SPIES AND THE LAW.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10591, 21 October 1910, Page 6

SPIES AND THE LAW.

THE NEED FOB STRICTER

MEASURES,

(By "W." in the London Daily Mail.) It is perfectly well known to the- War Office and Admiralty that in the last four years there has been a very marked increase in the number of the foreign secret service agents in England. A fair number of these agents are known to the British authorities, and yet no steps have -been taken to deal with them. Thev come and go as they like. Some examples of their work may be .set. forth. - In 1906, on the eve of the launch of uhe Dreadnought, a photograph of certain important details'pf\that;ship,',theiv a' State secret most jealously guarded, appeared in „a naval journal. ' Nq -British photographer had been per-; 'raitted.to photograph" the ship". 'lnquiries were" made, and the -only conclusiory seemed that the leakage occurred in the Admiralty-itself, whence the photograph had been abstracted. Shortly after this occurred an amazing incident. A party "of German officers in mufti held a, staff ride in the eastern counties. The'object .of a./staff ride" is to reconnoitre the terrain tor military operations,, and it need scarcely bc'said tlia't for soldiers to have personally examined the ground on which they may have" to fight' or'manoeuvre confers a great advantage on them. This performance 'attracted some attention and the War Office was informed of it. But nonaction was,taken"iy the Government to strengthen, the law and render osuch proceedings impracticable or dangerous. ' The staff- ride, of the German officers took place about the same time as one carried out by British officers of the Navy and Army. The news of tins British staff ride leaked out beforehand and aroused great interest among the numerous foreign waiters employed in the eastern counties hotels at which the party was to stay. To get'rid of their attentions and prevent the intrusion ot other foreign and uninvited guests it was 'found necessary to engage the entire accommodation of these hotels and to employ onlv British servants for the time being. Even so, a German who called himself a photographer, and who had settled in one of the small towns visited, showed such curiosity as to the doings of the British officers as to bring himself under the observation of the military authorities. Inquiries were made as to his history, which practically

established the fact that he was a spy, and also incidentally showed that the whole area ■of the eastern counties was covered by similar agents. The 'number of Germans visiting and examining the eastern counties, reconnoitring; their roads, /inspecting the ■landing-places,' arid hovering round the rare fortifications, which exist has, indeed, for the past four years excited local curiosity. Near the works in Epping Forest .the presence of such a party was notified by a patriotic hotel r keeper to the, Foreign Office, but without any other result than the despatch of a, detective officer, to make investigations. He intimated to the owner of the house ..whore, they were staying the real.'"nature- of these "visitors," when the party'disappeared. A question was asked about their doings in Parliament, but the topic was regarded by Minis? 'ters as one meet, for a display of indifferent humor. In 1908 a fresh incident occurred. The secret drawings of the new Dreadnought cruiser Indomitable disappeared. No "one had the slightest doubt where they had gone. Exactly how they were stolen has never been explained, and Mr M'Kenna stated in Parliament that it would not be to the public interest to -disclose the facts'. -About the same time. Mr Asquith was pressed to introduce fresh legislation to deal with espionage, and declined on the ground that it was neither- necessary nor practicable. At all the naval port's foreign secret service agents are known to be stationed. At Portsmouth a few years ago the number, was at least four, but this has recently been raised "to ten or more. Sheeruess is watched with equal or even greater vigilance. '[ A number of German naval officers are in the habit of staying in the Isle' of Wight every summer, and it is one of our service jokes that a branch of the German Admiral Staff is located there, in full sight of the greatest British naval base. From their point of vantage these gentlemen are able to observe the manoeuvres of the British submarines and to keep in close touch with all that goes on in Portsmouth, and in the present state of our law they are guilty of no offence. "When the boom at Sheerness wps tested on a recent occasion before a naval and military committee, a member of the committee noticed that a man was taking a careful. series of snapshots of the-booms and hawsers. The man-in question was a foreigner, who described himself as a hairdresser- and who lived in the town. Yet he was left at perfect liberty to take what photographs he liked. In 1909 a foreigner was arrested sketching a fort at Lough Swilly, a secondary naval base in the north of Ireland. Our easy-going authorities allowed him to escape. If the knowledge obtained by secret agents'is of value in war, it goes without ' saying that any Government charged with the duty of national defence should make the work of hostile foreign agents within its territories as difficult as possible. Espionage there will alwa3's be; nor can we complain of the fact. But while on the Con-

tincnt every precaution is taken to hamper the work of spies and their punishment is most severe if they be detected, in England there are practically no precautions at all. A British 'subject who visits Germany must give his name, address, profession, place from, which he comes and place to which he goes at each poin{ where he makes any stay. If he gives untruthful particulars lie commits an offence and will promptly attract the attention of the police. A British officer in the Army, Navy, or Territorials must not visit Germany without notifying the German authorities. A stranger in any of the important German fortresses is at once marked, and if the slightest suspicion is entertained he is followed, watched, and required to leave the country. Citizens are-' required by law to notify the police of any suspicious strangers, and are liable to punishment if they do not. Espionage is dealt with by the court at Leipzig, which may not a less severe sentence than two years' penal servitude. If any German procures knowledge of military secrets for treasonable purposes he is liable to a sentence not exceeding, ten years, and the law -is applied -with. th,e utmost severity. Now contrast England. Foreign officers may come and go as they like". .There is no system of papers or notices for aliens, even .when these take up r thoiri-residence in fortresses or naval "bases. - The door is opened wide to spies and there is .little difficulty in obtaining any information that may be desired.' '" The Official-Secrets Act, which is the one measure -we possess for dealing with spies, rrequires "to ,-bo extended. It imposes severe' penalties, -rising as high as penal servitude for life when military .or naval secrets are improperly obtainforeign State, or when defence works are sketched and photographed. But it. .contains, np provision; such as is in force in German} - , requiring foreign officers, before visiting this country, to notify the British Government. A fur--1 ther Act is sorely needed forbidding the residence "o'f foreign" subjects" in British fortresses'and -naval-: bases except where the consent"of'the military and naval authorities has boon 'obtained.