27,000 ALIENS AT LARGE IN GREAT BRITAIN
We know, from official sources, that in spite of all the foolish
self-congratulation of Mr. McKenna and his friends--who are "getting
on" towards Birthday Honours,--and his attempt to gag the _Globe_,
there are some 27,000 alien enemies still at large in Great Britain,
and upon their activities on their country's behalf, until recently our
only check was the shadowy form of "registration" that we have adopted.
Even many of those interned are now being released upon bonds being
given by responsible citizens.
Unfortunately, anyone who ventures to suggest that these people--whose
bonds may be signed by persons in German pay--may constitute a very
serious danger, is at once branded, officially, as an alarmist, and
accused of attempting to manufacture a "spy scare," whatever official
optimists may mean by that term.
I am no alarmist, and the last thing I should wish to see in our
country would be a scare of any description. But as I have, for so
many years, made a special study of the spy question, as the evidence
I was able to lay before the Government caused the establishment of
our anti-espionage precautions, I think, without undue egotism, I may
claim to know something about the matter. I should have remained silent
unless I had been absolutely convinced that there is still a very real
and very grave peril of espionage owing to our supineness in this
matter of aliens living here practically uncontrolled, and certainly
owing to their great numbers not being under anything like effective
supervision.
The popular idea of the spy still seems to be that he is, invariably,
an individual sent specially from Germany to wander about this country
picking up such scraps of information as he can. There could be no
more dangerous delusion. The Germans are far too acute to trust to
such methods; they know a great deal too much about the science of
espionage to dream of thinking that foreigners sent hap-hazard into
this country--obviously strangers and, therefore, most likely to invite
attention--are likely to be able to carry out safely the difficult
and dangerous work of espionage. Their secret agents are chosen,
invariably, with the utmost care and method.
The "foreign" spy is not the worst peril; the real danger comes from
those who, for years, have made their homes among us, who have married
Englishwomen, and have become so familiar to their neighbours that they
are in little or no danger of being under the slightest suspicion.
This has been proved over and over again, both here and in France,
during the present war.
The case of the barber Ernst was a good instance. This man had carried
on business at the same shop _for sixteen years_, and we can be quite
sure that the last thing his neighbours thought of him was that he was
a spy in German pay! No. He was a good Englishman like the rest of us.
Yet, it was shown that he was a secret agent of the most dangerous
character, and even worthy of a personal visit from the great and
distinguished Steinhauer himself!
Now I hope that the many who have read my books over the last twenty
years will at least believe that I am one of the last men to be
suspected of any desire to belittle my own countrymen. I am simply an
Englishman who has tried to interest them. To-day I point a peril to
each and all of my million readers. But I wish to make it quite clear
that nothing I say in this connection should be taken as reflecting
on the work of our Confidential Department--a department which has
done magnificently and which in every way I respect. They have matched
brains against brains, and cunning against cunning, and the balance of
the account is decidedly in their favour. They have, indeed, fooled
Steinhauer's agents all through--examined their correspondence and
their reports, tracked the agents down by the information thus gained,
arrested a large number of them, and to a very great extent smashed
the organisation in its original form. So much I cheerfully admit, and
congratulate them heartily upon their success. My point is that the
work has not gone far enough, that what they have done has not been
adequately supplemented, that much yet remains to be done before we can
assume that a reasonable degree of security has been attained.
On October 8th last, a very important statement was issued by the Home
Secretary, describing the steps that had been taken "to deal with the
system of espionage on which Germany has placed so much reliance." I
have shown elsewhere how the Confidential Department came into being,
and how it was able to "discover the ramifications of the German Secret
Service in England." In this statement Mr. McKenna says:--
The agents ... were watched and shadowed without in general taking
any hostile action or allowing them to know that their movements
were watched. When, however, any actual step was taken to convey
documents or plans of importance from this country to Germany, the
spy was arrested, and in such cases evidence sufficient to secure his
conviction was usually found in his possession.
