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HE Department of State of the United States on Sept. 8, 1917, startled the world by making public certain telegrams that had been sent in cipher to the Berlin Foreign Office-through the Stockholm Foreign Office-by the German Chargé at Buenos Aires, Argentina. Secretary Lansing's formal announcement was as follows:

The Department of State has secured certain telegrams from Count Luxburg, German Charge d'Affaires at Buenos Aires, to the Foreign Office at Berlin, which, I regret to say, were dispatched from Buenos Aires by the Swedish Legation as their own official messages, addressed to the Stockholm Foreign Office. The following are translations of the German text:

May 19, 1917. No. 32. This Government has now released German and Austrian ships on which hitherto a guard had been placed. In consequence of the settlement of the Monte [Protegido] case there has been a great change in public feeling. Government will in future only clear Argentine ships as far as Las Palmas. I beg that the small steamers Oran and Guazo, 31st of January, [meaning which sailed 31st,] 300 tons, which are [now] nearing Bordeaux with a view to change the flag, may be spared if possible or else sunk without a trace being left, ["spurlos versenkt."]

The Case of Herr Cronholm

This announcement by the American State Department was followed on Sept. 13 by another equally astonishing, as follows:

The Department of State made public tonight the following translation of a letter, dated March 8, 1916, from the German Minister at Mexico City to Chancellor von Bethmann Hollweg: Imperial Legation, Mexico, to his Excellency the Imperial Chancellor : Herr Folke Cronholm, the Swedish Chargé d'Affaires here, since his arrival here has not disguised his sympathy for Germany, and has entered into close relations with this legation. He is the only diplomat through whom information from a hostile camp can be obtained.

Moreover, he acts as intermediary for official diplomatic intercourse between this legation and your Excellency. In the course of this, he is obliged to go personally each time to the telegraph office, not seldom quite late at night, in order to hand in the telegrams.

Herr Cronholm was formerly at Peking and at Tokio, and was responsible for the preliminary arrangements which had to be made for the representation of his country in each case. Before he came out here he had been in charge of the Consulate General at Hamburg. Herr Cronholm has not got a Swedish but only a Chinese order at present.

I venture to submit to your Excellency the advisability of laying before his Majesty the Emperor the name of Herr Cronholm, with a view to the Crown Order of the Second Class being bestowed upon him. It would perhaps be desirable, in order not to excite the enemy's suspicion, to treat with secrecy the matter of the issue of the patents until the end of the war, should the decision be favorable to my suggestion. This would mean that the matter would be communicated to no one but the recipient and his Government, and even to them only under the seal of secrecy, while the publication of the bestowal of the decoration would be postponed until the end of the war.

I should be particularly grateful to your Excellency if I could be furnished with telegraphic news of the bestowal of the decoration, which I strongly recommend

Popular Indignation Aroused The two publications created a profound sition, especially in Argentina and other Beni Azerian countries-also in Sweden The ie.egramS from Count Luxtarg outa ning the phrase Sparlos Tereza was the first official confirmation that this policy of destroying knip crews was part of the general L-at campaign.

When the news reached Buenos Aires there was first bewilderment, then dismay, followed by an outburst of anger at the Germans. Mobs gathered in the streets; the German centres of Buenos Aires were invaded, many shops were wrecked, the chief German clubhouse and leading German newspaper offices were burned. The mobs were quelled only after large bodies of troops had been employed. Demonstrations against Germans also occurred at Montevideo, Uruguay.

The Argentine Senate on Sept. 19 further evidenced its displeasure by passing, by a vote of 23 to 1, a declaration to break off relations with Germany. Popular feeling at Buenos Aires was strong for an immediate rupture.

The Swedish Minister at Buenos Aires, Baron Lowen, the day after the disclosure of the Luxburg dispatches made a simple disclaimer, declaring:

I have not sent, nor caused to be sent, by the legation under my charge, any telegram from the German Legation. The news is a great and disagreeable surprise. I have cabled to my Government to clear up matters, In the United States they are very excitable.

