that is the wife of that thief, Caillaux.' (Hisses.) If I could live a hundred years, I should always hear that woman." ''One day," continued Mme. Caillaux, "in a friend's draw- ing room, I heard a woman sa.jy 'Before long some good Frenchmen will assume the reins of government and prevent France from going into bankruptcy.' I replied: " 'My husband is a Minister of the Treasury, a specialist in finance. He will not lead France into bankruptcy.' " This time, the right hand of the chief claquer was up- raised. A volley of cheers swept the court room. The first Mme. Caillaux told a different story. A slender woman, whose wasted cheeks told of long years of unhappi- ness, she revealed Caillaux as a supreme hypocrite, who had always practiced dissimulation and intrigue in everything he did. "I first knew my husband had a mistress," she said, "when a certain letter came into my hands. He fell on his knees and asked my pardon. He was afraid then that the news would get out and hurt his chances at the elections. He promised to give up the other woman, but he no sooner promised than he went back to her. I found more letters. I kept photo- graphic copies. I had to do this to protect myself against the Machiavellian manoeuvers of an unfaithful husband. But never, never did I give these letters to M. Calmette." "Madam Gueydan," said Judge Albanel quietly. "Do you swear you told Calmette nothing.?" "I swear it," cried the woman. Had the husband deceived his wife? Had he inflamed her mind with a false fear? Did Caillaux really believe Calmette would print his love letters? These questions were heard 16 THE ENEMY WITHIN amid the murmur of whispers in the court room — a murmur which was instantly hushed when at last the letters were produced and exhibited before judge and jury. They were written by Caillaux to the woman, who killed Calmette, soon after his first wife suspected the liaison. The first one read: "My dear little Riri: When I first met thee, I felt the impulse of my whole being. I should nevertheless have re- sisted, and should no doubt have had the courage to conquer myself if I had been happy at home. But I was unhappy. "Therefore, I threw myself towards thee with passionate fury. . . . With fine courage and with the beautiful boldness which love and confidence gave thee, thou hast conquered thy freedom, saying to me, " 'I ask of thee but one engagement, that is, to give me thy love now,' and to this thou hast added : " *I shall not believe quite in the fullness of thy love if thou dost not succeed some day in thyself becoming free.' "I answered thee, I do and will love thee. I certainly ex- pect to regain my liberty some day, but in any case I shall not move before the elections." This line well illustrates how Caillaux put personal ambi- tion before love and all things else. "Is that not it, my Riri? In the background of my mind I knew that I had embarked on a wrong venture, that there was between another person and myself such opposition of temperaments, of natures, of characters, that catastrophy was inevitable; that necessarily time would bring about a rupture apart from all questions of another love, and as the sole result of a clash between two beings who did not understand each other. . . . "When a man is unhappy at home and he has outside a delicious ajffection that naturally reacts upon him, those who have made him unhappy have only themselves to blame. THE ENEMY WITHIN 17 "However that may be, events happened in September. Thou saidst to me on that subject: *Thou hast been weak. Thou shouldst have closed thy door to the fugitive, and made use of that favorable opportunity.' "Undoubtedly the attitude thou suggestest could have been taken quite legitimately, but thou forgettest two things, first that it would have been well known she was injured in her affections and that we had all to fear from the fury of a woman who felt her situation gone, and who had not yet had time to reconcile herself to that idea. "The second thing thou forgettest is that my electoral position was, so to speak, lost. It is easy for me to con- vince myself of that by conversations I had yesterday with my constituency. . . . "Thou wilt say that I am losing a precious opportunity and that I shall have a frightful winter. All that is true, but it fails to take into account my legitimate political am- bitions and, what is much graver, my duty toward party and friends. "Let me explain that my party has made me what I am. I owe it as the honest man thou knowest me to be to fight for it next year in the fullest of my strength. (Cheers.) It will be the last campaign under the old voting system. "What is irksome for us both is that for long months we shall have to employ extreme precautions. If we had the confidence in ourselves and in our love which I have abso- lutely, we would not see each other for months. I do not propose so radical a solution, because we should both suffer too much. But I repeat that infinite prudence is necessary. A half way solution thou wilt say. Perhaps so, my Riri, but life is not easy to arrange, when one must take so many things into consideration, and one to which I hold above all, the reputation of a woman one adores. "Thou knowest well, my dear love, that I love thee above all and beyond all, that I feel happiness is with thee, that 18 THE ENEMY WITHIN I await it, that I hope for it, that I live only for its realiza- tion. I love thee with all my heart. "P. S. I have reread my letter and it does not completely convey my thoughts. What I wish to make absolutely clear is the necessity that there shall be no scandal before May unless I am absolutely forced to do it, ..." Another letter began: "I must return to Le Mans, where I preside over the General Council. Were I unreasonable, I would take you with me, but I am reasonable. I am discouraged. What a life. My only consolation is the thought of you, of having you in my arms, as at Cuchy. What dehcious memories. "I adore you. Thousands and thousands of kisses on all your little body, adored." Most of the letters were written on the official note paper of the Prefecture of the Department of the Sarthe, where Caillaux had his country home, and which he represented many years as deputy. The prisoner sobbed convulsively. She did not raise her head until M. Chenu, counsel for the Calmette family, again insisted that the editor of the Figaro had no intention of printing the letters, and referred to the deposition of Presi- dent Poincare, who told how Caillaux had come to him on the morning of the day of the murder and said he heard that Calmette planned to print a batch of private letters. ''I replied that I considered M. Calmette an honorable gentleman, entirely incapable of publishing letters defaming the private character of IMme. Caillaux, but I endeavored vainly to convince him," said President Poincare. In his final address to the Jury, M. Chenu said: "I shall not attempt to go into the biography of Mme. Caillaux. She is a cool, sensible woman without emotion or pity. She has tears only for herself. She worked v/ith MME. CAILLAUX "She could steel her face against all inquiry, or let herself be over- whelmed by her emotions. A study of her features explain how she could write, 'I will do the deed.' " THE ENEMY WITHIN 19 tenacity to break up her lover's home. You see the result, the mistress triumphing over the lawful spouse. They are bound up in each other, in their happiness, in their hopes, even in their murder plans. "M. CaiUaux is a man of inordinate and limitless ambition, whose power rests on his own audacity and on the fear that he inspires. He neglected to tell his wife of the assurance given him by President Poiucare that Calraette was in- capable of printing private letters. They did not fear that. What they feared was the publication of the report by Victor Fabre on the Rochette swindle and the full exposure of Caill- aux's alliance with Germany. "The husband's violent words at the luncheon table de- cided the wife to substitute herself for him, and she pre- pared the assassination with as much calm as a society woman fitting in calls between tea parties," While M. Labori was summing up for the defense, a man and woman left the court room hurriedly. The crowd in the doorway stared at her elegant costume, a sheen of black silk, and her blazing diamond rings. Her face was almost hid under a black picture hat. As soon as the two were apart, the man said: "Therese, my work here is done. I must return to Berlin by the way of Brussels. See Caillaux. The war may break tomorrow. Remember, remember the black cross." A few hours later Almereyda's band was leading a hostile demonstration in front of the Figaro office. Mme. Caillaux had been acquitted. It was the night of July 28, and while the crowd fought in the street, there appeared another news bulletin in omin- ously big, black letters : "Austria Declares War, Germany Mobilizes." CHAPTER n The Bonnet Rouge Gang A Hot Bed of Sedition — Almereyda, Apache Editor — His Criminal Record — Almereyda, Tool of Caillaux — The Apaches Revel — A Pacifist Reporter Later, that same night Almereyda and his Apache follow- ers celebrated Caillaux's victory in the back room of his socialistic newspaper, the Bonnet Rouge. They had just returned from a parade through the Montmartre section in which amid mingled cheers and curses they kept shouting : "Vive Caillaux." (Hurrah for Caillaux.) *'Vive la Paix." (We want peace.) "A has la Guerre." (Down with the war.) *'Well, at last we're here," exclaimed Almereyda, as he turned and faced his followers. "We've had some dirty hard fights, but we won them all. We helped Caillaux all we could. The police were afraid to touch us, and when they did, they had to let us go. Why, I'm supposed to be in jail now. The man at the top of the department is my friend. When- ever you get against the wall, I'll get you out." The gang yelled itself hoarse. Its appreciation of Alme- reyda's friendship and power was deliriously genuine. A table had been set in the middle of the room with wine bottles of various shapes stacked behind each plate, and a flaming red rose in each glass. Above, from the ceiling, hung a great, red ilag. "Tavera, take that seat over there," said the leader, pointing first at the most murderous looking member of his retinue, and then at the chair at the end of the table. w THE ENEMY WITHIN 21 "Here, Rocli, sit there." "Poggiale, here, here's your place." "Fil, Filippi, come up nearer. No, not too near. You're drunk, you dog, drunk already." It was an ugly assemblage. Everyone had a jail record. Their voices, their laughter, their blasphemies, all had a prison echo. Besides the five leaders there were many others of the same type, also of the Paris underworld, such as jou. might see any night in the corners of certain side street cafes, or lurking in the shadows of the boulevards, waiting for their woman companions to report, or for the call of fellow thieves in some other criminal enterprise. They were of the same stratum of society, to which those New York Apaches, Lefty Louie, Gyp, the Blood; Harry Lewis, and Dago Frank, the gunmen of the Rosenthal case, belonged. Their mode of life, their relation to the police, their connections with gamblers and the demi-monde of the street, were the same. The gang did not stand on ceremony. They plunged into the dinner headlong, and soon the clatter of wine bot- tles, plates, and glasses; the jeers and curses, which more and more made conversation impossible ; the snatches of ribald song, and an occasional thunderous oath from Tavera, made the shaky doors and windows fairly rattle. Finally, when Filippi fell from his chair with a crash to the floor, and two of his companions tumbled him into a corner, Almereyda arose and commanded silence. "I'm as drunk as any of you," he said slowly, "but I'm not too drunk to tell you this. The war has come. It may break tomorrow. That means that all of us will go to jail, unless we know how to prevent it. "We are all in the Garnet B (Notebook B, of the De- partment of the Interior, w^ich contains the names of anarchists, antimilitarists, and all others who may try to interfere with mobilization). Malvy, Minister of the Interior, 22 THE ENEMY WITHIN is my friend. Malvy lias complete control of the police. He has always been the right hand man of Caillaui. ; and because of what I have done for Caillaux, Malvy will see that Alme- reyda and his friends suffer no harm. As a rule, everybody in the Garnet B must be arrested before mobilization; but Malvy is strong enough to prevent that." "Vive Caillaux, Vive Malvy," stammered Filippi, as he tried to get up out of the corner. His drunken sally, like a spark in a powder keg, set off the whole room in an explosion of laughter. "Now, let me say, that each of you who worked for Cail- laux during the trial gets 500 francs. Come here tomorrow, and you get the money. Tavera ought to have a bonus for that gendarme he almost killed, and I'll see he gets it." "Tavera, Tavera," yelled the crowd, and seeing that his fellows would not be satisfied with less, Almereyda turned to his chief assassin, and pulling him out of his chair, demanded a speech. Tavera brandished a wine bottle, as if to spKt open his chieftain's head, and then began: "We want to stick together. There's a black heU of trou- ble ahead. As I was telling you at that cafe near the Chatelet subway station, where every morning during the trial we got our tickets of admission, we've got to stick together. Alme- reyda is not Malvy's friend. He's Malvy's boss. If he tells Malvy to open the jails, Malvy opens them. If we stick to Almereyda, the war can come. It won't bother us." ^'Vive La Garde Corse" (Hurrah for the Corsican Guard) cried Filippi, as he at last succeeded in getting on his feet. The interruption irritated Tavera, who retorted: ''Get back into your hole, you red-eyed dog of a thief. You are always a fool, when you're di'unk. You'll be killed by your bottles, some day." Tavera was known to the police as "Tavera, the Assas- sin." Originally a card sharp and confidence man, he had developed into a highway robber and burglar. Before Alme- THE ENEMY WITHIN 23 reyda hired him for Caillaus's Corsican Guard, he had at- tained more or less success in gambling houses and other resorts, where money was spent freely, by suddenly pulling a gun and with the aid of confederates holding up everybody else. Tavera was in a class entirely above a sneak thief, hke Filippi. Most of all he was not a man to be trifled with, and Filippi was not too drunk to reahze that fact. So Filippi dropped back in the corner and out of sight. There were other speeches and then the gathering broke up slowly. Finally only Almereyda and a youth, who had come late, remained. "Jean, what news have you got.?" asked the Editor in Chief. "What is the Figaro saying about us this morning?" Jean was a reporter of the Bonnet Rouge.. He had had the task of writing many of the articles attacking Calmette during the trial, and his work had attracted the notice and approval of his employer. Jean was never allowed to be present at the meetings of the Corsican Guard, because he was thought to be too much of a newspaper man. "He's one of jhose dogs of a fool, who writes everything he knows,' said Tavera once in a flash light analysis of Jean's character. Jean produced a copy of the Figaro, and Almereyda read aloud : "The republic is covered with mud and blood by the great- est scandal of our epoch. More or less well paid magistrates, who aided in the parody of justice, are ineffaceably dishon- ored. A powerful man, surrounded by subsidized partisans leagued with the political party in power, is above justice and the laws. "M. Caillaux presided at the trial. He signalled to Judge Albanel to adjourn when things were going against him, turning the Assize Court into a fair for the sale of con- sciences. Henceforth, we shall look for his vengeance on those who tried to oppose him." 24 THE ENEMY WITHIN "Hah, hah, they still feel the sting of our story about Calmette's connection with the Hungarian Government," was Almereyda's comment. "Tell me exactly what happened the other day, when Caillaux produced Calmette's will and un- covered that Hungarian scandal. I was out of the court room just then." "That was on July 27," replied Jean. "Caillaux handed a sheaf of papers to Judge Albanel, and said: " 'I shall not repeat what I have already told the court about the bonds which united the Figaro to certain foreign personalities. These documents which I here present in evi- ■jdence were signed by Calmette. They show that M. Calmette agreed to work for the Hungarian government for pay, that he was willing to enter the employ of certain Hungarian political leaders. These documents were given me by Count Karolyi, chief of the Hungarian radical party.' " "That's not what I want to know, my boy," broke in Almereyda with more show of irritation. ''Tell me, did you hear Lipscher testify.''" "You mean that Hungarian with the dazzling beauty in the big, black picture hat.''" asked Jean. "Yes, I mean Lipscher. The woman was Therese Duver- ger, a kind of international character, who is a link between the spy systems of Germany and Austria, and always travels with Lipscher. But never mind her. Tell me what Lipscher said." "I did not hear Lipscher testify," replied Jean. "What," exclaimed Almereyda springing from his chair with an oath. "Didn't you get his version of that Calmette contract? What was the matter with you? Did you not know that it was the most important thing in the whole trial for us?" As he gnashed these words between his teeth, Almereyda THE ENEMY WITHIN 25 worked his fingers nervously, as if ready to choke Jean and tear him to pieces. "I had to leave the court room to see my wife about that time," said Jean. "I must have missed Lipscher." "Damn your wife," cried Almereyda. "Don't you know you can't have a wife in this business. Now I'll give you just one more chance. Go out and get me the Havas New York cables of tonight. Get them from some of your friends on the other papers. See if Count Karolyi has been located in the United States. If you don't get what I want I'll discharge you by cutting your throat." Jean was an amiable lad, or he would not have meekly picked up his hat, and without a word hurried out into the dark hall way and down the creaking stairs. He would in- deed never have stayed on the Bonnet Rouge, as long as he had, if he did not possess a nature, that was wholly faithful and long suffering. He had just married, and the needs of his little household made him a veritable slave to the Bonnet Rouge payroll. Jean was a pacifist by nature. He had come to the Bonnet Rouge, because he believed in what he thought were its ideals. He had read its articles on univer- sal brotherhood and the iniquities of war, and he thought he would find in its office the long wished for opportunity to devote all his thought and energy to the great cause of peace. All too soon Jean was disillusionized. One day in the re- ference bureau, he found the following clipping from some other Paris newspaper: "Almereyda, editor of Caillaux's Bonnet Rouge has a long criminal record. Here is a list of some of his offenses and sentences, of which the most recent he does not seem to have served : "May 28, 1900 : Theft, two months in jail. ''June 26, 1902 : Being found with explosives, one year's imprisonment. 26 THE ENEMY WITHIN "Aug. 7, 1907: Outrage, rebellion, and carrying pro- hibited arms, six months in jail. "Dec. 30, 1907 : Inciting soldiers to disobedience ; three years in prison. "Feb, 15, 1908: Inciting soldiers to disobedience and insult to the army; two years' imprisonment. "Dec. 7, 1910: Insult to the army; one year in jail. "Jan. 6, 1914: Violence and blows ; two months in jail. * 'April 8j 1914 : Blows and injuries, fifteen days in jail. "June 24, 1914: Blows and violence; four months in jail." ^ _ During his short period of service on the Bonnet Rou^ge, Jean also discovered that the editors and reporters who were constantly writing the most profound articles on peace, on the need of France to becom'e a more economic and less mili- tary nation, were the most warlike themselves. He felt like calling up Almereyda and resigning over the telephone, but again he thought of Marie, of the furniture he had bought on the installment plan, of the new dresses Marie wanted, and most of all of the other life which was soon to enter his hom'e, and he faltered. No, he would stay on the Borniet Rouge just a little while longer. Meanwhile, Almereyda was marching up and down the deserted banquet room, kicking the wine bottles that had tumbled to the floor, and cursing. "Why did I trust that boy Jean with such an important assignment,?" he kept muttering to himself. "The lad did such remarkable work early in the trial, that I let him stay. And of course he had to go out to see that baby wife of his, just at the most vital time of all." Then it occurred to Almereyda, that Jean had done no more than his master, who had left the court, not for the sake of a loving, faithful wife, but for Madame Z, one of the most notorious women in Paris. Madame Z knew that Ahnereyda was a power in the Ministry of the Interior ; and THE ENEMY WITHIN 27 as the police had dared interfere with one of her hotels in the Rue de Montyon, she had besought Almerejda's aid. "Oh, I'm just the same fool, that I've alv/ays been,'-' he cried out at last, throwing himself into a chair, and lighting another cigarette. "Wine, woman and drugs have always been my foes, have always prevented me from achieving suc- cess. With Caillaux and Malvy I should make millions out of this coming revolution. Germ.an money is all right, but it's dangerous and uncertain. What we want is a great cou,p (T etat, in which we can throw out the financiers who now rule France, and take their places. "But I must get that Lipscher story for Caillaux. Lip- scher knew all about Calmette's contract with the Hungarian government, a contract which Caillaux wanted to exploit to the fullest degree possible to show that Calmette, being tied up with Hungary, could not accuse Caillaux of complicity with Germany. "Then I should have had two other reporters assigned to follow Lipscher and the Duverger woman after the trial. Lipscher must get back to Berlin before France mobilizes, while Mme. Therese stays behind to keep him posted. If so she may get to drinking again, and tell all she knows to some handsome French captain, who will tip off the military au- thorities. Then my influence with Malvy and the Ministry of the Interior fails ; and all our plans of keeping up com- munication with Berlin through Lipscher will collapse. "Ugh, this cigarette is weak as water." So saying he threw the smoking butt into a half drained wine glass, stripped off his coat, and turned up his sleeve to the shoulder. From an inside pocket he took a httle black bottle and a needle syringe. A minute later he had driven the morphine into his veins, and sank back into his chair with folded arms. The vicious frown which had contracted his features began to fade away. A strange smile overspread his face. His 28 THE ENEMY WITHIN eyes became lighted, as by an unseen torch. From his chair he rose as Hghtly as a feather, wafted upward by a puff of wind. "Now, I'm master of myself at last," he exclaim'ed, stretch- ing out his arms to feel the bouyant strength, with which they suddenly seemed to be endowed. "Now I can wade through the files and make up a report to Caillaux on all the articles we have printed since he first began pushing his plan for a reapproachment with Germany and a rupture with England. ''Caillaux gave me 40,000 francs on July 17, three days before the trial of his wife began. I am going to prove that he should give me still mure for this earlier work. Well, let's see." Shoving aside the dishes and bottles, Almereyda threw a file of the Bonnet Rouge on the table, and began making notes. The paper had been founded in 1913, and soon after- ward the articles began to appear, which were intended to make France forget Germany's military designs, and by advocating a two year instead of a three year military serv- ice weaken her powers of defense. Most of them bore the title : "Le rapprochement franco-allemand.'* (The Franco- German reapproachment.) Among other editorials he found this special announce- ment, and his eyes glistened as he read it again, with all the joy of an author who at last sees his thoughts in print. "The economic interests of France and Germany are more and more closely allied. It has been proved that the idea of revenge (arising from the Franco-Prussian war) has been abandoned by all the French people, including the inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine, as a monstrosity. "We have the Entente with England, and, nevertheless, only a dozen years ago, England was for the French the hereditary enemy, the perfidious Albion. THE ENEMY WITHIN 29 "Remember Fachoda, which was for us a far graver injury than Agadir. ''Why then not forget what has happened between us and the Germans? "The next Chamber of Deputies should have a majority favorable to a reapproachment with Germany. Republicans, who cherish the ambition of beholding France a great repub- lic, merchants who prefer to see the result of their labors secure against danger or disaster, yes, all you electors, who are all powerful because of the ballot, should force your can- didates to show where they stand on this question, and only vote for those who will bind themselves to work for the real- ization of this great plan, this great public good." Further on he came across the reprint of a speech he made on May 11, 1907, at an anti-militaristic meeting at Rheims upon the subject, "Patrie and Caserne." (Country and Barracks.) He read as follows: "At the present moment, oUr propaganda should be illus- trated by very serious acts. In case of war the proletariat should not be satisfied by saying: " 'We will not move.' ''The people must do more than that. They must cause a disturbance. The women, the children, the old men must go to the railroad stations and prevent the conscripts from leaving and advise the reservists not to join the colors. "Each fellow countryman should be non-patriotic. It should not make any difference to him, whether he is a Ger- man or a Frenchman." Almereyda was still reading, when Jean returned. "I couldn't get the Havas cablegrams from New York," he said quietly. "My friend in the office of Le Petit Parisien said that he would be assassinated if he were known to be of any aid to the Bonnet Rouge. But I think I got what you want. It was cabled by another news service. The editor in chief snatched the proof, which Jean took 80 THE ENEMY WITHIN from his pocket, and the moment his eyes fell upon it, he cried out in a transport of joy: "Magnificent work, Jean. The newspapers of New York found Karolyi there, and interviewed him. He completely corroborates Caillaux." Looking still closer at the slip of paper, Almereyda read: "The New York Times of July 28, prints the following interview with Count Karolyi, leader of the Hungarian Radi- cals: '' 'The letters which I turned over to counsel for Mme. Caillaux indicated that they were part of prior communica- tions and indicated clearly that Calmette had agreed for a certain consideration to support the Hungarian government, ignoring grafting scandals or applying "whitewash" to any exposures that could not be prevented. " 'The letters show that an agreement was made between Calmette and the representative of the Hungarian govern- ment with the cognizance of Secretary of State Jeszenfsky, whereby he was to write favorable articles in support of the policy of the Hungarian government, although thai policy was directly opposed to that of his own government, France ; and was also in opposition to the friendship existing between Hungary and France. Calmette did this work, for the favorable articles were brought to my attention, as early as a year ago. " 'Finally it was shown in the letter of Calmette, that he protested against some of the demands made upon him by the bribers, for he intimated that certain things the grafters wanted inserted in the Figaro were too strong even for its editor, when he was receiving pay for it. So he refused to comply with some specific things demanded of him.' "Count Karolyi also said that Hungary must stand with Austria in the present war crisis, as the quarrel between them was only economic. The Count said that Caillaux THE ENEMY WITHIN 31 was his friend and that he had given the letters to Caillaux in Fans while on his way to the United States." Almerejda looked a httle further, and then read- "The New York Sun of July 28 also prints an interview with Count Karolji, in which he said: " 'There were two letters, one from Calmette to the Hun- garian government and the other from that government to him. They passed through the hands of a third party ' » Almereyda embraced the cablegram, as if it were a dancing partner, and walzed around the room amid the litter of wine bottles, broken dishes, and cigarette stubs. "Now, Jean," he said at last, catching himself just as he was falling to the floor from dizziness. "One more thing for you, and then you can take a rest. Go to the Hotel Ter- minus and see if Lipscher is registered there. If so, call me up here immediately. Lipscher was the third party, 'men- tioned by Count Karolyi. We must get his complete story of this whole affair before he leaves France. Caillaux of course knows it and he will want us to use every detail. If necessary, spend money, but get the story. If you find him taking an early train, jump aboard also. Stick till you get everything." Jean looked faltering at his master. "Oh, yes, I know what's on your mind," laughed Alme- reyda, making a feint to hit the reporter with his fist. "You want to go home to your doll faced wife. Didn't I tell you, a newspaper man had no business to have a wife. Here' Here's money for your hotel bill and car fare. And don't come back till you get the Lipscher story." The pacifism of Jean's nature was at the breaking point. He was about to remonstrate, when Almereyda reached out his hand and said more quietly. "I wish I were as good as you, my boy. You don't know what the world is. You believe in peace for the sake of peace. You don't know that practically everything in life 32 THE ENEMY WITHIN has a false front, that life is one long fight to tear the mask off the other man's face, and still keep one on your own. "You'll change. I was like you myself, before . . . ," but here he stopped himself. Even the morphine did not throw him completely off his guard. Almereyda saw for a moment the prison cell which had changed his life, but he waved the memory aside and again assuming a harder aspect, said: "Hurry up, Jean. You have the money you need. Ring me up as soon as you get to the Hotel Terminus, and tell me if Lipscher is there." Jean bowed his head, and went. Throwing open the door of another room, Almereyda seated himself on a couch and began to undress. He took from around his neck a red ribbon from which hung a black cross. Placing it under his pillow he stretched out, and was dead asleep when the telephone rang at the head of his bed. Almereyda reached one arm out of bed, and taking off the receiving and transmitting piece, listened. "Left an hour ago, did he? All right, chase him. And if you don't get that story, remember, I'll kill you." Without waiting for an answer, the Apache editor in chief turned over, and fell asleep again, CHAPTER III Caili^aux Would Be Another Lenine Awaited German Armies in Paris — Planned Coup d' Etat and Dictatorship — In Private Life But Still Powerful — Controlled State Affairs through Malvy It was 3 a. m., when Jean reached the Hotel Terminus opposite the great St. Lazare railroad station. He found only one clue. Lipscher and a woman had left the hotel be- tween one and two o'clock in a taxi cab after giving instruc- tions that a small, brown, leather trunk should be held at the hotel until further instructions. Accordingly, there was nothing else to do but watch the trunk. The porter who saw them get into the taxi cab had gone home. If he went after the porter, Jean thought, he might lose the trunk. After calling Marie on the telephone and explaining the situation despite such interruptions, as, "Oh, that's awful!" "^ATiy do you work so hard.?" "Can't they let you come home," he slumped into a chair in the lobby and tried to rest. He did not dare sleep. The warning of his master still rang in his ears. Furthermore, he had the true instinct of a reporter, that, if once he left the trail, he would not find it again. Other thoughts beside Lipscher also worried him. As he had come through the Rue St. Lazare, he had seen several detachments of soldiers standing within the shadows of the station. Now and then a troop of artillery could be heard ratthng over the pavement of the Boulevard Haussmann a few blocks away. Mounted poHce patrolled the streets. The 33 84. THE ENEMY WITHIN very atmosphere seemed charged with some terrific forces struggling to burst forth, like lightning from a thunder cloud. As he approached nearer the soldiers, he recognized two men whom he had seen in the offices of the Bonnet Rouge, dis- tributing circulars. Some of the troops threw them into the gutter at first glance. Others read them intently, and then carefuUy folded and tucked them away. One of the pamph- lets, which the wind swept down the street, he picked up. It was no other than Almereyda's 1907 anti-militaristic har- angue at Rheims. Some of the sentences were printed in larger and blacker type, as for example: "The people must do more than that. They must CAUSE A DISTUEBANCE. ThE WOMEN, THE CHILDREN, THE OLD MEN MUST GO TO THE RAILROAD STATIONS AND PREVENT THE CONSCRIPTS FROM LEAVING AND ADVISE 'I*HE RESERVISTS NOT TO JOIN THE COLORS." One of the extras, which he bought from a newspaper woman, who still kept open her kiosk despite the fact that it was long past midnight, contained these alarming headlines : "Austria Declares War at Germany's Bidding." "Russia Threatens to Send Army to Aid Servia." "Austria's Belligerent Move Resulted From Germany's Rejection of Lord Grey's Plan for a Conference of Ambas- sadors at London." "France Will Not Mobilize Until Every Effort to Prevent a General European War Has Been Exhausted. French Soldiers to Guard Against Socialistic Outbreaks." Further on in another column Jean found this article: "A delegation of Unified Socialists visited M. Bienvenu Martin, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, and asked him about his interview with Baron von Schoen, the German Am- bassador, who has been saying right along that Germany was willing to mediate. THE ENEMY WITHIN 35 "The Socialistic committee had gone to M. Bienvenu Martin, because of a meeting of fifty Unified Socialist depu- ties earlier in the day. It presented to the Actiag Minister of Foreign Affairs the resolution adopted by the deputies, that intervention by Russia would only extend the evil and make German imperialism more aggressive. The resolution concluded : '* 'France should not become involved in such a formidable conflict because of secret treaties.' " As Jean sat in the lobby pondering over the startling de- velopments of the last twenty-four hours, he said to himself. "If we are dragged into this war, I must go to the front. What then will poor Marie do? She is soon to be a mother. She cannot go out to work. She has no money. I am over my head in debt for the furniture for the flat. She'll be thrown into the streets. She'll starve. She'll die.'