ere. The commando is in charge of Excellenz de
Graaf, who has, as he tells me, an American wife, and who
through the past few months has shown this consulate all
possible consideration, as it seems to Mr. Ives and myself.
Twice during the great press of the first few weeks of the war,
he came to the office in person and made known his desire to
assist us in any way possible. Both Mr. Ives and myself have had
occasion to go to the commando many times on various errands,
and in nearly every case we have been granted the things we
desired. It would be difficult to find a man at home or abroad
with a more pleasant manner than de Graaf's, or who shows less
of the harsh or severe. Many of the English have gone to him,
and they in all cases, so far as I have heard, speak in highest
terms as to the way he has received them, and as to the entire
freedom given them in this city until the order of last Friday.

I have gone into the matter just a little because of a vicious
and, I think, wholly unwarranted attack in the papers, in which
Mr. George Edwardes, of London, is made to say quite improbable
things as coming from de Graaf, and perhaps made our work just a
little more difficult. Whether this be the case or not, I am
sure you will be glad to know that the commander here has given
ample evidence of desire to meet Mr. Ives and myself in every
request we have had to make of him.

I have, etc.,
H. W. HARRIS, American Consul-General.

The "entire freedom" allowed to English in Frankfort until the reprisal
order was made out is a fact that should be emphasised. It bears out the
idea that it was British action which brought about the general
internment order in Germany. Moreover, the reports as to ill-treatment
and deaths produced the same kind of effect on the other side as they
did on this. Of course, there were grave hardships on both sides, and,
indeed, Sir Edward Grey allowed (vide p. 79) that "the regime ...
through its hurried organisation, could not fail to contain a certain
number of defects at the outset."

The regime, like some other steps taken in this war, was too hurriedly
arranged in response to newspaper agitation. The _Cologne Gazette_,
complaining that Germans are treated like pariahs in England, asks if
Englishmen in Germany are "to enjoy for ever a life of gods unmolested."
(_