Proceedings under the Official Secrets Act were taken by the Director
of Public Prosecutions, and in six cases sentences were passed
varying from eighteen months to six years' penal servitude. At the
same time steps were taken to mark down and keep under observation
all the agents known to have been engaged in this traffic, so that
when any necessity arose the police might lay hands upon them at
once; and accordingly on August 4th, before the declaration of war,
instructions were given by the Home Secretary for the arrest of
twenty known spies, and all were arrested.
This figure, it is added, does not cover over two hundred who were
under suspicion or noted to be kept under special observation, the
great majority of whom were interned at, or soon after, the declaration
of war.
Now, although the spy organisation which had been established before
the war may have been partially broken up, Mr. McKenna admits that "it
is still necessary to take _the most rigorous measures_ to prevent the
establishment of any fresh organisation, and to deal with individual
spies who might previously have been working in this country outside
the organisation, or who might be sent here under the guise of neutrals
after the declaration of war."
Here really we have the crux of the whole matter. It is easy enough to
deal with the known spy; it is easy enough in time of war for the Post
Office to watch very closely correspondence not only with Germany, but
also with neutral countries, from which letters can so easily be sent
into Germany--as I have sent them--and it is easy enough to censor
cables. Mr. McKenna says:--
This censorship has been extremely effective in stopping secret
communications by cable or letter with the enemy, but as its
existence was necessarily known to them, it has not, except in a few
instances, produced materials for the detection of espionage.
I should think not, indeed! Would any sane person suspect the German
Secret Service of such imbecility as endeavouring to send important
reports by post or cable from this country in time of war, except as
a last desperate resort to deal with some unexpected situation in
an apparently harmless message? It was this very thing that brought
about the downfall of Lody, and the fact that he attempted to send
a cable-message shows how urgent he thought it was that his message
should reach its destination as soon as possible. He trusted to luck,
but luck failed him. If I thought our Confidential Department regarded
such a proceeding as normal, I should indeed be in despair.
Remember one highly important fact. It is perfectly easy to-day to
travel from Holland or Denmark to Berlin, and there is no difficulty in
anyone with a British or American passport travelling from this country
to Holland. Some two hundred British and American passports have been
"mislaid"--in plainer language, stolen--by the German authorities. Can
we think for a moment that it would be impossible for the Germans to
find agents quite willing to run, as commercial travellers or what not,
the trivial risk of making the journey from England to Holland, where
their information could be handed over for conveyance to Berlin?
Lody came to England as an American; I have no doubt he could have
gone back to Berlin in the same guise if he had wanted to. We know
perfectly well that every scrap of official news published here finds
its way to Berlin in a very short time--a distinguished British
General a few days ago stated that the German commanders had copies
of the London papers within a few hours of publication. Where, then,
assuming a spy in England has secured some useful information, lies the
difficulty of transmitting it to those who are ready and anxious to
receive it?
Suspected passengers on the steamers, it may be said, can be searched,
and letters found upon them examined. Is it to be imagined that a spy's
reports would be written in copperplate on a large sheet of paper for
all and sundry to read? Need they even be written at all?
Censorship on mails and on cables, and the close examination of
cross-Channel passengers are excellent precautions, but, after all, we
are only locking the door after the horse has been stolen. Admit that
the spy is here, grant that he has got hold of a piece of important
information, and I will wager that he finds means of transmitting it to
his Government, if he possesses an ounce of sense.
The man Louis Trabbaut, sentenced at Marlborough Street, had passed
through the German lines nine times between London and Brussels. More
than this, it has been shown that the Kaiser, since the war began,
has been using a courier _to send letters to London_! On October
8th, Mr. H.L. Reiach, editor of the _Yachting Monthly_, received a
card from Vice-Admiral K. von Eisendecher, who is attached to the
Kaiser's suite, stating that he would no longer subscribe for that
journal. There is no reason, as the _Daily Mail_ pointed out, why this
particular communication should not have been sent by open post in
the ordinary way, but for some reason the Kaiser's Admiral preferred
to use the secret courier service. The letter, written at Karlsruhe,
was evidently brought over by a courier, stamped with an English penny
stamp, and posted in the South-West district of London.