* So saturated had Jean become with all the insidious propa- ganda of pacifism, with which the Germans had been flooding France for many years before the war, using not only their paid agents but a vast number of socialists and dreamers, like Jean, who never for an instant realized they were really working for the eremjs that in that crucial hour he was thinking not of his native land, not of France and all her glorious traditions ; but of his own little life. He had for- gotten that he owed everything to his country and those who had fought and died for it in the heroic past. He did not realize that idealistic pacifism is nothing more than idealistic selfishness. The day dawned, and Jean still waited. Meanwhile, the enemy within, the vast, sinister power of Prussian intrigue in all the circles of French life was labor- ing unceasingly to weaken and undermine the republic. Anarchists, socialists, pacifists were arranging meetings, distributing pamphlets, filling their newspapers with frenzied appeals to keep France out of the war. 36 THE ENEMY WITHIN Caillaux was in constant touch with the head of his formid- able Radical Socialist party, which held the balance of power in the Chamber of Deputies, and threatened to overthrow any Premier, who happened to provoke its antagonism. Although Caillaux was out of the cabinet, Malvy remained Minister of the Interior, and through Malvy Caillaux was able to learn the inmost secrets of the government. The news which Paris saw on the bulletin boards of July ^9 still further increased the feeling of dire apprehension, that some great and fearful tragedy was about to engulf the nation. The crowds on the Boulevard Poissonniere, at the corner of Rue du Faubourg Poissonniere, where the offices of Le Matin are located, almost broke into a riot, when some socialists began to cry, "^ Bas la Guerre" **Vive Caillaux." Meantime, these bulletins were posted: "Austrian Gun BoatsBombard Belgrade." "Germany Warns Russia to Halt Army, Yet Prepares for War Herself." Along the Avenue des Champs Elysees still greater multi- tudes assembled to welcome the homecoming of President Poincare from Russia. This vast thoroughfare, the broad- est and most stately of all the great boulevards of Paris, with the vast, looming bulk of the Arc de Triomphe at one end and the obelisk of the Place de la Concorde at the other, seemed to all who gathered there like an arena where some fearful tragedy was soon to be enacted. At last President Poincare was seen, bowing to this side and that. His face wore a strange, tense look, which at first filled the crowd with alarm, but which, as soon as he smiled, drove the populace into a frenzy of patriotic fervor, a tem- pest of handclappings, cheers, and cries : *'Vive la France." *'Vive la Repuhlique." ''Vive le President." Escorting President Poincare marched thousands of eager THE ENEMY WITHIN 37 faced youth, who wore the insignia of the League of Patri- ots, organized by a man, who later was to play an extremely important part in sending various members of the "Great Conspiracy" to traitors' graves. This man was Maurice Barres. Even before the war he was constantly at work both in and out of the Chamber of Deputies, combatting the pestilential forces of Prussian pacifism. The day passed. Jean was still waiting at the Hotel Ter- minus, when suddenly he was called to the telephone. The voice was that of Almereyda. "Drop the assignment," it said. "Forget it. Report here at 6 p. m. "But my wife," cried Jean, before he could catch himself. "Ha, ha. Well, put her in a bag and drop her into the Seine," laughed Almereyda. "Remember, 6 o'clock." Jean reported at 6 o'clock, and all that night toiled away over his typewriter, assembling material for another great attack against the "militarists" and *'imperialists" of France. At the same time that his faithful followers were crying in the streets, "Down with the war," "We must have peace," Caillaux was laying his plans for a great coup d' Stat, by which he hoped to be the head of a new and socialistic France. He expected to rally beneath his standard not only the Radical Socialists, the members of his own party, including even those of more moderate leanings, but also the most extreme and violent exponents of out and out anarchy. As a result of the election of May 10, 1914, the 602 deputies elected for four years, were divided into the follow* ing factions: Radical Socialists, (Caillaux's party) 136 United Socialists, (Led by Jaures) 102 Independent Socialists 30 Independent Radicals and Republicans of the Left 10^ 38 THE ENEMY WITHIN Democraiic Alliance iOO Progressives and Federated Republicans. ... 54 National Liberals 34 Right, composed of Royalists and extreme Conservatives 26 Independents .18 602 The extreme socialist party, with Jaures at his head, gained 27 seats. Its opposition to the three year term of military service was uncompromising. Like Caillaux's follow- ers, the United Socialists favored less powerful armaments. The Three Years' Military Service Law was passed by the Chamber on July 19, 1913, by 358 votes against 204. It repealed the Two Year Law of 1905. Had Caillaux and Jaures been successful in their fight against a three year service army, in the elections of May 10, 1914, the military system of France would have been upset and completely demoralized at the very moment that Grermany was prepar- ing to strike. To understand how blind, or worse than blind these social- ists were, one need only read the following utterance of Jaures, written just before the war: "The question of military organization has been the cen- ter of the greatest political and social battle that has con- vulsed the French democracy for many years. Early in 1913, the government of M. Barthou, taking up a policy an- nounced by the short lived Briand ministry called upon Parliament to repeal the Two Years' Service Law of 1905 and again to impose upon the citizens the obligation of serving for three years in the so-called active army, the army of the barracks. It was supported by all the forces of conservatism and reaction, by all the parties of the Center and the Right, also, by a notable fraction of the Radi- cals, ... by all who take their marching orders from the THE ENEMY WITHIN S9 aggressive nationalism of M. Clemenceau, and by all those whose hands were tied through the fact that they owed their seats to preelection deals with reactionary elements in their various districts." (Metropolitan Magazine, Sept., 1914.) Little did Jaures dream, when he wrote those words, that the day would finally come, when the "aggressive nationalism of M. Clemenceau" would save the France, which the Jaures and Caillaux socialists did all in their power to weaken. Although out of the Cabinet, Caillaux was still a Deputy. His faithful constituents in the Department of the Sarthe reelected him in spite of the murder of Calmette and all the stories of his secret alliances with the traditional enemy of France beyond the Rhine. Caillaux still hoped, therefore, that, by alliance with the Jaures socialists and other factions in the Chamber, he could again dominate France. In the rank and file of his party he thought he still held the support of that army of small farmers and trades people, who had come to believe that the highly centralized and bureaucratic government of France was controlled by an oligrachy of Paris financiers, and was as despotic, as full of favoritism, wire pulling, intrigue and corruption, as the old time courts of crowned and sceptered royalty.. These members of the Radical Sociahst party had long looked to Caillaux and their other representatives in the Chamber of Deputies to protect them against oppression, against taxes they believed unfair, against a militarism which German propaganda had made them think unnecessarily burdensome, against petty bureaucratic abuses and scandals, where big interests triumphed over small. A considerable part of Caillaux's old following was also made up of cafe proprietors and liquor people, who sought his championship against the constantly growing sentim'ent inimical to strong drink, against the movement which had already put an end to the public sale of absinth, and 40 THE ENEMY WITHIN which also demanded the prohibition of all kinds of alcoholic beverages, except light wines and beers. Added to all these, there was also a powerful contingent of office holders, who had first been led to the public trough by Caillaux, and thought they could keep their snouts in the national treasury, as long as Caillaux and his man, Malvy, had a dominating voice in the government. Many of these sycophants had even received their money direct from Caillaux, money which was called "campaign funds," and which was thankfully accepted without further inquiry. For many years Caillaux had been building his house. Since 1863, the year of his birth, he had always lived in a political atmosphere. He had studied French statecraft with grammar and algebra. Wise far beyond his years he was always interested most in the financial side of French politics. From the very beginning he sought to fit himself for the profession of making politics pay. His father was a bourgeois banker and man of wealth. The elder Caillaux had held political office, and although of exclusive tastes and royalist tendences, he supported the young republic. The younger Caillaux was by nature much more of a royalist than his father, but he saw that the days of the throne and ermine, of absolutism in its outward and traditional forms, had passed away and in its place had come the absolutism of wealth. A plutocrat of plutocrats, Caillaux became a socialist of socialists. Secretly connected with the greatest financiers of France and Germany, he publicly appeared as the friend of the poor and the down trodden. Living in palatial style, the host at extravagantly sumptuous dinners, to which he invited the most exclusive of aristocracy, he also was to be found in the ill-smelling corridors of the headquarters of the Radical Socialists, the "Salons de Valois," as the sign read over the door. But always he kept on his gloves. Always he walked so fast that the herd never had a chance to clasp even THE ENEMY WITHIN 41 his gloved hand. Nevertheless, he was popular. Gloves or no gloves, his fingers always dispensed money. Down in the Department of the Sartbe, which Caillaux represented in the Chamber of Deputies as soon as he begun his political career, his power was absolute. He saw to it that his constituency obtained all the favors within reach; that new roads and new bridges were built, and old roads and old bridges repaired; that handsome pubHc buildings were erected, even though more expensive and more ornate than occasion demanded; that badges and medals were forthcom- ing for aU who wanted them, that the wives and the chtldren were remembered in many pretty ways; that, m brief, the Department of the Sarthe got as much out of the national strong box as Caillaux could possible extract. Thus it happened, that even despite all the scandals with which his later Hfe was clouded, the Department of the Sarthe kept him in the Chamber of Deputies. At Mamers, his country home, his constituents refused to beheve the uo-ly stories some newspapers printed about him. There were a few, even, who never, never would be convinced that Mme. Caillaux killed Calmette. «It was all a lie, the work of political enemies. Calmette simply went into hiding," they insisted. Caillaux's fortune dated back to his first years m the Chamber, and it seemed to grow by leaps and bounds ever since that time. At the trial of his wife, he asserted that he had inherited 1,200,000 francs, and that his wealth had never increased. There are others who say that at the height of his power, Caillaux's riches were ten to twenty times greater than his own estimate. Caillaux's rise had been continuous. He was first an inspector of finances, and later under the Premiership of Waldeck-Rousseau, he became Minister of Fmance. From that time on Caillaux tried to keep his hands on the money of France. He continued to be Minister of Finance under m THE ENEMY WITHIN other Premiers and he kept this portfolio during his own Premiership. At one time, according to Calmette and the Figaro, he juggled the income tax question in such fashion as to cause tremendous fluctuations in rentes on the Paris Bourse, as the result of which his friends are said to have reaped millions. Upon such a foundation, Caillaux hoped finally to become the master of France. He schemed to let German aggres- sion overthrow everything else and lift him to the supreme heights of his imperial ambition. Papers in a safe deposit box, which Caillaux rented in the Banca Italiana di Sconto, in Florence, Italy, and seized by the Italian police years afterward, now make it possible to reveal his plans of a great coup d' Stat in considerable detail. First of all, the socialists in the army were to mutiny and demand that Caillaux become First Consul. On assuming this office, he intended to throw aside old time conventions and order the arrest of all antagonistic to his rule. Among the names of those doomed to immediate imprisonment were found those of President Poincare, and the two former Premiers, Clemenceau and Briand. To accomplish the destruction of Poincare and Clemen- ceau, Caillaux had obtained various documents from the Surete Generale, or secret service bureau of the Depart- ment of the Interior, of which his henchman, Malvy, had charge. Such documents are known in France as the "pink papers." They include the confidential reports of detectives assigned to special investigations, the reports of police con- cerning the movements of suspects, and all other information from every source to uncover crime or unmask the wiles of intrigue and corruption. Among the "pink papers" may also be found all manner of correspondence, as for example anonymous complaints against public officials from enemies who wish to attack them in this secret and insidious way. THE ENEMY WITHIN 43 The "pink papers" relating to President Poincare, accord- ing to La Verite, a socialistic organ, which defended Cail- laux, gave alleged details of an agreement, by which the President's civil marriage would be consecrated, if in return he would work for the re-establishment of relations be- tween France and the Vatican. There were negotiations. La Verite asserted, in which M. Klotz, Stephen Pinchon and ex-Ambassador Tittoni used a cipher, the key of which was lost by the Ministry of the Interior. President Poincare and all the other men mentioned in this affair have stamped this story as false. Against Clemenceau Caillaux was said to have gathered to- gether various charges which relate to Clemenceau's visit to London during the Waldeck-Rousseau ministry. Clemen- ceau was to be painted by Caillaux, as the servant of Eng- land, the man who planned to make France, a British vassal. The attack against Clemenceau was to harmonize completely with the anti-British, pro-German policy which Caillaux had been fostering in every possible way in France long before the war. In the Cabinet, which Caillaux planned, Malvy was to en- joy still greater power. The Prefecture of Police, vitally important in suppressing counter revolution, was to be given to M. Cecaldi, one of Caillaux's counsel at the Cal- mette murder trial. A number of Generals, which had par- ticularly distinguished themselves, were to be side-tracked, and Gen. Sarrail was to be put in complete charge of the army. Why General Sarrail.? When the war became blackest for the Allies, was not General Sarrail suddenly removed from command of the French Army in Macedonia.? To answer these questions, it will be necessary in a later chapter to consider the charges made by Leon Daudet, editor of the royalist paper, L' Action Fran^aise, that certain vitally im- portant documents, abstracted fr®m Gen. Sar rail's head- U THE ENEMY WITHIN quarters, found their way into the hands of a Caillaux editor, from whom they were said to have travelled to a Mannheim banker, stationed in Switzerland, and thence to the Kaiser. In his dream of empire Caillaux planned to curtail the power of Senate and Chamber of Deputies, by compelling them to enact a measure making him a virtual dictator. On July 30, the day after President Poincare's return from Russia, Caillaux and Malvy were still more frequently in consultation. It was on this day also that Malvj- issued a statement, which at the time seemed harmless, but which in the light of later events assumed a tragic significance. There had been a meeting of the Cabinet, at which Presi- dent Poincare presented the Russian situation in much de- tail. Reports were also read which indicated that Germany was moving heaven and earth in her preparations for strik- ing not only Russia but France. The meeting was in secret, and each one present was pledged to preserve secrecy. Nevertheless, immediately afterward, Minister of the Interior Malvy permitted himself to be quoted as follows : "We have received news from Germany for which we did not dare to hope. The situation is now better than has generally been supposed. It is possible to foresee a moment when negociations may enter upon a way leading to a favor- able solution of the whole matter." The next day, July 31, the news bulletins became still more alarming. While Jean was still toiling over his type- writer in the Bonnet Rouge office, Almereyda entered with an extra on which were blazoned these ominious headlines : "Germany in State of War." "British Fleet Off for North Sea." "Russia Calls Out Reserves." "Panic in United States. New York Stock Exchange Closes." THE ENEMY WITHIN 45 The Apache editor in chief threw the paper on the floor and stamping on it, exclaimed: "Let the war come. It will be a great knife, which will cut out the old, dead wood in France, and help us build this nation anew. We will have a great socialistic state, and the friends of Caillaux will be supreme." "How about the arrest of all those in Garnet B?" asked a shaggy headed youth, who was trying to puff a cigarette, so short that it fairly burned his fingers. "Does the gang go to jail?" "Nobody goes to jail," laughed Almereyda. "I have seen Malvy about that." As his Apache visitor left the room, Almereyda took out of his desk a paper, from which he poured a little white powder upon a thumbnail, and sniffed it like snuff. It was his regular afternoon potion of cocaine, Jean could not help but see it all, and shuddered. There was something so diabolical, so supernaturally evil about the man. Almereyda caught Jean's almost frightened glance, and called him to his desk with unusual gruffness. "Forget that Lipscher affair," he muttered. *^on't ever speak to anyone about either Lipscher, or the woman. That's all. Go." CHAPTER ly MalVy, Cabinet Minister, Friend of Foe The Dummy of Caillaux — His Socialistic and Labor Follow^ ing — His Friendship for Almereyda and the Bonm,et Rouge Gang — His Private Life — A Gambler — Caillaux protected by Bernstorff Within the next few hours France was plunged deep in the conflict. On August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia. She had already begun her attack on France. Throughout all the highways and byways, on land and sea, the armed forces of the Republic were mobilizing. The drum beat and the strains of the Marseillaise were heard on every side. AU the traditional heroism of the French na- tion — the same spirit that marched to victory beneath the imperial colors of Napoleon — that had also emerged tri- umphant from the throes of revolution — burst forth now in all its old time glory. The patriotism of the French people was aroused to such a fury, that the anarchists and pacifists seemed overawed. Their plans for an "anti imperialistic" revolt were for the time abandoned. German agents, spies, communists, and all the rest of this same ilk, were indiscriminately swallowed up in the great military machine, which had sprung up over night. The assassination of Jaures, the great Unified Socialist leader alarmed not only his party followers, but also many other anti militarists with the fear of a like fate. On the night of July 31, he was dining with several members of 46 THE ENEMY WITHIN 47 the staff of U Humanite, of which he was editor, in the Croissant, a famous restaurant near the Bourse. The party sat at a table near an open window facing the Rue Mont- martre. Suddenly, a hand holding a revolver was thrust in through the window from the street and, before anyone could seize the gun, it fired two bullets into the back of the social- ist leader's head. Without hardly more than a moan Jaures fell forward upon the table. He died within a few minutes. The assassin was Raoul Villain, a clerk of the civil court at Rheims. From his actions and utterances, he was thought to be demented. His mother for twenty years had been an inmate of an insane asylum. *'I killed Jaures, because he betrayed the country in lead- ing the campaign against the three year military law," he said. "I believe one must punish traitors, and if I can give my life to such a cause, I shall feel my duty has been accom- plished. I do not belong to any revolutionary or reactionary league. To kill Jaures was my own idea." For a time, it was feared that the Socialists in a revulsion of feeling might precipitate a govemmentaj drisis, but Premier Viviani warded oif the storm by taking immediate precautions. In a statement, which he issued the same night, he said: "A most abominable crime has been committed. M. Jaures was a statesman and orator who gave distinction to the Chamber of Deputies. He has been assassinated in the most cowardly way, and personally and on behalf of my Colleagues I bow before the tomb so suddenly opened for this Socialist Republican, who struggled for such noble causes and who in trying times patriotically sustained the authority of the Government in the interest of peace." In this hour only words of praise for the dead socialist were heard. It was realized, even by his most bitter critics, that his pacifism was that of an idealist, even though it had played into the hands of the foes of France. 48 THE ENEMY WITHIN When Caillaux heard of the death of Jaures, he took even greater precautions to guard himself against similar attack. The servants in his house were instructed to keep constant watch, lest a stranger work his way in under cover of some specious pretext, and try to assassinate the master. Cail- laux was thought by many to have left Paris for his country place at Mamers. Malvy, Caillaux's dummy in the Ministry of the Interior, found it necessary therefore to assume outwardly at least the responsibilities and duties of his chief. At the same time that Caillaux hid himself more and more from public view. Malvy became more and more active in the open. Malvy tried to hold together, as best he could, the demoralized forces of the Caillaux faction. He kept in constant touch with Almereyda, the chieftain of the Caillaux's body guard, and many others who were secretly spreading the pestilence of hatred and falsehood, of pacifism and defeatism, and who were ever ready to join in a socialistic revolution, that would make Caillaux the ruler of France. The Ministry of the Interior is almost within stone's throw of the Elysee Palace, where lives the President of France. It is a irregularly shaped building with one wing facing on the Rue des Saussaies and another on the Rue Cambaceres. From the corner windows of the President's palace, look- ing out on the Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, one can al- most see down the Rue Combaceres and recognize the visitors at the Ministry of the Interior, that go and come by this route. Here President Poincare, had he known at that time all the plottings of the enemies of France within her own bord- ers, could have seen Almereyda on the day, when all France was arming for the war, hurrying through the crowd, and at last disappearing behind the portals of the neighboring building, where Malvy, the Caillaux viceroy, ruled supreme. The doorkeeper, the sentries, all the petty officials that THE ENEMY WITHIN 49 lie between the outside sidewalk and the deeply recessed cham- ber, in which the Minister kept himself in stately seclusion, knew Almereyda, and let him pass by with a bow of welcome. They saw only his smartly tailored clothes, his quick, eager stride, his searching eyes, and shaggy hair. They had come to understand, that he was a particular friend of their chief, and to their minds that qualification furnished all the necessary credentials. They noticed that he was never kept waiting in the outside office, that he came and went at all hours, and sometimes carried to and fro under his arm, what appeared to be the documents of the office, as if they were his own. The interview between Malvy and Almereyda at this time determined the fate of m.ore than 2,500 anarchists and anti militarists, whose names were listed in the Garnet B. The conversation behind the closed doors of Malvy's inner office can now be reproduced from documents in the pos- session of the present French government. "I understand that Clemenceau and some others want the Garnet B crowd sent to prison," said Almereyda. "Yes, I am being urged to carry out the old law," replied Malvy. "So far, I have taken no action." "You must arrest no one. You must issue an order to ^hat effect at once." And Mab^y issued the order. In Garnet B was Almereyda's own name, and marked against it was his long criminal record. There too were the names of all of Gaillaux's Gorsican Guard, of Sebastien Faure, and OA^er two thousand more plotters against France. All were permitted to go free, and in the army, the navy, in the trenches, among the reserves, or in various spheres of civil life, they were still able to work for the triumph of the foe. During the next ten days, the German guns began pound- ing to pieces the fortresses of Liege, and the Kaiser was 60 THE ENEMY WITHIN massing still greater armies for the thrust through Belgium into France. Every hour the situation in Paris became more critical. The French armies were being stationed in the most strategic places to meet the enemy's advance, which, if it could not be checked, would permit the Huns to beseige Paris. At this time any information transmitted to the Ger- mans concerning the plans of the French military leaders, might permit the enemy to triumph at the very onset. The military police, accordingly, became most active. They tried to round up all who might be suspected as spies or as interfering in any way with military operations. They picked up not a few of the criminals, which Malvy's civil police had allowed to go free. Almereyda made another hurried visit to Malvy's inner office. He protested. He insisted that the men who had been thrown into prison were innocent, that such arrests were in violation of the promises which Malvy had made when the war began. "They are my friends, I will vouch for them," said Alme- reyda. The appeal of the King of the Apaches met with instant approbation at the Ministry of the Interior. A note was dictated, bearing date of August 10, 1914, accompanying a ^ list of names which Almereyda had submitted to Malvy and transmitted to M. Laurent, Prefect of Police, which read: "It would be 'desirable that the persons who figure in this list and for whom M. Almereyda, who is trustworthy, can answer, be set free as soon as possible." And at once the gang was liberated. During all this time Malvy and Caillaux were in constant communication. Ever since he took an important part in politics, Malvy had never been more than Caillaux's tool. He was the type of man, who believes that success results easiest from following another who possesses greater power, THE ENEMY WITHIN 51 and, if possible, some day succeeding to that power. In the ward politics of Tammany Hall he would be popularly known as an "organization man." He was younger than Caillaux, more modest, but just as ambitious. Caillaux found early that Malvy could be trusted in the various coups, which Caillaux executed with such dexterity as to mystify the outside public completely. Malvy was per- mitted to know how the trick was done. Malvy was a good wirepuller, a good fixer. He could be commissioned by Caillaux to this or that confidential mission, and his master felt assured that all the details would be carefully at- tended to. Malvy also spared Caillaux the task of shaking hands with the common herd, a task which Caillaux abhorred. Malvy met the "boys" in the headquarters of the Radical Social- ists, brought them Caillaux's messages and Caillaux's francs. If Malvy made any money out of politics, he apparently did not keep it. He confessed freely to all his friends, that he loved the card table and the roulette wheel altogether too much. Many times, when he came in the morning to his office, pale and haggard, and hardly more than looked at his mail before hurrying away to dejeuner and an afternoon sleep, he would casually explain that he had been gambling all night long, and had lost. In the street Malvy always sought the opportunity of greeting friends. At times when Caillaux would ride past his constituents behind the drawn curtains of his limousine, with a body guard of Almereyda's Apaches before and be- hind, Malvy would stroll along the sidewalk, bowing and smiling to all who recognized him and returned his words of greeting. Malvy, like Caillaux, had behind him the powerful follow- ing of the Radical Socialists. He had also the sympathy of the Unified Socialists, who represented the labor unions, the working men, and the anti capitalists. 52 THE ENEIVIY WITHIN As Minister of the Interior, Malvy controlled the police machinery throughout France. The prefects of police were his subordinates. The Surete Generate, or secret service bureau, which contains most of the skeletons from the closets of everybody, who builds houses with secret closets, was also under his immediate control. Its director was also a sub- ordinate of the Minister of the Interior. Having all this power in his hands, Malvy was able to exert a tremendous influence in elections, and there were many scores of Deputies who felt they owed him more than a vote of thanks. So popular had he become among the lead- ers of his own party, that they demanded his retention in the Cabinet, no matter who might be the Premier. He, there- fore, served, as Minister of the Interior, in the war Cabinet of Viviani, the coalition Cabinet of Briand, and the cen- tralized Cabinet of Ribot. He did not fall until Clemenceau, braver than any of his predecessors, tore the mask from his face. Meantime, the tide of war was rolling ever nearer Paris. On August 20 the Germans had crashed through the first defenses of Belgium, forcing the Belgian line to fall back on Louvain. King Albert and his court, with all the state departments and state archives, had fled from Brussels to Antwerp. Brussels fell into the hands of the enemy and the Germans redoubled their attacks in the drive toward Paris. By September 5 the First German Army, pouring into France from the north, was making every possible effort to turn the French left. Francis A. March, in his "History of the World War," has described the situation in France during this crisis, as follows: "The First Germany Army, carrying audg.city to temer- ity, had continued its endeavor to envelop the French left, had crossed the Grand Morin, and reached the region of ChaufFry, to the south of Rebais and of Esternay. It aimed THE ENEMY WITHIN 53 then at cutting Joffre off from Paris, in order to begin the investment of the capital. "The Second Army had its head on the Hne Champaubert, Etoges, Bergeres, and Vertus. "The Third and Fourth Armies reached to Chalons-sur- Marne and Bussy-le-Repos. The Fifth Army was advancing from the Argonne as far as Triaucourt-les-Ilettes and Juive- court. The Sixth and Seventh armies were attacking more to the East. "The French left army had been able to occupy the line Sezanne, Villers-St. Georges and Courchamps. This was precisely the disposition which the General in Chief had wished to see achieved. On the 4th he decided to take ad- vantage of it, and ordered all the armies to hold themselves ready. On the evening of the 5th, he addressed to all the commanders of armies a message ordering them to attack. " 'The hour has come,' he wrote, 'to advance at all costs and to die where you stand rather than give way.' " Then followed the First Battle of the Marne, in which during seven days of heroic fighting, the French broke through the advanced lines of the Germans and driving them back in disorder, saved Paris, and recaptured half of the in- vaded districts of northeastern France. During these lurid days, when the fate of the French Republic hung in the balance, Caillaux remained in Paris. The President and Cabinet, all the departments of govern- ment, the governmental records, and most of the men of wealth and their families had sought refuge in Bordeaux. For the time being the chief seaport of the Bay of Biscay had become the capital of France. But Caillaux remained behind. Even when the German guns had reached Conesse, only twelve miles away from the outskirts of Paris, Caillaux lingered. He stayed but to see the Germans defeated, the Hun tide of invasion turned back, the "contemptible British Army" holding the foe with uncon- 64 THE ENEMY WITHIN querable heroism, the plans of a socialistic revolution aban- doned by even the most daring of his followers, and his own life in still greater jeopardy. Meantime, he entered the army, as a paymaster. On October 22, 1914, Caillaux and his wife were riding in an open cab along the Boulevard des Capucines which lies between the great, columned Church of the Madeleine, and the Opera. On either side were gathered the usual crowds, which even in spite of the war assembled on the sidewalks in front of the cafes and brasseries for an afternoon glass of wine or a cup of coffee. As they were about to turn into the Place de la Opera, where a half dozen boulevards and avenues converge like the spokes of a gigantic wheel, someone recognized Caillaux, and the news spread like wildfire. Many of the spectators did not know that Caillaux had gone into the army, until they saw him riding past them in the full uniform of an army paymaster. His wife wore the white armlet of the Red Cross. Of a sudden a woman cried : "Voild Caillaux, /' espion Allemand." (There is Caillaux, the Germany spy.) The multitude surged toward the Caillaux carriage as if to seize its occupants and drag them through the streets. Caillaux protested, but the crowd only become the more furious. "A has Caillaux" "Mort pour V espion Allemand" "Morf pour le traitre" (Down with Caillaux) (Death for the Ger- man spy) (Death for the traitor) were some of the cries which greeted the man, who once was Premier of France. From somewhere a volley of dirt picked up from a pile of refuse in a back areaway fell upon Caillaux and his wife, and amid the storm of missies a filthy, long bundle of rags, such as are used to turn the water to right or left when flushing the street descended into Mme. Caillaux's lap. Caillaux's face turned an ashen white. Shielding his eyes with one arm. CAILLAUX "The Master Mind behind the Great Conspiracy. He would have destroyed France to mount to ,.reatei power upon its rums. THE ENEMY WITHIN 55 he lifted his wife from the carriage with the other, and fought his way through the mob to a closed cab, which hurried off as fast as its little, snorting motor could propel it. The next that Paris heard of Caillaux was a report, printed Oct. 30, that he was spending a fortnight in a fortress because of a speech he had made to troops in the trenches. The Duke de Rohan told the story in the Chamber of Deputies, as follows: "Caillaux this week went to Doulens, where he found re- servists and territorials belonging to his political consti- tuency. He said to them : " 'You seem to be undergoing tremendous hardships. If any of you would like to be transferred to a less dangerous position, you have only to tell me. The situation is exceed- ingly grave, for we are fighting the world alone. The British troops are of no assistance to us.' " Finding that he could not carry on his secret negotiations with Germany without going to some neutral country, Cail- laux hurried his plans for a trip to South America. Finally, on Nov. 14, 1914*, Caillaux and his wife left Bordeaux on the steamship, Perou, bound for Puerto Cabella and La Guayra in Venezuela. There were all kinds of stories printed at the time to explain Caillaux's going. One was that he had gone into enforced exile. Another explained that he intended to go to Brazil for the purpose of obtaining Brazilian raw materials and foodstuffs for France, that formerly were im- ported from Germany and Austria. It was also reported that Caillaux would inquire into the proposed reorganiza- tion of the French South American cables and would attempt to replace the German lines operated by way of Teneriffe, Monrovia and Pernambuco. Beneath all this camouflage Caillaux redoubled his efforts to bring about his long prepared scheme of splitting the ^Entente by stirring up a hatred of England among the 56 THE ENEMY WITHIN French people, concluding a separate peace between France and Germany, and bringing Italy and Spain into the war on the side of the Central Powers. At this time Italy was still neutral. She did not declare war against Austria until May 23, 1915, and against Germany until Aug. 28, 1915. In South America at this time the position of Germany was in urgent need of such a master of intrigue, as Caillaux. None of the countries of the New World except Canada had ever thought of entering the war, and Germany was making every effort to use these neutral nations to her own advan- tage. It had long been the hope of Berlin to create a great Latin league, hostile to England. Accordingly all kinds of German propaganda to inflame the Latin mind with jealousies and hatred of Great Britain and the Anglo Saxon were scat- tered throughout South and Central America. In Mexico these seeds of pestilence found a peculiarly fertile soil. Germany easily persuaded many Mexicans to believe that the United States had all the Anglo Saxon iniquities of England, and many more, and while Mexican bandits crossed the Rio Grande on missions of murder and rapine German agents in the United States tried to involve this country in a war with Mexico, which would prevent us from furnishing the Allies with arms and munitions. At this time the German Embassy in Washington became the great clearing house for all the German espionage and intrigue in the New World. Bernstorff, under the cloak of the Swedish diplomatic service and through other hidden channels, kept Berlin informed of the movements of ships, the employment and payment of German spies, the destruction by bombs and fires of munition plants and factories engaged in making war supplies, the many mysterious strikes and acts of sabotage all over the United States, which were aU planned to cripple the cause of the Allies. When Caillaux reached the Argentine, he found a very THE ENEMY WITHIN 57 active and powerful German influence, not onl^^ in trade cir- cles, but in politics. He found that it reached the very top of the government. In Buenos Ayres Caillaux got in touch with Count Lux- burg, German Minister to Argentina, who will always be remembered as having best revealed the German policy of brutality and dissimulation in his "sunk without a trace" cablegram. A policy much the same as this had long been followed by Caillaux. He had long tried to sink the French ship of State without leaving a trace of his perfidy. In Count Luxburg, therefore, he found a peculiarly congenial part- ner. The two of course were never seen together. They sought to work without leaving a trace of their joint enter- prise. Through go-betweens and in other ways Caillaux informed Luxburg of his ceaseless efforts to bring about a separate peace with France and the establishment of a great Latin combination, that would help Germany destroy Eng- land. One of those who carried messages back and forth between Luxburg and Caillaux was Count James Minotto, a German nobleman with an Italian name, a son-in-law of Louis F. Swift, the Chicago packer, who was living in Buenos Ayres at this time. Minotto was caught in the United States, after he had tried to obtain a place in the United States Naval Intelligence Service. After a period of internment in the prison near Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., he was brought to New York City and examined by the Attorney General of New York State who was acting for the French Government. Confronted by in- controvertible evidence, whcih had already been obtained from other sources, Minotto confessed. He said that his mother before her marriage was Agnes Soma, a famous Ger- man actress. In New York City, he said, she had won 58 THE ENEMY WITHIN special fame as the star of Hauptmann's "Sunken Bell," produced in German at the old Irving Place Theatre. In Argentina, Minotto told everybody that he was employ- ed by a great New York banking institution. Under this cam- ouflage he got into communication with Luxburg, and during the time he was in the Argentine capital he was in confer- ence with Luxburg nearly every day. He was also in almost daily touch with Caillaux, and thus he came to know many of the details of the great plot to disrupt the Entente with a separate French peace and an anti British Latin alliance. In these details, Minotto said, Malvy figured constantly, as Caillaux's chief representative in France, who as a Cabinet Minister could keep Caillaux in touch with all the inner secrets of French governmental affairs. Investigations also revealed the fact that Minotto had been in touch with Count von Bernstorff, the German Ambassa- dor to the United States, through whom Luxburg sent many of his communications to Berlin. Before Caillaux returned to France, German raiders in the South Atlantic had been capturing and sinking the vessels not only of the belligerent nations, but also of neutrals. For example, the William P. Frye, an American bark, on January 28, 1915, fell a prey to the German sea wolves. It was generally believed that the Teutons maintained secret bases on the South American coast where they received wireless instructions from Berlin for their voyages of piratical ad- venture. Ever fearing for his life, Caillaux besought even the pro- tection of the enemy. His appeal was granted, as shown in the following message, which Bernstorff received in Wash- ington by way of Havana, and on February 4, 1915, for- warded to Berlin: "Tol. Rio de Janeiro, telegraphs : " *Steamer Araguaya left Buenos Ayres Jan. 30. The THE ENEMY WITHIN 59 Captain is carrying Important papers. Capture very desir- able. Caillaux is on board. In case of capture Caillaux should, in an unobstrusive way, be treated with courtesy and consideration. Can you inform our cruisers.'' « 'BERNSTORFF.' " Another message, which also reveals the terror in Cail- laux's mind was sent by Bernstorff to Berlin accompanying the first cablegram. It read: "Buenos Ayres telegraphed tlie following: *' 'Caillaux has left Buenos Ayres after a short stay, and is going direct to France, evidently on account of the (undecipherable) scandal, which he regards as a personal attack upon himself. He speaks contemptuously of the President and the rest of the French government, with the exception of Briand. He sees through the policy of England perfectly. He does not anticipate the complete overthrow of France. He sees in the war now a struggle for existence on the part of England. " 'Although he spoke much of the "indiscretions and clumsy policy" of Wilhelmstrasse and professed to believe in German atrocities, he has in essentials hardly changed his political orientation. " 'Caillaux welcomed indirect courtesies from me, but emphasized the extreme caution which he is obliged to show, as the French government, he said, had him watched even here. *' 'He warns against the excessive praise bestowed upon him by our papers, especially the "Neue Freie Press," and desired on the other hand that the Mediterranean and Morocco agreements should be adversely criticised. Our praise injures his position in France. 