I may fairly claim to have taken perhaps a leading part in bringing home
to the people of this country a realisation of the perils to which our
foolish good nature has exposed us in the matter of the spy danger.
Though I am quite willing to admit that much has been done by our
excelled Intelligence Department in putting a check upon the activities
of the German spies since the War began, I cannot but confess that I
look upon the continued presence in this country of some 22,000 German
and Austrian enemies, allowed for the most part to go freely about their
business, whatever it may be, with unmixed alarm.
I raised my voice against the presence of spies among us before the War,
and since. Indeed, since the outbreak of hostilities I have addressed
over a hundred audiences upon this very vital aspect of the War.
Before the crisis--as long ago as 1906--I wrote and spoke of German
spies; but for my pains I was jeered at by the public, laughed at by
officialdom, and boycotted by a section of what is to-day known as the
"Hush-a-bye Press." Many times I sat with Lord Roberts, both of us in a
state of despondency. He had tried to do his best to awaken Britain and
point out the pitfall ahead, and I had, in my own modest way,
endeavoured to assist him. But it was all to no purpose; and when I
wrote the forecast, _The Invasion_, to which Lord Roberts wrote a
striking preface, people busy with their money-making and under the
hypnotism of the Hun, declared that the great Field Marshal was "old,"
and that I was a mere "alarmist."
In this War, united as we are to-day in the common cause, we have buried
the past. The future alone--the way to win the War--concerns us.
We know quite well, and the facts have been admitted since the War
began, that in times of peace not only our own country, but practically
every country in the world, was overrun with a horde of Germans who,
though ostensibly in business on their own account, were, in fact,
secret agents for that department known as "Number 70, Berlin." No
nation has ever carried espionage to such lengths as it has been carried
by the Germans, perhaps because there is no nation capable of so
shamelessly abusing the hospitality of others and so flagrantly
returning evil for good. I have no doubt whatever that the laxity shown
not only by ourselves, but by other nations to Germans in times of
peace, has been a matter for unmixed amusement in the secret councils of
the Kaiser at Potsdam. To live in apparent peace and friendship for the
express purpose of betraying is a Judas-like achievement in which no
nation but the barbaric Teuton could take a pride, and there is ample
evidence that before the War this was one of the favourite methods by
which the German abroad served the interests of the Fatherland. This I
have pointed out for years.
It cannot, alas, be pretended that, even since the War began, we have
taken anything like adequate steps to protect ourselves against this
grave national peril. Upon the outbreak of the War Germany took steps
at once to intern or expel every enemy alien, and thus to put them out
of the way of doing any injury. We cannot and do not complain of this;
the complaints that have been made against the German proceedings were
on the ground that the people interned were treated more like beasts
than human beings. The mere fact of expulsion or internment was a
matter of ordinary prudence, and the Germans were unquestionably right
in taking no chances in the matter of espionage. Their action was only
another instance of the thoroughness with which they had prepared for
war, for there is no doubt that the steps taken were resolved upon long
before war broke out; they could not otherwise have been taken with such
promptness and on so great a scale.
Have we been as prudent? What was our action? Of the facts with regard
to German spies in England the Government had been fully warned long
before the War, and there was and is no excuse for any shilly-shallying
with the subject. Yet for a long period hardly any action was taken to
prevent the continued existence of a great danger, and it was only when
the population became dangerously excited after the sinking of the
"Lusitania" that internment was taken in hand with anything like vigour.
And even this promise of Mr McKenna's has not been maintained, for we
are now informed officially that there are still some 22,000 Germans and
Austrians uninterned! Can it be said that these people do not
constitute a very grave and a very real danger?
I am quite willing to admit that a proportion of them are perfectly
respectable, honest folk who have no sympathy, it may be, with the cause
of Germany, and who would not do anything to harm the country of their
adoption. There are undoubtedly even Germans who are not devoid of all
decent feeling. But there can be little question that a great many of
them are of quite another way of thinking, and would be only too willing
to commit outrage, wreck trains, blow up factories, destroy munition
works, and stab us in the back if the opportunity offered itself.
