Front matter (continued 4)

Whatever system we decide to adopt to protect ourselves against espionage in the future, there is no question that the entire matter ought to be in the hands of one central authority, with very wide powers of inquiry and action. We must put an end once and for all to the idiotic—no other word is strong enough—position in which Mr. McKenna is able to say that outside London the spy-peril is no concern of his, and that he has no power of action. Whether we complete and extend the operations of the Confidential Department, or whether some new organisation is brought into being, the matter of espionage for the country as a whole ought to be centralised in the hands of a single authority.

I know certain people are likely to raise a grumble that the cost will be considerable. Supposing it is? No one suggests that we should spend, as Germany has been spending, £720,000 a year on spying on our neighbours; all that we need to do is to establish a complete system of contra-espionage, and look after the people who want to spy on us. In doing this, surely the expenditure of a few thousands a year would be money well invested.

In France a system has been adopted—too late, unfortunately, so far as the present war is concerned—by which the public are invited to co-operate in the work of checking the activities of the spies, by giving to the proper authority information of any suspicious cases coming to their notice.

My view is that a somewhat similar procedure should be adopted here. In this way public opinion would be educated up to the importance of the subject, and a great deal of valuable information would be acquired. It is certain, of course, that much of this information would be valueless, but it would be the duty of the special department to separate the chaff from the wheat, and to see that every suspicious case was duly inquired into. Apart from anything else, this action by the public would, in itself, give the spies to pause, for they would realise how much more difficult it would be for them to carry on their nefarious work undetected.

I come now to perhaps the most unpleasant feature of the spy problem—the possibility of our betrayal by traitors in our own ranks. I am proud to think that, in this respect, we are perhaps better off than any nation under the sun, but at the same time, there have been, in recent years, one or two proved cases, and, as I have already said, a good many where grounds existed for very grave suspicion. However mortifying it may be to our national pride, we cannot overlook the possibility of our secrets being sold to the enemy by men of our own blood.

In this connection, I cannot do better than quote an instructive passage from Paul Lenoir's masterly book on "The German Spy System in France," one of the most complete and fascinating exposures of German machinations that has ever been written, and a veritable mine of information on German aims and methods. Lenoir relates how, on one occasion, he had a long conversation with a very distinguished member of the German spy administration who had expressed the wish to meet him. In the course of their conversation, the German said:—

"Ah! If only you knew how many of your politicians who shout and declaim in France demanding the suppression of your Secret Service funds—if you only knew how many of those men are drawing thumping good salaries out of our Secret Service funds; if only you knew what proportion of their election expenses is paid by us every four years!"

I do not suppose for a moment that we have in England anything of this kind; the class of men who secure election to the House of Commons is no doubt above temptation. I, however, mention this instance, revealed be it remembered by a Frenchman working hard in his country's cause, to show how very far the German espionage bureau is prepared to go to seduce men from their natural allegiance, and convert them into the most dangerous enemies of their country. And, with regret I confess it, we have to face the fact that even in our own services there are some whose honour is not proof against the lavish stream of German gold.

How to detect and defeat them is indeed a difficult problem; all we can say is that in this, as in other matters, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. But at least we can say that when they are caught these men ought to be made to pay a terrible price for their treachery, as an example and a deterrent to others. There must be no illegal sentences of death, as in the Ahlers case. There must be no paltering with this blackest of crimes, and no concession to the sentimentalists of the cocoa-Press.

In conclusion, I appeal to my readers to believe that I do feel, after many years' study of this subject, that in German espionage lies one of the greatest dangers our beloved country has to face.

I earnestly appeal to them to do all in their power to assist in forming a vigorous public opinion, that shall insist that, at whatever cost, this canker in our public life shall be rooted out. We must—and we can, if we devote our attention to it—make an end to the spy in our midst, and make it impossible that our hospitality shall be abused by those who are plotting our downfall. To do this a strong and healthy public opinion, which shall drive supine officials to determined action, is the first and greatest requisite. Without that—and it is the purpose of this book to assist in rousing it—we shall drift back into the old rut of contemptuous and incredulous neglect, and it is more than probable that our last state will be worse than our first.

We can rest assured that Germany will never willingly give up the system that has paid her such enormous profits; it is for us to meet craft with craft, to smash her spy organisation, to show her that we are determined that we will put an end to an insidious form of attack which in time of peace—whatever we may think of espionage in time of war—is nothing short of moral and political corruption in its worst and most hideous form.

Another point which has apparently been overlooked by the public is the fact that as recently as January 14th the United States Embassy, acting for Germany and Austria, announced the astounding fact that German men over 55, Austrian men over 50, with all those physically unfit for military service, as well as all women of both countries, may leave Great Britain and return to the land of their birth! The Ambassador stated that anyone wishing to do so should apply to the Home Office (Permits Department) for the necessary permission; and, further, that the Austro-Hungarian Government were organising personally-conducted parties to Vienna and Budapest!

Now, it is to be sincerely hoped that the Home Office (Permits Department) will not consider any man who has a weak heart, a faulty leg, or bad teeth, or is over 50, incapable of acts of espionage. Further, as alien women have been allowed to move freely about the country, and as our Confidential Department knows that the enemy has already made good use of the fair sex as spies, is it really too much to expect that the Permits Department will—if aliens are allowed to leave at all—grant the necessary passes with a very sparing hand, and submit to severe examination anyone desirous of joining these personally-conducted parties which sound so delightfully alluring?