60 THE ENEMY WITHIN " 'Caillaux's reception here was cool. His report about Brazil had nothing new. On his return to France he will begin to reside in his own constituency. He fears Paris and the fate of Jaures. « 'BERNSTORFF.' " CHAPTEH V The Enemy Within Grows Bolder Defeated in Drive to Capture Paris, Germany Spreads Pestil- ence Behind the Lines — Almereyda and Malvy Protect Alien Enemies — Almereyda'' s Sudden Riches — His Lurid Life The Germans were guilty of using poison gas for the first time in warfare, when on April ^2, 1915, they poured a flood of deadly fumes upon the Canadians at Ypres, and then charged upon the heaps of writhing, dying men. Before this battle of Ypres, however, Germany began another campaign of poison, in which she tried by means of the most insidious propaganda to kill the very soul of France. As soon as her first, great drive against Paris failed, she revived her old time scheme of destroying France through treachery, of demoralizing the French with fears and doubts, of seeking to persuade them it was folly to war against the Teuton, of stirring up hatred against England, of urging a separate peace and a Franco-German alliance, as the only solution of the European problem. In pursuance of this plan Caillaux was negotiating with Luxburg in Buenos Ayres, and Malvy and Almereyda were cooperating with pacifists, defeatists and anarchists in Paris. By January, 1915, the great offensive of the enemies within the republic was well under way. Spies and German agents of all kinds smuggled themselves into France by way of Switzerland and Spain. Pamphlets urging soldiers to quit fighting and demand peace found 61 62 THE ENEIMY WITHIN their way into the trenches. Circulars and posters outHning a Bolshevik revolution were distributed among the workers of munition plants. Labor unions were incited to declare strikes, that would cripple transportation or the manufac- ture of war supplies. Almereyda became even more active and powerful in the Ministry of the Interior. He found it no longer necessary to consult Malvy every time he wanted a carload of prison- ers liberated, or tickets of sojourn issued to Germans, Aus- trians and Turks who wished to stay in Paris unmolested. The intricate machinery of obtaining cards of identifica- tion at the office of the Prefecture of the Police, the process of furnishing one's name, the names of parents, the place and date of birth, and answering a score of other questions, as to one's past history, was practically brushed aside, when it interfered with Almereyda's friends. Now and then the military police would force the arrest of suspects ; but while the prisoners were being put aboard trains to be carried from Paris to the internment camps, Almereyda would have Malvy, as head of the civil police, set the men free. Once, when Malvy's subordinates were a little slow in carrying out his orders, Almereyda hurried to the Ministry of the Interior, and without the formality of send- ing in his name, walked into the inner office. *'These arrests must stop," cried the Chief of the Apaches, tossing a paper containing a long list of names upon Malvy's desk. "These are all our men. We can never hold our own people together, and permit them to be treated in this fashion." Malvy looked up at the strangely luminous eyes of the visitor — eyes in which a mind made almost mad by drugs burned with an uncanny lustre — and then picked up the paper. The Apache chieftain seemed to read the Minister's mind. "Of course there will be a great hue and cry from the THE ENEMY WITHIN 63 Conservatives, from men like Daudet, who will use the black ink of his L' Action Frangaise to paint you a traitor," said Almereyda. "But all that those fellows say will be dis- counted. They will not be believed, simply because they are your political enemies. The socialists never listen to them, even when they are telling the truth." Almereyda passed a cigarette case to the Minister, who merely glanced at the fortune of diamonds with which the monogram was set. The leader of the Corsican Guard did not need to repeat his request. Orders were given that his letter to the Prefect of Police be immediately obeyed. The letter read : "Enclosed is a list of some poor devils who have been arrested, and whom in accord with M. Malvy and M. Richard (director of the secret service bureau) I ask you to release. "If I thought that there might be any danger or even embarrassment for the country, I would not make this re- quest. *'Thanks, kindest regards. "(Signed) Miguel Almereyda." The prisoners were at once set free. Another letter which was produced later in court and which showed Almereyda's ability to liberate prisoners with- out even a visit to the Minister's private office, was written to M. Leseyeux, an assistant of M. Paoli, Secretary General of the Prefecture of Police. It read : "Kindly give M. Paoli ray thanks and express to him my gratitude for having liberated some poor devils, whom I recommended to you. "I am aware that you often make errors, but they are excusable. You would make me particularly happy, if you would communicate this letter also to M. Paoli and ask him for authorization to order the liberation of the entire car- load this evening, if possible." Then followed a list of ten men. 64 THE ENEMY WITHIN From many of those whom he befriended with tickets of sojourn, stays of execution, orders of liberation, and other favors he was able to get from the Prefecture of Police and the Surete Generale, Almereyda obtained various "tokens of good will." In the case of M. Rabbat, for example, Alme- reyda received what Rabbat called a "loan" of 5,000 francs. For Rabbat Almereyda obtained the suspension of a decree of exile. And what manner of man was Rabbat, for whom Alme- reyda interceeded so successfully.'^ The answer is to be found in the report of M. Peres, head of a commission which finally dug to the bottom of the intrigue, corruption and treason of Malvy's administration. I quote now from the Peres report: "Rabbat was an Ottoman subject. He lived in Paris for some years, and with the aid of funds of more than suspicious origin, founded a bank in which he co-operated with a certain Zucco, already condemned six times. It was a swindling enterprise. "Although he had been condemned on June 20, 1913, Rabbat still continued to live in Paris after his term in prison, and was still in Paris, when war was declared. As soon as Turkey entered the conflict, he asked a permit of sojourn, which was granted without any difficulty on Nov. 26, 1914, despite his past record. "Rabbat was left at large. He became suspiciously active. Finally he ran up against the Surete Generale, (Malvy's Secret Service Bureau). It seems that his mistress, who had been arrested at Nancy for espionage, had turned informer acrainst him. The Surete Generale and the Prefecture of Police accordingly investigated Rabbat, and reported that he was a criminal, who was suspected of having relations with the enemy. One report, dated March 31, 1915, read: " 'It is astonishing that in the face of facts so deplorable and a past record so regrettable, Rabbat was able to secure THE ENEMY WITHIN 65 a permit of sojourn?' At the bottom of the report, the director of the Surete Generate made this notation. " *I consider this man dangerous for many reasons. I believe he should be interned.' " At this stage Almereyda's power was invoked. Records showed that the order of expulsion, which had been issued for Rabbat on April 6, 1915, was stayed only a week later. Accompanying the stay came a letter of approval from Min- ister Malvy to the Prefect of Police. "Meantime Rabbat continued his swindling operations," continues the Peres report. "The military police (which were always clashing with Malvy) pointed him out as a suspect, but he still was permitted to go free. "The part which Almereyda played behind the scenes was revealed by Rabbat himself, who said that he was not only indebted to Almereyda for the suspension of the order of expulsion, but also a safe conduct pass to enable him to go to Annemasso, whence he had easily crossed the line into Switzerland for the purpose of selling a package of Austrian bonds. Rabbat further added that he had loaned Almereyda '5,000 francs for his services. "In Geneva Rabbat started an agency for concealing stolen goods and a sort of clearing house for bonds and securities, which the Germans had purloined from the in- vaded countries. It was with great difficulty that France obtained his extradition. He was brought back to Paris at last to answer for his crimes. "This episode should be considered as a monument to the influence and power of Almereyda." In permitting spies and other German agents to operate unmolested Malvy was continually conflicting with the milit- ary police, know as the Second Bureau. The inspectors of the Second Burean were under the jurisdiction of the army, and their unceasing efforts to kill German espionage frequent 66 THE ENEMY WITHIN Ivuncovered a scandal, which pointed straight to Caillaux and Malvy. Almereyda in the Bonnet Rouge and Malvy, himself, in fre- quent statements to the press, began attacking the Second Bureau, as "meddlesome, bungling, incompetent." Alme- reyda and Malvy insisted that it prevented the civil police from doing their duty. The fight became hotter and hotter. Finally, the Caillaux crowd succeeded, and the Second Bu- reau was suppressed. Among the many cases in which Malvy's civil police ran afoul of the Second Bureau was the Kovaczs aifair. Mme. Kovaczs Avas an Austrian woman. She was sent to the concentration camp at Garaison, but returned to Paris and took an apartment at No. 60 Avenue du Bois-de-Bou- logne. On many occasions the neighbors noticed mysterious goings and comings of strangers, meetings at unusual hours of the night, and the conversations that were caught from her windows were always in German. Inspectors of the military police investigated. They learned from Malvy's prefect of Police, that Malvy, himself, had authorized the woman to return to Paris and obtained for her a monthly ticket of sojourn that she might remain in the French capital unmolested. The military police, nevertheless, continued their investi- gation. They discovered that the woman was keeping in constant touch with various Germans, whose activities were also extremely suspicious, and they accordingly demanded that the woman be sent back to the concentration camp. In- stead, the Prefecture of Police at the request of Malvy gave her an unlimited permit of sojourn. Even more persistently the Second Bureau shadowed the woman. It finally turned up facts, which convinced the Com- mission for the Revision of Permits to order the woman expelled. When the inspector went to Mme. Ko^aczs's home to conduct her to the border, who should open the THE ENEMY WITHIN 67 door of her apartment in answer to his knocking, but a French general. Many of the Germans, Austrians and Hungarians, who wanted permits of sojourn in Paris at the outbreak of the war possessed great wealth or represented enemy interests of vast financial power. It was not infrequently said in the Paris cafes, that 100,000 francs would be cheap for a ticket of sojourn for not a fev*^ alien enemies, whose business inter- ests necessitated their staying in the French metropolis. Some of the pohtical agents and spies in the employ of the German government would have paid any price for such permits. One of the German financiers, who fell under the suspicion of the Second Bureau, was M. Vercken. Born in Belgium, M. Vercken had become a naturaHzed French citizen. As M. Peres said in his report : "Under the complaisant mask of a French Council of Administration, M. Vercken had been throwing our mining concessions into the hands of German captains of industry before the war, and he was continuing in these activities. "The Second Bureau investigated his enterprises, which in time of war could be used to compromise our national pro- duction. After the suppression of the Second Bureau, the Central Bureau of Information, which succeeded it, did nothing." The Central Bureau of Information was made subservient to the Prefecture of Police, which was subservient to Malvy. Continuing M. Peres said : "Another example is the Victoria Bank. It has been maintaining in Paris, despite its assurances, a 'special bu- reau' of spies, having as the territory of its activities, the Eastern part of France. Von Mainen and Gymros, of the Victoria Bank, have been circulating throughout Paris un- hindered since the invasion, one wearing a British, and the 68 THE ENEMY WITHIN other, a Belgian unirorra. In a Belgian uniform also promenades M. Artmann, director of the bank, a so-called Roumanian, who was denounced by Georges Prade in his campaign in ^Le Journal' against the 'Foreigners of the Interior.' " Artmann was watched by the Second Bureau, but defended by Almereyda, who attested to his honesty with great vigor. Almereyda also met the attacks of Le Journal by defama- tions addressed to Commandant Baudier, head of the Second Bureau. Finally, Almereyda triumphed over both M. Prade and Commandant Baudier, thanks to the will of the Minister of the Interior, who gave M. Artmann a ticket of sojourn. Thus ended the campaign of Le Journal against the Boches of Paris. Thus also ended the Second Bureau. Commandant Baudier, however, did not abandon the Sec- ond Bureau without a fight. He insisted on a personal in- terview with the all powerful Malvy. Through the interven- tion of George Prade, M. Humbert, editor of Le Journal arranged for Baudier to see the Minister of the Interior. Baudier had hardly seated himself, before Malvy exclaimed: "I demand that you should be discharged from the Mili- tary Government of Paris, because the action of the Second Bureau has not been in accord with the attitude of the Min- istry of the Interior, the Prefecture of Police, and the Surete Generale. "I have also asked and obtained the discharge of General Maunoury, General Clergerie and Colonel Monteil, because in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate they were oppos- ing the action of the Ministry of the Interior and praising the Military Government." Almereyda's wealth was now piling up fast. Beside "gifts" and "loans" from "friends" he received through Malvy a re- gular subsidy for the Bonnet Rouge. The money was drawn from the funds of the Minister of the Interior in sums of THE ENEMY WITHIN 69 2,000 to 8,000 francs and turned over each month to Almer- eyda's newspaper. From many other sources Almereyda also gathered princely tribute. He once boasted that by the end of the war he would be the richest man in Paris. But his friends shook their heads. They did not doubt that he was reaping a golden harvest, but they knew he was spending his riches even faster than they came. Almereyda paraded his wealth. He was of that super- ficial type of man, who, realizing the shallowness of his na- ture, seeks to cover it up with the pompous trappings of prosperity. He bought his clothes in the most expensive and most exclusive establishments. He traded his old automo- bile for one of the latest and most luxurious pattern, and in one corner of the deeply upholstered tonneau he joined the afternoon promenades of fashion along the beautifully wooded driveways of the Bois de Boulogne. Beside him he sometimes took Madame Q, a lady whom he had met at an all night revel at the home of the "Cocaine Queen" of Paris, and who had formerly been one of the most trusted agents of Germany at the French capital, until she became a hopeless victim of drugs. Almereyda's private life was the gossip of the boulevards. In one of the sworn statements of Leon Daudet, which was later embodied in a government report, Almereyda was pic- tured in two homes, in one of which lived Mme. Clero Alme- reyda, and in the other. Mile. Emilienne Brevannes. Despite all the rumors of the cafes, the two ladies seemed to be on the best of terms, for Daudet tells how they took a trip together to Verdun during the last days of 1915, when the Crown Prince of Germany was massing all his forces in a gigantic effort to capture the French citadel. Armed with the necessary permits, which the Caillaux editor had obtained through the influence of friends of high official rank, Mme. Almereyda and Mile. Brevannes penetrated the French lines 70 THE ENEMY WITHIN and entered the fortress. They carried with them a great quantity of pacifist and defeatist Hterattire, which they dis- tributed among the troops. Almereyda was soon hving at such a pace that one auto- mobile was not enough. One by one he bought more cars, until he maintained a fleet of six. Finally, he purchased a garage in the Boulevard Pereire, where he kept his own ma- chines and rented space for others. During one governmen- tal investigation from which he emerged successfully, he explained that the automobiles he drove belonged only to the garage, and that his money came from a wine merchant, named Boulet, in payment for his campaign in behalf of the wine business, and from M. Francfort who had given him 50,000 francs for securing an important order from the Ministry of Munitions. One of Almereyda's chauffeurs was a Hollander, by the name of Edouard Klisser. From Klisser Daudet obtained information that the Almereyda automobiles were continually going through the French lines with packages of Bonnet Rouge editions for distribution among the soldiers. During 1915, 1916 and 1917 Almereyda's motor cars sowed the seeds of defeatism along the battle line, and no one in or out of the army appeared powerful enough to stop them. Klisser also told of one occasion, when Malvy and Alme- reyda were riding together in an open automobile, which per- mitted him to hear their conversation. The two were dis- cussing an impending reorganization of the cabinet, when it was generally believed that Malvy would be compelled to quit the Ministry of the Interior for the Ministry of Col- onies. According to Klisser, Malvy said to Almereyda: "It is absolutely necessary that you go and talk with Briand. You, yourself, know how important it is that I remain in the Ministry of the Interior." Briand began his political career as a socialist of the extremely radical type. After he became Premier he was THE ENEMY WITHIN 71 accused by many of the socialists of having abandoned them for capitalistic interests. At this time Almereyda was able to obtain the audience of such statesmen as Briand, because of the power and influence of his newspaper, and his popu- larity among various formidable labor and socialist organiza- tions. Klisser said he was ordered to drive to the home of Briand, where Almereyda got out and went into the house. After about twenty minutes Almereyda returned to the automobile, and taking his seat beside Malvy said: "Well, my friend, I did it. You stay in the Ministry of the Interior," Malvy stayed. CHAPTER VI "The Red Bee" and "La Ruche" Sehastien Faure and "The Bee Hive'' — His Anarchist Paw- phlets Flood Trenches — Malvy, His Patron — Pacifist Literature Demoralizes Army — Clemenceau's Battle Against the Enemy Within There used to be a deeply recessed, shadow haunted, hollow sounding doorway in a side street of Paris, which led into a place, known as "La Ruche" ("The Bee Hive"). Past this door many a girl dared not walk at night. Within lurked a man, whom the women called "The Red Bee." Fearful stories were told of his noctural adventures, and so it came to pass that mothers warned their daughters to flee at his approach. Most times during the day the rumbling noise of a print- ing press was heard within "La Ruche." Strange looking men, whose faces were frequently hid under down-turned hat brims, passed hurriedly in and out. Now and then a motor delivery wagon stopped in front of the gloomy door, and from the depths of "The Bee Hive" were brought forth great packages of red pamphlets, which were quickly loaded into the automobile and whisked away. "The Red Bee" was known to the Prefecture of Police as Seba'=!tien Faure, one of the most dangerous anarchists in France. His nam'e, like that of Almereyda and the rest of the Corsican Guard, was inscribed in the Garnet B. Faure was a pamphleteer. His printing office swarmed with anarch- ists and social agitators of all kinds who had again and again 12 THE ENEMY WITHIN 75 been cast into prison because of their plots to overthrow France. Most of them advocated the same views as the Bolsheviks of Russia. Faure was their leader. When complaints were made to the police that he had attacked little girls, Faure only laughed. "They do not dare touch me," he boasted. "Malvy is my friend. He not only protects me, but he gives me money to publish my pamphlets." And Faure told the truth. The poHce did not touch him. From Malvy he not only received the hand of welcome, when he went to the Ministry of the Interior, but a regular gov- ernment subsidy of 1,500 francs a month. In other words, Malvy had the government pay Faure to work for the de- struction of the government. This amazing situation was not fully revealed until years afterward, when the Sebastien Faure skeleton in the Malvy closet was dragged forth and cast into the flames. Malvy's friendship for Faure showed itself in many ways. For example, when the Prefect of Seine-et-Oise learned that the treasonable pamphlets of "The Bee Hive" were being distributed among soldiers, he ordered them seized and made a prompt report to the Council. In the Council there was a man of deliberative mind, by the name of M. Sembat, who persuaded his fellows, that it was better to reason with Faure than to throw him into jail. Accordingly, an appeal was made to Malvy, as Minister of the Interior and the titular head of all the police prefects, to persuade Faure of the evil of his ways. Instead of reprimanding Faure, Malvy not only exoner- ated him but promised to put him on the government pay- roll. He even handed Faure all the police reports concern- ing his various iniquities, and permitted the anarchist to burn them. This act in itself was enough to have sent Malvy to prison, had there been anyone strong enough in France at 74 THE ENEMY WITHIN that time to have enforced the law. According to Article 173 of the French Penal Code: "Any judge, administrator, public functionary or officer, who shall have destroyed or done away with any papers or documents of which he had been a custodian or which may have been remitted or communicated to him by reason of his functions, shall be punished by a term of hard labor." The interview between Malvy and Faure took place Jan- uary 26, 1915. Eight or ten days later, M. Moreau, a sub- ordinate of Malvy discovered two new "Bee Hive" pamphlets which he thought so dangerous that he immediately reported they should be seized. M. Moreau's recommendation was passed along by M. Richard, Director of the Secret Service Bureau, to Malvy, with the result that it received this nota- tion: "Communique to the Director. It is ordered not to seize." In "La Treve des Peuples," ("The Truce of the Peoples") issued June 14, 1915, Sebastien Faure urged the army to strike. He said that on August 1, 1915, all the soldiers should lay down their arms and go back to their canton- ments. Six thousand copies of this circular were printed, and Malvy made not the slightest effort to stop them. Faure's gratitude toward Malvy is shown by his letter to , his friend Mauricius, an anarchist lecturer, with whom he planned to found a defeatist paper, called "Ce qu' il faut dire," ("What one must say") which later exerted a far reaching influence throughout the army. Under date of February 24, 1915, Faure wrote: "My dear Mauricius : "My expectations have been realized. Without hesita- tion, without any formality, without any condition, the sub- sidy, which I asked, has been granted to me. I hope that it shall be maintained until the termination of the war. Thus *La Ruche' is saved once more. We are now tranquil and of a free mind," THE ENEMY WITHIN 76 Speaking of the proposed ''Ce quC il faut dire" and its defeatist campaign, he added: "In the first place we must make a brusk attack. We must hit the minds of the people quick, quick, if we wish to con- quer our adversary, before it has time to stop us." Thanks to the subsidy "Ce qu^ il faut dire" was finally launched with the motto : "The sacred union of the pacifists versus the chauvinists." Not content with merely printing pamphlets Faure took the stump against the war. In the offices of the "Syndicat des Terrassiers," on May 20, 1915, he lectured to 1,200 people, and his text was "Down with the War." Yet Malvy continued the subsidy. Meanwhile, there were many ugly stories told in the back rooms of "The Bee Hive" concerning the complaints of mothers against Faure, to which the police paid no heed. Finally, on September 28, 1916, a demand that Faure be im- prisoned for an attack on two girls was thought by the lower police officials to be too serious to be dropped. It was passed along to the Prefect of Paris, who made this annotation: "I presented to Sebastien Faure the observations made in the report, which because of the state of the testimony can- not give ground for prosecution." During the first year of the war Germany's publicity agents in France did not dare use the newspapers openly. Even the Bonnet Rouge masked its guns. It contented it- self with insidious intimations that England was not aiding France all she should, and that British selfishness was acquir- ing the rest of the world and letting France bleed. Accordingly, the enemy used pamphlets, which were anony- mous, whenever necessary to hide their authorship. Most of them were issued from anarchist and pacifist printing presses in Paris and distributed by secret agents throughout the army, the factories engaged in the manufacture of war supplies, the cafes of Paris, the country hotels, and even 76 THE ENEMY WITHIN among the old men and women, who were left to labor In the fields. One of the first manifestos to attract the attention of the army authorities, appeared on December 27, 1914, when Caillaux was still in South America negotiating with the enemy for a separate peace. It was first seen in the depart- ments of the southwest. It was entitled UHumanite ("Humanity"), and was printed in huge letters, which read: "Extend your hand to Germany, who has never nourished any hatred against the French. "Make your governing heads cease fostering and develop- ing the militaristic and imperialistic spirit." In January, 1915, about the time that the British sank the German battle cruiser, "Blijcher," in a great naval engage- ment in the North Sea, another pamphlet from the same source began to be seen. It was printed like a poster, and would suddenly burst upon the view of the passerby, pasted to a wall, or suspended in a frame from a lamp post. This is the way it read: "Open your eyes and revolt, O, you Frenchmen ! Do not believe any longer what your rulers tell you, when they speak of right with a large 'R' and of liberty with a big 'L'.'' The French offensive has been forever broken. France has but one chance of saving herself, and that is to lay down her arms in the name of the higher interests of humanity." The Minister of War was constantly finding his hands tied by Malvy. He learned for instance that on Jul}'^ 1, 1915, a special bulletin of the "Union of the Metals" was to appear, that would champion the Swiss pacifists. Sure enough, when the bulletin left the presses it contained an article prohibited in Switzerland. It appealed for a world movement in favor of peace. "The massacre of the peoples must cease," it said. The Minister of War communicated with his colleague of the Interior, who replied: "We must not touch the Union of the Metals, nor the place THE ENEMY WITHIN 77 where the paper is printed. We must simply endeavor to do what we can on the outside to stop its circulation." The Prefect of Seine-et-Oise, who made the first com'plaint to Malvy about Faure, complained to Malvy's Secret Service Bureau in May, 1916, that at Villeneuve-St. -Georges an anarchist printing plant was running at full blast. The prefect got no reply. Some of the pamphlets from this establishment fell into the hands of Premier Briand, and on Dec. 29, 1916, Briand asked Malvy why he did not stop it. An investigation followed. The prefect explained that he had asked for instructions and got none. After this explana- tion he got his instructions from Malvy immediately. They were, "Do nothing without referring the matter to us." The correspondence of soldiers opened by the censor dis- covered that this propaganda of discontent, dispair, and defeat had a most insidious influence upon the troops. Here is only one letter, made public years afterward in a trial for treason. It was written by a soldier to his sweetheart, and read as follows : "My dearest lifctle Jeanne: "I received today at the same time your two letters of December 30 and January 2. In the one of December 30, I found the manifesto in favor of peace and the little white sheet, which I read aloud to several dozen fellow soldiers in my squadron. Afterward, I communicated it to nearly all the regiment. "I put in it all my ardor, all my profound faith, all the intonation to be desired. Everybody approved it. I was sure of their sympathy, but when I asked them to sign their names, all, or nearly all said : " 'Yes, it is quite true, but it is impossible.' "Understand that I did not expe-i-t them to act any other way, but I took advantage of it to let them know what I thought of them. I abused them to my heart's content. "A few of them, hov/ever, wished to frame a vigorous reso- 78 THE ENEMY WITHIN lution and told us that we should wire our approval and con- fidence to Sebastien Faure. I was compelled to check their ardor, because, if it is all right to show one's approval, it is useless to expose oneself to arrest and imprisonment." M. Merillon, the public prosecutor at the trial, at which the letter was put in evidence, said that this kind of poison was being poured into the very heart of France. "The existence of such propaganda is affirmed," he con- tinued. "I have also the reports of nearly all the command- ing generals, as for instance, Grenerals de Castelnau, Duchesne, Humbert, Franchet d' Esperey, St. Juste, Bon- clair and Guillaumlat, whom we are so happy to see in the de- fense of Paris. And this is what these chiefs have been able to prove. *'In Paris there is a pestilential center, a revolutionary clearing house, whose branches reach far out into our armies. Its agents belong to an occult organization, and take their orders from Paris. There are also pamphlets of a purely German organization, with headquarters also in Paris. These are all part of a campaign instigated by the Germans for the purpose of delivering France to the enemy. "A letter from Gen. Nivelle to the Minister of War speaks of this iniquitous propaganda, as follows: " 'I have brought to the attention of the Minister of the Interior the attempts of the pacifists. Knowing that, unless I acted, th& moral of the troops would be seriously affected, I deemed it necessary that strong measures should be taken. " 'I would be very much obliged to you, if you would inter- cede with M. Malvy in order to decide on the steps to be taken to stop these practices immediately. " 'The activity and scope of the pacifist propaganda in the army are constantly increasing. For a year, pacifist pamph- lets and papers have been reaching the troops. At the pres- ent time there is a veritable epidemic. These pamphlets emanate from the "Libertaire," "The Committee for the Re- THE ENEMY WITHIN 79 suming of International Relations," "The Syndicalist Com- mittee of Defense," "The Federation of Metals," "The Teachers Syndicate" and from such anarchists, as Sebastien Faure.' "All these sources have been well known to M. Malvy, be- cause they were all revealed to him. "They deny the just cause for which our soldiers are fighting. They defend Germany. They claim that it is impossible to defeat Germany, and pretend that peace alone will solve all the problems of the present hour. "Such propaganda weakens the offensive spirit of our troops. It enervates and discourages them. "The opinion of the General in Chief is that the most dras- tic measures be adopted. He urges that the pamphlets should be seized in the printing plants, where they are pub- lished; that the police should prohibit meetings or discus- sions of a pacifist and treasonable character ; that the revolu- tionary journal, 'Niochavo,' be suppressed, that the activi- ties of Sebastien Faure and like agitators should be stopped, and that a normal schedule of work be required in the arsenals and war