THE CASEMENT AFFAIR
IMPUTATIONS--NORWEGIAN CHARACTERISTICS--CASEMENT'S LETTER TO SIR
EDWARD GREY--IRISH INTERESTS--SURREPTITIOUS VISITS TO THE
EMBASSY--ENVOYÉ EXTRAORDINAIRE--£10,000 FOR CASEMENT'S
SERVANT--CASEMENT'S EXPLANATIONS, COMMENTS, KIDNAPPING AND MURDER
ALLEGATIONS--SIR F. E. SMITH ON CASEMENT'S LIFE AND ACTIONS--A BAD
MISTAKE.
In February, 1915, a veritable bombshell was burst in the diplomatic
circles of Northern Europe.
A letter had appeared in the German newspapers containing very grave
allegations against a British Minister, extracts from which had
apparently been sent round broadcast to the Press of neutral countries.
On Wednesday, February 17th, the _Aftenposten_ of Christiania published
the document in its entirety. Other papers may have copied it, but the
demand for copies immediately became so great it was difficult to secure
them. Those which were purchased were read aloud in public places and
discussed and commented upon until excitement reached fever-heat.
The general public in Scandinavian countries knew little or nothing
concerning the writer of the letter--Sir Roger Casement.
The _Norske Argus_ described him as "a man who had held positions; a
British Consul in various places in the Colonies; Consul-General in Rio
de Janeiro; the exposer of the Putumayo affair."
In Norway British Consulships are most eagerly sought after, and
considered enviable positions carrying high honour.
The _Norske Argus_ stated that "Sir Roger Casement belonged to the
faction in Ireland which had opposed the war and recruiting; that he had
been to Berlin to intercede with the Germans for better treatment
towards Ireland if it came to an invasion of the British Islands; and
that he felt satisfied with the answer he had obtained from the highest
quarters, that 'in such case Ireland should obtain her full freedom';
and because of this visit the English were very bitter against him and
in many places he was stamped as a traitor."
Now Norway is a country infused with a very strong Socialistic element.
It holds deep sympathies with the Irish, and believes them to be much
abused and a much ill-used race. It knows nothing of the wildly absurd,
headstrong obstinacy of certain Irishmen who make it their business to
stir up dissent and to oppose their best interests; or that they
apparently do this out of sheer "cussedness." Rightly or wrongly, Norway
believes that Ireland is a poor, downtrodden country which during the
past hundred years has received nothing but harsh and unsympathetic
treatment at the hands of the English. Hence Norwegians, not being fully
advised of facts, looked upon this bogus hero, who had voluntarily taken
upon himself such great risks as his action and journey involved, in the
light of a modern Garibaldi, rather than as a traitor to his country,
which he had and since has fully proved himself.[10]
In his letter Sir Roger Casement stated that he landed from America on
October 29th, 1914, and that within a few hours of his arrival his
abduction or murder was planned by the British Minister personally. Some
Norwegians looked upon this allegation almost as a breach of good faith
with them and their country. They somewhat doubted that the
representative of King George of England, the brother of their beloved
and popular Queen Maud, could stoop so low as to be a party to such acts
as were alleged against him in this letter. But they wanted and waited
for a denial direct.
There was no evidence whatever before them that this man (Sir Roger
Casement) had done anything contrary to the interests of England, or
that he could well have done anything between the outbreak of war and
the dates quoted. If he was a traitor or a criminal their own Ministers
and police should have been informed thereof and the man arrested and
extradited for a fair trial. The alleged revelations thus came as a
shock to the country, and consternation filled the faces of many
thinking persons.
TRANSLATION OF SIR ROGER CASEMENT'S LETTER TO SIR EDWARD GREY, AS
PUBLISHED IN THE _Aftenposten_ ON THE 17TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 1915[11]
"SIR EDWARD GREY,
"I understand that my pension has been the subject of an interpellation
in the House of Lords.[12] I have already renounced my claim to the same
upon going to Germany to ascertain the German Government's intentions
towards Ireland. In the course of the discussion, according to what I
hear, Lord Crewe said that 'Sir Roger Casement's behaviour deserves a
severe punishment.'