I wonder what else came over by that courier, and, still more, what
went back!
"It is practically impossible," said a high police official discussing
this incident, "to prevent this smuggling of letters." The only certain
way to prevent it would be to detain and strip every passenger arriving
at our South and East Coast ports, and minutely examine every article
of their clothing. The authorities have power to detain and search
any suspected person, but that is very different from searching every
passenger--man, woman and child. The real remedy lies not in these
palliatives; the disease is desperate enough to call for drastic
remedies. We must stop so far as is humanly possible--and no one asks
more--the collection of information here. And there is only one really
effective way of doing this--intern or deport every individual of enemy
birth, naturalised or not, until the end of the war.
Now I am not alone in holding this opinion; it has been expressed by
our judges, and by much more exalted individuals than my humble self.
So recently as October 27th, the Recorder of Pontefract said:--
All those who have not been naturalised at all should be deported
until the end of the war. Those who had been naturalised during the
past ten years, since when Germany has been competing navally with
England, should be interned under supervision but allowed to conduct
their business; men naturalised over ten years ago should be allowed
to live on their own premises under substantial bond for their good
behaviour under police supervision.
This is the opinion, not of a layman, but of a judge, speaking with all
the authority and responsibility which must attach to his high office.
Must we write him down as a spy-maniac or an alarmist?
Lord Leith of Fyvie is a nobleman who has been giving special attention
to the spy-peril, more particularly along the East Coast. Here is his
view, expressed at Torquay as recently as October 23rd:--
At last the chief spy has been removed from the neighbourhood of
Rosyth (it was late enough, I might remark!), and the Government has
recognised the necessity of making a wholesale sweep of aliens. There
cannot be any distinction between classes. The only exception ought
to be in favour of English women who have married aliens. All others
ought to be transported to a neutral country; out of Great Britain
they must go. Such a course would certainly be the most humane
course that could be taken. Originally the East Coast was the most
dangerous zone, but in view of the desire of the "Head spy and devil
Emperor William" to seize Calais, it was necessary to deal with the
whole coast.
The Government recently decided to arrest all enemy aliens between the
ages of 17 and 45. This, of course, meant that all men of military age
were to be arrested, and it was a welcome step. No doubt this decision,
which was announced on October 22nd, considerably reduced the danger of
espionage arrangements that had previously been made, by removing many
of the agents. But are we to assume that the Home Secretary considers
that no German over 45 is capable of acting the part of a spy? Or is he
under the impression that 45 is the utmost age attained by Germans in
this country?
"After this war," said Mr. Justice Ridley at Worcester Assizes on
October 22nd, "we must make an end of spies. The German nation appears
to think that it can conquer Europe by a system of espionage. We will
have no more of that." Most people will concur with the learned judge's
view, but will regard it as rather belated to wait till "the end of the
war" to make an end of the German espionage which is rampant _now_!
It is often represented by well-meaning people that it would be unjust,
and not in accordance with British fair-play, to take steps against
aliens who have become naturalised. We are told that these people have
been promised the full liberty accorded to British-born subjects, and
that to treat them in a manner different from other Englishmen would be
to go back upon our solemn undertaking.
I confess this argument leaves me unmoved. We have no use for the
unpatriotic get-rich-at-the-expense-of-your-neighbour arguments. We
are Britons, and Britons we will remain in spite of the puny leading
articles in unimportant papers. Naturalisation, in the great majority
of cases, means absolutely nothing; it is, indeed, usually adopted
purely for business reasons. Seldom does a German become so imbued
with profound veneration for our institutions and customs that nothing
short of citizenship of our Empire will satisfy his sacred feelings
of patriotism. Moreover, naturalisation is one of the spy's favourite
devices, and surely one of his best methods of disarming any possible
suspicion.
