BEHIND THE SCENES.

Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14847, 22 August 1918, Page 2

BEHIND THE SCENES.

IN THE BILLING CASE.

PLAIN SPEAKING TO DEGEN-

ERATES,

HORATIO BOTTOMLEY'S "BLACK

BOOK."

Lust week, in dealing witli "Vice in' High Piaces," I wrote under circumstances of considerable difficulty (says Horatio Bottomley in "John Bull"). The Billing case was still on, and it was essential that no word should be said which, could by any possibility prejudice ; the proceedings. Now, thank Heaven, j the unsavoury business is over f and in returning to the sordid Tiling behind j it all, niy one aim is to "put the lid," ; once and for all, upon the sexual cess- j pool whose foul odours are poisoning ! the atmosphere of our social life, and i threatening to undermine the virility and cleanliness of our race—as, indeed, they.were intended to do by tEe agents of German bestiality and depravity, who during the last ten years have been busy, like the Mormons, proselytising their filthy gospel of moral perversion and degeneracy. Now let us consider the significance which lurked behind it all. The general Press may denounce or deplore this or that aspect of the case; witnesses may be condemned, and conduct "may be censure<J-^but the big and outstanding fa.ct remains that the prisoner (for that was his position) was acquitted triumphantly. Do not let us either exaggerate or under-estimate that verdict, or the scene which accompanied it. But rather let us look behind to the influences which operated to bring it about Why was; the Old Bailey Court turned into a bear-garden; why did the public alternately hiss and applaud ; and why, when Mr. Billing left, the Court a free man, was there a. spectacle of wild enthusiasm and cheers from a thousand throats? It will not do to ascribe conventional reasons and to throw up our hands in horrified deprecation that si!,ch things should be. We must look closer into the facts, and when we do so we find deep public suspicion, profound public unrest, based on a firmly-seated belief that at last one aspect of the meaning of "The Hidden Hand" had been discovered, and that the man who sought to expose it was i battling against forces designed to

crush him. Now it is not necessary to 1 belie Vie all the fastastib volume of my s- i tery and wild improbability which was built up in the course : of the trial.' Much of it was camouflage—and much of it was hysteria; but much was only ;. too true., In connection.'with my jour- j nalistic work I am made the repository, : of secrets which hold often the liberty and sometimes the lives of men in jeopardy. I learn much that touches public people at many points. And I say this, deliberately: that since we have been at war with the Hun, the evidence of some grave and hidden—some deep and sinister—influence at work, which has been against this country and in favour of the enemy, has accumulated with appalling strength. p THE GERMAN "BLACK-BOOK." i Nearly four .years' growing suspicion \ —that is the meaning of the public interest and excitement which made pandemonium ■in Justice Darling's . Court, and unnerved tbo temper and 1 imperilled the dignity of the Judicial ; Bench. That is also the reason why thousands in Great Britain to-day believe every word that was uttered and regard Mr. Pemberton Billing, M.P., as a national hero. What did he allege? That the Germans possess a "Black Book" which was called the "Book; of tho . 47,000"—that in that book were to bo found the names of the men and women in Society, in our governing classes, in finance, in art, in every walk of life, who were addicted to low and debasing vices, to practices which shame the human body, make a mockery of sex distinction, break tht> nerve, undermine the physique, deprave the mind, and blacken the soul. Twelve jurymen—ordinary plain, honest men of London, who heard all the evidence and sat calm and contained —an example and reproof alike to the levity and license of the crowd—believed the prisoner's witnesses' story. They believed that ever since the "beginning of war the enemy has taken advantage of tkis knowledge of the moral perversion and the sexual degeneracy of men and women whose names are in that Black Book, to blackmail the offenders —to force them by the fear of exposure to work the will of the foe, or, alternatively, that those recorded degenerates were , afraid to act with honest energy and I patriotic strength in the task of defeat-

ing Germany. That such a book exists ' there is no doubt. Counsel may sneer and journalists may jibe—but beforelong its contents may be known. It' will then, however, be seen that certain names which were branded in Court are there for a very different reason from • that suggested. Only one section of the book deals with sexual perverts— and that is where- the witnesses were wrong. There are sections for those, in German pay—for political sympathisers, for British spies arid "natural-1 i&ed" friends, and ' all kinds of other people—but, above'all,'there is a section for politicians and journalists who are the enemies of Germany, and I should not be surprised to find, that my own : name is included in that list! There I are also the names of Judges who have ! sentenced spies and traitors. So. now you see how it is possible that anybody may be there; and in common fairnesb these facts should be borne in mind in regard to any of the names of public men and others which were mentioned 'in the case. Dp .not, however, let us waste further words about this book. The Secret Service of almost every country possess a similar volume.

