THE SPY MANIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15902, 13 April 1912, Page 14

THE SPY MANIA.

BRITAIN AND GERMANY,

THE CASE OF MR STEWART. Thsre lias been a considerable outcry 1 in the English press at tlie sentence of three and a-half years’ imprisonment . in a fortsess imposed by the German , Supreme Court at Leipzig on Mr Bor- ; 1 trand Stewart, a London solicitor, and , a lieutenant in the West Kent Yeomanry Cavalry regiment, who was j charged with espionage in Germany. | ( The sentenco is unnecessarily seieie, in , view of tlie obvious fact that M.r Stounrfc achieved so little success as a spy, • and fell into a trap prepared for him , by the agent lie was paying to miiKo inquiries for him, but these is veiy j little justification for the bitter attack , on the judicial methods of the German Supreme Court, which has been made j by tho English newspapers. _ ( The evidence was heard in camera, ] but summaries of it were puunshod in the German newspapers; being evident- j ly supplied from an official source. _ Hie . judgment road by tho President cr the j Court, Dr Yon l'chirgus, was delivered ( in open Court. . ■ The case is significant in the light it throws upon public feeling in Germany regarding the fear of a British naval attack; As far as. the evidence goerfi, til fi Yell Urge. was. a comparatively trumpery on n , ai.d Mr Bertrand Stewart, who is an officer of the Territorial Force, with very little •military experience. is net worth fill the attention which lias been given to him by the two nations of Great Britain and Germany. If a feeling of tension and mistrust did not exist between the two na- . lions, it is probable that. Air Stewart would have received a very light sentence, and his amateur attempt at espioiiago would have resulted in ridicule, instead of exalting him to the pedestal of a patriotic martyr. But Germany is suffering from' a spy mania. This is the fourth British subject who lias been sentenced in Germany during the past twclvo months for espionage, and in addition several French and Russian officials have also been captured and convicted,, The German people have come to believe that their country is over-run with spies. Mr Stewart is regarded as a “ gentleman spy,” who lias been trying to obtain German secrets, as a matter of sport, because there is an'element of danger in the work, just as there is in shooting big game, or in climbingjnount ains. The question put to Mr Stewart at his trial, by the President of tho Court, tndi- , cated that there is a widespread belief in Germany that a club exists 111 England, the members of which spend a great deal of their time in. spying m Germany, and comparing notes when they meet in London. It ir. only necessary to examine impartially tlie facts in‘the Stewart case, so far as they hnvo been disclosed, to see lu.w tho • indiscreet military zeal of a British Territorial .officer, acting 011 his own initiative, has been used to inflame hostile feelings between tile two nations. Mr Stewart, who is forty years of age, comes of a good family, and has- an income of about ;£‘2floo a year. Ho served in tho Boer war, and has always exhibited a keen interest m military matters, especially in scouting, and the work of the Intelligence Do partment. By some means lie obtained the address of a man in Holland named Frederick Rue, who has several aliases, and, as the result of negotiations between them, Air Stewart left London on Julv 29 last, and met Rue. According to his own story, he engaged lino as an interpreter, because he knows only-a few words of German, l ut according. to tho theory- of the prosecution at the trial. Rue was engaged to Sea fortifications, and THE PREPAREDNESS OF THE GERMAN NAVY for war. The prosecution declared that Air Stewart had been placed in communication with Rue through -tho • British Intelligence Department, but it is extremely or.probable that the' British Intelligence Department War. a party to tho matter, for information as to liuo s_ past record was easily obtainable. Mr Stewart admitted having asked Rue for certain military information in Germ my, but he contended that this information was public property, and could nave been obtained by any person at le ti read tho German newspapers. • Rue who was an agent pr wa ;atc ur in the’employ of .the German authorities, travelled with Mr -Stewart to Bicmen, and then te'-egraphed to the German’ authorities inform. l- i in legaidm? ' tho arrival of an Englishman. Under instructions from Air Stewart, Rue went to Rremerhaveii', ostensibly to get certain information, ajid 110 returned at 5 a.m. on July 31. and w<h; met by Air Stewart. They had a long conversation in tho waiting-room of the station, and Oil the next day Mr Stewart v.out from Bremen to Hamburg, ( nxliaveii, Heligoland, and returned via v.ilm'imf shaven and Brcmevhaven to Bremen--5 At the waiting-room at Bremen he nao I another inter»leiv with Rue, and tne 'latter handed him a plan • ! naval matters, particularly the mint .l n and whereabouts of the North German Lloyd lint rs and other merchant vessels which would he available as sransI ports and uuxi.iary cruisers m tunc or war. Air Stewart destroyed tho li nn as soon as he reached his hotel, ana a

few minutes later tho police turned and arrested him. He declared m Court that ho had never asked Rue for tho plan, and cijd not want information about shius. as bo knows nothing about vi-ival matters. . Tho conclusion to be arrived at is that'Mr Stewart was the victim of Ins own rashness, and FELL INTO A COMPARATIVELY SIMPLE TRAP.

It is n strain on the imagination to suppose that the British Intelligence Department would employ a Territorial junior officer, who did not know the German language, to spy- in Germany, or that they would send a military officer to obtain information about naval matters. The. case seems so absurd from the British standpoint that tho belief in Stewart s entire innocence is general.. But an attempt to procure secret information of any kind on .tho part of a foreign officer constitutes a broach of tho German espionage law, and on tho evidence tliero can be little doubt that Air Stewart committed a slight breach of tho law. 011 his own statement ho asked Rue to obtain certain military information, and though lie contends that the information ho asked for was not- of a secret character, there remains the fact that ho mado a special trip to Germany to got. it. But Air Stowart, who told tho president of the Court that ho hopes to take part in tho next big war—the inference being a war between Britain and Germany—was probably only carrying a little scouting work on liis own initiative. Tt is possible to conceive that ho thought a war between Germany and Great Britain was impending in connection with the Agadir incident, and that lie wanted to he personally familiar with certain military conditions in Germany. If tho tension between Britain and Germany slackens, and the international atmosphere becomes cleared of some of the SUSPICION Aim DISTRUST which impregnates it at present, thero should be no difficulty in obtaining ■ a substantial reduction in his sentence. At present rational prejudices prevent any display of clemency on tho part of the German authorities, and tho attacks of tho British Press on the German Supremo Court are not calculated to induce tho Gorman authorities to take a favourable view of tho case.

It is interesting to noto that the British AVar Offico is alive to tho danger which military officers may run while visiting Germany, no matter how innocent their mission. Regulations have been issued to tho effect that British officers, whether regular or territorial. active or retirod, when visiting Alsace-Lorraine are first to obtain permission from the German Imperial Alinistry at Strasburg, and whether stay-ing-in the province or only travelling through it. are to report themselves to tho office of tho Mayor of tlie town, if they are staying more than twenty-four hours. .Tf they are staying for less than twenty-four hours they are to report to tho military authorities even when ilia stay is only for j, brief period, due to want of railway connection. In garrison towns the report is to bo made to the senior officer of tho garrison, and in' fortress towns, in person, to the governor or commandant. If a British officer enters Germany from the Russian frontier lie must report himsolf in every place be stops the night and give notice of departure before leaving. The War Offico also recommends that British officers travelling in any part of Germany should provide themselves with proper passports which they should carry when in tho neighbourhood of .manoeuvres or defences,'and that they should leave their cards on tlie commandant of any garrison town they visit.