RE-ARRESTED

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 130, 29 November 1919, Page 12

RE-ARRESTED

THE STORY OF EX-GERMAN

CONSUL.

(PRO- OUr. OWN CORK-SPOND-ST.) SYDNEY, 18th November. It is reported from Brisbane that Dr. Hirschfeld, formerly the German consul for Queensland, has been arrested at his .pleasant suburban home in Brisbane, and recommitted to the internment camp. His liberation and rearrest make the story of war and! post-war: events in .Queensland worth retelling. When..war broke out Hirschfeld was not arrested. lie was permitted toilive quietly at home under supervision. But good -work by the intelligence section of the Defence Department showed that the good doctor was still endeavouring to serve the Fatherland. - He was suddenly 'arrested-, and among compromising papers seized were some that showed that a plan for the invasion of Australia was actually in existence. It depended for execution upon the development of giant submarines of the Deutscliland type, and Dr. Hirschfeld was deeply involved in it. The ex-Consul was now treated- as an ordinary war prisoner, arid the papers were lodged in the Defence offices.

The papers were stolen by a clerk with a.foreign name—who was trusted because he had formerly done notable work as a secret agent—and they came into tho posse-sioii of a Brisbane solicitor, a gentleman wth a very German name. He approached Mrs. Hirschfeld, an, Australian, who is very anxious that her husband will not be deported. He' represented to her that for a certain sunhe would destroy these compromising papers. The lady had sufficient sense to stall him off, while she took a hurried trip to Melbourne, and laid the whole matter before the Acting-Minister for Defence. The clerk and the solicitor were forthwith arrested and sentenced.

About a fortnight ago Dr. Hirschfeld appeared in Brisbane, apparently at liberty. Public indignation soared quickly to a high point. More or less harmless (jgrmaus-, it was pointed out, were being deported, but this German, who had been engaged iv plots against Australia, was allowed to remain. Furious telegrams were sent to Mr. Hughes. It is known that Mr. Hughes was taken by surprise, and that he knew nothing about Hirschfeld and his liberation. He saw the effect the incident, was likely to have on the elections, however, and ho acted quickly. Ho demanded to knowon whoso -authority the man was liberated, and why. Just what happened inter-Dopartment-lly is not known. But Dr. Hirschfeld is back in durance vile, and Brisbane has ceased to simmer.