But these are not ordinary times, and the requirements of the situation
as we see it cannot surely be met by ordinary methods. Nothing is more
jealously guarded in this country than the right to be protected from
arbitrary imprisonment. No one in England can be arrested and kept in
custody for more than a few hours without being fully informed of the
nature of the charge against him, and brought before a magistrate,
whose duty it is to decide whether there is a _prima facie_ case
against him, upon which he should be sent for trial. That, in ordinary
times, is the British practice. Yet, only a few days before I write,
the High Court refused an order, under the Habeas Corpus Act, that an
Englishman, who had been imprisoned for over a week without any charge
having been made against him, should be brought up for trial.
The case was a remarkable one. A collision had occurred between a
submarine and a British steamer, and the captain of the steamer was
arrested. No charge being preferred against him, application was made
to the High Court. It was stated in Court that a charge might be made,
but that it was against the interests of the nation that it should be
stated. The application was therefore refused.
Looking at the absolute stringency of English law on this subject at
ordinary times, that was a very remarkable decision, but I venture to
think it was absolutely correct, since the interests of the State must
at all times over-ride the rights of the individual. The question of
the guilt or innocence of the captain, it should be remembered, was not
before the Court, and was not even discussed.
The same rule, I contend, should be applied to the naturalised alien.
It was Burke who said that it was not possible to frame an indictment
against a nation, but we can say with tolerable certainty that no
German loses his German sympathies simply because he takes out
naturalisation papers at the British Home Office.
Undoubtedly, if it were determined to intern or deport all of alien
birth, whether naturalised or not, there would be many cases of
hardship, and many people who are good citizens and perfectly loyal to
the country of their adoption would suffer. Many such are suffering
to-day. I am not going to suggest for a moment that every one of the
thousands of aliens we have interned in the concentration camps is
dangerous, either as a spy or as a combatant. I do insist, however,
that many of them are, and to catch all the guilty we must necessarily,
though with regret, inflict hardship on some who are innocent. Exactly
the same conditions apply to the naturalised alien; in many cases they
apply with even greater force.
In his published statement from which I have already quoted, Mr.
McKenna parades with intense satisfaction the absence, since the war
began, of any outrages traceable to aliens. He says:--
Another matter which has engaged the closest attention of the police
has been the possibility of conspiracies to commit outrages. No trace
whatever has been discovered of any such conspiracy, and no outrage
of any sort has yet been committed by any alien--not even telegraph
wires having been maliciously cut since the beginning of the war.
As a dose of soothing-syrup administered in Mr. McKenna's "best
bedside manner" this is inimitable; as a contribution to the solution
of a very serious problem, it lacks finality. I wonder whether it has
ever occurred to the Home Secretary, or the sleepy Department over
which he presides, that, up to the present moment, there has not been
the slightest necessity for any alien to commit an outrage of any
description, and that to have done so before the time was ripe would
merely have meant rousing such an outburst here that, when the time did
come, there would probably not have been an alien left at liberty to
give help at the psychological moment? What, in the name of Johnson,
would it profit a German, or Germany, to blow up at the present moment
a tube station or one or two bridges on our main lines? The time for
that was when we were moving the Expeditionary Force, if at all, under
present conditions. But the movement of the Expeditionary Force was
carried out with such speed and secrecy that hardly anyone knew what
was going on, and in any case a slight delay to a few units of that
Force would not have been a vital matter.
Now whether it is possible or not, whether it has a faint chance of
success or whether it is foredoomed to hopeless failure, an invasion
of England is at the present moment the dearest dream of every German
heart. To compass that, they are prepared to make any and every
sacrifice. Personally, I have no fear that to-day such an invasion
would have the remotest chance of success, but that is not the belief
of Germans, military or civilian. They believe that it is not only
possible, but that it must succeed, and we know that plans for carrying
it out have been carefully elaborated for years past.
Suppose the Germans come. Troops will be instantly hurried towards the
scene of their landing by every railway in England. What, then, I ask,
would be the value of a few skilfully placed charges of explosive?
