The Krupp trial in Germany came to an end last
Saturday, when Herr Brandt, the Berlin agent of the famous firm of Krupp, was sentenced to four months' imprisonment for bribery, and Herr Eccius, the director in charge of the war material department of the firm, was fined £60 fOr aiding and
abetting Herr Brandt. As the period during which Herr Brandt had been detained was allowed to count in the term of imprisonment, he was at once released. The sentences appear light enough, nor is it quite easy for English minds to understand the weight allowed to" mitigating circumstances." Under this head it was pointed out that the information which the prisoners obtained from officers and officials was of great importance to Krupps, and that the bribes they bestowed were very small. The close relation of Krupps to the Government is a curious but well-known fact, and we can well believe that when officers gave away military secrets they may often have been speaking without any thought of wrong- doing, as freely as they would have spoken to an officer of the General Staff. When, however, presents of money began to arrive from Herr Brandt, they must have seen what sort of agent he was. They then committed one of the vilest of faults in accepting the money, and of course, as educated men brought up under a strict code of honour, must have known exactly what they were doing.
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