REVELATIONS. HOW BERTRAND STEWART WAS TRAPPED.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 74, 27 March 1912, Page 3

REVELATIONS. HOW BERTRAND STEWART WAS TRAPPED.

GERMANY'S COUNTER SPIES. [feom ottb own coebespondent.J LONDON, 16th' February. The whole stor> of the adventures of Beitrand Stewait. tentenced to three and a half years' imprisonment for spying iv Germany, is now disclosed. The one witness who gave evidence against him has^ made a. full statement of his proceedings, and the most patriotic Britisher can now accept the iidvice of Mr. Stewards father and leave the agitation alone. There is no doubt that Mr. Stewart io the victim not of any conspiracy or treachery, but simply of the fortunes of war, which are not very pleasant to officers engaged iv this perilous service. Th^e British War Office made a. blunder in" introducing its intelligence officers to a man with whom it had long since ceased to havo intimate relations, and who by now bad accepted eeivice as a. "counter-spy" for Germany. ENLISTED AS A SPY. Here is the narrative of the Belgian •witness, Verrue, alias Ruo: — "In 1907 I wan employed in, Hamburg as an agent for a great London brewery, for which 1 built up a great business' here. One of the directors of the brewery wrote to I me on 28th November, 1907, requesting ! me to enter the service of the British Espionage Bureau. The letter was in the handwriting of the director, my former chief, and was written on the. paper of the brewery, and was as follows: — 'Telegraphic address 'Courage, London.' Telephone, Central 12.701. Courage and Co., Ltd., Anchor Brewery, Horsleydown, London, S.E., 25th November, 1907. "Private and Confidential — Dear Mr. Rue,— l am writing to you on a private matter which has notliing- to do with business. I meet all sorts of people in Government employ here, and ainongefc others I have had relations with friends at the War Office. -,The Intelligence Department of the War Office has a list of individuals in its employ abroad who give them various information as to ! naval and military matters in connecj tion with, harfibur works, numbers of ships, railway arrangements, movements of troops, etc., for which remuneration ie paid. I have been asked whether \I know a ■ man in the north of Europe who would I be willing to get this 'information when required. lam given to understand that it would not commit you to* anything, and yon would only be offered this employment if necessity arose. lam therefor© writing to ask whether you would care to have your name entered on the Intelligence List in the employ of the War Office, and to give 'the beet information you could when required. 'Of course, this is strictly private, and you must not talk cf it to anyone. 1 hare confidence in you or I should never have asked you. You can decide as you like. I cannot say what the remuneration is, but travelling abuut as you do, and having so many English interests I thought you might care to, go into this, as it would not interfere with your work. If you agree to accept I will get your name entered at the War Office. If you don't care to, no harm is done, but I depend upon you not to talk about this. — Yours sincerely; (Signed), G. N. Hardinge." COEECED INTO JOINING. "In January^, 1908, I met the director at' the brewery in lioridon, anc£ he brought up the subject of the letter and repeated his request. He gave me to j understand that 1 must acquiesce in the proposal, and afterwards he took me to the British War Office and introduced J me to a certain Major, who brought me j into relation with a Lieutenant-Colonel. The latter engaged me for the Espion- j age Bureau, and promised me a salary of £250 a year. During the years 1908, 1909, and 1910 I was several times in Germany, but never received any definite commission from the Colonel. My reports, which I handed him personally, dealt mostly with matters of general political importance. "About the end of 1909 the Colonel transferred me to another officer,' who immediately reduced my salary by half. In April, 1910, I was turned into the street— l must say without any valid ground— by the director of the London brewery, who had actually forced me to enter the service of the Espionage Bureau. At the same time, the director told. me he would take care that I should lose my berth in the British Espionage Burean, and he kept his word, for about a fo"tnight later the chief M the Espionage Bureau personally informed me that my permanent position was taken from me, but that he would give me commissions from time to time as occasion served, and that I should be uaid according to results. " At the samo time, in. consequence of family quarrels, I left for the Continent to earn my bread, being then without employment. I entered into relations with an agent at Brussels, who engaged me for the German Countei'-Espionage Service, but I continued' my relations with the English Bureau, for which £ veoeived commissions during 1910 and 1911. For these I was miserably paid, and could not live on what I rec^ved. THE MEETING WITH STEWART. " In 1911 I was living at a- little place" called Dolland, close to the German frontier. The English Bureau wrote to me io go to Borkuin ro find out what had been done there since 1910, when I *as there, at the very time that Lieut. Brandon and Captain Trench were. I answered I was willing to make the journey. 1 received no reply. But on bunday, 30th July, I was visited by an Englishman calling himself Martin, who said he came on a mission from the chief of the British Espionage' Bureau. As a credential he gave the namo of the chief, which was well known to me. I only learned when he was arre3tcd at Bremen that his name «ai StewarL. Ha gave me £15. saying he came from the Espionage Bureau, i\nd asked mo to tomo the same evening with him to Ci-ciiieii to make a joimiev tiitou-h Germany, with the oLij?ct of diacovvirhi^ inilii'uy end naval secrets at Bremen. Brraevhaven. Cuxhavtn. WanSfiwg, fiambiii", Borkum, und Keil. Next nioi-nizi^ \y-:» amved :it Bcikuni. "Stewart remained there, and sentnio tv Wilhdmshaven with certain in*,tiuchona i-ckting ti> secrets of Gorman national defence. I am u» Englishman and have no obligations towards England, and have been very badly treated iv more- than one respect by the English. On the other hand, I havo been treated quite otherwise by fiermany better and more honourably. It was, therefore-, my duty lo guard Germany against the .snarp<s of aystumati .• British espionagp. I only did my duty when, | as soon a? I wjis certain he was a spy, i i had Mr. Stewart arrested. He gave Ruo the secret/ telegraphic address of the Chief of the Espionage Bureau. I]> lived simultaneously in two hotels at Bremen, yud said ho would give himself out us a tiavellcr fur » patent bottle-stopper. He mentioned v. secret report that Rue serit to ih* Cliipf of the L'zpioaage Buidu in London in regard to tho,aire:-t of ilio «py Jjclml/. Stewart got, bh iiddie^t, flom the ESpiont»£e Bureau in London,. five conjuiuedj

" Since August I have been in various count rieb, and was everywhere followed by a swarm of English detectives. They even tried to kidnap me in an automobile, but 1 dodged this expensive trap. English detectives nave tried to catch me kei'o in Hamburg, and, I am sorry to say, they received help from Germans, but they got nothing by it."