plants. "After General Nivelle comes General Petain, who makes a similar appeal and demonstrates the necessity of taking im- mediate action. He concludes his recommendations by saying: " 'As for my part in this matter, I shall order the arrests of the agitators in the cantonments and suppress disorder and drunkenness as much as possible.' " 'General Franchet d' Esperey informs me that as a con- sequence of secret meetings, infantry regiments have de- cided to march on Paris. Precautions have been taken. There was time enough to prevent it.' " Senator Henri Berenger, who conducted a special investi- gation of the propaganda of pacifism and defeatism in the army made a report to the Senate in which he reached this conclusion : 80 THE ENEMY WITHIN "Germany did not only try to crush the world by force of arms. She tried also to dominate it through espionage, cor- ruption and treason. The proofs of her attempts in France and among our allies have been absolutely established. "The German propaganda in our territory dates away prior to the war. Interrupted for a moment, it resumed its work, at first in the shade, later with ever increasing boldness in our factories, our ports, our regiments. It was resumed during the late months of 1914. Soon after their defeat upon the Marne and the Yser, the Germans realized in their trenches that the war would be a long one and that the Franco-British alliance, unless disrupted, would dictate the terms of peace." Despite the protestations of army officials, the denuncia- tions of editors, like Daudet, of deputies, like Barres, and the constantly increasing fire of censure from the guns of Clemenceau's "U Homme Libre'" ("The Free Man"), Malvy treated all criticism with contempt. So great was his power and the power of his friends to thwart Clemenceau's cam- paign against official corruption, favoritism and criminal negligence, that for a time the "Tiger's" paper was sup- pressed. But the "Tiger" himself could not be caged. He renamed his paper, "L' Homme Enchaine" ("The Man in Chains") and continued the fight. CHAPTER VII Mme. Therese, Enemy Agent, Visits Caillaux AsJcs Him to Meet Lipscher and Discuss Peace Terms — Caillaux Afraid — Mme. Therese Also Meets a Soldier and Tells the Whole Story — Malvy's Police Run Afoul of the Scandal and Hush It Up Almereyda was sitting in his ofBce of the Bonnet Rouge one December afternoon in 1915, when the telephone rang, and a woman's voice said: "Caron would not take the black cross yet. Will call you again tomorrow," The Apache editor made no reply. He hung up the receiver and looked toward the desk, where Jean used to work before he went to war. "That was Therese," he said to himself. Caillaux would not take the responsibihty of promulgating Germany's separate peace terms now. I ought to assign a reporter to watch her. She is always meeting somebody, and becoming too companionable. If Berlin knew all the things she did in Paris, she would never be trusted with any more important missions. But I've no man to shadow her. Jean would have been just the one for such work. I had perfect faith in him. Whom can I get.?" Almereyda turned again to his desk, but Mme. Therese haunted his thoughts so persistently, that he found he could not write his editorial against British aggression in Africa. He became so upset, that finally he wheeled around in his chair, turned his back toward the door, pulled out of his ^1 82 THE ENEMY WITHIN pocket a dainty gold box, which looked as if it belonged to some lady's chatelaine, and from it poured upon a thumbnail a portion of cocaine. He did not notice that it was twice his usual dose, until he had snuffed it into his nostrils, and tilted himself back against the wall. He soon fell into a stupor. Had Almereyda not lost his senses at that particular time, France might never have known how Germany sent a woman to Caillaux in his Paris home, and asked him to go to Switzer- land to negotiate the terms of a separate peace. Just as Almereyda feared, Therese found a friend with whom she talked too much. The police got hold of the story. They learned that the woman had gone to Caillaux's house, and delivered Germany's message to him, that she had written and received letters from her partner, Lipscher, an agent of the Central Powers, stationed in Switzerland, and that in these letters Caillaux was always referred to as "Caron." In these letters, the police also learned, there was a peculiar jargon, which was thought to reveal the existence of a secret order, devoted to the overthrow of France and the establishment of a Bolshevik state, and that its emblem was a black cross. Because these revelations implicated Caillaux, Malvy had them smothered. The Duverger woman was allowed to es- cape. All the papers in the case were pigeonholed. Not until the Clemenceau premiership was bold enough to put Malvy on trial and dig out of Malvy's own files the proof of his criminal negligence, were the secret machinations of Caillaux, Lipscher, and Mme. Therese made public. The story is best told by translating the official report of this aifair made by M. Peres to the French Senate. M. Peres used only the sworn testimony of witnesses and the official records of military and civil authorities. The tragic circumstances surrounding the submission of this report to the Senate, the vast number of other plots interwoven into THE ENEMY WITHIN 8S the Great Conspiracy, which it also uncovered, will be told in Chapter XX. The part of the report containing "The Lipscher Affair" reads as follows: "During the first days of October, 1915, the SureU Gen- erale (Secret Service Bureau of the Minstry of the Interior) by the various branches of information in Holland, was advised of the departure for France of a woman, called Therese Duverger, mistress of M. Lipscher, a Hungarian. "M. Lipscher was already well known in Paris, as an agent of international character. His name dates back to the trial of Mme. Caillaux, in which he was called to testify. It is he, who had negotiated with M. Calmette, in the name of Count Tisza, a contract for the publication in 'Le Figaro' of a series of articles favorable to the Hungarian govern- ment. M. Caillaux had purchased from Lipscher a photo- graph of this agreement to use it as a weapon against the victim of his wife. "At the beginning of the war Lipscher was at Brussels with the Duverger woman. After the occupation of Brus- sels by the Germans, he obtained from the German Com- mander a safe conduct to go to the Hague. His numerous letters, his frequent visits to various cities, his journeys abroad, and certain remarks which he was heard to make to his entourage in The Hague during several months stay there, caused the agents of the French secret service to point him out as a suspicious individual. "On October 11, 1915, the Duverger woman disembarked at Dieppe. She said she was going to her family at Arcueil- Cachant. She was watched, and it was reported that she arrived at Arcueil-Cachant. The Prefecture of Police was asked to shadow her movements. "On November 16, 1915, the Surete Generale, (Malvy's Secret Service Bureau) again called the attention of the Prefect of Police to watch the woman. This action resulted 84 THE ENEMY WITHIN from a telegram received from the Minister of France at The Hague by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Paris, in- structing that special measures be taken to intercept her correspondence. "M. Gauthier, Commissaire of Police in charge of watch- ing the retrenched camp of Paris, under the direction of the military authorities, sent an official order to the Post Office of Arcueil-Cachant, stating that all the mail which the woman received or posted should be copied for a special report. (M. Gauthier was connected with the military police, over which Malvy had no jurisdiction. He was a member of what was known as the Second Bureau.) *'A letter soon arrived from Lipscher, dated December 13. It came from Zurich, Switzerland. "First of all Lipscher apologized for not having written more often and at greater length, and added in a peculiar jargon, unintelligible to the uninitiated; " 'And then I looked for your letter today from Friday of that famous visit before putting my affair on the road of realization, but that letter has not arrived yet. Today I am wondering what sort of a yarn has offered again ' "Simultaneously M. Gauthier seized two letteers in which an automobilist soldier, named Beauquier, who at that time was on leave in Paris, was asking the Duverger woman to come and have a talk with him. A watch was set, and sure enough, on December 18, 1915, at 3 p. m. in the parlor of the Hotel Terminus, which was designated as the rendezvous, Beauquier was found in a tete a tete with Mme. Therese. "After the interview Beauquier discovered that he was being shadowed. Of his own accord Beauquier went to the inspector and said: " 'I do not want to be compromised by this woman. I made an appointment with her to obtain some news about my wife, whom I left in Brussels. This Mme. Therese is a mistress of Lipscher, an agent of the German government. THE ENEMY WITHIN 86 who desires to make overtures of peace to M. Caillaux. Lip- scher and Mme. Theresa have been writing letters to each other about Caillaux and in this correspondence they always refer to him, as 'Caron.' "Bauquier informed the inspectors that he was willing to tell all he knew, if he were to be examined as a witness in any official proceeding. "On the morning of December 21, 1915, Commissaire Gauthier gave a verbal account of these facts to his chief, M. Mouton and at the same time he requested authorization to obtain the complete declaration, which Beauquier was ready to make. "This should have been done at once," said M. Peres, in commenting upon the situation, "because the soldier's leave was to expire the following day. "But, M. Mouton did not see fit to comply immediately with the commissaire's request. Quite impressed, as he ex- plained later, by the gravity of the affair, he asked Commis- saire Gauthier to write without further investigation a report containing what facts he already had, and to bring it to him at the Cafe de Paris, where he was to have dejeumer with his friends, M. Richard and M. Maunoury. (M. Richard was the Director of the Surete Generale. M. Maunoury was Director of the Prefecture of Police of Paris. Both officees were under the Ministry of the Interior. Both men were subservient subordinates of Malvy.) "M. Gauthier did as he was told. He made out a report and took it to M. Mouton at the Cafe de Paris. "According to sworn statements of M. Richard and M. Mouton, which they have since made, they left the table for a moment and with M. Maunoury, gathered in the embrasure of a window. They talked the matter over and deliberated upon the advisability of informing the Minister of the In- terior concerning an affair, which involved a former Presi- dent of the Council, (M. Caillaux). 86 THE ENEMY WITHIN "M. Mouton returned to his office and told M. Gauthier to give him all the papers in the case. In spite of Gauthier's protests M. Mouton told him to drop the whole matter." In a deposition to a Commissaire of the Sixth Army, Jan. 30, 1916, Beauquier again revealed the most accurate in- formation concerning Lipscher and his relations with M. Caillaux. Beauquier's sincerity is undisputed. Most of the facts were easily verified. The statement of Beauquier, which follows, is a translation of sworn testimony: "At the time of mobilization," he said, "I found myself in Belgium, where I had a rubber factory. I did not leave Belgium until August 20, the day the Germans entered Brussels. I arrived in France August 27 or August 28. I lived in Paris. On February 6, I was declared fit for army service and on that same day I was incorporated in the 171st regiment of infantry. "At that time, not having received any news of my wife and children in Brussels, I thought I would write to a woman friend of Lipscher, who had remained with him in Brussels, asking her to be good enough to tell me about my family, for I had known her very well. I did not receive any reply to my letter. The reason, as I learned later, was that she was no longer in Belgium. Then in July or August, 1915, I got a letter from Lipscher, mailed from Zurich, Switzerland. " 'I give you,' he wrote me, 'the address of my friend. She is now in France, at Arcueil-Cachan, with her par- ents.' "I wrote Mme. Duverger at the home of her family, and she replied almost immediately. She wrote: " 'I saw Mme. Beauquier during the last days preceeding my departure. I am at your disposal to give you all the information I can, and I would be very happy to be able to meet you, durisg your next furlough.' THE ENEMY WITHIN 87 "I made an appointment for the end of December, in the salon of the Hotel Terminus. "I met her there, and we talked for a while. At the last minute, I said to her, (for I had known Lipscher for a long time) : " 'And your bird, Lipscher, how is he.?' " "Those were exactly the words I used. She answered : " 'You ought to know that he is still in Switzerland.' " " 'No,' I said, 'I only know I received a furious letter from him. . . .' *'My impression was that the woman had been a very weak instrument in the hands of a very violent man, who had used her, not as a spy, no, I do not think that, but as his inter- mediary in reaching a certain political personage, to whom he was submitting certain propositions. Mme Duverger said to me: " 'I correspond with him constantly.' " 'How do you do it .?' I asked. 'The correspondence must be suspected.' " 'Oh, our correspondence,' she replied, 'is written in a certain, peculiar way. I cannot be more precise. " 'We employ for 'our correspondence the name "Caron" for M. Caillaux. We do that for fear that the correspond- ence might be seized. Why, do you know, day before yes- terday I was at his house.' " 'The house of M. Caillaux.?' I asked in astonishment. " 'Yes,' she replied. 'It was my third visit. My first visit there was on the moment of my arrival in France. It was necessary at that time to give M. Caillaux certain Ger- mans plans for a separate peace, which were to be trans- mitted to him through the channel of Lipscher. The con- ditions for a separate peace were in substance as follows: " ' "The part of Alsace-Lorraine, occupied by the French shall remain the property of France. The other part shall be autonomous. We wiU evacuate France and Belgium with- 88 THE ENEMY WITHIN out indemnity, and you shall give us a free hand with Eng- land.'" " 'The German Commander at Brussels had given this plan to Lipscher with a pass for him and myself to go to Switzerland. " 'M. Caillaux refused to regard this proposition as being acceptable. We returned to Belgium.' "Some months passed," continued Beauquier in telling of the further movements of Lipscher and his companion, "and then they gave Lipscher a pass for his mistress, and she de- parted to Holland to go from there to England, that she might re-enter France. They demanded of Lipscher that he go back again to Switzerland, to Zurich, in order that he might receive there new peace plans, which he would trans- mit to her. For that purpose, after all arrangements had been made, he wrote Mme. Duverger to arrange an interview for him with M. Caillaux. " 'When I saw M. Caillaux,' said Mme. Therese, 'I indi- cated to him that it was the desire of M. Lipscher to meet him to discuss peace plans. M. Caillaux answered me thus : " 'I shall not go to Switzerland, because I am watched. If I went there, I would certainly be assassinated.' Then he added, 'Wait, it is too early, now.' "After some more words, I accompanied Mme. Therese to the Lafayette Galleries (a great department store not far from the Hotel Terminus). "I felt that Mme. Duverger would be watched, and that everybody who had any dealings with her would also be put under surveillance. So, the next morning on leaving my hotel I suddenly retraced my steps. I perceived that I was being followed. I was stunned. Although innocent, I knew that I was compromised in something, which was not proper. I stopped opposite the St. Lazare station. "At that juncture, I said to myself that it was much simpler to face the music. I approached one of the inspect- THE ENEMY WITHIN 89 ors and told him that he had been following me since the night before, and added: " 'Here is mj name and address. I have met a person who seems to have compromised me, but it was concerning a wholly proper matter. I wanted to learn some news of my wife and my property in Belgium. I am ready to make a statement before any one of you. In half an hour I expect to meet some friends at the Cardinal.' Finally, they let me go with the understanding that I would give my statement later. "The next morning an inspector of the police, M. Sur- zure, came to see me. He demanded that I put in writing what I knew of the relations between Mme. Duverger, M. Caillaux and M. Lipscher. I replied: " *I have never corresponded with him, but with his mis- tress, to whom I have written in Belgium. It is Lipscher who replied to me, because it was he who received the letter, which bears on its back the address of Lipscher in Zurich.' "I repeated then what Mme. Duverger had told me. M. Surzure answered: " 'This is very important. I am going to make a report to my chiefs. I will ask, if you please, that you meet me at six o'clock this evening at the Place de Clichy. I will in- troduce you to M. Gauthier, who is a Commissaire of the re- trenched camp of Paris. At six o'clock I was introduced to M. Gauthier, to whom I again repeated in detail the story that I had told to M. Surzure. "About two months afterward, when I was back in the army, I received a visit from a commissionaire of police con- nected with the Surete Generale, who questioned me for the first time under a commission of the secret service bureau. I made a very complete deposition, and gave to him all the letters which I had. "For the next two years I heard no more of the matter. Then, about six months ago I was brought to Paris to testify 90 THE ENEMY WITHIN before M. Priolet, and again before Captain Bouchardon." (Captain Bouchardon was the investigator, who dug up most of the evidence, which sent many of the plotters in the Great Conspiracy to death or imprisonment.) "I have known Lipscher some fifteen yearjs in Palris. During the first of those years he was interested in business connected with the Paris Stock Exchange. Later, three or four years before the war, I met him in Brussels and learned that his activities had become political. He also had some connection with the Paris newspaper, Le Journal, from which he had obtained a card, as correspondent photographer for Hungary. With this card he went to see M. Calmette at the Figaro office, and obtained from him at a late hour one evening, when no editor or other employe was there, a con- tract, by which the Figaro agreed to print certain political articles for the account of the Hungarian government. "As a matter of fact the Hungarian government did not know anything about the affair, but Lipscher was a cos- mopolitan courtier, making money out of everything. With the contract, M. Lipscher departed for Hungary, where he proceeded by taking things in their inverse order. He de- clared that some French journals could be persuaded to print articles favorable to the Hungarian government, and he asked to be its press agent for France. The trick was easy. He was at once made the government foreign correspondent .(that is his official title) at a salary of 17,000 kroner s a year. "But Lipscher had two irons in the fire. "The first one was to make money on his contract of publicity, which amounted to 60,000 francs and of which he had reserved for himself 20 per cent, on all articles printed. "Lipscher's second object was more subtle. He had met in Belgum a M. Spierj, who had established a gambling house at Buda Pest, but on the fall of Count Tisza had lost the concession. The new minister had expelled Spierj. When THE ENEMY WITHIN 91 Lipscher met Spier j, plans were afoot for his return to Hungary, and the re-establishment of his gambling house. All of which necessitated the cancellation of the decree of expulsion. "This was accomplished by Lipscher, thanks to his title of official correspondent of the Hungarian government. In England he introduced Spierj to the Daily Graphic, so as to make him also a correspondent for the Hungarian govern- ment. The Daily Graphic accepted. Spierj 's case was placed before the Austro-Hungarian ambassador, and as a result Spierj was reinstated and returned to Buda Pest. "Some time later Lipscher turned completely and espoused the cause of the Hungarian opposition. Obliged to quit Hungary he went to Brussels. "I kept track of all of Lipscher's doings, because I thought he was a very interesting creature from a psycho- logical point of view. He often consulted me. He knew I had studied law. "In the first quarter of 1914, the Hungarian opposition tried to reach M. Caillaux. At about the same time Lipscher facilitated an interview between Count Karolyi and M. Cail- laux. Two Hungarian deputies were also present. The in- terview took place in Paris. Other interviews followed, at one of which Lipscher sold Caillaux the paper, which accord- ing to Lipscher proved that Calmette had signed a contract to espouse the cause of the Hungarian government without it being known to the other officers of the Figaro. "One day before the trial of Mme. Caillaux, when Lip- scher was in Brussels, he said to me: " 'I have just seen Caillaux in Paris. We are convinced that Mme. Caillaux will be acquitted.' "Lipscher added that he hoped that such an event would make him a French citizen and assure him of a position in the Credit Fonder Argentin, plus an additional gift from 92 THE ENEMY WITHIN Caillaux of 15,000 francs. I congratulated him, and he answered : " 'That is what is called pohtics.' " Despite the fact that they had discovered a German agent in the heart of Paris, presenting a plan of treason to a for- mer Premier, Malvy's Prefecture of Police and his Surete Generate, with all their host of directors, secretaries, under secretaries, inspectors and other bureaucratic job holders, did nothing. The Duverger woman was allowed to escape. The soldier, who offered all his services in trying to uncover the plot, was ignored. The Peres report also revealed the fact that M. Maunoury, Director of the Prefecture of Police, even went so far as to inform Caillaux personally of the alleged treason in which JBeauquier's story had involved him. Regarding the final .efforts of the poKce to hush up the scandal, the Peres report ^aid: "A letter was written on March 2, 1916, by the Prefec- ture of Police to the Director of the Surete Generale, as fol- lows: " 'Relative to the information I sent you on January 5 *iast, in regard to the Duverger (Therese) lady, living at 10 bis, rue des Deux Gares, Arcueil-Cachant, and her rela- tions with the mihtary automobilist, Beauquier (30th Com- pany of the Engineer Corps, Postal Sector 182), I have ordered a surveillance upon the correspondence exchanged between these persons. " 'From the examination of the last letters thus seized, it appears that this measure has no longer any usefulness. " 'I beg therefore to request you to inform me if, under these conditions, the requisition of seizurf^ which I delivered concerning this correspondence cannot be hfted. " 'The Prefect of Pohce " 'Laurent.' THE ENEMY WITHIN 93 "No allusion is made to Lipscher, whose name is not even mentioned. "And this despite the fact that before the seizure was finally lifted a letter from Lipscher was opened, which proved of even greater importance. It was dated February 14, 1916. It contained mention at great length of a 'Joseph' (Caillaux's first name was Joseph) and of the reasons, which probably did not permit him to assume the 'management of the affair, contrary to his desires.' Lipscher quoted the opinion of two high German personahties, designated as 'Jadot' and 'Oscar,' as follows : " 'Past events and the situation in which he (Caillaux) now finds himself, — a situation, alas, too badly shaken, — must have made him incapable of handling such affairs. Indeed, they see in him no longer the man who could dominate the opinion of the adversary He is no longer what he was, and would be unable to succeed.'. . . . " 'Under these conditions, I shall be in search of another element more capable and better placed. There are dozens of them, especially if the person chosen knew what are th^ real pretensions of Jadot & Co. I repeat it to you, proofs are in hand of the sincere pretensions of the part of Jadot.' "At this very moment, when this correspondence assumes such a tremendous importance, when the Prefecture of Police is advised of the far-reaching machinations of enemy agents, of their intention to address other personalities, the one already in view being unsatisfactory, the Prefect of Police requests that further inspection of tliis correspondence be stopped. "This request is submitted thirteen days later to the con- ference, which takes place 'every morning at the Surete Gen- erale. The persons attending the conference were M. Rich- ard, director; M. Scbille, controller general; two delegates from the Minister of War, of whom one was Captain Ladoux. 94 THE ENEMY WITHIN The demand is received without any opposition, and the next day, the Prefecture of PoHce is authorized to lift the seizure of this German agent's mail. "M. Malvy has declared he never saw any of the records of the case. He considered the affair, as altogether insigni- ficant and devoid of interest." CHAPTER VIII BoLO, Adventurer His Fantistic Life — A Charmer of Many Hapless Wom- >en — Marriage as a Fine Art — His Sudden Wealth — How He Became a Pacha — Why He Was Drawn to Germany — His Secret Meetings with Abbas Hilmi — His Great Pacifist Publicity Scheme — German Bribes — Mme. Caillaux cmd Bolo There was another plotter against France, who was to be seen at times in conference with the chief conspirators, and then as suddenly lost from view. Today he would be sipping a glass of champagne in the Cafe de Paris, or driving a coach and four through the groves of Fontainebleau. To- morrow he might be found in a little wineshop in Marseilles, with a glass of red Burgundy on the black stained table be- fore him, and a group of chance companions gathered round, while he told some wild story of adventure. Or he could be seen in a gambling house in Cairo, playing at big stakes with turbaned musselmen and losing or winning with the same appearance of good nature. Such was Bolo. Always ready for some bold enterprise, In which deception and intrigue were most essential, Bolo welcomed the great war because of the tremendous opportunities it offered his unscrupulous ambition. It made no difference to him, whether he were a spy for France or Germany, a collector of v/ar munitions graft, a legislative lobbyist and briber, or the proprietor of a sub- 95 96 THE ENEMY WITHIN sidized pacifist newspaper. Any one of these rather risky but unusually profitable undertakings would have been just as acceptable to him. As it happened, there was more money in serving Germany. Accordingly, Bolo went out looking for German gold. He found it, and in great abundance. From a petty sharper and third-rate swindler he rose to be the Prince of Spies, a brilliant figure amid the glitter and flattery of Paris salons, an object of never ceasing wonder and gossip along the boulevards. To understand Bolo, one must know his life. From official reports of government investigators, it is now possible to reveal the whole story. In the year 1867 in Marseilles there lived a M. Bolo, who had drifted there from some obscure town on the Rhone, and who tried to please the patrons of his little cafe with wines, of unusually rare vintage. In the quality of his goods he was extremely proud, and accordingly his business grew One day in the same year, he brought a baby into the wine shop, and announced amid the cheers and handclappings of the crowd, that the boy's name was Paul Marie Bolo. Among the wine kegs the child grew. It was an excellent school. He learned not books but men. He saw human na- ture undisguised by the hypocrisies of a more elegant society, for in the French cafe of the middle class, men and women gather during the noon-time or after the work of the day, to discuss the problems of life, no matter how trivial or how tremendous, no matter whether they relate to the planting of a garden or the overthrow of an empire. Paul learned rapidly, and when his father sent him to col- lege the boy decided that he already had education enough. The studies of the class room he found especially stupid, and after a series of escapades in which he sought escape from the deadly tedium of college life, he suddenly quit school, and struck out for himself. THE ENEMY WITHIN 97 By nature he was singularly endowed. Blond, tail, slim, with silken moustache and coaxing eyes, of gracious and vivacious manner, he found many friends especially among women folk, and almost always to their misfortune. For a while he was a hair dresser, and later having learned the beginnings of dentistry, he established himself with a partner by the name of Joseph Boulan, in a prettily fur- nished office, which had every appearance of long established prosperity. At the end of three months the Tribunal of Commerce of Marseilles was obliged to pronounce the dissolu- tion of the partnership. From hair dressing and dentistry Bolo turned to the cereal business. He found a partner in a M. Panon, an artist painter, whose wife at once became enamored of his ready wit and flashy clothes, and who for a time successfully hid from her husband her newly aroused affections. Bolo and Panon, however, did not make money in cereals, so they turned to lobsters. Faihng in lobsters, they tried to recoup their losses in a park and restaurant. When this final venture was about to collapse, Bolo eloped with his partner's wife. The couple fled to Barcelona, Spain. Finding Barcelona too big a city they gravitated to the more tranquil Valencia. At last all their money was spent, and Bolo sought employ- ment in a cafe, serving drinks and waiting on table, as he used to do as a lad in his father's wine shop. They lived for a time in a garret, until finally his companion gave him her jewels to pawn, and with what little cash was left, they went to Paris. At No. IS Rue de Strasbourg, a noisy little street, op- poste the "Gare de I'Est" railroad station, where amid the traffic might also be heard the clatter of the ambulances of the great Military Hospital St. Martin, a half block dis- tant, the couple made their abode. They lived in a little back room, bought bits of bread and sausage at a nearby 98 THE ENEMY WITHIN shop, and with the cheapest kind of red wine, they just managed to keep body and soul together. From the Rue de Strasbourg they moved to No. 16 Rue Chaptal. Then by some good turn, which he never revealed, Bolo obtained enough money to rent a little apartment at No. 31 Rue Bonaparte on the left bank of the Seine not far from the Boulevard Saint Germain. Simultaneously he appeared in a wealth of new clothes, swinging a gold headed cane and carrying a Russian leather pocket-book that contained engraved cards, which proclaimed an office at No. 112 Rue de Richelieu. From here on the story is best told in the report of Cap- tain Bouchardon, which was made the basis of the gov- ernment's prosecution and conviction of Bolo and his fellow conspirators. "The only lucrative transaction which Bolo had in this office," said Captain Bouchardon, "was a condemnation to a term of imprisonment. It came about this way. He had a housekeeper by the name of Mme. Miege. Having learned that she was the possessor of 1350 francs in a saving bank, he persuaded her to trust him with the money. He said he could make it return her wonderful profits, if invested in his business in the Rue Richelieu. "But Mme. Miege did not realize any income at all from her investment, and not being able to get her money back, she began to waylay and threaten Bolo on every occasion. After paying back 500 francs, and not finding Mme. Miege any the less troublesome, he suddenly disappeared from Paris. The woman, however, still kept up the hunt and many years later sued him in the Eleventh Chamber, which condemned him by default to a month's imprisonment and a fine of 25 francs for breach of trust. "As for Mme. Panon, he gave her back to her husband, who was of such a charitable nature that he forgave both his wife and her abductor. THE ENEMY WITHIN 99 "From one adventure Bolo dashed on into another. From one infamy he slipped gracefully into many more. We next hear of him in a railroad derailment near Hendaye. Bolo is picked up and cared for at the Hotel de la Gare, conducted by a Mme. Cabet and her young niece, Michaela Estouba. He soon conquered the affections of the niece, promised mar- riage, lived in grand style, travelled from Heindaye to Biarritz in a magnificent coach with gayly harnessed horses and costumed postillions. After he had fleeced the poor girl of her dowery, he again disappeared. "Then Bolo tried marriage. For him matrimony, the same as elopements, was a mere matter of business. Toward the 'end of 1893 he met a Mile. Henrietta Soumaille, who was singing in a theatre in Bordeaux. He became known to her as M. Grangeneuve. She sang for him, and he confessed he was completely captivated. He made immediate love to her, and she soon fell into his arms. He told her that he had just lost his mother, and that his share of the inheritance amounted to 700 francs a month. "Mile. Soumaille sailed for the Argentine with the hope of securing a theatrical engagement there, and her lover, whom she was already supporting, accompanied her. She obtained an engagement in the Casino at Buenos Ayres, and received SO piastres for each performance. But it was Bolo, who went to the cashier every evening and got the money. He had no other business. On April 1.4, 1894, he finally married Mile. Soumaille in one of the mayoralities of Buenos Ayres, and signed the marriage contract, 'Bolo de Grangeneuve.' "Finally, he revealed himself in his true character, for he could be by turns suave, courteous, entertaining or insolent, brow beating, brutal. One day he thrashed his wife, because she refused to give him her signature and permit him to col- lect 5,000 francs. Twice he played burglar and broke into his own apartments. The first time in Buenos Ayres he ap- propriated not a little of liis wife's Jewelry and a consider- 100 THE ENEMY WITHIN able sum of money. The second time in Valparaiso he got away with a diamond buckle. "Bolo was arrested, and his wife, in order to secure liis release, was obliged to deposit all her possessions as a guar- antee of his appearance in court. Once out on bail, Bolo wanted nothing better. He deserted his wife, and went direct to Albi, the home of her family. He told her relatives that he had just acquired in America a vast concession of land, where he planned to found a colony. He appointed his two brothers-in-law to choice positions in the new Arcadia, which he had named Port Tarasson, and he charged his mother-in-law with the pleasant task of recruiting emigrants. He gave her a great register, in wluch to write their names. For two days the crowds came. There was a never-ending line of people. Believing finally that the mystification had lasted long enough, Bolo again disappeared. "Here there is a gap in his life. "The next heard of him was in Lyons, in 1902, when he re-appeared as a representative of Binet champagne and Cusenier oxygenated absinthe. He organized a company to represent various commercial houses, a venture which cost his partner, M. de Civins, something like 250,000 francs. "And now Bolo again turned to marriage, and this time he found it a real road to fortune. It seems that he had met a Mme. Muller, a young and pretty widow of Bordeaux, who had inherited several million fiancs. Again he made love and with all his old time success. They were married on May 15, 1915. "With Mme, Muller Bolo, our soldier of fortune returned to Paris a rich man. He leased a luxurious apartment at No. 5 Rue Denis-Poisson (near the great Avenue de la Grande Armee, at one end of which towers the Arc da Triomphe and at the other stretch the beautiful lawns and driveways of the Bois de Boulogne). "The Bolos immediately displayed their riches, where they; ;3 o m 6 ^■1 w .2^ § -a o Oi •— 1 03 H x5 > m »-H 0) > ^ 73 C 02 -73^ ^ c ^ o !s h4 O c 2> s S '^ P3 r ^ -o.S % -2^ s ^ ^ 1 o of o v CQ w THE ENEMY WITHIN 101 could attract the most attention. The wife possessed not only a capital of 2,500,000 francs, but also 1,825 shares of Richard and Muller, worth about 547,000 francs, and an independent yearly income of about 47,000 francs. "By this marriage Bolo became a bigamist, but for the time being no one but himself knew it. In Paris Bolo insti- tuted an active campaign to make friends whom he might use. That he might entertain on a grander scale he moved to a more magnificent home in the Rue de Phalsbourg and established a sumptuous country place at Biarritz. He sur- rounded himself with many personages of high social stand- ing, who should have guarded themselves against his false pretenses. "At the same time he became engaged in all sorts of busi- ness ventures. He had full control of his wife's riches, for she had given him a power of attorney. He was to be seen everywhere, Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Champagne, Switz- erland, Spain. He was busy creating State banks in the South American republics. He started an *emerald trust.' He promoted the affair of the Petits Bons de Presse, and founded the 'Swiss White Cross,' the Confederation Gen- erale Agricole,' and what not. But none of the undertakings seemed to succeed. "His life resembled a circus parade. He was often seen in Paris exhibiting himself on the box of a magnificent mail coach with a riding master and a footman blowing a trumpet. In Colombia he wore breeches of lion skin. "Bolo now took the step which lead to his downfall. In the company of Mme. Marie Lafargue, an artist of the Opera, who was singing in Cairo, he had met Youssouf Sad- dik, mimstre de la plume, or secretary of Abbas Hihni^ ex-Khedive of Egypt. The secretary introduced Bolo as soon as possible to his master, and on that samie day, July 5, 1914, the ex-Khedive made Bolo his financial agent and sole representative in Europe. 