"And now he has died in bitter disappointment. His striking outward appearance has always reminded us of the Iron Chancellor, but the similarity in the character of the two men has only become apparent during the last few years. It is well known that when the troubles in the colonies had been settled he was accused of having enriched himself at the expense of the country. He never lost his resentment of this accusation; and even though his accusers can point to the fact that the court which had to investigate the claims put forward by the Government gave judgment to the effect that some of these claims were justified, it must be said in reply that this statement of the case is inadequate and one-sided. All that was proved was that Woermann, who hated red tape, and who never had recourse to legal assistance when drawing up his agreements, did not use as much caution in this matter as would have been advisable in his own interest. The facts that have become known most clearly disprove the accusation that he had made large profits at the expense of the country, and that he had used the country's distress to enrich himself. To the task of carrying out the troop transports he devoted himself with his customary largeness of purpose, and he accomplished it magnificently. In order to be able to do so, he had enlarged his fleet by a number of steamers, and the consequence was that, when the work was achieved, he had to admit himself that he had over-estimated his strength. When my late colleague Dr. Wiegand, the Director-General of the North German Lloyd, and I were asked to express an expert opinion on the rates which Woermann had charged the Government, we found them thoroughly moderate; in fact, we added a rider to the effect that if either of our companies had been entrusted with those transports, we could only have carried out a very few expeditions at the rates charged by Woermann. Woermann, however, carried through the whole task; and when it was done he found himself compelled to pass on to the shoulders of the Hamburg-Amerika Linie part of the excessive burden which he had taken upon himself.
"His iron determination would have enabled him to dispense with the assistance thus obtained. But by that time his accusers had commenced their attacks on his character, and when the Government had officially taken up an attitude against him, he became a prey to that resentment to which I have referred before. All those who had the privilege of being associated with him during the past few years must have noted with grief how this great patriot gradually became an embittered critic. The heavy blow also led to the breakdown of his health, and during the last years of his life we only knew him as a sick man.