"This gives me an opportunity of clearing up once and for all the
question under discussion, especially as I now am in possession of
incontestable proof of the kind of punishment secretly meted out to me.
I acknowledge that from the first day three months ago when I first set
foot on Norwegian soil, I was aware of your intentions, but it has taken
me some time to get your diplomatic agent to give me written evidence of
the assault that His Majesty's Government planned against me.
"Allow me first to show my own method of proceeding before comparing it
with yours. Between the British Government and myself there has never,
as far as I am aware, been any talk of a pension, reward, or order. I
have served the British Government truly and loyally as long as I
possibly could. I resigned as soon as I found it no longer possible. As
it also became impossible for me to enjoy the pension legally due to me
I have also renounced it voluntarily, as I had previously given up the
position which entitled me to it and as I now give up all orders and
distinctions that have at different times been awarded me by His
Majesty's Government.
"I came last October from America to Europe to see that my Fatherland
Ireland should suffer as little as possible from the results of this
luckless war, however it may end.
"My point of view I have sufficiently clearly published in an open
letter from New York dated September 17th,[13] and which I sent to
Ireland for distribution amongst my countrymen. I have the honour to
enclose a printed copy of this letter. It gives exactly my views which I
still hold to and the duties which an Irishman owes his Fatherland
during this crisis.
"Shortly after having written this letter, I left for Europe.
"The possibility of my being able to assist Ireland to escape some of
the horrors of war was in my opinion worth the loss of outward honour
and my pension, as well as the committing the act of high treason in the
technical meaning of the word. I had naturally reckoned on taking all
personal risk and any punishment which the law could possibly threaten
my actions with. I had, however, not considered that I should be sought
after with means in excess of the law in spite of my action being
without the moral limits. In other words, I reckoned with English
Justice and legal punishment and the sacrifice of name, position, and
income, and willingly agreed to pay this price, but had not reckoned
with the present Government. I was ready to face a legal tribunal but I
was not prepared against being shadowed, kidnapped by force, my servant
being bribed, and that I, in short, might be struck down; I was, in
fact, not prepared for the precautions your representative took upon
hearing that I was stopping in this country.
"The criminal attack which M. de C. Findlay, the British Ambassador,
planned on the 30th in the British Embassy, together with a Norwegian
subject named Adler Christensen, included all this and more. The plan
included not only an illegal attack upon my person for the execution of
which the British Ambassador promised my servant £5,000 sterling, but
also included an infringement of international law and common justice,
and the Norwegian was guaranteed by the English Ambassador in Norway
that he should go free of punishment.
"I landed from America on October 29th. A few hours after my landing a
Secret Agent of the British Ambassador approached the man I had taken
into my service and whom I fully trusted, and conducted him in a private
motor-car to the English Embassy, where the first attempt was made to
induce him to commit an act of treachery against me.
"Your agent at the Embassy pretended not to know me and said he only
wanted to identify me and get to know my plans.
"As this attempt did not succeed, Adler Christensen the next day,
October 30th, was accosted by a new agent and requested to go to the
Embassy, where he would hear of something to his advantage. The next
meeting was conducted by the Ambassador himself. Mr. Findlay went
straight to the point. His assumed or real ignorance of my identity, as
shown the day before, he now abandoned. Findlay acknowledged that he
knew me but declared that he did not know where I was going, what I was
going to do, and what my intentions were. It was enough for him that I
was an Irish Nationalist. He confessed that the British Government had
no proof that I had done, or intended to do, anything wrong which could
give him right, either moral or legal, to interfere with my freedom. All
the same, he was determined to do so. He therefore boldly and without
further consideration used illegal means and gave my servant to
understand that if I 'disappeared' it would be a very good thing for
whoever managed it. He specially emphasised that nothing should happen
to the perpetrator, as my presence in Christiania was known to the
British Government, and that that Government would protect and be
responsible for those who effected my 'disappearance.' He suggested
clearly the means that could be used, intimating to Adler Christensen
that the man who 'knocked him on the head' would not need to do any more
work for the rest of his life, saying, 'I presume that you would have no
objection to taking it easy for the rest of your days?' My faithful
servant hid the indignation he felt at this proposal and continued the
conversation so as to become more fully acquainted with details of the
assault being planned on my person. He remarked not only that I had been
good to him, but that 'I absolutely relied on him.'
