KAISER'S MAN HUNTERS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 115, 20 May 1918, Page 2

KAISER'S MAN HUNTERS.

! <KII>NAP DESERTERS IN HpL-

LAND

DUTCH AUTHORITIES HELP

LESS.

Swiss newspapers which recently arrived in this country (says the. New York Tribune) carry an article whose author, Philipp Berton, thus describes the bald and criminal agents i.u the Netherlands :

Tii.' recenr. news that Minster, editor of .!.•<"■!• 3'arnp)'. a magazine published at A>: .-t-erdruii. lias 'been "spurlos vers''.:ki."' has be»>.: confirmed. Minister w.!> arrested by the German "authorities. He \\ro Is versed in the conditions pr-evailing in Holland, Especially in the system of spying . carried on by Germany, was not at all surprised at this arrest, or kidnapping fr'MU Dutch territory.

To understand what part the Germ;m vspv svsvem plays in the Netherlands 0110 nu:si have made direct ob.icrvasions and must have been watciieri by Gtvman spies. Holland is crowded with Germa n deserters, who probably number raor'n thau 80,000. Of course, these deserters, even by their mere presence, carry on a continuous anti-war and antiGerman propaganda. Thanks to its spies, the German Government is very well informed about !all events in Holland. A special branch of the spy service lias been established to watch and kidnap German desert-er-s.

! I came to the Netherlands in September, 1915, and first used to live at Rotterdam. 1 had not yet been ten days, in Holland when I was located and watched by spies. DESERTERS WHISKED AWAY IN AUTOS. _____ IiSTTc!"" '.''..;.«_ <* i* aT"® c? ©T^ ; An 'editor of the Dutch Socialist .newspaper Het Volk. whom. I happened to meet at Rotterdam, asked me to write, some articles' on my experiences during the war. When I called at his editorial office, Ivaizergraeht, Amsterdam, the managing editor of Het Volk warned me not to come, often to the editorial office, and told me that somr Germai deserters had mysteriously disappeared. But then . I didn't believe what I wag. told. .Also I did hot take serious warning from others.

For the next day I had an appointment to be at the editorial ofßce of ;the* Rotterdamsche Neiuwsblad, Rotterdam. I called there at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. There I was received h-v Mr Martin, one of the editors, and Mi" Syffert, the publisher of the pa;per. Both gentlemen deemed it their first duty to warn me against spies, and enumerated many- instances —they had affidavits relating;to every one of them—when passers-by had seen that 'an automobile was driven close to the sidewalk, the door of the car opened. a young man seized, pushed into the car and whisked away. That all seemed ridiculous to. me. But I changed my mind within a very short period

•One trick often resorted to by the Germa n Government is the .following: If a Overman deserter openly carrier on a strong. anti-German propaganda, as writer or public speaker, .the. agents leave no stone unturned to .silence the man. First, they resort to threats ,'arid promises? If that does not bring about the desired results,, an..attempt'is .made to. do away with-or kidnap the man. If all other tricks fire without results, German authorities charge the victim and request his extradition. The German Government brijbes -certain persons who testify under oath, that the deserter committed a felony, which really- was hatched by German agents. The falsely accused man is doomed in case he is extradited.

SOME OF THE, VICTIMS.

The ■-method employed - irr a case ! which was much .discussed in the D'utch j Press was this : I The German Government asked lor the extradition of a man for burglary; this request was granted by the T>uteh authorities. The ma n was placed on trial at Dresden. From the outset the Diitch, Government protested that the man must not be tried- for desertion because his extradition chad been granted for 'burglary, and the accused, therefore, might not be tried for any other act of his. The indicted man was found not guilty, for lack of evidence, and set free. " ,-

According to a law passed; since the beginning.-of the war, the German Government may restrict- the period within which an indicted person .who. had been found not guilty, must leave Germany in.36 hours. Of course, the persecuted man, who was without...funis,, was... to, travel within 36 hours from .Dresden to the Dutch boundary line on account of the slowness- of the railway service during the war. Furthermore, the tools of the murderers accompanied him. ,The unfortunate man had just passed the railroad, station of Altenessen when the'time limit of 36 hours expired, fle was arrested for desertion. ITouv . days later he was summarily executed at ■Cologn e for desertion. He had no counsel. . A new leaf was added to the glorious crown of .'. divine right. German kultur had, won a victory.

FOLLOWED BY GERMAN AGENTS

. How many crimes of which the public never becomes aware are committed toy German . agents in- Holland? . The conditions were - worse while Dr. Richard von Kuehlmann was Minister -at The Hague. Then German , agents were statibned. on the platforms of the railway stations of- The Hague, Amsterdam, R.otterdam.,. Groningen', Arnheim, and Ut-retcht, waiting for the arrival of the trains from Germany, and asked '" young men looking like German reservists to produce their passports, and state who they were, and" where they intended to go. This practice was discontinued, o n account of the complaints by , the administration of the Dutch railroads. •.,...■

'• To hand over .the elements .disagree-, able to the Berlin Government to German ''justice," the boats of the Co-logne-Dusseldorf Rhine Steamship Conir pany, which plied between Cologne and Rotterdam, were' made "use of.

A favourite trick was to shoot the victims near the frontier. A short notice, "A man who attempted to cross the boundary line last night was shot 'by frontier guards," tells one side of the .story.