102 THE ENEMY WITHIN "Events were now moving fast. On July 25, 1914, Abbas Hilmi charged Bolo with the negotiations for the renewal of the Suez Canal concession, and some days later made him a Pacha. "Abbas Hilmi had been dethroned a.nd expelled by the English, and accordingly, when the war broke out in August of this same 3^ear, he was all ready to throw himself into the arms of the enemies of England and become a German spy. "At this time also, Bolo was anxiously awaiting an oppor- tunity to mend his wasting fortunes. Hilmi and Bolo seized the same straw. "After the First Battle of the Marne, seeing the complete collapse of her plan of a sudden attack, Germany desired to effect a re-approachment with France, in order to be able to turn her whole attention against England and defeat her the more easily. "But it was first necessary to prepare pubic opinion for a separate peace. It has been proved by court documents, that in order to accomplish this end, the enemy was prepared to make heavy financial sacrifices. Our foes wanted to in- fluence the Parliament and the Press simultaneously. They had at first estimated that a certain amount of pessimistic news cleverly disseminated by agents who enjoyed good standing in parliamentary circles would be sufiicient to cre^ ate confusion and destroy harmony between the Allies. "In the Press it was necessary to create desire among the people for peace. But this was difficult, because, if news- papers which were known to be pro-German presented this propaganda, its purpose would be suspected. Accordingly, it was necessary to veil this propaganda in newspapers that were neutral or even apparently pro-French. "Better even than that, Germany thought, would be the purchase of newspapers of unsuspected patriotism, which, in order to avoid awakening suspicion, should for a while continue campaigns favorable to the Allies. These news- THE ENEMY WITHIN 103 papers sliould not swing to the German side until the psycho- logical time arrived. "From every point of view Bolo was thought to be the man for the job. Without ever having indulged in politics, he had been clever enough to create for himself among par- liamentary and administrative circles, some very important connections, which, in case of necessity, he would not be afraid to utilize. In all instances he had displayed irrefu- table patriotism. He had been most generous in his dona- tions and his professions of loyalty. Apparently, he was rich, and the source of his wealth could be explained both by an advantageous marriage and the apparent success of his many ventures. Therefore, it would surprise nobody, if he were to invest large sums of money in newspapers, and secure control. "In a word, everything tended to draw him to Germany and afterward to render the proof of his treason difficult. His apparent wealth, his hidden ruin, his total unscrupulous- ness, his adventurous life, his love for excessive luxury and his extreme caution born from old-time necessity, all con- tributed to his success, as a traitor. "As soon as the Khedive and Bolo understood each other the negotiations began. "During his sojourn at Vienna Abbas Hilmi had numerous interviews with von Tchirsky, the German ambassador, con- cerning the plan of a separate peace. Abbas Hilmi was now wholly devoted to the enemies of France. In talking with Viora Nourredin in November, 1915, he said: " *I have sacrificed myself completely to the German cause. I have j oined the Turks and the Teutons against England.' "During the stay of the Khedive at Vienna and later in Switzerland, from December, 1914, to October, 1915, Bolo made three trips to Italy and visited Switzerland six differ- ent times. On each one of these journeys he met the Khe- dive or his representatives. 104 THE ENEMY WITHIN "On the first trip, December S6, 1914, Bolo met Saddik, the Khedive's secretary. They discussed a plan of establish- ing a great Catholic bank at Fribourg, which they might utilize for the pacifist propaganda in France. Because of its religious cloak the bank would not be as easily suspected, Bolo thought, and in its vaults could be deposited the Ger- man money, which would be paid out as French money to the French press* On the surface, it would appear to be purely a religious movement. The cry of peace was to be raised only for the sake of preserving Christianity and the Roman Cath- olic Church. Bolo also told Saddik, that if his master could raise 50 millions from Germany, he, Bolo, would do the rest." On an earlier journey into Italy, Bolo had presented his bank scheme to a former Italian deputy by the name of Cavallini, who had become a German agent, and who was later arrested and charged with treason. But Cavallini could not help. Cavallini, like Bolo, was strictly a soldier of adventure. He had made a fortune out of municipal speculations, but he soon squandered all his money, and began looking for other opportunities to regain his lost wealth. He had been condemned by various courts for various crimes, one of them being corruption and complicity in fraudulent bankruptcy. Finally, Bolo's plan of a bank of treason was submitted to Abbas Hilmi in Vienna. As the Khedive, a Mohammedan, was to be the head of this pseudo Catholic institution, the trap was evidently thought to be too crude. At all events it was abandoned. Bolo learned this sad news on a third trip to Geneva on February 14, 1915. Without loss of time, he next volun- teered to buy a great number of French newspapers for Ger- many. "After further negotiations with Germany, Bolo prepared to carry out his great scheme of treason," continued Captain Bouchardon. "During January and February, 1915, he THE ENEMY WITHIN 105 entered into negotiations with M. du Mesnil, director of *RappeV by which Bolo became the holder of 1500 shares for 150,000 francs. The paper had suspended publication, but with the help of Bolo's money, it was enabled to re-appear on April 17, 1915. "Similar propositions were made to M. Chavenon, director of V Information; to M. Sylvain, vice-president of the board of administration of Le Figaro, for 500 shares, and to the Temps (to obtain a list of the shareholders). *'These developments were communicated to Berlin for approval. Bolo submitted a report to the ex-Khedive, who spoke to Count Monts, former German ambassador at Rome. Count Monts passed the report along to von Jagow, Ger- man Minister of Foreign Affairs in Berlin. ''Meantime, Saddik, the ex-Khedive's secretary and mes- senger, was dispatched to Berlin to confer with von Jagow, and give any further information, which the Foreign Min- ister might desire. Von Jagow studied Bolo's plan of oper- ation and was delighted. He said that he would at once ad- vance 10,000,000 marks at the rate of 1,000,000 marks each month. "Evidently referring to Bolo the German Foreign Minis- ter made this cryptic remark to Saddik: *' *As for the intermediary, we have information about him. You do not wish to give his name. I do not ask you.' "Things were now moving still more rapidly. Saddik brought back the glad tidings to his co-conspirators. He first reported to his master, ex-Khedive Abbas Hilmi, who wired Cavallini to tell Bolo and make an appointment with him at Zurich. "Bolo responded instantly. Through an intermediary by the name of Porcliere (who later becomes quite an important factor in the plot) he had this message wired to Cavallini: " 'Richard (meaning Bolo) will arrive Tuesday.' "Exactly on time Bolo arrived at the rendezvous in Zurich. 106 THE ENEMY WITHIN Abbas Hilmi and Saddik were there waiting for him. Caval- lini was also present. When Bolo heard of von Jagow's plan of installment payments, he flew into a rage. " 'One million marks a month !' he cried. 'Are we only beggars? We must have at least two million a month.' "The conferees finally decided to submit a request of 2,000,000 marks a month, for the first two months, with 1,000,000 monthly thereafter. Saddik hurried back to Ber- lin and von Jagow, who at once accepted it." From documents seized by French authorities long after- ward under circumstances which they would not disclose, it was learned that the Khedive received from Germany on March 26, 1915, 2,207,565 francs, Swiss currency, or about two million German marks, and that part of this money was remitted to Bolo. And these are the papers which proved Bolo's treason: "First document, a communication dated October 8, 1917, by which the German Under Secretary of State for the Mili- tary Court sent to the Council of War a telegram from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which read: " 'On March 20, 1915, the Dresner Bank (Berlin branch) has issued to the order of Abbas Hilmi three checks of 735,855 francs, 20, each, Swiss money on a bank having one of its branches at Zurich.' "The first one of the three checks was paid in cash to the Khedive, the others were converted into one check on Turin and made payable to Filippo Cavallini for 1,557,323 lire, 15. "Second document, a check, dated March 27, 1915, for 1,557,323 lire, 15, issued by the same Zurich bank upon the Banca Commerciale of Turin, to the order of Filippo Caval- lini. "Third document, a letter under date of September 29, 1917, by which the Italian Military Mission at the Ministry of War at Paris, revealed how Fihppo Cavallini cashed this check. THE ENEMY WITHIN 107 "Fourth document, a check dated March '29, 1915, for 1,000,000 francs, issued by the Ramella bank on the Credit Lyonnais in Paris to the order of Fihppo Cavallini, and paid to CavaUini on April 1, 1915. "Fifth document, the register of the Grand Hotel in Paris which shows that Cavallini was in Paris on April 1, 1915." The final link in the chain of evidence, which bound von Jagow and Bolo together, was furnished the French govern- ment's investigators by M. Sottolana, an Itahan baritone, and at one time a friend of Cavallini. After he learned that Cavallini was trying to use him to cloak a treason plot, Sottolana cast Cavallini aside, and told the whole story to Captain Bouchardon. Through Sottolana we also get our first glimpse of the ominous figure of Caillaux behind Bolo, a figure whose shadow grows blacker and blacker, as the Bolo ramification of the Great Conspiracy is further unfolded. Sottolana's sworn statement follows: "On the 1st of April, 1915, Cavallini asked me to do him a favor. He said he was about to receive one million francs and he would like me to accompany him, because it was such a large sum. We left the Grand Hotel, where he had asked me to meet him. He purchased a yellow stiff leather valise ; hailed a taxi and ordered the chauffeur to drive us to the Credit Lyonnais. "When he presented the one million franc check, the pay- ing teller said: " *What ! Is this an April fool.?' "Cavallini replied : 'No, it is not an April fool, but a real check for a million.' Then the teller asked if Cavallini wanted to make a transfer. The latter replied he wanted the cash. "After having waited about a quarter of an hour, he re- 108 THE ENEMY WITHIN ceived the money. I could see that it was a lot of money, but I could not count it to know how much it was. "He took the valise to No. 17 Rue de Phalsbourg, Bolo's home. I waited in the taxi at the door. They came down together. Bolo left us. Cavalhni then showed me the empty valise." Cavallini and Bolo tried to employ Sottolana in their mysterious and suspicious correspondence. They wanted him to sign code telegrams, or carry letters to various mys- terious addresses, but Sottolana declared that he would not render services of that character. During this testimony he was asked: "Did you not carry a letter to a lady?" "Yes, sir." "Who was she..?" "Mme. CaiUaux." Captain Bouchardon's report continues the story of Bolo as follows: "Bolo was now well launched in his career of treason. He redoubled his activities in Paris, when suddenly he received word from the Khedive to come immediately to Zurich. He as promptly obeyed. His passport shows that he started on April 11, 1915, and went by way of Mondane. He had previously announced his coming in two telegrams to Caval- lini on April 8 and April 11. He wired that he was bring- ing 'Marie her bracelets,' and that it was necessary for Cavallini to advise 'the Doctor and Marie.' These mysteri- ous terms meant Saddik and the Khedive. "From the Khedive Bolo learned that the German officials who were watching him in Paris were not altogether pleased with the progress he was making. They did not see any results. Bolo proffered many excuses. He explained that it was by no means an easy task to obtain pacifist newspaper publicity in France in a few weeks. "The time had now arrived for the payment of the second THE ENEMY WITHIN 109 installment of 2,000,000 marks. They were due at the end of April. "Before leaving the Khedive Bolo asked him to remit, not to Cavallini, but a man by the name of Necker, director of the Credit Suisse at Geneva, these 2,000,000 marks. "And this was how the German gold was paid. It was re- mitted to the Khedive on April 30 in three checks. A sum amounting to 50,000 francs was given at once to Saddik. In the bank of the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, 250,000 francs were deposited in the name of Saddik for the purchase of shares in Le Figaro. "Another slice of 74,000 francs was sent to Cavallini by transfer to the Swiss and French bank at Paris, on July 23, 1915. "Still another portion of 50,000 francs was distributed among Italian masonic lodges. "Later, because of complications which will be explained later, 723,000 francs were returned by the Khedive to von Jagow. I "It appears that at this time Bolo received none of these two millions, and greatly displeased with his treatment on May 2, 1915, he addressed this telegram to Cavallini: "'Inform Verdi (the Khedive) absolutely necessary I see him this week, or shall cancel arrangement.' "Bolo saw the Khedive in Zurich on May 14, 1915, and in- sisted that he be given more time to make pacifist connec- tions with the French journals. '*If we may believe the story of Leonard, a confidential servant of the Khedive, Bolo finally received from the hands of Abbas Hilmi a very large sum of money, which the ex- ruler of Egypt had counted out that very same morning in his bedroom in the presence of Mile. Lusange. The sum was made up of bank notes, mostly French, and they came for the most part from the Banca di Roma of Italy. "Immediately following this conference with Bolo the Khe- 110 THE ENEMY WITHIN dive had a falling out with the German government. After leaving Bolo at Zurich Abbas Hilmi returned to Vienna, where he received a severe reprimand from von Tchirsky. The second payment had also been productive of no results, said Tchirsky, no French papers bought, no press campaign instituted, nothing. Abbas Hilmi was so overwhelmed with mortification, that he took refuge in Switzerland. Saddik deserted him, and Mohammed Yagghen Pacha succeeded Sad- dik, as Ministre de la Plume." Caillaux now entered the Bolo drama again. "On July 3, 1915, Bolo left Paris for Rome," said Cap- tain Bouchaxdon, "and on August 5 Bolo and his wife are to be found at the Hotel Beaurivage, at Ouchy, where they remained until September SO, 1915. "During this sojourn, Bolo received the visits of Mme. Caillaux, who was stopping at the same hotel." CHAPTER IX BoLo Finds German Gold in Amebic Ai Sees Pavenstedt in New York — Pwvenstedt Sees von Bem- storff in Washington — Bernstorff Wires von Jagow in Berlin — von Jagow Wires Consent for 10,000,000 Marks — German Banks with French Windows — Bolo and Humbert Visit King Alfonso Bolo now decided to go direct to the fountain-head of German corruption. The down-fall of the Khedive presented this opportunity. Through Abbas Hilmi and Saddik he had treated with Germany second hand. Various intermediaries had eaten up most of the profits. Indeed, Bolo had received little if any of the second German millions. The situation was pecuHarly dehcate. As the associate of the Khedive he had fallen into disrepute both at Vienna and Berlin. When Abbas Hilmi had been ordered to give an accounting of the 4,000,000 marks from von Jagow, the former Egyptian chieftain was unable to show results. The acquisition of a few shares of the mordibund Rappel and an attempt to buy some of the stock of the Figaro were indeed very little for 4,000,000 marks So enraged had the German paymasters become, that before he was thrown out of Austria Abbas Hilmi was obliged to pay back 723,000 francs to von Jagow. Nevertheless, Bolo undertook to assume full charge of another pacifist newspaper subsidization scheme in France and reap a full harvest of German gold. He began cau- tiously. VV^ith 150,000 francs he bought some shares in the 111 m THE ENEMY WITHIN Society of Professional and Political Newspapers. In tliio way he sought to come into closer contact with the news- paper proprietors and editors, whom he wished to exploit. He also negotiated for stock in La Revue and Le Cri de Paris. For a long time von Jagow had plotted to get control of Le Journal, in which Senator Humbert had been waging a most vigorous campaign for "More Cannons, More Muni- tions," and urging every other possible means to defeat the Huns. If he could buy such a paper and at the opportune time throw its support to the German cause, von Jagow knew that he would be able to sway French opinion vastly more than with an avowedly pacifist paper, likt the Bonnet Rouge. Bolo understood all this and believed Germany would give him great credit if he could get into close con- tact with such a prominent personality as Senator Charles Humbert, who was not only the director of Le Journal but also vice-president of the Army Commission of which Clem- enceau was chairman. With Humbert in Le Journal was associated Pierre Lenoir, who was supposed to have acquired a great fortune from his father, a well-known advertising contractor. Lenoir's wealth was finally traced to a German agent in Switzerland, named Schoeller. Humbert and Lenoir had quarrelled, and Hum- bert wanted to oust his rival. There was also a third part- ner, Guillaume Desouches, from whose presence Humbert also wanted to be free. Lenoir's German gold furthermore had not appeared to have had any effect on the pohcy of Le Journal, for the news- paper conti;;ued its old-time campaign for greater military armaments and a more forceful prosecution of the war. Bolo learned the details of the internal snarls of Le Journal, and began laying plans accordingly. Humbert like Bolo had sprung from the soil of the prov- inces. Born in Lorraine four years before the Germans defeated France m. 1871 he knew as a child the meaning of THE ENEMY WITHIN 113 Grerman Kultur. His parents were so poor, that many a night of his boyhood he went to bed supperless. The Hum- berts at last found German rule so intolerable, that they sought a kindlier province in what still remained of France. Forced to earn his own living, while still a lad, Charles Humbert shifted from one menial employment to another until at the age of eighteen he was working 16 hours a day, as a dishwasher in the cafe of a little provincial town. Had it not been for the compulsory army service of France, he might have remained in much the same stratum of French society; but army life has some opportunities, and, when at nineteen he wrung out his dish towels for the last time and marched away in a soldier's uniform, he took a long stride upward. For this humble but intensely ambitious youth the army proved to be indeed the road to fame and fortune. After two years as a private, Humbert obtained admit- tance to the officers' school at St. Maixent, where he rose to a junior lieutenancy. Later he became connected with the Quartermaster and Commissary Departments, and because of the notice of his superiors, he moved on upward in more in- fluencial positions, until he became the aide-de-camp of Gen- eral Andre. When General Andre was made Minister of War, he called his protege to Paris and gave him an im- portant departmental position. As soon as Humbert became interested in the political life of France, centering, as it does, in Paris, revolving around a few powerful men within the shadow of the Elysee Palace, he began keeping notes. Whenever he heard a story, either good or bad, of a politician, a financier, or a newspaper proprietor or editor, he filed the story away in envelopes, which the French call dossiers. He seemed to have a mania for learning the inmost details of the private lives of public men. So assiduous was he in gathering biographical skele- tons, that his collection came to be a constant menace for many a powerful French statesman. 114. THE ENEMY WITHIN In France a great number of political leaders have risen to power and wealth from the editorial rooms of newspapers. Clemenceau is the most striking example. Along this route Humbert also planned to rise. Through Philippe Bunau- Varilla, owner of Le Matin, Humbert obtained a position on that paper, and although he had never had any newspaper training he immediately evidenced the possession of other qualities, which more than offset this lack of experience. Tremendously aggressive, dramatically imaginative, he con- ceived a series of crusades to compel attention, excite the multitude, and increase circulation. He followed much the same lines as some of our most successful American news- paper publishers, or, in England, Lord Northcliffe. Accordingly, Humbert began exposing various public abuses, with now and then a trenchant attack against some politician or financier whom he depicted as an enemy of the people. He even went outside of France on his man-hunting expeditions. In one assault, directed at King Leopold, he accused the Belgian monarch of being the chief perpetrator of the Congo horrors. In these fights Humbert's dossiers became a most potent and terrible weapon. For fifteen years before the war Humbert had been urging national preparedness. His constant cry was for a stronger and greater army and navy. He continually pointed to the tremendous preparations of Germany. He warned the French of defeat, unless they awoke to their peril. Such then was the director of Le Journal, which Bolo plotted to buy for the enemy. After some negotiations Humbert agreed to take Bolo's money. Humbert explained later that he never dreamed that it came from Germany. An agreement between Hum- bert and Bolo was signed January 30, 1916, and on February 12, Bolo sailed for New York from Bordeaux. From this point, the report of Captain Bouchardon picks up the story as follows: THE ENEMY WITHIN 115 "Bolo was carrying his agreement for control of Le JouTnal and a letter from Humbert to J. P. Morgan & Com- pany of New York, stating that Bolo would deposit for Humbert's account 1,000,000 francs. He also carried a letter of introduction to Amsinck & Company of New York from the Perier Bank of Paris. "Once aboard the steamship, Bolo sent a wireless to the German, Pavenstedt, an Amsinck partner, whom he had already known before the war. On reaching New York Bolo showed Pavenstedt his contract with Humbert. He told Pavenstedt that he also planned to buy other Paris news- papers. To carry out the Le Journal contract Bolo said he must have 10 million marks, for the reimbursement of which he would be willing to pledge the shares of Le Journal. "Pavenstedt explained to Bolo that the proposition was not a commercial affair, and that he could hardly find any business man in New York, who would be willing to finance such an enterprise. 'I will speak to you frankly,' said Pavenstedt to Bolo, 'I know of only one man who, in my opinion, might be interested, and that is Count von Bern- storff, the German Ambassador to the United States. Would you object if I spoke to him.?' "Bolo at once agreed, but on the condition that his own name be kept secret. Accordingly, Pavenstedt went to Washington and saw von Bernstorff, with the result that on February 26, 1916, the German ambassador sent this cable- gram to von Jagow, at Berlin : " 'I received direct information from a source entirely reliable that a notable political person in one of the enemy countries will bring about peace. One of the principals in the matter in question is seeking a loan of $1,750,000 in New York, for which security will be furnished. " 'I am not at liberty to give his name in writing. The affair seems to be of the greatest possible importance. Can the money be sent to New York at once.'' It is absolutely 116 THii: ENEMY WITHIN certain that tlie intermediary shall keep tlie matter secret. Please reply by wire. A verbal report wiU be made as soon as I can find a person worthy of confidence to take it to Germany.' "On Feb. 29, Berlin cabled Bernstorff : " 'Replj- to your telegram. Consent to loan, but only if pacifist action seems a really serious project, as it is ex- traordinarily difficult for us to open a credit at New York at present.' "Bolo, on being informed of this correspondence by Pavenstedt, prepared a contract, in which he agreed to pay back the loan two years after the termination of the war. There were to be no interest charges, and Bolo was to de- posit the shares of Lc Jourjial in a bank as soon as paid for. *'At the beginning of the war Germany had on deposit in various New York banks many millions of dollars. The Deutsche Bank, for example, had large deposits m the Guar- anty Trust, the Park National Bank, and a half dozen other New York financial institutions. Hugo Schmitt wasthe New York representative of the Deutsche Bank. Bernstorff de- cided it was easiest to draw on some of these deposits, and accordmgly on March 5, 1916, he sent this wire to von Jagow : '* *Kmdly give orders to the Deutsche Bank to hold 10,- 000,000 marks at the disposal of Hugo Sclmiitt. The affair is full of promise. Other details will follow.' "The necessary orders were given, as appears from a series of telegrams between Berlin and Hugo Sclunitt. It was arranged that the payment of the money be made in installments and pass through several intermediaries in order not to arouse suspicion." Just how this vast sum was cut into smaller amounts and transferred from one bank to another by means of cashier's checks and other camouflaged transactions was revealed by THE ENEMY WITHIN 117 Perley Morse, a certified accountant of New York, under the direction of Attorney General Merton E. Lewis, of the State of New York. The French Government through Ambas- sador Jusserand at Washington had asked the New York State authorities to make this investigation. The facts were not brought to light until more than a year after Bolo's visit, for when he was in New York, living in sumptuous style at the Hotel Plaza and entertaining distinguished guests at Sherry's and other banquet palaces, no one but Bernstorff, Pavenstedt, or other representatives of Germany knew he was anything more than a very wealthy Paris journalist. His letters from Senator Humbert gave him immediate entree to J. P. Morgan & Company, the fiscal agents of Great Britain, with whom he opened an account. The investigations of Perley Morse among the books of a half score New York banks were made the basis of the follow- ing telegram from Jusserand to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris. It was presented to the Council of War of France on Sept. 26, 191T. It read as fellows: "Testimony gathered and dociunents examined and photo- graphed by the State of New York demonstrate that from March 13 to April 1, 1916, the Guaranty Trust Company and the National Park Bank have paid out for Bolo's account $1,683,000 to Amsinck & Company of New York conducted by German-Americans. These banks had received this money from the New York agency of the Deutsche Bank of Berlin, administered in New York by Hugo Schraitt. From Amsinck & Company the money was transferred by its principal partner, Pavenstedt, to the New York branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. Bolo had been recommended to Pavenstedt by the Perier Bank of Paris. "The Canadian bank in its turn disposed of the money by pajang it out upon orders of Bolo, as follows : •'To J. P. Morgan & Company, for the credit of Senator Charles Humbert, $170,068, or 1,000,000 francs. 118 THE ENEMY WITHIN "To the Comptoir d'Escompte de Paris, for the credit of Mme. Bolo, a little more than $500,000. "For the credit of M. Jules Bois, (a French lecturer, who said he was utterly deceived by Bolo) $5,000. "Leaving on deposit with J. P. Morgan & Company, $1,000,000." And what became of the last $1,000,000? The books of J. P. Morgan & Co. show that it was finally transferred to the Bank Perier. On returning to Paris, Bolo asked that this course be followed, and in reply he received the following letter confirming a cable to the same effect : June 10, 1916. Rochambeau, Paul Bolo Pacha, Messrs. Morgan Harjes & Co., Paris, France. Dear Sir: We beg to advise that we debit your account today $1,000,000. Your cable transfer paid Agency Royal Bank Canada, New York, account Perier Campagnie. Very truly yours, H.P.Ks. J. P. Morgan & Co. In telling how Humbert finally got control of Le Journal, Captain Bouchardon's report on Bolo said: "Now that the money had been gathered together to buy Le Journal, it only remained to get Lenoir out of the way. A law suit had just began to annul Lenoir's sale of stock to Humbert, but thanks to the money from the Deutsche Bank, Humbert finally got rid of both Lenoir and Desouches. The 1,100 shares thus acquired were accordingly bought and paid for by German gold. "Thus we see that by the masterful stroke of a bold adventurer Germany was realizing her scheme of getting THE ENEMY WITHIN 119 hold of one of the greatest organs of the French press. The speediness with which von Bernstorff and von Jagow ac- cepted Bolo's proposal and advanced 10,000,000 marks, leaves no doubt that even before sailing for America, Bolo was sure that he would find all the funds necessary. He knew that Germany would furnish the money upon the security of the Humbert contract. His subterfuge in seek- ing Pavenstedt, as an intermediary, was simply a precaution inspired by prudence. Pavenstedt, himself, at last admitted that a cunning fox like Bolo knew that he, Pavenstedt, would of necessity call upon the German Ambassador for money. "Bolo's plottings were the most iniquitious that can be conceived. Beginning in a low and vile way he suddenly found himself at the very height of treason. Had he not chosen so many intermediaries, had he spaced his journeys to Switzerland a little further apart and committed fewer im- prudences of various other kinds, he might have realized till the end the whole fruits of his gigantic scheme. The plan was conceived with such perfidy, that even in spite of its collapse, Germany had the satisfaction of seeing how tre- mendously this scandal demoralized France." Spectacular as were the operations of Bolo, they neverthe- less should be regarded as only the outward evidences of Germany's deep laid plans to control the French press and implant in the French mind the insidious poison of pacifism. It should be remembered, that before Bolo went to America he visited the Bank Perier, and that in an inner office of this apparently French institution he received the letter of intro- duction to Pavenstedt, which proved the open sesame to the New York millions of the Deutsche Bank. Behind the French names of many banks, many industrial and commercial houses in Paris before the war, there were powerful financial interests, which led to Berlin and later were proved to be the tentacles of the German military 120 THE ENEMY WITHIN system. The Paris offices of these institutions had French- windows, but their vaults held German gold. The Bank Perier was controlled by M. Bauer. Founded by the family of Casimir-Perier 118 years before it became involved with Bolo, it was controlled entirely by French in- terests until Bauer entered its directorate. Finally the Ger- man power in the institution became so dominant, that Edmond Perier, the last of the family of its founders, got out. In a sworn statement, M. Perier has told the story as follows : "Bolo was not alone in this affair. He could not have been the sole author of such an enormous machination. It is necessary first of all to understand the mentality of our enemies. They are far sighted, practical, perfidious. They started this undertaking long, long ago. It existed before the Agadir scandal. "Treason requires the movement of enormous sums. Checks, which represent fortunes, cannot be paid in money orders, as one may do in paying a housekeeper her wages. Therefore, how can an instrument be found for this kind of work.? What sort of a financial institution can be utilized? "It cannot be a credit house, because a credit house has too large a personnel. Indiscretions are to be feared. But with a private bank the task is a great deal easier. In a private bank there is one director. Tills fact the Germans of course understood. The Germans have always been careful in concentrating power in the hands of one man. It is unfortunately true, that by applying this principle every- where they have accomplished great things for good as well as evil. "Not only was the Bank Perier mixed up with the opera- tions of Bolo. There are other ramifications. In Brazil the bank at this moment has a German representative whose name is Albert Landsberg. In view of such facts, I think I have the right to say that this bank is using my name THE ENEMY WITHIN 121 wrongly, a name which has been an honorable one for more than a century, but which has ceased to be such any more." (M. Perier sought an injunction to prevent the bank from using his name, but failed. He took this action, however, long before its relations with Bolo were exposed.) "The German power, the German connections of this bank must be constantly borne in mind to understand that Bolo was by no means the chief factor in the effort to poison the French press with German peace propaganda. "Who gave Bolo the letter of introduction to Pavenstedt, which resulted in Bernstorff's furnishing the German mil- lions ? "M. Bauer. "Who was present at the introduction of Bolo to M. Humbert.'' "M. Bauer. "Who entered the Bank Perier not only to do a banking business, but also to play politics.? "M. Bauer. "Why is it that the Chamber of Commerce of Rio Janeiro denounced the presence in that city of Landsberg, the Ger- man representative of the Bank Perier in Brazil .? "Why is it that M. Arthur Tiret, a former student of the Ecole Polytechnique, a savant of great merit, should have written again and again to the authorities concerning this situation without having received a single reply.'' "How is it that the authorities close their eyes.? "I know that other complaints have also been made con- cerning M. Bauer, and that special attention has been called to his frequent trips to Spain." At this point M. Perier became more explicit. Over the heads of Bauer and Bolo he pointed his finger at Malvy, whose ministry was responsible for such complaints. "Why were these charges ignored.?" asked M. Perier. 