that the
devotion to duty and uniform kindness of all the camp
authorities has been wonderful and the relations of our Embassy
with them always most agreeable. It is impossible to conceive of
better camp commanders than Graf Schwerin and Baron Taube.--I
have, etc.,

JAMES W. GERARD.

The last sentence is noteworthy. Commendation of the Camp Commanders
could not be more emphatic.

ENCLOSURE 2.

_Mr. Minot to Mr. Gerard._

June 3, 1915.

Sir,--I have the honour to submit to you the following report
upon various improvements which have taken place in the civil
internment camp for British prisoners at Ruhleben-bei-Spandau
since the month of November, 1914:

Of the 4,500 British civil prisoners interned in Germany,
approximately 4,000 are at this date held at Ruhleben, the
remaining 500 being scattered in small detachments in various
other internment camps. The German Government have arranged
that these detachments shall be absorbed by Ruhleben, so that
within a few months all the British civil prisoners interned in
Germany will be in Ruhleben. The difficulty of enlarging the
facilities of Ruhleben and the necessary precautionary measures
of quarantining have made the process of combination a long one,
but there is every reason to believe that it will soon be
completed.

The increase in the number of prisoners at Ruhleben has
necessitated substantial additions to the barracks, most of
which were overcrowded at the beginning of the war. Eight new
barracks of one storey have been erected (four being already
occupied), affording accommodation for 120 men each. These
barracks are substantially built of wood, with well-set floors
and large windows. The roofs have been waterproofed with tarred
paper, and the walls stained to resist the rain.[22] In the four
new barracks which are now occupied a small room for the guard
has been added, but in the new barracks this has been considered
unnecessary, as it is hoped that the guards in the barracks at
night may shortly be dispensed with. The last new barracks has
been built with a special view towards housing convalescent or
delicate persons. Partitions have been erected so as to cut up
the barrack into small divisions, and two wa