What, then, would be the value of a successful attempt to cut the trunk
telephone or telegraph wires running along one of our main lines of
communication? What would it mean to us if an important bridge on a
main line were shattered, and many trainloads of troops delayed for
hours? Remember that in the unlikely event of invasion time will be
calculated by minutes, for the Germans must rely upon the effects of a
desperate dash to strike us in a vital spot before we could overwhelm
them by accumulated reinforcements.
But Mr. McKenna tells us "there is no evidence of a conspiracy to
commit outrages." Let us fold our arms and sleep! I wonder what the
War Office would tell him if he hinted that there was no evidence that
the Germans were planning to invade us, and that they had better cease
the arrangements they are very properly making to deal with such a
contingency, however remote or unlikely it may appear!
It is not in the least degree likely that all the German arrangements
and plans have been made for outside operations only, and that every
internal device that could help to ruin us has been neglected; that
is not at all the German way. It has already been officially admitted
that there is reason for believing that the Germans have established
petrol stores in these islands. Is there any reason why they should
not equally have established depots of explosives for use in the same
contingency?
Our naval authorities say quite plainly that, with the present
disposition of the Fleet, no invading force above the proportions of a
raiding party intended to create panic could ever hope to reach these
shores. To that, I think, the great majority of our people, supremely
confident in our splendid Navy, cordially subscribe. But in war no
chances can be taken, for the unexpected always happens, and though we
may not discuss the measures that have been adopted, it is known that
the War Office authorities have done everything possible to provide for
even such a remote contingency. Can we say that the Home Office has
done everything possible to cut the claws of the German plotters, when
so many potential enemies are still allowed to be at large amongst us?
And further, many enemy aliens are now being released, and returning to
their employment in hotels.
Mr. McKenna has quite justifiably claimed that the Confidential
Department has broken up the organisation of spies that existed in
England before the war. For that, I desire quite sincerely to give
them every credit. The Home Secretary has admitted, however, the
necessity of taking every possible step to deal with those who have
come here since the war began. And in this connection a very serious
position has been created by the swarms of unhappy refugees from
Belgium who have been pouring into the country for several months past.
Among these thousands, it is absolutely certain, there must be many
clever German agents, possibly men who have long lived in Belgium, and
speak French or Flemish without a trace of German accent.
What steps are being taken to guard against this peril? It must be
remembered that in the case of these unfortunate people there can be
no question of passports, or papers of any kind. The great majority of
them are quite glad enough to have escaped with their lives, without
troubling about their papers, even had they wished to do so. There
would not be the slightest difficulty in German agents slipping over
amongst these thousands without any risk of detection, and we can be
tolerably confident that many have done so.
It has been suggested that some of the better educated Belgians, about
whose _bona fides_ there could be no question, should be given the work
of tracking down any possible impostors. They would probably be glad
of the work, and in this direction they could do much to help us. They
would be only too keen upon doing so, for most of them are filled with
a hatred of everything German, beside which our own growing dislike
is a mere nothing. To lay by the heels one of the German spies who
have contributed so powerfully to the ruin of Belgium would be, to the
average refugee, the keenest delight. I believe this plan would be well
worth a trial, and I should like to see it put into effect immediately.
The trial and conviction on a charge of high treason of Mr. Nicholas
Emil Herman Adolph Ahlers, a naturalised German who, for some years,
acted as German Consul in Sunderland, is a remarkable and emphatic
corroboration of every word I have written as to the manner in which
the authorities are dealing with the alien peril.
Mr. Ahlers was accused of assisting German reservists to return to
Germany after the declaration of war. It was alleged that he sought out
our enemies, impressed upon them the necessity of returning to Germany,
and gladly paid their fares. The striking feature of the affair was, it
is alleged, Ahlers' own statement, "Although naturalised, I am a German
at heart."
On December 9th, the prisoner was convicted of high treason, and
sentenced to death. Yet anything more farcical could not well be
imagined, and was certainly well in keeping with the tactics of the
Home Office. Mr. Ahlers was prosecuted for having "adhered to the
King's enemies." Yet he had only, after all, succoured the King's
enemies to the extent _actually allowed to him by the Order in
Council_! As Mr. Justice Bankes justly observed at the appeal, it is
abhorrent to the mind that a man should be sentenced to death for doing
what the Home Secretary's circular expressly permitted.