122 THE ENEMY WITHIN "These things took place during the administration of M. Malvy, and again I ask. "Why was no action taken?" From other court records it is possible to look still fur- ther behind the French windows of the Bank Perier. After M. Bauer obtained control, and the scandal of the issuance of the Ottoman Bonds was laid bare, the Bank Perier was found to be involved. The bonds were launched upon the public on December 13, 1913, in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Brussels. They were for 100 million francs at six per cent., in the form of treasury notes, redeemable in four years. Almost at the same time the French government was planning a loan of 800 millions to cover the expenses of the reorganization and the enlargement of her war equipment. M. Caillaux was then Minister of Finance, and it was an open secret that the loan failed because of his methods. When the war broke upon France in August, 1914, the con- sequences of the collapse of the war armament loan became fearfully apparent. There were neither cannons nor muni- tions to meet the most modern and most powerful weapons, with which the enemy was superabundantly supplied. At the same time that the French loan failed, the Turks hastened payment of some of their debts with French money and ordered war material from Germany. The Bank Perier was convicted and fined 8,125,000 francs for not having complied with the formalities prescribed by the law of May 25, 1872, relative to the launching of loans in France for foreign governments. Upon the appeal of the bank, the judgment was reversed by the Second Chamber of the Tribunal of the Seine, over which M. Hugot presided. The case was then carried to the Court of Appeals for final judgment. During one government examination M. Bauer told this story of his dealings with Bolo : THE ENEMY WITHIN 123 "Bolo was introduced to my partner, M. Marchal, in March, 1914<, as a very wealthy and influential gentleman. He invited us to participate in his establishment of a mort- gage bank in Colombia. We did nothing. "Later, on hearing that we intended to start a bank in Cuba, Bolo offered to go there and act in these negotiations. Bolo asserted that he had some very important connections with the President of Cuba and also with a Cuban bishop. He asked us to give him a letter of introduction to our correspondents in New York, to the Royal Bank of Canada and the house of Amsinck, with which we have had business dealings for half a century. "Bolo went to Cuba by way of New York. When he returned we found that the affair had not succeeded. On another occasion Bolo introduced to our bank the Consul General of Colombia at London, who wished to borrow 250,- 000 pounds in behalf of his government. Bolo received as his commission 1,250 pounds in Colombian bonds." After the outbreak of the war, Bolo proposed various en- terprises, M. Bauer said, as for example the supply of provisions and munitions, speculations in Spanish funds and the purchase of Argentine cattle. None of these schemes materialized. Bolo's treachery, M, Perier's revelations of the German interests in the Bank Perier, Germany's far reaching plans to buy the French press and spread the pestilence of pacifism and defeatism throughout the length and breadth of France were not revealed, however, until long after Bolo returned from America with his German millions. For a time, he flourished still more luxuriously, and in his sumptuous salon n the Rue de Phalsbourg, he mingled with many of the most influential men and women of France. It was at this time, which was indeed the zenith of his fantastic career, that he made a trip with Humbert to the court of the King of Spain. Simultaneously the figure of lU THE ENEMY WITHIN Caillaux again loomed behind the scene. King Alphonso, himself, told the story in a statement to General Danville, the French military attache at Madrid. "During October, 1916, I received a visit from M. Hum- bert and M. Bolo, who came to see me at San Sebastian," he said. "They employed several intermediaries to obtain an audience, among them the governor of the province. "The conversation lasted more than an hour. M. Hum- bert gave me the most interesting information concerning the military eiforts of France, and spoke about the probable duration of the war. "M. Bolo, who seemed unfamiliar with military affairs, took but an insignificant part in the conversation as long as it dealt with such matter,-. The theme shifted finally from war to politics, and M. Humbert spoke to me about various political men, especially M. Caillaux. He said that the for- mer Premier had the highest esteem for me, and that he was keenly interested in events in Spain. This surprised me, be- cause in the past M. Caillaux had never seemed particularly friendly to me. "I asked for an explanation, but M. Humbert simply repeated the remark in various ways, each time calling upon M. Bolo to substantiate his assertions. Thereupon. I in- ferred that at least one of the objects of the journey of M. Humbert was to reconcile me with M. Caillaux, and that Bolo had accompanied him to confirm his assurances. "I also had the impression that M. Caillaux, who might return to power at any moment, wished to obliterate by this courteous procedure the bad impression produced upon me by certain remarks attributed to him years ago." CHAPTER X Duval, Misee, Hypocrite, Philosophek Reorganizes Bonnet Rouge for Germany — His Dreams of Avarice — The San Stefano Bubble — Marx, the Mannheim Banker — Marx, the Enemy Paymaster — The Poison of Duval's Editorial Irony Germany now became exceedingly dissatisfied with the management of its defeatist propaganda in the French news- papers. Thus far the only good work, from the Hun view- point, had been done by the anarchist and Bolshevik pamph- leteers. Bolo's spectacular operations had apparently accomplished nothing. Despite Bolo's money, Le Journal continued its cry for the most vigorous prosecution of the war. Almereyda's Bonnet Rouge was adjudged by its Ger- man critics as lacking forcefulness and generalship. "Its articles showed that its editor had more emotions than brains," reported one of von Jagow's Paris agents. As a matter of fact both Bolo and Almereyda were squandering most of their treason riches in luxury and excess. Almereyda had now established two villas in addition to his two extravagantly furnished apartments in Paris. One of his estates was at St. Cloud, the other at Parame. The maintenance of these country places apparently made no great hole in his pocket, for simultaneously he bought one of the most luxurious limousines in Paris, and within it enthroned the notorious Emilienne Brevannes. When Mile. Emilienne changed the shade of her hair, all the upholstery of the limousine had to be redecorated to match. 125 126 THE ENEMY WITHIN Bolo and Lenoir had also forgotten their German masters for their own pleasures. More and more frequently Bolo was the host at banquets and masked balls in the Rue de Phalsbourg. On one of these occasions he distributed wal- nuts, as souvenirs. Each walnut contained a diamond Lenoir squandered his ill-gotten riches on the demi-monde. The full details of his treason were not revealed until years afterward, as will be told in Chapter XXI. What Germany needed for this demoralized situation was a hard headed, systematic business man, who could organize and direct a group of newspapers so to reach the greatest number of people as frequently and as forcefully as possible, who could engineer this press offensive the same as a Ger- man military drive. In casting about for the right man the Germans found M. Duval. In him they discovered a cunning, shrewd, active, persevering, painstaking, hard working individual, who in addition was the very secret of secretiveness — except oc- casionally with women. At bottom he was a miser. He was as niggardly with his words as his centimes. He had few friends. Friendships to Duval were like clothes. He threw them away, when he could use them no longer. Before the war Duval had lived a wretched existence. Always believing he deserved success, he never found recogni- tion. From one small position he shifted to another. He always dreamed that someday, he would find a place, where he could exert all his faculties to the utmost and obtain wealth and power, but the occasion never came. The route by which Germany found Duval was long and circuitous. It led even as far away as Constantinople, and went back many years before the war. It was involved in one of Germany's many schemes to exploit Turkey, to obtain tribute from the industry, commerce, the natural resources, the public utilities, and even the amusements of the Ottoman Empire. DUVAL "He was a miser in everything. He counted his German gold and hid it. He spent no time talking about him- self He wasted no effort making useless friends. THE ENEMY WITHIN 127 Duval was assistant secretary of the Society of San Stefano, a company founded in 1910 by German, Hungarian, Swiss and French capitalists to build and operate a great bathing beach concession near Constantinople. It was to be a little principality in itself. The adjoining territory was to be developed into a great private park, divided into estates in which villas were planned to satisfy the whims of the most fastidious. It was to be made the greatest and most fashionable winter resort in the world. Here the wealthy classes of Germany, Austria and Hungary might find refuge from the snow and ice of the short, dark days of the year. Here they might come in the luxurious express trains of the Berlin-to-Bagdad Railroad, in which Germany was also sinking millions for military as well as commercial purposes. Following their usual custom, the Germans brought in capital from other countries, taking care to keep the con- trol in German hands. Among the French share holders the largest was M. de Marcay. Yet of the 80,000 shares held by de Marcay, nearly all were for the account of H. A. Marx, a Mannheim banker. Other subscribers were M. Steiner, Hungarian; M. Widner, Swiss, and M. Vohnasson, German. The Balkan troubles interfered greatly with the affairs of the San Stefano company, with the result that these first years were marked by many vicissitudes which threatened dis- aster continually. Meantime the Germans obtained complete control. Marx, the Mannheim banker, was the only pro- moter, who did not dispair. Finally he put nearly the whole of the Society of San Stefano in his own private safe. In this era of transition Duval entered the enterprise. He had been recommended to Marx by M. Dausset, former presi- dent of the Municipal Council of Paris, who held a few shares. Duval had been Dausset's electoral agent, had worked for Dausset's political success and done him many 128 THE ENEMY WITHIN favors ; and Dausset sought to show his appreciation by finding Duval a job. Marx looked Duval over, noticed his unusual reticence, his apparently complete self-effacement, and gave him a kind of secretaryship, at a salary of 250 francs a month. Although M. Dausset later retired from San Stefano, Duval remained. He more and more devoted himself to the fortunes of the Mannheim banker, Duval thought he had at last found the one, great oppor- tunity of a life time. He revelled in the thought that some- day, he would be an officer in a corporation which would control the greatest and most famous pleasure resort in the world. He had seen enough of German organization, Ger- man thoroughness of preparation, German financial gen- eralship. He worked so hard for Marx, that he frequently intimated that 250 francs were hardly enough for his serv- ices, but Marx always replied: "No. We have no money. Wait." And Duval waited. Duval was of the type of man, who always tried to make more out of his travelling expenses than his salary. He would account to his employer for a ticket and berth on the fastest and most expensive express, and then sit up all night in the dirty, foul smelling compartm^ent of a third-class coach. But with Marx, he had so little opportunity to pad his expense account, that he constantly complained to his wife that the German banker was tighter than the steel jacket of a Krupp cannon. For example, in 1913, Duval wrote his wife: "Marx, as I told you, is charming, but he has not yet spoken to me about money, and that is what interests me." Again : "Marx gave me 500 francs, but I owe 150 francs to the treasury, which I must reimburse and I have to pay my hotel bill yet. That does not leave much." Also: THE ENEMY WITHIN 129* «I shall try to make something extra on this. I can't tell how much, but what bothers me is that Marx buys my ticket, himself. I was expecting to make at least 200 francs on my transportation, but am left nothing." If it were possible to get an invitation to dinner and thus avoid the otherwise necessary expense of eating, Duval was always a most appreciative guest. Friendships which pro- vided food he gladly cultivated. In one letter from Ger- many, he explained that he was counting on an invitation to dine with Marx, and that otherwise he would not have money enough to pay his way back to Paris, "because," he added, "restaurants are dear in Germany." He said he really did not know how to spend his evenings, because if he went anywhere he had to give tips. There was no heat in his room. He had been thinking of getting warm by going to a church concert, "but," he reflected, "they might ask for a contribution." In Paris Duval and his wife lived in the meanest, most comfortless fashion. He figured his household expenses down to the centime. He always kept putting money away, and would borrow before drawing on his bank account. Duval delighted in books, in literature, philosophy, and all the other abstract sciences. In Aristotle or Kant he sought to forget his narrow environments, the little, pinched, stale smelling home, where his wife cooked and washed and lived the life of a country peasant. Mme. Duval never read, because she couldn't. She had only the vaguest conception of even the titles of the books, with which she beheld her lord and master commune for hours and hours together. She knew nothing but drugery, and when he told her that he thought she ought to earn some money by working out, she acquiesced, because her poor, benighted mind knew of no other answer. Into the streets she went, looking for work. At last she obtained employment as the linen keeper of the great Lari- ISO THE ENEMY WITHIN boisiere hospital, which is situated almost along side of the Gare du Nord (Northern Railroad Station) and fronts upon the Boulevard de la Chapelle. Even later, when Duval finally plunged his hands into a veritable river of gold, he permitted his wife to continue to do the same menial work both at home and outside. When the war burst upon Europe, Duval's glittering San Stefano bubble burst also. But he did not forget Marx. On August 3, 1914, only two days after the German armies began smashing their way through Belgium toward Paris, he sat down and wrote the Mannheim banker a letter, which contained this cryptic passage. "The best way to continue to make myself worthy of your confidence is to await the end of the storm. Always ready to excute your orders, if you see fit to give me any." Was Duval offering himself to the enemy for sale.? Did he now plan to make his San Stefano connections with Marx a highroad to treason.'' At all events, he kept in close touch with Marx, who established headquarters in Berne, Switzerland, where he fre- quently received his Stefano secretary in secret conference. In the first two years of the war Duval made as many as thirteen trips to Switzerland, and always for the purpose of seeing Marx. Through Switzerland Germany maintained various chan- nels of communication into France. Switzerland was the cen- tre of the German spy system. At Geneva, Zurich, Berne her agents met, took their orders, disappeared over the French border, and, thanks to Malvy's police, returned in safety, Switzerland also was the clearing house for German defeatist and Bolshevik propaganda, and from Switzerland the "press poison squad," as it came to be known, went forth to spread pestilence in France, Italy, Russia and England. The pacifist movement in America, before the United States declared war against Germany on April 6, 1917, was as- THE ENEMY WITHIN 131 signed to von Bernstorff, the German Ambassador at Wash- ington. Count von Luxburg, at Buenos Ayres, handled all German propaganda in South America, but he generally re- ported to Berlin through von Bernstorif, Marx, of Mannheim, was selected as one of the German espionage and propaganda paymasters in Switzerland. In- vestigations by the French secret service in Switzerland resulted in this laconic report, which is to be found in the files of the French Ministry of War: "Marx, a banker of Mannheim, whose bank was negotiat- ing before the war various government transactions, is at present established at Berne. His functions are to perform money operations in which the German Legation does not wish to show its hand, as for example, the payment of sub- sidies to agents." When the BerHn foreign office became more and more dis- appointed with Bolo and Almereyda, it sought through Marx to find reinforcements. Marx turned to Duval. The German banker and spy paymaster had come to learn those qualities in Duval which seemed to fit him exactly for any enterprise in which secrecy, perfidy, and hypocrisy were vital. In May, 1915, during one of Duval's visits to the Swiss RepubHc, Marx broached his plan. Besides Duval, there was also present an old time newspaper man, named Marion, whom Duval had recommended as a man worthy of all con- fidence and not "too scrupulous." Duval had once worked for Marion for only 200 francs a month ; but both Marion and Duval were wise enough not to tell Marx how little some French newspaper men earn. With Marx they talked thou- sands and millions. Despite Duval's guarantee that Marion possessed discre- tion, the latter told the whole story to a woman as soon as he got back to Paris. She was Mme. Baux, and Mme. Baux told others. Years afterward, when the story finally reached 132 THE ENEMY WITHIN the ears of Captain Bouchardon, the great Investigator of the Great Conspiracy, she was summoned, as a witness, and testified as follows : "On his return Marion told me that he had met Marx, the German, and that Marx had spoken to them like this : 'If we had been better known in France, none of these things would have happened. We must have a newspaper which can serve as a connecting link between Germany and France.' "I learned that later Duval had gone to Switzerland alone, and Marion said to me: 'You know Duval made arrange- ments with Marx. As a result the newspaper will soon ap- pear.' "I protested, but Marion said; 'Come on, we will not do any harm. It is for the sake of peace. It is for a pacifist campaign.' "Later when Duval came to lunch at our home one day, he said he was going to start a newspaper in Paris, which was to prepare for the establishment of economic relations between France and Germany after the war. "But I replied that they were doing wrong. Duval re- torted that I was wrong in worrying about It. After that, Duval made numerous trips to Switzerland, and each time I could not help saying to him, 'I am scared to pieces at the thought of what you are trying to do.' "Yes, I hoped the censorship would stop the publication of these articles. My worry was boundless, when I saw these strongly pacifist articles were allowed to pass." On June 23, 1915, about a month after Marx unfolded his pacifist ideas to Duval and Marion, there was a meeting of the directors of the San Stefano Company in Geneva, at which upon the recommendation of Marx it was decided to liquidate the company. The "task" of liquidation was In- trusted to Duval and two Swiss associates. As a matter of fact the San Stefano concern had nothing THE ENEMY WITHIN 133 to liquidate. It had been dead for more than a year. Wit- nesses later were found, who testified there was not a sou in the treasury, even at the beginning of the war. The liquidation job for Duval was merely a blind for his de- featist campaign. Marx looked over the newspaper field in Paris, and deci«led that Duval should take hold of the Bonnet Rouge and re- organize it from top to bottom, that Almereyda should be permitted to remain its ostensible editor-in-chief, and in order to placate his avarice he should receive some extra money to permit him to continue the mad Hfe of dissipation and excess, to which he had surrendered himself. But behind Almereyda, Duval should be the real power in the newspaper, should dictate its editorial policy, and should, himself, write a series of articles that would exploit all the most insidious and perfidious doctrines of pacifism. So one day in 1916 Duval entered the ramshakled offices of the Bonnet Rouge, and finding Almereyda at his desk so stupified with drugs, that he could not lift his head, Duval said to the office boy : "Call a taxicab and send your chief home."^ "Which home.?" asked the lad in blank astonishment. "Any," replied Duval. Through the office the new business manager walked with slow step, examining all he found, re-arranging this, throw- ing away that, bringing what order he could out of chaos, and when he had finished, he sat down at Almereyda's per- fumed, opiate haunted desk, and wrote an order for cleaners and decorators to come the next day. "We want peace, but not a morphine peace," was his re- mark to one of the Bonnet Rouge reporters, as he closed Almereyda's desk, and turned to leave. Afterward, when Duval's deathHke reticence had become the marvel of the office, it was explamed that he could not have uttered so 134 THE ENEMY WITHIN many words on his first visit, if his tongue had not been loosened by the fumes of Almereyda's desk. Marion had already become the administrator of the Bonnet Rouge, and Duval turned the details of the reorgani- zation over to his former employer. With Almereyda Duval soon became popular because of his inexhaustible store of money. Then too Duval was so modest. He preferred to sit in a back office, and let Marion and Almereyda see visitors and be introduced as the "administrator" or the "editor-in- chief." Duval had never wanted fame, but power. In a note book of philosophical reflexions, he once wrote: "Fame is the slave, power, the master of fate." In this same note book he also wrote: "I like theatricals, thanks to my passes. They show how the unseen brain of the playwright makes mere puppets of the actors and actresses. They explain the power of mind over matter." After he had taken hold of the Bonnet Rouge, he said one day to his stenographer in a burst of confidence which com- pletely staggered her : "Formerly, I was a very frank man. I have become pro- foundly hypocritical. It is the fault of society." In pursuance of his contract with Marx, Duval began filling the columns of the Bonnet Rouge with articles origin- ally drafted and passed upon by Germany's own publicity experts in Berlin. They were the result of the concentrated thought of Germany's best brains, and contained all the cun- ningly combined ingredients of psychic poison, which Ger- man "Kultur" could possibly invent. How these articles were traced directly into Germany, how they were phrased with such subtleness as to stir the passions of the French against their Allies and even against themselves will be told in a later chapter. In addition to the "made in Germany" articles, Duval wrote many others in which he gave free rein to his own THE ENEMY WITHIN 1S5 style of humor. He had always regarded himself as a master of irony. In his idle hours, before the days of Marx and San Stefano, he found infinite delight in writing essays on the foibles and weaknesses of human nature. He had laid these mental products carefully away in the belief that some day, when his merits were more fully recognized, he would sell them for a good, round figure. Duval's articles in the Bonnet Rouge were all signed "M Badin." Here is one, for instance, from the issue of June 29, 1915: "Upon learning that the British were shelling the German trenches vigorously and had penetrated the enemy lines at several points without committing the imprudence of going too far forward and install themselves in an ad' onced posi- tion, I conceived the idea of inviting my intir ate friends in order to celebrate this great event. "But the first one to whom I disclosed my in'cention, dis- suaded me. He said : " 'Your enthusiasm is premature. What you thought was an offensive was only a test of ammunition. The Allies have accumulated artillery and munitions for over a year. You ought to know that they are not going to squander every- thing in a few days time, to find themselves suddenly short. We have not only a stock of material but also an ample supply of patience. Let us increase the latter. " 'Therefore, postpone your celebrating until our terri- tory is liberated. " 'At any rate, you ought to know we are not in any haste. The poilus have become admirably accustomed to the exist- ence of troglodytes (cave dwellers). The civilians have also organized their lives for an indefinite prologation of the war. There is no need of hastening the end. " 'Furthermore, since the honor of beginning this ammu- nition test falls to our friends of Great Britain, be assured 136 THE ENEMY WITHIN that they will act with coolness and cahn, so characteristic of their temperment. " *No foohsh rashness. . . . Oh, no. " 'You may think that two years of war are too long, but what are two years of war? Without going so far as to look for a parallel in the One Hundred Years War, or the Thirty Years War, may I not say that Napoleon's regime was one uninterrupted succession of combats? " 'Come on, dear Monsieur Badin, do not worry about celebrating forthwith the final victory.' "As my friend's talk seemed worthy of consideration, I think I am acting patriotically in giving him this small amount of publicity." Duval tried to neutralize criticism of the Germans by making it appear ridiculous. Here is a typical example, printed for special circulation in the trenches: "The other evening, a friend of mine, a so-called repatriot, gave a dinner. As I was one of the party, I took advantage of the occasion to interview him. "He related to me such things, as would make the hair stand on end. He said first: 'I shall not discuss in detail the attacks on women. All the newspapers have furnished you this information. It is unimaginable. Things were so bad in one region, that we asked ourselves how the Germans could find time to fight, when it seemed as if all their time was occupied by their orgies. ... " 'About their thefts and pillages, however, I shall be more explicit. You cannot imagine what a genius the Germans have for plunder. They can find a way to steal money and • securities from people who never had any. " 'For example, prior to the invasion of the Teutons, it was thought there were only two pianos in the town in which I lived. Well, sir, after these Germans came they carried off fifty pianos. As for clocks, bronzes and other works of art, the crimes of the Germans have been positively fantastic* THE ENEMY WITHIN 137 They stole about thirty wagonloads of these objects from the most miserable huts and sent them to the other side of the Rhine.' " 'But tell me about the atrocities. How about the atrocities.?' I asked. " 'Well, sir,' he replied, 'they committed atrocities. I shall not enumerate or describe them. The papers tell you about them.' " 'How about the food question ?* I asked. " 'They eat bread made of saw dust and a species of cab- bage. Once a week they have an imponderable ration of seal meat; and now and then a filet of salt herring half decom- posed.' " 'And you, what were you eating?' " 'Ah, there is where their cold cruelty reveals itself. Those butchers did not feed us any better than they fed themselves. They said to us, "Your countrymen are trying to starve us by means of a blockade. Well, you shall suffer with us.' " Duval constantly sought to stir the discontent of the sol- dier in the trenches by reminding him of his hardships, by insinuating that his task was as thankless as it was danger- ous. Here is one of his pictures of a poUu. "His moral and physical health was maintained in pretty good conddition. Only one thing worried him. It seemed to him that the ceiling was constantly lowering, that the soil of the trenches was rising, and that his arms were becom- ing shorter, when he was carrying food to his mouth. Fin- ally, he found a small mirror one day near a wall. He re- joiced over this, because he was going to be able to shave himself, but when he looked at himself in the mirror, he felt an indescribable satisfaction. His neck had grown extremely long." So much for the soldiers, who fought and died to save France. Of the munition workers, who toiled behind the 138 THE ENEMY WITHIN lines and made possible the victories of the French armies, Duval had this to say in the Bonnet Rouge of April 20, 1917: "The workers express great joy because of their worldly goods. Flags of the Allies decorate the walls of the most humble lodgings. Before the portraits of our generals, flowers are renewed each day. "Cereals are so abundant that the chickens are fed with grains and the cattle with bread. Meats and vegetables arrive in such great quantities that the consumer is disgusted with them. If no coal is found any longer anywhere, it is because the warlike ardor with which the whole nation is ablaze makes the burning of other fuel unnecessary. "Finally, one more fact, which will completely assure us of the definite destruction of our adversaries. The penguins are mobilizing and are preparing to declare war on Ger- many." CHAPTER XI Almost Caught Duval's Trips to Switzerland Arouse Suspicion— Caillaux Alarmed— Examines DuvaVs Dossier— Marion Burns Papers— Mme, DuvaVs Mind a Blank— Duval Conquered ..by Mile. Vial— His Gay Ride to Mamers—Marx and Caillaux — Marx's Handwriting in Caillaux's Safe By the end of the summer of 1916 under the careful, systematic and ever active management of Duval, the Bonnet Rouge had become a formidable organ of opinion. Its columns were filled with news displayed graphically and im- pressively. It's editorials were based apparently upon high authority and buttressed with comprehensive and timely interviews. An ever increasing flood of money was now pouring m. Duval made almost monthly trips to Switzerland, where he received checks from Marx which ranged from 77,000 to 150,000 francs. He found Marx at Berne. He also con- sulted the German pubhcity agents in out of the way viUas in the Alps, where he might escape the watch of the French foreign secret service, and receive instructions in the latest and most approved German methods of instilling the poisons of pacifism and defeatism into the French mind. After each return from Switzerland there was another peace drive m the Bonnet Rouge, and another package of franc notes deposited in Duval's private safe. Duval paid them out with great discretion. He never entered these "receipts" in the ledger of the newspaper, but handed them direct to Almereyda, 139 1.40 THE ENEMY WITHIN Marion and Goldsky, while to others in the office, who did not know the evil source of his money, the old miser doled out (the German gold in "salaries." Everything in the office seemed to be running tranquilly, till one day in September, a reporter, named Landau, en- tered on the run. He had just leaped out of the tonneau of one of Almereyda's racing cars. The dust of the street made his eyes look all the more hollow, as he stared around ff-he office. "Where is Duval.?" he asked. Landau addressed this question to Mme. Lewis, a stenog- rapher, as she tucked away a loose curl and powdered her nose. "He is still out of town," she replied. "You want to see M. Marion, don't you.?" "Yes, the very minute he is disengaged," said Landau. A moment later, two mysterious looking gentlemen, who were simply known as representatives of liquor interests, walked out of Marion's office and into the street. The next instant Landau was bending over Marion's desk. "I have just come from M. Caillaux," he said. "We are all to be arrested. Caillaux said so. He has seen the dossier ofDuval in the Ministry of the Interior, and he wants to understand all about Duval. He asks for certain explana- tions. We must see Almereyda and Duval, as soon as pos- sible, and have them consult Caillaux." Marion fairly leaped from his chair. "Duval is still in Switzerland," he exclaimed. " We must act without him. We must burn those papers at once. Quick, let us get them before anything happens." Orders were immediately issued to all the other members of the staff to tell no one of Landau's message of warning. Meantime Marion opened a big safe of which only two or three in the office knew the combination. He asked Landau THE ENEMY WITHIN 141 to leave him alone as he sorted out various letters, which he carried to a back room and burned. Marion well understood the art of burning papers. He knew that many a crime had been traced from cinders. He had not only been a newspaper writer, but he had combined with journalism the more precarious avocation of blackmail. He had been condemned twice for swindling, and once for desertion. He had long ago made up his mind that he would never be caught again. As Marion crumpled up the last charred leaf of paper, he suddenly cried out: "What did Duval do with those last papers he showed me? Oh, I almost forgot them." Marion made one more search through the secret drawers of Duval's desk, to which he also had the key, and then said almost aloud : "He would not leave them here in this office anyway. They must be at his home." Calling Mme. Lewis he said: "You must do exactly as I tell you, and everything will be all right. The other political parties are trying to make trouble. That is all. I wish you would go to Duval's house and see Mme. Duval. She may be out, for she works in a hospital. Never mind, wait for her. No matter how long you have to wait, wait. Tell her to destroy all papers in the house, which relate to the Bonnet Rouge. Do you under- stand, all papers that concern his newspaper business and his trips abroad must be destroyed immediately." Mme. Lewis had won the confidence of both Duval and Almereyda. She was always called upon, when anything of a peculiarly dangerous nature was on foot. Through the streets as fast as a puffing Paris taxicab could take her, the faithful stenographer hurried to the Duval home. She shovv^ed Mme. Duval the letter, but Mme Duval simply stared; 142 THE ENEMY WITHIN "I don't know where he keeps any of his papers," she re- plied slowly. "He never says anything to me about his affairs." "We must look, then," exclaimed Mrae. Lewis impulsively, "Come, come." The wife still stared. "No," she faltered. "I know he would not like it. He never wants any of his papers disturbed. I am afraid to touch anything." With Marion's warning still ringing in her ears, Mme, Lewis made an effort to find the papers her master wanted, but soon gave up in dispair. Instead, she found a long series of notes in which the miser philosopher had expressed vari- ous mental abstractions, and among them a half completed treatise on the genesis of the soul. As soon as Duval returned from Switzerland, in response to a hurry call from Marion, he was told that Caillaux had become greatly worried by various press attacks upon his connections with the Bonnet Rouge. Landau explained that Caillaux thought that certain people in the Bonnet Rouge office were compromising him by various indiscretions. "The 'President' (as the Bonnet Rouge crowd always spoke of Caillaux) thinks that this newspaper talk about your trips to Switzerland will land us all in jail," said Lan- dau to Duval. "Yes, Malvy has been asked by Premier Briand to make an investigation of everyone in this office," interrupted Almereyda. "Malvy said that you should not ask for a renewal of your passport for any more Switzerland trips, until matters right themselves," looking at Duval as he spoke. "You had best go and see the 'President' and explain everything," said Marion, as he dusted off the lint from Duval's coat, noticing, as he did so, a number of seams that were worn threadbare. "No, no, I do not want to see M. Caillaux," responded the business manager of the Bonnet Rouge, turning toward his THE ENEMY WITHIN 143 inner office, as if he would rather lock himself behind its doors, far away from Caillaux and everyone else. "I am no orator. I can say nothing to Caillaux." But his associates persisted. They were afraid they would lose Caillaux's friendship. They thought that if Malvy's master was not propitiated there would be no more passports, no more checks from Switzerland. Duval continued obdurate. He would not listen to argu- ment, and so at last his confreres decided upon a strategem. They drove up to the Bonnet Rouge office one day in one of Almereyda's finest automobiles, and announced that they were all going to the Caillaux country place at Mamers to in- troduce Landau's fiancee to the "President." They went into Duval's stuffy office, and tried to drag him out. "You must come along too," insisted Landau. "You will enjoy the ride. You are working too hard." "No, I must work," replied Duval doggedly. "Oh, I wish you would come," said a handsomely gowned lady, whose veil just revealed her round, limpid eyes. She had entered quietly, and now stood at Duval's very elbow. The old man gallantly sprang to his feet . He was already conquered. "Mile. Vial, my fiancee," explained Landau, stepping for- ward. "Yes, and you will sit right next to me," added Mile. Vial. And so she did. Landau climbed in with the chauffeur. Duval sat in one luxurious corner of the tonneau and the only lady in the party leaned gently against his shoulder. Marion and Goldsky, who had been a nurse and stretcher bearer in the army, before he got a job on the Bonnet Rouge and wrote with all the authority of another Napoleon under the pen camouflage of "Gen. N ," sat opposite. Before the automobile reached Mamers, Duval had become the life of the party. Under the benign influence of Mile, 14.4i THE ENEMY WITHIN Vial his words scintillated with flashes of wit, with now and then touches of satire, historic allusions, or the reflections of his own quaint philosophy. "The old crab has certainly crawled out of his shell," whispered Goldsky to Marion, as the party stepped out upon the velvet lawn of the Caillaux villa. Duval was going to climb back into the automobile when Landau said: "M. Caillaux will be delighted to see you. Now is your opportunity to straighten everything out." Duval drew Landau to one side, and replied: "No, no. I cannot ask for my passport now. Caillaux will not dare help me. I do not wish to attract attention. I must keep in the back ground." "Oh, you have said all that before," laughed Landau. "True then, true now," insisted !Duval. "Furthermore, I don't think M. Caillaux