THANKED BY BERLIN

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 18 October 1918, Page 1

THANKED BY BERLIN

.. *- EX-LORD MAYOR IN THE DOCK. STORY OF HIS INQUIRIES ABOUT VICKERS. How some people in Berlin evinced a burning curiosity to learn t!he extent and equipment of Vickers's Works, and how this thirst for information was satisfied to some extent, was prominently brought out in the case heard at Bow street in which <§ir Joseph Jonas (73), steel manufacturer, of Endcliffe House, Sheffield, formerly Lord Mayor of that city, and Charles Alfred Vernon (38), manufacturers' agent, of GlenmoTe road, Hampstead, surrendered to their bail to answer the charge of having, on diver* davg. between September 1, 1913, and June 10. 1918, unlawfully conspired together and with divers other persons to "contravene the provisions of, the Official Secrets Act, 1911, by obtaining and communicating for purposes prejudicial to the interests of the State information useful to an- enemy, and information relating to a prohibited area and to things therein. Sir R. D. Muir, in opening the case., said % that a person convicted under one section of the Official Secrets Act was liable to fceven~ years' penal servitude as the maximum, and under another section to fine or imprisonment, or both, the im- , prisomnent being limited to two years' ha-rd labor. Documents were found in the possession of Sir Joseph Jonas, but practically none were found in the possession, of Vernon. It was clear, however, from the documents which would be produced that Vernon was in correspondence with Sir Joseph Jonas, and it followed that ho must have either destroyed that part of, the correspondence which was in his possession or must have it in soniu place other than the places searched-Sir Joseph had a fellow-worker hi his company, a man named Carl Hahn, who was also of German origin, and who became a naturalised British subject in 1884. He was connected with the company, up to about July, 1917. He had a. son named Car. Hahn, now known as Vernon, one of .defendants, wlio changed his name in' June. 1913, when he became Charles instead of Carl, and adopted the combined name of Vernon-Hahn. On August 15, 1914, he again changed his name by dropping the hyphenated Halm, and became Charles Alfred Vernon, a name he now held. He was the London agent of Jonas and Colver and comparatively recently he became employed under the Ministry of Munitions m one of the offices in the Grand Hotel - annexe. In the correspondence a man named Bit-hard Zieschang,. who was born in this 1 country of German parents, was mentioned, but the statements.in that correspondence, counsel observed, were not. m his view, evidence against Zieschang. or he would have been in the dock. This man was m November. 1913, a foreman employed by/ Messrs Vickers, Ltd., at their works at Crayford, and was" still in their employment. A man named Paul Von Gontard was one of Sir Joseph Jonas's correspondents, ar.d was APPARENTLY AN INTIMATE . , . ' FRIEND. He resided in Berlin," and was connected with an armament works there. Searches were made on May 1 at the Continental Works of Jonas. Colver, and Co., Ltd., at Sheffield, and after waiting for some time Inspector Fitch, who directed the search, saw Sir Joseph Jonas. Inspector I itch, said he was directed to make a search under the Official Secrets Act. Sir ' Joseph said : "I do not understand it."' He then produced keys which were in his possession, and in a locked cupboard, the key of-which was produced by Sir Joseph, the letters in question were found. Counsel said that the first document was a. memorandum on the paper of the firm of Jonas and Colver, at the Continental Steel Works, Sheffield, dated April 9, 1913, in the handwriting of Von Gontard, which said : i Alfred writes his friend Zieschang at Vvckbrs's, tells him that they are, hlling these works, which are very large; with American machine tools and a Tot of things to supply the British Government with small arms in it verv bipway. - . a Alfred was obviously the defendant Alfred Vernon. The next documentshowed that after the receipt of the letter two months later, Sir Joseph must havo been m receipt of somo application for information about Messrs Vickers's work* and that would appear from the documents which followed, the first of which was dated November' 8; 1913. It was dicby Sir Joseph Jonas, and ran : - Your father gave me once a slip of paper which you sent him about /ickerss rifle works. I handed this paper back to your father, and I daresay he then destroyed it. It is important I should have the following information, strictly private, at your earliest convenience. What is the size -?l,u new i; i fle works of y ickers y Where are they situated? How many rifles do' they propose to make a day ? How many men have they employed, and could you get to know whether they . have any orders from abroad, and perhaps from your Government? Your information, of course, will be treated as' strictly private. Possibly your friend could get you this information, which kindly post to me privately. That memorandum, Sir Richard remarked was dictated by Sir Joseph Jonas in con-sequence-of a letter received by him. The original letter had a printed HEADING FROM AN ADDRESS IN BERLIN, and was dated. November 7. On November 6, 1913, there was another letter stating:—' Dear Sir Joseph,—l shall 'sliorl-lv be sending you the information you desire. I shall be-grateful if you will let me know the approximate area of Vickers's new rifle works, about which you wrote ■ iu your last letter. Where i's the factory situated, how many workmen are employed, and have thev received considerable orders from "abroad? My best thanks in advance and land regards. —Yours very sincerely, Paul Von Gontard. In .reply to Sir Joseph Jonas's memorandum of November 8. 1913, defendant Vernon, at that time Vernon Hahn, wrote a letter on the stationery of .lonas and Colvor, Ltd.. typing the -letter, and signing willi an indelible pencil '\C. A. V. Hahn." which was as follows: Dear Sir Joseph.—l have 10-day received your letter of November 8 in reference to Messrs Vickers, Limited. Tbe_works referred to are at Crayford, in Kent, close to the Erith works, and were formerly the works of the Wolse