As exposed in the Court of Appeal, the whole prosecution was simply
another effort of the authorities to mislead and gull the public, and
to play to the gallery.
When this amazing prosecution was undertaken, and the Solicitor-General
was sent down to Durham to invoke the majesty of the law, _the Home
Office must have known_ that the Order in Council, issued by that
same department, gave alien enemies--up to August the 11th--the right
to leave our shores! Therefore Mr. Ahlers ought never to have been
prosecuted and sentenced to death. What was presented to the public as
a grim and terrible tragedy, turned out to be an amusing, though hollow
comedy. Yet we find, even in the final scene at the Court of Appeal,
the Solicitor-General gallantly protesting that the Order in Council
had nothing to do with the case.
Of course, as the Press pointed out, had the matter been anything
but the merest jest produced for the purpose of making the people of
this country believe that the Government were at last tackling the
spy peril in earnest, the Minister, or other official, who drew up
the Order in Council might have found himself in an awkward position.
It allowed alien enemies, without any distinction as to whether they
were combatants or not, to leave this country and join the King's
enemies _for a full week after war had been declared_, and whoever was
responsible for it was much more deserving of condemnation than the
unfortunate "German at heart."
But a further fact seems to have escaped the notice of the public.
It is this. When the conviction for high treason had been obtained
against Mr. Ahlers--a conviction improperly obtained--the Government,
with their conscience awakened, hastened to prepare the public for the
comedy by issuing from the Press Bureau the following illuminating
communication:--
"The conviction of Ahlers is subject to appeal, the judge having
granted a certificate of appeal on certain points of law which arose
at the trial. The sentence of death was the only one which the judge
could pronounce in accordance with the law on a conviction for high
treason. If, on the appeal, the conviction is affirmed, the Secretary
of State for Home Affairs will consider the question of advising a
commutation of the death-sentence with a view to substituting a term
of penal servitude or imprisonment."
The whole prosecution was a ghastly hoax, for Mr. Ahlers had committed
no legal offence. The proceedings, so dignified and realistic, which
resulted in him lying under sentence of death for a crime which he had
not committed, was merely a hollow pretence in order to give a sop to
the public.
It reflects no credit upon our authorities, whoever was responsible,
and such proceedings are, surely, not in accordance with the high
morality of British justice. It is important, however, as serving as
yet another example of the pitiful rule-of-thumb methods which are
being adopted towards this grave peril.
If the Home Department, in its wisdom, bestirs itself in future and
prosecutes dangerous aliens and spies, it is to be hoped that it will
not endeavour to further mislead us by presenting such a lamentable
spectacle as it has done in the case of Mr. Ahlers.
Surely this is not the moment when the Department should be engaged
in trying to discover whether the German soldiery were guilty of any
atrocities in Belgium. The futility of the latter I pointed out to Mr.
McKenna in a letter I ventured to address to him at the Home Office on
December 11th, 1914.
It ran as follows:--
"Sir,--Though seven days have now elapsed since my letter of December
3rd, I am still awaiting a reply, as I am anxious--in the interests
of the public--to have an explanation of the matter to which it
refers.
"I desire to point out to your Department--which, according to Mr.
Aitken's letter to me of November 16th, is making an inquiry into
allegations of outrages by German troops, and in which my aid is
requested--that any further waste of public time and public money may
be avoided if it will--as it no doubt can do if it wishes--obtain,
through the proper channels, a copy of General von Bülow's
Proclamation posted in Liége on August 22nd last. In this, the
General in question declares in reference to the destruction of the
town of Andenne:--
"'It is _with my consent_ that the General had the whole place burned
down, and about one hundred people shot.'
"In addition, three official reports of the Royal Belgian Commission,
sent to me by His Excellency the Belgian Minister, are before me, and
I have interviewed M. Carton de Wiart, Belgian Minister of Justice,
regarding them.