will receive me." Again Mile. Vial went to the rescue. "M. Caillaux will certainly enjoy a man of your mental- ity," she said, taking Duval by the arm. "Why, I think you are a great deal more clever, than he." With Mile. Vial on one side, and Landau on the other, Duval walked through the great doorway, and permitted his name to be announced. "You must have confidence in Caillaux's star," said Lan- dau to Duval, while they waited. "You must have faith in his power. If we prove to him that we are keeping within the law, that we have done nothing indiscreet, that we are still fighting his battles, we shall have no further trouble. Caillaux still is able to get what he wants from the govern- ment. Malvy, who controls the passport bureau of the Prefecture of Police, is still in the cabinet, and Malvy is the same as Caillaux." In the speech of Lt. Mornet, Chief Prosecutor of the Third Council of War, at a trial which later will be described THE ENEMY WITHIN 146 in detail, the far reaching importance of this automobile trip to Mamers has been set forth in the following language: "Up to the last minute neither Marion nor Duval thought that they would be invited in. The truth of the matter was that M. Caillaux was not particularly pleased to receive in his country retreat of Mamers, in a peaceful corner of a peaceful province, such boisterous ^^ests as Duval's com- panions. "Just the same M. Caillaux consented to see them. That the interview was not entirely cordial is not to be doubted. They were not asked to stay to luncheon. As Marion said afterward, 'I realized that after all we were not expected. M. Caillaux pretexted a luncheon at the General Council to excuse himself for not being our host.' "Caillaux's excuses, however, showed he was courteous and interpreted the visit as an act of good will. If they did not sit down at the Caillaux family table, they drank the Caillaux Oporto wine and accepted the Caillaux cigars. "I am sure that while returning from Mamers to Paris, Duval was able to say to himself: " 'Henceforth, I will be able to do anything. I have been received by a former Premier of France, who knows my rela- tions with Marx. I am perfectly safe from now on.' "And to inspire Duval with still greater confidence. Lan- dau and Goldsky said to him: " 'You need have no more hesitancy about going to the police and asking for a passport. We will go with you, and have M. Leymarie, M. Malvy's assistant, take care of you.' "And Landau and Goldsky made good their promise. They introduced Duval to the Minister of the Interior, who received him with this greeting : " 'You wish to go to Switzerland to see Marx? All right, you shall have your passport.' " Long after the Mamers interview, tell tale papers were discovered by the French foreign secret service associated 146 THE ENEMY WITHIN with the Italian police, which prompt the following questions : (1) When Caillaux and Duval met, did not these two men already understand they were working for the same master ? (2) Did not both of them know Marx? (3) Did Duval tell Caillaux that he had obtained checks from Marx to liquidp-'e the San Stefano Company, or to spread German propaganda in France? The documents which provoke these speculations were found in Caillaux's strong box in Florence along with the papers which revealed his plans of a socialist cowp d'etat. They proved that Caillaux also had had dealings with Marx. They indicated that when Therese Duverger was caught with Beauquier, and it became known that Lipscher through his mistress was seeking interviews with Caillaux, Germany im- mediately dropped Lipscher and the Duverger woman, and turned to Marx. Through Marx new lines were to be established between Paris and Berlin, by which official messages could be carried to Caillaux and his power again invoked in another tremen- dous drive for a separate peace. Germany's latest terms had to be delivered into his hands in a way, which would persuade him that they were backed by the Kaiser himself. Two papers in Caillaux's safe deposit vault related to Marx. One was typewritten. It read: "M. Lipscher, as an intermediary, does not seem desirable. I place myself at your disposal and am authorized to establish the communications which you desire." The second paper was in hand-writing, and read: "H. A. Marx, in care of Professor Ersberg, 27 Stelner- strasse, Berne." The signature was later compared with that of the Marx, who was paying treason money to Duval. Both were identi- cally the same. Investigation of the activities of Professor Ersberg revealed him as one of the most trusted pubhcitj; THE ENEMY WITHIN 147 agents of Germany, from whose pen emanated much of the most insidious peace propaganda, which Germany had been sending its press agents in France and other countries. Stationed in Switzerland, Professor Ersberg kept in constant touch with Berlin. When these documents fell into the hands of French offi- cials in Clemenceau's investigation of the Great Conspiracy, Caillaux was asked for an explanation. -In a statement be- fore Captain Bouchardon, the ex-Premier said: "Some time after the attempts of Lipscher to talk with me, a gentleman asked me for an appointment by telephone. He told me that he was a prominent Swiss merchant and wished to speak to me about some economic questions relating to France. *'I granted the appointment. The man came to my home. But he had hardly entered my cabinet, when he handed me an envelope containing the two bits of paper, which are the ones seized in my deposit box. I at once told the visitor to leave my house." "Why did you not immediately arrest the man who came to your house to take Lipscher's place?" questioned Captain Bouchardon. "Arrest him?" repeated Caillaux, as if astonished at the impudence of such a thought. "Have him arrested at once? How could I have done that?" It was a typical Caillaux answer. CHAPTER XII How THE Bonnet Rouge Betrayed Roumania- 'Almereyda Gets Secret Government Reports Revealing Weakness of General SarralVs Army at Salonika — Has^ Copies Made in Newspaper Office — He and Marion Go to Spain — German U-Boat Lies in Wait at Carthagina — Germany Attacks R\pumania Without Fear of Allied Assist' mice — Roumania Is Lost Caillaux's connections with Marx, the enemy paymaster, however, were not discovered until the Bonnet Rouge gang had been operating a German spy clearing house in the heart of Paris for at least three years. If Caillaux cautioned Duval that the Bonnet Rouge had grown too bold, his warnings were of no avail. The office of the newspaper became more and more the headquarters of enemy agents, whose operations extended into nearly every other European country and even to America. Almereyda made almost as many trips to Spain as Duval did to Switzer- land. During July and August, 1916, Marion voyaged to the United States. According to the records of the Paris police, he tried to obtain the aid of Henry Ford in an inter- national peace movement. In Spain the Germans were becoming more and more active. They were establishing various espionage and propa- ganda centers, buying Spanish newspapers, starting new ones, and everywhere they were preaching the same gospel of a false peace. Spain also proved to be an especially good asylum for spies, who learned that after their operations in 148 THE ENEMY WITHIN 14*9 France they could cross the Pyrenees easier than the Alps, or still better they could report to German submarines skulking along the Spanish coast. At Carthegena the U boats found a particularly convenient rendezvous. Durino- the first half of 1916 Germany was anxiously watching" Roumania. The court at Bucharest was honey- combed with German agents following every development. German engineers in various disguises were measurmg roads and bridges and mapping out all other lines of communica- tion in Roumania, so that German armies might strike a sure blow as soon as the Roumanians declared war on the side of the Allies. . In France also the Berlin spy system was at work just as assiduously. In France the particular purpose of Germany s inquiry was to learn what aid in case of war Roumania could get from the Entente. At Salonika an army had been organ- fed bv the Allies for operations in the Balkans, and Germany was using every means to learn just how these troops were being reinforced and equipped, and what they would be able *\t*the head of the French army at Salonika was General Sarrail, the friend of CaiUaux. According to Caillaux s plans for a coup^ d' Stat General Sarrail was to have become his Commander-in-Chief. . In the spring of 1916, M. Paix-Seeilles, a sergeant m the French army, received from Captain Mathieu, who had been stationed in the Orient, a bundle of letters givmg detailed information concerning the strength and resources of the forces commanded by General Sarrail. Some of the letters contained secret military reports for transmission to the Ministry of War in Paris. Other papers mcluded a com- munication from General Sarrail to M. Noulens President of the Army Commission, and copies of two telegrams, one from the Premier to the French minister at Athens, for transmission to General Sarrail, 150 THE ENEMY WITHIN According to Leon Daudet, these papers were given to Malvy who passed them to Lejmarie, his assistant, who passed them to Almereyda. After Paix-Seailles had been arrested he said that he had given them direct to Almereyda. At all events they came into the possession of the Apache editor, who took them to the office of the Bonnet Rouge. What happened there is told by Mme. Lewis, the confidential stenographer of the inner office. Many months later slie was called as a witness and testified as follows : "One morning in June, 1916, M. Marion asked me to come into his office to copy some documents. He said that they were for the Minister of War. I remember that among other papers were three typewritten letters and a manuscript let- ter. M. Marion also said that he had need of these docu- ments, because he intended to go on a journey. Mile Louise Legendre will be able to testify to this, as she also remem- bers it." (Mile. Legendre was another Bonnet Rouge stenog- rapher. She corroborated Mme. Lewis in every particular.) "Did you copy the documents.?" "Yes." "Do you remember how many copies you made.?" "Three or four." "You would be able to recognize them.?" "I have already identified them before Captain Bouchar- don." "Did M. Marlon shut you up in a room.?" "Yes, he shut me up, but as soon as he went away, I came out and I said to the other stenographers: 'Marion has given me something to copy. He told me not to tell any- body.' " The documents were laid before Mme. Lewis, and she said : "Those are the papers I copied." (They included the official communications of General Sarrail mentioned above.) *'Did M. Marion say where he intended to go on that journey.?" Mme. Lewis was asked. THE ENEMY WITHIN 151 "Yes, he said he was going to Spain that night." When Marion was examined two years later and asked how he obtained the official documents of the War Depart- ment, he explained : "Almereyda came to me and asked, *Have you got a good stenographer ?' "I answered, 'Yes, Why?'" " 'Well, here you are,' he said. *I have a friend, also a newspaper collaborator, who has got hold of some letters of a very confidential nature concerning the military situation in Salonika. The writing of some of the letters is almost undecipherable. So the Bonnet Rouge stenographer will not copy them correctly, if she is not a good one. As you say yours is a capable girl, will you have her make some copies ?' " "I replied, 'Very well, I understand.' I did not know any- thing about the letters. I only took a superficial glance at them. You see, I was only asked to have them copied. Well, they were taken into my office. As it was quite a task, I asked my stenographer who usually worked in a place along- side of the telephone switch board to come into my office, that she might work without being distracted. She did the work in about two hours, and then I turned them back im- mediately to Almereyda." "Did you know these papers contained military secrets?" "Oh, no. I had not the sHghtest idea that they were secret documents." "Nevertheless, you took various precautions. In the first place you put this stenographer in your own private office. You told her not to say anything about the matter to any- one, did you not?" "Exactly, and I will tell you why. Ahnereyda said to me, " 'These are not secret documents, but confidential letters. I intend to start a crusade in behalf of the army of Salonika, 152 THE ENEMY WITHIN and I would not wish that they fall into the hands of others who might use them before I do. Furthermore, I must have all these papers this afternoon, because I want to give the originals to the Minister of War and the copies to parle- mentarians.' " "After the papers were copied, what did you do?" "I took them to Almereyda immediately." "But, is it not a fact that the next day, or the day after, you went with Almereyda to Spain?" "It is possible that I took a trip the next day. You see, Almereyda said to me one day, that at the end of June or the beginning of July, 1916, the horse races begin at San Sebastian. Almereyda had an idea of starting a sporting paper in Spain. He said, 'I do not know if I will do it, but if you will come with me, and I decide to do it, you will have the administrative work of it, the buying of the paper and handling the printing of it.' "I ought to say that Almereyda told me to get a letter of recommendation to M. Merquet, the lessee of the Casino at San Sebastan, and also proprietor of the race track. Alme- reyda also spoke of a letter to M. Harmes or Hermes, who was, I believe, the French consul at San Sebastian. We arrived at San Sebastian on a Monday or a Tuesday about noon. We at once tried to see M. Marquet, but learned that he was in Madrid. So we returned to Paris." Such was the story told by Marlon, when finally caught in the trap. But during the two years immediately following this amazing performance, although he had made copies of the war secrets of France, for which Germany would have paid millions, and turned them over to the criminal associate of Malvy and Caillaux, Marion continued to walk the streets of Paris, and to travel about France on various other secret missions without the slightest molestation. Although Marion, in his defense, said he went no further on this trip than San Sebastian, Almereyda was found to THE ENEMY WITHIN 153 have continued as far as Carthegena, where a German U-boat had just arrived. Many months later secret agents of the Allies in Switzerland and other neutral countries, who were shadowing Germany's agents and in many instances working with them under various disguises, reported that Berlin had learned everything about the French army at Salonika. They said that when Roumania entered the war on August 27, 1916, the German General Staff mapped out a counter campaign, which was based in part upon the very documents, which were stolen by the Bonnet Rouge gang. From the official records of the Third Counsel of War in Paris, it can now be stated that these documents contained the following information concerning General Sarrail's army: "Great scarcity of effectives. "Lack of training and coordination.. "Insufficient provisions and equipment. "Inability to continue a campaign far from the sea coast. "Inability to do more than hold Bulgaria." Accordingly, the German war preparations against Rou- mania practically ignored Allied assistance. What happened to this unfortunate country is well told in the following pas- sages from Marsh's "History of the World War": "And the worst fell upon hapless Roumania. A vast force of military engineers moving like a human screen in front of von Mackensen's army followed routes carefully mapped out by German spies during the period of Roumania's neu- trality. Military bridges, measured to the inch, had been prepared to carry cannon, material and men over streams and ravines. Every Roumanian oil well, mine and store house had been located and mapped. German scientists had studied Roumanian weather conditions and von Mackensen attacked while the roads were at their best and the weather most favorable. "As the Germans swept forward, spies met them and gave 154 THE ENEMY WITHIN them military information of the utmost value. A swarm of airplanes reported the movements of the Roumanians and no Roumanian airplanes rose to meet them, "General von Falkenhajn, cooperating with von Macken- sen, smashed his way through Vulkan pass, and cut the main line running to Bucharest at Craiova. The Dobrudja region was overrun and the central Rumanian plain was swept clear of all Roumanian opposition to the German advance. The seat of government was transferred from Bucharest to Jassy on November 28, 1916, and on December 6, Bucharest was 'entered by von Mackensen, definitely put- ting an end to Roumania, as a factor in the war. "The immediate result of the fall of Roumania was to release immense stores of petroleum for German use. British and Roumanian engineers had done their utmost by the use of explosives to make useless the great Roumanian oil wells, but German engineers soon had the precious fluid in full flow. This furnished the fuel which Germany had long and ardently desired. "The oil burning submarine now came into its own. It was possible to plan a great fleet of submersibles to attempt execution of von Tirpitz's plan for unrestricted submarine warfare. This was decided upon by the German High Com- mand the day Bucharest fell. It was realized that such a policy would bring the United States into the war, but the Kaiser and his advisers hoped the submarine and a great western front ofl'ensive would force a decision in favor of Germany before America could get ready." In Lt. Mornet's indictment of Marion following his arrest in 1918, which will be dealt with in detail in Chapter XIX, and which is now on file among the other papers of the Third Council of War, there may be found the following passages : "Marion had his typist make four copies of these docu- ments just before he was about to make a trip to Spain. Of course there is no proof that Marion communicated these THE ENEMY WITHIN 155 documents to the enemy. But, It is a fact that one month or six weeks before unfortunate Roumania's entry into the war, some information of this character was furnished the Bul- garian army. We were, at that time, utterly unable to do anything to help our ally." Duval was in Switzerland on July 8, and it has been alleged that he turned over another copy of these documents to Marx. In a deposition before Captain Bouchardon, Leon Daudet said: "Secret documents concerning the armies of the Orient were passed by M. Malvy to M. Leymarie, and from the latter to M. Paix-Seailles, who passed them to Almereyda. These papers gave the reasons why an offensive by the Allied armies at Salonika was at that time impossible. Alme- reyda acted Immediately and he communicated the informa- tion through Duval to Marx of Mannheim, who sent It to Berlin, which transmitted it to the Bulgarians, who without fear of being attacked by General Sarrall pounced down upon the Roumanians. The sad result we all know." The entire plot of giving Germany the Salonika army secrets might have been fully uncovered in 1916, had it not been for Malvy. Here again we find the chief lieutenant of Caillaux standing like a shield in front of the conspirators, with the result that they continued to use every possible means to weaken France and aid the enemy. The frequent trips of the Bonnet Rouge gang to other countries together with stories that it was In communication with the foe were brought to the attenlton of Premier Briand early in 1916. M. Briand was too busy to make an investi- gation himself, and accordingly he delegated the task to, Malvy. Here is Premier Briand's statement: "At the beginning of 1916 I discovered a positive change in the orientation of the Bonnet Rouge. I at once sent for M. Malvy and said, *I do not know the relations which the Minister of the Interior may have with the Bonnet Rouge, 156 THE ENEMY WITHIN but I give you a warning, that if it persists in continuing as at present, I shall take it under surveillance and treat it with severity. The censorship has strict orders. It will be watched, suspended and probably suppressed, if it does not change its attitude." Maivy said that he would look into the matter at once. He said later that he stopped the government subsidy of the Bonnet Rouge in February, 1916. But that was only a few weeks before the German gold began to flow into the news- paper through Marx and Duval. In June, 1916, about the time that Almereyda and Marion made copies of General Sarrail's papers and took a trip to Spain, Premier Briand again became suspicious. He had learned that Almereyda was in Carthegena and Bilboa at a time when a German U-boat was lying off the Spanish shore. Again he called in Malvy and asked for an explanation. Malvy promised a most searching inquiry. Concerning this incident Premier Briand was questioned two years later, and he replied: "I invited the Minister of the Interior to watch the people connected with the paper and particularly the trips, they made abroad. I think I even gave M. Laurent (Prefect of Police in Paris) strict instructions that no passports be given except for good reasons." As the issuance of all passports came immediately within the control of Malvy, he could have put an instant stop to the various lines of communication which the Bonnet Rouge had established with the enemy, had he so desired. No person can leave France without making application to the prefect of the district. All the prefects are under the immediate jurisdiction of the Minister of the Interior. Again Malvy promised Briand he would make the most searching investigation of the Bonnet Rouge, of Almereyda, of Duval and all the rest. And what happened? M. Dumas, Chief of the General Information Bureau of THE ENEMY WITHIN 157 the Prefecture of Police, was told to investigate Almereyda. M. Dumas was the kind of a subordinate, whose conscien- ciousness and thoroughness sometimes get superiors into trouble. M. Dumas became greatly interested in Almereyda's career. The more he digged into the Apache's life, the more he delighted in digging still deeper. After a great deal of labor, M. Dumas rendered the following report to the Min- ister of the Interior: "Vigo or Almereyda was born in Beziers, on January 5, 1823, and came to Paris in 1899. He soon became a thief. Finally, he was caught in a robbery, and sent to prison. He left prison at the age of 18 an anarchist." The crimes of Almereyda from that time on which were enumerated by Dumas, constitute much the same Hst, as was mentioned in Chapter II. The investigator then continued: "Almereyda became a photographer, but he soon quit that business. He devoted himself wholly to revolutionary propa- ganda. He became secretary of the editorial staff of Libertaire. He was delegate in 1904 to the anarchist con- gress in Amsterdam, and one of the signers of the famous antimilitaristic poster, entitled, 'To the Soldiers,' which also had the signature of Gustave Herve. With Herve he founded Guerre Sociale (Social War), of which until 1913 he was the secretary of the editorial staff. "During the legislative elections of 1910, he founded a the rabid Groupe Antiparlementaire (Antiparlementarian Group) and became very active in the XVIIIth arrondisse- m.ent. He created the 'Association of the Young Revolu- tionary Guards' for the purpose of breaking up the meetings of rivals. "In 1912 he gave his support to the Unified Socialist Party, and the following year he left Guerre Sociale to enter the Courrier Europeen (European Courier) of Paix- Seailles, (who later gave him the army secrets of General 158 THE ENEMY WITHIN Sarrail) and finally on November 23, 1913, he founded the Bonnet Rouge, thanks to the financial help of M. Caillaux, "Here is to be found the second political evolution of Almereyda, who became a Radical Socialist (the same as Caillaux) , as director of the Bonnet Rouge. This change of opinion had its effect even on the personality of Almereyda. Until then he was always hard up and seedy looking. He now became more elegant. He began to frequent the expen- sive establishments of the grand boulevards, where he entered into relations with shady financiers, journalists lying in wait for scandals, and certain indi^aduals, who by various under- hand means establish connections between captains of high finance and politicians. "Nevertheless, until April, 1915, he maintained only a modest home, at a rental of only 500 francs. "However, by the end of June, 1915, he established himself in a furnished apartment at No. 51 Rue Spontini, at a monthly rental of 740 francs, where he lived for several months with two mistresses, one named Claro Emilie, the other, Berni Leonie, also known as Emilienne Brevannes, who was born in 1895 at Poissy. Although she had had relations with Almereyda since January, 1916, Emilienne Brevannes has kept her former apartment at No. 50 Rue Condorcet, at an annual rental of 500 francs. "Since the month of April, 1917, Almereyda has advertised his wealth in most insolent fashion. He installed Mile. Berni at No. 24 Boulevard des Capucines, in an apartment for which he pays 600 francs a month. He also leases a villa at No. 14 Rue Gustav Latour, St. Cloud, which costs him 10,000 francs a year. He has also bought an estate at Juan les Pins, in the Maritime Alps. "He is buying all kinds of luxuries. For example on one occasion he bought some jewelry for the Berni girl, which cost 50,000 francs. "Some attribute his sudden fortune to the largesses of THE ENEMY WITHIN 159 political friends, of financiers, of war contractors, who might have recourse under diverse covers to the services of Alme- reyda. Others call special attention to the evolution of the Bonnet Rouge, which has changed its note and has j oined the minority socialists, of the Kienthal shade, almost as much as letting it be known that the money, which he dispenses so extravagantly, comes from Germany. , "It is said in some newspaper offices that Almereyda may have received large commissions by acting as an intermediary between the sub-secretary of munitions and M. Raffalovitch, secretary general of the Bank of Commerce of Petrograd, who has charge of military supplies." The report of M. Dumas spoke also of Almereyda's asso- ciates, Goldsky, Marion, Jacques Lathuiile, who peddled betting tips at the race track, and who in 1904 became editor of the Radical, from which he was afterward discharged; Alexandre Raffalovitch, Rabbat, a convicted swindler, who has been associated with the famous Zucco in various enter- prises ; Napoleon Poggiale, lessee of a gambling house many times condemned for violating Article 210 of the Penal Code; Bontempi, called Bontemps, former editor of Lihertaire, and four times convicted ; Sophie Franckel, a woman, who had a house of ill repute at No. 17 Rue de Hamburg, and Mme. Stourmier, a mid-wife, who sold narcotics. Dumas also said: "Almereyda tried to induce men of standing to carry let- ters which the pacifists did not wish to trust to the mails. Almereyda undertook to furnish them with the necessary papers and passports. "Among the persons supposed to have accomplished a mission of this sort was Henri Guilbeaux. He is said to have come to Paris twice with papers. This same man facilitated the escape of Gilbert, the aviator, when he made two visits to Switzerland. "By an indirect route, but quite a sure one, it is further known that Marion, the administrator of the Bonnet Rouge, 160 THE ENEMY WITHIN went to Detroit, U. S., to obtain the financial assistance of M. Ford, M. Archdeacon and other persons, more or less interested in the international movement for peace. (E. G. Liebold, secretary of Henry Ford, in reply to an inquiry regarding Marion's trip said: "Mr. Ford does not recall ever having met the parties mentioned and v/e assume therefore their intended mission was not carried out.") "Towards the 15th of June, Almereyda's valet, called Rafael, received a telegram from Spain, calling him to the bedside of his father. Two days later, Aimereyda, who was preparing to join his mistress, who was spending her season at Dole, at the home of the under-prefect of the town, re- ceived a telegram from Spain also. He immediately asked for a passport, which he obtained on June 20, 1916. Its number was 11704. According to his friends, Aimereyda went to Carthegena with a Harry Thomas. "On June 21, the day after Aimereyda left Paris, the Ger- man submarine, U 35, entered the port of Carthegena for a sojourn and the director of the Bonnet Rouge is reported to have remained near." And what did Malvy do with this report .? The answer may be found in the following statement of Dumas, which later became a court record : *'0n September 7, 1916, I was called to the office of the Minister of the Interior, and received by M. Malvy. He said: 'I have just read your report. There is nothing very much in it, nothing very much. I have just seen Aimereyda. I have just seen the poor fellow. He came to my house, suffering, ill. I asked him some clever questions. He pro- tested vigorously. He denied absolutely that his money came from such sources, as reported.' "I was quite excited. I said to M. Malvy: 'Have you communicated my report to Aimereyda.'' Have you told everything to him, Mr. Minister.?' " *No, I just asked some cunning questions,' replied M. THE ENEMY WITHIN 161 Malvy. *There are a lot of things to be verified, you know. As it is, your report does not prove much to me. To my questions Almereyda offered explanations. He said for in- stance that the automobiles, which he was driving, came from a garage, which he owned in the Boulevard Pereire, and that the money of which you speak had been furnished him by M. Boulet, a wine merchant, to indemnify him for a cam- paign in behalf of the wine trade. He said he had also re- ceived from M. Francfort 50,000 francs (excuse its being so little). He said he had secured an important order for M. Francfort from the Ministry of Munitions. No, there is nothing in your report of any consequence.' " Dumas nevertheless made a second report on September 18, of which he said : "My assertions were verified and proved absolutely cor- rect. My second report confirmed my first report. I pre- sented it to the office of the Prefect of Police, who doubtless transmitted it to M. Malvy. I never heard any more about it." Poor Dumas. His work was all for nought. Both his reports were pigeonholed in Malvy's desk, CHAPTER Xm Mme. Pozzoiii's Tell Tale Dl&.ey Reveals Caillauw's Conferences with Cavallini, Enemy Agent and Briber — The Luncheon at Larue's — Caillaux's Italian Journey — His Plans of a Latin Alliance — His Gospel of Dispair and Defeat — Yagghen, Another Oriental Pacifier In the autumn of 1916, Calllaux thought he saw another opportunity to ascend to power. He believed that the Bi'iand ministry was tottering. He thought he could stir up in Italy enough hatred toward England to create the Latin Alliance of which he had dreamed so long, an alliance that would later include Spain, and merge its interests with those of the Central Powers. This plan of course would re- sult in throwing upon the British Empire the whole brunt of the war. In October, 1916, Caillaux went to Italy and met his wife at Monti Cafini. From there they went to Florence and thence to Rome. Leaving his wife in Rome, he returned to Paris. And now who should enter the scene but Cavallini, the Italian associate of ex-Khedive Abbas Hilmi; Cavallini, the agent of Germany; Cavallini, who carried 1,000,000 francs of German bribe money to Bolo's Paris home. Behind Caval- lini in this ijew plot was not only Abbas Hilmi but another oriental traitor, Yagghen Pacha, a cousin of the Khedive. Yagghen had married a Mme. Lussato, an Italian lady, and had made his home in Italy. Proof was later obtained by the Italian authorities, that Yagghen had spent about 1,000,000 162 THE ENEMY WITHIN 163 francs in efforts to bribe Italian statesmen and the Italian press to advocate an immediate peace. It was this same propaganda among the Italian troops which resulted in the Caporetto disaster in October, 1917, when the Italian hne was broken by a great Austrian-German attack and thrown back toward the Piave. On October 2, 1916, Cavallini and a woman, named Mme. Pozzoli, came to Paris and established themselves in a sump- tuously furnished apartment. As it later developed, much to the mortification of all concerned, Mme. Pozzoli kept a diary. Within its little pages she loved to record all the petty hap- penings of the day, the dates of tea parties, the names of guests,— how they looked, what they said. Now and then she used abbreviations and various cryptic phrases, as if she did not dare trust everything to paper. Cavallini and Mme. Pozzoli remained in Paris until No- vember 22, 1916, and during that time the Italian visitor gave several dinners and luncheons, which might easily have convinced those of his guests who did not know his real mis- sion, that he was the great financier, which he publicly pre- tended to be. At one of these luncheons Cavallini met Caillaux. The guests were brought together in a private chamber in the famous Restaurant Larue in the Place de la Madeleine. Ac- cording to a speech which Caillaux made more than a year later, on Dec. 22, 1917, in the Chamber of Deputies, Caval- lini was introduced to him at Larue's by Loustalot, a fellow- deputy. Caillaux's eleventh hour explanation was as follows s "One day I met my old collague, Loustalot, in the Chamber of Deputies, He said he wanted me to take dSjetmer with him and meet an ItaHan, who desired to talk banking. 'Very well,' I said, *I will be glad to see him, although I am not a banker,' «I went with M. Loustalot. I met M, C&vaUijai aad tev^ eral others. We all had dSjemt&r together. Our convar^- 164 THE ENEMY WITHIN tion was most desultory. We discussed politics for a while. The early accession of the Orlando ministry was predicted. There was talk of founding a newspaper in Rome, to be called the Paris-Rome, and I declared the scheme to be chimerical. Finally, I was consulted about the bank. They told me that the best nam-es would be found in the board of directors — and that M. Salandra, former Premier of Italy, would head the list. "I replied, 'Boards of Directors sound well, but what is wanted for a bank is business. Have you any customers, and who are they?' Some names were mentioned — the Genoa Tramways and the Anvaldo Company, both well known, and the Roman R. R. which is less known. "I left the restaurant with the impression that I had been lunching with a particularly interesting man. A few days later, Loustalot came to me again and said: " 'M. Cavallini is returning to Rome, where your wife is. Do you wish to give him a note to her?' I answered: " 'No, I will write my wife that M. Cavallini will call to see her. She will receive him, if she thinks it advisable to do so. But I promise nothing, because she wishes to preserve the strictest incognito. "I wrote Mme. Caillaus, as follows : 'Here is a person introduced to me by my friend Loustalot, in whom I have the fullest confidence. I have no further information about him. If you can get any, do so. At any rate do not receive him, if you have any objection.' " Whether or not Caillaux and Cavallini talked about bank- ing or a separate peace, they established a relationship at the Larue luncheon, which soon became exceedingly intimate. The diary of Mme. Pozzoli, which the Italian police seized many months later, showed that she and Cavallini went to visit Mme. Caillaux, as soon as they reached the Italian capital, and that Mme. Caillaux accepted their friendship. Nearly every day Mme. Caillaux called upon Cavallini and THE ENEMY WITHIN 165 Mme. Pozzoli or they visited her. Finally, when M. Caillaux, himself, arrived in Rome, Cavallini and the Pozzoli woman gave M. and Mme. Caillaux a special reception. The story is told in Mme. Pozzoli's diary, as follows: "December 2, . . . Philippe (Cavallini) returns " "December 3, . . . after luncheon, visit to Mme. C's." (Mme. Caillaux.) "December 4, . . . invitation to dinner from Henriette C." (Mme. Caillaux's maiden name was Henriette Ray- nouard.) "December 7, . . . gave dinner to Mme. C, where are present also the Prince Sciarra, Ricardi and others." "December 9, ... we all go to see the film, Christus. . . ." "December 11, . . . arrival and reception for M. Caillaux." "December IS, .. .promenade at Frascati with the Cail- laux couple. . . ." "December 15, . . . dinner to the CaiUaux couple. . , ." "December 17 — Luncheon at Castello di Cesari with Cail- laux and Riccardi . . . . " "December 18, . . . departure of M. Caillaux for Naples." Between December 18, 1916, and January 5, 1917, Cail- laux was in Naples and elsewhere in Italy pleading with various Italian statesmen and financiers to work for an im- mediate peace. Meantime Cavallini confered with Loustalot, Abbas Hilmi and Yagghen Pacha in various places of ren- dezvous. After this interval, Mme. Pozzoli's diary con- tinues : January 5, 1917, Caillaux arrived in Rome 2 p. m. Wife joined him by following train. Cavallini invited Caillaux couple to dinner at the Valiani. January 6, Caillaux couple have dinner at the apartments of Mme. Pozzoli. 