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Ships Are Convenient but German Sounding Names Are Dis- astrous-- Details of Hun Plot to Use U. 5. Registry as Cloak HEN the vessels of the American Transatlantic Co, were taken over recently by A. Mitchell Palmer, alien property custodian, it was disclosed that the ves- sels were German owned and that'a plot based on typical German duplicity had been going on for three years in an attempt to deceive the United States government as to the true owner- ship of the vessels. The active member of the American Trans- atlantic Co., afterward known as the Foreign Transport & Mercantile Corp., was Richard G. Wagner, born in Milwaukee of German parents. Wagner, as the alien property custodian points out, was a typical German, one of the type who profess to be 100 per cent American while at the same time carrying out secret plans to fur- ther the German cause.. His true German characteristics were further on display as much of his intrigue was of a crude sort, childlike in fact. Under a gruelling cross examination Wag- ner was compelled to admit the fact which his own correspondence revealed, that Germany supplied the funds to finance the shipping ven- ture. Attempts were made to embroil the United States with England as an outcome of Wagner's operations for when the GENESEE, one of Wag- ner's ships was seized by the British Ambassa- dor Von Bernstorff and his staff of propagand- ists did all they could to agitate dissension and to bring about a break between this country and England over this "infringement" on Amer- ican rights. In an attempt to deceive the United States government as to the stockholders of his com- pany, Wagner repeatedly tried to get men with American names to act as directors. He sent out many form letters to influential Americans. Edward B. Elcock, of Chicago, was persistently | urged to lend the use of his name to prove that the vessels were American owned, and was even offered stock, gratis, if he would give his con- sent. Mr. Elcock, however, was too loyal to America to consider the proposition and, as the correspondence given in this article shows, too shrewd to be caught in the same net that had ensnared other well meaning but less shrewd Americans. Wagner was a hard worker and succeeded in partially deceiving the American, British and French governments for a period of three years. The full story of his. activities as revealed by the alien property custodian and published in this article discloses one. of the most carefully laid plans to deceive the government that has developed since the long story of German de- ception in this country began to be unfolded. A. Mitchell Palmer, alien property custodian, announced recently that he had taken over the American Trans- atlantic Co. and the Foreign Transport & Mercantile Corp. on the ground that their stock is owned by the shipping interests of Germany. In compliance with Mr. Palmer's demand, the shares in the American Transatlantic Co. and in the Foreign Transport & Mercantile Corp. have been delivered to him. Wagner Admits Deception Mr. Palmer took over these concerns after Richard G. Wagner the moving spirit of the company in this country, had confessed to Fraucrs P. Garvan, director of the bureau of investigation of the alien property custodian's office, that for three years he had deceived various government departments, the British and French prize courts, and _ Senators and congressmen, as to the.real Ownership of the company. Under a grilling cross-examination by Mr. Garvan, Wagner confessed that the money with which these compan- les were organized and with which their ships were purchased, had been Supplied by persons with German affiliations, and that practically no _ money belonging to an American citizen had ever, been invested in the companies. The value of the ships of these two companies can best be judged from the fact that the Hudson "Bay Co. had offered to pay $7,500,000 for them. Wagner demanded $8,000,000. The London board of trade, however, ob- jected to the Hudson Bay Co. paying more than $7,500,000. Mr. Wagner refused this offer, although it meant a profit of approximately $5,000,000, the original investment in the ships having been about $2,600,000. | Again in February, 1917, the Cam- pagnie Generale Transatlantique, a well-known steamship line, had a 30- days option to purchase the ships for $9,300,000. Richard G. Wagner, president of the companies, was born in Milwaukee 56 years ago. His father was a German, who changed his name from Wagen- knecht. Wagner was educated in Rensselaer Polytechnic institute at Troy, N. Y., and for a period of 12 years thereafter was engaged in the bridge building business. Later he took up the beet sugar industry and engaged in that business for 14 years. In 1914 he left Wisconsin and went to New York. 443 On Dec. 29, 1914, five months after the European war opened, Wagner sailed for Rotterdam, ostensibly for 'the purpose of providing for a supply of sugar beet seed. He visited Berlin and then Mulheim, the home of Hugo Stinnes, the wealthy German ship owner and coal operator. Wagner then went to Copenhagen, where he met his cousin, Albert Jensen. Wag- ner told Mr. Garvan that he was not related to Jensen in any way, yet in letters he had addressed him as "Dear Cousin." Plans Are Carefully Laid Jensen was managing director of the Copenhagen Coal & Coke, Gm, which is owned by Hugo Stinnes., After talking to Jensen, Wagner, as stated in the opinion of the Eden of. the prize court in London, seems to have "transferred his commercial affection from the sweetness of sugar, of which he knew much, to the seduc- tiveness of ships, of which he knew nothing." Wagner told Mr. Garvan that when in Copenhagen he and Jensen made arrangements for the purchase of a fleet of merchant ves- sels. He said that Jensen was to furnish the money for the ships, and