Argentina was not slow in acting. On Sept. 13 Foreign Minister Pueyrredon sent the following note to Count Luxburg:

Mr. Minister:

You having ceased to be persona grata to the Argentine Government, that Government has decided to deliver to you your passports, which I transmit herewith by order of his Excellency the President of the nation.

The introducer of embassies has instructions to assist you in your immediate departure from the territory of the republic. God keep you. H. PUEYRREDON,

Larborg EnTy Extarri zut and Master FlenipotezLary of the German Pre

The passport issued to Count Luxburg reads:

Conndering that his Excellency Count Kari Lux Lenny Extra:nd nary and Kometer Furn potentiary of the German Empire, is less ng the Argentine Regating the authentes of the republic are hereby requested to protect him his passage to the fainter.

G.ven at Epenos Aires, Sept. 12, 1917. Vaid to the frontier.

PUEYRREDON.

Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Count Luxburg, who is also Minister to Uruguay, asked safe conduct to Montevideo instead of returning to Berlin.

Sweden's Official Statement

The Swedish Foreign Office, whose head is Admiral Lindman, Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement on Sept. 11:

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The Sw-lish Foreign Office has not rece.ved any amount regarding the transmission of the telegrams mentioned in the statements of the Government of the United States, and the Swedish Government therefore is unable at present to determine what its position should be on the questions opened up by these statements. It is, however, accurate to say that just after the world war broke out the Swedish Foreign Minister expressed the opinion that he ought to transmit a German telegram concerning the civil population of Kiao-Chau, (the former German fortress in the Chinese peninsula of Shantung.)

Statements to the same effect were made to the representatives of both belligerent groups without there being any question of Sweden taking over representation of any power's interests.

As regards the United States, in particular, the United States Minister here has this year in certain special cases demanded and obtained permission to transmit letters to and from Turkey, and at a time when Turkey was not in a state of war with America and when Sweden had not yet taken over the protection of American interests.

In the Summer of 1915 the wish was expressed from the British side that the transmission of telegrams between Germany and North America should cease. No formal demand was made, but notwithstanding this the Foreign Minister acceded to the wish. The Swedish Minister, who was cognizant of all the ne

gotiations, was of the opinion that this was no bar to the continued transmission of telegrams to neutral States other than the United States and therefore to Argentina. Since then Sweden has continued to be the intermediary for communications between Germany and the Argentine.

The telegram mentioned in the American statement was written in code and in transmitting it the Swedish Minister was by that reason unable to recopy it. Whether its contents were as represented is a point which the first duty of the Swedish Government must be to confirm, and its next action must be to get an explanation from Germany if it be found that any misuse has taken place. Sweden will also, without regard to any reference made to her, take measures to prevent any repetition of the incident.

No application as to the cessation of the transmission of telegrams from Germany to the Argentine Republic has yet been made, either by the British or American Government, either now or at an earlier period.

The whole affair has only become known to the public through the press, but in spite of this the wishes, officially and semi-officially expressed by the interested parties, would immediately have been acceded to.

This statement was regarded as disingenuous, especially with reference to the transmission of letters to Turkey for the United States, for the reason that those dispatches were not in cipher, and their contents were open to the Turkish authorities to read.

The British authorities also criticised the statement. They held that it acknowledged a violation of the promise made to the British Government in 1916 to the effect that Sweden's practice of

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becoming an intermediary for the transmission of dispatches to Germany would

cease.

In Sweden the disclosure was received with much indignation by the public, and it had the effect of winning for the opposition many new seats in the Chamber, an election being in progress at the time.

Germany gave the exposure no official recognition until Sept. 18, when the German Minister to Sweden formally expressed to the Swedish Government at Stockholm Germany's "keen regret for the embarrassments caused Sweden through the Buenos Aires telegram affair." The Swedish newspapers, both Government and Opposition, in their comments indicated that Germany's expression was not adequate, and the resentment which swept over the country at being made Germany's catspaw deepened. Up to Sept. 20 neither Germany nor Mexico had vouchsafed any official expression regarding the Mexican note, though Minister von Eckhardt issued a perfunctory denial of the charges, with the intimation that the letter was not genuine. Deep resentment was evidenced in official circles in England and France, especially against the rôle Sweden had assumed, but no official steps were taken. The Swedish Government, on Sept. 15, announced that no further messages of any sort would be forwarded for Germany from any point, with an intimation that the Government felt that it had been imposed upon and its courtesy abused by the character of the messages it had been called upon to transmit.