168 THE ENEMY WITHIN January 7, Caillaux couple have dinner at San Carlo with Mme. Pozzoli. At 10 p. m. Caillaux left Rome for Paris. Mme. Caillaux remained behind in Italy until February 4. She continued to live at the Hotel de Russie, where Mme. Pozzoli was also to be seen almost daily, going and coming from the Caillaux apartments. Caillaux had made this propagandist trip to Italy, with such secrecy that even his most intimate friends in Paris knew nothing of it. His passport had been made out in the name of Joseph Raynouard. Having arrived in Rome and established connections with Cavallini, Bolo's paymaster, Caillaux began the most vigor- ous campaign for a separate peace between Italy and France on the one hand and Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and Tur- key on the other. In this connection it should be remem- bered that Italy did not formally declare war on Germany until August 28, 1916, or only four months before Caillaux's visit. Caillaux talked with as many of the most influential Italian statesmen, as he thought he could convert, and said that France was almost bled to death, that Germany could not be conquered, that the only salvation for either France or Italy was peace. Proof that Caillaux's Italian trip was one of his most dar- ing 'efforts to disrupt the Entente has been obtained from Signor I'^rdinando Martini, formerly la minister jin the cabinet of Salandra, who had a long interview with Caillaux. In a sworn statement, which he made at the treason trial of Cavallini in Rome, Martini completely unmasked Caillaux. An English translation of Signor Martini's deposition made by Walter Littlefield of the New York Times with various bracketed notes by Mr. Littlefield, that are specially iUu- Esinating and instructive, reads as follows : **De€. 17, 1916. — ^I ha.re jiisi left Caillaux aftar my inter- THE ENEMY WITHIN 187 view and I would not miss a moment before setting it down. The subject first taken was, quite naturally, the overture from Germany. [Note from Germany and her allies dated Dec. 12 offering to enter peace negotiations.] We agreed that to end the matter by refusing to negotiate would con- stitute a rather serious political blunder — if any reply were made at all. "He [Caillaux] expressed himself as believing that the moment for peace had not yet arrived, and that a final effort would be made in the Spring [Nivelle's offensive in Cham- pagne], but that it would be to indulge in the most fatal illusions to imagine that the war could last until the Autumn of next year. "France [Caillaux said] had already lost 1,500,000 men — 1,100,000 dead and 400,000 mutilated or so seriously wounded as to be incapable of following any profession or trade whatever. Nobody, broadly speaking, believed that the Germans could be driven out of the ten departments they occupied; the resources in men remaining to France were the 1917 class, numbering 200,000 men, and the 1918 class, making 150,000 men more. They would only sufHce to fill up the gaps caused by losses, and France, therefore, could put on the front not more than 2,500,000 men, possibly not so many. "The spirit of the public was depressed, (deprim^) and the former enthusiasm among the soldiers was dead. He had received letters from soldiers whose homes were in his own constituency which left no doubt as to the state of mind of the troops, and those letters, like those received by others, ended with 'Down with the war !' and even 'Long live Brizon 1* [Brizon was a Deputy who had been expelled from the Cham- ber for expressing defeatist sentiments.] "He [Caillaux] said he knew Italy, and knew that the state of public feeling here was not very different from that in France, although it was perhaps daffwent amcxn^ the sol- 168 THE ENEMY WITHIN diers, because Italy had been a year less in the war than France. "I informed Caillaux that it had been reported that Ger- many was inclined to make concessions to the noninsular Western powers — ^France and Italy — and that there were even persons who asserted that the crisis then existing in the Austrian Government was due to this fact, as Korber [Dr. von Korber, Austrian Premier, who that very day — Dec. 17, 1916 — had been succeeded by Herr von Spitz- muller] had resigned because he would not assume the respon- ibility for the territorial concessions to be made to Italy. "Caillaux knew nothing of these reports, but thought he ought to take them into consideration, and he asserted that he also believed that both Germany and Austria, the latter being entirely dominated by the former, were disposed to make concessions to Italy and France. As to France, he said he believed that peace could be made on very simple condi- tions — ^namely, the evacuation of the occupied departments and the cession of a part of Lorraine, and perhaps even without the latter. " 'And do you not fear,' I asked, 'that they will ask you to surrender Morocco.'^' " 'We could not give it up at any price,' he responded. 'We could not have Germany in a position to stab us in the back. Germany understands this and will not press her de- mands so far as that. She is not in a very good position herself, and her proposals are certainly owing to her own condition and the famine which threatens her.' " 'But do you really think that France would make peace under the conditions you mention .f" "She could not [said Caillaux] do anything else. Our output of munitions has gone down through lack of raw ma- terials. And there are two facts of special importance con- cerning which you are in ignorance — ^Algeria is teeming with revolution and so is Senegal. The Prefect of — (Caillaux THE ENEMY WITHIN 169 mentioned the name of the place, but I have forgotten it) has been murdered. A detachment of soldiers sent to put down the revolt has been surrounded and massacred. All this be- cause we committed the monstrous blunder of imposing con- scription on the Arabs. "Add to this the work of the Socialists, less important than in Italy, but still, eifective, and the hatred of the peas- ants for the war. *I repeat [said Caillaux] that we cannot do anything more, and that peace which would be premature today will in- evitably be r.ecessary in the Autumn. To this must be joined the fact that in the Autumn, owing to the losses which the Spring will cost us, we risk having in France a British army numerically superior to our own, and that we can not and do not want. "For many other reasons Caillaux saw an obvious necessity — that France and Italy must be united by indissoluble bonds of sincere friendship and unshakable solidarity, both now and after the war, and he urged that it was desirable to bring Spain into the Latin League. " 'Spain is pro-German,' I remarked. *The King of Spain has stated: "Those favorable to the Entente in Spain com- prise only myself and the rabble." ' " 'I have it,' Caillaux replied. 'I have expressed one wish : The all-important thing is a close and loyal union of our two countries. We shall easily come to an agreement, even in regard to customs questions. We produce commodities that Italy does not, and Italy produces commodities that we do not. There are only two real questions, two common products — silk and wine. These are not insoluble problems when paramount interests demand their solution.' " 'That is all very well,' I rejoined, 'but let us come back to the question of peace. What about England? We are bound to England by the Pact of London.' [The Treaty of London signed April 26, 1915, by England, France, Italy, 170 THE ENEMY WITHIN and Russia, according to the terms of which Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on the 23d of the following May.) "England, [said Caillaux,] when she has obtained the re- construction of Belgium, will accommodate herself to making peace. The submarines are destroying her merchant marine. Moreover, among the English people also there are many, even innumerable, opponents of the war. I do not overlook the fact, however, that if Germany demands the return of her colonies England neither would nor could consent." "'And Russia.?* "Russia [said Caillaux] will have to pay. She has lost Poland. As to giving her Constantinople, would either you or ourselves agree to that.? [This was before the Russian revolution, March 14, 1917, and the Bolshevist coup d'etat, Nov. 7, 1917.] " 'We have promised it to her.' "That promise is older than you think," said Caillaux. "It was made by M. Poincare when he went to Petrograd as Premier. He aimed at becoming President of the Republic, and, to insure his success, he wanted the votes of the Right in the Chamber. M. Isvolsky, the Russian Ambassador at Paris, had the power of securing these votes for him. I need not say anything more." [Note — ^A highly placed French political personage, fuUy acquainted with all the negotiations before and during the war, has declared the statement in regard to President Poin- care to be groundless. The assertion had been spread broad- cast in the Chamber during the first years of the war. "It was the work of M. Caillaux," says Le Matin, "who carried on a systematic campaign against the President of the Re- public. M. Poincare never at any time promi&ed Constanti- nople to Russia but supported a contrary policy when he was at the Quai d'Orsay. The Foreign Affairs Commissions of the two Chambers have long ago been well informed on the THE ENEMY WITHIN 171 subject, and not one word of truth remained in this assertion of M. Caillaux."] " 'Referring to M. Poincare,' I asked, "is it true that he is unpopular in France?' " "Unpopular?" [said Caillaux,] "Say, rather, detested." " 'And what do you forsee in regard to the Ministerial situation ?' "I foresee a coming crisis. Briand (then Premier) has lost all authority. He is not a man who looks far ahead. He looks for momentary, immediate successes and does not bother about anything else. It was he more than anybody who pushed Roumania into the conflict without taking into consideration the necessary help, in the absence of which it was easy to foresee all that has happened. This time also he has sought Parliamentary success without considering the consequences of his false and premature steps. "If Briand fails France has only three possible Premiers — Clemenceau, Caillaux, and Barthou. Barthou is practically impossible, because he has thrown himself into the arms of the reactionary Clericals. During the first year of the war the Clericals appeared likely to enable Barthou to triumph. At the beginning of the present year these forces began to de- cline, and for some months have become very weak, and are now certainly impotent. "Not Barthou, therefore. For Caillaux the time is not yet come. There remains only Clemenceau." [Mr. Clemenceau became Premier Nov. 13, 1917.] " 'But is it possible to reconcile Clemenceau as Premier with Poincare as President of the Republic?' "That is precisely the question which must be asked, [said Caillaux.] If things turn out as appears likely, either Clem- enceau or Poincare will go. For this reason I doubt whether the next Ministry will be a Clemenceau Cabinet, and for want of anything better we shall have a Painleve Cabinet, [M. Painleve became Premier in September, RIbot having sue- 17^ THE ENEMY WITHIN ceeded M. Briand in the preceding March,] with a program of war to the death, which will make the great Spring offen- sive, after which will come the Ministry which will make the arrangement for peace. "As I remained silent for some minutes after this declara- tion, Caillaux asked me what I was thinking about. " 'About your certitude as to peace — England — Russia.' "I repeat, [said Caillaux.] England will consent. Lloyd George will make another great effort. Asquith is in reserve, watching events. As to Russia, she will turn herself toward Asia when she has conquered the revolution, which everybody, including the Russian Government, expects. In any case, nobody can be asked to do the impossible. "We are exhausted, and nobody can insist on our con- tinuing the struggle when we lack men and materials, and the only result will be useless massacres." Caillaux finally became so bold in his pacifist propaganda in Italy, that M. Camille Barrere, the French Ambassador at Rome, deemed it his duty to make a special report to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Paris. Some of Caillaux's statements to the Italians were found to be so anti-English, so pro-German, so pregnant with defeatism of the most per- fidious sort, that the embassies of all the Allies at Rome were notified. As a result Italy was about to ask him to leave the country, when suddenly he learned that his operations had become known to the French government, and hurried home. After Caillaux was safely back in Paris, the French foreign ofiice obtained fuller reports concerning Yagghen Pacha, the oriental associate of Cavallini. Yagghen had been arrested in Italy, but released because of protests that his territorial rights had been violated. Among the papers of Yagghen, was the copy of a letter to Cavillini, saying : "Briefly speaking, we must do here the work which should have been done in France. We have all the necessary elements, and will be able to provoke demonstrations in all cities." CHAPTER XIV Caught The Bonnet Rouge Gets Money from Marx hy New Route — The Handy Vercasson — Malvy Keeps Censor at Bay — Goldsky, Bolshevik Editor, in Malvy's Office — The Om- niscient "Gen. N." — Duval's New Brood of Reptiles — -■ Duval's Last Trip to Switzerland — The Fatal 150,000 Frame Check — Barres Unclosets a Ghost Which Points at Malvy Before Duval obtained the renewal of his passport, the Bonnet Rouge was forced to find another channel between its vaults and the vaults of Marx in Switzerland. The money had to be obtained someway. Not only were the expenses of the Bonnet Rouge increasing, but plans had been made for other defeatist newspapers to be published from the Bonnet R,ouge presses. Debts were piling up fast. To fill the breach Duval and Marion brought in M. Ver- casson, a printer, for whom Marlon had done some business favors, and whom Marlon had introduced to Duval. Ver- casson made a specialty of advertising placards and after Duval began to build up the circulation of the Bonnet Rouge he had need of Vercasson's posters. One day during dejeuner, while Duval and Vercasson were following the ancient Parislen custom of eating and doing business at the same time, Duval poured out a fresh glass of red wine, and said: "Vercasson, I wish you would go to Switzerland for me and get some money. I am too busy to go myself." 173 174 THE ENEMY WITHIN The printer asked for more details, and Duval told him of the San Stefano Company and its liquidation. The money was to re-emburse French stock holders, he said. Although a law had been passed making it a crime for a Frenchman even to talk with a German regarding any kind of business, and everyone knew that the San Stefano had been controlled by German capitalists, Vercasson accepted the mission. He made four trips to Geneva, and brought back 470,738 francs all told for the business manager of the Bonnet Rouge. Just how Vercasson got the money in Geneva is still some- thing a mystery. There have been several explanations. Vercasson said in the witness chair many months later that he used to go to the International Hotel with a pass word for Mme. Amherd, the proprietress. Thereupon, he would re- ceive a package of franc notes, which we would deposit and for which he would obtain a check on a Paris bank. "I did not think there was anything wrong in what I did," Vercasson said. "Let me tell you, for example, of my first trip. I reached Geneva on the evening of September 27, 1916. I went to the Hotel International and asked for Mme. Amherd. Duval had told me that he himself always stopped at the Hotel International, and that frequently he had money in Mme. Amherd's keeping. I gave Mme. Amherd the pass- word, which Duval had given me, and she said: " 'Do you want the money now.?' " 'Tomorrow morning will be better,' I replied. 'I can't deposit it in a bank tonight, and I do not care to keep a lot of money in my room.' "So in the morning, she landed me a package, containing 35,000 francs. I gave her a receipt. Then I asked M. Bois, a friend of mine, to accompany me to a bank. I had no trouble. I obtained a check payable on the Credit du Nord, Avenue de I'Opera, Paris. I cashed the check in Paris and then turned over the money in full to Duval. I made THE ENEMY WITHIN 175 three other trips to Switzerland, and each time I brought back money to Duval in the same way. Altogether I got 470,738 francs." The exact dates and the amounts of these checks, as learned by an investigation of bank books in France and Switzerland by the Clemenceau government, are as follows: September 29, 1916 35,000 francs November 8, 1916 80,000 francs November 10, 1916 19,000 francs December 23, 1916 171,757 francs February 17, 1917 164,981 francs 470,738 francs Meantime the Bonnet Rouge was pushing the German defeatist propaganda with ever increasing vigor. It some- times ran afoul of the censor, but when it did Alemeryda would invoke the power of Malvy to intercede in his behalf. If necessary Malvy appealed even to the Premier, as shown in the following memorandum from the Ministry of the In- terior to the censor: June 10, 1916. The Cabinet of the Minister of the Interior, M. Truchon, Chief Assistant, brings to the attention of the officer on duty the information that the Minister of the Interior in accord with the President of the Council (Premier Briand) has de- cided to allow the Bonnet Rouge to re-appear today, upon the satisfactory assurances given by Almereyda. Countersigned MALVY. Around Almereyda, Duval and Marion there now revolved an ever increasing number of satillites, editors and reporters, who were willing, in return for more than ordinary salaries, to join in the nefarious propaganda, paid for by Marx. Chief among these lesser lights was Goldsky, whose real name was Goldschild, a bosom friend of Guilbeaux and 176 THE ENEMY WITHIN d'Hartmas, lieutenants of Lenine. Goldsky was of the same Bolshevik type, as may be seen any evening on the East Side of New York, perched on a soap box and haranging the crowd on the iniquities of capitalism and the imperative need of a complete social cataclism, from which the proletariat will rise supreme. Goldsky, like Almereyda and Marion, had a criminal rec- ord. He had been twice condemned by the Court of Assizes of the Seine for inciting murder and military disobedience. And yet this man was made another connecting link be- tween the Bonnet Rouge and Malvy. Indeed, he was taken out of the army that he might obtain a position in Malvy's own office, and at the same time use a desk in the Bonnet Rouge to write Bolshevik articles, sign-ed, "General N." The steps by which this foe of France was able to crawl through the law, like a rat through cheese, furnish a still clearer illustration of the weakening and corrupting influences that reached through various departments of the government to the very cabinet of the Prime Minister. Goldsky belonged to the 1910 class which had been incor- porated into the 22nd Section of Military Nurses on August 4, 1914*. Later he had been attached to various units, as for example, "Sanitary Train, No. 14." For a time he was a division stretcher bearer. On October 27, 1915, he was sent back to his depot, and from January to July, 1916, he was a nurse in the hospital of the "Grand Palais." Because of some underground influence, Jean Leymarie, Malvy's chief assistant, wrote a letter in Malvy's name to the Minister of War, on July 9, 1916, asking that Goldsky be transferred to the Ministry of the Interior. As a result, Goldsky was placed in the 20th Section of the Secretaries of the Staff, and instructed to hold himself at Malvy's disposal, Everything seemed to have been nicely fixed, when on September 1, an order was suddenly issued shifting Goldsky back to the Ministry of War. The news caused special con- THE ENEMY WITHIN 177 stemation In the Bonnet Rouge office, Duval and Alme- reyda had a hurried conference, and Almereyda appealed to Malvy to bring Goldsky back. Almereyda's letter spoke of Goldsky, "as my most immediate collaborator, who has as- sumed, since his return from the front, the editorship of the Bonnet Rouge J" Ministerial orders, such as sent Goldsky back to the Min- istry of War could be appealed to the "Bureau of Demurr- ers." Almereyda's petition in behalf of his Bolshevik colla- borator was turned over to this bureau. To the petition was pinned this note: "It is correct that demurrers have been granted in favor of newspapers. The last one, to my knowledge, was acceeded to upon the request of M. Charles Humbert, director of Le Journal in favor of M. Guerin." Below the note was written this notation : "No demurrer has been granted to editors, only to ordi- nary employees. It is not the same thing. In any case ask the Bureau of Demurrers." The bureau held an inquiry, at which it was reported that the Bonnet Rouge had grown from a weekly to a daily news- paper since the war, that it had a rapidly growing circula- tion, that its importance was constantly becoming greater, that its staff of editors had been increased, and that the pres- ence of M. Goldsky on its staff had been found most useful. The Bureau of Demurrers granted the favor, and Goldsky went back to the Ministry of the Interior. From that time on he spent part of the day under Malvy, as a government official, having access to the secret archives of the police and detective bureaus ; and during other hours he was counseling with Almereyda, Duval and Marion in schemes of perfidy and treason. Besides seeking to arouse class hatred in France, while always pointing to the panacea of a Bolskevik state, "Gen- ■^ral N." devoted much of his time and energy also to a 178 THE ENEMY WITHIN crusade against American intervention in the war. He argued that Amei'ica's support of the Allies would prolong the conflict indefinitely, that the list of French dead and wounded would be interminably lengthened, that the Ger- mans could keep up the fight the same as ever, and that the only salvation for France was an immediate and separate peace. In the Bonnet Rouge of February 16 1917, thirteen days after the United States severed diplomatic relations with Germany, "General N." said that the Americans were going crazy. He congratulated the King of Spain for remaining neutral, and added: "The views of this sincere friend of France, the King of Spain, are too elevated even to dream of entering a choir of lunatics." "General N." also sought constantly to make the French believe that Germany was not wholly responsible for the war, that even France was much to blame. In a style, which be- trayed the subtleness of Duval, "General N." tried to turn the French against themselves. The following article, printed Dec. 22, 1916, is typical: "At Europe's Tribunal, we should know how to recognize our own wrongs also. The Gazette of Frankfort writes very judiciously that Europe was waging war even before the war. Several newspapers from the other side of the Rhine point out that the Entente is hypnotized by the past, when as a matter of fact only the future concerns us. We must admit this remark is correct. "A Hamburg newspaper also points out and with the same degree of justice, that if we were to engage ourselves in a discussion of the responsibilities of the war — if we were to try to solve this question without taking any real, practical step towards peace — we will never obtain peace." Behind the camouflage of "General N." Goldsky seemed to have completely forgotten his days as a nurse and THE ENEMY WITHIN 179 stretcher bearer. He wrote about army manoeuvers with supreme military authority. He always emphasized the point that Germany was invulnerable. On August 1, 1916, when the Germans were at St. Quentin, he wrote : "Germany still has numerous reserves. Thus the French nation knows where it stands. It can appreciate how great are the sacrifices still to be expected of it, especially if told to hold out for the realization of uncertain and remote aims." On December 4, 1916, he wrote: "All the nations should know what they are fighting for, toward what realizations their chiefs are leading them. I should think that we have in France other aims than Con- stantinople and Cracovia. What are they.?" The new publications, which Duval planned for various circles of readers, who would not buy the Bormet Rouge were assigned to Goldsky, Marion and Landau. Such journal- istic tactics are not unknown in America. When a news- paper or a hotel gets a bad name, one means of salvation is to change its name. The constant attacks upon the Bonnet Rouge by Leon Daudet in L' Action Frangaise, by Maurice Barres in the Echo de Paris; and by many other journalists, compelled Almereyda and Duval to affect other masquerades. Of this perfidious brood of newspapers, the Republican Trench, intended especially for the soldiers at the front, worked perhaps the greatest evil. It was founded by Goldsky and Landau with 10,000 francs furnished by Duval. Here are some of its utterances : "The French people are not imbeciles, Messers. Ministers. Do you not hear that sound which is constantly growing louder, which is becoming so loud that it even begins to drown out the roar of battle, the sound of voices which ask for peace, which desire the olive branch of love rather than the laurels of hatred?" Also : "The Russian revolution is a revolution against not only 180 THE ENEMY WITHIN the Russian government, but all the other governments of Europe. The future alone is important. The only excuse for this war is that it will bring forth from all this disaster that beautiful flower, which the Russian call, the 'Soviet.' "Let us be thankful, that on the dawn of the fourth year of the war it is possible to find men who wiU dare, speak, write, thmk and believe in the 'Soviet.' "Glory to the 'Soviet,' to which we are indebted for the first victory since the war, a victory won by nations newly born." The effect of such poison gas upon the soldiers is shown by the following letter from a poilu to the director of the Republican Trench, and finally seized by government in- spectors in a raid on Landau's home. "From the Orient Front, June 26, 191T. "To the Director of the Trenchee: "I had recently the pleasure of reading the first number of your interesting newspaper. Were I in France, I would subscribe to it, but in the Orient our letters and parcels are stolen from us. A good newspaper insisting on putting an end to the war would never reach me. "You should have a good collaborator in Macedonia, be- cause here our officers abuse us. I am one of those, who will soon have twenty-one months of the Orient in addition to fourteen months of French front, or altogether thirty-five months of wholesale butchery without a single minute of furlough. What a shameful existence is mine! "The news from France of a lively revolution, which will liberate us from the sabre and reaction, is certainly reassur- ing. "We are with you, brave journalists, and let us hope that we shall soon get all the drinkers of blood." In addition to the Repuhliccm Trench there were the Trench Telegram, of which Goldsky was chief editor ; and the Ration which Duval gave 30,000 francs, and of which Marion THE ENEMY WITHIN 181 was head. Boasting of the power of the Bonnet Rouge cir- cle of publications, Goldsky wrote as follows on March 15 1917: '"Around the Bonnet Rouge various organs of opinion have been born, each day more numerous, supporting and strengthening its position. Dolie founds VAgence Repub- licaine, Marion takes charge of the publication of the Frcmce Telegramme. Landau is pushing the Prkn.0, Next week, Clairet and Bontemps will bring out Le Bloc. In the Tran- chee I am ambushed. "These agencies, these journals are for the Bonnet Rouge, what the torpedo fleet is for the cruisers. Altogether we continue to advance and with a light heart :" Although the Russian Bolsheviks under Lenine and Trot- sky did not overthrow the Kerensky government and seize Petrograd until Nov. 7, 1917, German propaganda seeking to armise a sym^pathetic movement in France had been scat- tered broadcast through the French Republic by the Bonnet Rouge publications throughout the first half of 1917. At Barcelona, Spain, a self styled French newspaper was founded with the same name as Lenine's Petrograd organ. Truth, which aided the Bolshevik campaign in France, and which also established a secret connection with the Bonmt Rouge. ^ This connection cost Duval 10,000 francs of Marx a money, and resulted in the Truth's support of Malvy and Caillaux. Some typical headlines from the Barcelona paper, which were cited by Clemenceau on September 3, 1917, to show the far reaching extent of CaiUauxism and Bolshevism and how in some places they overlapped, read as follows: "What Malvy ought to have replied to Clemenceau." "The Decline of England." "The Man of the Day, Caillaux." The editor of Bonnet Rouge who established connections with the Truth of Barcelona was Joucla. His operations 182 THE ENEMY WITHIN were described long afterward at his trial by Lt. Momet, his prosecutor in the following language: "Joucla was a spy as well as a journalist. "In the middle of the war he introduced himself to the German Consulate General at Barcelona upon presenting his card, as an editor of the Bonnet Rouge. He was received by a stout gentleman with gold eye glasses and blond hair, the Baron Roland, the German Consul General, himself. Joucla said he would like to locate a pro-German newspaper which had been started in Barcelona, and Baron Roland gave the visitor the address of the Truth." Joucla also received from Duval 10,000 francs to organize a newspaper, called Around the School, which was to streng- then still further the Bonnet Rouge's "torpedo fleet." At last Duval decided he would have to make another trip to Switzerland. He not only needed the Marx money, but the Marx approval of aU his many enterprises. He wanted to make a report concerning his various successes, and if possible persuade Marx that the treason payments be greatly increased. With Landau and Goldsky, Duval had a conference with Leymarie, chief director of Malvy's office. Duval told his old story about the liquidation of the San Stefano Company. Landau and Goldsky backed up Duval, and Leymarie with Malvy's sanction ordered the passport issued. In Switzerland Duval made such a pleasant impression upon Mars, that his request for more money was graciously granted. Marx gave him a check for 150,000 francs, dated May 12, 1917, and said that many more checks of a much larger figure would be forthcoming. Duval had now received personally or through Vercassion 925.000 francs from Marx, as follows: THE ENEMY WITHIN 183 March 'S8, 1916 To Duval 77,000 francs. May 30, 1916 To Duval 78,000 francs. July 8, 1916 To Duval 150,000 francs. Sept. 29—1916 to— Feb. 17, 1917 To Vercasson 470,738 francs. May 12, 1917 To Duval 150,000 francs. 925,738 francs. But Duval had made one trip too often. It was this 150,- 000 franc check, which caused the ruin of the whole Bormet Rouge gang and the collapse of the Great Conspiracy. Just as Duval reached Bellegarde on the Swiss frontier on his re- turn to Paris, a number of French officers surrounded him. One insisted on making a complete search of all his pos- sessions. In the bottom of an inside pocket, they found the check. "We will keep this," they said. "If you want it back, you can go to the Prefecture of Police, Paris." A cog in Malvy's machine had gone loose. Despite Malvy's own promise, despite the personal intervention of Leymarie, despite Duval's reception at Caillaux's country home, he sud- denly found himself jolted about like a common suspect, his pockets and valises rifled, and his 150,000 franc check gone. When the news reached the Bonnet Rouge office, pandi- monium broke loose. Goldsky and Landau ran in protest to Leymarie, and as soon as Duval reached Paris, they ac- companied him to the Ministry of the Interior. Again Duval told his San Stefano story, and after some whisperings be- tween Malvy and Leymarie, he got his check back. But the seizure and restitution of the Duval check started too great a scandal to be hid. True, all the papers re- lating to the affair were ordered sealed and put away. Sub- ordinates in the Ministry of the Interior, who knew Malvy's connections with the Bomnet Rouge were made to understand it was too delicate a situation to meddle with, 184 THE ENEMY WITHIN Indeed, the ghost of the Duval check might have remained indefinitely under lock and key, had not Maurice Barres in the Chamber of Deputies on July 7, 1917 brought it forth in all its ghastliness and made it point its spectral hands at Malvy. It happened to be a,*: a time when the Minister of the In- terior occupied the Tribune. He had been trying to justify the administration of his office. As if to defend Malvy, a socialist named Mayeras attempted to change the subject, by opening an attack on Barres. Barres ignored Mayeras, but turning full on Malvy he cried: "Since my colleague has given me a chance to speak I will ask the Minister of the Interior what measures he is taking against the 'Bonnet Rouge' gang.'' Why does he not have a certain 'Bonnet Rouge' rascal arrested?" Malvy's face turned white. He seemed to realize that from that moment the ghost, which stood before him, would never cease to haunt him. Premier Ribot, noticing that the Chamber would not let the incident pass without more trouble, and that a scandal involving Malvy might overthrow his already unsteady cab- inet, came to the rescue of his Minister of the Interior. The Premier explained that a check thought to be of suspicious origin, had been found in the pockets of a Bonnet Rouge editor on the Swiss frontier. The matter was being in- vestigated, he said. CHAPTER XV The "TiGteB." Leaps Clemenceau Attacks Malvy in Senate — Accuses Hvm of De- training Fra/nce — Exposes Minister of Interior as Friend of Enemy Agents — Reveals an Apache, as Real Head of Police — Almereyda's Sudden Death — Was He murdered to Protect Others More Powerfidf Next day the patriot newspapers of Paris, which for years had been vainly pointing out the dangers of Malvy's inaction, concentrated all their fire again on the Minister of the In- terior. They demanded the most searching investigation of all his dealings with pacifists, defeatists, anarchists and enemy agents. "Let us know all the truth about Malvy and the 'Bonnet Rouge,'' cried Daudet in V Action Frangaise. But these were only the first rumblings of the earthquake. The first real shock came on July 22, 1917, when Clemenceau, then a Senator, arose before his colleagues in the Palais du Luxembourg and openly accused Malvy of betraying France. There had been a desultory discussion of an interpellation to M. Debierre regarding the administration of the Health Bureau. After several had spoken and M. Painleve, Minister of War, was about to leave the Chamber, Clemenceau mounted the Tribune and said : *'We must put some order in this country." There was an ominous ring in these words which arrested attention. "The situation has become so grave, that some attention Ids 186 THE ENEMY WITHIN must be taken," he continued. "The nation Is beset with perils firithin, as well as without. Let us see what these dangers are." Looking at Malvy, the "Tiger" measured his distance and prepared to spring. Malvy's face turned white. "There is a notebook in the Ministry of the Interior, known as Garnet B," said Clemenceau. "It contains the names of anarchists and anti militarists, who should be watched at all times, and during mobilization, arrested. "At the outbreak of the war, It was the duty of M. Malvy to have put this dangerous element where it could have done no harm. But M. Malvy did nothing. He consulted me about the matter at the time, but whatever may have been my advice, he took no official action. Instead, he permitted Al- mereyda to act for him in negociating with these people. "And, who is Almereyda.?" Here Clemenceau read from police records a long list of crimes for which Almereyda had been convicted. It showed that the life of Malvy's associate had been one long chapter of violence and iniquity. Most of all it revealed him as the implacable enemy of government. Clemenceau read extracts from Almere3^da's Rheims speech urging the people to fight enlistment in the army, and ending with the words: "Each fellow countr3nrien should be anti patriotic. It should make no difference whether he is a German or a Frenchman." Clemenceau's four score years seemed to vibrate with all the vigor of early youth, as he pointed again toward Malvy and cried: "Tell me. How is it that the author of such a speech has been able to find friendly access to all the departments of the Ministry of the Interior? I never saw the Garnet B, but it would be the dispair of both God and man, if Almereyda were not in It. However, Almereyda is In it, and Almereyda knows he is in it. He also knows that he rejoiced to see the man who now holds this book made Minister of the Interior." Clemenceau spoke of a visit to the Bonnet Rouge office on THE ENEMY WITHIN 187 Oct.31, 1915. He said that Almereyda told of a convers- ation which Clemenceau reproduced as follows : "Almereyda, 'What are you doing with the note book B?' "Malvy, I am glad you spol° y °-o --^P" „o*°-'<^-^ -^^ 4»^ "% •^H^* A^ *^ o^Ol^* 4.^ "^ • ''bl?' "^^ "'/^'^^•* 4i_P o **" Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proces! '^P' * ftio ' ^ O. 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