TRIBITSCH LINCOLN'S SCHEME

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 187, 7 August 1916, Page 11

TRIBITSCH LINCOLN'S SCHEME

jO DESTEOY GEBMA2T NAVY. gXtjjm CLAIMS OF ES-MIP. Onr Special Correspoadent.) LONDON, June 2C. feaatina Tmwtiy Tribitsch Lir-eoln, thTex-JLP. and self-confessed spy, ad™ftted at Bow Street yesterday taut he Sfio a forger. He made fiat conSdm in the course of an amaong EU regarding his career in this ♦Wand Us dealings with the Ad"Sfr declared that he had SSed to the Admiralty not only the fret code by whit* informal reSftg the British Fleet was conveyed !!G«nnany, but a scheme which if jLTworid have meant that the Ger--would have ceased to exist JrfSerl Alas, toe Admiralty had « faith' in Ignatius Timothy-, and, in&JSp£r fThave exhibited the lack SSofVplainly that Lmcota oon«Sved an idea that the authorities sussed .him of 'being a good deal less Sy towards England than he pro-! fried to be. Lincoln's notion developed J!& a conviction sufficiently strong to Zince Wm to migrate to America, *rL as aU the world knows, he did not make a name as a pro-Britisher. MeanXle, however, Lincoln had made un*uSorised use of the name of Mr. Sebohm , Entree, tte wealthy and profusely philanthropic manufacturer of cocoa, and ofa Mr Farmer. Thereby he obtained sums of money amounting to £900 in »11 from two "financiers named Goldstein and Finklestone. who paid tribute to Lincoln's caligraphic drill by neceptjn<r Messrs. Rowntree and Farmer s imitated siTiature as genuine. Whether the' Admiralty wanted Lincoln back in England, or 'whether they could have eot Mm if they did want him for some reasons of State, is an open question, but 'his forgeries fashioned a comparatively easy path for extradition proceeding and'he now stands committed for trial at the Central Criminal Court for, ihose offences. . I ' Possibly there are more serious j to be preferred against him later on but a verdict of guilty on the Bow Street indictment will, in any event, be sufficient to keep Lincoln out of mischief for a long time to come. "BARING HIS SOCL." In the course of his long harangue Lincoln said that he had made up his Bund to bare his soul in order that justice might be done to him. He >yds born in Hungary, of Jewish parents. He came to this country as a stranger in a 6trange land, and he had by his own powers risen to very great distinction. As a young man he became converted, and for fourteen months he was a curate in a Kentish village, but the seed of selfconceit was already -working in him, and ha told his vicar that he was going to leave 'him with the intention of entering Parliament. He then worked for Mr. Bowntree, who advanced him £10.000 ■without any security. During the year le was in the House of Commons he lost £14,000 or £15,000 in Galician oil ventufes, but he afterwards regained it all. and a few thousands in addition. He plunged into other speculations, and in 1913 ins holdings in a company which ie promoted in Rumania were worth''"aoont : '" £50foOO."" ' Eventually they became worthless, but he was driyen by ambition and the lure of the deceptive prizes of life, and for years he abandoned his faith, which years ago was his greatest happiness. When Ec found himself without money he did forge these two documents. He had had a lesson, and he was not ashamed to confess his sin. He bad confessed it to God weeks ago, before he came to England, fl-Tvd -why should fee be ashamed > to confess it to man? CENSOR IN WAR OFFICE. j ■When the war broke out "he became a censor in the War Office. He did not take any money for the work, because he looked upon it as his contribution to his adopted country. He was still full of ambition, and was always looking out for something big and extraordinary. Ihe statements he was going to make •were bo sensational that they would h&rdly be believed, but he hoped an opportunity would be given him to prove them. He devised a plan in his own fertile brain to destroy the German Navy. He put the scheme before Captain Kenny, of the War Office, and he put it before his superiors, who thought it was the most brilliant thing they had ever heard of, but on technical grounds, namely, that it would necessitate disclosing the whereabout of parts of the British Fleet, they could not act upon it He then suggested that he should go' to Rotterdam, as he believed he tould get important secrets out of the Germans there. He went to Rotter2am, and ha scheme worked. He made x charge against the Admiralty that if they had carried out his scheme, by the eteans with -which he provided them, the German Navy -would have ceased to exist ten or twelve months ago. He hoped the Prime Minister, -whose supporter he tad been, would appoint a committee to investigate his allegations. SECRET CODE. Upon ihis return to England, Lincoln continued, he had an interview with Captain Kenny, and handed him a number of documents of which he had obtained posession, including a secret code by •neans of -which German spies, not only in this country, but in many parts of the world, kept the German Government informed of the movements of the British Fleet. There was also information •E to what the Germans knew about Kitchener's army, of which ttiey were Very nervous, and what they did not, and as to how German spies were being financed. When Captain Kenny saw these documents, drawn up -by the great General Staff of Germany, he said, "I Biust take them to Lord Kitchener at Wee. He win be immensely pleased." Continuing his statement, which he Maimed would startle the whole world, the prisoner said he told Captain Kenny not to believe that Germany was ehort of men, munitions, or food, and not to let the British Fleet engage in individual actaone, because the Germans had told him that they did not expect to defeat the British Empire this time, but fchey hoped to weaken her to such an extent that jn about ten or fifteen years' time ttey would finish her. Therefore, if they could weaken the British Fleet by individual actions, they would be eatiefied. TO SCANDALISE ENGLAND. Eventually he (Lincoln) got into com J«nication"with Captain Hall, of the Admiralty, who came to the conclusion ™at he was a dangerous man, and wanted w 6ilence him. Captain Hall had accused «im of trying to blackmail the Admiralty, wit Captain HaH had blackmailed him in order to silence him. Ho had never demanded a large sum of money for the Valuable information which he obtained, and it was a devilish lie to say he had w er done anything against tins counWhen he afterwarde wrote some

articles in a New Yotfc newspaper he turned the whole thing round out of Tβvenge to scandalise England. A PLEA! for caNSTOERATTON". I "To the two charges of forgery I ptesd gnflty," Lincoln said finally, "but since it has been proved that this action has been inspired, if not instigated, by the Britieii Admiralty, I plead the second article of the Treaty of 1889 why no action can be taken against mc far forgery. Lest the British Admiralty think that my statement about myseK is only a clever rase to play on the feelings of people, and since I am anxious that my spoken words should be taken at their face value, and lest the British Admiralty should think that the pleading of this article of the Treaty is but a ruse to get back to the United States and there to continue writing against Great Britain, I -will waive that clause altogether as if it did not exist, and I appeal to the British Government on the grounds of common justice. If the alleged complainants, as they have declared, have never desired to take any action ! against me,'and since in truth there is absolutely nothing against mc ac a British subject, I hope and expect that justice, tempered by generous consideration, will be extended to mc."