HOW GERMANy WAS AIDED AND ABETTED.

Just think of some of the things, for which there seems to be only one explanation—th© Hidden Hand. At the very first flush and onset of war there was that grossly criminal order to tlic? Fleet not to interfere with German reservists, who returned in' their tlious-*" ands from America to sw<?ll the army of butchers against whom our sons were fighting. Then there was the weak blockade. That appeared a deliberate act in favour of Germany ? just as the . persistency of the Foreign Office in making the King responsible for putting into force an instrument his Parliament had rejected—l mean the Declaration of London—-looked like a wanton and wicked attempt to load tho dic^e of war against us. Again, there were those months and months during which, supported notably By Lord Haldane, the Government refused to make cotton contraband—cotton, the basis of all high explosives. Eecall, too, the cruel indifference of the authorities to the > danger from the enemy in our midst, the long delay in interning the Hun- ■ Even to-day thousands "are at large

1 among us, and a wealthy German baron, .' naturalised since the war—"for. financial reasons"—is allowed to store hun- ' th-eds of tons of coal and maintain hothouses for orchids! That scandalous story is just one of the things that make : for social revolt. This man Schroder should be interned; he should ;,. have been allowed the protection and privileges of British nationality— -oa* \ sumetl, xet Jiie U) . ~ . . • | was declared. Neither bluster ' nor'ex-- : planation availed the Home Secretary of the timej the nation was angry and suspicious, and nearly four years of war ' have increased tlip (i'tger nnd tp v .;vi-^d the suspicion. To-day the Hun is squealing in his towns and cities bet cause at last wear© bombing him in his ' home. But how long did the nation demand, demand in vain, that there should be reprisals? Think too, of those enemy banks, and of the enemy businesses in London and the rovnt - Only by threats were the Government forced to stop the blackgiiardly game of bolstering up Hun enterprises, or ' seeking to preserve goodwill so Enat after j the war he cotild return here and renew his trading. Who can wonder that the "Daily Mail," conti-olled by one who has been in close' touch with the Foreign Office in an official capacity, has recently called upon Mr. Lloyd George to close up that office for the duration of the war? WHAT THE PLAIN MAN BELIEVES. How can it be wondered at that or- ■ dinary citizens—what the superior people call the "common folk"—believe that German influence has been at . work? One mistake—two mistakes—of ' policy; one blunder, ten blunders— [ favouring Germany, might be put down to ignorance. No Government is fool- . proof; but deliberate acts, defended ! often with venom, justified with fieat, ' £he critics either derided or denounced —which have all helped the enemy and ; crippied us in-the war—need some other explanation than stupidity, and God * knows we have seen enough of fhnt ' since August, 1914! The crowds that 3 seethed juxmt the Old Bailey the othei 1 day believed that one secret of much » of this cruel incompetence and wicked

weakness and inaction which xjptil recently clogged the wheels of war is to be found in that Black Book, and tiit> j jury—despite every rule of law—accept-j ©d fully the story told them. Theii verdict, however, did denoaiice a i,,ui and decadent play—which gives drama ■~••■■ expression u> .<*■,.:-i? -. . .'.-,; recorded in the "Black Book"; vices which, to quote the language of Father Bernard Vaughan, mean "constructive treason against me ii< <...,,- j fa i/, . tity of God"-f—and which the Judge iieolared is so offensive to* public morals as to be unfit for performance. Yet but for the libel and the trial that fi!t v production ef a perverted mind would

;'■_■,-' ucen taken to nei^ui. tuu...,.^ oy a naturalised alien, on the pretence that- it was typical of English drama and English thought. It was to be propaganda work! It is not possible to any more outrageous scheme, <oid if this Dutchman, who enjoys the security of our laws and the amenities of our social life, had had his way, that "melodrama of disease," that "impure >: .^generate thing," as honest English dramatic critics described it, wouid have gone abroad as our gift from one English theatre to the neutral! I think it only right to say that such an outrage was to have been committed without the authority of the Ministry of Information, under which department Mr. J. T. Grein swore on oath he was acting, and it is but fair to Lord Beaverbrook and those associated with the Ministry of Information—what a title!—that this fact should be known. Really, we are an amazing people, and I wonder sometimes whether we are quite right in our minds. In the very early days of the war an ex-German allowed to masquerade in khaki with complete official sanction, in order to carry out in the British press a recruiting campaign. It did not need a libel action to stop that offence. Press exposure finished it in a day. And yet now, after nearly four years of war, it is a Dutchman, acting on some sort of authority for which the Minister of Information was not responsible, who is found interfering in pro pagan eTa work, applauding a foul play in open court, and making arrangements to