31, 1917, when thirty-eight members of the crew were deliberately drowned after they had left their ship. His statement fully corroborates the affidavits-published in CURRENT HISTORY MAGAZINE for September (Page 406)—of the chief engineer and one of the sailors. Mr. Selenski's sworn statement is as follows:

"I signed at Liverpool on July 23, and sailed on the 24th. On July 31 the ship was torpedoed without warning, about

200 miles from the Irish coast. When the crew took to the boats the submarine hailed them to come alongside. They were then ordered to come on board the submarine. Five Germans who were in a small boat then smashed the lifeboats of the Belgian Prince with hatchets. The crew were then ordered to take off their lifebelts, and the liebelts were taken down below in the submarine. The Captain was ordered down below also. The crew were on board the submarine for about an hour, on the foredeck, when, without any warning, the submarine submerged and left the crew to swim about, there being nothing in sight except the Belgian Prince, which had not sunk, but we could only just see her in the distance.

"I made up my mind to reach the ship, but I was endeavoring to save the third officer, and kept him afloat for half an hour, when he said, 'Oh, let me go now, and look after yourself.' I then swam to the ship and successfully reached her, after being in the water from 9 o'clock at night until 5 o'clock the next morning, Aug. 1. When I reached the ship there was the Jacob's ladder over the side, and I managed to get up this and boarded the ship. I was only aboard about half an hour when the submarine returned to the ship, and three or four Germans came on board and started to gather the clothes up out of the officers' quarters. All this time I was hiding at the after-end of the ship, but after the Germans had finished pilfering in the saloon they came toward the place where I was hiding, and there was nothing for me to do but jump over the stern again into the water.

"I then swam and held on to the rudder for half an hour, and then, as the submarine was coming away from the starboard side, I was compelled to swim to the port side to avoid them seeing me. The submarine then fired at the ship to make sure of sinking her, and eventually the ship started to settle down, and I was again compelled to swim about, and then the Germans noticed me and pointed their fingers at me, and were laughing and grinning also. I then swam to a dinghy which had floated off the ship, and, after struggling for about half an hour, I managed to get in the

boat; but prior to getting in the boat I picked up the ship's cat, which was floating about on a piece of timber, and took it in the boat with me.

"After about half an hour I was picked up by a patrol boat, and when I got on board the chief engineer and second cook were on board. I was then landed, and returned to Liverpool. I left the ship's cat with the crew of the patrol boat. I am now anxious to get away to sea again, and am waiting to know how long I shall have to wait before I can go. I was anxious to get back after I had been at home three days."

Narrative of Ship's Cook

One of the two other survivors, William Snell, a negro, who was the second cook on the Belgian Prince, and who has returned to his home in Newport News, Va., gave the following detailed narrative to a New York newspaper:

The Belgian Prince left Philadelphia for Liverpool last June 24, with a cargo of ammunition and supplies, and reached Liverpool On July 15. There she reloaded with china clay and salt, and on July 27 started on her way back to America, Newport News being her objective point.

On July 31, at 8 o'clock in the evening, while I was in my cabin writing a letter, I heard an explosion, and soon after that another one. The first one was a shell which tore into the side of the vessel; the second one a shell which put our wireless apparatus out of commission. These details I learned afterward when I got on deck. But the moment I heard the noise I knew that we were being attacked, and I put on my lifebelt and ran to the deck.

Every man of the crew had been drilled and knew just what to do, and so there was no confusion. Three lifeboats were lowered and we were then ordered to gather alongside the submarine on the starboard side of the Belgian Prince. Machine guns on the deck of the U-boat were aimed at us and her crew also were armed with revolvers which covered us.

The commander, speaking very good English, ordered us to throw up our hands. We did so, and he then asked, Where's the Captain?

"Here I am," answered our Captain, and the commander told him to get aboard. The commander of the U-boat was a man of perhaps 27 years or so, smooth shaven and good-looking. At first he was rather pleasant, but this soon wore off, and he became

extremely grouchy after awhile and frowned and seemed ready to kill every one of us.