But to the man-in-the-street this official announcement of the United States Embassy, especially after the prosecution of Mr. Ahlers, must cause considerable dismay. Are we to allow these enemy aliens who have been among us ever since the outbreak of war to return, and carry with them all the information they have been able to gather?

Surely this is a most important point to which public attention should at once be directed! If the Home Office are actually about to issue permits to enemy aliens to return home, then why bother any further about espionage? We may just as well accept Mr. McKenna's assurances, close our eyes, and fold our arms.

Further, with the illuminating discussion in the House of Lords on January 6th, 1915, the Briton—as apart from the politician, or the supporter of the cocoa-Press—surely cannot be satisfied. The Government spokesmen told us that we still had among us no fewer than 27,000 Germans and Austrians at liberty, and of this number 2,998 were living in prohibited areas—an increase of 37 since November 7th! The lack of organisation for dealing with these aliens is the most deplorable feature of the administration. There are three separate authorities. The navy, military and police all act according to their own interpretations of the Defence of the Realm Act, and when one or other takes drastic steps for the removal of alien enemies, somebody who stands in the background reverses the process. A truly amazing state of affairs.

The splendid efforts of the Earl of Portsmouth, the Earl of Crawford, Lord Leith of Fyvie, Viscount St. Aldwyn, Lord St. Davids, the Earl of Selborne, Viscount Galway and Lord Curzon made in the House of Lords seem, alas! to be of no avail, for, while on November 25th Mr. McKenna gave details showing the distribution of male alien enemies, the latest figures supplied in the House of Lords on January 6th by Viscount Allendale show:—

Nov. 25th Jan. 6th

Aberdeen to Berwick 35 59

Northumberland to the Wash 543 437

The Wash to Thames Estuary 54 38

Thames Estuary to Dorsetshire 136} 161

Devonport to Plymouth 3 }

————

Total 771 695

————

Our authorities have actually admitted that from November 7th to January 7th, 49 more alien enemies have gone to live on the East Coast of Scotland and on the South Coast of England! And Mr. McKenna has permitted them to do so!

Surely by the official assurances of safety an attempt has been made to lull us to sleep—and we are now being slowly lulled into the hands of the enemy!

In these same areas were 2,190 women alien enemies on November 25th, as compared with 2,303 at the present time.

The figures show that there has been a decrease of 106 in the neighbourhood of the Yorkshire raid. But there has been an increase of 22 on the South Coast, and of 27 on the East Coast of Scotland.

Under whose authority, one may surely ask, have 49 alien enemies been permitted to settle on the Scotch and South Coasts?

With these 27,000 alien enemies free to move five miles in each direction from any area in which they may be living, and power to make longer journeys if they can get a permit—not a very difficult thing to do—the Home Office is adding to the danger by encouraging a movement for the release of some of the 15,000 alien enemies interned originally because they were held to be dangerous. The Chief Constables who are being asked to certify such as might be released, may, I quite think with the Evening News, be pardoned for giving a liberal interpretation of the request.

Surely every sane man must agree with the opinion expressed by the same outspoken journal, namely, that with some 35,000 Germans and Austrians, registered and naturalised, moving freely in our midst, a Government which permits that freedom is taking risks which it ought not to take. The German Government, in their wisdom, are not guilty of such folly. Every British subject, even those who have lived there for forty years, and can hardly speak their mother-tongue, is interned.

Why, if a naturalised German is known to be an enemy of the country of his adoption—be he waiter or financier—should any tenderness be displayed towards him?

He is an enemy, and whatever Lord Haldane or Mr. McKenna may say, he must be treated as such. I write only as an Englishman fighting for his own land.

I repeat that I have no party politics, but only the stern resolve that we must win this war, and that all who lean to the enemy in any manner whatever must go, and be swept with their fine houses, their wives and their social surroundings into oblivion.

To-day we, as Britons, are fighting for our existence. To give our alien enemies a chance of espionage is a criminal act.

Sir Henry Dalziel advocates the constitution of an Aliens Board to deal with the whole subject. He evidently has no faith in the present indecision, for he has expressed himself in favour of moving all alien enemies fifty miles from the coast.

The flabby policy of indecision is, one must agree, a mistake.

No one wants to embarrass the Government, who in so many ways have done admirably, but, in the face of the serious dangers which must arise from the presence of 27,000 alien enemies within our gates at this moment, even implicit confidence must not stand in the way of a stern and effective national defence.

And the removal of the spy danger is, I maintain, eminently a matter of national defence.

It is for the public to make a stern and unmistakable demand.

The following lines, from an anonymous pen, appeared on December 10th in the Evening News, which has performed a patriotic work in pointing out the peril of spies, and demanding that they should be interned. Though amusing, the words really contain a good deal of truth:—

"Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Kaiser to the Spy, "For I've lots of work to give you, and the pay is very high, And you've only got to send me a report from day to day, All about the English people, and the things they do and say. "There is Fritz and Franz and Josef, though their names you may not know, You may write to them and see them, but as 'Number So-and-So,' And should you meet your brother or your mother at the game, You are not to recognise them; they're numbers just the same. "You will travel through the country in the name of Henry Jones, Or as Donald P. McScotty, selling artificial stones; You will rent a modest dwelling in the shadow of a base, And when nobody is looking you will photograph the place.

"Then 'Hoch' unto your Kaiser, 'Am Tag' your daily cry, God bless our Krupps and Zeppelins, the victory is nigh. God bless our shells! and dum-dums! Kultur shall fight her way; God, Emperor, and Fatherland in one Almighty sway."

FOOTNOTES:

THE END

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