"Upon this absolute confidence Mr. Findlay built his whole plot against
my freedom, Norway's common justice, and the well-being of this young
man, whom he tried to bribe with a large amount to commit a cowardly
crime upon his well-doer. If I could be seized or disappear, no one
would know it, and no question could be raised, as no one outside the
British Government knew of my presence in Norway, and there was no
authority from whom I could get help as the one authority would protect
the accused and care for his future. Thus, according to my information,
spoke Mr. Findlay, the British Minister, to the young man who was
tempted into the Embassy for this purpose. That this young man was
faithful to me and to the law of his land is a triumph of Norwegian
straightforwardness over the vile manner in which the richest and
mightiest Government in the world tried to tempt him to treachery
against both.
"After thus having sketched out his plan, Mr. Findlay asked Christensen
to 'think it over' and 'come again at three o'clock if you agree.'
"He gave him twenty-five kroner, just to pay the automobile with, and
let him go. As I naturally was interested to hear how they proposed to
get rid of me, I gave the man whom they had tried to bribe orders to
return to the Embassy at three o'clock and pretend to agree with the
wishes of your envoyé extraordinaire. I advised him to 'sell me dearly'
and demand a respectable sum for such a dirty job. Christensen, who had
been a seaman and naturally seen many strange people, assured me that he
felt quite at home with His Majesty's representative. He returned to the
Legation at three o'clock and remained alone with Mr. Findlay until
nearly five o'clock. An exact account of the conversation will duly be
sent to you and others. My servant pretended to agree to the British
Minister's plans and only demanded a moderate sum for his treachery. Mr.
Findlay promised on his word of honour (this strange phrase was used to
guarantee the transaction) that Christensen should have £5,000 on his
handing me over to the British authorities.
"If by this abduction any harm should happen to me, or any personal
injury be inflicted upon me, no question would be raised and full
impunity would be guaranteed to the abductor.
"My servant emphasised that I should travel in the afternoon to
Copenhagen, and he had already reserved my place in the train, unless he
had some immediate opportunity to carry out the commission.
"Mr. Findlay admitted that it would be necessary to defer the attempt
until there appeared a favourable opportunity to lure me to the coast,
to one or other place by the Skagerak or North Sea where there would be
an English warship which waited to catch me.
"He confided further in my servant the commission to steal my
correspondence with my supposed colleagues in America and Ireland,
particularly in Ireland, so that they could be made a party to the
'sympathetic punishment' which was intended for me.
"He explained a system for secret correspondence with him which
Christensen should use and write through a confidential address in
Christiania, to which he should communicate the results of his
endeavours to steal my papers and report my plans.
"This address in Christiania was written down in block letter capitals
by Mr. Findlay on a half-sheet of the Ambassador's letter-paper. This
precaution, said he, would prevent the handwriting from being
identified.
"This document, besides 100 kroner in Norwegian notes which Mr. Findlay
had given him as earnest money, with more to follow later, was
immediately brought to me, together with a full account of what has
already been told.
"As I was obviously in a dangerous position I changed my plans, and
instead of travelling to Copenhagen I resolved to change the method of
travelling and the route.
"Thus it was that I, with secret knowledge concerning the full extent of
the crime which was planned by your representative in Norway, left
Christiania on October 30th.
"The remainder of the history is soon told.
"You are doubtless apprised of all that happens, as you are both by
telegraph and by letter in constant communication with your
representative.
"You also know the Imperial German Government's declaration which was
published on November 20th last year in answer to my question.
"The British Government had, both through Press correspondents as well
as through special agents, allowed to be spread over the whole of
Ireland the lie that the Germans began the most abominable crimes in
Belgium, and they had also pointed out that a similar fate awaited the
Irish people if Germany came victorious out of this war.