Some months after the War broke out Mr McKenna, who was then Home
Secretary, published a long report in which he dealt with the steps that
had been taken to break up the German spy system in England. Possibly
the then existing spy organisation was very badly crippled--perhaps for
a time it was even destroyed. But the Germans are a pertinacious
people; they have since had time to reorganise and perfect their plans,
and I have no doubt they have done so. That we have interfered with
them is unquestionable, and thanks to the increasingly stringent
passport system--adopted shortly after it was advocated in my book
_German Spies in England_--the German agents no doubt find it
increasingly difficult to come and go undetected. It has, however, to
be recognised that no passport system can keep these gentry out
altogether; we know that even in France the German agents, whether
actually Germans by birth or not, are very active. We know, too, that
they are active here; we have caught and shot no fewer than ten of them
up to the time of writing. But will it be pretended that we have caught
them all? It is much more likely that many of them are still at large
among us, and still active, though their opportunities for mischief have
been very drastically restricted by the admittedly splendid work of our
Naval and Military Intelligence Departments.
Now I think it will be admitted that the purpose of internment is not
punitive, but preventive. We do not want to visit the misdeeds of
Germany upon those Germans who are helpless in our midst; we do not want
to inflict any unnecessary hardships on those who are not in a position
to defend themselves, and who, whatever their nationality, cannot be
held responsible for the bestiality which has made the name "German"
accursed for ever among civilised nations. But we do want, and I
maintain that we are entitled, to protect ourselves against those who,
living here unmolested, are eager to return only evil for good. If in
the course of protecting ourselves we inflict some hardships on those
who do not deserve them, we can feel regret, but we cannot blame
ourselves. The fault lies not with us, but with those who plotted and
arranged for war on an unexampled scale, and whose proceedings before
and after war broke out were of a kind which put them completely out of
court if they plead for any kind of consideration.
Without hesitation I say that it would be practically impossible for a
German spy to do any effective work here if he were not aided and
abetted by Germans resident in England. To be of any real value a spy
must have been trained as such, and he must have a base from which to
work; he must have a shelter in which he will be practically free from
suspicion; he must have messengers and go-betweens who can move about
freely without attracting undue attention. And it is quite certain that
no German spy coming to England can obtain all these things except with
the active help of Germans already domiciled here--naturalised Germans
who are enjoying absolute freedom.
More than one German prisoner has escaped from our internment camps
under circumstances which suggest very strongly that he has received
help from people outside. That those people were British I refuse to
believe. The inference is that they were Germans, and the conclusion is
that all such people ought either to be interned or bundled, bag and
baggage, out of the country. There is no safety in any middle course.
It is for these reasons that I do urge very strongly that the Government
shall at once take steps to see that all enemy aliens shall either be
expelled or interned. I am convinced that our apathy in this direction,
though it springs from feelings which are in every way creditable to our
hearts, if not to our brains, is exposing us to dangers which, in these
critical days, we should not be called upon to face.
The activity of German spies in England at the present moment needs no
demonstrating. The Government has admitted it by the drastic steps they
have taken to deal with the peril. But every nation spies during
war-time, whatever they may do in peace, and I am certainly not going to
blame the Government because German agents are able to come over here
and send home information which may be of value to their country.
Probably it would not be possible for the Government to stop them
coming, and our Intelligence Department is entitled to congratulations
upon the excellent work that has been done in detecting them. When the
full story of their activities is told--if it ever is--it will be found
how we have very often met and beaten the Hun at a game which he has
been apt to consider as peculiarly his own. At the same time I do not
think we have done all that we could and should have done, and the
readiest way of helping on the good work would be to remorselessly
intern or expel all enemy aliens, no matter what their status may be.
I am convinced that we should thus deal a formidable blow at the
activities of the spies who visit our shores from time to time. They
would be deprived at a stroke of their best protectors, and they would
be exposed to a very greatly increased risk of detection. I admit that
it would be very regrettable if some thousands of innocent Germans and
Austrians, who, it may be, have a genuine admiration for England, and
many of whom have sons serving in our Army, were thus inconvenienced.