ley Motor Car Company. In the days when the Wolseley cars were built there the works wore of a. good size, but i understand that they have since been increased probably about 10 times over; and, in addition to rifles being made there, some new patent geai' is being laid down which will, I believe, revolutionise the gear of the cars.- 1 have no knowledge of how many rifles are being made per day, or what orders they have -got or expect, or the number of men ihey employ; but it must be very considerable, because 1 understand that they are receiving at the rate of 10 a day machines specially adapted for rille manufacture. I had that information from Zieschang, who was forerly jmemployed by the Wilkinson Sword Company, and 1 have no doubt he will give niu any information which comes »#to his possession as to the number of v men employed, but-it will be some time before 1 can get the information, as I believe he is away just now. As showing the accuracy of the information which Vernon had got from Zieschang, it was right to toll the Magistrate that cat that time Vickers Company were manufacturing a new kind of gear to be used in the steering of His Majesty's ships. The letter containing that information was acknowledged by Sir Joseph Jonas on November 11, 1913. On the samo day Sir Joseph Jonas wrote a letter in German in his own handwriting to his correspondent in Berlin, the translation of which was as follows: Dear.Mr Contard, —In consequence of your letter of November 6, I have ascertained the following concerning the liflo factory; next week I shall know more:—The works are at Cray ford, in .-' Kent, and are pile close to the Erith works of Vickers. Thoy wero formerly the Wolseley Motor Car Company's works, which were of considerable extent, and they are now about 10 times the size. In addition to the rifles which are to be made, a new patent gear is being laid down which, I am told, will revolutionise the gear of the cars. For the present we cannot find out how many rifles are being made by them. I shall find out more in course of time. On November 26, 1913, Vernon wrote a further letter marked " private" to Sir Joseph Jonas referring to the previous request for information, and stating: I am at last able to get you a little more reliable information, having to-day made a visit to Crayford, where I saw my friend. It is expected that before long the works will extend to not less than 14 or 15 acres; the situation I have already written you about. In addition to a stall' of about 50 draughtsmen, there are employed at present only about 500 men in what |s called the too* room, hard at work; but soon after Christmas .it' is expected that the works will be able to give employment to not less than 4,000 men there. It is impossible at this early stage to obtain information as to how many weapons the works are supposed to produce a day, as that information is not forthcoming, nor is there any definite information to send you as to the other matters mentioned. .During one month only, however. £BO,OOO worth of machines has been placed in store. The letter added further information as to the machinery to b6 installed, and also made statements as to the probable manu-.r facture of aeroplane machines and their horse-power. This letter was duly acknowledged by Sir Joseph, and oii November 27 there was a letter from Berlin thanking Sir Joseph for the information. The latest development in one case was the appearance in the dock of Carl August, Hahn, of Highbury House, Sheffield, said to be the father of Vernon, the second prisoner, the allegation in this case being that Hahn conspired " with Jonas, with Vernon, and with divers other persons." At the previous hearing it was alleged that Vernon—the son of Carl Hahn, a former fellow-worker of Sir Joseph Jonasj—had been m correspondence with Sir Joseph Jonas in regard to work carried out by Messrs Vickers, Ltd., inquiring about the size and output of the works and the manufacture of rifles, etc. Vernon, who had dropped the name of Vemon-Hahn, was the London agent of Jonas and Colver, Ltd., Sheffield, and before his arrest at Newquay, Cornwall, he became emploved under the Ministry of Munitions.—Sir Richard Muir (prosecuting)' remarked that on the last occasion he told the Court that one of the persons connected with the case was supposed to be dead. He referred to the elder Hahn, but his statement on that occasion now proved to be unfounded, for Hahn was present as a defendant. The case against him rested upon* a written document already handed in, and if the Court were satisfied that, it was written by him, then it was clear that lie was a party to the scheme for obtaining information about Vickers' works and supplying it to Sir Joseph Jonas.—Detectiveinspector Fitch, recalled, produced a post card containing a photograph on one side' and some writing i n German on the other. Witness_ said he found this card at Sir Joseph jonas's house. Proceeding, he said that since the last hearing he had made a further search at the house of Vernon at Hampstead. On June 20 he SEARCHED THERE FOR CORRESPONDENCE Sir Joseph and Vernon of the date of"1913, but did not find any either of that date or any other date. He found the postage, book "produced there. It related to dates between Februarv 1 1916 and July 7, 1917. He found the name of Zieschang in the book. The first entrv was on February 27, 1917, and was as follows : —". R. Zieschaha, Esquire, Reg. 6id " Again, on June' 25. 1915. appeared an entry: " R. Zieschang, lOd." These were tae whole of the entries relating to Zieschang. [Zieschang, it was stated at the first- hearing, was employed at Messrs <\ ickers'.] He made a further search to try and discover correspondence between Vernon and Jonas on June 22, when he went to the warehouse of W. E. Bulnois. Ltd., but he found nothing there. He served the summons on defendant Hahn on June 24, and. he replied: "I was not there. '—Witness was cross-examined bv -Vlr Huntly Jenkins, and said he believed that there had been two searches made at Vernon's private house.—Mr Jenkins : Did he tell you that he had documents at Messrs Bulnois, Ltd.?— Witness.: He <r a ve me certain information.—You took awav a large quantity of papers?—! took a good many. I should say four or five writuvx cases and four or five parcels of letters.— Have you been to his bank?— Yes. did you do at the bank?-—I went to see certain correspondence.—ln further crossexamination, witness said he was familiar with the handwriting of Jonas, but 'not . with that of Hahn. " The writins on the