"Your Government's intention was to excite the Irish to apprehend a
predatory attack by a people who never had done them any harm and by
false reports make them believe that this was their plight. It was my
intention not only to obtain a binding benevolent assurance from the
German Government, but also to free my countrymen from the false
position which this lying exciting campaign would develop; finally, as
far as it stood in my power, I would prevent them from entering into an
immoral conflict against a people who had never done Ireland an
injustice.
"This declaration from the German Government, which, as far as I know,
was delivered in full sincerity, forms a justification for my
'treason.' I leave it to you, sir, to find justification for the British
Government's and the Minister's criminal plan, which was fully prepared
before I had even set foot on German soil and, furthermore, in a land
where I had perfect right to remain, this plan, which was attempted to
be carried out by the miserable means of bribery and corruption.
"You will not find justification in the many conversations which Mr.
Findlay in November and in December last year had after his own wish
with my faithful servant. The correspondence between them couched in the
Ambassador's arranged cypher speaks for itself. These conversations have
brought one thing to the light of day which I later on will make public.
"It is certainly correct to say concerning all this, which passed
between your representative and mine, with these opportunities, that you
during the constant negotiations had half the thread in your own hand.
"Your object was, as Mr. Findlay openly has confessed before the man
whom he believed he had bought, to get me out of the way in the most
disgraceful manner. My object is to expose your plans to the whole
world, and by the help of the agent whom you yourself have selected for
your plans and whom you have attempted to bribe in order to get him to
perpetrate an exceptionally vile crime.
"Once, when my man pretended that he was not satisfied with the sum
which was bid him for the treachery, your agent ventured to raise the
amount to £10,000. I have a precise inventory of the negotiations put
forward and the promises which were given in your name.
"Your Ambassador has twice given A. Christensen large money
rewards--once 500 kroner in Norwegian money, another time a like sum
partly in Norwegian money and partly in English gold. On one of these
occasions, in order to be precise, December 7th, Mr. Findlay handed to
Adler Christensen the key to a back door in the English Ministry so that
he could come and go unobserved. This key I intend to return personally
to the owner, together with the various money rewards which he has
forced upon my servant.
"The tales which Mr. Findlay told in these conversations would not
deceive a schoolboy. All mentioned proofs of my plans and intentions
which Adler Christensen produced, the mentioned letters, the fingered
land and sea maps, etc., I must put together for my own defence to
expose your criminal plan and thus come into possession of the
indisputable proof which I now have.
"First.--On January 3rd Mr. Findlay exposed himself thus, that he, in
the English Government's name, gave my betrayer a safe undertaking from
himself in which he promised him reward and impunity from any punishment
if he committed the arranged crime. This piece of writing is in my
hands. I have the honour to enclose a photograph of it.
"Then, the English Ambassador in Norway obviously is in a position to
give secret guarantees and safe impunity from punishment for crime, so I
reserve myself for a time when I am not exposed to his persecutions to
place before the Norwegian authorities the original letters and the
whole of the proofs which are in my possession and as glaring
illuminations of the British Government's methods.
"I now permit myself, through you, Sir, to surrender to this Government
my Order of St. Michael, the King George the Fifth's Coronation Medal,
and all the other distinctions which the British Government has given
me.
"I am, your obedient and humble servant,
"ROGER CASEMENT."
Englishmen in Norway, or indeed throughout the whole of Scandinavia, who
could have given the true history of Sir Roger Casement at that time
might have been counted on the fingers of one hand.[14]
Norwegians naturally argued that one side of a story was good until the
other was told. Meanwhile the newspapers did a remarkably fine business,
as most editions were greedily bought up day after day and week after
week, in the expectation of finding the reply of His Britannic Majesty's
Minister to the scathing indictment propounded against him.
According to the _Berliner Tageblatt_, and other German newspapers, this
letter was sent to Sir Edward Grey on February 1st, but no answer had
been received up to February 15th, when some of the most material
allegations were being quoted in the Press. Nor did any answer ever
appear, to the writer's knowledge, from Sir Edward Grey, Mr. Mansfeldt
de Cardonnel Findlay, or any other person; even after the letter had
been re-published in full by the _Aftenposten_ in Christiania, and
commented upon by other papers, and discussed from one end of
Scandinavia to the other by men and women in every station of life.