"Further, I would point out that your Department might, with
advantage, examine the proclamation of Field-Marshal Von der Goltz,
and also Major Deckmann's poster published at Grivegnée.
"As these, no doubt, will be as available to you as they are to the
public Press, perhaps your Department may obviate further waste of
time by examining them.
"Meanwhile, I await, with anticipation, a reply to my letter of
December 3rd."
Let us hope that the Home Department--if only responsible for German
spies in London, as it is--will really rub its eyes and awaken, ere it
is too late.
For five months the authorities had been continually warned by Lord
Leith of Fyvie, and others, of spies who were detected in the act of
signalling at night off the East Coast. The newspapers were flooded
with correspondence on the subject, while I myself received more than
a hundred letters asking me to urge the authorities to take up the
matter, and deal with it.
On December 16th, Yorkshire had its first instalment of the fruits of
the extraordinary manner in which this signalling has been permitted
to continue, and the freedom given to spies. On the previous night it
was noticed, by reliable observers, that the night signallers were
specially active, and at eight o'clock next morning, the towns of
Scarborough, Whitby, and Hartlepool were bombarded by German ships,
resulting in over four hundred persons being injured, and over one
hundred killed, including many women and children.
Information supplied by secret means to the German Navy had already
enabled shells to be flung at Yarmouth, but here, as in the attack
in Yorkshire, we have again very clear proof and evidence of spies.
Indeed, already orders have been issued to shoot at sight anyone found
signalling from the coast--but, alas! after so many innocent persons
have lost their lives!
The daring adventure of the German ships show that they must have
received information concerning the distribution of our Fleet.
According to the First Lord of the Admiralty, practically the whole
fast cruiser force of the German Navy, including some great ships vital
to their fleet and utterly irreplaceable, was risked for the passing
pleasure of killing as many English people as possible, irrespective of
sex, age, or condition, in the limited time available.
Now we know sufficient of German thoroughness to be quite sure that
they would never have risked a journey of over four hundred miles
from their base, through a sea sown with mines, unless they were
well acquainted with the channels left open. Knowledge of the exact
positions in which we have placed our mines could only have been gained
through spies amongst us.
Surely this should be sufficient answer to Mr. McKenna's communiqué to
the Press.
A special correspondent of the London _Evening News_, who passed
between London and Berlin twice, unsuspected, during the month of
December, and even visited Vienna, writing on December 19th of what
he saw in the German capital, declared that he heard the raid upon
Scarborough discussed in certain circles in Berlin on December 16th,
_three days before it took place_!
In the course of his comments he wrote:--
"I always thought the spy mania in England exaggerated, but now I am
absolutely persuaded that even those Englishmen who recognise this
peril do not realise the lengths to which it goes. They have been
suspecting waiters and servants, whilst the spies are in high social
positions; they have contented themselves with searching the houses
of German barbers and grocers, whilst neglecting the hands which
collect and forward to Berlin the information gathered by more humble
satellites.
"It is very sad to have to say such things, but I think the most
dangerous spies still in England are not Germans, whether naturalised
or not, but are people belonging to neutral countries--even to
countries actually fighting Germany--and subjects of Great Britain
herself.
"I would not have written this if I was not sure of it; the diplomat
from whom I got the information assured me that there are some
English and French of both sexes who come regularly to Berlin, or
to frontier towns through neutral countries, and have conversations
with officials and then return. The restrictions as to luggage and
passports, both in France and in England, are not half as severe as
they should be; _they are even slacker than at the beginning of the
war_. I know, personally, of a number of stolen American passports
under the shelter of which German spies are now travelling, and an
Italian Consul with whom I happened to travel a few days ago, said
he had discovered two fellows with false Italian passports almost
perfectly imitated.
"In Berlin I heard people, well-informed people, saying that in every
English town of importance, and on every spot of strategical value on
the British coast, Germany has got _a few friends_ keeping their eyes
open and ready to receive an eventual German raid, and to give their
friends as strong a hand as possible."