BUCHAREST—A CITY OF SPIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3265, 11 October 1916, Page 56

BUCHAREST—A CITY OF SPIES.

A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE RUMANIAN CAPITAL. Bucharest is a city of unrest. Rumania lacks repose. The Westerner is immediately confronted by these two factors directly lie emerges from the home of the Magyar or Slav. They also indicate, although not adequately explaining, the character of the Rumanian people. Bucharest is a city of spies. There is an element in the character of the Rumanian that admits of his becoming an able exponent of espionage. The Rumanian trusts nobody, and consequently is not trusted, but it is the manner in'which he manages to secure his ends that is so interesting and often wonderful in its daring and enterprise, two essentials in "intelligence." —Activity Incarnate.— Honeycombed as Bucharest is with nationalities, nothing escapes; and the neutrality of the country has played an important part in the Great War. On the Galea Victoria representatives of almost every country in the world may be found slowly promenading. There one may find the observant, but silent, Jap and the dusky negro, the bronzed German or Austrian officer in mufti, and the American from the oilfields, the Magyar of the plain and the Southern Slav, the volatile Frenchman and the calm Scandinavian, the stolid Russian and the quaintly-garbed Turk, all mingling and co-mingling with the decorative uniforms of the Rumanian army, and presenting a patchwork of character, colour, and language. Bucharest slumbers not, nor does it sleep; it is activity incarnate. Early in the morning, long'before the contents of the Minerva Universel or the Dimineatza have been digested, the principal thoroughfares are beset with youths shouting tho wares of the sensational Dreptatea. Something has fallen, some catastrophe overtaken the Central Empires or the Entente. The Dreptatea. appears to ensure conversation during lunch; it is an aid to indigestion. .Rest and repose are foreign to Rumania. —A Publicity Centre.— Having all this in view it is not very wonderful that Germany, at the outbreak of war, immediately recognised the value of Bucharest as 3. publicity centre. Publicity, what crimes have been committed in thy name! _ With that clever cunning one now associates with Teutonic newspaper industry in the Balkans, Rumania has been simply inundated with prompt information concerning the failures of the Triple Entente. Instead of relying upon the effect produced by mushroom newspapers bearing topical names, the Germans captured most of the established papers, and with them a public ready and receptive instantly available. We have neglected the press factor in Rumania. Conjointly with their press enterprise the Germans' utilised to the full the opportunities for espionage afforded by this "Latin island amid a Slav sea." The same group of "agents" who negotiated the sale or transfer of the newspapers were responsible for the establishment of the Teutonic spy-bureau in Bucharest. Situated in Strada Cosma, near the end of the Calea Victoria, in close proximity to the German Legation, stands an un-obtrusive-looking building in a quiet backwater of city respectability. Here the sleuthhonnds of intelligence deposit their news, where it is submitted to minute examination before being forwarded to Berlin; here all instructions are given, and skulking along by the shade of the high wall may be seen from time to time the disturbing figures of diplomatic life bent upon errands of international import. —The System.— This much must be said for the "system" in Bucharest: it carries on its work with a flagrant openness and apparent unconcern. Teutonic espionage in Bucharest has one point in its favour: it is controlled by one hand and from one centre. Instead of having much tiresome overlapping the Germans assumed control, and Austrian, Turk, and Bulgar were subordinated to the übiquitous Teuton. It has, I believe, another feature that, on the face of it, appears to be commendable. There is a very intimate connec tion between the departments of State, or rather, in "intelligence" they are but one. The right hand of diplomacy knows what the left hand is doing—and approves. It is conceivable that much time and money may be wasted by having a diplomatic "intelligence," an Admiralty "intelligence." and a War Office "intelligence," for there is always the possibility of friction and jealousy between the departments apart from other things. In Bucharest at least the Central Powers have centralised "intelligence." —Code Conversation at the Cafe Royal

