necessary for
war purposes through Sweden in exchange for potash and other
commodities.

An officer of the war ministry, who comes to see me about
prisoners, etc., told me last night that because the French have
kept several hundred Germans as prisoners in Dahomey and other
places in Africa, fifteen thousand French prisoners will be sent
to work in the unhealthy swamps of Holstein. I have cabled the
State Department often about this Dahomey business, transmitting
the request of Germany that these prisoners be sent to Europe.
Germans cannot be beaten on reprisals.

* * * * *

Two or three German-Americans have attacked the President,
Secretary Bryan and our Government, some publicly. I have ordered
their passports taken away and hope to be sustained. To permit
them to continue poisoning the atmosphere would be taken as a
sign of weakness here. No one who abuses his own country, its
government or its Chief is entitled to protection from that
country.

We have the visiting of British prisoners in good shape now, that
prohibition put on our visiting and inspecting the camps was
abolished in March by the "treaty" I arranged between England and
Germany. It was not until March twenty-ninth that we finally got
passes to visit camps under the "treaty." The prisoners say they
are badly treated when they are first captured, but we know only
of their treatment in the camps.

I do not believe all the atrocity stories; but one of our
servants in this house came back from the East front recently and
said the orders were to kill all Cossacks. Our washerwoman
reports that her son was ordered to shoot a woman in Belgium and
I myself have heard an officer calmly describe the shooting of a
seven-year-old Belgian girl child, the excuse being that she had
tried to fire at an officer.

If the _Lusitania_ business settles down, I hope the suggestion
made to me by the authorities here and cabled to the State
Department, will be carried into effect. This was that each
American and Spanish Ambassador, having charge of prisoners in
belligerent countries, should meet in Switzerland and discuss the
whole prison situation. Each Ambassador would be accompanied by
representatives of whatever authorities deal with prisoners (here
the War Ministry) in the country to which he is accredited. To
prevent unseemly discussions the actual talking would be done by
the Ambassadors (coached by those representatives). In a