That omission was publicly and privately stated to be a colossal
mistake which would cost England, and the countries fighting by her
side, very dearly indeed.
One would have thought that Mr. M. de C. Findlay would instantly have
sent a short explanation in reply to every newspaper in Norway which
reproduced any part of this fatal letter. He, however, remained in the
seclusion of his castle on the hill of _Drammensvei_ and observed a
prolonged and unbroken silence.
The honest, open-minded, and clean-thinking Norwegian people were
disgusted beyond words. They looked to him for an explanation as of
right. They waited long, but they did not see, neither did they hear, a
word of denial. Sorrowfully but very naturally they actually began to
believe these extraordinary accusations to be true in substance and in
fact.
Now, references are made in this letter to "secret agents of the British
Ambassador approaching the man whom Sir Roger Casement refers to as his
servant." Therefore the writer takes this, his first opportunity, of
most clearly and emphatically denying that any member of the British
Secret Service was in any way employed or engaged in this affair. Such
Secret Service agents as were then working in Scandinavia were known to
him (the writer), also their locations; not one of them was within
hundreds of miles of Christiania at the time of the alleged transaction.
It should also be obvious that if any person exhibited such an
amateurish display of incompetence and bungling as the accusations
allege, that person would be more than useless for any Secret Service
work, however simple it might be.
It seems quite impossible to believe that any man could have acted as
Mr. M. de C. Findlay is said to have done.
What use was block letter-writing to conceal identity if it was cyphered
on Ambassadorial note-paper?
Why use English gold when Norwegian money was available?
Why permit such a man to come near the Embassy at all?
Why see such a man personally?
Why give a key to a gate, or a door, which could be left open?
Why give a scrap of writing or paper of any sort?
Why offer such ridiculous sums of money to a stranger, who, if he were
such a man as suggested, would have accepted a fraction of the amount
for such work?
If an investigation of the alleged proofs could show there was any
semblance of truth in this story, then, indeed, "it certainly would not
have _deceived a schoolboy_," as the letter quotes.
Assuming, for the sake of argument, that an alien to a neutral country
(whosoever that person might be or in whatsoever walk of life he might
happen to be placed) had made himself a danger to the realm; that it
might have been considered an advantage to the Allies if he were
kidnapped and taken to a place of safe keeping so that he could be
looked after until peace was declared. What more simple and inexpensive
than to bring about a consummation of such wishes? Our friend Nixie
Pixie, or Jim, or another of that ilk, any one of those individuals
could have acted secretly and absolutely independently.
What could have been easier or more inexpensive than a
quickly-cultivated acquaintanceship by a Secret Service agent with a
person so named? A little dinner or light refreshment at a café, or a
hall; drugged food or drink, followed by the natural announcement that
one's companion was temporarily indisposed or suffering from a slight
excess of alcohol; assistance to a cab or other vehicle, nominally to
convey him home but actually a quick journey to the docks and quay side,
with rapid transport to a friendly ship! Thus such a job could have been
accomplished for a few pounds without fuss, inconvenience, or publicity.
It would probably not be wide of the mark to venture the statement that
many a man has been, perhaps even now is being, temporarily detained in
the seclusion of some lonely lodging upon far less pretexts than the
alleged revelations of Sir Roger Casement, until this tangled European
skein be fully and completely unravelled. The annals of that grim
fortress of Peter and Paul, the dungeon walls of which are washed by
the turbid waters of the Neva (wherein the author has had personal
experience of his own), could perhaps add histories of some interest,
but if they are to be told they must form the pages of another chapter.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] Roger Casement was hanged as a traitor at Pentonville Prison on
August 3rd, 1916, after having been landed from a German submarine on
the west coast of Ireland.
[11] This letter was circulated in the Berlin Press on February 13th,
and most of its material parts appeared in the London _Times_ on
February 15th, 1915, having been officially circulated through German
wireless stations and received by the Marconi Company.