"Where are your papers?" asked the commander. And after our Captain had given them to him he ordered our Captain to follow him below. A few minutes afterward the commander returned to the deck alone.

"Are there any gunners among you?" asked the commander. There were nine, but the first officer was afraid not only that the gunners would be put to death, but that all of us would have to suffer on account of them, so he said, "We had some, but they were all killed."

"Well, if there are no gunners among you," he said, bring your boats alongside, and all hands come on deck."

Nine of the submarine's crew held revolvers at our faces while we were getting aboard. And we were then lined up forward of the conning tower. The commander also held a revolver in one hand, while with the other he searched us to see whether any of us had weapons in our clothes. When he got thorugh, he asked: "Has any among you any kind of weapon?" which all of us replied negatively, except that most of us had jack knives.

one

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"Well, now take off your lifebelts," was his next order, "and lay them down on the deck." He seemed to take a greater dislike to some of us than to others, for he picked up some of the lifebelts and threw them into the sea.

Just then another officer of the U-boat spoke to the commander in German. I could not understand what he said. The one who spoke German appeared to be of higher rank than the commander, because as soon as he had finished talking the commander ordered his men to get into our two larger lifeboats and throw the oars overboard; then, after removing to his own vessel all the provisions and whisky and whatever other supplies we had, he himself removed the plugs, and the lifeboats immediately began filling with water. But they did not sink. I have heard it said since that the submarine crew used axes to destroy the lifeboats. I may have been too excited at the time to notice everything that was going on, but I hardly believe that this is true. In fact, one of our boats-the Captain's boat-which had been run alongside the U-boat on the port side while the other two were on the starboard side, touched at all.

was not

After the lifeboats had filled with water they were cut loose from the U-boat and they began drifting away.

The commander then pushed us forward away from the conning tower. Four Germans entered our Captain's boat and put off to the Belgian Prince, probably with bombs to blow up the vessel.

The next thing we knew the commander ducked into the conning tower, and closed the cap over it, and we of the Belgian

Prince were left alone on the submarine's deck. At almost the same moment we heard a whirring sound below, and presently the submarine started off at a lively clip. The Belgian Prince was soon left far behind. We must have gone about fourteen miles in the direction away from shore -the Irish coast was about 175 miles awaywhen I began feeling the water come up over my feet. Some of the others laughed and kept on chatting, and one of the men asked me for a cigarette. I told them I couldn't understand how they could take it so easy when it was plain that we were going to be drowned. Most of the men still laughed. They could not believe it possible that human beings could be fiendish enough to do such a thing.

When we were ordered to put our lifebelts on the deck I folded mine up before laying it down and then stood on it. Afterward I slipped it under my mackintosh; and now, when I saw that the submarine was getting lower and lower in the water, I slipped the lifebelt over my head and jumped into the water.

The reason I jumped was because I was afraid that when the submarine submerged the suction would drag us down to death. Scarcely had I struck out swimming and gotten a few yards away from the submarine before she went down with a peculiar sound, as if somebody had hit the surface of the water with a broad slat-something like a .loud" whup."

The men began hollering, "Help! help!" It was awful. There we were, hundreds of miles from human help. The impossibility of obtaining help made the cries of the men SO much more frightful. It was now about 9 o'clock and dark; still I could distinguish forms near me. They were men swimming, and among them nearest to me was a seaman I knew well but never knew his name. He, too, recognized me. Cook," he said, can you see her?" He meant the Belgian Prince, toward which we were swimming. I couldn't. It was too dark and beginning to become misty, and she was so far away.

Well, good-bye," he said, after a little while, "I can't go any further. Pray for me." And then I heard a gurgling sound and could not see him any more. We had been in the water more than half an hour. He was less than ten yards from me.

At 11 o'clock I could still see some men afloat. The water was calm on the surface, but the undercurrents were frightfully strong and gripped and pulled me around and around. The lifebelt undoubtedly saved me. I am a good swimmer and strong, but nobody without aid could last overnight in such a swirl of currents.

When daylight came I could see the Bel