carry the filthy thing across the North.. Sea in the name of England. Ye Gods I when will this tragic fooling cease INTERN THE VICIOUS, So I say that, if the Billing trial did nothing else, it has put an end* to a scheme which, if a German and not a piitchman had' been behind it, could aav-e been better understood. But it has, I hope, done more. I trust His . Majesty's Government realise the deep underlying 3 significance of an outraged public opinion. No greater calamity could befall this beloved country of ours than that any real expression of social unrest be made manifest. There have been troublesome movements in different parts of the country, and incidents nave occurred which only the censorship has hidden from general knowledge. i*ut these have been due to grievances of tho workers and to feelings of discontent aroused by wage difficulties. iUiasonnbie compromises and adjustments and appeals to patriotism havereadily availed. But it is a different thing where the-governing influence is a, rankling feeling that persons in high places have jeopardised victory by selfish greed or enervating lust. ThatHoming of the dignity of Justice, and that deriding of the majesty of the law the other day is not a healthy—it is a bad and sinister sign. Read your history of the French Revolution and you will see the first portents of the storm which swept aside all authority and order were to be found in the courts ■ where the populace laughed at the Judges and bandied words with the lieu eh. Now, we want nothing of that sort here. A cool national temper, a stout national heart, confidence, and unity—those are what we must have so long as we are fighting this perilous i\aht for Liberty and Truth; But the Prime Minister must .understand the position. It is useless to attempt to put indignities on a man whom a British jury have acquitted, or to deny him his rights as an M.P.-—and I am sure Mr. Lloyd George will be no party to such criminal stupidity. There is somethingmore behind this man than the allega(Continue*? Page X.)

tion against an American dancer and a Dutch journalist. And I solemnly warn the Government of a danger of increasing public distrust or feeding tho flame of unrest. The war is in a most critical phase. Behind this Billing case are the long and weary months of war, with their ever-growing catalogue of Ministerial mistakes and departmental-acts, coloured, it lias seemed, with pro-Ger-m«- i itrigue. I beg .Lloj'd George to make an example, where the evidence is sufficient, of some of the men—yes,, and women—whose names are in that ■"Black Book._ "We are at war. We intern on suspicion of enemy associations. Then let us intern on proof of enemy vices. In the words of the late W. S. Gilbert, they "never would be missed." MY BLACK BOOK. ' Without pandering to the morbid ana the prurient-minded, but realising the grim and terrible reality of the evil which we are up against, I intend to give some of its devotees a very plain hint that they are under observation. It is, of course, difficult to get direct evidence, but it is an adage that "there is no smoke without fire"; and when you have such dense and voluminous fumes of rumour regarding the wives and even the daughters of certain public men, and iv association with them r "o lady members of certain noble families and also eminent actresses, you cannot be surprised that the cult of Lesbianism is the theme of conversation in many West' End circles. Here let me echo the hope of Mr. Justice Darling that thj> newly-enfranchised women will look carefully into,those matters. Now is their opportunity. Let them take Her Majesty the Queen and the wife of the-present Prime Minister as examples of that domestic purity—in the true j sense _of the word—which- when all is i said, is the best security for the good j name_ of our race. Again, when certain prominent persons are notoriously i 'Voman-haters," you cannot wonder that they, too, are stispect of another1 vice. When you have a play like "The ' Picture of Dorian Grey" staged at a London theatre—with its filthy and revolting dialogue, _ and an audience of painted men, again you cannot wonder if Germany chuckles and thinks that her campaign of vice has not been in vain. And when almost every week you may road in various Sunday newspapers cases of abominable indecency, again you are entitled to ask yourselves whether the vin;s of sexual degeneracy has not polluted our blood. Many who read these words—words which must he. written—will be able to lill in names and details which for the moment I omit, but I %vant our degenerates to understand clearly that, in-sporting parlance, their "number is up"—and that unless they take warning from this Billing case and amend their ways, there is at least one journal, of wide circulation and ' some influence, which will not.hesitate to tear aside the veil of hypocrisy and convention which at present protects; them from public exposure and obloquy. As I have already indicated, there would not b© mu,ch difficulty in compiling, a i British Black Book.. " Indeed, I have long had such a- publication in contemplation, although I confess it had never liaen part of my intention to include a section for moral and sexual degenerates. Pro-Germans, suspect aliens, pacifists, and little Englanders were to bo its contents—and I hope it may never be necessary to add such a section as that which forms part of the' German volume. ... I do not want to see the vigour and fibre of the British race sappea and undermined by the vices of Berlin—whose peculiar kultur, as we all know now, has produced the most bestial and depraved type of being —a satire upon Humanity and a blasphemy on the name of God!