The types employed are of the usual bewildering order. There is the ill-clad ex-police official with bis heavily-silvered cane and inevitable bowler bat, the scantily-paid journalist well trained in the uses of blackmail, the alert restaurant waiter, the sleek hotel proprietor, and chef de reception; a horde of impecunious government officials, postmen, and tele gra,phists, the owners of the cafe chantants and the women therein, and a host of debt-laden officers of all ranks marshalled and manipulated by the naval and military officers detaiiod—in mufti —to keep their country welt informed. At the tea hour the Cafe Royal is full of agents. This is one of the busiest cafes in Europe. All languages are spoken, all countries catered for. To those with an eye for signs and an ear for strange tongues, together with an instinct for the esoteric, no more fascinating life centre exist" So continuous is the procession

that passes to and fro tho entrance that appearance and reappearance is practically unnoticeable. Every conceivable form of recognition is adopted. Code conversation, principally in the language of cereals or petrol, takes place at ninny of the little round mable-topped tables. Documents are rarely exchanged here; it. is not necessary, for there are centres. But it is here that most of the types may be seen if only ior a moment or two. ■—lnsecure. You may find picturesquely-garbed Rumanians from frontier villages interested in contraband, turning up at aperitif hour: and diplomatic under-officials with messages from a superior to some dancing girl of the chant-ant, wandering about with an air of unconcern. In one corner the conversation is of the stage stagey, and hero manv agents may be found. The atmosphere is depressing, one feel.? so insecure. Often have I felt Afraid of their nesting. Of their terrible fiilcr.ee. The menace of their secrecy. Yes, Bucharest, like Athens, is a city of spies. Once I found an hotel servant examining the lock of my box; but ho bungled with his improvised key, and I suggested that mine was a better fit. Of course, I saw the manager, and the man was punished—he was sent to the next floor. One"s post is not safe, for even if it escapes at the post office, the hotel porter is more inquisitive and vigilant. Nothing is too insignificant to interest the German, and his patience and thoroughness is remarkable. —Splendid Neutrality.— Tho splendid neutrality of Rumania when Turkey was in need of munitions and we were pounding ourselves to death at the Dardanelles was of immense value. Much was seized, many schemes frustrated, and the position of Turkey seriously menaced; but it was impossible for the Rumanian police to cope adequately with the ramifications of Gorman espionage. Bucharest teemed with the spy-journal-ist of all nationalities, and all were watched; but on "the frontier contraband was only occasionally detected. All the Powers had their agents—and, indeed, have now, —and England no less, doubtless, than the rest; but Germany had forestalled them all. The arrest of Petrica, Racolea, Munteaum, and Bordos, of Predeal, and Ducar and Stanila, of Braeso, for smuggling dynamite was a mere incident, for Teuhof and Benning were allowed to escape. Iverson and Co., from the centre of the city, long unobserved, but since discovered, played a great part in perfecting German supremacy here, and with a population of 50,000 Germans and Austro-Hungarians in the capital much was possible. The activities of the 14 men cited "un proces interesant," brought by Teodorescu, is but another example of German influence. At the Cafe Mircea, Karpats, at the Casino de Paris, Femmina, and Alhambra; together with quiet meetings at the Athene Palace, Boulevard, Hotel de FTance, and Palace, plots and counterplots to defeat our aims have been and are being arranged and perfected. Such are the possibilities of neutrals. —Wanted, Money.— What was needed from the beginningof the war was prompt "intelligence," and a liberal exchequer. Such undoubtedly paid Germany, and it is believed would have paid us also. Furthermore, the use of now men controlled from the capitals of each country whose work was guaranteed not to be'frustrated by the likes or dislikes of resident diplomatists. A few of our best known —in Rumania—novelists, dramatists, poets, publicists, and musicians arranged to turn up as guests of some of the sympathetic members of Rumanian nobility, with powers to entertain lavishly if necessary. An extensive and gratuitous press photographic campaign and scores of films direct from London, Paris, and Rome, also gratuitous. These, with a well-organised and prompt—from a news point of view—press propaganda, would have made German work more difficult. In a word, if we had sent out a few of our most brilliant men and women Rumania would have been impressed—doubtless the Resident Minister disturbed and the Germanic Powers made to feel that we were serious competitors.—Balc.vno, in To-day.