But the plain fact is that we cannot afford to take a single unnecessary
risk, and whatever may be the inconvenience to the individual the safety
of the State must be the first consideration.
It has been shown over and over again, both here and in other countries,
that naturalisation is one of the favourite devices of the spy. It
protects him by rendering him less likely to suspicion, and enables him
to move about freely in places where the non-naturalised alien would
have no chance of going. It has been proved during the present War that
German troops have been led by men who had actually lived for many years
in the district, and had come to be looked upon almost as natives.
Naturally they made exceedingly efficient guides. Yet under cover of
naturalisation they had been able for years to carry on active espionage
work.
Then we also have the Invisible Hand. From August, 1914, to the present
day a mysterious, silent, intelligent, Anglo-phobic mailed fist has been
steadily at work for our discomfiture. Evidence of the existence of the
Invisible Hand lies broadcast. As far as I know, however, only one
person has publicly referred to it--the brilliant and well-informed
writer who chooses to be known as "Vanoc," of the _Referee_.
He has pointed out that no effort has been made to locate, to destroy,
or to intern the owner of the Invisible Hand. Yet we have seen its
deadly finger-prints in many departments and in many parts of England,
Scotland, and Wales. We recognise them and their identity with those of
our enemies.
"Vanoc" wrote on February 20, 1916, the following words, which should be
carefully weighed in all their full meaning:
Ships with steam up waiting for weeks at a time in the Channel, for
want of organisation, have cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds for
demurrage. The artificial rise in freight is itself an effective
blockade of England. That blockade is the work of the Invisible Hand.
Civilian doctors are overworked, while many doctors in Government
service are hard put to it to find work until midday. Of all the
events that have happened since the beginning of the War, the refusal
of the late Ministry to hold a court-martial on the loss of the
"Formidable" is probably the most dramatic and the most effective
demonstration of the power of the Invisible Hand. I am not free to
tell the true story. When it is told it will be found that the
Invisible Hand was hard at work during the Irish troubles and in the
Curragh Camp affair before the outbreak of war.
Captain Loxley and his faithful dog friend were drowned from the
bridge of a ship handed over to the enemy by the Invisible Hand. The
loss of Sir Christopher Craddock's squadron was the work of the
Invisible Hand. Influencing honest Britons to organise the
destruction of one of their cruiser squadrons, the deed was easily
done. Lord Fisher of Kilverstone has never consciously been under the
control of the Invisible Hand, but in his work at the Hague Conference
he and Sir Charles Otley, both most honourable and noble-minded
English gentlemen, were the unconscious instruments of the Invisible
Hand.
The bogey of the neutral Powers is a fiction concocted in the damp,
sinister palm of the Invisible Hand. At the meeting at Cannon Street
Hotel on February 14, 1916, Lord Devonport made it clear to London men
of business that an occult force is at work able to use the resources
of the British Empire to feed, arm, succour, and strengthen Germany.
The writer went on to point out that of all the triumphs of the
Invisible Hand there was none greater than its successful manipulation
of events which led to the escape of the "Goeben" and the "Breslau"; to
the war with Turkey; to the death or disablement of 206,000 men of our
race in the Gallipoli Peninsula; and in conclusion he wrote:
The finger-prints of the Invisible Hand show that it has a sense of
humour. We have not only been steadily checked or defeated on land
for eighteen months, but we have been contemptuously checked or
defeated. When the last troops left Gallipoli an aeroplane hovered
over the farewell scene. A paper was dropped on which was inscribed,
"We don't want to lose you, but we think you ought to go." Between
the Scylla of silly optimism and the Charybdis of ignorant pessimism
there is a narrow strait. To steer our course we must take the
Invisible Hand off the helm. We can win this War, but no longer can
we win it easily. That feat is possible only if the Fleet is
unshackled and the methods that are so successful at sea are applied
to the administration of the land. The appointment of Mr Joseph
Pease--a Quaker and a president of the Peace Society--to the Ministry
at the present time is a piece of work upon which the Invisible Hand
is to be warmly congratulated.