[12] The interpellation above referred to is probably the following: On
January 8th, during a debate in the House of Lords on the national
responsibility with regard to voluntary recruiting or compulsory
service, Earl Curzon said:
"I should like to mention the case of Sir Roger Casement, which is one
in which I take a personal interest, for in the old days at the Foreign
Office I was his official superior. This gentleman went to Germany after
the outbreak of war, where he has been accused of disgraceful and
disloyal acts. His friends wrote to the papers that not too much
attention should be paid to those acts, as they were doubtful about his
mental condition. Since then his proceedings seem to me to have been
characterised by perfect possession of his faculties. The last thing of
which we have read is that he has prepared a pamphlet which has been
printed by the German Government and circulated by the German Foreign
Office pleading for an alliance between Germany and Ireland. I do not
desire to comment upon it; it is unworthy of comment, but I wish to ask
if this official who has received a title is to continue in the
enjoyment of his pension."
The Marquis of Crewe, on behalf of the Government replied:
"I have no particular information in regard to Sir Roger Casement. Even
if he is still entitled to a pension it is evident, from what we have
heard of his whereabouts, that he is not in a position to draw it, nor
is he likely to become so; but I agree that such action as he is
reported to have taken ought to be followed, as far as possible, with
the infliction of the severest penalties. With that I couple the
melancholy reflection that a man who has done such good services in the
past, assuming that he is still in possession of all his faculties,
should have fallen so low as he appears to have done."
[13] No copy or trace of this letter can be found.--_Author._
[14] The following extract from the _Daily Telegraph_ lifts the veil as
to the English position to October 7th, 1914. Sir F. E. Smith, K.C.
(Attorney-General) was appearing for the Crown at the trial of Sir Roger
Casement in opening the case for the prosecution, on June 26th, 1916,
before the Lord Chief Justice of England and other judges, the charge
being one of High Treason without the Realm contrary to the Treason Act,
1851, and the account goes on:
"After stating that prisoner was born in County Dublin in 1864, the
Attorney-General proceeded to recite the various offices he had filled
as Consul at Rio de Janeiro, Lorenzo Marques, West Africa, the Gaboon,
Congo Free State, Santos and Para. During the South African War he was
employed on special service at Cape Town, and when hostilities ended he
did not refuse the Queen's South African Medal, although that was a war
of which many Irishmen profoundly disapproved. They might perhaps
therefore assume that at the age of thirty-six the crimes and
delinquencies of this Empire had not engaged prisoner's attention or
affected his intelligence. On June 20th, 1911 he was made a knight, and
the same year he received the Coronation Medal. In August, 1913, he
retired on a pension. That pension had been honourably earned, and it
would have been neither necessary nor proper to refer to it were it not
for the sinister and wicked activities of prisoner which ensued.
Government pensions were paid quarterly, and on each occasion must be
formally claimed by a statutory declaration setting forth the services
for which the pension was awarded and the amount claimed. Prisoner made
five such declarations, the first on October 2nd, 1913, and the last on
October 7th, 1914.
"When notification was sent to prisoner by Sir Edward Grey of the
intention to bestow a knighthood upon him, this enemy of England, this
friend of Germany, this extreme and irreconcilable patriot, replied in
the following terms:
"'Dear Sir Edward Grey.--I find it very hard to choose words in which to
make acknowledgment of the honour done me by the King. I am much moved
by this proof of confidence and appreciation of my service in Putumayo
conveyed to me by your letter, wherein you tell me the King has been
graciously pleased, upon your recommendation, to confer upon me the
honour of knighthood. I am indeed grateful to you for this signal
assurance of your personal esteem and support. I am very deeply sensible
of the honour done me by His Majesty, and would beg that my humble duty
might be presented to His Majesty, when you might do me the honour to
convey to him my deep appreciation of the honour he has been graciously
pleased to confer upon me.'
"What happened to affect and corrupt prisoner's mind he did not know."
Sir F. E. Smith then went on to describe Sir Roger Casement's visits to
the internment camps in Germany, etc., which was after October, 1914.