document produced, which ran, "Please let me have this letter back for tiling," was in the handwriting of Sir Joseph Jonas. He could not say in whose handwriting was the-rest of the document. It was quite different from Sir Joseph's.—Mi Jenkins: Can you tell me, from yom knowledge of the case, and of tho corre spondence you have been through, that Mr Hahn at tho date of thai letter, October. 1913, was either in South Africa or on his way to South Africa?— Witness: I cannot tell yon. —Sir Francis Barker, a director of Vickers, Ltd., identified a photograph produced by Inspector Fitch as that of Mr Paul Von Gontard, and said he" believed a post card produced was in tho handwriting of that gentleman, who was connected with munition works in Berlin at which small anus of all sorts were manufactured on a large scale. Von Gontard's and -witness's firms might, he supposed, BE REGARDED AS COMPETITORS in the world's market. Prior to the war witness's firm supplied their productions to various Governments and private firms—in fact, to anyone ready to buv them.— Cqlonel G. H. S. Browne, G.JS~, said he was experimental officer at the School of Hythe, from September, 1908. to September, 1913. His tenure of that appointment was extended from four to live years in consequence of the importance of the work he was doing in connection with the tests of a new rifle for the British Government. The information referred to, and asked for in certain letters produced, respecting the new rifle, would undoubtedly be of use to an enemy.—Someother witnesses having been recalled to explain certain points, Sir Richard Muir said the case for the prosecution was complete, and he asked that defendants should be committed for trial on the main charge of conspiracy and on various subsidiary charges.—Mr Tindal Atkinson said it was obvious that tho case would have to go before a jury, and all he need add was that the defence would be that this iniormation which was asked for and given to Sir Joseph Jonas befo-«j tho war was sought only for the purpose of giving business assistance to one of Sir Joseph's old •mstomers, and not with any purpose or intention prejudicial to -the State.—Mr Huntly Jenkins associated himself with Mr Atkinson's remarks, and on behalf of Hahn submitted that there was not sufficient evidence to constitute a prima facie case, against him.—Sir John Dickinson said "hat, in his opinion, there was evdeuce upon which all defendants must go for trial, and he according!? committed tliem to the. Old Bailey. Jonas and Vernon would be liberated on the same bail as before, and for Hahn he would accept two sureties in £SOO each.

The outcome of the trial was that Jonas and Vernon were convicted, tho former being fined £2,000, and the other malefactor £I,OOO, while Hahn, sen., was acquitted. The King degraded Jonas by ordering his name to be removed from * the ranks of Knight-bachelors. '