If we are to win the War, the identity of this Invisible Hand must be
exposed and its sinister influence defeated. We have seen it at work in
a hundred devious ways--the protection of the enemy alien, the amazing
leniency shown towards spies, the splendid efforts of one department
strangled by the red tape of another, the protection of German-owned
property and funds, the provision of delights at Donington Hall and
other Hun hostels; indeed, the whole of the "Don't-hurt-the-poor-German"
policy which has been the amazement of ourselves and neutrals alike.
It was this Invisible Hand which destroyed the splendid Dominion
Parliament House at Ottawa. Indeed, the Invisible Hand has been
responsible for no fewer than fifty-eight incendiary fires in factories
engaged in war work in the United States; and by its sinister direction
large quantities of our merchant shipping, with passengers and crews,
have been sent to its doom. It was the fatal Invisible Hand which blew
up the great explosive factory in Havre; the Invisible Hand which
suborned the despicable fellow Lincoln, ex-M.P., to become a traitor and
endeavour to lead our Grand Fleet into a cunningly-prepared trap laid
for it by the "Navy of the Kiel Canal." Therefore one wonders what may
be the next blow dealt against us by this mysterious unknown influence,
which seems to be the hand of Satan set upon us.
Is it, indeed, the Invisible Hand which to-day refuses to allow some of
our Government Departments to be cleansed of the Teuton taint?
Let us take off the gloves and fight this treacherous, unscrupulous, and
untrustworthy foe with a firm and heavy fist. We must coddle the Hun no
longer. In the past the Home Department has been far too lenient
towards the enemy in our midst; and though there are signs of
improvement, yet much more remains to be done.
In these days of the Zeppelin menace and daylight raids by Black Cross
aeroplanes there is a distinct and ever-present peril in allowing so
many enemy aliens to be at large. Further, it is hardly reassuring to
Englishmen that, while they are going forward to train and to fight,
their places in business and elsewhere may be taken by enemy aliens who
have been officially exempted from internment.
The last published official figures given in the House of Commons by the
Home Department show that no fewer than 7,233 enemy aliens have been
exempted. In the London area alone there were still at large 9,355 male
enemy aliens and 8,207 female enemy aliens, while 471 male enemy aliens
were still allowed to reside and wander in prohibited areas.
I maintain that if we mean to win--and we do--this state of things must
cease. I have raised my voice against it on many occasions. And
because I have dared to do so I have received many threats and warnings
of an untimely end from these uninterned gentry who are allowed to go
and come about London and other large cities, eager and ready to assist
the enemy should a raid either by air or land be attempted upon us.
Already we have seen what spies have accomplished in America, and how
widespread is all their plots. The recent proceedings in the New York
Courts and the official publication of the correspondence found upon the
spies Von Papen and Boy-Ed is still fresh in the memory of readers.
Not only in America, in Canada, and in South Africa--where maps were
found ready printed showing that colony as a German colony!--but also in
Australia, there has lately been revealed the subtle influence of this
same Invisible Hand.
The _Melbourne Age_, one of the most responsible journals in Australia,
published a long exposure of the whole series of plots in its issues in
the first week of January, 1916.
In one, under the heading "Treachery in Excelsis," it said:
We come now to Germany's supreme act of treachery in our regard. It
will be recollected that just prior to the War Australia was visited
by the British Association for the Advancement of Science for the
purpose of holding here its annual international conference. Our
visitors and guests comprised the most eminent men of science from all
countries in the world. Germany sent four of her most distinguished
professors, viz, Dr Albert Penck, Dr E. Goldstein, Dr Graebner,
and Dr Pringsheim. These learned gentlemen still lingered in the
Commonwealth when war was declared. They immediately approached the
Federal Government for permission to return to Germany, representing
that they were international scientists, and therefore neutrals, and
that although by accident of birth German citizens, they belonged to
the whole world, and ought not to be detained. The Commonwealth
Government assented to this proposition, and merely required the
savants to take the oath of neutrality. Dr Eugen Goldstein and Dr
Albert Penck promptly took the oath. The former went off to Java; the
latter took ship to England.
Dr Graebner and Dr Pringsheim appeared to be more dilatory than their
_confreres_, and raised all sorts of objections. These, however, were
overruled by the Australian authorities, and at length they took the
oath.
Proceeding, the _Age_ says:
Suspicion fell on them, and their correspondence was intercepted and
examined, luckily for us, before they sailed. Their correspondence
proved that they were spies, and they were immediately arrested and
interned. Dr Eugen Goldstein got clear away. But not so Dr Albert
Penck. The last-named professor's baggage was overhauled during his
journey to Europe under cabled instructions from the war authorities.
It contained even more complete information concerning Australia's
military preparations and intentions than the correspondence of
Graebner and Pringsheim, and it contained in addition most excellent
military contour maps of the country surrounding some of our largest
capital cities--maps which could have no vestige of use for any
purpose than to serve the ends of a German army of invasion. The maps
and other information collected by these eminent German scientists
were not the work of a day or of a month. They were of a character to
prove that Germany had sent the professors to Australia to steal our
dearest defence secrets from us, and to repay our hospitality by
paving the way for our destruction. The professors, in short, were
official German spies. When Dr Penck arrived a prisoner in England
he was recognised, moreover, as a German scientist who had in past
years led several scientific expeditions to the Isle of Wight, overtly
to examine the peculiar geology of the island, but really to spy on
Portsmouth, Britain's most important naval base in the English
Channel. It is unlikely that Dr Professor Albert Penck will ever see
Germany again. When the above facts are considered, what Australian
is there can continue to cherish any doubt as to Germany's designs
upon the Commonwealth?
From every British colony there has come to us the same story of the
clever and ingenious plotting by the enemy alien, just as we have at
home daily illustrations of him at his evil work.
Our Allies grappled quickly and drastically with the enemy alien at the
very outbreak of war. Russia led the way. Within four days of the
declaration of war the Tzar signed a ukase ordering the deportation of
all German and Austrian women and children, the internment of all
Germans and Austrians, both naturalised and unnaturalised, and, further,
the sale of all enemy-owned property by public auction!
Thus a clean and entire sweep was made of the plotters and traitors at
one blow, and the German spy system ceased to exist in the Russian
Empire.
If we desire to avoid a serious set-back, or even, perhaps, serious
disaster when the day of the hammer-blow dawns, we must adopt Russia's
example and intern all enemy aliens, both the naturalised and the
unnaturalised, irrespective of age or social distinction.
The leopard cannot change his spots, and the born German remains a
German to the end of his days. The silly naturalisation farce is far
too thin a cloak in these days of our national peril, when we are
fighting for our loved ones, our homes, and our honour. I admit that to
intern all naturalised Germans would, in many cases, inflict serious
discomfort upon many men who have lived with us for years and become to
all intents and purposes good Britishers. But in war, and in such a
world-war as this, one unfortunately cannot discriminate. Personally I
am acquainted with some good naturalised Germans, and I also know some
bad and highly suspicious ones.
But surely at this moment, when all factors point to our ultimate
victory, we will not allow the Invisible Hand to hold open the gate for
the entrance of a barbarous enemy into our land?
The hilarious farce of internment and of exemption a few weeks later
must no longer continue. Enemy aliens must no longer be allowed to go
on honeymoons, or men go down to conduct their business in the City.
Every enemy alien now at large in the United Kingdom must be put again
behind stout barbed wire, and Mr McKenna's promise, extracted by that
great demonstration of women under Lady Glanusk at the Mansion House,
must be kept to the letter to the country.
My demand is that all should be interned, irrespective of whether they
have paid their fees and taken the so-called "oath" or not. Every
German who becomes naturalised as an Englishman is a traitor to his
country, and we have no room for traitors in this country to-day.
If we are to win we must promptly curb the evil activities of these
wandering denizens of Lord Haldane's "spiritual home," a sentiment which
I express whole-heartedly, and with which I know, from the mass of
correspondence daily reaching me, is shared by a very large number of
prominent peers, politicians, and citizens.
We must break up the Black Cross of Satan for ever.