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diff --git a/77709-0.txt b/77709-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a257609 --- /dev/null +++ b/77709-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9270 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77709 *** + + + + + QUEER PEOPLE + +[Illustration: A NOTE-FORGER’S DEN.] + + + + + QUEER PEOPLE + + BY + BASIL THOMSON + + HODDER AND STOUGHTON + LIMITED LONDON + + + + + Printed in Great Britain by T. and A. CONSTABLE LTD. + at the Edinburgh University Press + + + + + TO + + MY COLLEAGUES + + WHOSE TACT AND UNSELFISH DEVOTION + + AVERTED MANY DANGERS + + + + +PREFACE + + +My readers will be divided between those who think that I have not told +enough, that I have told too much, and that I had better have told +nothing at all. I bow my head to them all. + +The list of those to whom my thanks are due is too long to set out in a +preface. It would include the names of my admirable staff, of sailors, +soldiers, and civilians of many countries besides our own in almost +every walk of life and even of a few of our late enemies. No drama, no +film story yet written has been so enthralling as our daily repertory +on the dimly-lighted stage set in a corner of the granite building in +Westminster. In a century after we, with our war-weariness, are dead +and gone the Great War will be a quarry for tales of adventure, of high +endeavour, and of splendid achievement: when that time comes even some +of the humbler actors who play their part in these pages may be seen +through a haze of romance. + +My thanks are due to Mr. Milward R. K. Burge for permission to use his +verses on the Hôtel Majestic during the Peace Conference. + + B. T. + + LONDON, 1922. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER I + PAGE + + THE DETECTIVE IN REAL LIFE 1 + + CHAPTER II + + THE IMAGINATIVE LIAR 10 + + CHAPTER III + + THE LURE OF SOMETHING FOR NOTHING 22 + + CHAPTER IV + + THE FIRST DAYS 33 + + CHAPTER V + + THE SPECIAL BRANCH 47 + + CHAPTER VI + + WAR CRIMES 62 + + CHAPTER VII + + THE GERMANS AND THE IRISH 75 + + CHAPTER VIII + + THE CASEMENT CASE 86 + + CHAPTER IX + + STRANGE SIDE SHOWS 97 + + CHAPTER X + + THE GERMAN SPY 117 + + CHAPTER XI + + MÜLLER AND OTHERS 130 + + CHAPTER XII + + THE HIRELING SPY 144 + + CHAPTER XIII + + THE LAST EXECUTIONS 155 + + CHAPTER XIV + + SOME AMERICANS 174 + + CHAPTER XV + + WOMEN SPIES 181 + + CHAPTER XVI + + CURIOUS VISITORS 192 + + CHAPTER XVII + + THE END OF RASPUTIN 204 + + CHAPTER XVIII + + RECRUITS FOR THE ENEMY 213 + + CHAPTER XIX + + THE DECLINE OF MORALE 225 + + CHAPTER XX + + THE BOGUS PRINCESS 236 + + CHAPTER XXI + + FOOTNOTES TO THE PEACE CONFERENCE 246 + + CHAPTER XXII + + THE ROYAL UNEMPLOYED 252 + + CHAPTER XXIII + + UNREST AT HOME 262 + + CHAPTER XXIV + + OUR COMMUNISTS 279 + + CHAPTER XXV + + THE RETURN TO SANITY 303 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE DETECTIVE IN REAL LIFE + + +If I were asked what were the best qualifications for a detective I +should say to be a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. That, +perhaps, is because I happen to be an indifferent jack-of-all-trades +myself, and I cannot remember any smattering that I acquired in distant +corners of the earth that did not come in useful at Scotland Yard. + +Other countries try to make specialists of their detectives. They would +have them know chemistry, surgery, and mineralogy; they would have +them competent to appraise the value of jewels, to judge the time a +corpse has been dead, or how long a footprint has been impressed upon +damp earth. They forget that there is a specialist round every corner, +and that a detective who knows his work knows also where to find a +jeweller or a doctor or skilled mechanic who will give him a far better +opinion than his own. All that they succeed in doing is to furnish a +very alluring laboratory for the edification of visitors and saddle +themselves with a host of theorists who make a very poor show by the +test of the statistics of discovered crime. + +Real life is quite unlike detective fiction; in fact, in detective work +fiction is stranger than truth. Mr. Sherlock Holmes, to whom I take +off my hat with a silent prayer that he may never appear in the flesh, +worked by induction, but not, so far as I am able to judge, by the +only method which gets home, namely, organisation and hard work. He +consumed vast quantities of drugs and tobacco. I do not know how much +his admirable achievements owed to these, but I do know that if we at +Scotland Yard had faithfully copied his processes we should have ended +by fastening upon a distinguished statesman or high dignitary of the +Church the guilt of some revolting crime. + +The detection of crime consists in good organisation, hard work, +and luck, in about equal proportions: when the third ingredient +predominates the detective is very successful indeed. Among many +hundred examples the Voisin murder at the end of 1917 may be cited. +The murderer had cut off the head and hands of his victim in the hope +that identification would be impossible, and he chose the night of an +air-raid for his crime because the victim might be expected to have +left London in a panic; but he had forgotten a little unobtrusive +laundry mark on her clothing, and by this he was found, convicted, +and executed. That was both luck and organisation. Scotland Yard has +the enormous advantage over Mr. Sherlock Holmes in that it has an +organisation which can scour every pawnshop, every laundry, every +public-house, and even every lodging-house in the huge area of London +within a couple of hours. + +I took charge of the Criminal Investigation Department in June 1913. +The late Sir Melville Macnaghten, my predecessor, who wrote his +reminiscences, held the view that the proper function of the head +of the C.I.D. was to help and encourage his men but not to hamper +them with interference. He had an astonishing memory both for faces +and for names: he could tell you every detail about a ten-year-old +crime, the names of the victim, the perpetrator, and every important +witness, and, what was more useful, the official career of every one +of his seven hundred men and his qualifications and ability. Unlike +my predecessors, I had already a wide acquaintance among criminals, +chiefly those of the professional class. To read their records was +to me like looking at crime through the big end of the telescope. At +Dartmoor I had 1200 of them, nearly all professionals with anything +from one to thirty previous convictions. There were Scotsmen, Irishmen, +Welshmen, and Englishmen, with a good sprinkling of foreigners, some of +whom had come to England when their own countries had become too hot +to hold them. When you read of crime in the magazines or the detective +novels it is nearly always murder. You have to be in charge of a prison +in order to realise that the murderer is rarely a criminal by nature +at all. But for the grace of God he is just you and I, only more +unlucky. For the real criminal you have to go to the crimes against +property. Most murders are committed without any deep-laid plot, +whereas the professional thief or forger or fraud has carefully planned +his depredations before he sets out to commit them: the murderer is +repentant, and is planning only how he can earn an honest living +after he is discharged; the others are thinking out schemes for fresh +adventures. + +Criminal investigation was not quite what I expected to find it. The +Department was well organised, though perhaps a little rusty in the +hinges. The danger of centralisation had been realised long before. +London had been divided into twenty-one divisions, each with a Criminal +Investigation staff whose business it was to know everything about its +portion of the huge city. These divisional staffs dealt with all the +ordinary crime that occurred in the division: it was only the graver +crimes or those that were spread over several divisions that were taken +up by the staff of the Central Office. In such cases it was usual to +detach a Chief Inspector to take charge of the inquiry. Every day we +received a thick bundle of forms in which every crime, however small, +committed in London during the previous twenty-four hours was reported. +The graver of these formed the subject of a separate report, and there +was the excellent practice of making a detailed report upon every +suspected crime as soon as it occurred, because one could never tell +into what it might develop. + +The Criminal Investigation Department at Scotland Yard is not +responsible for the crimes committed out of London, but by an +arrangement with the Home Office a Chief Constable may ask the +Department for help to unravel any serious crime committed in his area +without any cost to the local authority. That this permission is not +always acted on is due less to the very natural _amour propre_ of the +local force than to the difficulty in determining what difficulties +lie ahead. The larger cities have, moreover, efficient detective +organisations of their own: most of them have sent men to be trained +in the Detective Classes at New Scotland Yard; these have greatly +distinguished themselves in the examinations. + +The training of detectives was almost entirely legal and, as far as it +went, it was admirably done. It was essential that they should know +the rudiments of the Criminal Law as well as the procedure of the +Criminal Courts, otherwise they were bound, sooner or later, to commit +some solecism that would incur the comments of the Judge. But on its +practical side their education was neglected. Very few were craftsmen, +and if it came to making an exhaustive search of a house they might +be expected to look conscientiously in all the obvious places and make +no search for such hiding-places as a short board in the floor or the +space behind the wainscot; probably none of them had ever watched +a house in the course of erection. It is only by experience and by +failure that real proficiency in the matter of searching is acquired. +Nor were they taught any uniform method of description. The average +police description was a very colourless document, for in any crowd one +might find a dozen men with a ‘fresh complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, +oval face, and medium height.’ Such matters as peculiarities of gait +and speech were very often omitted. They did not always know the trade +names of articles of clothing or plate or jewellery, nor could they +distinguish between real stones and pearls and their counterfeits. The +more intelligent picked up these things by experience, but the others +did not. Many of them seemed to me to be unimaginative in the matter of +observation; at any rate, they seemed seldom to follow a man without +his becoming aware of it. On the other hand, they were admirable when +it came to dealing with the public. Their courtesy never failed, and +naturally it brought them much help from the people living in their +locality. + +I soon found that the London detectives were naturally divided into two +classes, the detective and the ‘thief-catcher.’ The latter belonged to +the class of honest, painstaking policeman without sufficient education +to pass examinations for promotion, but who made up for this deficiency +by his intimate knowledge of the rougher class of criminals, his habits +and his haunts, and by personal acquaintance with the pickpockets +themselves, who had the same regard for him as a naughty little boy +has for a strict and just schoolmaster. The ‘thief-catcher’ has no +animus against the people he has to watch. He keeps his eye upon them +warily, as the keeper at the Zoo keeps his eye upon the Polar bears, +and when it comes to business he arrests them impartially without +rancour and without indulgence. This explained what I had never been +able to understand in prison--how the convicted criminal seldom bears +malice against the detective who brought him to justice provided he +thinks that he was treated fairly. ‘The man was only doing his dooty,’ +he says. The danger of over-educating your detective is that little +by little you will eliminate the ‘thief-catcher,’ for whom there is +a very definite place in the scheme. I remember one whose zeal had +communicated itself to his wife. At that time we were overwhelmed +with complaints about pickpockets at the stopping-places of the +’buses in the crowded hours. They would take part in the rush to get +in, crowding on with the other passengers and relieving them of the +contents of their pockets; if they were disappointed of a place, they +fell back and waited for the next ’bus to continue their business. If +they saw any one eyeing them they would mount the ’bus until they came +to a stopping-place where they thought they would be more free from +observation. My ‘thief-catcher’ was a rather conspicuous person, and +when he appeared on the scene the pickpockets would melt away. He could +not be everywhere at once, but he used to make a sort of ‘’busman’s +holiday’ of his days off duty and go out with his wife. She mounted +the ’bus with a gaping handbag, which was as effective a bait for a +pickpocket as roast pork is for a shark; the pickpocket followed, and +just behind him went the husband to take him into custody in the very +act. It must have been a quite exciting sport for both. + +Every now and then the ‘thief-catcher’ would show a rare gleam of +imagination. I remember the case of a man who was expected to pledge +a stolen watch. It was impossible to search him until he did, because +if he had not got the watch in his possession he would ‘have the law +on you.’ The suspect vapoured about the railings of St. Mary Abbot’s +church, watched from the kerbstone by John Barker’s, where people are +always waiting for the motor-’bus. There was a pawnshop at the corner. +Suddenly he formed a resolution and walked quickly across the street to +the pawnshop, but the ‘thief-catcher’ was too quick for him. Flinging +off his coat as he went, he plunged into the shop, dashed behind the +counter, and received the suspect in his shirt-sleeves, resting on +his knuckles in the conventional style, and asked him what he could +do for him. ‘What will you give me on this?’ said the man, producing +the watch. ‘Come along to the police station and I’ll tell you, and I +caution you that anything you say may be used in evidence against you +at your trial.’ I have no doubt that the suspect said something which +was not fit to use in evidence when he realised what a trap he had +fallen into. + +In one respect the Central Office was very much alive. Besides its +admirable system of identification by finger prints, elaborated by +Sir Edward Henry, the Commissioner, a system since adopted by the +whole civilised world, it had a very complete and practical method of +record-keeping. + +The late Dr. Mercier was responsible for the fallacy that there was +an almost invariable tendency on the part of criminals to repeat the +method in which they had been successful on a former enterprise. But a +glance at criminal histories shows that Dr. Mercier’s theory was only +partly true. Most of the practitioners vary their methods according to +local conditions. You will find the blackmailer taking an occasional +hand in a burglary; a pickpocket indulging in shop-lifting; an area +thief boldly breaking in through the front door. All that can be said +is that a man who has successfully poisoned a dog in one case is more +likely than another man to do the same again. The only successful +organisation in detecting crime must have method, industry, and local +knowledge, and I found all these strongly cultivated at New Scotland +Yard. + +The London thief is preternaturally quick in detecting that he is being +followed. Even if he is not quite sure, he will adopt the expedient of +turning sharp on his heel and walking for fifty yards in the opposite +direction before resuming his journey, and during that fifty yards +his sharp eyes have taken a mental photograph of every person he has +passed. In really big affairs he will pay a confederate to follow him +at a distance, taking note of any other follower remotely resembling +a policeman. The tubes are very useful to him. He books for a long +journey, sits near the door, and slips out at the next station just +before the gates of the car are slammed and there is no time for the +policeman to alight, and having thus shaken him off, he sets off for +his real destination. Four well-known thieves tried this device once +with a pair of detectives in attendance. All went well up to the point +of slamming the gate, and then things began to go wrong. The detectives +had the gate reopened. The lift was one of those that are operated by +a liftman standing at the bottom, and as it went aloft the detective +explained the position to the liftman. Something went wrong with that +lift: it stuck half-way for quite five minutes--time enough for the +detectives to climb the stairs and summon uniformed policemen to man +the gates on the level of the street. The feelings of the trapped rat +who sees a group of terriers waiting for the wirework door of his cage +to be opened must have descended upon the spirits of those four thieves +when their cage rose at length to the surface. + +Every now and then a detective would display real initiative in keeping +observation. In quiet suburban roads a loitering man would at once +bring a face to every window in the street. To keep watch upon a house +there must be some excuse. In one case the detective became a jobbing +gardener and undertook to clip the hedges and weed the paths of the +house opposite, and if he took a long time over the job, that is quite +in accordance with the habits of jobbing gardeners; in another, attired +in suitable clothing and armed with pick-axes, two detectives proceeded +to dig up the roadway. Their leisurely method of work must have +convinced the bystanders that they were genuine employés of the Borough +Surveyor. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE IMAGINATIVE LIAR + + +During the War there was an outbreak of what the Americans call +‘congenital lying,’ but which might better be termed ‘adolescent lying’ +on the part of young persons. We all know the young girl who tells +fibs, and in normal times she would probably be spanked and sent to +bed without her supper, but in war-time any story, however wild, was +accepted. + +One afternoon during the first year of the War I received an urgent +request from a Chief Constable in the Midlands for help in a case of +great difficulty. The family of a doctor in good practice had been +upset by receiving a series of outrageous letters and postcards signed +by a lady’s maid who had lately gone to another situation. While she +had been with them she was a quiet and respectable person, and yet her +letters could have been written only by a woman of vicious and depraved +character. They came in all sorts of ways. Sometimes they were pushed +under the front door; sometimes they were thrown in through an open +window and, though the front door was put under police observation and +no one was seen to come to it, they were dropped into the letter-box at +intervals of three hours. + +And then the house itself became bewitched. The mistress would put down +her bunch of keys on the kitchen dresser for a moment, and a wicked +fairy whisked them away. The cook would put a pound of butter into +the larder: it vanished. The house-maid lost her pen and ink, the +doctor his comb, and the whole house was ransacked from top to bottom +without recovering any of these things. It is a most harassing thing +for a doctor in a busy practice to come home to a house which has been +bewitched by wicked fairies. + +There was nothing to go upon except the bundle of letters, which +certainly bore out the description which the Chief Constable had given +of them. I suppose that Mr. Sherlock Holmes would have taken another +injection of cocaine and smoked three or four pipes over them before +he sat himself down to analyse the ink and examine the paper under a +powerful lens. The Detective Inspector to whom I entrusted the case did +none of these things. He asked for the bundle of letters and took the +next train. I thought that the case might take him a week, but it took +him exactly two hours. When he returned next day he gave the following +account of his proceedings. + +On the way down in the train he read through the letters and made a +note of every word that had been misspelt. There were seventeen. He +then composed a piece of dictation which took in the seventeen words. +It must have been like composing an acrostic. On his arrival at the +house he summoned the entire household--the doctor, his wife, the +children, and the five servants--into the dining-room and, adopting +the business-like procedure of the village schoolmaster, he served +out paper and pens. When all were seated comfortably at the table he +cleared his throat and gave them a piece of dictation. All entered into +the spirit of the thing--all except one, and she made no sign. At the +end of twenty minutes the pens ceased to scratch, and the copies were +handed in. They did not take him long to run through. After a brief +inspection he detained the mistress and the ‘tweeny’ and dismissed +the others. He then said that he would like the mistress to take him +up to the ‘tweeny’s’ sleeping quarters with the girl herself. In her +room was a locked box. The ‘tweeny’ had lost the key, but when he +talked of breaking it open the key was suddenly discovered. In the +box were writing materials identical with those of the incriminatory +letters, and then after a little pressing the girl burst into tears +and made a clean breast of it. She did not like the ex-lady’s maid; +she did like to see the whole household in a flutter. She began with +the letters, and when she saw these beginning to lose their effect she +became the wicked fairy with the keys and the butter-pats. Some people +are surprised that children of sixteen can write horrible letters, but +experience has shown that this is quite a common aspect of adolescent +lying. + +The spy mania was a godsend to the adolescent liar. A lady in a large +house in Kensington came one day in great distress to say that her +little maid had been kidnapped by masked men in a black motor-car and +carried off to some unknown destination in the suburbs, apparently with +the intention of extorting information from her; but fortunately, with +a resource of which her mistress had found no evidence in her domestic +duties, she had escaped from them and returned the next morning. The +mistress thought that we ought to lose no time in catching these masked +miscreants and their black motor-car. The girl’s story was certainly +arresting. It had been her evening out, and while coming away from +listening to the band in Hyde Park a tall, dark man (these men are +always tall and dark) had stopped her and had said, ‘You have got to +come with me. You are wanted for the Cause.’ She refused. He had then +given a peculiar whistle (these men always give a peculiar whistle) +and two other tall, dark men had emerged from the darkness and laid +hold upon her. + +‘What were the policemen doing all this time? Didn’t you cry out?’ + +‘All the men wore masks and that frightened me so that I did not dare +to cry out. Two of them took me, one on each side, and led me out to +the cab-stand. There I saw a dark motor-car with the blinds down. They +pushed me into it and shut the door, and then the car started and drove +at terrible speed with no lights.’ + +‘No lights? But the police would have stopped it.’ + +‘Well, I didn’t see any lights. It all looked black.’ + +‘Which way did you go?’ + +‘Oh, we passed down Kensington High Street and away into the country, +but I was too frightened to notice the direction.’ + +‘And then?’ + +‘Then we got to a large house standing in a garden. It was all black. +We stopped at the front door, and I heard one of them say, “Where shall +we put her?” and the other said, “Into the black room.” They took me +out of the car and down a passage, and pushed me into a black room with +no light and locked the door. I heard them whispering and consulting, +and I thought they were going to kill me.’ + +‘Well, and then what happened?’ + +‘Nothing, sir. I stayed on in the room for quite a long time, and then +I went to the window and found I could get out.’ + +‘And then?’ + +‘Well, then I got out and came home.’ + +‘How did you find your way?’ + +‘Oh, I met a lady not far from the house, and she told me how to get +home.’ + +‘But it must have taken you hours.’ + +‘It did, sir. I didn’t get home till the morning.’ + +The Inspector asked her whether the men had talked about spying. They +had not. Why did she think they were spies? Because they wore masks +and had a black motor-car. Also, I suppose, because they were tall and +dark. He then took the mistress aside and said that he would like an +opportunity of searching her box, because something she had said led +him to think that there was only one man and he was not tall or dark. +The key was produced, the box opened, and there on the top lay--a pair +of soldier’s gloves. And then the whole story was dragged out of her. +He was in khaki, he had no confederates and no motor-car, but he was +soft-spoken and the poor fellow was just going off to the Front. That +cleared up the mystery. + +In 1915, when the spy mania was at its height, a little general +servant, aged sixteen and fresh from the country, threw her master and +mistress into an almost hysterical state by her revelations. One day +the mistress found her in the kitchen writing cabalistic signs on a +sheet of paper. The girl explained that this was part of a dreadful +secret, and when pressed a little, confided to her that she had become +a sort of bond-slave of a German master-spy named ‘E. M.’, who had +employed her to make a plan of the Bristol Channel, and had taught her +to operate an extraordinary signalling engine called the ‘Maxione.’ +She said that she was in terror of her life, that the spy would come +and tap at the kitchen window, that he had a powerful green motor-car +waiting round the corner in which he would whisk her off to operate the +‘Maxione’ and the red lights, without which the submarines lying in +wait in the Bristol Channel would not be able to do their fell work. +When she saw that her master and mistress swallowed her story she began +to enlarge upon it. She introduced into it a mythical girl friend, a +sort of Mrs. Harris, in whose name she wrote to herself in a disguised +handwriting, and this girl friend gave her a great deal of good advice, +such as: + + ‘Trust in E. M. no longer. Really I believe he _is_ a spy.’ + +This girl went on to say that in the course of a motor-ride she had +taken documents out of his pocket which she recognised as containing a +plan for blowing up Tilbury Docks. She also produced letters from the +spy himself--impassioned love-letters which contained gems like the +following: + + ‘Herr von Scheuaquasha will pay you £50 for one tapping of the red + light, the X signal of the seventh line, the universal plug and the + signalling. The staff of the Kaiser Wilhelm will pay you greatly, and + you will be rewarded for the rest of your life. You will be mentioned + in all the German head papers as the heroine of a brave act and + heroic deed. I have a home in Germany and two servants awaiting your + arrival. A valet shall wait on you, darling. You shall be driven in + a smart car, you shall enjoy all the luxury possible for soul of man + on the face of the Globe to bestow on a maid in the hand of marriage. + I have an income of £500 a month. We shall live by Berlin honoured + and welcomed through Germany and Germany’s people. For the sake of + those who love, which I am sure, you would sacrifice your country for + my sake. Your excommunication of the language known in England will + be brought before the Kaiser, and for saving his people you shall be + forgiven for your English blood. If I was certain that I had English + blood in my veins I would go to the West Indies to be gnawed by a + lion.’ + +From this it may be inferred that the German master-spy was not a +Fellow of the Zoological Society. In another letter E. M. reproached +her for not keeping an appointment: + + ‘You have ruined me and yourself by not coming out. There is yet + plenty of time. Our men cannot get the messages through, and even if + it was switched half-way it would be well. Germany must have their + report, and I shall again try for you sooner or later.’ + +The letters from the spy were in code, but those from the girl friend +were _en clair_. Gradually the volume of correspondence grew until +it became a formidable bundle. The master and mistress confided in a +sensible friend, who passed the whole matter over to the authorities. +Some of the master-spy’s letters were amatory, but the love-making was +indissolubly intertwined with strict business, only every now and then +his admiration for her transcendent beauty would break loose. ‘But your +beauty may enchant us.’ + +The extraordinary part of this fraud was that the girl was quite +uneducated, and had never been out of her native village, and yet she +could fabricate different handwritings and make signs that distantly +resembled Pitman’s shorthand. She had dotted all over her map sham +chemical and mathematical symbols, and whenever she was cornered for an +explanation she invented a new romance. + +[Illustration: THE PEARL NECKLACE STOLEN IN THE POST BETWEEN PARIS AND +LONDON, JUNE, 1913. VALUED AT ABOUT £110.000.] + +She had reduced her mistress to such distress that she did not dare +to leave the house, and therefore the police superintendent who was +detailed to see her had to make a visit to the suburbs. There he found +a simple, pleasant-faced country girl, the daughter of a labourer, who +would have been supposed to have no knowledge of the world outside her +native village. Her employers were in such a state of mind that it was +decided to send her home to her mother. One of the curious points +about her imagination was her power of inventing names upon the spot, +which is a very rare quality even among practised liars. When pressed +as to the name of the master-spy, without a moment’s thought she gave +it as Eric Herfranz Mullard. When she was pressed to explain why the +Germans were not able to operate their own machine, the ‘Maxione,’ +which she described as being a sort of collapsible framework of iron +rods, quite portable, but 5 or 6 feet in height when extended, she said +that the keys of the base, which flashed rays from the little lamps +attached to the arms at the top, had to be worked with great speed with +the fingers and the elbows as well, and she gave a demonstration on +the dining-room table, which was so energetic that it must have left +bruises on her elbows. The flashes were green and red, and could be +seen for a distance of 150 miles. That was why one had to strike the +keys so hard and, naturally, a German’s fingers were not likely to be +so nimble as those of an English girl. + +The ages of from fourteen to eighteen have been so productive of +trouble to the police that I have sometimes regretted that all girls +between those ages are not safely put to sleep by the State and allowed +to grow quietly and harmlessly into womanhood unseen by the world. +Perhaps the legend of the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ may have been suggested +by the pranks of adolescent liars in the dawn of the Christian era. +How many hay-stacks have been set on fire by little farm servants? How +many ghosts have been conjured up? How much paraffin has been thrown +on ceilings to attract photographers for the daily Press, merely from +an infantile desire to see the grown-ups buzzing about like a nest of +disturbed wasps? + +But to return to pre-war memories. At the moment when I took charge of +the Criminal Investigation Department the Central Office was busy over +the robbery of the pearl necklace. A necklace valued at about £110,000 +had been dispatched from Paris to a London jeweller by registered post. +The box was safely delivered with all the seals apparently intact, +but the pearls were missing, and lumps of coal had been substituted +for them. At first suspicion fell upon the French postal servants. +Elaborate inquiries were made on both sides of the Channel, and it was +established beyond a doubt that the wrapper and the seals were exactly +in the condition in which the parcel was delivered for registration. +There was no doubt whatever that they had been properly packed, and +therefore somewhere there existed a counterfeit seal of the firm, +which consisted of the initials ‘M. M.’ within an oval border. My +first contribution to the case was to establish by experiment that a +counterfeit seal could be made and used on melted sealing-wax within +four minutes, and that therefore at some point in the parcel’s journey +it would have been possible to break the seals, undo the wrappings, +remove the pearls, and seal the parcel up again without the loss of a +post. Gradually the police began to see daylight. Rumours fly in Hatton +Garden, and it was not long before the names of X and Y and one or two +others were whispered in connection with the robbery. + +Then began one of the most difficult cases of observation that I +remember. No fox was ever more cunning in covering his tracks. The men +had no reason to suspect that they were being followed, and yet they +never relaxed their precautions for a moment. If they took a taxi to +any rendezvous they gave a false destination, paid off the taxi and +took another, sometimes repeating this process of mystification two +or three times. If they met in Oxford Street to lunch together at an +A.B.C. shop they would suddenly change their minds on the doorstep +and go off to another, and all the while they had an aged discharged +convict in their pay to shadow them and call their attention to any +suspicious follower. I shall not tell here what devices the police +adopted, but I will say that at the last, when every other kind of +observation failed, we did adopt a new device which was successful. + +The object throughout had been to find a moment when one or other of +the parties had the stolen pearls about his person, and when the day +came for making the arrest, just as the four thieves were entering a +tube station the police failed, because on that particular day they had +left the necklace at home. They were detained, nevertheless, in order +that a thorough search might be made of all their hiding-places. As +it then turned out, the necklace was in the possession of the wife of +one of them, and when the search became too hot and she feared a visit +from the police she put the necklace into a Bryant & May matchbox and +dropped it in the street. There it was found, without, however, its +diamond clasp, which had been disposed of separately. + +It did not take the police long to unravel the details of the crime. +They found the engraver who had innocently cut the false seal, and the +office where the parcel had been opened. The thieves had arranged with +the postman to bring the parcel to the office for three or four minutes +before taking it on to deliver it. Whether the postman knew beforehand +what they intended to do is uncertain. They expected to find diamonds, +which were far more easily disposed of: when they found pearls, so +large that in the trade each pearl had almost a history, they knew that +they could not dispose of them and were at first for throwing them +into the Thames. It may be judged that I was not an expert in precious +stones when I say that I had the matchbox and its contents laid out on +my table for quite half an hour before I was sure that the pearls were +genuine. They looked, to my untutored eye, so yellow. We telephoned to +the owner and the insurance agent. The owner fell upon the pearls as a +man might fall upon some beloved and long-lost child whom he had never +expected to see again in this world. I then told him jocularly of my +doubts. ‘Yellow?’ he said, with genuine amazement, ‘Yellow? they are +rose-colour.’ + +Every now and then there was a sensational seizure at the house of a +receiver of stolen property. In October 1913 a certain jeweller’s shop +in Shaftesbury Avenue was raided and the contents were carried off to +Bow Street, which resembled for some days an exhibition of wedding +presents. It contained the proceeds of quite twenty known burglaries, +and even then only one-third of the plate had been identified because +it has been found by experience that in these days, when people insure +their jewellery against burglary and draw the insurance money, they +take little interest in bringing the thieves to justice. There is also +the fact that things are stolen from a house sometimes for many months +before they are missed. Some of the objects in this exhibition belonged +to a Lady H----, and while she was going round she caught sight of a +clock given to her by Lord Charles Beresford which she thought was +still at home. Unclaimed stolen property is held by the police for a +certain period and then disposed of by public auction. + +[Illustration: THE CONTENTS OF A RECEIVER’S SHOP WHICH CONTAINED THE +PROCEEDS OF MORE THAN SIXTY BURGLARIES.] + +In 1913 there was an epidemic of safe-breaking. The capacity of the +oxy-acetylene flame for cutting through steel plates appealed to the +safe-breaker, who had long deplored the weight and inefficiency of the +tools on which he had to rely for his livelihood. For years there has +been a competition between the burglar and the safe-maker, and so far I +believe the safe-maker has won. + +Two enterprising persons spent a Sunday afternoon in the summer of 1913 +in a certain office in Regent Street cutting a great hole in the safe +with an oxy-acetylene apparatus, which they had transported to the +house in a taxi-cab on the previous afternoon. Having secured their +booty they left this very incriminating apparatus behind them. + +Not many weeks later the police were forewarned that an attempt would +be made on a safe in a certain much frequented cinema hall, but here +the burglars received a nervous shock. All went according to plan that +Sunday afternoon. The street and the hall had the deserted Sunday look +when, on a sudden, just as operations were beginning, from every corner +sprang truncheoned men, and the burglars were caught in a trap. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE LURE OF SOMETHING FOR NOTHING + + +The great business of transferring the contents of your neighbour’s +pocket to your own is what more than nine-tenths of the world live +upon. Society draws the line between what is legitimate and what +is dishonest rather low down in the scale. A grocer may rob you by +high prices but not by giving you short weight; a money-lender may +fleece you by usury but not by picking your pocket; but I confess +to a sneaking preference for the rogue who, without any pretence of +respectability, preys upon your vanity or your cupidity and cheats you +quite openly. + +The Spanish prisoner fraud has flourished for nearly half a century. It +has the advantage over all other frauds in costing practically nothing +for stock-in-trade, and incurring no risk whatever to the practitioner. +All he needs is a little stationery, a few postage stamps, and the +names and addresses of farmers in Scotland and England. The farmer +receives a letter with the Valencia postmark from a Spanish colonel +now languishing in prison on account of the part he played in a +revolutionary conspiracy. + + ‘MY DEAR SIR AND RELATIVE’ (it begins),--‘Having not the honour to + know you personally but only for the good references my deceased + mother Mary Harris, your relative, did me about your family, I apply + myself to you for the first and perhaps last time to implore your + protection for my only daughter Amelia, child 12 years age.’ + +Here the writer is banking on the fact that very few of us are in a +position positively to say that no one of the sisters or cousins of +our parents was called Mary, and that no one of that name married a +Spaniard. The letter, which is beautifully written in halting English, +goes on to say that the writer, a colonel named Alvaro de Espinosa, +at the direction of the revolutionary committee, went to Berlin to +buy arms, was betrayed and went to England, but that while in London +he heard of the death of his wife. In the first shock of grief he +converted all his property into English and French bank-notes, and with +the proceeds cunningly concealed in the lining of his trunk he set out +for Valencia. + + ‘Well disguised, I went out to Spain, arrived in this city. Arranged + secretly some private business, took my leave from the martyr as was + my noble wife, and when I was very near coming in England again with + my daughter but with my heart contrite by grief I was arrested. A + wretch enemy had recognised and accused me. They proceeded me and + after in a War-Court I was condemned by desertion and rebellion + delinquency at one indemnification at 12 gaol years and at the + payment of the process outlays, a sentence I am undergoing now in + these military gaols, deprived of any intercourse. + + ‘When I was arrested my equipage which is a trunk and two + portmanteaux, was seized and sealed and folded before me and + delivering me its keys without might be discovered the so well artful + secret in which I hidden the said sum, and it remained laid down in + the same Court as a warranty for the outlays of process payment in + the event of being condemned, and as I am already unhappily sentenced + it is indispensable to pay the Court the amount of the expenses to + be able to recover the luggage. Thereby necessary sum to pay the + tribunal by the process outlays since I would not see me in the + debasing and shameful case to have to resort to my fellow-countrymen; + then I would be wretchedly betrayed again.’ + +That is why he writes to Harris. But what is Harris to get out of all +this? You shall hear. When the trunk reaches him-- + + ‘you will see in its interior part and in its left side of Spain + shield in its centre you will set upon your forefinger so that when + an electric bell is pushed and quickly the secret will appear in full + view in which you will find my fortune.... I will name you as tutor + of my daughter and her fortune trustee until her full age and as a + right reward for your noble aid I leave you the fourth part of all my + fortune.’ + +So there you have it--something for nothing--the bait which so few can +resist; least of all when the something is £6250 and a beautiful young +Spanish ward. + +The poor old revolutionary colonel is in a dying state, as you learn +from a letter from the chaplain, the Reverend Adrian Rosado, which is +enclosed. This devoted priest has letter paper headed with a cross, +and has a markedly feminine handwriting. He is not in the secret, as +the cautious old colonel has been careful to warn you. He ‘befriends +me by his vocation and good feelings: he is a venerable priest and +honest man, and I do not think it necessary he knows the secret very +extensively.’ The honest man regrets very much-- + + ‘that on the first time I write to you I may be herald of bad news, + but the case so requires it and the truth must be said though it may + be painful. Your relative’s health state is very bad.’ + +indeed, so bad that-- + + ‘we must have patience to suffer with resignation what God dispose + and beg his help to accomplish the last will of the unfortunate Sr. + Alvaro de Espinosa.’ + +The honest priest goes on to say that in a little while he will deposit +Miss Amelia and the trunk at your door, always provided that the +necessary expenses are defrayed. + + ‘By your relative charge I think convenient to beg your aid for + getting out the seized equipage to which end I am making steps in + order that the Tribunal tell me the exactly amount to pay the cost + and process expenses. + + ‘Awaiting anxiously your reply to accomplish the sacred mission your + relative has commissioned me.--I am, dear sir, your most affected + servant and Chaplain, + + ADRIAN ROGADO.’ + +Strange that this holy and disinterested man should have a delicacy +about receiving letters at his presbytery. He, no less than the poor +prisoner, adds in a postscript: + + ‘By greater security please answer to my brother-in-law name and here + as following: + + Mr. Arturo Rivier, + Maldonado 19, + Entremets, + Valencia, Spain.’ + +Is it because a letter addressed to the presbytery would be returned +through the Dead Letter Office marked that no such person as Rogado +exists? + +[Illustration: THE PROCEEDS OF A RAID ON A RECEIVER, THE RESULTS OF +OVER SIXTY BURGLARIES.] + +The world may be divided into two classes--those who would reply to +such letters and those who would consign them to the fire. In spite of +the picture drawn of Englishmen by envious foreigners, the Britisher +is by nature an imaginative and romantic person. That is why you find +him in every part of the globe: he goes abroad for adventure, to escape +from the humdrum routine of his home surroundings. And the farther +you go north the more romantic he becomes. That is why there are so +few Scots left in Scotland. To judge from the correspondence filed by +the police, nine out of every ten reply, and because the Britisher is +practical as well as romantic, the reply invariably asks how much money +is required to pay the ‘process outlays.’ On this the dying Espinosa, +whose handwriting is unusually firm for a stricken man so near his end, +rises to fresh flights of eloquence: + + ‘I will die peaceful,’ he says, ‘thinking of the good future welfare + of my dear daughter near you.’ + +His ‘health state is becoming grievous,’ and so he makes his will: + + ‘Here is my last will. + + ‘I name heiress of the ¾ parts of my fortune my alone daughter + Amelia de Espinosa. + + ‘I name you heir of the fourth part of my fortune and Tutor of my + daughter and Manager of it until this one may reach her full age. + + ‘As soon as the equipage may be in the Chaplain’s hands he shall go + out to your home with my daughter and equipage in order that you + may take away the money of my trunk secret to come immediately in + possession of the sum. + + ‘From the part belonging to my daughter you will deliver to the + Chaplain £200, for I will make a present to him. I beseech you to + grant all your assistance to the Chaplain since he is poor and he + does not reckon upon any resource to pay these outlays. + + ‘The equipage must be recovered immediately, for in the trunk is all + my fortune. + + ‘You will place my daughter in a college until her full age.... I + shall die peaceful thinking of her being happy near you, and she will + find on you some warm-hearted parents and brothers.--Your unfortunate + relative, + + ALVARO DE ESPINOSA.’ + +And still no mention of money: that was because the recipient was +more than usually cautious and was, in fact, a wary fish that must +be played. So wary was he that he took the letter to the police for +advice. But I remember a case where a farmer in Norfolk was so much +touched by the misfortunes of his Spanish cousin, and so conscious of +the sensation that would be caused among his neighbours when it became +known that he was guardian to a beautiful young Spanish heiress, to +say nothing of the things that might be bought with £6250, that he sent +£200 to the address indicated by Espinosa and sat down to wait. He +waited so long that he became anxious about the safety of the chaplain +and his ward, and it was on their account, and not from any doubt +about the story, that he came to the police. He indignantly refused +to believe that he had been a victim to the familiar Spanish prisoner +fraud. + +The War was unkind to Espinosa, who had been lingering upon his +death-bed for over forty years, and I hoped that it had killed him, but +the ink was scarcely dry upon the Treaty of Versailles before he broke +out again. From time to time the Spanish Government has been furnished +with the address to which victims are invited to reply, but hitherto to +no purpose: the game is too profitable to be easily killed. + +I can understand succumbing to the wiles of Espinosa better than I +can understand the perennial success of the Confidence Trick, which +is practised generally by Australians on American visitors to London. +There are several variants because the tricksters are artists, and are +not above improving with practice. Here again the bait is ‘Something +for Nothing.’ Though the commonest form has been described in the +Police Court it may be well to repeat it here. An American walking in +Hyde Park sees an elderly man drop a pocket-book. He overtakes him +and restores it. The old man, whom we will call Ryan, is effusively +grateful. He would not have lost that pocket-book for the world: it +contained the evidence of his fortune: his benefactor must come and +have a drink. He holds him with his glittering eye, and while they +imbibe whisky he tells his story--how an uncle of fabulous wealth but +eccentric habits has left him a couple of million dollars on condition +that he can find a really trustworthy person to distribute one-eighth +of the sum among the poor of London. The dupe mentions the fact that he +has a return ticket to New York, and hails from Denver. So, as it now +appears, does Ryan, who takes from his pocket-book a newspaper cutting +setting forth the virtues and the enormous fortune of the uncle, and +at that very moment a third man, Ryan’s confederate, drops in. Hearing +the word ‘Denver,’ he joins in the conversation, for he, too, is from +Denver--George T. Davis, at their service. So there they are--three +exiles from Denver--a little oasis in the vast waste of London. To +George T. Davis Ryan relates his good fortune and the strange condition +in the will. + +‘I know no one in this city. How am I to find a man in whom I have +confidence to distribute all this money? Now I like your face, Mr. +Davis, but I don’t know you--never saw you till this afternoon--how can +I say I’ve confidence in you?’ + +‘Confidence for confidence,’ replies Davis. ‘I’ve confidence in you +anyway. I’d trust you with all I’ve got, and I’ve got more than what +I stand up in. Why, see here! Here’s what I drew from the bank this +morning’--he thrusts a roll of bank (of engraving) notes into Ryan’s +unwilling hand--‘and here’s my watch and chain! Take them all and just +walk through that door. I know you’ll bring them back because I’ve +confidence in you.’ But Ryan still looks doubtful. ‘No good,’ whispers +Davis, ‘he don’t take to me. Why don’t you have a shot at the money? He +takes to you.’ + +[Illustration: THE CONTENTS OF A RECEIVER’S SHOP, SHOWING THE TOOLS FOR +MELTING DOWN THE PROCEEDS OF ROBBERIES.] + +And so by appeals to the vanity of the man from Denver, by playing on +his cupidity, under the softening influences of liquid refreshment, by +the force of example, Davis succeeds at last. Into the still apparently +unwilling hand of Ryan the victim presses all the money and +valuables he possesses, and out goes Ryan into the street. The two men +continue drinking: George T. Davis is the first to betray anxiety. + +‘The old man ought to be back by now. Can’t understand it--man I’d have +trusted anywhere. Couldn’t have been run over by a taxi? You stop here: +I’ll just step out and see where he’s got to.’ And that is the last +that the victim sees of either of the rogues. + +Before the War most of the confidence men lived in Ealing. Each pair +have their own pitch, and there was a tacit understanding that neither +should poach on the ground of the other. Northumberland Avenue belonged +to one; the Mall to another; a third worked Hyde Park. The essence of +the trick is that the victim should be a bird of passage, for as soon +as the trick is played the actors leave for Rome. Why Rome was chosen I +never understood. There they stayed until a confederate reported that +the victim had sailed for home and the coast was clear. During the +War the poor confidence man fell on evil days: there were no American +tourists to prey upon, and if there had been any, one could not fly to +Rome. The passport people saw to that. The absence of a prosecutor is a +bar to police action, but occasionally one or other of the fraternity +is run to ground. + +I have sometimes doubted whether the police should be called upon to +protect people so simple that they ought not to be allowed abroad +without a nurse. I remember a prisoner making the same complaint to +me. ‘It’s cruel hard on us chaps,’ he said, ‘when mugs like them are +at large. It’s a temptation: that’s what it is.’ But he was not doing +his profession justice. Like all artistic callings--like the stage +for instance--the reward lies not in the emoluments, but in the +satisfaction of playing on the feelings of your audience until you hold +them. + +Given impudence and the artistic sense and a man may remove +mountains--at any rate he may remove houses. At Dartmoor there was +a man who boasted that he was ‘the lad that stole a row of houses,’ +and it was no idle boast. In the City there was a row of derelict +eighteenth-century cottages which in these days would have been +condemned as unfit for human habitation. Tenants must have come +to a similar conclusion about them, for an agent’s board, already +weather-worn, announced that they were to let. One morning a young man +called at the house-agent’s and got into conversation with the clerk. +‘So those houses in Paradise Row are to let. I’d like to have a look +at them, and see whether it would suit my governor to make an offer.’ +‘Right,’ said the clerk, ‘come to-morrow and I’ll take you round. I +can’t come now, I’m alone in the office.’ + +‘Don’t you worry, old man. Lend me the key and I’ll be back with it in +half an hour.’ The clerk was glad to be rid of him on such easy terms. + +A week later an old client happened to look in. ‘I see you’re pulling +down those old death traps in Paradise Row. It was about time you did.’ + +‘Pulling them down? What do you mean?’ + +‘I mean what I say. I passed there just now, and there’s not much left.’ + +The clerk glanced hastily at the nail where the key was wont to hang. +The key was gone, and then he remembered how he came to part with it. +He tore out of the office without his hat, risked a hundred deaths +from motor-’buses, and reached his goal breathless. He would have been +breathless in any case at what he saw. The housebreakers had done +their work thoroughly, and at the moment were dealing with the ground +floor. The lead, the guttering, tiles, cisterns, woodwork, and bricks +had all been carted away and sold to the order of the man ‘who stole a +row of houses.’ He considered the months he had to spend in prison a +cheap price to pay for the prestige he won in the only circles whose +opinion he respected. + +But his impudence paled beside that of the bogus doctor whose only +claim to medical knowledge was the possession of a stethoscope. His +method was to select a little artisan’s house in a quiet street in +South London on a Sunday morning, ring the bell, and when the tenant +opened the door ask for Mr. Smith. + +‘I’m not Mr. Smith. My name’s Brown.’ + +‘Then I must have got the number wrong. So sorry. You don’t happen to +know which is Mr. Smith’s house? Never heard of him? Well, well!’ and +then, with great concern in his manner, ‘Stop, don’t shut the door. Do +you know you are very ill.’ + +‘Never felt better in my life,’ growled Mr. Brown. + +‘Excuse me, I’m a doctor, and I know better. Phantasmagoria is a +dreadful illness, and you’ve got it badly. I can tell it from your +eyes. Now, look here (pulling out a stethoscope and looking at his +watch), I can just spare ten minutes. I’ll examine you and it won’t +cost you a penny, and if I’m wrong no one will be more pleased than I +shall.’ + +Still talking, he would edge the now frightened Brown into the parlour, +saying, ‘Don’t make any sudden movement, my dear fellow. Just slip off +your coat and trousers as gently as you can. Let me help you. That’s +right! Now lie down on that sofa. Gently now. That’s right. Th--a--t’s +right. Now say “A--a.” Now say “O--o--o.” It’s just what I thought. +It’s the worst case of phantasmagoria that I ever came across. Not a +word now. Move once, and you may never move again. Now lie quite still +while I run round to the chemist. I’ll bring you round something that +will put you right in two ticks. Not a word now: there’s nothing to +thank me for.’ + +In this he was quite right. He clapped on his hat and ran out into the +street, and it was not by inadvertence that he carried over his arm all +Mr. Brown’s Sunday clothes and whatever the pockets contained. And when +it dawned upon Brown that he had been victimised, how was he to take up +the pursuit on a Sunday morning in nothing but his shirt? + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE FIRST DAYS + + +Like most Englishmen, I read of the murder at Sarajevo without a +thought that it was to react upon the destiny of this country. It +seemed to be an ordinary case of Balkan manners, out of which would +proceed diplomatic correspondence, an arrest or two, and a trial +imperfectly reported in our newspapers. It did have the immediate +effect of postponing a ball at Buckingham Palace on account of the +Court mourning, but that was all. During the postponed ball on July 16, +so petty were our preoccupations at this moment that when a message +came in that Mrs. Pankhurst had just been recaptured under the ‘Cat +and Mouse Act,’ I thought it worth while to find the Home Secretary +and repeat it to him. A few days after the murder I met von Kühlmann +at luncheon. He can scarcely at that time have expected a rupture +of relations, for in talking over Dr. Solf, with whom I had been +associated in the Pacific, he said, ‘He has climbed high since you knew +him, and some think that he will go higher still (meaning that he would +become Chancellor). He is coming to London in August, and I shall write +to him to arrange a meeting with you.’ + +A few days later England began to feel uneasy. I overheard a certain +Under-Secretary remark at luncheon of his constituency, ‘Well, all +I can say is that if this country enters the War there will be a +rebellion in the North of England.’ He left the Ministry when the +moment came, and has now disappeared even from the House of Commons. +I think that we all had at the back of our minds a feeling that a +European War on the great scale was so unthinkable that a way would be +found at the eleventh hour for avoiding it. A staff officer in whose +judgment I believed remarked that if this were so he would emigrate, +because he knew that the day was only postponed until Germany felt +herself better prepared for the inevitable war. There were, in fact, no +illusions at the War Office. Some day the story that will do justice +to the services of Lord Haldane in those very critical weeks will be +written. The plans that had been made during peace time were all ready; +the names and addresses of the known German spies were recorded. We +could only wait for midnight on 4th August. I was actually in the Tube +lift at Gloucester Road on the stroke of midnight, and I remarked to +the liftman that we were now at war. ‘Is that so?’ he replied, with a +yawn. + +The credit of the discovery of the German spy organisation before the +War was entirely due to a sub-department of the War Office, directed +by officers of great skill. They had known for some time that one Karl +Gustav Ernst, a barber in the Caledonian Road, who was technically a +British subject because he was born in England, was the collecting +centre for German espionage. All he had to do for his pittance of +£1 a month was to drop the letters he received from Germany ready +stamped with English postage stamps into the nearest pillar-box, and +to transmit to Germany any replies which he received. Altogether, his +correspondents numbered twenty-two. They were scattered all over the +country at naval and military centres, and all of them were German. The +law in peace time was inadequate for dealing with them, and there was +the danger that if our action was precipitate the Germans would hear +of it and send fresh agents about whom we might know nothing: it was +decided to wait until a state of war existed before arresting them. On +5th August the orders went out. Twenty-one out of the twenty-two were +arrested and interned simultaneously; one eluded arrest by embarking +for Germany. Their acts of espionage had been committed in peace time, +and therefore they could not be dealt with on the capital charge. +The result of this sudden action was to drop a curtain over England +at the vital moment of mobilisation. The German Intelligence Service +was paralysed. It could only guess at what was happening behind the +curtain, and it guessed wrong. Ernst was sentenced to seven years’ +penal servitude for his share in the business, and, seeing that he was +a British subject, the sentence cannot be called excessive. + +The curtain had dropped not only for the enemy but even for ourselves. +How many of us knew during those first few days that trains were +discharging men, horses, and material at the quays of certain southern +ports without any confusion at intervals of ten minutes by day and +night; that an Expeditionary Force of 150,000 men was actually in +the field against the Germans before they knew anything about its +existence? Von Kluck has recorded somewhere his surprise when he +first found British troops in front of him. After the Armistice he is +reported to have told a British officer that in his opinion the finest +military force in history was the first British Army, and that the +greatest military feat in history was the raising of the second British +Army. + +Our great dread during that week was that a bridge or a railway arch +might be blown up by the enemy and the smooth running of mobilisation +be dislocated. Most of the railway arches were let to private persons, +of whom some were aliens. On 5th August I went myself to the War Office +to find a General who could be vested with power to turn these people +out. There was a good deal of confusion. Every Head of a branch had +left for the field that morning, and their successors were quite new to +their jobs. At last I found my General, and while I was talking to him +it grew dark and there was a sudden peal of thunder like an explosion. +He said, quite gravely, ‘A Zepp!’ That was the state of mind we were +all in. That same night my telephone became agitated; it reported the +blowing up of a culvert near Aldershot and of a railway bridge in Kent. +I had scarcely repeated the information to the proper authority when +the bell rang again to tell me that both reports were the figments of +some jumpy Reservist patrol. + +Who now remembers those first feverish days of the War: the crowds +about the recruiting stations, the recruits marching through the +streets in mufti, the drafts going to the station without bands--the +flower of our manhood, of whom so many were never to return--soldiers +almost camping in Victoria Street, the flaring posters, the foolish +cry ‘Business as Usual’; the unseemly rush to the Stores for food +until, under the lash of the newspapers, people grew ashamed of their +selfishness; the silence in the ’buses, until any loud noise, like +a motor back-fire, started a Zeppelin scare? Who now remembers the +foolish prognostications of experts--how the War would result in +unemployment and a revolution would follow; the assurance of certain +bankers that the War would be over in six months because none of the +belligerents could stand the financial strain for longer? We have even +forgotten the food-hoarding scare that followed the spy scare during +the height of the submarine activity, when elderly gentlemen, who had +taken thought for the morrow, might have been seen burying biscuit tins +in their gardens at midnight for fear that their neighbours should get +wind of their hoard and hale them before the magistrate. + +I began to think in those days that war hysteria was a pathological +condition to which persons of mature age and generally normal +intelligence were peculiarly susceptible. War work was evidently not a +predisposing cause, for the readiest victims were those who were doing +nothing in particular. In ante-bellum days there were a few mild cases. +The sufferers would tell you gravely that at a public dinner they had +turned suddenly to their German waiter and asked him what post he had +orders to join when the German invaders arrived, and that he, taken off +his guard, had clicked his heels and replied, ‘Portsmouth’; or they +would whisper of secret visits of German aircraft to South Wales by +night and mysterious rides undertaken by stiff guttural persons with +square heads who would hire horses in the Eastern Counties and display +an unhealthy curiosity about the stable accommodation in every farm +that they passed. But in August 1914 the malady assumed a virulent +epidemic form accompanied by delusions which defied treatment. It +attacked all classes indiscriminately, and seemed even to find its +most fruitful soil in sober, stolid, and otherwise truthful people. I +remember Mr. Asquith saying that, from a legal and evidential point +of view, nothing was ever so completely proved as the arrival of +the Russians. Their landing was described by eyewitnesses at Leith, +Aberdeen, and Glasgow; they stamped the snow out of their boots and +called hoarsely for vodka at Carlisle and Berwick-on-Tweed; they +jammed the penny-in-the-slot machines with a rouble at Durham; four +of them were billeted on a lady at Crewe who herself described the +difficulty of cooking for Slavonic appetites. There was nothing to be +done but to let the delusion burn itself out. I have often wondered +since whether some self-effacing patriot did not circulate this story +in order to put heart into his fellow-countrymen at a time when +depression would have been most disastrous, or whether, as has since +been said, it was merely the rather outlandish-looking equipment and +Gaelic speech of the Lovat Scouts that set the story afloat. + +The second phase of the malady attached itself to pigeons. London +is full of pigeons--wood pigeons in the parks, blue rocks about the +churches and public buildings--and a number of amiable people take +pleasure in feeding them. In September 1914, when this phase was at its +height, it was positively dangerous to be seen in conversation with a +pigeon; it was not always safe to be seen in its vicinity. A foreigner +walking in one of the parks was actually arrested and sentenced to +imprisonment because a pigeon was seen to fly from the place where he +was standing and it was supposed that he had liberated it. + +During this phase a pigeon was caught in Essex which was actually +carrying a message in the usual little aluminium box clipped to its +leg. Moreover, the message was from Rotterdam, but it was merely to +report the arrival of an innocuous cargo vessel, whose voyage we +afterwards traced. + +The delusion about illicit wireless ran the pigeons very hard. The +pronouncement of a thoughtless expert that an aerial might be hidden +in a chimney, and that messages could be received through an open +window even on an iron bedstead, gave a great impetus to this form +of delusion. The high scientific authority of the popular play, _The +Man who Stayed at Home_, where a complete installation was concealed +behind a fireplace, spread the delusion far and wide. It was idle to +assure the sufferers that a Marconi transmitter needed a 4-horse-power +engine to generate the wave, that skilled operators were listening +day and night for the pulsations of unauthorised messages, that the +intermittent tickings they heard from the flat above them were probably +the efforts of an amateur typist: the sufferers knew better. At this +period the disease attacked even naval and military officers and +special constables. If a telegraphist was sent on a motor-cycle to +examine and test the telegraph poles, another cyclist was certain to +be sent by some authority in pursuit. On one occasion the authorities +dispatched to the Eastern Counties a car equipped with a Marconi +apparatus and two skilled operators to intercept any illicit messages +that might be passing over the North Sea. They left London at noon; +at 3 they were under lock and key in Essex. After an exchange of +telegrams they were set free, but at 7 P.M. they telegraphed from the +police cells in another part of the county, imploring help. When again +liberated they refused to move without the escort of a Territorial +officer in uniform, but on the following morning the police of another +county had got hold of them and telegraphed, ‘Three German spies +arrested with car and complete wireless installation, one in uniform of +British officer.’ + +Next in order was the German governess, also perhaps the product of +_The Man who Stayed at Home_. There were several variants of this +story, but a classic version was that the governess was missing from +the midday meal, and that when the family came to open her trunks they +discovered under a false bottom a store of high explosive bombs. Every +one who told this story knew the woman’s employer; some had even seen +the governess herself in happier days--‘Such a nice quiet person, so +fond of the children; but now one comes to think of it, there was a +something in her face, impossible to describe, but a something.’ + +During the German advance through Belgium an ingenious war +correspondent gave a new turn to the hysteria. He alleged that the +enamelled iron advertisements for ‘Maggi Soup,’ which were to be seen +attached to every hoarding and telegraph post, were unscrewed by the +German officers in order to read the information about the local +resources, which was painted in German on the back. Screw-driver +parties were formed in the London suburbs, and in destroying this +delusion they removed also many unsightly advertisements. The +hallucination about gun platforms was not dispatched so easily. As soon +as a correspondent had described the gun emplacements laid down by +Germans in the guise of tennis courts at Mauberge there was scarcely +a paved back-garden nor a flat concrete roof in London that did not +come under the suspicion of some spy-maniac. The denunciations were +not confined to Germans. Given a British householder with a concrete +tennis-court and pigeons about the house, and it was certain to be +discovered that he had quite suddenly increased the scale of his +expenditure, that heavy cases had been delivered at the house by night, +that tapping had been overheard, mysterious lights seen in the windows, +and that on the night of the sinking of the _Lusitania_ he had given a +dinner-party to naturalised Germans. When artillery experts assured the +patients that gun emplacements in the heart of London were in the wrong +place, and that even on the high lands of Sydenham or of Hampstead any +tram road would better serve the purpose they wagged their heads. They +were hot upon the scent, and for many weeks denunciations poured in at +the rate of many hundreds a day. + +The next delusion was that of the grateful German and the Tubes. The +commonest form of the story was that an English nurse had brought a +German officer back from the door of death, and that in a burst of +gratitude he said at parting, ‘I must not tell you more, but beware +of the Tubes in April (1915).’ As time wore on the date was shifted +forward month by month, to September, when it died of expectation +deferred. We took the trouble to trace this story from mouth to mouth +until we reached the second mistress in a London Board School. She +declared that she had had it from the charwoman who cleaned the school, +but that lady stoutly denied that she had ever told so ridiculous a +story. + +A near kin to this was the tale that a German officer of rank had +been seen in the Haymarket by an English friend; that he returned the +salute involuntarily but then changed colour and jumped into a passing +taxi, leaving his friend gaping on the pavement. A good many notable +Prussians, from von Bissing, the Governor of Belgium downwards, figured +in this story; a good many places, from Piccadilly to the Army and +Navy Stores, have been the scene. The best attested version is that of +the English girl who came suddenly upon her fiancé, an officer in the +Prussian Guards, who shook hands with her, but as soon as he recovered +from his surprise the callous ruffian froze her with a look and jumped +into a passing omnibus. Another version was that on recognising her +German fiancé the girl looked appealingly into his countenance and +said, ‘Oh, Fritz!’ whereupon he gave one startled look and jumped into +the nearest vehicle. This, it may be remarked, might have happened +to any Englishman, for who would not, when accosted by a charming +stranger under the name of ‘Fritz,’ have jumped into anything that +happened to be passing? In some of these cases inquiry showed that +at the moment when they were said to have been seen in London these +Germans were serving on the Continent, and it is certain that all were +hallucinations. + +With the War, the Tower of London came into its own again. During +the early months it began to be whispered at London tea-tables that +the Crown Prince himself was languishing there (if languishing is +the appropriate term for a person of his temperament). Later, when +it became evident that he could not be in two places at once, the +prisoners of distinction included several British peers and privy +councillors. All these prisoners, who were at the moment adorning their +several offices in free life, had been shot at dawn. These delusions +may be traced to the fact that a few foreign spies were imprisoned in +the Tower before execution. + +A new phase of the malady was provoked by the suggestion that +advertisements in the Agony Column of newspapers were being used by +spies to communicate information to Germany. It is uncertain who first +called public attention to this danger, but since refugees did make +use of the Agony Columns for communicating with their friends abroad, +there was nothing inherently improbable in the idea. In order to allay +public alarm it was necessary to check the insertion of apparently +cryptic advertisements. Later in the War a gentleman who had acquired +a considerable reputation as a code expert, and was himself the author +of commercial codes, began to read into these advertisements messages +from German submarines to their base, and _vice versa_. This he did +with the aid of a Dutch-English dictionary on a principle of his own. +As we had satisfied ourselves about the authors of the advertisements +we treated his communications rather lightly. In most cases the +movements he foretold failed to take place, but unfortunately once, by +an accident, there did happen to be an air-raid on the night foretold +by him. We then inserted an advertisement of our own. It was something +like this: + + ‘Will the lady with the fur boa who entered No. 14 ’bus at Hyde Park + Corner yesterday communicate with box 29,’ + +and upon this down came our expert hot-foot with the information +that six submarines were under orders to attack the defences at +Dover that very night. When we explained that we were the authors +of the advertisement, all he said was that, by some extraordinary +coincidence, we had hit upon the German code, and that by inserting +the advertisement we had betrayed a military secret. It required a +committee to dispose of this delusion. + +The longest-lived of the delusions was that of the night-signalling, +for whenever the scare showed signs of dying down a Zeppelin raid +was sure to give it a fresh start. As far as fixed lights were +concerned, it was the best-founded of all the delusions, because the +Germans might well have inaugurated a system of fixed lights to guide +Zeppelins to their objective, but the sufferers went a great deal +farther than a belief in fixed lights. Morse-signalling from a window +in Bayswater, which could be seen only from a window on the opposite +side of the street, was believed in some way to be conveyed to the +commanders of German submarines in the North Sea, to whom one had to +suppose news from Bayswater was of paramount importance. Sometimes +the watcher--generally a lady--would call in a friend, a noted Morse +expert, who in one case made out the letters ‘P. K.’ among a number +of others that he could not distinguish. This phase of the malady was +the most obstinate of all. It was useless to point out that a more +sure and private method of conveying information across a street would +be to go personally or send a note. It was not safe to ignore any of +these complaints, and all were investigated. In a few cases there were +certainly intermittent flashes, but they proved to be caused by the +flapping of a blind, the waving of branches across a window, persons +passing across a room, and, in two instances, the quick movements of +a girl’s hair-brush in front of the light. The beacons were passage +lights left unshrouded. The Lighting Order did much to allay this phase +of the disease. Out of many thousand denunciations I have been unable +to hear of a single case in which signals to the enemy were made by +lights during the War. + +The self-appointed watcher was very apt to develop the delusion of +persecution. She would notice a man in the opposite house whose habits +seemed to be secretive, and decide in her own mind that he was an enemy +spy. A few days later he would chance to leave his house immediately +after she had left hers. Looking round, she would recognise him and +jump to the conclusion that he was following her. Then she would come +down to New Scotland Yard, generally with some officer friend who +would assure me that she was a most unemotional person. One had to +listen quite patiently to all she said, and she could only be cured by +a promise that the police would follow her themselves and detain any +other follower if they encountered one. + +Even serving officers were not immune. Near Woolwich a large house +belonging to a naturalised foreigner attracted the attention of a +non-commissioned officer, who began to fill the ears of his superiors +with wonderful stories of lights, of signalling apparatus discovered +in the grounds, and of chasing spies along railway tracks in the best +American film manner, until even his General believed in him. Acting +on my advice the owner wisely offered his house as a hospital, and the +ghost was laid. + +Sometimes the disease would attack public officials, who had to be +handled sympathetically. One very worthy gentleman used to embarrass +his colleagues by bringing in stories almost daily of suspicious +persons who had been seen in every part of the country. All of them +were German spies, and the local authorities would do nothing. In order +to calm him they invented a mythical personage named ‘von Burstorph,’ +and whenever he brought them a fresh case they would say, ‘So von +Burstorph has got to Arran,’ or to Carlisle, or wherever the locality +might be. He was assured that the whole forces of the Realm were on the +heels of ‘von Burstorph,’ and that when he was caught he would suffer +the extreme penalty in the Tower. That sent him away quite happy since +he knew that the authorities were doing something. The incarnation of +‘von Burstorph’ reminded me of a similar incarnation in the Criminal +Investigation Department many years ago. When one of my predecessors +appeared to be blaming his subordinates for a lack of enterprise in the +case of some undiscovered crime they would shake their heads and say, +‘Yes, I recognise the hand. That is some of Bill the Boatman’s work,’ +but ‘Bill the Boatman’ was a most elusive person, and he has not been +arrested to this day. + +On one occasion a very staid couple came down to denounce a waiter in +one of the large hotels, and brought documentary evidence with them. +It was a menu with a rough sketch plan in pencil made upon the back. +They believed it to be a plan of Kensington Gardens with the Palace +buildings roughly delineated by an oblong figure. They had seen the +waiter in the act of drawing the plan at an unoccupied table. I sent +for him and found before me a spruce little Swiss with his hair cut +_en brosse_, and a general air of extreme surprise. He gave me a frank +account of all his movements, and then I produced the plan. He gazed +at it a moment, and then burst out laughing. ‘So that is where my plan +went!’ ‘Yes, monsieur, I made it, and then I lost it. You see, I am +new to the hotel and, in order to satisfy the head waiter, I made for +myself privately a plan of the tables, and marked a cross against those +I had to look after.’ + +The Germans, as we now know, had the spy mania even more acutely. It +became dangerous for Americans in Berlin to speak their own language: +gamekeepers roamed the country armed to deal with spy motor-cars, and +Princess Ratibor and several other innocent persons were shot at and +wounded. Our own anti-German riots in which the shops of bakers with +German names were damaged had their counterpart in the mob attacks upon +the British Embassy in Berlin. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SPECIAL BRANCH + + +Throughout the War the Special Branch was combined with the Criminal +Investigation Department. There is a dividing line between ordinary +and political crime. In normal times the function of the Criminal +Investigation Department is to unravel crimes that have been committed, +and of the Special Branch to foresee and to prevent political agitators +from committing crime in order to terrorise the community into granting +them what they want. At that time there were about seven hundred +Criminal Investigation officers, of whom rather over a hundred belonged +to the Special Branch. + +The Special Branch was instituted in the early ’eighties to cope with +the Irish dynamite outrages in London and elsewhere. Scarcely had +these been put down when foreign anarchists began to follow the Irish +example. The lives of Ministers were threatened, public buildings +were attacked, and legislation in the shape of the Explosives Act was +passed through both Houses at panic speed. The arrest and sentence of +the Italian anarchists, Farnara and Polti, both caught red-handed with +bombs in their possession, the fate of the anarchist who blew himself +to pieces when attacking Greenwich Observatory, and, even more, the +hostility of the crowd when the anarchists under the protection of a +strong escort of police attempted to give the man a public funeral, +were so depressing to criminal aliens that this form of outrage ceased. +Shortly afterwards one of the popular weekly newspapers offered a +reward to the man who would suggest the most effective form of +advertisement, and some bright spirit conceived the plan of sending the +Home Secretary a bomb containing a copy of the newspaper in question. +From the point of view of advertisement it achieved more than he had +counted upon. The parcel containing the bomb was opened by the Private +Secretary, who immediately summoned the Inspector of Explosives. When +he entered the room he found the bomb lying on the hearth-rug before a +bright fire with an office chair standing over it, and a group of Home +Office officials in a respectful semicircle round it. He asked what the +chair was for. They explained that if the bomb went off they thought +it would be some protection. It reminded the Inspector of an episode +at Shoeburyness, when a live shell fell in the mud in the middle of a +class of young gunners. ‘Lie down, gentlemen,’ shouted the instructor, +and no one moved. When the shell had been rendered harmless he asked +why they had not obeyed orders: they might all have been blown to +pieces. One of them faltered, ‘Well, sir, it was so muddy.’ + +To return to the advertisement competition. When the bomb was opened +and the newspaper was disclosed it was found that it was not an offence +to scare the wits out of a Cabinet Minister. But the young gentleman +had neglected one precaution: he had not removed from the bomb a +percussion cap, and this was his undoing, for under the Postal Act it +was unlawful to send explosives by post. When he appeared at the Police +Court upon this heinous charge he had all the advertisement that he +wanted. + +If there was any disposition to reduce or disband the Special Branch at +that time, the criminal activities of Indian students, which culminated +later in the assassination of Sir Curzon Wyllie, showed that the +Branch could not be dispensed with, and while the Indian students +were still active the suffragettes took to crime. I am not sure that +these ladies were not a more troublesome problem than all the rest put +together. They steered clear of assassination, but they burned down +churches, blew up the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey, damaged +priceless pictures, set valuable property on fire, smashed half the +plate-glass windows in Regent Street, and attempted to throw the King’s +horse at the Derby. Most of them had quite forgotten the vote and +were intent only upon the excitement. Many of them lived in studios +where they could plot and contrive street pageants uninterrupted by +their elders to their hearts’ content. When they were caught they used +to scream down the witnesses or the magistrate, and when they were +committed to prison they went on hunger-strike. The so-called ‘Cat +and Mouse’ Act was devised to meet this contingency, but many of them +eluded re-arrest by a large expenditure of money on motor-cars, and +by an ingenuity that might have been employed upon a better cause. In +official circles I was stigmatised as an incurable optimist when I said +that the violent tactics of the suffragettes would end as suddenly +as they had begun, and perhaps they were right, because neither I +nor any one else had foreseen the War. On 5th August 1914 there were +actually three women in custody for an assault upon Downing Street. On +that morning a deputation of suffragettes called at the Home Office +to demand their release. It was felt that these women quite probably +would throw all their misdirected energies into the national cause. +The three culprits were released, and from that moment the Militants +undertook war work, and in not a few cases gave conspicuous service to +the country. Sometimes their enthusiasm was embarrassing, as when they +began to denounce the wrong people as being traitors to their country, +but on the whole they did more good than harm. + +With the outbreak of the War the work of the Special Branch became +more exacting than that of the Criminal Investigation Department. +It was maid-of-all-work to every public office, for, being the only +department with a trained outdoor staff, it was called upon for every +kind of duty, from the regulation of carrier pigeons to investigating +the strange behaviour of a Swiss waiter. Ordinary crime decreased +progressively with every month of the War. The very qualities of +enterprise and adventure that swept so many youngsters into crime +during peace time took the same men to the recruiting office, and when +conscription came in our prisons were more than half empty. + +Looking back over the eight years in which the Branch was responsible +under my control for the safety of Ministers and distinguished foreign +visitors, it is natural to take satisfaction in the fact that there has +never been a mishap. Apart from the obvious danger run by the Viceroy +and the Chief Secretary of Ireland, there have been anxious moments, +especially during the Prime Minister’s travels abroad; and if it had +not been for the network of information of the plans of international +assassins, against which precautions could be taken beforehand, there +might have been incidents that would have left their mark upon history. + +In 1915 eleven hundred habitual criminals were known to be fighting; +more than seventy had been killed. One of these had stood his trial for +murder, and had been condemned to death, but his sentence was commuted +to penal servitude for life, and in due course he had been set at +liberty on licence. He was one of the first to answer the call. In +one case an ex-warder serving as a private recognised in his sergeant +a former prisoner who had been in his ward, but, like a wise man, he +held his tongue. One ‘old lag’ did give a comrade away. The colonel of +a certain battalion had chosen as his sergeant-major an old soldier +who had rejoined, who feared nobody and was a strict disciplinarian. +All went well until one day a corporal asked for a private interview +with the colonel, and imparted to him the news that the sergeant-major +was an ex-convict. It turned out that he had attempted to trade upon +this knowledge with the sergeant-major himself but had failed, and now +he was having his revenge. Having made his revelation the corporal +deserted, knowing that his sergeant-major was no less redoubtable with +his fists than he was with his tongue. + +The police who had the duty of supervision over ex-convicts drew the +line only at the Royal Army Medical Corps. It was their duty to prevent +crime wherever possible, and it was not considered fair to men of these +antecedents to place them in the way of temptation in the shape of the +kit and valuables of the dead and wounded. There were, of course, a few +backsliders. Many of the men gravitated to the lines of communication +rather than to the trenches, and there were cases of the purloining +of stores and rations and comrades’ property. Generally, however, the +punishment awarded by Court-Martial was suspended, and the men were +given another chance in the trenches. + +In one case a man who had been convicted for burglary won the Victoria +Cross. He volunteered on a night of heavy rain to crawl to the enemy’s +trenches alone and silence a machine-gun post. He told the officer +before he left that if he did not return in half an hour the company +was free to open fire, ‘and never mind me.’ Just before the interval +expired he dropped back into his own trench, plastered with mud from +head to foot. Returning again to the Front after the award of the V.C., +he was killed in action. I knew the man--a rough, silent, Lancashire +lad, who had come to grief, I believe, through a love of adventure, and +who was as free from egotism, pose, and self-consciousness as any of +the men I knew. When the Great Book is opened his crimes, such as they +were, will, I think, be found erased on the debit side of his account, +and the Recording Angel will have set down virtues which had but a +tardy recognition while he walked this earth. + +The Criminal Investigation Department was called upon to provide +trained men for the personnel of the Intelligence Corps in France. +They were the nucleus of what afterwards became an important body--the +Intelligence Police, who took control of the passenger traffic at the +ports and of _contre espionage_ on the lines of communication. Several +of them who obtained commissions reverted quite cheerfully to the rank +of sergeant of police after the Armistice. One of them whose work in +London had been the detection of White Slave traffickers was detailed +to protect the Commander-in-Chief, Lord French. In the street of G.H.Q. +he recognised a man whose deportation from England had been due to +his investigations. He followed the man, who went straight to Lord +French’s quarters. He stopped him on the doorstep and taxed him with +his identity. There, at least, one would have said that the capture +was important, but no! It turned out that the man had been engaged by +some one who knew nothing of his unsavoury character, to assist in the +kitchen. + +It may be imagined that the enormous rush of correspondence in those +first days of the War dislocated the smooth-running machinery of the +Special Branch. There was likely to be a shortage of trained police +officers, and we took on a number of pensioners to cope with the +correspondence. I remember the hopeless expression on their faces when +I visited them about a week after they had started. Piles of unopened +letters lay on the floor, great stacks of docketed letters stood on +every table. They were working I do not know how many hours overtime, +and still the flood of correspondence was threatening to submerge them. +In those first few months I do not think that any of us left the office +before midnight. If all the angry people who poured in their complaints +had realised that every one had to suffer some inconvenience in the War +we might have done better work. + +I really think that at this time the American tourist was the most +difficult. Not content with besieging his own Embassy, he would +sometimes come to demand satisfaction from me for the outrage of having +had questions put to him at the port of arrival. These ladies and +gentlemen had never seen a war before, and they could not understand +why it should be allowed to interfere with the elementary comfort of a +neutral who was ready to pay liberally for everything. Sometimes I am +afraid that my subordinates paltered with the sacred truth, for they +had discovered that the quickest way to smooth the ruffled feelings of +these tourists was to say, ‘Do you know that you are the first American +who has ever complained of such inconveniences? We have always found +Americans so quick to realise our difficulties and to make allowances +for them.’ That never seems to have failed to put the angriest of +them on their good behaviour. It made them, in a sense, custodians +of their country’s reputation. But when the first tourist rush had +been seen safely off to the other side of the Atlantic I began to +find the Americans, both official and unofficial, a very great help, +and I made many permanent friends among them. The temptation to win +affection in this country by displaying unneutral feelings must in +some cases have been very great, and yet, though I knew many official +Americans intimately, I never heard one of them go outside the reserve +which every official neutral was expected to entail. The announcement +that America had entered the War must have been to some of them like +removing the top from a boiling saucepan. + +I knew that not a few Englishmen thought that when America began to +send over staff officers to Europe they would not want to learn from +our experience but would be more inclined to put us under instruction. +They were quite wrong. The whole attitude of the American officer +was exactly what good sense would prescribe. We had been buying our +experience at great cost for nearly four years, and we were prepared to +give it all freely to our new allies. They, on their part, came over to +learn, and when they had learned all that we were able to teach them +they began to make discoveries for themselves. Never during the whole +course of the War or afterwards was there any difference between my +American friends and myself. We worked as one organisation, and when +they had had time to extend theirs until it reached all over Europe +I thought sometimes that it was the better of the two. Nor must I +forget the American journalist. It had been a tradition in some British +official circles to be afraid of the journalist, probably lest his +trained persuasiveness might have induced them to open their mouths +when they meant to keep them shut. I have always found it best to be +perfectly open with them; to tell them as much as they ought to know +for the proper understanding of the question, and then to settle with +them what they shall publish. I have never known an American journalist +exceed the limits within which he has promised to keep. Sometimes when +it was essential that a matter should be made public they have gone out +of their way to publish it. No doubt the European representatives of +the great American newspapers are very carefully chosen: I have been +surprised at their wide knowledge of international affairs and the +excellent forecasts they have made. + +In those early days weird people would swim into my horizon. One +morning information came to me that a gigantic American had arrived +at the Carlton Hotel and had declared his intention of buying a yacht +in order to pay a visit to the Kaiser. He thought that a few minutes’ +straight talk between them would finish the War. I invited him to call, +and there walked into my room a very menacing figure. He was well over +six feet, and must have weighed quite eighteen stone. He stood there +glaring at me with his hat on, chewing the stump of a cigar. + +‘Won’t you take off your hat and sit down?’ I began. + +‘I’d rather stand.’ + +‘We don’t usually smoke in this office.’ + +‘I am not smoking.’ (The cigar was unlighted.) + +‘I hear that you are going to buy a yacht.’ + +‘That’s my business.’ + +At this, my assistant, who was almost equally powerful, rose to his +full height. I think he expected that my visitor intended mischief. +After this unpromising beginning it was useless to question him +further, and we parted. Throughout the interview he had not relaxed his +scowl. Later in the afternoon the American Embassy received a cable to +the effect that a gentleman of large means, who was mentally unstable +and was being looked after by his friends privately, had eluded them +and embarked for Liverpool. The name corresponded with that of my +friend of the hat and the cigar. I was asked whether I saw any way of +restoring the gentleman to his relations. They were ready to wait on +the other side with their arms open to receive him if only he could be +persuaded to go. It was a desperate venture, but I tried it. I sent a +courtly Inspector to the hotel with instructions to be mysterious but +urgent in an invitation to come down at once to another interview. He +came, and this time I did not trouble him with preliminaries. I looked +round to see that all the doors were closed, and then addressed him. ‘I +want to give you a word of advice,’ I said. ‘Ask me no questions, but +if you are wise you will do exactly as I say. There is a boat leaving +for New York to-morrow morning. Don’t stop to think; just go by it. If +the matter had not been so urgent in your own interests I would not +have sent for you. Now waste no time.’ He looked at me blankly for a +moment and left the room without a word. Two hours later inquiries +were made at the hotel. He had looked in for a moment to pay his bill, +and had left without his luggage. A telegram to Liverpool produced the +reply that he had gone on board the steamer, booked his passage, and +had locked himself in his cabin. We heard later that he was met by his +friends, and that the luggage had been sent on after him. + +On one other occasion my companion felt called upon to intervene. +A middle-aged man had been asked to call on some quite unimportant +matter. He was of fierce and truculent mien. When I asked him a +question he glared at me and was silent. I put the question again, +whereupon he clapped his hand to some mysterious pocket about his +person, and began to draw out what my companion thought must be a +revolver. He was about to fall upon the visitor when the object was +disclosed. He was pulling out a curious little telephonic apparatus +which he planted on my table in front of me and connected with his ear. +The man was stone deaf. The faintest ghost of a smile flickered across +his rugged countenance when he realised our mistake. + +Very soon after the declaration of war every public man whose speech +was reported in the newspapers received a letter in a foreign +handwriting, filled with abuse of the English and extravagant praise of +the Germans, who, according to the writer, were chosen by God to sweep +us into the sea. The brutality and vainglory of these compositions were +tempered with scholarship: the man was an omnivorous reader, and had +a quotation in support of every boast. The letters were posted from +every district in London, and bore an address in Loughton which did +not exist. Apart from the work entailed in the laboriously ornamental +handwriting, the man must have expended time and money in travelling +from one part of London to another. Abusive letters injure nobody, but +that a truculent Hun should be at large in London in war-time, in the +opinion of those who received his letters, reflected little credit +on the efficiency of the police. In order to cut this troublesome +inquiry short I induced the _Globe_ to publish a facsimile of one of +the letters, and immediately several people wrote to say that they +identified the handwriting as that of their former German tutor living +in Dalston. I was curious to see this fire-eating Hun: I pictured him +as a heavy, florid, square-headed Prussian. Square-headed he was, but +he proved to be a rather diminutive abject person with the wide-staring +eyes of a wild animal brought to bay. He was mentally deranged, but in +the choice of his pseudonym, in the precautions he had taken in posting +his letters, he had shown the cunning of a monomaniac. He had a son +serving in the British Army, and a very loyal wife who undertook to +keep him out of mischief for the future. + +As the German tide poured over Belgium we received our daily flood of +refugees. The arrangements improvised by the Belgian Relief Committee +were a high tribute to the power of organisation which is latent in +our people. Naturally there was a little confusion at first because +the rush of refugees far exceeded the room for accommodation during +the first few days. Considering that the refugees included all +the unemployable and most of the disreputable part of the Belgian +population, as well as the industrious and the intellectual, it is +remarkable, on the whole, how well they behaved. There were one or two +amusing incidents. I remember hearing that at one of the Receiving +Stations in London a couple who spoke Flemish but no other language +were received late in the evening. The woman was shown into her room, +and shortly afterwards the supposed husband was conducted to the same +apartment. Immediately a fearful uproar arose, and the interpreter had +to be telephoned for. It then appeared that neither of the couple had +ever seen the other before. + +Antwerp was being threatened, the Naval Division was pouring in for its +defence, and I was asked to send a police officer to the city because +my officer at Ostend could not possibly leave his post. No officer was +available at the time except a middle-aged man with a large family who +had done excellent service in advising upon doubtful literature. In +fact, he was the greatest living authority upon the kind of literature +on which a successful prosecution could be founded. At the call of duty +he said ‘Good-bye’ to his family and departed. A few days later, when +the German siege guns were in position, there came a telegram from +him, suggesting that he should be recalled. Events were moving fast, +and before I could reply to the telegram his arrival at Scotland Yard +was announced. I sent for him and said gravely, ‘I had your telegram, +Inspector, but you left your post without waiting for a reply.’ He +bowed in his usual courtly manner and replied, ‘Yes, sir, but a +fifteen-inch shell took the corner off my bedroom, sir, and I don’t +know how it is, but I think I am getting too old for sieges.’ ‘Too old +for sieges’ became a byword in my office throughout the War when any +one was asked to undertake a job that he did not relish. + +There were two sides to the question of interning enemy aliens who +were kept in the country. When war broke out there were no internment +camps, but there were many Germans who were known to be dangerous. Some +place of internment had to be improvised forthwith, and for London the +obvious place was Olympia. Bedding and blankets were hastily gathered +in, and a guard was provided from Wellington Barracks. I used to go +there daily for a time because some useful information might be gleaned +from the civilian prisoners. They were a most unprepossessing lot. +During the first fortnight two Austrian ships put into the Thames +before they knew that war had been declared. The crews were all marched +to Olympia and interned with the Germans. When I arrived the next +morning the Austrians had been relegated to the annexe, and were roped +off from the others. It appeared that they had not been more than +an hour with the Germans before a violent quarrel broke out and the +Austrian officers formed a deputation to the commandant to request that +they might be separated from ‘those German riff-raff.’ Among them were +four young Austrian students who had apparently taken a voyage for +the enlargement of their minds. These young men had very definite and +uncomplimentary views regarding their brothers-in-arms, the Prussians. +On the whole, the prisoners in Olympia gave very little trouble. On one +occasion a German waiter became insolent to a guardsman, but the Irish +corporal, who had a sense of humour, approached the two while they were +in mid-dispute and said to the private in pretended seriousness, ‘Why +stop to argue with him? Shoot him,’ whereupon the German waiter dived +under a table and was quite polite for the remainder of his stay. + +The cry, ‘Intern them all,’ which was taken up by certain newspapers, +was very embarrassing. Though, no doubt, it did interpret the public +feeling and allayed public alarm, it was the cause of thousands of +complaints and investigations. My own view at the time was that we had +so full a knowledge of the dangerous Germans that we should confine +internment to that class and leave the innocent ones at liberty. Many +of them were doing good work for us in munitions and manufactures, +some were definitely ranged in their sympathies with the Allies, such +as the Poles and Czechs. To ‘intern them all’ would be to invite the +enemy countries to intern all our nationals, which, of course, they +did, but the real argument against indiscriminate internment was that +we had no place ready to receive such vast numbers. This meant that +until camps were ready it would be impossible to give the prisoners +the accommodation prescribed by the Hague Convention. Complaints +would reach the enemy, who would then feel themselves justified in +maltreating our prisoners. Nevertheless, it had to be done, and every +day one might see furniture vans packed with Germans proceeding through +the streets to Olympia before being drafted off to such camps as could +be improvised. + +Some of the Germans brought this fate upon themselves. There was a +well-known café in Oxford Street in which the staff--even the manager +and the book-keeper--were all registered enemy aliens. On the afternoon +when the news of de Wet’s rebellion in South Africa reached London the +waiters and some of the guests began to cheer. I had news of this by +telephone, and in half an hour the entire staff was rounded up, put +into a furniture van, and driven off to Olympia. There was an indignant +protest from the British directors of the company that evening, but my +case was quite unanswerable. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +WAR CRIMES + + +During the early months of 1915 the war spirit seized upon all classes. +New Scotland Yard was often mistaken for the recruiting office in +Scotland Yard, and the policeman at the door was kept busy directing +callers to their proper destination. All day long the flower of the +nation might be seen marching down Whitehall in mufti on their way +to the station. The saddest part of the business was that in those +early days we were sacrificing in the trenches what would have been +magnificent material for officers of the conscripted army later on, but +the sacrifice was not in vain if example counts for anything. + +My old friend, Sir Schomberg M’Donnell, was working at this time as +Intelligence Officer to the Home Forces. He was past fifty. I found +out quite by chance that he was spending his spare time at Wellington +Barracks learning his drill, and one morning he came to say ‘Good-bye.’ +He had taken a commission and was going to the Front. Not many weeks +afterwards came the news that he had been killed in action. + +They tell a story of a certain artistic dilettante well known in +London who, when he was offered a commission, said, ‘Look at me. +Could I lead men? I have never done anything yet but sit and sew.’ +(He excelled at embroidery.) He insisted upon going out as a private, +and when the commissariat broke down in bad weather and the nerves of +his comrades were all on edge, he kept them cheerful and contented +by a never-failing flow of good spirits. He said he had enlisted +because, being ‘the greatest rotter in London,’ he thought that if he +went others less rotten would have to go too. They relate that when an +ill-conditioned N.C.O., addressing him with ill-disguised contempt, +said, ‘And what was your line?’ he replied, ‘Well, they say that I was +best at embroidery.’ He returned badly wounded in the hand, and when a +sympathetic old lady saw him at his own door fumbling with his latchkey +and fluttered up to help, saying, ‘Oh, you are wounded!’ he replied, +‘Oh no, madam, I fell off a ’bus when I was drunk.’ + +It is strange now to think that in March 1915 Russia was thought in +England to be breathing a new inspiration to the West. It was said +that the Crusader spirit was alive again; that the whole Russian +nation was inspired with a determination to rescue Constantinople for +Christianity, and to win again the Holy Sepulchre; that when she came +into the War Russia was busy with her own evolution, not revolution, +and that vodka was prohibited with the unanimous approval of the +nation, who had tried prohibition for a month, and then approved it as +a permanency; that crime had almost disappeared among the peasants, who +were now investing in the savings bank the money which they used to +spend upon liquor. If they were successful in the War they were told +that there would come a struggle between their religious idealism and +their high ethical instincts and the monster of Western materialism +from which, so far, they had kept themselves clean. All this was +honestly believed by persons who thought they knew Russia: now, after a +short six years, their voices are heard no more. + +In the early days of May 1915 the Germans torpedoed an American +oil-tanker called the _Gulflight_ and killed the captain. The body +was landed in the Scilly Islands. It occurred to a person gifted with +imagination that if the body were embalmed and sent over to the United +States for burial the effect might be far-reaching, because as long as +the submarine attacks upon harmless merchant vessels resulted in the +death of Englishmen the real horrors of submarine warfare would never +come home to the great mass of Americans. I was asked to find out a +man who would consent to go down to the Scilly Islands to embalm the +body, but on the very day when the arrangements were completed--7th +May 1915--at about 3 o’clock I received a telephone message announcing +that the _Lusitania_ had been sunk. After that, of course, the sinking +of the _Gulflight_ became insignificant. Of all the many mistakes made +by the Germans, the sinking of the _Lusitania_ was the greatest. It +split the German-American sympathies from top to bottom, and ranged +the native American very strongly upon the side of the Allies. I could +scarcely believe that the Germans had struck a medal in commemoration +of this outrage until I received an actual specimen of it. From that +moment every person in England with a German name who entertained his +friends was accused of drinking to the sinking of the _Lusitania_. I +can never ascertain that any such accusation was well founded; on the +contrary, I believe that many persons of German origin definitely cast +off all sympathy with their country from that date. After that they +were ready to believe any infamy of which the Germans were accused. + +[Illustration: HAMBONE WITH PARACHUTE DROPPED FROM AIRCRAFT IN WROTHAM +PARK, BARNET, 8TH SEPTEMBER, 1915.] + +I remember very well the Zeppelin raid on London on 31st May 1915. +I was dining with a certain Cabinet Minister to meet the new Home +Secretary and the new Lord Chancellor, together with Sir Edward Henry, +the Commissioner of Police, and several Heads of Departments. + +I was discussing with Sir John Simon a question that was exercising us +very much at the time, namely, the denaturalisation of former aliens +who were believed to be hostile to this country, but against whom there +was no definite evidence of acts of espionage. + +Our conversation was interrupted dramatically. Our host came in from +the telephone room, crying, ‘Zeppelins!’ He had been rung up from +the Admiralty and told that Zeppelins were coming up the Thames. Our +hostess’s first thought was for her small children. Were they to be +taken to the cellar? The whole party trooped into the telephone room +and grouped itself round the instrument in a wide circle. As one of the +guests remarked, it was exactly like the second act of a melodrama. +A secretary sat impassive at the instrument and, having got through +to Scotland Yard, handed the receiver to Sir Edward Henry, who said +very quietly, ‘Dropped bombs at Whitechapel, four or five killed, many +injured; then turned north, now dropping bombs on Stoke Newington. +Any fires? Oh, a good many fires. Thank you,’ and he rang off. We +stood no longer on ceremony. Our hostess and one of the guests ran +upstairs to bring the children down, and the rest of us trooped off +to Scotland Yard, where the telephone room would give us information +at first hand. I walked home across the Park. It was a lovely, clear +night, but there was not a sign or sound of Zeppelins, and the police +in Kensington had not even heard of the raid at 11.30. So huge a city +is London! I learned afterwards that no one in London saw the airships. +Altogether, ninety-two bombs were found, of which thirty were high +explosive, generally of small size, with a little propeller attached +which turned during the descent and unscrewed the fuse. Attached to +each of these was a piece of stuff like a stocking-leg. A good many +had failed to explode, but two of them had killed children. Three very +large high-explosive bombs had been dropped. One had made a huge crater +in Kingsland Road, one was found in a garden unexploded at a depth of +8 feet, and another had gone through the roof and floor of a stable, +and was found embedded at a depth of 7 feet. This one weighed 150 +pounds, it was 36 inches in circumference, and would have done great +damage had it exploded. It appeared that the Zeppelin had followed the +Great Eastern line as far as Bishopsgate Station, where it dropped a +bomb, and had then followed the branch line towards Waltham Abbey. From +Waltham Abbey it turned east towards the coast, and was not heard of +again, until we learned long afterwards that she was the LZ 38, and +that a few days after her return to her hangar near Brussels she was +destroyed in her shed by an English airman. She could climb 10,000 feet +with a cargo of one and a half tons of bombs. + +The business of the police was now to organise bomb shelters, a very +difficult business in a city such as London. It was unfortunate that +the East End, where the houses are small and unprovided with cellars, +should always be the first to suffer from Zeppelin attacks, and the +danger of improvising shelters was that unless the roof was absolutely +proof against penetration the shelter might well become a death-trap. +This actually happened in Dunkirk, where a house was demolished by a +high-explosive shell fired from a distance of twenty-five miles, when +the cellar was packed with people. The cellars in Dunkirk were covered +with a skin-thick brick arch, which would scarcely resist the impact +even of a small bomb. Though people worked heroically far into the +night to dig out those entombed in the cellar, when they reached them, +all, to the number of more than forty, were found dead of suffocation. + +The object of the Germans in making Zeppelin raids on London was to +produce panic and a cry for peace. It did neither. Even in the East +End, though there was great alarm, there was no panic. A few months +ago, when discussing the War with a highly-placed German, he said, ‘No +one but a person who knew nothing about national psychology would have +thought that one could terrorise a Northern nation like the British by +Zeppelin raids. If you had retaliated by air-raids on Berlin you would +only have succeeded in stiffening our war spirit. It may be different +with the Latin races. There we might have produced panic, but with a +Northern race the idea was so futile that no one but a Prussian General +would have conceived it.’ + +But while there was no panic there were great hardships, as a visit +to any of the Tube stations in the East of London on the night of an +air-raid would have shown--the stairs crowded with half-awakened and +hungry children, the platforms so packed with humanity that there was +not a vacant square foot. I used to wonder how many of these children +would feel the permanent effects. On the whole, however, young children +between five and thirteen really seemed to enjoy air-raid nights. They +were full of excitement, and you would take them out of bed wrapped +in blankets and give them unexpected meals. It was a little grim when +one knew the reality to hear from infant lips, ‘Oh, Daddy, I do hope +there’ll be an air-raid to-night.’ + +One incident in connection with the Zeppelin that was brought down +at Cuffley was never quite cleared up. As the airship approached the +ground the crew began to tear up their papers and throw them out of +the car, and two fields were so littered with the fragments that they +looked as if there had been a local snow-storm. As soon as the news +spread spectators in every kind of vehicle overran the place, and +among the fragments of paper collected by the Air Service with a view +to piecing them together was found the name of a Belgian woman with +an address in London. The woman was sent for, and it was found that +she had moved to that address only ten days before. It transpired, +however, that she was in the habit of giving her name and address to +strangers in the street. On the face of it, an address obtained during +the last ten days and found among the papers of a German Zeppelin was +disturbing, for it implied that a German officer had been in London a +few days before the attack. I think the explanation was that one of the +spectators had brought the address with him and had dropped it in the +field with the other fragments. + +It was a humorist who commanded the aircraft that came over on 8th +September 1915. When over Wrotham Park, Barnet, he dropped a hambone +attached to a small parachute inscribed with a fancy portrait of Sir +Edward Grey, on whose devoted head a bomb is in the act of falling. It +was inscribed in German, ‘Edwert Grey, poor devil, what am I to do?’ +and on the reverse, ‘In remembrance of starved-out Germany.’ + +There were many jokes about the anti-aircraft defences in the early +days. It was alleged, for example, that one of the guns posted near +the Admiralty was in charge of a librarian, and that one of the first +executive orders of the new First Lord had been, ‘Stop the librarian +from firing off that gun.’ + +Early in 1916 there were curious stories about the German foreknowledge +of the weather conditions in this country which they could have +acquired only from spies. It was said that after the raid in October +a conversation was overheard in a café in Rotterdam, in which a full +description of the damage done by bombs in London the night before +was given, and that of three places named as having been hit by bombs +two were correct. This conversation took place about noon, and the +news could have reached Rotterdam only by cable or wireless. It was +suggested that the wireless operators on some of the neutral boats +began sending messages as soon as they cleared from England, but though +most careful investigations were made we were never able to discover +that there was any leakage of this kind. + +General von Hoeppner has told us the German side of the air-raids. At +first the enemy hoped to cause panic; then to keep our airmen away from +the Western Front, which they think was accomplished. But by the end +of 1916 they recognised that the Zeppelin attacks were a failure. The +Allied airmen were so successful in bombing the hangars in Belgium that +the Zeppelins were withdrawn to the Rhine stations, and the distance +they had to cover was then too great even for the newest airships. They +were then turned over to the navy for scouting purposes. The daylight +air-raid on London on 13th June 1917, under Captain Brandenburg, filled +them with joy because all the machines returned safely owing to our +shells bursting too high and our machines never really having got into +touch. The attacks on favourable nights in the winter of 1917-1918 were +maintained, he says, with the object of keeping our airmen away from +the Western Front. + +In January 1915 the Germans produced a propaganda film for the +edification of neutral countries. An American who was carrying it to +the United States consented to show it to diplomatists and officials +at the Ambassadors’ Theatre. The film displayed the usual German +ignorance of the psychology of other peoples. Part of it was not +‘faked.’ We had the Kaiser standing beside a road with his staff, +while picked troops marched past. His hair was quite grey, and there +was a hollow shadow in his cheek. His movements were nervous and +jerky. At one point he had been told to look at the camera, which he +did stiffly and gravely before getting into a car and driving off. +There were pictures of engineers carrying out sapper operations at +high speed; reviews before the Kings of Saxony and Bavaria; the huge +monument erected to Hindenburg in Berlin; a mass meeting; diplomatic +presentations to the Sultan, with Enver Pasha in the foreground; the +Sultan sitting under an awning receiving Balkan diplomatists; several +spools of the Danish army and navy manœuvres intended to give the +impression that Denmark was on the German side and was mobilising. +Then came the ‘fake’ spools. You saw German soldiers feeding hordes of +Belgian and French children under the title, ‘Barbarians feeding the +Hungry,’ and there were rows of colossal grinning German soldiers, with +the title, ‘Sehen Barbaren _so_ aus?’ (Do Barbarians look like this?), +which provoked the comment that no barbarian had ever looked quite +so unattractive. Then there were English prisoners grinning all over +with delight while they worked for the Germans under the stern eye of +Prussian soldiers. It was propaganda laid on with a trowel. + +One of the great dangers at the beginning of the War was the form of +the first Treasury Notes. It was recognised that if these were forged +in any quantities public confidence in the currency would be shaken, +and people might refuse to accept our paper money as legal tender. In +1915 the expected forgeries began to appear. It was reported that a +considerable quantity of the ‘G’ series of £1 and 10s. Treasury Notes +was being circulated in London. The method was that a man would go down +a street calling at small shops, buying some inexpensive trifle, and +tendering a note, for which he took the change in silver. Specimens +of the notes showed the forgery to be remarkably good. No one but an +expert could have detected the imposition, especially at dusk, which +was the time of day usually chosen for passing the notes. We felt that +we were on our mettle. After a week or two information reached us, no +matter how, that an ex-convict E---- was the distributor, though not +the printer, of the notes, for which his price was half the face value. +At this price he was prepared to sell any number to persons whom he +could trust. It was his practice to make the sales on Saturdays, for on +Fridays he disappeared to some mysterious rendezvous whence he obtained +the notes. Now E---- could have been arrested at any moment, but it was +no good arresting him while the printer remained undiscovered, for a +man who could reproduce a watermark that would almost pass muster by +daylight would most certainly not discontinue his operations because +a minor confederate had been arrested. All our efforts, therefore, +were turned towards the discovery of the printer. One of our own +men bought some of the counterfeits and, in order to convince the +forgers of his good faith, it was necessary that he should pass them. +It was impossible, of course, that he should pass counterfeits, and +therefore the counterfeits had to be exchanged for genuine notes, +a very expensive proceeding when it extended over several weeks. +But the matter was growing serious. It was computed that at least +£60,000 worth of false treasury notes had been put into circulation, +and it was necessary to spend a considerable sum in unearthing the +conspiracy. A free hand was given to me, and then events began to go +a little quicker. It was found that E---- used to meet a few other +choice spirits for card-playing at a little office in Jermyn Street. +He had been traced one Friday to a paper merchant, where he bought +the very best kind of typewriting paper, and the samples we obtained +showed that such paper had been used in the forgeries after the false +watermark had been impressed upon it. We knew also when he had left his +flat in a taxi with the paper, but further inquiries showed that this +taxi did not carry him to any particular destination: it was stopped +in mid-street and paid off, and from that moment all trace of E---- +was lost. But that evening there he was at the card-party, and there, +too, was our man. As the evening wore on, a few friends dropped in, and +among them a young man who lost his stakes and always paid in little +sums that suggested change for a 10s. note; it was also noticed when he +was staking his money that his fingers were stained with printer’s ink. +When he had left the place in disgust our man drew a bow at a venture. +‘I used to know that young fellow,’ he said; ‘he used to be a clerk +in your old registry office in Leicester Square.’ ‘No, he was not,’ +replied E---- shortly, ‘you are mistaken.’ But our man persisted. ‘I +remember him quite well now; his name was Brown.’ ‘You are mistaken. He +was never a clerk. He is a printer, and his name is W----.’ + +With this slender clue the police proceeded to scour London for a +printer named W----, and at last, on a wooden gate in an unpretentious +street in North London, they discovered the almost obliterated +inscription, ‘W----, Printer.’ The gateway led into a yard, and from +it ran a little carriage road through a tunnel under the house to a +stable and coach-house in the rear. But this gate seemed permanently +to be locked. The police now rented a window on the other side of the +street and sat down to wait. Three days passed; Friday approached, +and as the dusk fell the watchers saw E---- come down the street and +kick on the door. A few seconds later it was opened from inside and +he disappeared. Then Chief Inspector Fowler, who was in charge of the +case, marshalled his men about the door and waited until it should open +again. The delay seemed interminable, but at last, long after dark, the +door did open and E---- was in their midst. + +[Illustration: ANOTHER MACHINE.] + +Never in its history had that quiet street been startled by such an +uproar. E---- was wheeling round, spouting streams of £1 notes from +his pockets like some sort of centrifugal machine, and emitting wild +beast howls, which were intended to alarm his partner in the stable. +The whole neighbourhood was raised. The street was carpeted with +notes like autumn leaves, and E----’s resistance had resulted only in +a modification of his features that would have puzzled his nearest +friends. The police, too, had not gone unscathed. When E---- had been +secured they vaulted the gate, went through the tunnel, and knocked on +the stable door. It was opened by a young man in his shirt-sleeves who, +on seeing the police, fell flat on the floor in a faint. The place was +crammed with machinery; notes still damp were lying on the press, and +it was observed that the forger had gone one better than the legitimate +printer by introducing into his die a numbering device. You had only to +turn the handle of the press to forge £1 notes until your arms tired. +There was, besides, a very ingenious device for watermarking which must +not be divulged. Nor was this all. When this forger’s den came to be +searched there were found the lithographic stones on which had been +printed certain forged postage stamps that had formed the subject of +a criminal action some years before. In fact, this expert printer had +been making a fine art of forgery for some years. The next morning I +visited the place with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Sir John +Bradbury, whose signature was on every treasury note, and then and +there, while Sir John fed in the paper, the Chancellor of the Exchequer +turned the handle. It was the first instance in history in which the +Chancellor has been guilty of forging the currency. The notes were +so good that when they took specimens from the press they thought it +well to write ‘Forged’ in large letters across each note for fear they +should get mixed up with genuine notes. Steps were at once taken to +issue a new note which would be proof against fabrication. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE GERMANS AND THE IRISH + + +As soon as war broke out, the veteran John Devoy, together with Judge +Cohalan and other sympathisers, put themselves into communication with +Bernstorff, the German Ambassador, von Papen, the Military Attaché, +and Boy-ed, the naval attaché in Washington. The war with Germany was +to be made the supreme opportunity for establishing a Republic in +Ireland. Naturally, the Germans were ready to make use of any means +that might embarrass their enemy, and they were as ready to help the +Irish revolutionaries as they were the Indian. Devoy was in no lack +of funds, for besides the money which he could always collect from +Irish-Americans, he could draw upon the German Secret Service funds. +The Germans described him as one of their ‘agents.’ + +During the early months of the War James Larkin, of the Irish Transport +Workers, appeared in America on platforms decorated with the German and +Irish flags intertwined, and no pains were spared to make it clear to +Americans that German and Irish interests were identical. + +During the autumn of 1914 Sir Roger Casement was in New York. At that +time all that was known in England was that he was in clandestine +communication with Bernstorff. It was not until many months afterwards +that his real scheme was disclosed. His proposals to the Germans were +that he should go over to Berlin and form an Irish Brigade out of the +Irish prisoners of war, and that his brigade, with the assistance of a +German military force, should effect a landing in Ireland when the time +was ripe, but that in the meantime the German Government should furnish +the Irish volunteers with great supplies of arms and munitions in order +that, when the time came, they should be able to take the field and +welcome the invaders. A document (Casement called it a ‘Treaty’) was +negotiated and signed between 23rd and 28th December 1914. + +I do not believe that any disloyal thought had entered into Casement’s +head before the War. He had been for many years in the service of +the Foreign Office as a consular officer in West and East Africa and +Brazil; he had published accounts of atrocities by the Belgians on the +Congo and by certain Peruvians in Putumayo; he had been knighted for +his services in 1911. In view of his subsequent conduct, it may be well +to bear in mind that he wrote to the Foreign Secretary on 19th June +1911, in terms somewhat extravagant for the moderate honour of a Knight +Bachelor which had been conferred upon him. This letter was read at his +trial. + +[Illustration: THE STABLE IN WHICH TREASURY NOTES WERE FORGED.] + +Casement sailed for Norway in October with a Norwegian servant who +afterwards gave some information about the voyage. The vessel was +stopped by one of our auxiliary cruisers, but Casement was not +recognised. While he was in Norway he circulated a fabricated story +which, however, he himself may have believed, that the British Minister +was concerned in a plot against his life; but when Bernstorff was urged +to make public capital of this he replied that it would be better to +wait for confirmation. In fact, in adopting this cautious attitude he +was doing no more than Casement’s former official colleagues had always +done. + +Casement arrived in Berlin on 2nd November. Soon after his arrival he +had an interview with Zimmermann, of the Foreign Office. + +He asked Devoy to send over an Irish-speaking priest, and in due course +the Rev. John T. Nicholson was dispatched from America via Italy and +Switzerland to become Roman Catholic chaplain at the internment camp +in which the Irish prisoners were being collected. The expenses of +Casement’s journey are believed to have been furnished by John Devoy. + +Throughout 1915 the real direction of Irish affairs was in the hands of +John Devoy and Bernstorff, who was acting through him. The process of +arming the Irish rebels was not proceeding quite smoothly. Von Papen +had purchased for use in India or in Ireland 11,000 rifles, 4,000,000 +cartridges, and a number of revolvers, but the Germans were quite +firm in their view that these could not safely be landed in Ireland. +Instructions and information were carried to and fro by Devoy’s +messengers who, as American citizens, could travel about Ireland very +much as they liked. But early in February 1916 Devoy began to change +his waiting policy. The Irish volunteers had become increasingly +active. There was the threat of conscription, for though Ireland had +been exempt from compulsory service Devoy expected that the leaders +in Ireland would be arrested and that then, when everything was in +confusion, conscription would be enforced. He decided, therefore, +that there must be a rising on Easter Saturday, 1916, on the occasion +of a review of the Irish Volunteers, and that the Germans must land +munitions in or near Limerick at some time between Good Friday and +Saturday. He was also counting upon German military help as soon as a +rising had begun. + +It may be wondered why the arrest of the leaders, so much dreaded +by Devoy, was not carried out. According to rumour, Mr. Birrell, the +Chief Secretary, was much swayed by the opinions of the Nationalist +leaders, who counselled tolerance under every provocation for fear of +precipitating a disastrous conflict. + +On 4th March the Germans promised to send two or three trawlers +containing 20,000 rifles and 10 machine guns to Tralee Bay between 20th +and 23rd April, and a messenger was dispatched to Ireland from America +with full instructions. The Irish leaders were very anxious that a +submarine should enter the Liffey and go right up to the Pigeon House +at the same time. + +These preparations on the part of the Germans were not a military or +naval enterprise, they were directed by the German Foreign Office. On +26th March Devoy was informed that three trawlers and a cargo steamer +would arrive with 1400 tons of cargo, and that lighters must be ready +to unload them. These instructions were transmitted to Ireland. On the +19th the Germans had agreed to arrange a demonstration by airship and +naval attack to divert attention from the landing of the munitions, and +these took place; but the Germans would not consent to the landing of +troops, which had been urged so strongly by both Casement and Devoy, +nor would they send a submarine up the Liffey, because the naval +authorities foresaw technical difficulties. + +We must now return to Casement in Germany. Evidence was given at his +trial about the manner in which he carried out the first part of his +scheme--the formation of an Irish Brigade. His reception by the Irish +prisoners of war was not all that he had expected. Many of the men +were inclined to give him a hostile reception, but he did succeed in +seducing fifty-six men from their oath of allegiance. How far they +were impressed by his appeal to patriotism for Ireland or how far by +their desire to obtain more liberty and better treatment from the +Germans there are no means of knowing. These men were put under the +command of Monteith, who obtained a commission as lieutenant, and +were removed to a camp at Lossen. Rumour says that their behaviour, +especially when not entirely under the influence of sobriety, was +embarrassing to the Germans, who were compelled to limit their bounds, +and to impose certain other restrictions. They provided them with a +handsome green uniform but not with arms. + +A highly-placed personage in Germany has since told me that towards the +end of 1915 the attitude of the German authorities towards Casement had +cooled; so much so that a very strong hint was conveyed to him to leave +the capital. However this may be, in January 1916 he went to Munich, +and from there to Kuranstalt for a health cure. While he was undergoing +this cure and was still in bed he received on 3rd March a letter from +Monteith, asking him to come to Berlin at once. He replied that he +could not move, and that Monteith should come to him. On 7th March +Monteith arrived and told him that on 1st March Lieutenant Frey, of the +General Staff, Political Section, had sent for him and told him that +they had received a message from Devoy to the effect that something +was about to happen, and asking for the dispatch of munitions, which +the Germans were now ready to supply. Upon this, Casement drew up a +memorandum setting out the best means of landing arms in Ireland, +and Monteith returned with it to Berlin. In the memorandum Casement +suggested that he and two picked men should be conveyed to Ireland in a +submarine to concert measures with the Irish leaders for landing the +arms. On 16th March he went himself to Berlin and had an interview with +Captain Nadolny and two other officers of the Political Section of the +General Staff, who told him that the Admiralty had declined to furnish +a submarine; that Devoy had asked for trained gunners; that instead +of 100,000 rifles only 20,000 could be sent, together with 10 machine +guns and 5,000,000 cartridges. Captain Nadolny asked whether Casement +would be prepared to take over with him the fifty-six members of the +Irish Brigade from Lossen. To this Casement objected that it was highly +improbable that the whole body could equally be trusted. + +This news was most disturbing to Casement, who had never dreamed +of an armed rebellion taking place so soon. All he wanted was that +the Germans should pour arms into Ireland and follow later with a +military expedition. After thinking things over, he called at the +German Admiralty on 17th March to ask why it was impossible to send +a submarine, and on learning that the objections were technical he +suggested sending a messenger over to Ireland to bring back accurate +particulars of the local plans and the scheme for landing the arms. It +happened that in the previous November one John M’Govey had come over +from the United States as a volunteer. The German Admiralty approved +of the suggestion, and on Sunday, 19th March, M’Govey was sent into +Denmark with instructions to reach Dublin without delay. Monteith, +meanwhile, was to obtain from the German military authorities an +experimental gun with which to train the Irish Brigade at Lossen. + +[Illustration: ONE OF THE MACHINES USED IN FORGING TREASURY NOTES.] + +Having made these arrangements Casement returned to Bavaria. As he +said afterwards, he felt himself under no obligation to the German +Government. He thought that the munitions should have been offered +much earlier, ‘since the political services of Irishmen in America to +the German cause far transcended the value of any possible gift of arms +Germany might make to Ireland.’ He had always been opposed to any armed +revolt in Ireland unless it was backed up by strong German military +help. He said that in the ‘Treaty’ of 23rd to 28th December 1914 it +was stipulated that ‘should the Irish Brigade be sent to Ireland, the +German Government would support its dispatch with adequate military +support of men, arms, and supplies.’ On 29th March he returned to +Berlin very much concerned about his responsibility towards the Irish +soldiers whom he had seduced from their loyalty. As he expressed it, +‘They had committed treason under a distinct and formal promise, sealed +and delivered, by the German Imperial Government, that, in the event +of their being dispatched to Ireland, they should be supported by an +ample German force, a part of an Army of Deliverance.’ He had also an +uneasy feeling that if any of them should chance to be captured on the +high seas they might, with perfect justice, turn King’s Evidence and +establish a very damaging case against himself, who would be regarded +as a paid tool of the German Government. + +With his mind filled with these disturbing thoughts, he called again +upon Captain Nadolny, who, to his surprise, addressed him in terms of +great discourtesy and accused him of a breach of faith in having sent +M’Govey to Ireland without consulting him. Probably the traditional +jealousy between the naval and military departments was at the bottom +of this outburst. Nadolny further threatened that unless Casement +submitted to the conditions a telegram would be sent to Devoy that +though Germany was quite ready to send the help she had promised, +the whole plan had been frustrated by Casement himself, and he would +then appear as a traitor to the Irish cause. The next day he was asked +to call again, and on this occasion he was treated with conventional +politeness. Captain Nadolny pointed out that it was the Irish who had +decided upon a revolt; the Germans were in no way responsible: they +were merely fulfilling their promise to furnish arms to the fullest +possible extent at the request of the Irish. He made the aims of the +German Government quite clear: they were not idealistic but severely +practical. They would supply the arms, but they expected them to be +used without delay, and if Casement opposed the plan he would stop the +arms and throw the entire responsibility upon him. + +Casement replied that the German Government was entirely ignoring the +agreement it had made with him in December 1914; that he felt sure +that at the most the Irish would be able to put 12,000 men into the +field, and that the rebellion must fail. He said that a firing-party of +twelve machine gunners ought to be furnished by the Germans to cover +the disembarkation of the arms. In view of all that Captain Nadolny had +said, he thought that the arms must be sent on the date fixed, but he +still pressed for a submarine in which he would go by himself without +the Irish soldiers, and, to impress Nadolny still further, he declared +that he would take poison with him for use if the steamer conveying him +were stopped by a British warship, in order to escape the indignities +reserved for him ‘should I fall into the hands of the Government I have +dared so unwisely to defy.’ + +Casement had written a letter to von Wedell. A man of this name was +captured by a patrol boat off the north of Scotland in 1915. On the +way to the coast the patrol boat struck a mine and foundered, and +von Wedell, with most of the crew, was drowned. A few weeks later the +German Government began to inquire about him through the American +Embassy. Where was he? Was he interned? Did the British Government +know where he was, and was he in a position where he could communicate +with his friends? We could say with perfect truth that the British +Government did know where he was, and believed he could communicate +with his friends. Great importance must have been attached to this +man, for as late as 1917 among the instructions given to a spy was a +direction that he should ascertain the fate of von Wedell. + +On 1st April Casement was ill in bed, and on that date he read in the +_Irish World_ Devoy’s speech at the Irish Convention on 4th and 5th +March. On this he modified his views about the rebellion, and thought +that Devoy’s contention that the British Government was determined +to destroy the Irish Volunteers and arrest the leaders, and that +conscription would be applied to Ireland, altered the whole situation. +A rising did seem to be necessary, and he decided to go. The Germans +met him half-way and furnished the submarine, in which he, Monteith, +and Corporal Bailey arrived in Tralee Bay on Good Friday, 21st April. + +Has there ever been a time in history when Irish rebels appealing for +foreign aid have not wrecked all by their hopeless incapacity for +organisation and administration? For mark what happened. The Germans +were true to their promise. They had loaded a small steamer, the _Aud_, +with 1400 tons of munitions concealed under a deck-load of timber. She +had Norwegian papers, and professed to be bound for the west coast of +Africa, and her naval crew were cleverly disguised in the ordinary kit +of a Norwegian tramp. There was ample time for the rebels to prepare +for unloading the cargo. They had done nothing. The ship proceeded +round the north of Scotland unobserved, and anchored in Tralee Bay +on Good Friday. Almost immediately a small patrol boat ranged up +alongside, went through her papers, and made a cursory inspection +of the deck, though the Germans alleged that one of the hatches was +actually open at the time of the visit and the arms were thus exposed +to view. The Germans thought that their presence in Tralee Bay had +excited no suspicion, but the captain thought it prudent, as there was +no sign from the shore, to put to sea and come in again with his cargo +when the coast was clear. But fortune was against him. His ship was +sighted by the _Blue Bell_, who signalled her to stop and then ordered +her to follow to Queenstown. For a short time she obeyed the order, +and then the signalman on the _Blue Bell_ reported that her engines +had stopped, and that they had run up a flag to the fore. At the same +moment there was a dull explosion. The German war-flag broke at the +top-mast and the ship’s crew were seen leaving in the boats. The _Aud_ +was sinking by the head. When the crew were received on board the _Blue +Bell_ they were in German naval uniform, but they refused to give any +account of themselves, and they were sent over to Scotland Yard for +examination. + +This incident was tinged with romance. There was nothing actually to +show what the _Aud_ had on board and why she had put into Tralee. The +first step was for the Admiralty to dispatch a diver to the scene of +the sinking. Fortunately the sea was calm. I saw the diver on his +return. He was a very spruce, intelligent, and observant young man. +He described to me the sandy bottom of the bay on which the _Aud_ was +lying with a great rent in her side, and the floor of the Atlantic +littered with broken rifles, six of which he had brought back with +him. There were Russian marks on the rifles. We sent for the Russian +military attaché, and then it was found that even this grudging service +to the cause of Ireland had been done on the cheap, for the rifles were +all Russian, captured at Tannenberg, and very much the worse for wear. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE CASEMENT CASE + + +There was a sensation at New Scotland Yard when the entire crew of +the _Aud_, including the officers, were marched over one evening +for interrogation. They blocked the passages, and a crowd assembled +outside. I always found that when German naval prisoners are examined +it is better to take the juniors first, for they frequently make +admissions which are useful when the time comes for examining the +officers, but in this case we reversed the order. + +All had agreed to tell the same story--that they were carrying +pit-props with a few arms for the Cameroons and that, having delivered +their cargo, they were to become an auxiliary cruiser. The limited coal +capacity and the slow speed of the boat (11 knots) showed this version +to be absurd. They said that they had anchored off the Irish coast +to re-stow their cargo, but on this their stories differed. No doubt +they were actually engaged in preparing the cargo for landing when the +patrol boat came up and signalled by wireless for a cruiser. On this +the captain of the _Aud_ had taken alarm and steamed away. + +The captain was one of the most unpleasant Germans I have ever met, +besides being entirely lacking in a sense of humour. He has since +written a book about his experiences which, for that reason, is dull +reading. During the course of his examination I observed to him that a +naval crew who sunk their ship after capture was guilty of piracy. He +looked uncomfortable, and said that the orders of his Emperor had to be +obeyed. ‘We were not a naval crew, we were a civilian crew.’ + +I said, ‘You cannot be both.’ + +‘But we were both,’ he persisted. ‘When we wore uniform we were a +warship; when we wore civilian clothes we were a merchant ship. I kept +the uniforms hanging on a line, and when we broke the war-flag the men +jumped into them and we became a warship.’ He was seriously annoyed +when we laughed. + +And now to return to Casement. The submarine on which he was originally +to cross had broken down and had had to signal for another, commanded, +as it turned out, by a less agreeable captain, to take over the +passengers. This captain declined to approach the shore, but put his +passengers into a flat-bottomed canvas boat without a rudder and, as +Casement described it, ‘left them to their fate.’ At the last moment +the captain asked Casement what clothes he wanted, and Casement, +describing the conversation, waved his hand with a theatrical gesture +and said, ‘Only my shroud.’ The boat upset in landing, and they were +all wet through. They buried their belongings in the sand, and Casement +sent his two companions into the country to obtain help. Monteith +did find friends, was driven off in a motor-car, and eventually made +his way to the United States. Bailey, less fortunate, was arrested. +Meanwhile, Casement was sheltering in an old ruin called M’Kenna’s +Fort, where, on being arrested, he gave the name of a friend with whom +he used to stay in England. + +On Saturday, the 22nd, I was taking my turn of night ‘Zeppelin duty’ +at New Scotland Yard. At 10.30 P.M. my telephone rang and a voice +said, ‘You know that stranger who arrived in the collapsible boat at +Currahane--do you know who he is?’ I said, ‘You’re joking?’ ‘I am not,’ +said the voice, ‘and he will be over early to-morrow morning for you +to take him in hand.’ It was not necessary for either of us to give a +name. We had been expecting Casement’s arrival for many weeks. + +At 10 o’clock on Easter Sunday I had my first interview with Sir Roger +Casement. He walked into the room rather theatrically--a tall, thin, +cadaverous man with thick black hair turning grey, a pointed beard, and +thin, nervous hands, mahogany-coloured from long tropical service. His +forehead was a network of wrinkles, his complexion deeply sunburnt. I +told him to sit down and asked him his name. + +‘Surely you know it.’ + +‘I have to guard against the possibility of personation.’ + +‘Well, I am Sir Roger Casement.’ + +I administered the usual caution that anything he said might be used +against him. At first he was reticent, his great fear being that he +might say something that would betray other people, or make him appear +a traitor to the Germans, whose guest he had been. As long as the +shorthand-writer remained he said little beyond admitting acts of high +treason, but when we were alone he became far more communicative. He +rose from the armchair, and sat easily on the corner of my table. The +rising in Ireland, he said, was to have been on Easter Sunday; he was +to have landed a week earlier. He professed to know nothing of the +intrigues in America which had fixed the date for the rising. He said +that he was lying ill in Munich when ‘a trusted friend’ asked him to +go to Berlin, for the time had now come to act. When he found that +the Germans intended to send only one ship with munitions and not +a single German officer, he said that he charged them with criminal +folly, and that the officer blushed and said, ‘Well, this is all that +the Government intends to do. You must go with them, because if you +refuse your countrymen shall know that you betrayed them.’ They wanted +him to go in the _Aud_ herself, but he stipulated for a submarine, +in order, so he said, to warn the rebels that they had no chance of +success. The breaking down of the submarine prevented this. He was very +insistent that the news of his capture should be published, as it would +prevent bloodshed. We felt pretty sure that the Irish rebels knew all +about his capture from his companion who escaped, quite apart from the +fact that the arrest had appeared in the newspapers on the Saturday. +When commenting some weeks afterwards upon the Rebellion, the Germans +remarked that Casement had credited himself with possessing superhuman +powers; that he imagined that his personality among the Irish would +carry all before it, but that, in fact, they could not discover that +his personal influence was great. They seem to have read him pretty +well. The negotiations had really been carried on over his head, and +there is nothing to show that any of the leaders thought it necessary +to consult him before they came to a decision. + +I told him that we were aware of his efforts to recruit Irish soldiers +from internment camps to fight for the Germans, and he said that he +had not recruited them for the German but for the Irish army; that the +Kaiser’s proclamation to the Irish was conditional on an Irish army +being enrolled and, as to the oath of allegiance, many great Englishmen +had had to break their oath for the sake of their country. He himself +had never taken an oath of allegiance, but if he had it would not have +weighed with him. + +He returned again to his object in coming to Ireland. It was to stop, +not to lead, a rising which could only fail with the paltry aid that +the Germans had sent. He wanted to prevent ‘the boys’ from throwing +away their lives. He went on to say that in the early part of the +War the Germans really believed that a rising in Ireland might be +successful, but as they grew weaker this belief had begun to fade, +and now they had only the desire for bloodshed in Ireland as an +embarrassment to the British Government. He said that Germans would +do things to serve the State which they would never do as private +individuals, and that in all the General Staff he had only met one +gentleman. He seemed to regard the German cause as already lost. At the +end of the interview he was sent to Brixton Prison to be placed under +special observation for fear of an attempt at suicide. There was no +staff at the Tower to guard suicidal cases. + +Some months earlier, when we first had evidence of Casement’s +treachery, his London lodgings had been visited and his locked trunks +removed to New Scotland Yard. Towards the end of the interview a +policeman entered the room and whispered to me that Casement might have +the key of the trunks. I asked him, and with a magnificent gesture he +said, ‘Break them open; there is nothing in them but clothing, and I +shall not want them again.’ But something besides clothing was found +in one of the trunks--a diary and a cashbook from the year 1903 with +considerable gaps. A few days later Casement must have remembered these +volumes, for his solicitor demanded the surrender of his personal +effects. Everything except these books was sent to him, and there came +a second letter, pointing out that the police must still be retaining +some property. It is enough to say of the diaries that they could not +be printed in any age or in any language. + +During a subsequent conversation Casement said, ‘You failed to win +the hearts of the people when you had your chance.’ I replied, ‘You +are speaking for a minority of the Irish people. You must have had a +rude awakening when you went to the internment camp to recruit men +for the Irish Brigade.’ He said, ‘I never expected to get many. I +could have had them all if I had given them money, but though the +Germans offered me as much money as I wanted I refused it. Besides, +you were competing.’ ‘How?’ I asked. ‘By sending the Irish prisoners +more money and larger parcels than the English prisoners had.’ Nothing +would persuade him that this was not intentionally arranged by the +British Government: as a matter of fact, the parcels were supplied by a +Committee of Irish ladies. + +Casement struck me as one of those men who are born with a strong +strain of the feminine in their character. He was greedy for +approbation, and he had the quick intuition of a woman as to the effect +he was making on the people around him. He had a strong histrionic +instinct. I have read many of his early letters. They are full of high +ideals that ring quite true, and his sympathy with the down-trodden and +his indignation against injustice were instinctive; but, like a woman, +he was guided by instinct and not by reason, and where his sympathies +were strongly moved it is very doubtful whether any reliance could +be placed upon his accuracy. I have often wondered since how much +exaggeration there was in his revelations about the Congo and Putumayo. +Colleagues who served with him in his official days have told me that +they never took his statements quite literally. They always allowed for +an imaginative colouring. + +A few days before his execution he received a telegram from the person +who had been most injured by his statement about Putumayo, imploring +him at that solemn moment to retract his unjust charges. As far as I +know, he did not reply to this telegram. I have made special inquiry +with a view to ascertaining how long Casement had been under the +obsessions disclosed in the pages of his diary, and I feel certain that +they were of comparatively recent growth, probably not much before the +year 1910. This would seem to show that some mental disintegration had +begun to set in, though it was not sufficient to impair his judgment or +his knowledge of right and wrong. + +His success with the Germans was due to his curious power of investing +others with his overweening belief in his own powers. During the Boer +War, according to one of his colleagues, he persuaded the Foreign +Office that he could counteract the Boer influence in Delagoa Bay and +obtain full information about their activities. Accordingly, he was +sent to Delagoa Bay from West Africa, but though he worked there for +many months he accomplished nothing. His colleagues could never decide +whether the curious swagger in his walk was due to self-satisfaction or +to a physical peculiarity. When he visited their offices he preferred +to walk about the room, but when he could be induced to sit down he +had a way of laying his palms together with the fingers pointing +upward that reminded them of the attitude of the praying mantis. In +Delagoa Bay he showed no sympathy with the Boers or with the Germans, +nor did he discourse upon the wrongs of Ireland, though the Foreign +Office had to intervene once when he began to use stationery headed, +‘Consulate of Great Britain and Ireland.’ He was excellent company, and +his colleagues were always glad to see him, though inwardly they were +amused by the airs he assumed and the importance he attached to his +sayings and doings. He was a good pioneer, a great walker, indifferent +of his appearance and his dress, and to the hardships he underwent +when travelling on duty. He had a way of wearing his coat without +putting his arms into the sleeves, and he had his overcoat made without +sleeves, possibly with an eye to the picturesque. He was a clear and +forcible writer and was quite indifferent to money, though he kept his +private accounts meticulously. + +Casement’s trial for High Treason at the High Court will take its place +among the most notable of State trials. Certain legal questions arising +out of the fact that the acts of high treason had been committed +abroad were argued at length. The Lord Chief Justice (Lord Reading), +Sir F. E. Smith, the Attorney-General (now Lord Birkenhead), and Mr. +Serjeant Sullivan played their parts with great distinction. I was +sitting just below the witness-box throughout the proceedings. At the +luncheon adjournment, when the Judge had left the Bench, one of the +Irish soldier witnesses who had been in the German camp on the occasion +of Casement’s visit was left in the witness-box. Casement had just left +the dock above his head. He was thirsting for a confidant, and I was +the only person within earshot. He jerked his thumb at the retreating +figure, and in a thick brogue made a very opprobrious remark about him. + +It is a curious fact that one of the revolvers brought over by Casement +practically saved Dublin Castle. An officer of the Royal Irish +Constabulary happened to be showing it to the Under-Secretary in the +Castle on Easter Monday when he heard a shot fired and, looking out, +he saw the sentry writhing on the ground and a ragged crowd rushing +in at the gate. He had some cartridges in his pocket, with which he +opened fire, keeping the rebels at bay for an hour and twenty minutes. +Casement also brought with him a banner, which he intended to hoist +over Dublin Castle. It was of green bunting made in Germany. It was +last, I believe, in the possession of the headquarters of the Royal +Irish Constabulary. + +It has never been quite clear to me why the Irish Rebellion was +postponed from Easter Saturday to Easter Monday. There was a conflict +of authority, as there usually is, in the Irish ranks. The failure to +land the arms can scarcely have been responsible for the postponement +because, as it proved, there was no lack of arms in Dublin. Since +there was no rising on Easter Saturday, we thought it possible that +the sinking of the _Aud_ and the arrest of Casement might have had the +effect of postponing it altogether. After midday on Monday the question +of the arrest of the leaders was still under discussion, though at +noon all telegraphic communication with Ireland had been interrupted. +It was not until 3 o’clock that we learned that the Dublin Post Office +had been in possession of the rebels since noon, that another party had +entrenched themselves in St. Stephen’s Green, and that there was heavy +firing in the city. The rebels had hoped for simultaneous risings all +over Ireland, but these failed to take place. It is significant that +a police officer who went over to Tralee Bay to bring over witnesses +for Casement’s trial had an ovation from the local farmers, who were +delighted that the Rebellion had been put down. + +It is curious that among the things picked up in Tralee Bay was a +document in German giving an account of the enemy losses at Verdun, a +strange thing to find on a lonely Irish beach so long after the event. + +To Devoy in America came the Irish version of the Rebellion. The rebels +put a bold face upon their failure. They said that Casement had sent a +message to Dublin, begging them to defer the rising until he arrived. +They admitted their bad staff work. They had counted upon 5000 men in +Dublin and secured only 1500, and they were mostly men belonging to +the Transport Workers rather than Sinn Feiners. In fact, there was a +strong revolutionary element in the business. The reason why M’Neill +had put off the rising from Saturday to Monday was the non-arrival of +the munitions. Their main complaint was against the rebels in the south +and west, who, though sufficiently armed to have done a good deal, +did nothing. They did not even obey orders as regards the landing of +munitions. They professed, however, to be pleased with the result of +the Rebellion, because they said that for every man in favour of a +rebellion before the rising there were now ten. + +Two months had scarcely elapsed when they were again planning +rebellion. They felt sure of success if only they had sufficient +arms, and they demanded from the Germans an adequate supply under a +strong military escort. On their side they undertook to supply 250,000 +men after an initial success. They held out as an inducement to the +Germans a Zeppelin base for operations upon England. On 17th June the +Germans said they were ready ‘in principle’ to give further aid, but +they wanted full particulars. Like other foreign invaders of Ireland, +they had learned to distrust the organising ability of the Irish. On +31st December 1916 they promised a new supply of 30,000 rifles and 10 +machine guns, but this offer was declined by the Irish rebels unless +the Germans would undertake to land a military force. The entry of +America into the War prevented any further negotiations. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +STRANGE SIDE SHOWS + + +All this time we were living in the atmosphere of a ‘Shilling Shocker’ +or, as the Americans call it, the ‘Dime Novel.’ When one started +work in the morning one could never tell what the day was to bring +forth, what curious personage would be ushered into the room, what +high adventure or what squalid little tragedy would be unfolded by +some occupant of the low armchair. Vivid impressions trod close upon +the heels of one another. It was like fragments of melodramatic films +pieced together at random: all had to be carried in the mind until the +case might be considered closed. Most of the actors in these dramas +disappeared into the outer space, and then months later they would +drift in again in some new drama, only to disappear finally after the +Armistice. + +What has become of them all? What are all those spies and pseudo-spies +now doing for a living? Where are all the temporary officers who were +living riotously at the Savoy like butterflies that emerge untimely +into the winter sunshine? Where are the girls that shared their revels +during those purple weeks? Are they serving behind some counter? Have +they pawned their jewellery and their furs? Or are they safely married +in some suburban lodging and finding life a little flat? What has +become of the young men who tore about the country in high-powered +cars, who loved to use their cut-out while racing up the Mall? Do +they now drive motor-’buses, or are they chicken-farming in Canada? +The whole drama and all the actors have vanished, as they do in the +real theatre ten minutes after the curtain has fallen. And where are +the young women who used to take us elderly gentlemen by the elbow +and help us into ’buses? Do they miss the toes of the passengers on +which they used to tread; the uniform, the excitement of doing men’s +work; or are they glad to be quit of it all and settle down to some +less exciting occupation? These young people thought that there was +to be a new heaven and a new earth in which the young would toil not +nor spin but would have purses like the widow’s cruse. And the rest of +us thought that there would certainly be a new earth--mostly made up +of revolutions. As the War went on we began to realise that the real +England--all the England that really mattered--was in Northern France, +in Gallipoli, in Salonika, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. + +All the exciting events, from the point of view of police action, seem +to have been crowded into 1915 and the early part of 1916. September +was a notable month because we had at the same time the great forgeries +of the ‘G’ series of Treasury Notes, the seizure of the Austrian +dispatches from the United States which were being carried by an +American journalist, and the Indian murder conspiracy. + +It had been reported to the police that the little active band of +Indian revolutionaries who were working with the Germans in Berlin +were running to and from Switzerland in connection with an extensive +assassination plot. A seizure of documents late in August corroborated +this. Whether the plot was devised by certain Indian revolutionaries or +by the Germans themselves is not clear. The plan was to bring about the +simultaneous assassination of the leading men in Entente countries. +The names of the King of Italy, Lord Grey, Lord Kitchener, Mons. +Poincaré, Mons. Viviani, and Sr. Salandro were specially mentioned. +The bombs had been manufactured in Italy and were tested by the German +military authorities at the military testing ground near Berlin. At +the English end of the conspiracy were certain British Indians, one of +whom was living with a German woman whom he declared to be his wife. +An Englishwoman was known to be privy to their plans, and a Swiss +girl was the messenger between Switzerland and the English group. The +case was one of extraordinary difficulty, because the real culprit, +Chattopadhya, an Indian well known in Berlin, made only flying visits +to Switzerland, and was careful never to set foot on the soil of an +Entente country. As soon as the available evidence was complete steps +were taken simultaneously to detain all the persons who were in British +jurisdiction. They were interned as persons dangerous to the safety of +the Realm, and kept in internment until the Armistice, despite repeated +appeals to the Committee set up to revise Internment Orders made by the +Home Secretary. + +About the examinations in my room there was never anything in the +nature of what the Americans call the ‘Third Degree,’ which, I +understand, consists in startling or wearying the suspect into a +confession. If they preferred not to answer questions they were +detained until further inquiry could be made about them. In many cases +it was the detention that influenced them. They were not sent to prison +unless it was clear that their detention would have to be prolonged. +There was a range of cells in the adjacent building of Cannon Row +Police Station: one of these was furnished as a bed-sitting-room, +and was known as the ‘extradition cell’: the others were the ordinary +cells in which remand prisoners are placed after arrest. One has to +put oneself into the suspect’s position in order to realise what +this change of circumstances meant to him. He had been full of the +excitement and interest of foreign travel, fresh from a voyage in a +liner, where he was unsuspected and liked. Suddenly he found himself +within four narrow walls, in silence and without the amenities of +comfortable armchairs and tables. If he wished to write he might do so, +but everything he wrote would be subject to scrutiny. He had, however, +ample time for reflection, and now that the first move must come from +his side it was not long before he would send a request for another +interview. If he did not he would, in course of time, be sent for, but +the period of waiting without any fixed date usually had its effect. + +In the middle of October 1915 very definite evidence reached us of the +extent of the German-Indian conspiracy and the length the conspirators +were prepared to go. The Indian Committee in Berlin was established +quite early in the War. After his expulsion from the United States +Har Dayal, who had been conducting the ‘Ghadr’ (Mutiny) newspaper +in California, went to Switzerland, and on the outbreak of war he, +Chattopadhya, and some other Indian revolutionaries who were living +in Switzerland went to Berlin. At first the Germans, feeling that +they had them quite in their power, treated them with some contempt, +but this attitude changed when one or two Germans who posed as Indian +experts persuaded the Government to found an Indian Committee to +concert measures for starting a revolution in India under a German +President. They had a Press Bureau and a regular working scheme for +corrupting the loyalty of Indian prisoners of war. Still, though tons +of paper and lakes of ink were consumed, no headway was being made +until March 1915, when an Indian land-owner named Pertabr conceived +the plan of going over to the Germans in the character of an Indian +prince. He had some slight claim to this self-assumed title since he +was the son of a deposed ruler of a small native State. Having obtained +a passport from the Indian Government on the backing of a man whose +loyalty was unquestioned, he arrived in Switzerland from Marseilles and +lost no time in communicating with Har Dayal, who took him to see the +German Consul. Now it does not take much to deceive a German official +about Oriental matters. Pertabr wore native dress, and was aloof and +condescending. In fact, his haughtiness was exactly what the German +Consul would have expected from a Rajah. When pressed to enter the +Fatherland Pertabr declared firmly that he would not cross the German +frontier until he had a promise that the Kaiser would receive him in +person. This arrangement suited Har Dayal admirably, for he would +become the intermediary between the two potentates and the springs of +money would begin again to flow. After several journeys to and from +Berlin an audience was arranged. It was characteristic of the German +Consul that he besought Pertabr in all humility to say a good word for +him to the All Highest when he should enter the Presence. + +No doubt Pertabr had day-dreams of himself mounted on a fiery white +steed at the head of conquering bands as the new liberator of India. At +Delhi he would receive the homage of the native princes. He may have +imbued the Kaiser with some of these ideas, though one cannot imagine +that the Imperial mind had any day-dreams of Oriental conquests in +which some other man was to prance on a white horse; but however this +may be, a mission did start for Kabul, headed by ‘Prince’ Pertabr with +three German officers and several released Indian prisoners of war, to +raise the Amir against India. They passed through Constantinople during +the first week of September, and then they disappeared into space. It +was learned afterwards that they got no farther than Afghanistan, and +that the fragments of the mission were reported many months later to be +wandering as homeless outcasts about Central Asia. + +That was not the end of the German attempts upon India. Some few months +later there came into our hands an autograph letter addressed by the +Kaiser to the ruling princes in India, which had been photographed down +to a size little exceeding that of a postage stamp, and enclosed in a +tiny tube to be concealed about the body. The belief in German circles +was that Persia was about to rise on the side of Germany, and that that +would be the signal for the invasion of India by the Afghans. + +The headquarters of the Indian conspirators who were being manipulated +by the Germans in America were at Berkeley, California. It was there +that the ‘Ghadr’ (Mutiny) newspaper was printed in the vernacular, +and arrangements were made for shipping arms to India at the German +expense. It took many months to convince the Californian police +authorities that there were ample grounds for taking action under the +neutrality laws, but when they did move they moved to some purpose. The +two Indian leaders were arrested. When they were brought to trial one +of them, convinced from the intimate knowledge of his secret activities +disclosed by the prosecution that the other had turned informer, +slipped a pistol from his pocket and shot his companion in open court. +But in the Western States such incidents do not disturb the presence of +mind of Assize Court officials: the deputy-sheriff whipped an automatic +from his pocket, and from his elevated place at the back of the court, +aiming above and between the intervening heads, shot the murderer dead. +And so, in less than ten seconds the sentence which the Judge was about +to pronounce was more than executed. + +The Germans are not naturally fitted to acquire an influence over +Orientals, though they have tried hard to do it. The Kaiser, who was a +master of pantomimic display, rode into Jerusalem properly clad as a +new Crusader. He conformed to such Oriental customs as were considered +compatible with his dignity, and he was getting on quite well until +some vulgar-minded non-German Europeans set the natives laughing at +him. Ridicule kills more surely than the assassin’s knife. + +I remember a rather pompous proconsul who was determined to impress +the natives of the Pacific Islands by stage-management. He happened to +be a Doctor of Law at Cambridge, and, in addition to his gilded Civil +Service uniform, he arrayed himself in the scarlet robe of a Doctor of +Law, and stalked solemnly under the palm-trees with two little native +boys carrying his train. The natives had never seen anything quite so +gorgeous, and all went well until the procession had to pass a store +kept by a certain ribald Englishman with an extensive knowledge of the +vernacular. It was enough for him to utter one phrase in the native +language to scatter all the official pomp to the four winds. The +comment ran down the whispering gallery to the farthest recesses of +the island, and, instead of the awed hush on which the proconsul had +counted, he was received with broad and rather pitying smiles. That +finished any prestige that he might have had in this particular group. + +It was so once with a French naval post-captain who determined to +overawe the natives with a display of naval force. To this end he +landed a considerable force of bluejackets and began to drill them on +shore. He had a peculiar strut in his walk which fired the imagination +of a small native boy who had been born lacking in a sense of +reverence. As the captain marched proudly at the head of his men he +became conscious that there was something about him which was provoking +roars of merriment among the spectators. He began furtively to pat +various parts of his anatomy to see whether there had been a mishap to +his clothing, and it was not for some time that he realised that just +behind him was a small boy caricaturing his every movement. That little +episode settled the French question. + +But I am wandering far from my subject, which was German intrigues in +the Orient. Some little time before the War German agents had made +great play with the tribes in the hinterland of Tripoli, and when war +was declared they did succeed in producing in the Senussi a hostile +spirit against the Allies. In 1916 an English ship of war, the _Tara_, +was sunk by a submarine off the North African coast. As usual, the +German commander made no attempt to save the crew, but officers and men +to the number of about a hundred did succeed in getting ashore. They +found themselves in an inhospitable sandy desert, with nothing but what +they stood up in and with no means of communicating with the outside +world. For all that was known, the ship had been sunk with all hands. + +The first step, of course, was to get something to eat and drink. A +little way inland they found a well, but there was a dead camel in +it. At first they thought that the death of the camel might have been +recent, and they hauled him up with the idea of eating him, but the +first cut with a knife was enough, and they left him where he was, +and yet forty-eight hours later some of them were glad to eat of this +loathsome food, or go under. + +Very soon after their landing they fell into the hands of Senussi +Arabs, who gave them almost nothing to eat and insisted upon their +marching inland under the pitiless sun half dead with hunger and +thirst. At last they reached a little village presided over by what +they took to be a Mohammedan priest, but the bluejackets nicknamed him +‘Holy Joe.’ ‘Holy Joe’ was a holy terror. He drove these wretched men +out in the morning under the lash to till his fields, and he gave them +next to nothing to eat. Fortunately, the desert in these parts grew +snails--great grey-shelled monsters--in prodigious numbers, and it was +part of the routine to bring in from the fields a quota of these snails +for the evening meal. The cook became quite expert in the management +of snails. There was no lid to the pot, and there was not enough fuel +to bring the water to the boil before putting in his snails, so he put +them in cold and poured water upon them, or what passed for water in +these parts, and lighted the fire. As the pot warmed up, the snails, +not unnaturally, tried to get out, and the cook had to spend his time +in heading them back again. When the evening meal was ready the snails +had left their shells and lay in a muddy and unappetising mass at the +bottom of the soup. That is what our wretched men had to live upon for +months, and as time wore on the hunting-grounds were farther afield. +They had eaten all the snails for furlongs round the plantations. + +Once the commander made an attempt to escape in order to report the +existence of the prisoners to some one who would communicate with +Egypt, but he failed. He had, however, written appeals to the Turkish +authorities for more food, and it was through one of these appeals that +deliverance came. + +Every one remembers the fine exploit of the Duke of Westminster with +his fleet of armoured cars--how he scattered a Turkish army, and how he +carried terror into the hearts of the tribesmen. Now it chanced that +on the evening of the action some of his men discovered a derelict +motor-car and searched it, and that, in the course of the search, they +lighted upon a dirty piece of paper and brought it in to the Duke. It +was actually one of the commander’s appeals, and it gave the name of +the village. Thus, for the first time certain rumours that British +prisoners were detained by the Senussi were confirmed. But now came +a fresh difficulty. No one knew where the village was. It was not +marked in any of the maps, and one could not scour the desert in every +direction to find what might be a mythical village. Inquiries were made +of the Turkish prisoners, and at last one was found who had heard of +the village. In fact, his father had once taken him there when he was a +little boy, but all he remembered of it was that on the hill above it +there was a single date-tree and under the date-tree an ancient stone +well. He thought that it lay in the direction to which he pointed. + +This prisoner was taken up on one of the light cars as a guide. For +many hours they ploughed the sand, and then there was a council of war. +They had petrol not much more than sufficient for the return journey. +If they went any farther they might have to leave the car behind them, +but the Duke would not turn back. Whatever happened, he meant to find +this village and to rescue the prisoners, and so they went on, and a +very few minutes later the guide uttered a loud cry, sprang from the +car, and lay grovelling in the sand. ‘An ambush!’ every one said, and +they covered him with their rifles in order that, if any had to die, +he should be the first, but it was no ambush. With keener sight than +theirs he had spied the single date-palm. They took him up again and +drove to the palm. He jumped down and dug at the sand like a dog, until +he disclosed the coping of an ancient well, and a few yards farther on +they came in sight of the village. + +The company of prisoners were just sitting down to discuss their +evening snails when a bluejacket came in breathless to say that he +had seen a ‘blinking motor-car.’ Either he was pulling their legs or +he had a touch of the sun, and in either case the best treatment was +to throw stones at him, which they did, but he persisted, and at last +a few of them broke away from the circle to reconnoitre. There, sure +enough, in the slanting rays of the sun _was_ a motor-car. They ran +towards it hailing it as loudly as they could, and they in the car +itself, seeing a party of gaunt and vociferous natives almost naked +in their rags, were for keeping them at a safe distance. It was not +until they recognised the English language that they knew they were +fellow-countrymen. + +Normally, the story stops there, but a bluejacket who was one of the +party added a little postscript of his own. Before they left the +village there was a little account to settle--a little matter of +account with ‘Holy Joe,’ who had wielded the whip over them all these +months. He winked and he nodded, and he would say no more, but it was +gathered that ‘Holy Joe’ did not go out of this world with a smile upon +his face. + +The Germans were as busy with the Moors as they were with the Arabs, +and their efforts were quite as ineffective. It must have been uphill +work in Morocco for the German agent. There was one who had brought +the Sus tribes almost up to the point of rising, but they stipulated +for arms. Otherwise they would throw in their lot against Germany. +There was nothing for it but to tell them that arms had been written +for, and that they might be expected by ship at any moment. With such +promises the Germans managed to keep up the spirit of expectation +until one day the lights of a steamer were seen approaching. Evidently +this was the long-promised vessel. The whole tribe turned out upon the +beach to assist in landing the cargo, but suddenly a dazzling beam shot +out from the vessel, illuminating the whole of the foreshore. It was +a French warship, and in another moment a shell from one of the guns +landed right in the middle of the village. So that was the kind of +lie on which the German agent was feeding them! There were whispered +consultations. No one knows except the German agent, who is not now +in a position to tell us, exactly what happened. One must always make +subtractions from native stories, but the tale that reached Tangier was +that the German was bidden to a meal at which he ate certain viands +which disagreed with him, so that in the end, being a very fat man, he +burst asunder and gave up his life. + +The war work of women made many friendships and a few implacable +enmities. The husband of a lady of high degree came to consult me about +an anonymous letter that had reached her. No threats, either actual or +implied, brought it within the criminal law, and, as he pointed out, +the handwriting and the notepaper, as well as an obviously intimate +knowledge of the lady, marked it as being the production of a person +of the same class, not improbably a ‘friend.’ To say that it contained +home-truths would be a reckless under-statement. It was the outpouring +of a spirit that can endure no more. ‘You are well known,’ it said, +‘as the most disagreeable and vulgar woman in London,’ and it went on +to tell her why. I could almost hear the sigh of relief as she signed +herself ‘A Well-wisher.’ + +No question here of a German spy nor of criminal proceedings, but +mysterious documents are always fascinating, and by the time the +husband called again I had identified the writer beyond possibility +of error as a lady of the same War Committee revolving in the same +social circle as the recipient of the letter. I told the husband that +the mystery was cleared up. ‘But what we want to know,’ he said, ‘is +who wrote it.’ On that point I said I could not enlighten him: it was +against the rules. The next day he returned with a list of his wife’s +friends whose attachment to her was doubtful, and asked me to say +whether the list did or did not include the anonymous writer. I fear he +has never forgiven me for remaining firm. + +They have curious ideas abroad about the way in which the British +conduct a war. A Bulgarian who was taking leave of an English official +when returning to Bulgaria said, ‘Remember, I have nothing to say +about this plan of assassinating Ferdinand.’ ‘What plan?’ asked the +astonished Englishman. ‘Your plan. You are clearly within your rights, +but I think as time goes on you will find out that Ferdinand will be +more useful to you alive than dead.’ Before Roumania came into the War +a Roumanian met a general of the Prussian Staff at dinner in Berlin. +After dinner the general said, ‘I knew your late King. He was a fine +man. What a pity the English murdered him.’ The Roumanian replied that +there must be some mistake: the King died in his bed. But the general +brushed this aside, and gave him a list of the notables in various +countries who had been murdered by the English. One of them was Jaurès, +the French Socialist! + +In July 1915 officers returning from the Front noticed a wave of +pessimism as unreasonable as the former optimism. People were just +recovering from the shock of learning that Lord Kitchener had foretold +that the War would last three years instead of the six months that +so many had been counting upon. The cry of ‘Look at the map’ was in +the mouth of constitutional pessimists in high places, and if one had +looked at the map instead of at the men there would have been no spirit +left in any one. Fortunately, geography is not efficiently taught us +at school. All we knew was that, man for man, our soldiers were better +than the Germans and that if, as we were sometimes told, the winning of +the War depended upon killing Germans we should win through in the end; +or if, as the Germans were never tired of telling each other, it was to +be a war of endurance, we felt sure that we could hold out longer than +they. When a party was criticising the conduct of the War in November +1915, I remember a naval officer retorting, ‘If our Admiralty and our +War Office and all our Government Departments had been perfect we +should have lost the War long ago.’ + +A little later in the War the same naval officer was examining a +captured German submarine officer. The German said bitterly, ‘I cannot +understand you English. If you had joined hands with us we should have +dominated the world between us.’ + +‘But,’ replied the British sailor, ‘we did not want to dominate the +world.’ The German appeared to feel that he understood the English less +than ever. + +In the autumn of 1915 the horde of young Irishmen who were emigrating +to escape military service became a scandal. The number of Irish +emigrants of military age during October 1915 was four thousand. +Even so, it is to be doubted whether a new regulation prescribing +that no passport was to be granted to men of military age would have +been passed but for the fact that the Irish stokers on a White Star +liner refused to carry such emigrants, and one Company after another, +including even two American lines, refused to allow them to come on +board their ships. + +The suppression of a daily newspaper was resorted to only once during +the War. On 5th November 1915 the _Globe_, which had helped the +police more than once, published a statement that Lord Kitchener had +tendered his resignation to the King, whereas, in fact, he was leaving +the country on an important mission which could not at the moment be +made public. On the following day a warrant was drawn up, empowering +officers of the Special Branch to suppress the paper. As no newspaper +had been suppressed in England for about a century there were no +precedents on which we could work, nor was I sufficiently acquainted +with the mechanical details of newspaper production to be able to +instruct the officers off-hand what part of the machinery should be +seized and removed. We entered the premises between five and six that +evening. The machines were in full blast in the basement. Newspaper +boys were hurrying in and out. The Inspector showed the warrant to +the manager, and the machines were stopped. Going downstairs, I found +a very obliging man who must have thought that I was a more or less +distinguished visitor who was to be shown over the plant. I said +to him, ‘Supposing that you wanted to take away some part of this +machinery which would make it impossible to run the machines again +until it was restored and yet do no damage to the plant, what would +you take?’ ‘Oh, that’s easy,’ he said, and he led me to a certain +engine, from which he took a portion which I could carry away in my +hand. I thanked him, and carried it away. That was how the _Globe_ was +suppressed until such time as the directors of the newspaper had come +to an arrangement with the Government. + +The restrictions on the liberty of the Press were really imposed by the +Press itself. Proprietors and editors measured all their criticisms +by one test--whether what they wished to publish would be turned +to account by the enemy. Their patriotism throughout the War was +whole-hearted and unquestioned. + +In 1916 an Austrian submarine stopped a steamer in the Mediterranean +on which Colonel Napier and Captain Wilson were passengers. They were +carrying the diplomatic bags from the Legation in Athens. All but one +of the bags were immediately thrown overboard, but as they contained +buoyant packages insufficiently compensated by weights, one at least +failed to sink and was picked up by the submarine. From the fact that +the Austrians hailed the steamer and demanded the surrender of Colonel +Napier by name it was clear that a spy, probably at Corfu, had given +them information. Naturally there was some confusion: a lady concealed +the bag that had not been thrown overboard; Colonel Napier went on +board the submarine and was interned in Austria; the steamer continued +her voyage to Italy. + +Now it chanced that on the steamer was a very tall, lank currant +merchant who spoke no tongue but his native Greek, but was brimming +over with geniality, particularly towards English people, on whom he +was dying to practise the few words of English that he knew. Another +British officer who was on board undertook to carry the bag to England, +and for this purpose the steamer called at an Italian port specially +to land him. The irrepressible Greek, seeing an opportunity of making +the journey to England with a companion who would interpret for him, +hastily collected his modest luggage and, wreathed in ingratiating +smiles, attempted to board the boat. He was sternly repelled from the +gangway; the steamer continued on her voyage and landed her passengers. + +The officer had gained no time by his detour: the other passengers +arrived in Rome in time to take the same train for Paris; he was +just taking his seat with the precious bag when the currant merchant +recognised him and rushed upon him with outstretched hand, as who +should say, ‘My deliverer! We will travel in the same compartment.’ +Probably he ascribed the rebuff he received to the well-known +eccentricity of the British character, for at the Gare du Nord the same +comedy was enacted, as well as on the Havre-Southampton boat. Long +before this he had been classed as a German spy, and at Southampton he +was handed over to the police and brought to me in custody. + +In a seedy frock-coat, unshaved, speechless, except in voluble Greek, +and bewildered by British eccentricity, he certainly seemed to justify +all the suspicions that had been attached to him. I was about to send +for a Greek interpreter when I was informed that his brother, a currant +merchant of Mincing Lane, was asking leave to come in, and there walked +into the room his double--a man so like him in stature, attenuation +and feature that when dressed alike they could never have been +distinguished. But the brother spoke fluent English, and the motive for +all this misplaced geniality was explained. I hope that this currant +merchant has not lost his love for the English nation, but I have my +doubts. + +At a time when the spy mania was at its highest we found ourselves +involved in a ghost story. A certain titled foreigner, a devout +Catholic, had taken and enlarged an early Tudor farm in one of the +southern counties in which, according to local tradition, a Spanish +friar named Don Diego had been found concealed during one of the +Recusant persecutions and murdered. To the simple villagers any +foreigner, disembodied or otherwise, was almost certain to be engaged +in intrigues against the Allied cause, and if he had been a priest in +these troublous times he could have had no love for this Protestant +country. Moreover, the farm had been filled with strange furniture +and was full of dark corners, mysterious doorways and galleries. +Strangers came down from London for week-ends, and it was whispered in +the village that there were strange doings behind the oaken shutters +after nightfall. In this rumour was for once correct. Don Diego made no +corporeal appearance: he was a voice and nothing more, but a voice of +such a musical and thrilling quality that, in the opinion of those who +listened, it could have proceeded from no earthly throat. Don Diego was +more concerned with mundane than with spiritual matters, and his chief +concern was match-making, which was unusual in disembodied spirits and +not altogether becoming in a murdered priest. He wanted his host to +make an advantageous marriage. + +The manifestations began generally at dinner. A singularly sweet voice +of the quality which in ghost stories is called sepulchral would be +heard calling the name of a guest: the family professed not to hear +the voice. The guest would leave the table and follow the voice to +the hall, where she would commune with it in private and return to +her dinner filled with its mysterious injunctions. She had heard it, +now from the gallery, now from the staircase, for the shade of Don +Diego was amazingly agile in its movements, and to prove that it was +no human voice there was the fact that whichever lady happened to be +called the ghost could always tell her something of her past life, or +some family secret that was known only to herself. These, however, were +mere conversational by-paths; the burden of the sing-song voice was +that people must be up and doing if the Count (for that was the host’s +title) was to make an advantageous marriage. + +The rumours of espionage became so persistent that I invited the +gentleman to an interview. He was nervous and evasive; he admitted +the supernatural manifestations, but remarked that he could not be +held responsible for having taken a haunted house. I felt certain, +nevertheless, that he knew all about it, and I told him plainly that +Don Diego must thenceforth lie quiet in his grave. It was a peculiarity +of the murdered priest that he became vocal when the Count was present +in the room. Sometimes the butler and one at least of the two footmen +were there too; at others the Count would be absent and the servants be +clearing the dinner-table. + +The fame of Don Diego spread very rapidly, and a small party of +gentlemen interested in psychic phenomena took the matter up. What they +represented themselves to be in order to gain admission to the haunted +house I do not know, but I can conjecture. They found the poor Count in +a state of nervous prostration from a disturbing anonymous letter that +had reached him, and he was prepared for a visit of some kind; in fact, +he was in a condition very favourable to their designs. What passed at +an interview in which there was consummate acting on both sides has +not transpired, but it resulted in a full written confession, and Don +Diego has since appeared no more. The Count himself, aided by his Irish +butler and two other men-servants, had been the voice in turns, the +duty falling upon him who happened to be disengaged at the moment, and +the confession was countersigned by them all. The supposed apparitions +of Don Diego, it said, were produced by purely natural means for the +purpose of practical joking, and an undertaking was given that no more +phenomena would occur. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE GERMAN SPY + + +My readers may now be asking themselves how soon I am going to write +about German spies. There are obvious reasons why it is impossible +to divulge secrets. I shall tell, therefore, as much as the military +authorities have already allowed to be divulged and nothing more, but I +shall tell most of it at first hand. + +There is much confused thinking about the ethics of spying on movements +of an enemy. The very word ‘spy’ has acquired so ugly a significance +that we prefer to disguise our own spies as ‘Intelligence’ or ‘Secret +Service Officers,’ and to regard them as necessary evils; but any +Government that accepted the standards set up by certain censorious +newspapers and declined to ask Parliament for a vote for Secret Service +on the ground that it was dishonourable would be guilty of treason +against its own countrymen. To be forewarned about the intentions of +an enemy, whether internal or external, may be to save the lives and +property of many hundreds, and to allow the enemy to make all his +preparations unheeded would be criminal negligence of the worst kind. +The cost of a good system of Intelligence is like the premium paid for +insurance against fire. + +Whether an individual degrades himself by engaging in espionage depends +on how and why he does it. If his motives are purely patriotic and he +performs this dangerous duty at the risk of his life, without thought +of personal gain; if in carrying out the duty he does not stoop to form +friendships in order to betray them, but comes out with clean hands, +what is there degrading in his service? But if he spies upon a nation +with which his country is not at war merely for the money he can make +and lives riotously, as nearly all such hirelings do, he should be +treated like the vermin that he is and nailed to the barn-door as a +warning to others. Nevertheless, there is something pitiful even about +such men when they have played their stake and lost and they feel the +cold hand laid upon them and all their profitless debaucheries sour +upon the palate. It is as if they ran unheeding round a corner and came +suddenly upon Death standing in the path. Then all honour to them if +they can meet him with a smile, for not all of us, feeling that cold +breath on our cheek and the grip of the bony fingers closing on us, can +be sure that we should pass through the ordeal with credit. + +During the first few days of the War I remember a staff officer +remarking that we should repeat the experience of the Napoleonic Wars: +we should begin the War with the worst Intelligence Service in Europe +and end with the best. I was inclined to think that he was right about +the first part of his prediction, and I now think that he was right +about the second. But then if he had gone on to say that the Germans +started the War with the most elaborate Secret Service organisation in +Europe and ended it with the worst he would have been equally right. +I have already related how at the vital moment of mobilisation the +whole of the German organisation in the United Kingdom was broken +up; how it was possible for us to dispatch our Expeditionary Force +to France without the loss of a single man or a single horse, and +without the knowledge of the Germans. It was, of course, not long +before they attempted to make good. They had established espionage +centres at Antwerp and Brussels, they had branch offices in connection +with the German Consulate at Rotterdam. Unfortunately for them, +there was great jealousy between the navy and the army, and each had +been entrusted with a certain amount of Secret Service money, on +which they entered into a sort of civil war of competition. Anything +reported by a spy employed by the German naval authorities was at once +ridiculed by the military Intelligence, and _vice versa_. This keen +competition made them a very easy prey. On one occasion an adventurous +Englishman actually passed into Belgium to take service in one of these +Intelligence offices, and came back with useful information. They were +prone also to engage quite unsuitable people--the sort of people who +in war-time at once become what the French call _Agents doubles_; that +is to say, they attempt to serve both sides, either with the object +of obtaining double pay or of making their lives safe in the event of +detection. What these men do for a living in peace time is hard to +guess. I can imagine them running cheap gambling-hells, frequenting +the docks to pick up some dishonest profit, resorting to a little +blackmail, and performing the humbler offices for the White Slave +trafficker. In war-time you will find them swarming in every capital, +for war is their brief summer. The money they get by their complicated +villainies is spent with both hands. They live like princes and dress +like bookmakers’ touts. The Germans were so easy to manipulate that +quite early in the War some of these men came over and offered their +services to us. They felt sure that any story, however improbable, +would be swallowed. Certainly the Germans got more interesting +information from the _agents doubles_ than they ever got from their own +spies in England. Sometimes they acted upon it, and they paid quite +liberally. When you come to think of it, not many private Englishmen +were in a position to give naval or military information of importance, +and still less a foreigner who dared not ask questions. + +There was in my office an armchair in which every spy, real or fancied, +sat while he was accounting for his movements. It was realised during +the first weeks of the War by the judges and the law officers, as well +as by the laity, that the ordinary criminal procedure was of no avail +against spies. If no questions could be asked of a person under arrest, +how were you to piece together the documents in his possession--marked +dictionaries, memoranda of addresses, code telegrams, and the like. The +only way and, to the innocent, the fairest way was to adopt something +like the French criminal procedure. As I have said, there was never +anything approaching what is called in America ‘the Third Degree.’ The +suspects were cautioned that they need not answer any questions, but +that what they said might be used in evidence against them, a caution +which almost invariably induced loquacity, and questions and answers +were recorded in shorthand. I suppose that on the average four persons +a day sat in that chair throughout the War. At the least, nine out of +every ten who might otherwise have been detained under suspicion for an +indefinite period were entirely cleared by the examination. It used to +be a joke among my staff that no single person, however angry he was +when he came in, left the room without thanking me profusely, though +one, and he was a Mexican, did afterwards make a claim of £10,000 for +moral and intellectual damages. One man was so grateful that he asked +leave to make a contribution to the fund of the Police Orphanage. +This I had not the face to allow, perhaps because his arrest had been +the result of a mistake, and I felt that, if money had to pass, it +should be going the other way. + +[Illustration: ANTON KUPPFERLE. ROBERT ROSENTHAL. CARL HANS LODY. +COURTENAY DE RYSBACH.] + +I made a discovery about that low armchair. For some time I had noticed +that whenever a particularly disconcerting question was put the suspect +instinctively raised himself by the arms to reply to it. My assistant, +in peace time an eminent K.C., suggested one day that I should sit in +it and be interrogated by him. I felt at once an irresistible impulse +to raise my face to the level of his. The fact is that if you want to +get the truth out of a witness the worst way is to put him in a box +above the level of the cross-examining counsel; if our law courts were +intelligently constructed the cross-examiner should take his stand in +a kind of lift and be suddenly elevated to the proper position just +before his cross-examination begins. Primitive races have found this +out, for their chiefs stand erect while their inferiors squat on the +ground when they are being questioned. + +During the first few days of the War I detained a curious person +who arrived in the country on an American passport, and who claimed +to be a major in the Mexican army. He was a typical international +spy--mysterious, wheedling, and apprehensive. He pretended to be +eager to enter our service. I told him that we would make use of his +services--as a prisoner of war in Brixton Prison. It was not until +early in 1916 that the capture of von Papen’s cheque-books disclosed +his real activities. He had been engaged in the United States in +sabotage, and probably he had come to this country for the same +purpose, but he took alarm, imagining that his every movement was +being watched, and he came to us with offers of service to save his +own skin. When we found his name among the cheques I sent for him +from prison to ask him to explain. He then made a statement about his +activities in America, which was considered so important that on 18th +March 1916 he was sent over to the United States to give evidence +against two of the German Consuls, one of whom was Krupps’ agent, for +attempted outrage and breach of neutrality. The American Government was +quite ready to send us back our prisoner at the end of the case, but I +assured them that we were altruistic and had no desire to deprive them +of so interesting a personality. Afterwards he published in America his +own version of his adventures. + +The first serious spy to be arrested was Lody. Carl Lody was a good +example of the patriotic spy. He had been one of those Germans who had +lived long enough in the United States to acquire what he believed to +be fluent English with an American accent. He had held a commission +in the German navy, and was a Reserve officer. He then entered the +employment of the Hamburg-America Steamship Line as a guide for +tourists. In that capacity he had travelled all over England, and had +even attempted, though unsuccessfully, to obtain employment under +Messrs. Thomas Cook & Son. A few days before 4th August 1914 Lody +returned to Berlin from Norway, and got into touch with the German +Intelligence. It happened that there was staying in Berlin at that time +an American named Charles A. Inglis, who had applied to the American +Embassy for a _visa_ to his passport, enabling him to continue his +travels in Europe. His passport was passed by the Embassy to the +German Foreign Office for the _visa_, but there it was ‘mislaid’ and +the Foreign Office promised an exhaustive search. This passport was +used by Lody. Mr. Inglis’s photograph was removed from it and Lody’s +substituted. Mr. Inglis obtained a new American passport from his +Embassy. + +As Mr. Charles Inglis, Lody presented himself at the North British +Station Hotel in Edinburgh, and from Edinburgh he sent a telegram to +one Adolf Burchard, in Stockholm. Telegrams had to pass the Censor, +and there were matters in Inglis’s telegram that called for close +scrutiny. Meanwhile, Lody took private lodgings, realising, no doubt, +that hotels are not very safe places for spies. He hired a bicycle, and +spent a fortnight in exploring the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, looking +into Rosyth Harbour, and asking too many questions for the ordinary +sightseer. From Edinburgh he came to London, and put up at a hotel in +Bloomsbury. Here he interested himself in our anti-aircraft defences. +He was back in Edinburgh two days later, and on 26th September he went +to Liverpool, where ocean liners were being fitted out as auxiliary +cruisers. From Liverpool he went to Holyhead and thence to Ireland, and +here his nerve was a little shaken by the close questioning that he +underwent. From the Gresham Hotel in Dublin, where other Americans were +staying, he wrote to his Swedish correspondent that he was becoming +nervous. He wrote all his letters both in English and German in +ordinary ink, without any disguise. His information would have been of +comparatively little value even if it had reached the Germans, which it +did not. The only report that was allowed to go through was the famous +story of the Russian troops passing through England. + +From Dublin Lody travelled to Killarney, no doubt on his way to +Queenstown, but on 2nd October he was detained by the Royal Irish +Constabulary to await the arrival of the detectives from Scotland +Yard. They found among his luggage the forged passport, about £175 +in English notes and gold, a note-book with particulars of the naval +fight in the North Sea of a few weeks earlier, addresses in Berlin, +Stockholm, Bergen, and Hamburg, and copies of the four letters that +he had written to Stockholm. He was tried by court-martial at the +Guildhall, Westminster, on 30th and 31st October. His counsel made no +defence except that Lody was a man who, having done his duty, left the +consequences in the hands of the court. His grandfather had a military +reputation; he had held a fortress against Napoleon, and the grandson +wished to stand before his judges in that spirit. He was not ashamed +of anything that he had done, he would not cringe for mercy, he would +accept the decision of righteous men. He was found guilty and sentenced +to death, and was executed in the Tower five days later. A letter that +he wrote to his relations in Stuttgart before his execution was as +follows: + + ‘MY DEAR ONES,--I have trusted in God and He has decided. My hour has + come, and I must start on the journey through the Dark Valley like so + many of my comrades in this terrible War of Nations. May my life be + offered as a humble offering on the altar of the Fatherland. + + ‘A hero’s death on the battlefield is certainly finer, but such is + not to be my lot, and I die here in the Enemy’s country silent and + unknown, but the consciousness that I die in the service of the + Fatherland makes death easy. + + ‘The Supreme Court-Martial of London has sentenced me to death for + Military Conspiracy. To-morrow I shall be shot here in the Tower. + I have had just Judges, and I shall die as an Officer, not as a + spy.--Farewell. God bless you, + + HANS.’ + +He wrote a letter also to the officer commanding at Wellington Barracks: + + ‘LONDON, _November 5th, 1914_. + + ‘SIR,--I feel it my duty as a German Officer to express my sincere + thanks and appreciation towards the staff of Officers and men who + were in charge of my person during my confinement. + + ‘Their kind and considered treatment has called my highest esteem and + admiration as regards good-fellowship even towards the Enemy, and if + I may be permitted I would thank you for make this known to them.--I + am, sir, with profound respect, + + CARL HANS LODY, _Senior Lieutenant Imperial, + German Naval Res. 11. D_.’ + +He left a ring to be forwarded to a lady in America, and this was done. +It was believed that the German Government had insured his life for +£3000 in favour of his relations, and that when, after some months, +his death became known in Germany, the people of his native village +planted an oak to be known evermore by his name. He met his death +unflinchingly, and on the morning of his execution it is related that +he said to the Assistant Provost Marshal, ‘I suppose you will not shake +hands with a spy?’ and that the officer replied, ‘No, but I will shake +hands with a brave man.’ Lody made a favourable impression on all who +came into contact with him. In the quiet heroism with which he faced +his trial and his death there was no suspicion of histrionic effect. +He never flinched, he never cringed, but he died as one would wish all +Englishmen to die--quietly and undramatically, supported in his courage +by the proud consciousness of having done his duty. + +In those early days there was some difference of opinion as to whether +it was sound policy to execute spies and to begin with a patriotic +spy like Lody. We came to wish later on that a distinction could have +been made between the patriotic spy and the hireling who pestered us +through the ensuing years, but on the whole I think that the military +authorities were right. It is an international tradition that spies in +time of war must die, and if we had departed from the tradition the +Germans would not. While the risk of death may appeal to the courageous +national, it was certainly a deterrent to the scum of neutral spies who +were ready to offer their services to either belligerent. + +On 14th February 1915 there arrived in Liverpool another spy not less +courageous and patriotic than Lody, but grotesque in his inefficiency, +and forbidding in his personal appearance. This was Anton Kuppferle, +who was believed to have been a non-commissioned officer in the German +army. How von Papen, who had financed him, could have sent a man so +obviously German, so ignorant of the English language and the American +accent, into an enemy country is incomprehensible. He pretended to be a +commercial traveller in woollen goods, of Dutch extraction, and there +was some slight colour for this in the fact that he had once traded as +a woollen merchant in Brooklyn under the name of Kuppferle & Co. On the +voyage over he was profuse in his conversations with strangers, to whom +he represented himself as an American citizen with business in England. +From Liverpool he wrote a letter to a certain address in Holland, which +was probably the first letter that contained writing in invisible ink. +In this he conveyed information about the war vessels he had seen when +crossing the Atlantic. From Liverpool he went to Dublin, and from +Dublin to London, where he was arrested with all his belongings and +brought to New Scotland Yard. In his luggage was found letter paper +corresponding with that which contained the invisible writing, together +with the materials for communications in secret ink. + +He proved to be a typical German non-commissioned officer, stiff, +abrupt, and uncouth. He made little attempt to explain his movements +and fell back upon monosyllables. By this time the machinery for +substituting civil trials for the military courts-martial was complete, +and when the case was ready he was arraigned at the Old Bailey before +the Lord Chief Justice of England and two other Judges, with all the +trappings that belong to that historic court, even to the herbs that +are scattered about the court in the ancient belief that they averted +the infection of gaol fever, though modern science knows that there +is now no gaol fever to avert, and that herbs would not avert it if +there were. Sir John Simon, the Attorney-General, prosecuted, and Sir +Ernest Wild defended. The evidence produced on the first day left +little doubt of the result of the trial, and the Court rose with the +practical certainty that it would meet again the following morning. But +it never met. During the night in Brixton Prison the chief warder heard +a muffled rapping from Kuppferle’s cell. He dressed himself hastily +and came out into the passage, where he was met by the night warder, +who announced that he could not see Kuppferle in his cell. With the +aid of the master key the door was thrown open, and there they found +the man hanging dead from the cell ventilator. He had tied his silk +handkerchief tightly round his neck and, taking his stand on a heavy +book, had kicked it away from under him. Every effort was made to +restore life by artificial respiration, but in vain. On his cell slate +was found the following message: + + ‘To Whom it may Concern! My name is Kuppferle. _Née_ to (born in) + Sollingen, Rastatt I.B. (Baden). I am a soldier with rank I do not + desire to mention. In regard to my behalf lately I can say that I + have had a fair trial of the U. Kingdom, but I am unable to stand the + strain any longer and take the law in my own hands. I fought many a + battles, and death is only a saviour for me. + + ‘I would have preferred the death to be shot, but do not wish to + ascend the scaffold as (a Masonic sign). I hope the Allmighty + architect of this Universe will lead me into the unknown land in the + East. I am not dying as a spy but as a soldier; my fate I stood as a + man, but cannot be a liar and perjur myself. Kindly I wish permit to + ask to notify my uncle, Ambros Broll, Sollingen, Rastatt, Germany, + and all my estates shall go to him. + + ‘What I done I have done for my country. I shall express my thanks, + and may the Lord bless you all.--Yours, + + ANTON KUPPFERLE.’ + +On the back of the slate was written: + + ‘My age is thirty-one, and I am born June 11th, 1883.’ + +While in Brixton Prison he wrote a letter to another spy awaiting trial +which was confiscated by the authorities: + + ‘DEAR FRIEND,--After my study to-day I cannot refrain from writing + a few words again. Here is the true appearance of that deceitful + friendship. (He referred to our declaration that Belgian paper money + was worthless.) The English refuse credit to her so-called best + friend; so I suppose the fact that Belgium is now in our hands has + nothing to do with the state of things. + + ‘I believe Ypres and neighbourhood have now fallen. If I could only + see the day when the whole British trickery is exposed; England’s + shame must be made known, otherwise there can be no justice. Oh, if I + could only be at the Front again for half an hour! + + ‘That is my sole remaining wish. I shall not admit or say I am a + soldier, or that I know anything about Military matters. + + ‘Our Cavalry has been heard of in Russia for the first time. Of + course, the Cavalry has been used by Infantry Service. Reports have + been made by cycle and telephone, and the latter is of greater + importance. The gas must have a great effect and be distasteful to + the English. In any case, it is a stupefying death and makes them + first vomit, like sea-sickness. It is an easy death, and if the + war lasts for some time many more will be killed by it.’ + +[Illustration: THE PRISON SLATE ON WHICH ANTON KUPPFERLE WROTE HIS LAST +MESSAGE.] + +This letter shows Kuppferle in a less amiable light. He had the true +Prussian mentality. It was believed that in the early days of the War +he had fought on the Western Front: he bore on his face the marks of +a blow which may have been caused by the butt end of a rifle. He was +buried in Streatham Park Cemetery. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +MÜLLER AND OTHERS + + +Early in 1915 the Germans began to organise spy-receiving offices in +Holland. Usually they pretended to be legitimate commercial agencies. +Sometimes one member of a not too prosperous firm of commission agents +would lend his offices for the purpose; sometimes a ‘business’ was +opened in some upper room, where a few samples of cheap cigars and +other goods were on view. Quite early in the year it was discovered +that some foreigner who could write fluent English was sending regular +communications to one of these addresses in a simple secret ink, and it +was evident that he was the sort of person who would find out something +which might at any time be of great use to the enemy. The letters were +posted at various places in London, and there was no clue at all to +the sender’s address. Like all spies, he was continually demanding +money, and it was hoped for some time that a remittance from Holland +would disclose his identity, but in the end the _dénouement_ came +about in quite another way. A letter was intercepted in the Censorship +which disclosed secret writing. It was not in the usual hand, and the +incriminatory words said that ‘C’ had gone to Newcastle, and that the +writer was sending the communication ‘from 201’ instead. I remember +very well the morning when this sentence was shown to me. The postmark +was Deptford. ‘201’ might or might not be the number of a house. We +rang up Deptford Police Station and asked for a list of the streets in +their area which ran to 201 houses. There was only one--Deptford High +Street--and the occupant of that house had a German name, ‘Peter Hahn, +Baker and Confectioner.’ + +No one was more surprised than the stout little baker when a taxi +deposited a number of police officers at his door. He proved to be a +British subject, and to have been resident in Deptford for some years. +While he was being put into the cab a search was made of his premises, +and in a back room the police found a complete outfit for secret +writing neatly stowed away in a cardboard box. + +When seated in my armchair Hahn was not at all communicative. He +professed to know nothing of ‘C,’ and when further pressed he refused +to answer any questions, but patient inquiry among his neighbours +produced a witness who remembered that a tall Russian gentleman had +been visiting Hahn at frequent intervals. His name was believed to +be Müller, and his address a boarding-house in Bloomsbury. This +limited the field of search. The register of every boarding-house +was scrutinised, and within a few hours the police found the name of +Müller; the landlady of the boarding-house confirmed the suggestion +that he was a Russian, and said that he had lately gone to Newcastle +to see some friends. The search was then transferred to Newcastle, and +within a few hours Müller was found, arrested, and brought to London. +He was a tall, spare, worried-looking person, anxious only to have an +opportunity of clearing himself. He had never seen Hahn; had never been +in Germany, and could not even speak the language. For some time he +adhered to the story that he was a Russian. An inquiry into his past +showed that he was one of those cosmopolitan, roving Germans who are +hotel-keepers in one place, commercial travellers in another. At some +time they have all been motor-car agents and touts. He spoke English +with scarcely any trace of a foreign accent. With his glib tongue he +had gone through the usual spy routine of making love to impressionable +young women, and winning acquaintance by the promise of partnership in +profitable speculations. He had some claim for registering himself as +a Russian, for he had been born in Libau and spoke Russian as well as +Flemish, Dutch, French, German, and English. Hahn, on the other hand, +was merely a tool. He had been born in Battersea, and was therefore a +British subject. In 1913 he was a bankrupt with assets of £3 to meet +liabilities of £1800. His object, no doubt, was purely mercenary. As +a British subject he had the right to be tried by civil court, and +therefore, as it was not desirable to have two trials, both he and +Müller were indicted at the Old Bailey in May 1915. Both were found +guilty of espionage. Müller was sentenced to death, and Hahn to seven +years’ penal servitude on the ground that he had been acting under +Müller’s influence. Müller appealed unsuccessfully against his sentence. + +On 22nd June 1915 Müller was removed from Brixton Prison to the +Tower in a taxi-cab, and by a curious fatality the cab broke down in +Upper Thames Street. It was the luncheon hour, and a crowd formed +immediately. A foreigner seated between two military policemen and +going up the street towards the Tower was not lost on the crowd, which +raised a cry of ‘German spy!’ Another taxi was quickly found, and the +journey was resumed without further accident. The condemned man was +highly strung, and he broke down on the night before his execution. +On the following morning he pulled himself together, and insisted on +passing gravely down the firing-party and shaking hands with each +man. The Germans did not hear of his death for some time, for letters +containing remittances continued to be received. + +About the middle of 1915 we learned that on a steamer bound from +Rotterdam to Buenos Aires was an Argentine citizen named Conrad Leyter, +who was believed to be carrying dispatches from Berlin to the German +Embassy in Madrid. Leyter was removed from the steamer and brought to +London. He said he was a shipping clerk, that he had come to Europe for +a holiday, and was now on his way back to Buenos Aires. He gave a long +and rather wearisome account of his holiday adventures in Germany and +Holland, and nothing could be done until the clockwork had run down. +Then we said, ‘But why were you going to Spain?’ There was another +burst of eloquence, but no reply to that particular question. Whenever +he paused for breath he was asked, ‘Why were you going to Spain?’ At +last he could bear it no more. He jumped from his chair and said, +‘Well, if you will know, I am going to Spain, and if you want to know +why, I am carrying a dispatch to Prince Ratibor, the German Ambassador +in Madrid.’ + +‘Thank you. And where is the dispatch?’ + +‘I have not got it. It is sewn up in the life-belt in my cabin.’ + +That was all we wanted to know. Leyter went to an internment camp, the +wireless was got to work, and in due course the dispatch was found in +the life-belt, as he said. It was quite useful. + +Every now and then doubtful persons captured at sea came to us from far +afield. In October 1915 a boarding officer in the Mediterranean, who +was examining passengers on board the blue-funnel liner _Anchises_, +found a man who was carrying a false passport believed to be forged. +He was detained and sent to Egypt. In Cairo the luck was against him. +While he was being interrogated and his imagination was soaring in full +flight, a British officer who had known him in former years chanced +to pass through the room and recognised him. ‘Hullo, von Gumpenberg!’ +he cried, slapping him on the back. After that it was useless to +dissemble, and he gave his name as Baron Otto von Gumpenberg, and said +that he had been squadron commander in the Death’s Head Hussars, and +had been involved in a scandal for which he was arrested and imprisoned +for seven months. On his release he became a vagabond adventurer. In +Constantinople he was aide-de-camp to Enver Pasha; later he attached +himself to Prince Wilhelm of Wied in his futile attempt to govern +Albania. When war broke out he was called back to Germany to serve as +a trooper, and, according to his own account, he served for eighteen +months on the Russian Front with such distinction that when he returned +wounded to Germany his commission was restored to him and he was posted +to the command of a troop at the Front; but at this moment there +happened to be a scheme for stirring up the tribes in North Africa, +and he was dispatched to see what he could do with the Senussi. About +that time the Senussi had captured a number of Italian prisoners, and +von Gumpenberg accounted for being on the _Anchises_ by saying that he +was being sent to the Senussi to obtain the release of these prisoners. +We were impolite enough to express entire disbelief in this story. +Unfortunately, in return for his confession made in Egypt he had been +promised that he would be treated as an officer prisoner of war, and +he had to be interned at Donnington Hall. His real object, no doubt, +was to direct the hostile movements of the Senussi and other tribes +against the Allies. + +The Germans now adopted commerce as the best cover for their agents. +England was to be flooded with commercial travellers, especially +travellers in cigars. The Censor began to pick up messages containing +orders for enormous quantities of cigars for naval ports such as +Portsmouth, Chatham, Devonport, and Dover. The senders turned out to be +furnished with Dutch passports, though their nationality was doubtful. +Now something happened to be known about their supposed employers +in Holland, who kept one little back office in which a few mouldy +samples were exposed, and yet here they were with a traveller in the +Southern Counties and another sending orders from Newcastle. Naval +ratings are not abstainers from tobacco, but they are not known to be +in the habit of consuming large quantities of Havana cigars. One of +the travellers named Haicke Petrus Marinus Janssen and the other named +Wilhelm Johannes Roos were found doing the sights of London. Janssen +was questioned first. He was a self-possessed person of about thirty +years of age, and he claimed to be a sailor. He knew no German, in fact +he had never been in Germany, and, being a Dutchman, he had a dislike +for Germans. Why, he was asked, did his employers, Dierks & Co., engage +a sailor to travel in cigars? To that he had no answer except that he +had been unsuccessful in obtaining a berth as officer on a steamer. A +friend had introduced him to Mr. Dierks because he could speak English +and was looking for work. He said that he was the only traveller that +Dierks had in England. We asked him whether he knew a man named Roos. +‘No,’ he said, he had never heard of him. He was then sent to another +room while Roos was brought in. He, too, was a seaman, a big, powerful +man with the cut of a German seaman. He, too, said that he was a +traveller for Dierks & Co.; that Dierks had two travellers, himself +and Janssen. Would he know Janssen if he saw him? Certainly he would. +Janssen was brought again into the room. He made a faint sign with his +eyes and lips to Roos, but of course it was too late. ‘Is this the man +you say you know?’ he was asked. He nodded, and Janssen was silent. On +the way over to Cannon Row Roos suddenly dashed at a glass door which +opened into the yard, smashed the panes, and jabbed his naked wrists +on the jagged fragments of glass in the hope of cutting an artery. He +was taken to Westminster Hospital to be bandaged, and later was removed +to Brixton Prison, where he was put under observation as a potential +suicide. + +The code used by these men was simple enough. They would send telegrams +for 10,000 Cabañas, 4000 Rothschilds, 3000 Coronas, and so on. A +message telegraphed from Portsmouth of this kind would mean that there +were three battleships, four cruisers, and ten destroyers in the +harbour, and these messages, so interpreted, corresponded with the +actual facts on the dates of the telegrams. Neither man could produce +any evidence that he had transacted _bona fide_ business with his +cigars. They could not produce one genuine order. They were brought +to trial for espionage and were convicted. A few days later both made +confessions. Janssen actually gave some useful information about the +German spy organisation in Holland. He said that his sympathies were +really with us, and he could not understand how he had been tempted to +serve the other side. It appeared that in 1913 he had actually been +granted a silver medal by the Board of Trade for life-saving on the +immigrant steamer, _Volturno_, which was burnt at sea with the loss of +400 lives. Her wireless call for help was responded to by the vessel in +which Janssen was serving, and he, among others, was instrumental in +saving 500 lives. Roos feigned insanity in prison, and it was one of +the pleas put forward by his counsel. There was, however, no medical +support for this plea, and it was arranged that on 30th July both men +should be executed in the Tower. They met their end stoically. Janssen +was shot first. Roos asked as a last favour to be allowed to finish his +cigarette. That done, he threw it away with a gesture as though that +represented all the vanities of this world, and then he sat down in +the chair with quiet unconcern. The news of the execution soon reached +Holland, and the Germans began to find it very difficult to obtain +recruits from neutral countries. + +[Illustration: WILHELM JOHANNES ROOS. AGUSTO ALFREDO ROGGIN. FERNANDO +BUSCHMAN. GEORG BREECKOW.] + +During May and June 1915, in about a fortnight, no less than seven +enemy spies were arrested. The most spectacular were Reginald Roland, +whose real name was Georg T. Breeckow, and Mrs. Lizzie Wertheim. + +Breeckow was the son of a pianoforte manufacturer in Stettin, and he +was himself a pianist. It is curious to reflect that professional +musicians should have formed a respectable proportion of the detected +spies. One would have thought that it was the last class that would be +able to report intelligently on naval and military matters. Breeckow +spoke English fluently, and knew enough Americanisms to pose plausibly +as a rich American travelling in England for his health. Before he +left Holland he was furnished with the address of Lizzie Wertheim, a +German woman who had married a naturalised German and had thus acquired +British nationality. She was a stout and rather flashy-looking person +of the boarding-house type, and she had been in England for some +years. She was separated from her husband, but on terms that made her +independent. She was equally at home in Berlin, the Hague, and London. + +Breeckow, who appeared to be possessed of a considerable sum of money, +was at once accorded a warm welcome. The pair hired horses from a +riding-school, and rode in the Park during the mornings. They took +their luncheon at expensive restaurants, and Lizzie Wertheim became +intoxicated with this kind of life and waxed so extravagant that +Breeckow had to expostulate and report the matter to his employers. She +would no longer travel without a maid. + +It was decided between the two that the best working arrangement would +be for the woman to do the field work, and for Breeckow to work up her +reports in London and dispatch them to Holland. Mrs. Wertheim went to +Scotland, hired a motor-car, and drove about the country picking up +gossip about the Grand Fleet. Her questions to naval officers were, +however, so imprudent that special measures were taken; Breeckow’s +address was discovered, and in due course the two were brought to New +Scotland Yard for interrogation. The artistic temperament of Breeckow +was not equal to the ordeal. His pretence of being a rich American +broke down immediately, and he was aghast to find out how much the +police knew about his secret movements. Though he made no confession, +he returned to Cannon Row in a state of great nervous tension. Lizzie +Wertheim, on the other hand, was tough, brazen, and impudent, claiming +that as a British subject she had a right to travel where she would. +She declined to sit still in her chair, but walked up and down the +room, flirting a large silk handkerchief as if she was practising a +new dancing step. Further inquiries showed that, unlike the previous +American passports carried by spies, which were genuine documents +stolen by the German Foreign Office, this passport was a forgery right +through. The American Eagle on the official seal had his claws turned +round the wrong way, and his tail lacked a feather or two. The very red +paper on which the seal was impressed did not behave like the paper on +genuine documents when touched with acid, nor was the texture of the +passport paper itself quite the same. It also transpired that Breeckow +had been in America continuously from 1908, that he had got into touch +with von Papen’s organisation, which had sent him back to Germany for +service in this country. For this purpose he became an inmate of the +Espionage School in Antwerp, where he was taught the tricks of the +trade, which were quite familiar to us. He had also a commercial code +for use when telegrams had to be sent. + +Breeckow had maintained throughout that he knew no German, but his +assurance began to break down in the loneliness of a prison cell. He +had a strong imagination, and no doubt the thought that his female +accomplice might be betraying him worked strongly on his feelings. One +morning I went over with a naval officer to see how he was. There was a +question about signing for his property, and he was sent into the room +for the purpose. When he found himself alone with us he said suddenly, +‘Am I to be tried for my life?’ + +‘I understand that you are to be tried.’ + +‘What is the penalty for what I have done?’ (Up to this point he had +made no confession.) ‘Is it death?’ + +‘I do not know,’ I said. ‘You have not yet been tried.’ + +‘I can tell from your face that it is death. I must know. I have to +think of my old mother in Stettin. I want to write a full confession.’ +I told him that of course he was free to write what he pleased, but +that anything he did write would almost certainly be used against him +at his trial. ‘Never mind,’ he said, ‘I have carried the secret long +enough. Now I want to tell the whole truth.’ + +So paper and ink were supplied to him, and he wrote his confession. + +As Mrs. Wertheim was a British subject and could claim trial by civil +court the two were tried together at the Old Bailey on 20th September +before three Judges of the High Court, and were found guilty. Breeckow +was sentenced to death and Mrs. Wertheim to ten years’ penal servitude, +as it was considered that she had acted under the man’s influence. +Breeckow appealed unsuccessfully, and his execution was fixed for 26th +October at the Tower. The five weeks that elapsed between the sentence +and the execution were extremely trying to the persons responsible for +his safety. He had broken down completely, and was demented by fear. On +the morning of his execution he was almost in a state of collapse. At +the last moment he produced a lady’s handkerchief, probably the relic +of some past love-affair, and asked that it might be tied over his +eyes instead of the usual bandage, but it was too small. It had to be +knotted to the bandage and then tied. He was shivering with agitation, +and just before the shots were fired there was a sudden spasm. It was +believed afterwards that he had actually died of heart failure before +the bullets reached him. + +Lizzie Wertheim was removed to Aylesbury Convict Prison to undergo her +sentence, and there she died some two years after the Armistice. + +Of all the spies that were convicted and executed the man for whom I +felt most sorry was Fernando Buschman. He was a gentleman by birth, +he had no need of money, for he was married to the daughter of a rich +soap manufacturer in Dresden, who had kept him liberally supplied with +funds for his studies in aviation. He was quite a good violinist, and +he had all the instincts of a cultivated musician. He was of German +origin, but his father had become a naturalised Brazilian, and he +himself had Latin blood in his veins. He was born in Paris, but his +boyhood was spent in Brazil, where he attended a German school. He +had invented an aeroplane, and in 1911 the French Government allowed +him to use the aerodrome at Issy for experimental purposes. For the +three years before the War he had been travelling all over Europe, +and when hostilities broke out the German Secret Service got hold +of him. He had been to Spain, to Genoa, and to Hamburg, and in 1915 +he was in Barcelona and Madrid, and then in Flushing, Antwerp, and +Rotterdam. It speaks volumes for the stupidity of the directors of the +German Espionage School in Antwerp that they should have selected as a +disguise for such a man as Buschman the role of commercial traveller. +The imposture was bound to be discovered at once. He was far too well +dressed and well spoken, and he knew nothing whatever about trade. He +arrived in London with a forged passport, and put up at a good hotel +with his violin, not usually part of the luggage of a commercial +traveller. After a few days he moved to lodgings in Loughborough +Road, Brixton, and thence to lodgings in South Kensington. This he +thought was enough to fit him for moving about in England. He visited +Portsmouth and Southampton, and from certain minute notes found among +his papers it became evident that his one qualification--his knowledge +of aeronautics--was not to be turned to account: he was to be employed +as a naval spy. Unfortunately for him he ran short of money, and was +compelled to write to Holland for fresh supplies. He was arrested at +his lodgings in South Kensington, and was found to be quite penniless. +When the detective arrived he said, ‘What have you against me? I will +show you everything.’ Then he reeled off his lesson. He was in England +for the purpose of selling cheese, bananas, potatoes, safety razors, +and odds and ends, and in France he had sold picric acid, cloth, and +rifles. He implied that his employers did a miscellaneous business +almost unrivalled in commercial annals, but when he said that they were +Dierks & Co., of the Hague, we pointed out that they occupied one room +and were cigar merchants. Moreover, it was found that his passport was +written in the well-known handwriting of Flores, who used to instruct +German spies in Rotterdam. This man had been a schoolmaster, and his +characteristic handwriting was well known. There was also a letter from +Gneist, the German Consul General in Rotterdam, from Colonel Ostertag, +the German Military Attaché in Holland, and from two persons who were +known to be active in recruiting for the German Secret Service. He +was tried at the Westminster Guildhall on 20th September 1915, the +day of the trial of Breeckow and Mrs. Wertheim at the Old Bailey, and +was sentenced to death. I know that persons who were present at the +trial were impressed by his manly bearing and his frankness. After his +sentence he was not separated from his violin. It was his great solace +through the long hours of waiting. He asked for it again on his removal +to the Tower on the night before his execution, and played till a late +hour. When they came for him in the morning he picked it up and kissed +it, saying, ‘Good-bye, I shall not want you any more.’ He refused to +have his eyes bandaged, and faced the rifles with a courageous smile. +How differently the artistic temperament works in men and women! + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE HIRELING SPY + + +Having failed with Germans, the enemy now turned to South America for +their spies. The large German colony in Central and South America was +an excellent recruiting-ground. In June 1915, a few days after the +capture of Fernando Buschman, two postcards addressed to Rotterdam +attracted the attention of the Postal Censor. They announced merely +that the writer had arrived in England and was ready to begin work. +The postmark was Edinburgh. The police in Scotland were set to work, +and a few days later they detained at Loch Lomond a native of Uruguay, +who gave his name as Agusto Alfredo Roggin. He was a neat, dark little +man, not at all like a German, though he admitted that his father was a +German naturalised in Uruguay in 1885, and that he himself was married +to a German woman. Unlike many of the spies, he did not pretend that +his sympathies were with the Allies. His account of himself was that +he had come to England to buy agricultural implements and stock; that +his health was not very good, and that Loch Lomond had been recommended +to him as a health resort. He spoke English fluently. According to his +admissions, he had been in Hamburg as lately as March 1914, and was in +Switzerland just before war broke out. In May he was sent to Amsterdam +and Rotterdam, probably to receive instructions in the School of +Espionage. He arrived at Tilbury from Holland on 30th May, and after +staying for five days in London, where he asked quotations for horses +and cattle, he went north. So far he had transacted no business. + +As a spy he was one of the most inept that could have been chosen. +Even on the journey north from King’s Cross he asked so many questions +of casual acquaintances that they became suspicious, and took upon +themselves to warn him not to go anywhere near the coast. In fact, +they were so hostile that he left the compartment at Lincoln and +spent the night there. Nor was his reception in Edinburgh any more +auspicious. When he came to register with the police he was put through +a searching inquiry. He was very careful to tell every one at Loch +Lomond that he had come for the fishing, but it chanced at that moment +that certain torpedo experiments were being carried out in the loch, +and the presence of foreigners at once gave rise to suspicion. The +sending of the two postcards was quite in accordance with ordinary +German espionage practice. In order to divert suspicion the spies were +instructed to send harmless postcards in English addressed to different +places. Moreover, a bottle of a certain chemical secret ink was found +in his luggage. He was tried on 20th August, found guilty, and executed +at the Tower on 17th September. He went to his death with admirable +courage, and declined to have his eyes bandaged when he faced the +firing-party. Some time after his execution a Dr. Emilio Roggin was +removed from a steamer bound from Holland to South America. He turned +out to be the brother of the dead spy, and was greatly distressed at +the news of what had befallen him. It transpired that he was in Germany +on the outbreak of war, and had been compelled by the German Government +to serve as a medical officer with the troops in the field. It had +taken nearly two years for him to obtain his release, and he was now +on his way back to Uruguay. + +Roggin was at large in England only for eleven days, and therefore +he was unable to send any information of value to his employers. +Nevertheless, he was a hired spy, and it was at that time most +necessary to make the business of espionage so dangerous that recruits +would be difficult to get. + +About the same time a well-educated and well-connected Swede of between +fifty and sixty years of age named Ernst Waldemar Melin arrived in +this country. He had been a rolling-stone all his life. At one time +he had managed a Steamship Company at Gothenburg, in Sweden, and then +on the breakdown of his health he began to travel all over the world. +He had found casual employment in London, Paris, and Copenhagen, and +at the beginning of the War he found himself in Hamburg without any +means of subsistence. He applied, without success, to his relations, +and then, hearing that there was plenty of remunerative work to be +had in Antwerp, he went to Belgium with the genuine desire to obtain +honest employment. There at a café he came into touch with one of +the espionage recruiting agents, who were always on the look-out for +English-speaking neutrals. At first, according to his own account, +he resisted the temptation, but at last, being utterly penniless, he +succumbed and was sent to the Espionage Schools in Wesel and Antwerp. +At Rotterdam he received his passport and the addresses to which he +was to send his communications. He put up in a boarding-house in +Hampstead as a Dutchman whose business had been ruined by the German +submarine campaign, and who was anxious to obtain employment in a +shipping-office. He made himself agreeable to his fellow-lodgers, who +fully accepted his story. He was under police suspicion from the +first, but there could be no confirmation until he began to write. +His first communications were written on the margin of newspapers, a +method which the Germans had then begun to adopt. He took his arrest +quite philosophically. Fortune had dealt him so many adverse strokes +that she could not take him unaware. A search of his room brought to +light the usual stock-in-trade at that time--the materials for secret +writing and a number of foreign dictionaries used as codes, as well as +a Baedeker. He made a clean breast of his business, protesting that he +had no real intention of supplying the Germans with useful information. +All he meant to do was to send some quite valueless messages that +would procure for him a regular supply of funds. He was tried by +court-martial on 20th and 21st August. His counsel urged that he had +sent nothing to the enemy which could not have been obtained from +newspapers, but he could not, of course, put forward the plea that he +was not a spy. Melin took this last stroke of fortune like a gentleman. +He gave no trouble, and when the time came he shook hands with the +guard, thanking them for their many kindnesses, and died without any +attempt at heroics. + +One German agent was discovered through the purest accident. It was +apparently the practice at that time for the Germans to make use +of ex-criminals on condition that they undertook espionage in an +enemy country. It chanced that some postal official in Denmark had +mis-sorted a letter addressed from Copenhagen to Berlin, and slipped +it by mistake into the bag intended for London, and this letter was +written in German by a man who said he was about to start for England +under the disguise of a traveller in patent gas-lighters, in order to +collect military and naval information. The letter was already some +weeks old, and there was no clue beyond the fact that some person +might be in the country attempting to sell gas-lighters. A search of +the landing records was at once instituted, and it was found that at +Newcastle at that very moment a young man named Rosenthal was on board +a steamer about to sail for Copenhagen, after making a tour with his +gas-lighters in Scotland. In another hour he would have been outside +the three-mile limit and out of reach of the law. He proved to be a +young man of excitable temperament and a Jew. He was very glib in his +denials: he had never lived in Copenhagen, he was not a German, he knew +nothing about the hotel from which the letter had been written. It was +growing dusk, and so far the letter had not been read to him, but he +had given me a specimen of his handwriting, which corresponded exactly +with that of the letter. Then I produced it and read it to him. While +I was reading there was a sharp movement from the chair and a click of +the heels. I looked up, and there was Rosenthal standing to attention +like a soldier. ‘I confess everything. I am a German soldier.’ But +the remarkable part of this story was that he was never a soldier at +all. On a sudden impulse he had tried to wrap his mean existence in a +cloak of patriotic respectability. Subsequent inquiry showed that his +full name was Robert Rosenthal, a German born in Magdeburg in 1892. As +a boy he had been apprenticed to a baker in Cassel. He disliked the +work, returned to Magdeburg, and at a quite early age was sentenced to +three months’ imprisonment for forgery. After his discharge he became a +rolling-stone, and went to sea, but he was in Hamburg on the outbreak +of war, and was engaged for a time by the American Relief Commission. +It is not clear whether he was actually liberated from prison for the +purpose of espionage, but espionage was the kind of work for which +undoubtedly he was most suited. It was not surprising that such a man +should try to save his life by offering to disclose the methods of his +employers. + +When he found that acquittal was hopeless he tried to carry off the +pretence of patriotism at his trial, but after his conviction he made +two unsuccessful attempts to commit suicide. Unlike the other spies, he +was sentenced to be hanged, and was executed on 5th July 1915. He had +some ability, for he wrote English very well and was profuse in written +accounts of his adventures. + +The next spy to be arrested in England was a Peruvian whose father was +a Scandinavian. Ludovico Hurwitz-y-Zender was a genuine commercial +traveller, though far better educated than most men of his calling. In +August 1914 he went to the United States with the intention of coming +to Europe on business, for he was already the representative of several +European firms in Peru. Probably it was not until his arrival in Norway +that he got into touch with the German Secret Service agents, who were +then offering high pay for persons with the proper qualifications who +would work for them in England. It happened that the Cable Censor began +to notice messages addressed to Christiania ordering large quantities +of sardines. Now, it was the wrong season for sardine-canning, and +inquiries were at once made in Norway about the _bona fides_ of the +merchant to whom the messages were addressed. He turned out to be +a person with no regular business, who had frequently been seen in +conversation with the German Consul. The messages were then closely +examined for some indication of a code. They had been dispatched by +Zender. On 2nd July Zender was arrested at Newcastle, where he had made +no secret of his presence. He professed great surprise that there +was any suspicion against him, and freely admitted that he had been +at Newcastle, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. In none of these places did he +appear to have transacted any real business, and on account of the +season the experts in sardines laughed to scorn his suggestion that his +order for canned fish was genuine. When all arrangements had been made +for his trial by court-martial Zender demanded that certain witnesses +should be brought from South America for his defence. The proceedings +were therefore postponed for eight months, and it was not until 20th +March 1916 that it was possible to bring him to trial. The witnesses +that had been brought at great trouble and expense could really say +nothing in his favour, and in due course he was found guilty and +executed in the Tower on 11th April, nine months after the date of his +arrest. Zender was the last German spy to be executed in this country +during the War. Others were tried and convicted, but for various +reasons the death sentences were commuted to penal servitude for life. + +It became evident throughout the War that the only form of espionage +that is really worth undertaking is the gathering of intelligence just +behind the enemy lines and on the lines of communication. To be of any +real value in an enemy country a spy must be highly-placed. The enemy +must, in fact, buy some one who is in naval and military secrets, for +even the ordinary citizen of the country is very rarely in a position +to give useful information. As the War dragged on the Germans became +increasingly concerned with the question of morale. They had based +their air-raids and their submarine campaign upon false reading of the +British character. They thought that they were breaking down the war +spirit, and that it was becoming evident that the British would be +tired of the War before they were. + +Perhaps the most astonishing figure that bubbled up to the surface +during the War was that of Ignatius Timothy Trebitsch Lincoln. That a +Hungarian Jew should succeed in being by turns a journalist, a Church +of England clergyman, and a Member of Parliament in England shows an +astonishing combination of qualities. His original name appears to +have been Trebitsch. He was born at Paks, on the Danube, about 1875. +His father, a prosperous Jewish merchant, had started a shipbuilding +business, and Ignatius was intended to enter the Jewish Church. He +made a study of languages, and when he was little more than twenty he +visited London. On his return to Hungary there were quarrels between +father and son, and in 1899 Ignatius went to Hamburg and was received +into the Lutheran Church. Later he crossed to Canada to assist in a +Presbyterian mission to the Jews, and when that mission was transferred +to the Church of England Trebitsch changed his denomination. He had +a gift of oratory, and made some impression in Canada. When he came +back to Europe he applied for an English curacy, was ordained and +appointed to the parish of Appledore in Kent. It cannot be said that +he was a successful curate. Probably fiery oratory in a strong foreign +accent would not have appealed to a Kentish congregation under any +circumstances. He left his curacy and went to London, where for some +two years he supported himself as a journalist. + +About 1906 he came into touch with Mr. Seebohm Rowntree, who was so +much impressed with his abilities that he engaged him as his private +secretary. Mr. Rowntree was at that time in close touch with the +leading Liberals, and this brought Lincoln, as he then was, into +constant communication with the organisers of the party, who at last +put him up to contest the Unionist constituency of Darlington in the +Liberal interest. Who can fail to admire the audacity with which this +election was successfully fought? + +The House of Commons is no more impressed with fiery oratory in a +foreign accent than a Kentish congregation, and Mr. Lincoln was glad +to absent himself from the House in order to undertake an inquiry into +economic conditions on the Continent, which would bring him into close +communication with notable personages, for high politics had fired his +imagination, and he began to regard himself as destined to become one +of the future great figures in European history. + +I do not think that when the War broke out Lincoln had any idea of +giving information to the enemy. He had lost his seat in the House of +Commons, and he was in financial straits, but his first inclination +was undoubtedly to offer his services to England. The first step was +to apply for a position in the Censorship for Hungarian and Roumanian +correspondence, and for the short time of his employment he is believed +to have done his work conscientiously, but he was not popular with his +colleagues, and their treatment of his friendly overtures must have +galled him. The iron entered into his soul, and from that time he was +definitely anti-British in his sympathies. + +His first act of disloyalty was to attempt to obtain admission into our +own Intelligence organisation. He professed to be able to tempt the +German Fleet out into the North Sea, where it could be destroyed, and +for that purpose he proposed to cross to Holland and offer his services +to the German Consul. Though his application was rejected, he did +succeed in obtaining a passport, and on 18th December 1914 he arrived +in Rotterdam. The German Consul, Gneist, was a very active espionage +agent, and Lincoln appears to have made some impression upon him at +first, for he did entrust to him some valueless information to carry +back with him to England. With this he again pestered the authorities +to take him into the Intelligence Service, but he was so coldly +received that he took alarm and left for New York on 9th February. +Here he made a living of some kind by journalism, in ignorance of the +fact that the authorities in England were investigating a certain +signature to a draft for £700. It transpired that Lincoln had forged +Mr. Seebohm Rowntree’s name for that amount. Chief Inspector Ward, +who was afterwards killed by a Zeppelin bomb, was sent over to the +United States in connection with the extradition proceedings, and on +4th August 1916, Lincoln was arrested. After the usual delays in such +cases he was brought to England, was tried at the Old Bailey, and +received a sentence of three years’ penal servitude. When his sentence +expired in the summer of 1919 it was intended to send him back to his +own country, but at that time Bela Kun was in power and the plan had +to be deferred. When the Communist Government fell the deportation +was carried out, and in September 1919 Lincoln found himself again +in Buda-Pesth. The atmosphere of that city, just recovering from the +Communist orgy of misrule, did not suit him. He went to Berlin, and +renewed his acquaintance there with Count Bernstorff, the former German +Ambassador at the United States. It is said in Germany that the extreme +Right will swallow anything. Their political sagacity has never been +conspicuous. Kapp was at the moment secretly preparing for his Putsch, +and it surprised no one when it was reported that Ignatius Timothy +Trebitsch Lincoln had solemnly been appointed Propaganda Agent to the +short-lived Kapp Government. How many days the appointment lasted is +not quite certain, but apparently even Colonel Bauer found him more +than he could manage. The troubled waters of Central Europe are the +only fishing ground in which a man such as Lincoln could hope to make a +living. We may even hear of him again. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE LAST EXECUTIONS + + +Irving Guy Ries was a German-American who had been recruited by the +Germans in New York. He landed at Liverpool in the guise of a corn +merchant, though in private life he was actually a film operator. After +a few days spent at a hotel in the Strand he, too, visited Newcastle, +Glasgow, and Edinburgh, and went through the routine of calling upon +a number of produce merchants as an excuse for his journey, but, like +the other spies, he did no genuine business with them. He returned to +his hotel in London on 28th July after a fortnight spent in the north. +He was more careful than most of the other spies, for he preserved +copies of every business letter that he wrote. Unfortunately for him, +his employers had not kept him properly supplied with money, and by ill +chance the Censor intercepted a letter addressed to him from Holland +which contained the exact amount of the remittance usually made to +spies. Ries carried an American passport, and the first step taken was +to ask the American authorities to withdraw from him his passport in +order that it might be examined by experts. It proved to be forged, +and on 19th August late at night the police went to Ries’s hotel and +arrested him just as he was going to bed. + +He was a grave and measured person who answered all my questions very +deliberately and thoughtfully. On one point he refused altogether to be +drawn. He would not tell his true name, but he explained that this was +only because if the name ever came to be published it would give pain +to his relations. About his movements he was frank enough. He explained +that he would have already left for Copenhagen if the Americans had +not required him to surrender his passport. Among his effects was +found a letter from Rotterdam, directing him to meet a certain person +in Copenhagen and report to him the result of his investigations in +England. He was asked to account for this, and he immediately dropped +all the pretence that he was in this country on genuine business. ‘I +am in your power,’ he said; ‘do what you like with me.’ There was +no doubt whatever that he was a spy, but his case differed from the +others in the fact that it could not be shown that he had ever sent +information to the enemy. In fact, it seemed clear that the Germans +were adopting new tactics, and that they intended in future to send +spies on flying visits to England, and get them to come and report the +result of their observations verbally. He was tried on 4th October, was +found guilty, and sentenced to death. He took his condemnation with +perfect philosophy. He spent all his time in reading, and he gave his +guards the impression that he was a man who had divested himself of all +earthly cares and felt himself to lie under the hand of Fate. If he +expected that the American Government would press for a reprieve and +would be successful he never showed it. + +On 26th October he was removed to the Tower, and as soon as he knew +that a date was fixed for his execution he called for writing materials +and made a full confession, giving at the same time his true name. +This, of course, cannot be published in view of the considerations that +had made him conceal it when he was arrested. He was permitted to shake +hands with the firing-party, and he said, ‘You are only doing your +duty, as I have done mine.’ + +I have said that throughout the War there was no case of espionage by +any Englishman, but there was one curious exception. In November 1917, +it came to our knowledge that a young bluejacket who had deserted his +ship in Spain had gone straight to the German authorities in Madrid, +and given them such naval information as a bluejacket might be in +possession of. He had then given himself up as a deserter, and had been +discharged from the service. He had since obtained work in a munition +factory in the north of England near his home. He was arrested at +Barrow and sent to London, and so uneasy was the Labour situation at +the time that a strike was immediately threatened until the nature of +the charge was explained to the responsible leaders. + +The young man did not attempt to deny the charge. He was the youngest +of a family who were all serving in the War in some form. His +explanation was that he went to the Germans in Spain in order to find +out their military secrets but, though there could be no doubt about +the facts, there was doubt about his mental condition, and as his +family made themselves responsible for his future good behaviour he was +discharged to their care. + +Courtenay Henslop de Rysbach was a British subject, but his father was +an Austrian naturalised in this country. De Rysbach was a music-hall +artist, who, on the outbreak of war, had an engagement in Germany. He +was a comedian, one of those who can sing and juggle and play tricks on +bicycles. Like the other foreigners, he was swept into Ruhleben, and +when the Germans separated those who favoured Germany from the others +and accorded them better treatment he began to listen to suggestions +that he should undertake work for the enemy. He was removed to Berlin +to undergo a course of training. From Berlin he went to Zurich and to +Paris in the guise of a British subject who had been released from +internment on account of his health. He landed at Folkestone on 27th +June, and at once found himself free to move about the country without +restriction. + +One day the Postal Censor detained two songs addressed to a man in +Zurich. One was called ‘The Ladder of Love’ and the other, ‘On the way +to Dublin Town.’ The songs were signed ‘Jack Cummings, Palace Theatre, +London.’ No such person existed, and for some time there was nothing +to indicate the sender. An examination of the songs with a suitable +developer brought up between the bars of music an account of what the +writer had seen in this country. De Rysbach was then appearing at a +local music-hall in Glasgow with a female trick cyclist. As soon as +his identity with Jack Cummings was established he was brought to +London and put through a detailed examination. It transpired that +after his arrival in this country he had attempted to obtain a post +in the Censorship, though employment in that department can scarcely +have been more remunerative than his earnings in the music-halls. He +told us that with a view of gaining his liberty he had promised to +serve the Germans, though he never intended to fulfil his promise. He +admitted that he had been supplied with a secret ink made up in the +form of an ointment, but declared that he had thrown it away while +crossing Lake Constance, and had kept only one tube as a souvenir. +Being a British subject he was tried at the Old Bailey before a judge +and jury. The jurymen were so far impressed with his story that they +disagreed. Probably he expected then that he would be released, but +he soon found that he was to undergo a new trial. In October 1915 he +was found guilty and sentenced to penal servitude for life, though his +guilt was really greater than that of several of the spies who had been +executed. His name was not made public at the time; only the fact that +a British subject had been found guilty of espionage was disclosed, and +the newspapers began to wonder why a British spy had been so leniently +treated. Soon after his sentence de Rysbach offered to give much fuller +information about the German espionage methods on condition that he was +released. His offer was not accepted. + +De Rysbach was not the only Ruhleben prisoner of whom the Germans made +use. Among the British subjects interned were, of course, certain +Germans who had been naturalised in this country. Among these was a +German-Jew--we will call him Preiznitser--whose history is instructive. +He came over to England as a boy, and in furtherance of his ambition +he obtained naturalisation. He married an Englishwoman, and rose to be +manager of his company. In the course of business he was in Germany on +the outbreak of war. It is doubtful whether he had any real national +allegiance at all, but certain unguarded utterances had aroused the +suspicions of his fellow-prisoners, who made a clandestine examination +of his personal effects. Among these were discovered copies of articles +apparently furnished to German newspapers, abusing the allies, and +particularly the British. There was one paper, evidently the copy +of a letter, in which he suggested that he should act as a guide to +Zeppelins attacking England, on account of his intimate knowledge of +the English roads through motoring in the course of business. + +A few days before this Preiznitser had disappeared from the prison, +and it soon became known among the prisoners that the Germans had +released him. Some of the British then made it their business to have +the copies of Preiznitser’s incriminating letters conveyed to me. After +some weeks, for some unexplained reason, the Germans put Preiznitser +back in Ruhleben, and it may well be understood that his reception +was neither flattering nor cordial. In fact, his life became such a +hell that he determined to escape. That was his story. How far it was +true, how far the Germans connived at his escaping it was impossible to +determine, but he did arrive in England and he did present himself at +my office, without knowing that I had in my possession copies of his +letters written from Ruhleben. It was there that he told the marvellous +story of his escape. + +All went well until I produced his letters and read them to him. He was +abashed for a moment, but only for a moment. His explanation was that +his object in offering to guide Zeppelins to England was to be sent +over here in order to offer his services to the Air Ministry as a guide +for aeroplanes bombing Germany. I think that during the War I never +met a more loathsome type of international. He was ready to serve any +and every master if only it should be to the advantage of Lionel Max +Preiznitser. And we could do nothing more drastic than intern him until +the end of the War. + +The spy who made the worst impression was Albert Meyer, a Jew, with a +very mean history. He was one of those young scoundrels who live upon +women, defraud their landladies, and cheat their employers. A letter +was stopped in the Censorship which proved on examination to be full of +secret writing. The name and address of the sender were false. There +was nothing to do but to sit down and wait. During the next few weeks +many more of these letters were stopped in the same handwriting, +but with different names and addresses. All that could be gathered +from them was that the writer was of foreign nationality, and that +he was living somewhere in London. After a long and patient search a +little Jew of uncertain nationality named Albert Meyer was arrested +in a lodging-house. He had been moving from one lodging-house to +another, promising the landladies that he would pay them as soon as his +remittances arrived from ‘his parents abroad.’ He was living the kind +of life which spies affect--dining one day in an expensive restaurant +and the next, when the money was exhausted, begging a meal from an +acquaintance. He could not even keep faith with his employers, for his +communications contained a mass of fictitious information. When he was +required to furnish a specimen of his handwriting, and the similarity +with the writing in the letters was pointed out to him, he explained it +by saying that it had been the malicious work of a so-called friend, +and the invisible ink found in his possession had been also planted on +him by this ‘friend.’ He was tried by court-martial on 5th November and +sentenced to death. His end was characteristic. He had behaved quietly +during the weeks that followed his sentence, but as soon as he knew his +fate and was taken from his cell to the place of execution he struck up +the tune of ‘Tipperary.’ On reaching the miniature rifle-range he burst +into a torrent of blasphemy, and he had to be placed forcibly in the +chair and strapped in. He tore the bandage from his eyes, and was still +struggling when he died. + +The most curious and ineffective of the German spies during the War +was Alfred Hagn, a young Norwegian whom we arrested on 24th May 1917. +He was one of those young people who write novels, paint Futurist +pictures, compose startling poetry and prose for the magazines, and +fail to arrive anywhere. He had gone to America in the hope of selling +his pictures, and had returned penniless in 1916. We were afterwards +told that his parents, who were in quite humble circumstances, were +really to blame for his misfortunes. They had educated him above his +station, and filled him with the belief that he was destined to become +a great artist. + +In the autumn of 1916, while he was trying to dispose of some of his +pictures in Norway, he met a German painter named Lavendel and a member +of the German Intelligence who called himself Harthern. To those men he +related to what straits he was reduced, and they suggested to him in +a joking manner that he should go to England as an agent. He rejected +this suggestion at the time, but later, on the assurance of Harthern +that, as a correspondent of a Norwegian newspaper, he was not at all +likely to be suspected, he consented. He approached the editor of a +daily paper, offering to act as special correspondent, and the low +price which he was prepared to accept for his articles, which were to +be contributed free of any claim for expenses, clinched the matter. He +arrived in England on 10th October, and for some weeks gave no ground +for suspicion. He wrote a few articles for his Norwegian newspaper, and +then returned to Norway. Here the German agents again got hold of him. +His money had run short, and there was nothing for it but to undertake +another trip. His second arrival was on 13th April 1917. He went to a +boarding-house in Tavistock Square. Here he appears to have excited +suspicion by his taciturnity. An Italian professor who was staying in +the same house came to the conclusion that a man who had evidently so +much on his mind must be a German spy. While at this boarding-house he +received a notice calling him to join the Colours, which had been sent +under the impression that he was a British subject. He called at the +recruiting office to explain that he was not liable. + +It was to the Italian professor that the credit for unmasking Hagn’s +real employment was due. He was so convinced by his conduct in the +hotel that he called at the nearest police station to denounce him +as a German spy. There were many hundreds of such denunciations, but +they were all passed to the proper department. A careful examination +was made of the documents produced by Hagn when he received permission +to land in this country. Though there was nothing incriminating in +these there was some reason for suspecting that he might be using a +new secret ink. His room was visited, and on the table was noticed a +bottle labelled ‘Throat Gargle.’ A little of the liquid was abstracted +for analysis, and it proved to be an ink with which invisible writing +might be produced. On 24th May, therefore, Hagn was taken into custody. +He took his arrest quite calmly. In fact, he behaved as if he had +been expecting it. When a search was made of his effects the police +discovered pieces of cotton-wool bearing traces of ammonia, a drug +which had to be used with this ink. In examination it transpired that +he had written only two or three articles, for which he received £2 +a piece, and that his expenses in England had come to much more than +this. He could not account for the source of his livelihood, but in +the end he broke down and admitted everything. He told us that his +mission was to obtain particulars of the alleged misuse of hospital +ships: probably he had not sent the Germans anything of importance. +It transpired that among other things he had made application for +permission to visit the Western Front on behalf of his newspaper. + +He was brought to trial on 27th August 1917, when his counsel told the +whole of his unhappy story. He had been a spoilt child, whose every +whim had been indulged by his parents. All went well while his father +lived, but at his death the mother was left nearly destitute. She +brought her son back to Norway in the hope that he would be able to +support her, but what can a Futurist artist, whose pictures no one will +buy, do to support himself, much less a dependent? And, to crown his +troubles, Hagn was suffering from unrequited love. His death sentence +was afterwards commuted to imprisonment for life. He gave no trouble in +Maidstone Prison for two years, and then he went on hunger-strike--not +for the usual reason of forcing the hands of the authorities, but +because he had become convinced that such a wretch as he had no longer +the right to cumber the earth. It was a form of delusional insanity. +Counsel was taken with the Norwegian Government, and on 13th September +1919 he was sent back to Norway on an undertaking that he would never +come to England again. + +After Hagn’s conviction there was a lull. A good many suspects were +interned or deported during 1917, but it was not until September that +another real spy landed in England. José de Patrocinio, a Brazilian +half-caste, the son of a well-known negro journalist in Brazil who had +been largely concerned in the liberation of the slaves, arrived at +Gravesend from Flushing. He cut so unsatisfactory a figure while he was +being questioned that the port authorities felt sure that he was a spy. +He was taxed with it, and almost immediately he made a confession. + +According to his story, he had gone to Paris in 1913 as a correspondent +for a newspaper, and while there he had been offered an appointment as +attaché to the Brazilian Consulate. In 1916, however, his appointment +came to an end, and he found himself in Amsterdam short of funds and +with a wife to support. He was actually considering how he could get +money enough for returning to Brazil when a German agent came into +touch with him. To this man he related all the squalid little details +of his struggle to accumulate sufficient money for his passage. The +next day a man named Loebel, afterwards known as a recruiter of spies, +began to talk about his approaching visit to Brazil. ‘How are you +going?’ he asked. ‘There are no Dutch boats.’ Patrocinio told him that +he would go first to the United States and thence to South America. +Loebel said that in his opinion it was a stupid plan. He might make +a great deal of money if he stayed in Europe. In the end Patrocinio +promised to be in the same café at a fixed hour the next day in order +to be introduced to a person who would put him in the way of making +this money. + +The new-comer turned out to be a sallow, swarthy person with +ingratiating manners, who wore spectacles and perpetually rubbed +his hands. He gave his name as Levy, and declared himself to be a +Brazilian. Patrocinio thereupon addressed him in Portuguese, and was +immediately aware that whatever Levy’s nationality might be he was not +a Brazilian. Levy went on to say that he had been born at Rio Grande +do Sul, but on hearing that his Portuguese accent was not all that +it should be, he said, quite unabashed, ‘Oh, but I am a naturalised +Brazilian.’ Then Patrocinio pressed his questions, and said at last, +‘You see, you have never been to Brazil at all.’ Mr. Levy was not in +the least abashed. He laughed and said, ‘You are very clever. You are +just the kind of man I want.’ He then told him he was a Swiss, but +wanted a Brazilian passport with which to go to England, and would +pay a great deal of money for such a passport. In the subsequent +conversation about the use of fraudulent passports, Levy whispered to +him, ‘I can put you in the way of getting a thousand pounds,’ and then, +a little later, ‘How would you like to look after my affairs in England +and France?’ + +‘You see, I know nothing about your business.’ + +‘You are an intelligent man. If you want to earn a thousand pounds try +to find out where the next offensive in France will take place.’ + +According to Patrocinio, he decided at that moment to track down this +ingratiating and shameless person as a service for the Allies and for +Brazil. That was an oft-told tale. According to his story, he then +asked Levy how he could communicate such information even if he found +it out. + +‘I will tell you everything. I am specially employed by the police in +Berlin. If you are faithful to us we can protect you both in France and +in England, and if you are willing to obtain this information we will +give you a secret ink in which you can write your messages in perfect +safety, and we can give you addresses which no one will suspect.’ + +Patrocinio asked for the ink. + +‘Oh, I don’t carry that about with me. Come and see me again at +Loebel’s house and we will have another talk.’ + +Late in the evening he met the two men again, as arranged, and Levy +said, ‘You must not go unwillingly. There is plenty of time to draw +back if you are afraid.’ Patrocinio resented the suggestion of fear, +but said that he did not altogether like being branded as a spy. ‘But +a thousand pounds!’ whispered the tempter, and Patrocinio fell. As +a parting injunction, Levy said, ‘Remember if you betray us I can +have you assassinated either in London or in Paris.’ There were claws +beneath his velvet gloves! + +The instructions Patrocinio received were that he was to obtain news of +the movements of troops and forward it written in secret ink between +the lines of an ordinary letter to six addresses, of which some were in +Switzerland and some in Denmark. At the end of six weeks he was to go +to Switzerland and write a letter to Frankfurt-on-Maine announcing his +arrival. He would be paid according to the value of his information, +and if he served faithfully he would receive further employment. Levy +then took Patrocinio into another room and gave him instructions in +the use of this new secret ink, which was contained in a soft linen +collar and two or three handkerchiefs. These had to be soaked in +water, and the water then became the ink. He gave a demonstration by +writing a message, but when Patrocinio asked how it was to be developed +the claws again peeped from the velvet gloves. Patrocinio went back +to his wife thoroughly frightened, and it was probably due to her +intervention that the confession was made. It appears that as the boat +conveying Patrocinio and his wife to England left the quay at Flushing +one of the passengers saw the little Brazilian lean over the side and +throw some collars into the sea. This seemed to him so remarkable a +proceeding that he kept the little man under observation. And, to make +Patrocinio’s fears even more acute, a lady, addressing his wife in +his hearing, asked whether she knew a Mr. René Levy, who was staying +in the hotel, and said he was a Brazilian. A few minutes later the +fellow-passenger who had noticed the incident of the collars came up to +him and asked him whether he had had any dealings with Germans while he +was in Holland. By this time Patrocinio’s nerves were so shaky that +he blurted out to this stranger a great deal of what he afterwards +confessed to us. On the whole, it seems doubtful whether Patrocinio +ever intended to act as a spy, though he had certainly promised the +Germans that he would become one. If he had really intended to unearth +the conspiracy and bring the information to England he would have lost +no time in making a full report, but being a timid person he very +foolishly told falsehood after falsehood until his story had become so +involved that the whole of it was suspected. + +He was detained while a communication was made to the Brazilian +Government. It then appeared that his father was regarded as a sort of +national hero, and was known as the liberator of the slaves, and that +if anything happened to his son there would be an outburst of popular +feeling in Brazil. For this reason Patrocinio was sent back to Brazil +with the usual warning. + +In February 1916 we had information that a young man of good family +named Adolfo Guerrero was on his way to England in the employment of +the Germans. The port authorities allowed him to land in order to +keep him under close observation. He told them that he was a Spanish +journalist representing a Madrid newspaper, _Libral_, and they made +the astonishing discovery that he could not speak a word of English. +How the Germans could have brought themselves to engage such a person +passed their comprehension. Guerrero had brought with him as far +as Paris a young woman, a professional dancer, who called herself +Raymonde Amondarain, with the ‘sub-titles’ of ‘Aurora de Bilbao’ and +‘La Sultana.’ Guerrero first set to work to pull the strings to obtain +permission for this young woman to come to London, and he found a +Spanish merchant in Fenchurch Street who was ready to write a letter +telling her that he had a clerical position in his office open to +her if she would come. It did not seem to strike either of them that +a young dancer with an extensive wardrobe was scarcely the kind of +person who would settle down to clerical work in a city office, but it +was good enough for the French Passport Office; and when Amondarain +announced at the port that she had come to join her future husband, +Senor Guerrero, she was detained, for it was found that she had given +false answers to the questions put to her for passport purposes. +On 18th February 1916 Guerrero was arrested and brought down for +examination. From his point of view, it was tragic that the lady was +lodged, all unknown to him, a few streets off. For a time he adhered to +his ridiculous story that he was to be a correspondent for the _Libral_ +on payment of £2 an article. In sixteen days he had written two such +articles, and he was proposing to keep himself and Amondarain on the +earnings of his pen. + +It was now necessary to ascertain who Guerrero really was. Officers +were sent out to Spain, and they found that part of the story was true. +He did belong to a noble family, but he had fallen into wild habits, +and had become an easy victim to the German agents then living in +Spain. The editor of the _Libral_ had never heard of him. It was not +until 13th July that he appeared at the Old Bailey, but before this it +had been decided not to include Amondarain in the charge, because her +strenuous advocacy of her intended husband and the inquiries we had +made about her antecedents seemed to make it clear that she was not +implicated in espionage. She was, however, kept in custody until the +issue of Guerrero’s trial, and then sent back to Spain. He was found +guilty and sentenced to death. + +A few days after his trial he wrote to say that if his life was spared +he would give information that would break up the whole of the German +espionage system, but his confession proved to be a tissue of fiction. +He said that his name in the German Secret Service was Victor Gunantas, +that he was known as No. 154, which meant that he was the 154th spy who +had come from Spain to England. He was to visit mercantile ports and +report merchantmen who were about to sail to ensure their becoming a +prey to the submarines; he was to receive £50 a week and a commission +on all ships sunk as the result of his information. No man ever +deserved the extreme penalty more richly, but influences had been at +work in Spain and, in deference to the representations of the Spanish +Government, his life was spared. I am not sure that there have not been +moments during Guerrero’s imprisonment when he wished that his friends +had not been so insistent in his behalf. + +It was a curious fact that among the papers found upon him was a letter +telling him to call on a certain number in Stockwell Road, Brixton, the +address of the spy, de Rysbach, who had been arrested in 1915. + +Early in 1916 we learned that, besides the perennial question of +movement of troops, the Germans were anxious to locate our munition +factories. But they were even more anxious to know about our national +morale, probably because their own was beginning to give them cause +for anxiety. We learned that a certain Dutch Jew who passed under the +name of Leopold Vieyra was being sent to England specially to report +upon these points, and that the Germans had given him a sum of money +calculated at the rate of 50s. a day for the expenses of his trip. He +was allowed to land, and very careful observation was kept upon him. +It was found that he was communicating with a person in Holland whom +he addressed as Blom, that he had once dealt in films under the name +of Leo Pickard, and that he had been getting his living in buying +and selling films, both in England and in Holland. In July 1916 he +mentioned in a letter to Blom that he was about to return to Holland, +and in one of Blom’s letters occurred the passage, ‘If you cannot do +anything in London try the provinces.’ It was arranged that a call +should be made at Blom’s address, and it was found that no one lived +there except a Mrs. Dikker, who admitted that her maiden name was +Sophia Blom. Further inquiries showed that this address was an ordinary +post-box for letters addressed to the German Secret Service. In August +Vieyra was arrested, his house was searched, and in it was found the +usual outfit for secret writing. His explanation of his connection with +Blom broke down under interrogation. He was tried by court-martial on +11th November, found guilty, and sentenced to death, but the sentence +was afterwards commuted to one of penal servitude for life. + +The most absurd person employed by the Germans was Joseph Marks. I was +watching the work of the port officers at Tilbury one summer afternoon +when one of my inspectors whispered to me that in the next room was +a person over whom they would be glad to have my help. He said that +his very first question had reduced the man to a pitiable condition +of fright, and that when he was told that within a few minutes he +would have an opportunity of making his explanations to me in person +he collapsed, murmuring, ‘Then Basil Thomson knew I was coming or he +wouldn’t be here.’ + +Adopting a manner suitable to the occasion, I sat down at a table and +sent for Marks, and there stumbled into the room a positive mountain +of flesh, over six feet in height, and proportionately broad and deep: +he must have weighed at least sixteen stone. At the moment the whole +mass was trembling like a jelly. The passport he produced was Dutch, +but almost at my first question he broke down and said: ‘If you will +have patience with me I will tell you the whole story. When I saw one +of your men on board the steamer watching me I knew I was in a trap, +and if you hadn’t been here to meet me I should have gone straight to +your office to-morrow morning.’ (His guilty conscience had converted an +ordinary fellow-passenger into a police agent.) + +According to his story, he belonged to an important commercial +family in Aix-la-Chapelle, where he had three times been accused by +the Germans of being an agent for the French. They told him that he +could clear himself from suspicion only by proceeding to England to +obtain naval information for them. He preferred to take his chance of +escaping discovery in England to being shot as a French spy by his own +people. He attended a spy school, where they furnished him with an +album of postage stamps--a method of conveying information that was +new to us. He was to send to Switzerland stamps indicating particular +classes of warships. Thus, ten Uruguay stamps taken in conjunction +with an Edinburgh postmark would mean that ten battleships were lying +in the Firth of Forth, and so on. Whether he ever intended to carry +out his instructions is uncertain: usually so well-fed a person has +no stomach for adventure, but he was put on his trial for having come +to this country after being in communication with an enemy agent, and +was sentenced to five years’ penal servitude. In a convict prison he +was safe for the duration of the War, and when he was repatriated in +October 1919 he was profuse in his gratitude. Probably no one has ever +gone to prison with a lighter heart. I imagine that any philatelist +who may in future produce his album for the inspection of Mr. Joseph +Marks will be startled by the effect he will produce. + +The bottom rung of the ladder of infamy was touched by a young Fleming +whom I examined in 1917. He had been employed by the Belgians to pilot +young Belgians over the Dutch frontier. He proposed to a Frenchman +that they should sell the secret to the Germans and divide the money. +He said that eight men were to cross that night: for a few gulden he +would have sacrificed the lives of eight of his fellow-countrymen who +had trusted him. With great presence of mind, the Frenchman gave him +to understand that he himself was a German agent, and that he would +arrange the whole business, and further, that if he would make a trip +with him to England at once he would earn a much larger sum. So great +was the Fleming’s cupidity that he embarked and was received on landing +by Special Branch policemen. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +SOME AMERICANS + + +It was not to be expected that the Germans would do no recruiting among +Americans as long as the United States remained neutral. American +journalists were travelling to all the belligerent countries, and +were allowed to see much that could not properly be shown to private +citizens. I believe that all the reputable American newspapers were +very careful in the selection of their foreign correspondents during +the War, and it is, perhaps, for that reason that there was no cause +for suspicion until late in 1916. About that time two so-called +American journalists, B---- and R---- arrived in Europe. The former had +spent several weeks in England before he applied, on 20th September +1916, for permission to travel to Rotterdam as European representative +of the Central Press of New York. Before leaving he told the people in +his hotel that he was going to a certain hotel in Rotterdam which was +known to us as being the resort of German spies, and he wrote a letter +to a person in Amsterdam named D----, against whom there was already +suspicion, about the production of a cinema play. It was noticed that +the letter contained a number of underlined words. In the meantime he +had left for Holland. All that could be done was to keep observation +upon him in that country, and it soon became known that his only +associates were two Americans, one of whom, R----, was marked down for +arrest if ever he came to this country. B---- did appear to have made +a few inquiries from film dealers, but that was all. On 3rd November +he landed at Gravesend and, probably to disarm the suspicions of the +port authorities, he volunteered a statement that while in Amsterdam a +Dutchman had tried to pump him for information, but he had indignantly +refused to have anything to do with him. His luggage was searched, but +not in a way that would allow him to think that he was under suspicion. +He stayed in London for a few hours and then left for Worcestershire. +He travelled about the country for a month, sending occasional articles +to New York; then he left for Ireland and visited Dublin, Cork, +Killarney, and Belfast. At that time the Germans were specially anxious +to receive news from Ireland subsequent to the Rebellion, because they +were being pressed to furnish a fresh supply of munitions together with +German troops. + +Meanwhile, careful inquiries had been made in Holland regarding the +man D----, to whom B---- had written when he was last in England, and +it was found that he was a German, and that he consorted with persons +who were known to be in the Secret Service of the enemy. On this a +letter was written to B---- asking him to call at Scotland Yard, and +he crossed from Dublin on the night of 8th December. He could give no +satisfactory explanation as to why he had underlined certain words in +his letter to D----, and he professed the greatest astonishment when +he heard that D---- himself was suspected of being a German spy. A +search of B----’s effects produced the usual ball-pointed pen, unglazed +notepaper, and a bottle of mixture which could be used as invisible +ink. Moreover, he was in possession of a draft for £200 issued to him +on 19th October. It was found that he had attempted to obliterate the +address of D---- in his note-book, and he had the name and address of a +certain person in Rotterdam, who had been known to us for months as an +enemy agent. + +Now it chanced that our authorities in New York were in full possession +of the details of the new German conspiracy to flood this country +with journalists. The spies were recruited by a man who passed under +the name of Sanders, who was believed to be closely in touch with +the disaffected Irishmen in America. For this reason the spies were +to take an opportunity of visiting Ireland, and after gathering all +the information that they could they were to go to Holland, impart it +to the German agents there and receive the wages of their hire. They +had instructions also to get into touch with wounded officers lately +returned from the Front and obtain their views on the morale of the +troops. + +Now B---- had done all these things: he had visited Ireland, he had +made friends with a wounded officer, and had even suggested to him +that they should make a trip to Scotland together; he had gone to +Holland and had upon him a draft for £200, the equivalent of the 1000 +dollars which was always given for preliminary expenses. This man had +heard that B---- had been provided with a wonderful new invisible ink +disguised as a medical mixture, which could be used only on unglazed +paper with a ball-pointed pen. There was also a statement that an +American journalist whose name began with ‘R’ was already doing good +work for the Germans in London. + +While B---- was under detention he received a letter from R---- in +Holland: ‘Wish old “C” had been here to help me read the letter.’ Why +should R---- require any help in reading a letter unless it was written +cryptographically? So far, the case was one of suspicion, but on 3rd +February 1917 B---- wrote from Brixton Prison, asking that he might +be visited by some one in authority to whom he was prepared to make +an important statement. A senior officer was sent to Brixton, and to +him B---- made a full confession. He had formerly been the New York +publicity agent for a well-known firm of film producers. One day he +received a telephone message from a man with a foreign accent, asking +whether he would care to go to Europe. He said that it was for very +special work, for which he would be well paid. The voice directed him +to call at an office in New York, where he would meet a man named +Davis. Davis was a pseudonym for Charles Winnenberg, who told him +frankly that the special work was to obtain information which would +be useful to the German Government. The Germans wanted particulars +about our anti-aircraft defences, the movements and the morale of +our troops, and the actual position of British squadrons in Scottish +waters, together with anything he might be able to glean about our new +battleships. Not unnaturally, B---- referred to the danger of such a +service, but Winnenberg treated this with great scorn, saying, ‘They +have only caught two or three, and they were all fools. There will +be no suspicion against you. We will pay you £25 a week and give you +liberal expenses.’ + +Then, according to B----, Winnenberg became confidential and said +that he intended to go himself to London, whence one of his agents, +known as Robert W---- had already sent him useful reports. He gave him +particulars of the people in Holland with whom he was to communicate, +and added that there were three or four Americans in that country who +would relay his messages if necessary. When B---- pointed out that +the Censor would probably intercept his messages, Winnenberg said, +‘As soon as you have got your passport I will give you the secret +of fooling the Censor.’ On this B---- called on the Central Press +and told them that as he was going to Europe on business he would be +prepared to collect war pictures for them on commission, and in this +they acquiesced. Thus he had a business cover for his journey, and no +difficulty was made about his passport. He then called on Winnenberg +again, who was much pleased with the energy he had displayed. ‘Have you +got a pair of black woollen socks?’ he asked. B---- had not. ‘Well, +go and buy a pair at once.’ When this was done Winnenberg produced a +collapsible tube, from which he squeezed a thick brown liquid. This he +smeared all round the top of the socks. ‘There,’ he said, ‘that is a +secret ink which the English will never discover. All you have to do +is to soak these socks in water and use the fluid as an ink. You must +use a ball-pointed pen and a rough paper, on which the ink will not +run. You must mark all your reports “M,” which will stand for “Marina, +Antwerp.” That is the only place which knows the secret of developing +the ink.’ B---- was given a thousand-dollar bill for preliminary +expenses, and was told that if he got good information he would be +treated very liberally. He explained his visit to Worcestershire by +saying that the wounded officer whose acquaintance he had made had +asked him down there, and he tried to excuse himself with the usual +plea that he had not intended to give the Germans anything of value, +but merely to draw money from them. As a matter of fact, when he went +to Holland he was nearly at the end of his resources, and probably it +was in the hope of obtaining a draft for £200 that he went. + +It became clear from subsequent investigations that B---- was trying to +spread his net wide. His wounded officer friend was nominally to be +made a representative of a big shipping firm in America, but actually +of another German agent who was to use him without his knowledge. B---- +was also suggesting to a girl acquaintance that she should obtain a +post in the Censorship. + +B---- was tried by court-martial on 17th March 1917. His counsel stated +that he could trace his descent back to 1644, that his ancestor had +fled to America after the battle of Marston Moor, and that his mother’s +ancestors had fled from France at the time of the Edict of Nantes. He +was said to be a Bachelor of Arts in the United States, but the only +defence put forward was that he had yielded to a sudden temptation to +make money. He was sentenced to death by hanging. + +Fortunately for B---- the United States was about to enter the War, +and his value as a witness against the numerous persons who were being +arrested was realised. It was decided to send him over to New York +under arrest. On his arrival he was charged with a breach of neutrality +laws, and sentenced to imprisonment for a year and a day, for the +sentence pronounced by the British court-martial could not, of course, +run in America. While imprisoned in the United States he gave evidence +against the German master spies, and he seems to have greatly recovered +his spirits, if we may judge from a letter that he wrote to a friend in +England, asking him to try and forward the balance of the money which +he had received from his German paymasters. + +Winnenberg, alias Davis, and Sanders were arrested and convicted. +The former made a full confession, which contained, no doubt, a +good deal of romance, for he tried to inculpate many other foreign +representatives besides Germans. According to his story R---- entered +England as an American journalist sent to write articles on the food +situation in Europe for publication in American newspapers. He lost +little time in communicating with a certain Cookery School organisation +which was employed by the Government for instructional purposes. R---- +made frequent trips to and from Holland, and then, having run what he +thought was more than his share of risk, he persuaded the Germans to +allow him to remain in Holland as one of their chief agents to deal +with any American journalists who might come after him. Arrangements +were made to arrest him as soon as he set foot again in this country, +but that moment never came. Even when he communicated articles to +the British Press on the International Food question he was careful +to arrange that payment should be sent to him in Holland. After the +articles had been published it was brought to the notice of the editor +that the writer was under strong suspicion. Payment was withheld. R---- +then wrote asking for a cheque, and received the reply that if he would +come to England the money should be paid, but he never came, and it is +not known what became of him. + +Two other American journalists who were believed to be agents of +Winnenberg were stopped, but since the evidence was insufficient for +bringing them to trial they were sent back to America with a strong +caution against returning to England. It must be understood that +the vast body of American correspondents was quite above suspicion. +These spies were needy free lances who were on the outskirts of the +profession. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +WOMEN SPIES + + +It is no disparagement of the sex to say that women do not make good +spies. Generally they are lacking in technical knowledge, and therefore +are apt to send misleading reports through misunderstanding what they +hear. Their apologists have urged that one of their most amiable +qualities, compunction, often steps in at the moment when they are in +a position to be most useful: just when they have won the intimacy of +a man who can really tell them something important they cannot bring +themselves to betray his confidence. + +Throughout the War, though women spies were convicted, no woman was +executed in England. In France there were one or two executions apart +from any that may have taken place near the Front, where espionage was +highly dangerous. The case of Margaret Gertrud Zeller, better known +as Matahari (‘Eye of the Morning’), has overshadowed all the other +cases. Her father was a Dutchman who, while in the Dutch East Indies, +married a Javanese woman. He brought her home to Holland, and there the +daughter became known as an exponent of a form of voluptuous oriental +dancing that was new to Europe at that time. She was tall and sinuous, +with glowing black eyes and a dusky complexion, vivacious in manner, +intelligent and quick in repartee. She was, besides, a linguist. When +she was about twenty she married a Dutch naval officer of Scottish +extraction named Macleod, who divorced her. She was well known in +Paris, and until the outbreak of war she was believed to be earning +considerable sums of money by her professional engagements. She had a +reputation in Holland, where people were proud of her success and, so +cynics said, of her graceful carriage, which was rare in that country. + +In July 1915 she was fulfilling a dancing engagement in Madrid, when +information reached England that she was consorting with members of +the German Secret Service, and might be expected before long to be on +her way back to Germany _via_ Holland. This actually happened early in +1916. The ship put into Falmouth, and she was brought ashore, together +with her very large professional wardrobe, and escorted to London. I +expected to see a lady who would bring the whole battery of her charms +to bear upon the officers who were to question her. There walked into +the room a severely practical person who was prepared to answer any +question with a kind of reserved courtesy, who felt so sure of herself +and of her innocence that all that remained in her was a desire to help +her interrogators. The only thing graceful about her was her walk and +the carriage of her head. She made no gestures and, to say truth, time +had a little dimmed the charms of which we had heard so much, for at +this time the lady must have been at least forty. + +I have said she was openness itself. She was ready with an answer to +every question, and of all the people that I examined during the course +of the War she was the ‘quickest in the uptake.’ If I quoted to her +the name of some person in Spain with whom it was compromising to be +seen in conversation she was astounded. He a suspect? Surely we must be +mistaken. + +‘I see how it is,’ she said at last, ‘you suspect me. Can I speak to +you alone?’ The room was cleared of all but one officer and myself. +She looked at him interrogatively. + +‘I said “Alone.”’ + +‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘this gentleman and I may be regarded as one person.’ + +‘Very well,’ she said, ‘then I am going to make a confession to you. I +am a spy, but not, as you think, for the Germans, but for one of your +allies--the French.’ + +I do not know to this moment whether she thought we would believe +her, but she plunged then into a sea of reminiscence, telling us of +the adventures she had undergone in pursuit of the objects of her +employers. I wondered how many of them were true. + +We had altogether two long interviews with Matahari, and I am sure that +she thought she had had the best of it. We were convinced now that she +was acting for the Germans, and that she was then on her way to Germany +with information which she had committed to memory. On the other hand, +she had no intention of landing on British soil or of committing any +act of espionage in British jurisdiction, and with nothing to support +our view we could not very well detain her in England; so at the end of +the second interview I said to her, ‘Madame’ (she spoke no English) ‘we +are going to send you back to Spain, and if you will take the advice of +some one nearly twice your age, give up what you have been doing.’ She +said, ‘Sir, I thank you from my heart. I shall not forget your advice. +What I have been doing I will do no more. You may trust me implicitly,’ +and within a month of her return to Spain she was at it again. + +This time she was captured on the French side of the frontier and, as +I heard at the time, with compromising documents upon her. I should +have thought that so astute a lady would have avoided documents at all +hazards. They carried her to Paris, put her on her trial, and on 25th +July 1916 condemned her to death, but there was, as there is usually in +such cases, an interminable delay, and it was not until 15th October +that she was taken from Saint Lazare Prison to Vincennes for execution. +A French officer who was present described to me what happened. She +was awakened at 5 o’clock in the morning, and she dressed herself in +a dark dress trimmed with fur, with a large felt hat and lavender kid +gloves. With an escort of two soldiers, her counsel and a padre, she +was driven to Vincennes. When she came into sight of the troops she +gently put aside the ministrations of the padre and waved a salute to +the soldiers. She refused to be blindfolded, and she was in the act of +smiling and greeting the firing-party when the volley sent her pagan +spirit on its journey. + +Another lady who was taken off a ship in transit from Rotterdam to +Barcelona was the cause of diplomatic remonstrances. She was a German +named Lisa Blume, and she was accompanied by an aged German duenna who +had been a governess in her earlier years. Attention was first called +to Fraulein Blume by the enormous quantity of baggage she was carrying. +She had no fewer than seventeen trunks filled, for the most part, with +expensive clothes, which hardly seemed to fit in with her story that +she was housekeeper to a member of the German Embassy in Madrid. She +was most indignant at her treatment, and she refused to answer any +questions at all. Her duenna, however, was more communicative. Fraulein +Blume, she said, was the daughter of a railway official in Germany, and +though undoubtedly housekeeper, she was also in confidential relations +with the Counsellor of the Embassy. When we came to search her baggage +we discovered a ration of nine iron crosses, which she appeared to +be conveying to the personnel of the German Embassy. There was +reason to believe, moreover, that she was the bearer of messages +probably committed to memory, from the German Government to their +representatives. Under these circumstances we interned her and retained +the decorations, but the duenna was allowed to proceed upon her +journey. We thought it likely that the incident would not be allowed to +pass without comment, and in due course representations were received +from two neutral Powers who, when the true relations of Fraulein Blume +with her employer were explained, appear to have dropped the question +rather hurriedly. + +[Illustration: MATAHARI, EXECUTED AT VINCENNES. ALBERT MEYER. ERNST +WALDEMAR MELIN.] + +Towards the end of 1915 some very remarkable telegrams were handed +in at Malta. They were a meaningless jumble of words, and evidently +a code, and it was decided that the sender was a woman who called +herself Madame Marie Edvige de Popowitch, a Serb, who had come to +Malta for the state of her health. She looked astonishingly well for +an invalid. Her flow of eloquence was reported to be extraordinary. +Among her effects was found a Dutch dictionary in which certain words +were underscored, and some of these words occurred in the telegrams. +On probing the possibility of this dictionary providing a code, it was +found that the messages that were to have been dispatched to a certain +port in the Mediterranean detailed the sailing of steamers from Malta. +It was decided to send her to England to be dealt with, and she was +put on board H.M.S. _Terrible_, together with two canaries, from which +she refused to be separated. The voyage was stormy in more than one +sense, and the captain did his best to placate his prisoner, but it was +whispered that on one occasion when he went to listen to her complaints +about her rations she flung a beef-steak full in his face. + +It was with this reputation that she came before us. On that occasion +three officers were present besides myself. The lady entered my room +calm but determined. She was one of the shortest women I have ever +seen, and certainly the broadest. Sitting in the low armchair, her +head scarcely reached to the top of the table, but it would have been +a mistake, I saw at once, to treat her as negligible in any other +respect. She spoke French. In the earlier stages of our interview I +was ‘ce Monsieur,’ at a later stage I was ‘ce maudit policeman.’ It +was my rather searching inquiry into her reasons for possessing an +ancient Dutch dictionary that provoked the change. The difficulty was +that when any question was put to her she never stopped talking even to +take breath. Her voice rose and rose until the very walls reverberated +with it. I do not know what a welkin is, but I am quite sure that if +we had had one over our heads that morning it would have been rung. +Her excitement rose with her voice and, finding herself at the usual +disadvantage in sitting in a low chair, she got up from it and came +nearer and nearer until her gesticulations began narrowly to miss our +faces. There was a point at which one of the officers with me began +unostentatiously to remove the paper-knives, pens, rulers, and other +lethal weapons that lay at my right hand, and to push them out of her +reach, but she became at last so violent, and her hands were so nearly +at the level of our faces that we rose too, and as she advanced upon +us, still talking, we gave way, until she was at the table and we +were half-way to the door. As nothing would stem the torrent of her +eloquence it was suggested in a whisper that we should all bow gravely +to her and leave the room, sending in the proper people to get her +into a taxi. I do not suppose that those silent and dignified vaulted +corridors have ever re-echoed such language as the lady used on her +way to the taxi. I was told afterwards that the storm would have been +far more severe if it had not occurred to the wily inspector who had to +deal with her to talk to her soothingly about her canaries. + +Madame Popowitch was medically examined as to the state of her mind, +and we were advised that it would not be wise to try her on the capital +charge. It was therefore decided to keep her in internment until the +end of the War. She was removed to Aylesbury, where she bombarded the +authorities with a myriad complaints. Nobody seemed to have pleased her +except the captain of H.M.S. _Terrible_, who, she said, never failed to +inquire after the health of her canaries. All this time these canaries +were being looked after by the police, but at the suggestion of the +prison authorities they were sent to Aylesbury, where it was reported +they had a calming effect upon their mistress. In the end Madame +Popowitch was certified insane and removed to an asylum. + +Eva de Bournonville was probably the most incompetent woman spy ever +recruited by the Germans. She was a Swede, of French extraction, +well-educated and a linguist. Life had not prospered with her. She had +been a governess in the Baltic Provinces, an actress (I should think +a very bad one), and a secretary and typist employed occasionally at +foreign Legations. In the autumn of 1915 she was out of work, when she +was approached by one of the spy-recruiting agents in Scandinavia. It +chanced that she had an acquaintance in Scotland whom she had met in +Sweden. To this lady she wrote that she was coming to England for the +sake of her health and proposed to pay her a visit. Provided with a +Swedish passport, she had no difficulty in entering the country: she +was, moreover, a lady by birth, and her manners were perfect. + +On her arrival in London she put up at a cheap hotel in Bloomsbury, +and wrote to her friend in Dumbartonshire, saying that after a good +rest she proposed to apply for a post in the Censorship, for which her +friend might give her a recommendation. The Scottish lady sent her +the address of some acquaintances in Hackney, and advised her to call +upon them. She did so and, finding that they were not at home, she +left a card on which she had given the Danish Legation at Pont Street, +W., as her address, for it appears that she had made arrangements to +have remittances sent to her through the Danish Legation. On this she +received an invitation to Hackney where, however, she soon began to +excite uneasiness in the minds of her new acquaintances. With all her +education she was remarkably stupid at the business of espionage. She +called again and again, and went out walking with the family. There +were a good many Zeppelin raids in those days, and she was continually +plying her host with questions about the anti-aircraft defences. +Could she be taken to see the nearest gun? How many guns were there +in London? How far could they shoot up in the air? And once, when +she accompanied the family to Finsbury Park, she said, ‘Oh, this is +Finsbury Park. Where are the Zeppelin guns placed here?’ At last she +asked her host to recommend her to the Postal Censorship, and here he +put down his foot and said, ‘You see, if anything went wrong we should +get into serious trouble.’ On this she dropped the family in Hackney, +who remembered afterwards that she had said on one occasion, ‘The +Germans know everything that passes here. You cannot hide anything from +them.’ + +She failed in her application to join the Censorship, chiefly on +account of the lack of satisfactory English references. She told the +lady who interviewed her how her father had been a general in the +Danish Army, and her grandfather a music-teacher to Queen Alexandra, +while an aunt was still acting in that capacity to the Danish Royal +Family. + +She left Bloomsbury for lodgings in South Kensington, and later for a +certain Ladies’ Club. Then she returned to Bloomsbury, and put up at a +private hotel in Upper Bedford Place, where army officers were wont to +spend their leave. She was unremitting in her questions to subalterns. + +For some time letters, afterwards proved to be in her handwriting, +containing information that would not have been of much use to the +enemy had he received it, had been intercepted, but beyond the +handwriting there was nothing that would give the identity of the +writer. At last certain observations in one of the letters pointed to +a particular hotel in Upper Bedford Place, but in that hotel there +were more than thirty guests, and it was impossible to determine +which of them was the spy. A certain officer who was employed on +the case determined to test the matter in the simplest possible +way. He selected one or two of the most likely of the guests and +whispered to them incredible stories about secret engines of war +that were in preparation. The most incredible of all was told to Eva +de Bournonville, and on the following day a letter was intercepted +containing this very information which, if it had reached the German +spy agent, ought to have caused his remaining hairs to rise in their +places. De Bournonville was arrested on 15th November 1915. She +expressed great surprise, and made no admissions. In my room on the +following day she made a brave show of innocence until I produced her +letter and showed it to her, with the messages in secret ink between +the lines developed. She opened her eyes very wide and said, ‘Yes, it +is my handwriting, but how did _you_ get it?’ I told her that I had got +a good deal more. She then asked to be allowed to see me alone, and the +room was cleared of all but a military officer. + +‘You may think it curious,’ she said, ‘but I always wanted to work for +you and not for the Germans. I am very fond of the English and the +Belgians, and I do not like the Germans at all. Never have I forgotten +their behaviour to Denmark in 1864. My idea was to make the Germans +believe I was working for them until I was fully in their confidence +and then offer my services to you. I only did this for adventure.’ + +It then appeared that the German military attaché in Sweden, acting +with an agent of the Secret Service, had induced this wretched woman to +imperil her life for £30 a month. A cheque for that amount was actually +found in her possession on her arrest, and she claimed to be allowed +to keep it. She was tried before Mr. Justice Darling at the Old Bailey +on 12th January 1916, and was sentenced to death by hanging. Following +our universal practice of not executing women, the King commuted the +sentence to one of penal servitude for life. She was sent to Aylesbury +to serve her sentence, and was repatriated in February 1922. It +transpired in the course of this case that the Germans were instructing +their spies to address their letters to non-existent Belgian prisoners +of war. + +Towards the end of 1917 the Germans had ceased to employ agents in +England for obtaining naval and military information. What they were +then concerned about was the public morale, I suppose because their own +was giving premonitory symptoms of crumbling. We first became aware of +this through the letters written by a Mrs. Smith to her relations in +Germany. Mrs. Smith proved to be a working housekeeper. Originally +she had been a German nurse in Switzerland, where she had married one +of her patients, an English doctor, not long before his death. Having +thus acquired British nationality, she came to England, where she +found herself obliged to eke out the slender provision her husband had +made for her by taking work as a housekeeper. Her letters, written in +German, contained gems like the following: + + ‘Tell Uncle Franz that Fritz is perturbed at seeing so many of the + trout in his fish-pond eaten by the pike. If more pike get into the + pond there will soon be none of his trout left. It makes him very + angry and frightened.’ + +And in another letter she writes: + + ‘On Sunday I went out to see the place where the big birds roost. It + was full of birds, and some of them are very big indeed. It is said + that they will soon take longer flights. I do not think that the + great eagles that fly over us are frightening these birds; they only + make them angry.’ + +Mrs. Smith made a brave attempt to explain these letters away. She had, +she said, an uncle named Franz who bred trout in a fish-pond, and who +had written to her about the depredations of pike. And about the great +birds she ventured the suggestion that they were herons; but when we +put before her our own interpretation of this simple code she became +silent and resigned, and she retired into internment at Aylesbury with +a philosophic heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +CURIOUS VISITORS + + +On 6th January 1916 a Dutch liner called in territorial waters at +Falmouth, and was boarded by naval officers. On the steamer were +Colonel von Papen and Captain Boy-ed, the German military and naval +attachés from Washington. The boarding officer was quite polite, but +he declared his intention of looking through their papers. On this +von Papen protested vigorously that his papers were covered by the +‘safe-conduct’ that had been given by the British Government. It was +pointed out to him that the ‘safe-conduct’ applied to his personal +liberty but not to his baggage or papers, and without further ado the +officer took possession of these and, among them, of all his used +cheques, cheque-books, and paying-in slips, which proved to be a mine +of information. There were payments to a man who was known in the +United States as a wrecker of bridges, and to others who were known to +have been guilty of sabotage. There were payments to Kuppferle, who +committed suicide in Brixton Prison, and to von der Goltz, as well as +to other suspects. It is said to be the fashion in Germany to lay much +of the blame for defeat upon the ineptitude of the German diplomatic +agents abroad, and certainly Colonel von Papen, either by bad luck or +bad management, had helped us not a little, for not long before this +date Bernstorff had made a solemn declaration that no member of the +Embassy had had anything to do with sabotage or with espionage. + +Bernstorff was not the first to use the diplomatic machinery for +espionage. The foreign ambassadors at the Tudor and Stuart Courts +made considerable use of secret agents. In 1745 Monsieur Tiquet, the +French diplomatic agent at Brussels, obtained from Grieling, a Brussels +shopkeeper, plans of the fortresses of Nieuport and Dunkirk, in which, +following German methods in our own day, he had worked as a labourer.[1] + +[1] _Campagnes de Maréchal Saxe_ (Colin), p. 257. + +In the War of the Austrian Succession Count de Tilly, the French +Minister at Mannheim, got from an Italian named Pasetti, who was +actually serving as an officer in the Austrian army, information that +determined the choice between the Rhenish and Flemish theatres of war. +Belgium and Holland were then, as they have been in our own time, +hotbeds of espionage against England, but one may read between the +lines that even during the Seven Years’ War the British Intelligence +Service was more than a match for the French, and that Louis XV. spent +very large sums to little purpose. In those days the _agent double_ +seems to have been as common as he is now. + +Louis XV. had scruples that would have seemed curious to the German +General Staff in the late War. He would not listen to a scheme for +causing a run upon the Bank of England by means of forged notes, or to +employing Ivan Golofskin, the friend of the secretary to the Duke of +Cumberland, who was exceptionally placed for obtaining information, +but he was not above using duplicates of the Russian Ambassador’s +dispatches addressed to his own Government, or to arranging with the +Czarina Elizabeth to pay her new ambassador £100,000 a year to send to +the French Government information about military plans of the British, +and especially the plans of the projected invasion of the Low Countries. + +Spies in those days were treated with remarkable leniency. Robinson, +a French spy arrested in London, was imprisoned for six months in the +Tower in 1757, and was then released. Dr. Hensey was arrested in London +in June 1758, and sentenced to be hanged, but it is not certain that +the sentence was carried out. This unusual severity was sufficient to +frighten the other agents of the business.[2] + +[2] _Campagnes de Maréchal Saxe_ (Colin), pp. 257-259. + +It must not be supposed that no German spies in England went +undetected. We learned of the operations of two or three after they had +left the country, and they were wise enough to attempt no second visit, +but if one may judge from the character of the information supplied +by those who were arrested the intelligence they gave to the Germans +cannot have been of great value. Probably the spy who brought them the +most useful information was a certain American journalist. + +As the activities of German agents in America were gradually unfolded +the American Government began to take more drastic action. They opened +the safe of von Igel, and found there documents of extraordinary +interest. To me the most interesting was a letter from the German +Consul General at Shanghai to the Foreign Office in Berlin, in which he +deplored his ill-fortune, and gave an accurate account of the German +Secret Service activities in the Far East, for there was nothing in +the document that we did not know before; it might have served for +a _précis_ of German activities written in any British Intelligence +Office. + +The Germans made great use of sabotage in America. Unquestionably, +they would have done the same in England if they could, but it would +not be safe to say that none of the accidents that took place during +the War was caused by sabotage. The difficulty was to know how much +was due to criminal carelessness, how much to fanatical pacifism among +our own people, and how much to German agents or to Sinn Fein. I +remember one case where matches were picked up in the mixing machine +of a high-explosive factory. If even one of them had gone down into +the mixer many hundreds of people would have lost their lives. The +man who found the matches brought them to the foreman and received +the thanks of the manager, but the police inspector who was sent down +to investigate was a sceptical kind of person, and insisted upon the +finder of the matches re-constituting the crime by placing matches in +the exact position in which he found them. The extreme uneasiness of +the workman confirmed the inspector’s suspicions, and after a prolonged +interview the man confessed that he had put the matches there himself +and had taken them to the foreman in order to win credit and promotion +from his employers. + +From time to time bolts and hammer-heads were found in the crank +cases of aeroplane engines, where they had evidently been placed by +design. It is hard to believe that the man who put them there intended +deliberately to send an airman to his death; perhaps all he aimed at +was to wreck the machine during its bench test. The criminal in this +case may have been a discontented workman or a fanatical pacifist of +the ‘Stop the War’ Committee type. + +It must certainly have been a man of this type who dropped a +hammer-head into the gearing of a new tunnelling machine which +was designed to bore tunnels 5 feet in diameter far underground. +Fortunately, the obstruction was found before it had time to do any +damage. + +The propaganda carried on by the opponents to conscription during +1916 and 1917, particularly among the engineers and electricians, was +certainly disturbing. Some of the electricians in one of our filling +factories had been heard to enunciate violent revolutionary sentiments, +and their technical knowledge was such that they could at any time have +contrived an accident which, while destroying the factory, might have +caused no loss of life if it were so timed as to take place when the +hands were at home. + +In October 1917 there was a fire and explosion at a large factory +in Lancashire which caused the death of ten people and enormous +devastation. Sabotage was suspected, particularly as the factory was +situated in a part of the country where Sinn Fein influences were +strong, but nothing was ever proved. + +At five minutes to seven on the evening of 19th January 1917, I was at +a house in Kensington when the Silvertown explosion shook the house to +the foundations. Our first thought was that a bomb had fallen quite +near; our second that a gasometer had exploded. People in the street +suggested an explosion at Woolwich Arsenal. The telephone cables had +been cut by the explosion, and it was some time before we knew what +had happened. I visited Silvertown, the scene of the explosion, on +the following afternoon. The devastation was extraordinary. For quite +a mile before we reached the spot we drove through streets of broken +windows, and here the explosive had shown its usual caprice, for many +panes of glass much nearer to the scene were intact. The firemen +located the buried mains and coupled up their hose with wonderful +rapidity, and they soon had the fire under control. Meanwhile, the +Guards had carried out the very dangerous duty of searching for bodies. +Forty-five persons were known to have been in the works at the time of +the explosion, but practically no traces of them were to be found. + +The fire had broken out in an upper storey, where a man and a woman +were employed in feeding tri-nitrotoluol (T.N.T.) into a hopper. Two +women on the ground floor called up to ask whether they had sufficient +explosive for the next twenty minutes, and on hearing that they had +they left the building for about a minute. As they came out the whole +floor burst into roaring flame. + +Now, it is known that a piece of a certain chemical substance no larger +than a Brazil nut introduced into T.N.T. will lie in it innocuous +for months, but that on the application of heat it ignites the whole +mass. The T.N.T. was falling from the hopper into a temperature of 130 +Centigrade: a small piece of the chemical would not have been noticed +by the people feeding the hopper. This particular batch of explosive +had been brought by train from the north of England, and at any stage +of its journey it would have been possible to introduce the chemical +into one of the bags. But while the facts were consistent with sabotage +there was no proof, and the case of Silvertown must remain among the +mysteries of the War. If it was sabotage surely eternal justice demands +that some special place of chastisement be reserved hereafter for the +fiend who caused it. + +If the explosion at Arklow during the previous September, in which +a number of people lost their lives, was not due to sabotage, the +coincidence was remarkable, for threatening letters had been received +by the management, but in that case it is probable that the Germans +were not concerned. + +There were many dramatic and a few amusing incidents during the +examinations of suspected persons. The Germans had been using as spies +people belonging to travelling circuses and shows, as being less +likely to invite suspicion than the pseudo-commercial travellers, +of whom we had taken a heavy toll. Consequently, a sharp look-out +had been kept for messages from such people. One day a telegram to +a world-famous American showman announced that the sender was ready +to book his passage to New York. He was invited to call, the stage +was set, the chair was ready--and there walked into the room a blue +man! His face was a sort of light indigo set off with a bristling red +moustache. He was a really terrifying spectacle. If we were surprised +we did not show it. All we dreaded was what would happen to the +stenographer when she would steal a glance at the object sitting beside +her. Then the moment came. She leaped a foot from her chair with a +little sob. He turned out to be an ex-cavalry sergeant who had turned +blue after his discharge, and now got his living honourably as a blue +man. The stenographer was accustomed to men of colour, but never to +that particular shade. + +Among the curious persons who drifted into my room was a Dutch +Socialist Member of Parliament who had been admitted to the country on +19th May 1916, on condition that he gave an account of his intentions +at Scotland Yard. As it turned out, he had been sent over to study +food legislation in England, for the Dutch were in the uncomfortable +position of having to contend with high food prices without a +corresponding rise in wages, and the Government was attempting to +regulate the maximum retail prices for all commodities, without much +chance of success. He was astonished to hear that the only controlled +commodities in England were sugar and coal. He was very indignant with +the _Amsterdam Telegraaf_, in which Mr. Raemakers’ cartoons were being +published. He said that the paper was trying to force Holland into +war. ‘We are a tiny country crushed between two giants.’ He was very +contemptuous of the official Socialists in Germany, who he said did +not represent their Party. They were elected over and over again as a +matter of routine, and when the government squared them, as it always +did, the Party itself remained unaffected. In his opinion Liebknecht +had a very large following even in the army itself. He said that the +food riots reported from Germany were more serious than was generally +supposed. + +A few days later a Dutch Socialist journalist came in. He was cheerful +but very dirty, and when I hinted that people were suspicious of him +he said that it proceeded from envy and lack of principle. As for +him, he lived by principle: he was an anti-smoker, an anti-drinker, a +vegetarian, and he wore no socks--all from principle. At this point +he pulled up the leg of his trousers to prove his case, much to the +scandal of the lady stenographer who was present. If I felt inclined to +ask whether he went unwashed from principle I restrained myself. + +It was about the same time that a mysterious person calling himself +Colonel Dr. Krumm-Heller was taken off a Danish steamer at Kirkwall. He +must have expected that this would happen because he had been sending +anticipatory protests by wireless all the way over. He claimed to be +the Mexican military attaché in Berlin, and to be well known in Mexico +for his scientific, literary, and philosophical works. His mission, he +said, was to study schools in Scandinavia and not to become military +attaché until he entered Germany: his real mission, we felt sure, was +propaganda. When I told him that he might have to go back to Mexico he +began to cry and said that Carranza would most certainly dismiss him. +It became known to me a little later that he was carrying a letter from +Bernstorff to the German Government, but that when he found that he was +to leave the steamer he had passed it to a Russian for delivery. The +next day Colonel Dr. Krumm-Heller offered to make a bargain with me. If +I would not send him back he would reveal a new German plan and would +thus save the Allies thousands of lives. But when it came to the point +he had nothing at all to tell, and back he went. In due course a demand +was made upon the Government for £10,000, at which he assessed his +‘moral and intellectual’ damages. + +All this time England was seething with excitement about the battle of +Jutland. The editor of a certain daily newspaper called on an officer +of the Admiralty and said, ‘We are not satisfied with Admirals Jellicoe +and Beatty.’ + +‘Who is “we”?’ asked the officer. + +‘The public.’ + +‘Oh,’ said the naval officer, ‘then you are one of those people who, +if you had lived a hundred years ago, would have said, “Who’s that +one-eyed, one-armed beggar in charge of our Fleet? Have him out!” Now, +look here, supposing you and I had a row in this room, and you knocked +my teeth out, and I kicked you out of that door and you stood cursing +in the passage, not daring to come in, would you say you had won a +victory?’ + +The same officer, when questioned by a pressman as to why the German +Fleet had come out, replied, ‘They came out to get a mutton-chop for +the Kaiser. I believe there were some other reasons, but these I am not +at liberty to tell you.’ + +We were busy talking about the end of the War as early as October +1916, so busy that some satirist circulated the following rhyme: + + ‘Accurate evidence have I none, + But my aunt’s charwoman’s sister’s son + Heard a Policeman on his beat + Say to a nursemaid down our street + That he knew a man who had a friend + Who said _he_ knew when the war would end.’ + +One of the most romantic incidents in the War experience of Scotland +Yard was the arrival in England of an educated Jew who had, against +his own will, been closely associated with Djemal Pasha, the Commander +of the 9th Army in Palestine. According to his account, there had been +attempts on the lives of both Djemal Pasha and Enver. In one attempt +Djemal had received a bullet in the cheek. He gave a very curious +account of the relations between Enver and Djemal. According to rumour, +though they kiss one another on both cheeks and travel in the same car, +each man has his hand upon his revolver as they sit side by side. The +popular rumour at the time was that Enver had six hundred men specially +told off to protect his life, and in 1916, when a plot against him was +reported, he executed forty-two people merely on suspicion without any +trial. + +This man was a native of Haifa, in Palestine, and was therefore a +Turkish subject, though his parents had come from Roumania. As a +young man he had taken to scientific research work in agriculture, +and had gone through a course in Berlin. He was director of the +Jewish Agricultural College. Djemal used to apply to him for advice +on agricultural and economic matters. He said that all the Jews and +Christians had been put into a labour battalion, where they were +employed in road-making, on very slender rations. In some places they +were under German direction, but in others under Turkish officers. In +1915 there had been a locust plague, and in 1916 they had the worst +harvest that had been known for thirty-five years, and the population +of Palestine was in dire straits. He believed it to be the policy of +the Turkish Government to allow them to starve, for Djemal Pasha did +not approve of open massacres, but preferred starvation as a means of +purging the population of what he regarded as its undesirable elements. +He said there was great friction between the German officers and the +Turkish, and it was common talk in the German mess that they were more +likely to fall from a bullet in the back than in the front. Very few of +the Turkish officers seemed to believe in success. They talked of this +campaign as their last fight and that they wanted to fall in it like +men. + +He had for some time been trying to get out of the country. He must +have played his cards well, for in the end he obtained leave from +Djemal Pasha to go to Berlin _en route_ for Denmark for scientific +agricultural study, and from Copenhagen he succeeded in obtaining leave +to come to England. + +I heard afterwards that this man had been out to Egypt and Palestine, +where he had put his local geological knowledge to good use. A +year later he came to see me, and he was convinced that from El +Arish northward there is a water zone where water can be tapped at +semi-artesian depths. This he had discovered when he was Agricultural +Adviser to the Zionists. Borings in this area produced water, which +rose to within thirty feet of the surface. He was a great reader, +and he told me that his attention had been first called to the water +question through reading Josephus, who describes Caesarea as being +surrounded by gardens for an eight hours’ walk in every direction, +whereas now it is a sandy desert right up to the walls through the +encroachment of the sand. He said that he had tried very hard to +persuade our engineers to try the experiment, but when at last they did +there was an abundant supply of water, and it was no longer necessary +to bring tanks by rail from Egypt. He was convinced that experimental +borings in the Sinai desert would produce water in the same way, and +thus the Mosaic miracle of striking the rock with a staff may be +performed again in the twentieth century. + +After the Armistice I saw this man again in a new capacity. He was a +member of a deputation of Zionists to the Peace Conference. He had a +tragic end. He took aeroplane to fly to London on some urgent business; +the machine came to grief, and he and his companions plunged into the +Channel and were lost. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE END OF RASPUTIN + + +Several accounts have been published of the assassination of Rasputin, +differing in detail. This event had so much to do with the collapse +of Russia that I took pains to collect evidence as to what actually +happened. + +As every one knows, during the autumn of 1916 Rasputin had succeeded +in gaining complete ascendency over the Czar and Czarina. He was a +person who could have existed only among the Russians. He gloried +in being a peasant of the grossest and most common clay, but, just +as a filthy fakir in India can acquire a reputation for holiness by +his self-imposed penances, so a Russian moujik can do the same if he +has personality, cunning, and a smattering of ecclesiastical lore. +Rasputin had all these and he was, besides, a creature of immense +physical strength and physical temperament. His doctrine was that the +cure for all human ills was humility, and he set out to humble the +great ladies of the Court. He had some curious magnetic power which +he exercised more successfully over women than over men, but even men +felt it. His influence over the Royal Family was such that he was able +to persuade the Czar that the only medical attendant to whom he should +listen was the Tibetan herbalist, Batmaef, whom Rasputin described as a +doctor appointed by God. The story in Court circles was that Batmaef +administered herbal decoctions to the Czar himself and, by this means, +weakened his will-power. + +In the late autumn there were rumours that Rasputin’s influence had +been bought by the Germans to persuade the Czar to make a separate +peace, and Youssoupov, one of the young nobles, determined to worm +himself into Rasputin’s confidence in order to ascertain the truth of +these rumours. After some weeks he succeeded in winning his confidence, +and at last, in an interview lasting for two hours, Rasputin revealed +the whole plan to him. A separate peace was to be proclaimed by the +Czar on 1st January 1917, and it was then the second week in December. +There was, therefore, no time to lose. + +Rasputin was the most ‘protected’ person in Russia. He was said to +be watched over by two German detectives, a detective appointed by a +group of bankers, and an Imperial detective who was responsible for +his personal safety. The little group which was resolved upon his +death believed that they were under the direction of a Higher Power +because everything fitted in so perfectly and easily with their design. +Rasputin seemed positively to cultivate the society of Youssoupov, who +called upon him a day or two before Christmas and said that he was +about to leave for the Crimea to spend Christmas there, and that as +Rasputin had never set foot in his house, he had come to invite him +to drink tea with him that evening: he would consider it the greatest +honour. Rasputin did not demur at all. He said, laughingly, that he +would tell the detectives he was going to bed and that they were free +for the evening, and he invited Youssoupov to call for him in his car +at the back door in order to give the slip to any detective who might +remain on duty. + +In Prince Youssoupov’s house there was a dining-room in the basement. +From this a winding staircase led to the first floor, with a landing +half-way giving into the hall. On this landing was a small room. On +arriving at the house Rasputin was conducted into this dining-room, +where bottles of madeira and port were set out. The conspirators +had previously obtained from a chemist a drug known in Russian as +‘cianistii kalii,’ which was said to have a very quick action on the +heart, and to be tasteless when taken in wine. It was in the form of +a white powder contained in glass tubes, and the quantity introduced +into the wine was believed to be sufficient to kill twenty men. During +the afternoon the potion had been tried upon one of the dogs in the +courtyard, and the effect was immediately fatal. + +They sat down at the table, and Youssoupov plied Rasputin with the +wine. There was nothing in this, for Rasputin, like most Russian +peasants, had a strong head and was always ready for carousal. He was +quite unconscious that there was anything unusual in the taste of +what he was drinking, but as time went on and conversation flagged +Youssoupov began to realise that the poison would not act upon such a +man. He made an excuse for going upstairs to the little room on the +landing, where his friends were waiting. The Grand Duke Dmitri lent +him his revolver and he went down again, feeling, as he said, that he +was not acting of his own volition, but was under the direction of a +Higher Power. He found Rasputin leaning on his hands and breathing +loudly as if he was not feeling well. At the end of the dining-room was +a large ikon. Youssoupov went and knelt before it to pray for strength +to do what he had to do for the salvation of the country. Then Rasputin +got heavily to his feet, came over to the ikon, and stood beside +him. Youssoupov rose, put the pistol to Rasputin’s side, and fired. +Rasputin uttered a terrible cry and fell backwards on the floor, where +he lay motionless. There was a doctor in the little room upstairs, +and Youssoupov went to call him. All came down with the doctor; some +were in favour of firing another shot to make sure, but the doctor, on +examining the wound, declared that the bullet had entered the heart and +had pierced the liver, and that clearly the man was dead. Then they +went upstairs to consult about a motor-car in which the body was to be +removed. This took some time, and then Youssoupov, in whose mind the +idea had been working that Satanic power might have kept the man alive +in spite of his wound, went down alone into the dining-room to make +sure. The body was still lying in the same place. He felt the pulse: +it was not beating. He opened the monk’s robe to feel the heart. At +that moment Rasputin, with a terrible cry, sprang up and seized him +by the throat. He was throttling him. Then superhuman power came upon +Youssoupov, who flung him down on the floor: he lay without motion. + +With the horror of this incident upon him Youssoupov ran upstairs. +The Grand Duke, the doctor, and another officer had gone away for the +car and only Poroskewitz, a member of the Duma, was left, and he had +a pistol with three cartridges left in it. To him Youssoupov poured +out his story. They came out on the landing with the intention of +descending the staircase and, looking down, they saw the bullet-head +of the monk coming up the staircase. He was on all fours like a bear. +They shrank back into the room, and saw him stagger to his feet on the +landing and go through into the hall. They followed. Rasputin fumbled +with the door leading to the courtyard, dragged it open, and went +through into the darkness. The two men ran to the door and saw him +against the snow as he was crossing the courtyard. Poroskewitz fired +three shots, but he still ran for several paces, and then fell close to +the gateway which led from the courtyard into the street. Youssoupov +had with him a rubber truncheon such as the police use and, finding him +still alive, put an end to him with that weapon. It was then seen that +one of the revolver bullets had hit him in the back of the skull and +still he had lived. + +Poroskewitz returned to the house, and while Prince Youssoupov was +standing irresolute by the body there came a knocking on the gate. The +police had been alarmed by the revolver shots and had sent an agent to +make inquiries. It was a critical moment because the body was lying +only a few feet from the gate. Youssoupov opened the gate and admitted +the man, placing himself in front of the body. The policeman wanted to +know if anything was wrong. Youssoupov took a high tone with him; said +that the Grand Duke had been dining there and had just left in a car; +that he was slightly merry, and had fired his revolver at a dog in the +courtyard and had killed it: that was all. While he was speaking he +was edging the police agent towards the gate, and at the mention of +the Grand Duke the man seemed to be satisfied. It must be remembered, +too, that the high rank of the person he was questioning may have had +its effect. The report he brought to the police station, however, did +not satisfy his superiors. He was sent back to make further inquiries, +and this time he went to the front door, and was admitted without +Youssoupov’s knowledge while he was engaged in dragging the body across +the courtyard. When the Prince re-entered the house he heard voices +in the sitting-room upstairs. There he found that Poroskewitz, who +was a very excitable and nervous man, had blurted out the whole truth, +and said that they had killed Rasputin. It was a desperate moment. +Youssoupov quickly intervened, saying, ‘Look, he has gone clean off his +head. When the dog was shot he said, “What a pity it was not Rasputin,” +and now it has become an obsession with him, and he thinks that what +he wanted has really come to pass.’ After a good deal of talking he +succeeded in getting the policeman to go. + +There was now no time to lose. Several things had to be done. A dog had +to be found and shot and laid exactly in the position of Rasputin’s +body in order that the blood marks on the snow might be taken for the +blood of the dog. Scarcely had this been done when the Grand Duke’s car +arrived. In Russia grand-ducal cars used to carry a flag on the bonnet +which exempted them from being stopped by the police. Together they +carried the body into the car, took it to the bridge, and dropped it +into the frozen Neva, where it was found some three days afterwards. + +The next morning there was an interrogation at the police station, +but the same story was adhered to, and the police could make little +headway. It is said that the Czarina was pressing for extreme measures +against the assassins, but that the Czar, who was about to return to +the Front, refused his consent. People who were about him at the time +said that he had never seemed more cheerful than when he heard of +Rasputin’s death. The assassins were banished to the Caucasus and to +Persia. + +When will the romance of escapes during the Great War be adequately +written? There were stories of Russian peasant prisoners escaping +from internment and wandering over the frontier into Switzerland not +knowing that they were in a neutral country, living in the woods +like wild animals, with hair and nails grown long, unwashed, unkempt, +half-naked, subsisting upon food taken from the farms at night and +eaten raw. There was one, better authenticated, of a Russian officer +who, after five days’ wandering, succeeded in crossing the frontier +into Holland with his pursuers behind. The Dutch had recently changed +their uniform into field-grey, the colour worn by the Germans, and, +seeing a platoon of grey-coated soldiers in front of him, the wretched +fugitive turned back and re-crossed the frontier in full view of the +German sentry, who shot him dead. + +Who knew at that time that a necessary part of the equipment of an +escaping prisoner of war was pepper, because the German dogs would +scent him at night in his lair and raise the neighbourhood by their +barking? But if he scattered pepper about his resting-place the dogs +would sneeze and slink off home in silence. + +Though there were escapes of British officers and men and civilians +from internment in Germany, I believe that only one German officer +succeeded in escaping from Donnington Hall and reaching Germany. This +was Gunther Plüschow, an aviation officer from Tsingtau, who escaped +in his machine when the fortress was captured by the Japanese, made +his way to Shanghai and thence to San Francisco and New York. Here he +obtained a false Swiss passport as a fitter under the name of Ernst +Suse, with which he embarked for Italy. But to his great indignation +our interpreter at Gibraltar spoke such fluent German that he was +betrayed into unguarded observations. He was arrested and sent to +England, where, after many vicissitudes, he proved his identity as an +officer and was interned at Donnington. + +His escape from Donnington Hall was managed with great skill. On 4th +July 1915, he and an officer named Treffitz reported sick and remained +in bed. At roll-call the N.C.O. ticked them off. It was raining hard, +and they had no difficulty in slipping away to the outer enclosure and +hiding in the bushes. At 6 P.M. the doors between the inner and outer +enclosures were locked and they remained outside. Other officers were +occupying their beds when the roll was taken, and at 10.30 ‘Die Wacht +am Rhein’ was sung from the windows to inform them that they had not +been missed. They climbed the wire entanglements and made for Derby, +where they separated, each man finding his way independently to London. + +In his book published in Dutch, _Adventures of the Tsingtau Flying +Man_, Plüschow gave an account of his proceedings while trying to +board the Dutch packet, which did more than justice to his courage +and endurance and less than justice to the truth. According to this +narrative he spent his nights in Hyde Park, suburban gardens, and in a +lair under a timber stack at Greenwich. Twice he was plunged into the +stinking mud at low water and nearly drowned while setting out in the +dark to swim to the mooring buoy. But, in fact, as we discovered too +late, he eluded the registration regulations by passing his nights with +different women, at whose rooms he was not called upon to register at +all, for he was amply provided with money, and he knew London well from +a former sojourn in 1913. He boarded the buoy to which the _Princess +Juliana_ was moored, climbed the cable, and hid himself in one of the +life-boats. Probably he stole a landing-card from a sea-sick passenger, +or he may, as he says, have walked ashore without one, unchallenged. At +any rate, he landed at Rotterdam, and was accorded an ovation by the +German colony at a public luncheon arranged by the German Consul. + +In May 1916, when the last batch of German officers was received at +Donnington Hall, it was reported that the prisoners were plunged into +deep depression by the news from the German Front. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +RECRUITS FOR THE ENEMY + + +I suppose that some day or other one of the assistant provost-marshals +who served in France will be moved to publish some of his experiences. +Most of his work was dull and uneventful, but every now and then there +flared up one of those sordid little tragedies which human nature, +under the stress of war, is apt to give out. One summer day in 1916 the +A.P.M. at Boulogne received from an Australian escort a grimy envelope +on which nothing was written but, ‘The A.P.M., Boulogne. Herewith Jim +Perry.’ (Perry was not the name.) He asked why he should receive Jim +Perry, and what Jim Perry had done. About this the escort knew nothing +at all. All he had to do was to deliver Jim Perry and bring back a +receipt for his body. For the rest, the A.P.M. had better ask Jim Perry +himself. Perry, when produced, turned out to be a well-educated young +man born in South Africa, with the marks about him of having undergone +a rather strenuous experience, but in this there was nothing unusual as +far as the clients of an A.P.M. were concerned. + +Jim Perry’s story deserves to live. As soon as he heard that war had +been declared he left South Africa in order to join up in England. He +was drafted to the Officers’ Training Corps, but finding the corps +uncongenial, he deserted and walked off to a certain Australian +battalion which was then training in England for the Front. There +was a free and easy way about the Australians that pleased a +fellow-colonial. They welcomed their new recruit, and did not think it +necessary to report his arrival to the officers. The privates collected +some kind of a kit for him from among themselves, and as a roll-call +never seems to have been taken in this particular battalion, Perry was +able to serve with them over two months in England, and afterwards to +accompany them to France. He was five weeks with them in Abbeville, +and then they were moved up to the front line. Here he was with them +for five weeks more, and he might have continued to be an Australian +soldier until the Armistice but for a mishap. One day the battalion +came out of action with a good many casualties and the younger officers +organised a spy hunt. The first step was to do what they had never done +before--to call the roll, and during this unwonted ceremony it was +discovered that they had with them one man more than they ought to have +had. Here, obviously, was the spy. Jim Perry was put under arrest, and +the subalterns held a consultation. The remedy was obvious. Jim Perry +should be shot at sight. They were about to carry out the decision of +the meeting when one of them said that he remembered reading somewhere +that you never shot a man without reporting first to the colonel, so +this formality was complied with, and the colonel, who saw nothing in +the verdict of which he disapproved, remembered to have read somewhere +that you never shot a man without first reporting to the Brigadier. +This was a great disappointment to the subalterns, who were all for +action stern and swift. + +Now the Brigadier happened to know something about military law, and he +pointed out that as no court-martial had been convened and no evidence +had been called, whatever else was done no shooting could take place. +This annoyed the battalion excessively. The decision came just at a +time when they were leaving their rest camp, and they had no intention +of taking with them into action an unmasked spy. Perry could not be +shot, but he could be left behind, so they took him into a barn, +handcuffed his hands and feet round the post which supported the roof, +locked the door, and went away. There Perry remained in this extremely +uncomfortable position for two whole days, and then the South African +angel which watched over him ordained that another Australian battalion +should march into the village and require the barn, should break down +the door and find Jim Perry. He seemed to want food and water very +much, so they fed and watered him, and made a pet of him, and when +their turn came to return to the trenches they wanted to take him +with them, but here the colonel intervened. To him there seemed to be +something irregular about taking a man whom you have found chained to a +post into action with your battalion even as a mascot. He reported the +occurrence and asked for instructions, and these were that Perry should +be sent to the base. It was under these circumstances that an escort of +the Good Samaritans had brought him to Boulogne with the grimy envelope. + +Even an A.P.M. has a heart, and this one decided to send Perry to +England to begin again at the beginning--in other words, to enlist in +any regiment that came handy and draw a veil over his past, and as +Perry had no money he pulled out of his pocket a £1 note. Perry looked +at it dubiously, and said, ‘Money? That’s no use to me, sir. I have +plenty of money of my own. What I want is my cheque-book.’ And this +turned out to be perfectly true. Perry’s father was a wealthy man, and +the son had a banking account. + +Later in the War a large number of German army reservists in Spain +and South America, and a certain number of German prisoners of war +taken on the Russian Front who had escaped from Siberia began to cross +from America in the hope of reaching Holland without being recognised +at the English port as enemies. It was a regular business with the +German Consulate to furnish them with forged passports. They were +Swedes, South Americans, and Dutchmen, according to their papers, +and they assumed the nationality of the language which they happened +to be able to speak. Sometimes we knew when particular persons were +coming; at others the naval officers at the ports had to use their own +intelligence, and very well they did it. There was one rather pathetic +case in which I almost wished that they had been less successful. It +was reported from Kirkwall that two of the stokers on a Swedish ship +were men of above the ordinary education of stokers, and that they were +on their way down to London. I examined them separately. The first gave +in rather quickly. He was the last kind of person who could have hoped +to pass muster as a stoker. He had not even succeeded in making his +hands rough. He was a Viennese reserve captain of artillery, who had +relations in Paris, and had been called up straight from the bank in +which he was employed. He took his internment as a prisoner of war with +perfect philosophy. It was one of the ordinary accidents of war, and +he would rather be interned in a British camp than under the appalling +conditions that prevailed in Siberia, but it did seem hard to have been +taken prisoner twice in the same war after walking some thousands of +miles across Asia. I sometimes hear from him still. When I first saw +the other man I thought that our boarding officer had made a mistake. +He was a sooty, smiling, alert little person, and he slouched into the +room with the regular stoker’s lurch. He answered all my questions, +and picked out on the map the little village in Sweden where he was +born. He talked Swedish with apparent fluency, and his hands were as +dirty as any one could expect from a stoker. Nevertheless, we sent +him to Cannon Row for further inquiry. Cannon Row was his undoing. He +had guessed that his companion in adversity must be in a cell not far +from his, and as the place seemed very quiet he thought it safe to +call him up in German through the ventilator. He did not know that a +German-speaking police officer was in hearing. His companion replied, +and the flood-gates of our friend’s eloquence were opened. ‘They got +nothing out of me,’ he shouted. ‘They really believe that I am a +Swedish stoker. How did _you_ get on?’ (No reply.) ‘The proper way is +to bluff them, and if you do it well they will swallow anything.’ + +When he came before me next morning I told him that he had played his +part very well indeed; in fact, that if he ever cared to try his luck +upon the stage I was sure that he would make a fortune. He grinned a +little uneasily, I thought. ‘And now,’ I said, ‘since the game is up +you might wash your face and hands, put on a collar, and write a letter +to your friends in Vienna, asking them to send your military uniform +in order that we may treat you in internment as an officer.’ His whole +manner changed. Instinctively he pulled himself to attention, gave me +the name of his regiment and the address of his friends, and before he +left the room he clicked his heels, and walked out of it like a trained +soldier. To this day he does not know where my information came from. + +From Falmouth they sent me one day a curly-headed and rotund young +gentleman from Chile. He spoke Spanish like a native, and he was bound +for Rotterdam to buy cheap cigars for his firm in Valparaiso. Also he +spoke English, which he professed to have learned in New York during +the course of his business travels. Unfortunately for him, there had +been on the steamer an Austrian woman with whom he had spent much of +his time, and just before he was called to go ashore he had been seen +to slip into her hand a folded piece of paper. She retired to the cabin +to open and read this note, but one of the boarding officers followed +her and recovered it. It was a German letter written in pencil, and +it said, ‘Whatever you do, you must not reveal the fact that I speak +German.’ This note was on my table when he came in for examination, and +with me was sitting as Admiralty representative the late Lord Abinger +who spoke German fluently. He kept his knowledge in reserve. + +The young man was quite charming. He answered all my questions without +hesitation; he thought that some generations ago one of his ancestors +might have been a German, but he was not well enough versed in the +family history to give me full details about this. Many Chileans, he +said, had fair curly hair like his and a fresh complexion, because +the Chilean sun does not burn the skin as it does in Peru. Yes, he +spoke English fluently but not German. It was one of the regrets of +his life that he had never learned that language. We gave him writing +materials, and set the lamp as he liked it, and then I said, ‘Draw up +your chair, and this gentleman will set you a piece of dictation.’ +Then Lord Abinger cleared his throat, and dictated the Spanish text of +his passport. The handwriting, as I could see, was the same as that +of the note. While he was still writing I handed his German note to +Lord Abinger who, without break or pause, followed on with the German +text. The curly head was not raised. All I could see was a deep flush +creeping over the cheek. The hand stopped writing. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘you +do not seem to be getting on.’ + +‘The gentleman is dictating in a language I do not know.’ + +‘He is reading from a letter written by yourself.’ + +There was a long silence, during which the pencil dropped on the +floor, and at last the young man rose wearily from the armchair and +said, ‘Well, what are you going to do with me? You have me in your +power.’ He was quite ready then to answer questions, and I believed him +when he said that his only object in coming over was to do his duty, +because he could not bear to have it thrown in his teeth afterwards +that he had taken no part in the Great War. He added, philosophically, +that he supposed that they could not reproach him if he was interned +in an enemy country, and I, looking at his fat hands and his ample +proportions, added the comfortable reflection that he would find +internment far safer than service in the trenches. + +In January 1917, an American boasting the name of Jelks Leroy Thrasher +was found on board the Dutch passenger steamer _Zeelandia_ when she +put into Falmouth on her way to Holland. Mr. Thrasher was a young, +clean-shaven man who had something about him of military courtesy, +which scarcely accorded with the account that he was prepared to give +of himself. For this reason he was asked to land, and sent to me for +an interview. He had quite a marked American accent, and yet there +was something about it that did not quite carry conviction. After the +usual caution he became even more communicative than before, and was +ready to tell me every detail of his past life from his very earliest +years. There was something quite uncanny about his memory. He could +describe the colour of people’s hair whom he could have known only +when he was just out of the perambulator. He was never at a loss for a +name, and his elaborate description of Quitman, Georgia, where he said +he had passed his early life, would have astonished the residents of +that little-known centre. There were, of course, a few discrepancies, +and as the examination proceeded he began to show uneasiness. I said +at last, ‘Do you know, you are not telling your story very well.’ He +looked concerned and bowed--from the waist. I said, ‘Your accent is not +quite American, though it is a very good imitation.’ He again bowed, +as before, from the waist. What I wanted was a name to put to him, +and so we adjourned for luncheon to consider what Germans were at the +moment loose upon the world on unlawful pursuits. It happened that +about this time the German Government had had occasion to send a direct +messenger to New York in connection with the negotiations for landing +arms in Ireland, and it was intended, no doubt, that the messenger +should afterwards proceed to Holland in the guise of an American. The +officer’s name was known to be Captain Hans Boehm. There were several +other Germans wandering about, but as this man seemed the most likely I +thought I would try him first. + +After luncheon Mr. Thrasher resumed his seat, and I again referred +unkindly to his American accent, which I pointed out to him was too +laboured for an American. At last I said, ‘You are not doing this well, +Captain Boehm.’ He looked surprised, but said nothing. ‘No, Captain +Boehm, you are not doing it well.’ He smiled and again bowed from the +waist. I said, ‘Take, for example, your bow. No American bows like +that.’ He laughed and bowed again, and, as he made no objection to +being called Captain Boehm, I said, ‘Perhaps I am not quite fair. +You had a very difficult part to play, and you played it better than +any German officer who has yet sat in that chair.’ That pleased him, +and after a little pressing he told me most of his story. He was the +son of an official in Alsace, was well-educated, and had spent a good +deal of his life in America. During 1916 he was commanding a battery +of artillery near Wytschaete, in Flanders, and, on account of his +reputation as an American, he had been taken out of the line to be +employed upon a special mission. He was now on his way back. He would +tell me nothing about the nature of his employment--that we knew from +another source--but he did admit that he had met Roger Casement while +in Germany. It afterwards appeared that there had been a man of the +name of Jelks Leroy Thrasher in Quitman, Georgia, but he was dead. +Probably the passport was one of those that had been retained by the +German Government on the pretence that it had been lost at the Foreign +Office when sent thither for a _visa_. Captain Boehm was treated as +a military prisoner, and told that as soon as his uniform arrived he +would be treated as an interned officer. He wrote to his friends from +Brixton on 17th January 1917 saying: + + ‘I wish to emphasise that the treatment meted out to me right + throughout has been _very good_. From Admiral to seamen, all were + _very kind_ to me, and the comprehension of the situation was + _superior_. The Admiral said to me, “We have no interest to make + difficulties for an enemy who can do us no more harm.” Please bring + these lines to the knowledge of my superiors in the General Staff. If + you can do a friendly action to an English prisoner _do it_.’ + +A great many neutrals used to come in about this time after their +journeys in the enemy countries. One of them had had a talk with von +Tirpitz. He had called to give the family news of their son, who was +a prisoner of war, and while they were at tea von Tirpitz himself +came in. He described him as looking like a very untidy old farmer, +with socks hanging down over his boots, and chalk marks all over his +trousers, but his expression exhaled benevolence quite out of keeping +with the fire-eating advice he was giving to the German Government on +the subject of submarines. He complained bitterly of the conduct of the +Americans in making munitions for the Allies. My friend pointed out +that if the Germans would send ships to fetch munitions, as the Allies +did, they could be supplied too, and remarked, ‘If you had command of +the sea, would you not obtain them from us?’ ‘Of course we would,’ said +von Tirpitz. + +I have said little about that admirably managed department, the Postal +Censorship, because much of its work was necessarily confidential, but +there was nothing new about its functions. At the time of the Great +Fire the General Post Office was situated in Cloak Lane off Dowgate +Hill. There was no Postmaster-General; the service was farmed out, +and the lessee at that time was Katharine, Countess of Chesterfield, +acting through her agent, Sir Philip Frowde. Under him was the actual +postmaster, one James Hickes, whose claim to fame was that he kept the +office open throughout the Great Plague, and saved most of the letters +on the night of the Great Fire. There was at that time an inventor, +Sir Samuel Morland, who, among other inventions, had devised the +capstan and the speaking trumpet, and we are told that an apparatus +for the opening and rapid copying of letters was among the property +that perished in the Great Fire of London. What the machine was that +kept Charles II. three hours ‘seeing with admiration and very great +satisfaction’ the various operations, that copied a letter in little +more than one minute before photography was invented, will never be +known because Morland omitted to invite Samuel Pepys to a demonstration +and allowed his secret to die with him.[3] + +[3] _Unknown London_ by Walter Bell, F.R.A.S. (London: John Lane, 1920.) + +All sorts of queer people came to light through the censorship of +letters. One would have thought that during the agonies of war there +would have been no time for the innocent forms of internationalism, but +it is a fact that in nearly every country in the world one could find +international chess-players so detached from public affairs that they +were actually conducting games by post in 1917. The Censor stopped a +postcard in a foreign handwriting addressed to Spain with the usual +chess formulae on its back. The card was tested in every possible way +for secret writing, and it seemed so incredible that any one should +be playing chess with a foreign antagonist at such a moment that we +concluded that a new form of spy communication by means of chess +formulae had been adopted by the enemy. After some search we found the +writer. He proved to be a young Spaniard, little more than a boy, who +lived in a squalid room near Tottenham Court Road with practically no +personal effects except a chess-board. He was genuinely astonished at +being haled before the authorities. During the day-time he was a waiter +at a restaurant, but in his spare moments--and there could not have +been many of them--he was conducting twenty-four games of chess by post +with antagonists in foreign countries whom he had never seen. He had +heard that ‘there was a war on,’ but apparently as long as it did not +interfere with his games it was no concern of his. + +It was clear that the British Navy was doing its work well. A letter +found concealed in a parcel addressed to a German prisoner which was +intercepted in January 1917 gave us some very useful information. The +writer had been recently repatriated from Wakefield _via_ Stratford, +and he gives the following account of what he imagines he saw: + + ‘We left Stratford in the omnibus on Sunday evening, driving to + Charing Cross through London’s dark streets, which are fearfully + depressing. We saw a few houses destroyed by the Zeppelins, but it + was only here (in Germany) that I got some photographs which show + that the whole corner from the Haymarket, Piccadilly, the complete + block of residences over the Piccadilly Tube Station had been clean + swept away.’ + +He went on to give minute instructions, based upon his own experience, +how gold and other prohibited articles could be smuggled out of the +country without interference from the military and the police--a part +of his letter which caused us to stop a number of leaks. In the early +days of the War a good deal of gold was successfully smuggled out. One +German woman had gone to the expense of having a false bottom made to +her handbag, which proved on examination to be floored with sovereigns. +Its weight was its undoing. + +This verbose correspondent was guarded when he wrote about the state +in which he found Germany. ‘I will only tell you one thing,’ he wrote: +‘that times are serious; much, much more serious than any one has ever +thought. So, for instance, it is in my opinion a direct active meanness +if anybody in the camp has had sent to him eatables of any sort, even +in the smallest quantities.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE DECLINE OF MORALE + + +In June 1916 the Germans adopted a new policy. They began to send +distinguished neutrals, generally Swedes, who entered the country as +ardently pro-British, and told us that a recent visit to Berlin had +convinced them that the economic situation in Germany was far stronger +than in England, and that England was faced with the certainty of +defeat unless she agreed with her enemy quickly. In one case the Swede +proposed that our Government should select six business men and send +them to Holland to meet six Germans and thus convince themselves of +the truth of what he said! He was surprised and pained when he heard +that his invitation had been refused. I wish I had seen him after the +Armistice to remind him of his passionate assurances that the Germans +whom he professed to dislike so much were about to triumph. + +There were many other indications that the Germans were becoming +anxious about their morale. It was common talk among the interned +officers in Donnington Hall in September 1917 that they could not +expect to win the War, but they still hoped to be able to hold out long +enough to secure a ‘draw.’ + +The peace feelers of the Austrians led to a very curious incident. In +March 1916 two distinguished Spanish gentlemen were ushered into my +room. One, who bore an ancient title, was the proprietor of a Madrid +newspaper; the other, who spoke English fluently and was married to +an American, was vouched for as a person of wealth and position. He +explained that he had a scheme for obtaining for the Allies the use +of all the Austrian ships interned in Spain, and the titled gentleman +bowed and smiled as an endorsement, though it was doubtful whether +he understood enough English to know what was said. Señor P---- had +with him all the impedimenta of a wealthy traveller--wife, children, +governess, secretary, servants, and baggage, and he had engaged a suite +of rooms. He had interviews with various distinguished people, but +there was something rather nebulous about his proposals, and he did not +produce any written guarantee of his good faith. It happened that on +the staff of a certain daily newspaper there was a gentleman who knew +Spanish. Upon him Señor P---- seized, for he could bring him into touch +with the newspaper world, and so mobilise public opinion in favour of +taking over the Austrian ships. Just before Easter Señor P---- informed +me that he intended to go to Holland and there meet certain Austrian +shipping magnates with whom he hoped to negotiate the transfer. On +Good Friday I was rung up by the newspaper man, who asked my advice. +Señor P---- had begged him to accompany him to Holland. Was there any +objection? Knowing that he was to be trusted and that he might keep +an eye upon the Spaniard’s movements and let me know what it was all +about, I helped him with his passport, and the two went off together. +Two days later I received a telegram from Rotterdam, begging me to +meet the pressman in my office on Easter Sunday as he had something +important to communicate. The poor man had been travelling all night, +and was in a state of nervous tension. He told me the following story: + +On the way down the river Señor P---- had remarked, ‘I ought to tell +you without delay that all this about the Austrian ships is a blind. +What we are really going to do is to negotiate a peace between Austria +and the Allies.’ With that, he pulled out of his pocket a telegram +which read as follows: + + ‘I appoint Señor P---- and Mr. H---- to be my Plenipotentiaries for + making peace. + + LORD ROBERT CECIL.’ + +Mr. H---- pointed out that this was a forgery; that Lord Robert +Cecil would not have sent or signed a telegram in this way, nor +would he have thought of appointing either Señor P---- or himself as +plenipotentiaries. Señor P---- burst out laughing. ‘Never mind,’ he +said, ‘these little artifices are necessary when great events hang in +the balance. I shall show this telegram to the Austrians and they will +believe it.’ + +On arriving at Rotterdam Mr. H---- found that three Austrian gentlemen +had actually arrived, and he was taken into a conference in a hotel. +Señor P---- did most of the talking, and was particularly eloquent on +the financial question. You could not, he said, have peace without +paying for it, and peace in this case was worth a million sterling to +Austria if it was worth a crown. They haggled for some time over the +deal, and Señor P---- left the room for a moment to find a document, +whereupon the Austrians asked Mr. H---- what he knew of his Spanish +friend. They had made inquiries about him in Berlin, and what they had +learnt was not very much in his favour. ‘But,’ they said, ‘whether we +care to negotiate with him or not, we do welcome the opportunity of +meeting face to face the proprietor of a great London daily newspaper.’ + +‘I am not the proprietor,’ said Mr. H---- in amazement, ‘I am merely a +humble employé.’ + +They waved this politely aside. Great men often travel incognito. +He was, of course, Lord ---- in disguise. He continued to disclaim +the compliment, and they said, ‘Well, whoever you are, you are in a +position to convey to the proper quarter our views regarding a peace +between Austria and the Allies,’ With that, they handed him the +following paper: + + ‘M. Emil Karpeles and Mr. H----, respectively an Austrian and a + British subject, having been brought together at Amsterdam by Mr. + de P----, starting from the idea of their two countries being in a + position to initiate preliminaries for peace, and to become for a + long period trustees for peace in Europe, undertake to submit to + their respective governments the ten clauses named below in order + to obtain from them a declaration of their agreeing to them in + principle. By giving such declarations the two governments accept + these ten clauses as the basis of a preliminary conference to be + held as soon as possible within four weeks from to-day in Holland + or Switzerland. The conference is to be composed of the same number + of delegates from the two parties, and two delegates appointed by + His Majesty the King of Spain. This preliminary conference will also + arrange conditions and regulations for the exchange of goods between + the two countries for the time of an armistice if such be proclaimed. + + ‘_Clause_ 1. The re-establishment of the Kingdom of Serbia, with + limits as before the Treaty of London, the King to be chosen by Great + Britain and Austria-Hungary, the province of Negotin to come to + Austria-Hungary. + + ‘2. The re-establishment of the Kingdom of Montenegro. Lovcen and the + coast to go to Austria-Hungary against territorial compensation on + the east frontier. + + ‘3. Albania. Sovereign to be chosen by Great Britain and + Austria-Hungary. + + ‘4. Limits as after the first Balkan war, inclusive Macedonia + (exchange Kavalla against Valona with Greece?). + + ‘5. Greece. See clause 4. + + ‘6. Italy to abandon influence on east coast of the Adriatic. + A rectification of the Austro-Italian frontier if desired by + Austria-Hungary to be agreed to by Italy. No war contribution. + + ‘7. Turkey. _Status quo ante._ Signatory powers guarantee integrity + of the Turkish Empire. + + ‘8. Belgium. Re-establishment against return German colonies to + Germany. + + ‘9. France. _Status quo ante._ + + ‘10. Russia. Kingdom of Poland to be created as in existence between + 1772-1793. The King to be chosen by Great Britain out of three + presented by Austria-Hungary. The Crown lands within the limits of + the future kingdom of Poland to serve as security for the interest + and principal of a loan of 25 thousand million marks in favour of + Austria-Hungary. Great Britain will raise the full amount of the + loan, _i.e._ 25 thousand million marks on behalf of Austria-Hungary, + to whom the money is to be paid, and who will settle all the expenses + incurred in the arrangement for the preliminary conference mentioned + in the first paragraph. + + ‘AMSTERDAM, _27th April 1916_. + + ‘In the event of His Majesty the King of Spain declining two + delegates as mentioned in the first paragraph the two governments + will consider any further suggestion for the holding of the + preliminary conference. + + ‘AMSTERDAM, _27th April_.’ + +In the course of conversation he gathered that the Austrians were not +officials but directors of important shipping concerns who may have had +some quiet official sanction for their errand. No money passed between +them and Señor P----, but when Mr. H---- pointed out that he had +come over on the understanding that he was not to be put to personal +expense, they did give him a hundred pounds to cover his journey, which +seemed to show that they thought his intervention was worth at least +that amount. + +It is to be feared that poor Señor P---- did not enjoy his reception on +his return to this country. His stay was extremely short, and part of +it was passed in a room without any of the amenities that he had been +accustomed to in his suite at a first-class hotel. Since the Armistice +he has again appeared as a man who can make fortunes. His fluent +tongue, his moist eye, and his extremely well-fed appearance were not +given him for nothing. + +Among the many queer people who graced my room was a certain Jugo-Slav +lawyer-journalist who came I do not quite know why, and left I do not +quite know whither. He talked unceasingly about nothing in particular. +He assured me that he was a frequent visitor to the Foreign Office, +and that he was a person to be reckoned with. I consulted a friend who +knew him well, and when I remarked that he did not quite seem to know +what he wanted and that his discourse was sometimes incoherent, my +friend assured me that all Jugo-Slav journalists are like that and that +everything reasonable should be done to encourage him. And so when he +called again and again I did not attempt to interrupt him: my time was +a sacrifice laid on the altar of our international relations. + +One day the awful news was received that the Jugo-Slav journalist was +under arrest in Northumberland. In defiance of every prescription, +human and divine, he had taken the train for Newcastle without +complying with any of the police requirements, and had gone straight +off to the residence of Lord Grey of Fallodon. Lord Grey was away, and +his housekeeper, naturally disturbed, communicated with the police, +when it was found that my Jugo-Slav friend had neglected to register +his arrival. He was then contemplating a journey to Glasgow, Inverness, +and Edinburgh, but he was remitted under escort to London, where again +he appeared before me. On this occasion incoherence would be a grave +under-statement of the nature of his discourse. I gathered that he had +been grossly insulted, and that all Jugo-Slavia would rise as one man +when they came to know of it. It was useless to point out that the +law was no respecter of persons, and that even the most distinguished +foreigner was liable to indignities if he broke it, because my friend +had no time for listening. He wanted to talk, and talk he did. Still, +he was no exception to the unbroken rule that no one who came into my +room should leave it without thanking me, and we patched up some kind +of arrangement. I was shocked some few weeks later at learning that the +poor man had died of general paralysis of the insane. + +Among the detentions made at this period was that of an ex-naval +officer, Commander von Rintelen. After leaving the German Navy he had +embarked on international trade, chiefly in Mexico, and had become +a power in Central America. He had done many things that would have +brought him within reach of the law in the United States. For some time +he denied his identity, but the interrogation by the naval officers +was conducted with remarkable skill, and in the end he confessed. At +subsequent interviews he became quite communicative, while of course +he gave nothing away that would have injured his Government. He was +interned as an officer at Donnington Hall. + +The Americans would have been very glad to have him within their +jurisdiction, but it was, of course, impossible to transfer a prisoner +of war to the custody of a neutral. On the day when America entered the +War on the side of the Allies the position changed. There seemed to +be nothing to prevent a prisoner of war interned in one of the allied +countries from being interned in another, and it was decided to send +von Rintelen over to America in British custody. A curious light is +thrown upon the German mentality by an incident that took place just +before he embarked. He stopped to make a solemn protest as a prisoner +of war against his life being placed in jeopardy from German submarines +if he were embarked upon a merchant vessel. His escort listened quite +gravely to his protest, and asked him to move on. + +A good deal of latitude is allowed to prisoners on board steamers, +and one day von Rintelen found himself in company with a young South +American who spoke German fluently. When he heard that he was going +to South America he asked him to call upon the German Minister in +Venezuela and say to him the two words ‘_Rintelen Meldet_’ (Rintelen +has arrived). That, he explained, would set certain machinery to work. +He hinted darkly that there would be reprisals upon Colonel Napier, +who was interned as a prisoner of war in Austria, and he declared +his intention of getting President Carranza to seize three prominent +Americans in Mexico and make reprisals on them. His passion for +reprisals knew no bounds. Some months later, while he was awaiting +his trial in New York, he told this young man when he came to see him +that he need not trouble further about delivering the message because +Admiral von Hintze had passed through New York on his way from China, +and would see that the necessary steps were taken. I was glad to learn +a little later that the British officer in question had been released +and sent to England. + +One early morning some fishermen who were walking under the cliff +between Robin Hood’s Bay and Filey saw two men wandering along the +beach. They stopped them and, believing them to be Germans, took them +to the nearest constable. Nothing very much could be got out of them +except that they were German sailors, and that they had buried some of +their belongings in the sand. These were recovered, and among them +was a cheap watch which was still going. On the way to London they +declared that they had swum ashore from a submarine in Robin Hood’s +Bay. It seemed impossible that a watch which had been immersed in sea +water for perhaps twenty minutes should still be going, and it was +thought that they might have been landed intentionally. They proved to +be a very interesting couple. The younger man was barely twenty-one. +He had passed his examination for an officer’s commission. The older +man was a quarter-master of past forty. He could look for no further +promotion. Both had been on night-watch on a German submarine lying in +Robin Hood’s Bay. The older man had suddenly shouted, ‘Motor-boat!’ +(Submarines were particularly nervous about our fast motor-boats at +that time.) At the same moment he clapped down the hatch, which was +secured from inside, and the submarine began to submerge. There was no +escape for either man except by swimming. It was pretty obvious that +the older man had had enough of cruising and intended to desert, for +there had been ample time for both men to have passed through the hatch +before it was secured. + +And now they were marooned in the enemy country with nothing before +them but internment as prisoners of war. I did not cover myself with +glory during their examination. I asked the older man whether he would +mind if I immersed his watch in a tumblerful of water during the +interview. He made no objection, and there that watch stayed under +three inches of water for a full half-hour. When I took it out it was +still going. If it had stopped, as any respectable watch would under +such treatment, their story about swimming ashore would have been +upset. It remained only to ask him where such a watch was made. He had +bought it in Stettin for 5 marks! + +During the last month in 1916 the Commissioner of Police was asked to +furnish 800 trained police to serve in France, partly to regulate the +traffic on the French roads behind the line. They were converted into +military police for the purpose. I saw a few of them afterwards on this +duty, and very well they did it. There is a story, perhaps mythical, +that during the retreat of the Fifth Army in March 1918 a London +policeman was seen standing at a corner where two roads converged. +Down one was marching a body of British troops, down the other a body +of Germans, and he put out one arm mechanically to stop the Germans, +and with the other waved to the British to proceed as if, for all the +world, he was controlling the traffic at Hyde Park Corner. With their +innate obedience to authority, it is said that the Germans marked +time. The story did not go on to say what became of the policeman, but +there are not a few of my acquaintance whose calmness in moments of +excitement would be quite equal to such an occasion. + +One drawback to the submarine campaign against shipping was that +we could no longer compel neutral ships to come in to Falmouth and +Kirkwall for examination, since both these ports were in the danger +zone: consequently the examinations were made in Halifax, Jamaica, and +Sierra Leone, and no more suspicious travellers came to Scotland Yard. + +In February 1917 drafts of civilian prisoners of war from the Isle +of Man in exchange for an equal number of British from Ruhleben +were shipped to Holland in the _Rjndam_. The representative of the +Holland-America Line called at the American Embassy to demand their +passage money in advance. On being asked to collect it from the German +Government he replied that this was out of the question: they knew the +German Government too well. + +It has always been a matter for wonder what led the Germans to adopt +the suicidal policy of torpedoing hospital ships. The case is not made +better by the reason given by themselves, namely, that an Austrian +named Adalbert Messany had made a declaration that when he was +repatriated in the ‘hospital ship’ _Britannic_ there were 2500 armed +troops on board. A concert singer of that name, aged twenty-four, and +suffering from tuberculosis, had been deported from Egypt to Mudros +in November 1916, and at Mudros he was embarked on the transport +_Britannic_ for repatriation. On such evidence as this the Germans +sought to justify crimes as stupid as they were dastardly. + +The long sojourn of the British Army in Northern France was said to +be causing uneasiness to some of the French, who viewed the erection +of semi-permanent buildings as an indication that the British might +delay demobilisation for years and be in virtual possession of all the +Channel ports. One of them is said to have approached a certain eminent +English official and to have asked how long he thought it would take +the British to evacuate Calais at the end of the War. This Englishman, +who is a cynic with a love for equivocal speech, replied, ‘Well, I +don’t know. Last time it took them two hundred years.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE BOGUS PRINCESS + + +During the War bogus royalties and princesses sprang up like +toadstools. Any young woman with a turn for private theatricals and +a vivid imagination could burst forth as a high-born refugee and get +some one to believe in her and, incidentally, to finance her until she +found a husband from among the officers in one or other of the camps. +The first I remember was a Russian princess who, while staying with a +very influential lady in the Midlands, had become engaged to a certain +temporary officer of large expectations. She was described to me as +beautiful, with a peculiarly Russian type of loveliness, emotional, +as all Russians are, with blue eyes that became easily suffused with +tears, and with a charming flow of broken English. I think it was +the broken English that was her undoing, for she had the ill-fortune +to come into contact with an Englishwoman who prided herself on her +Russian, and would insist upon showing it off to every Russian she met. +Curious to relate, the princess had entirely forgotten her Russian, +and for some reason her parents had neglected to have her taught +French, which is in the ordinary curriculum of well-born Russians. +She accounted for this by vague allusions to the misfortunes of her +family, who had had so troublous an existence that they appeared to +have forgotten to teach her anything but English, and this only broken +English. + +It was in the height of the spy mania, and, not unnaturally, the +Russian-speaking Englishwoman jumped to the conclusion that she had to +deal with a German spy and, worse, a German spy who had got herself +engaged to a British officer, and so she came to me. I found that the +princess’s hostess was still ready to go bail for her and could not +bear that her protegée should undergo the humiliation of being called +to Scotland Yard, but I was adamant. Come the lady must. All I could +promise was that she should not be dealt with harshly even if she +proved to be a spy. + +There walked into my room a beautifully dressed young woman with a full +outfit of furs, because, I suppose, a Russian princess would not be +Russian without them. Her broken English was certainly not the broken +English of a Russian nor of a Frenchwoman nor of a German nor, indeed, +of any nation that I had yet encountered. It was the broken English of +the English stage; and when I came to look at the lady I was quite sure +that whatever knowledge she had acquired of life had been acquired in +the lower ranks of the profession. + +I said: + +‘English does not come very easily to you. Shall we talk French?’ + +‘I not speak French, sir.’ + +‘But you are a Russian?’ + +‘Yes, sir.’ + +‘And your parents are now in Russia?’ + +‘Yes, sir.’ + +‘And yet you do not speak Russian?’ + +‘No, sir. Russia I leave many years ago.’ + +‘Can you describe to me your Russian home?’ + +‘I leave, sir, when quite a leetle child.’ + +‘Now,’ I said, ‘I want you to give me the address of your English +mother. You see, in this room one has to drop all play-acting and tell +the truth.’ + +Her blue eyes filled with tears, but at last, quite faintly, she gave +me an address in London and retired to await the arrival of her mother. + +There was no play-acting about this good lady when she arrived. She +was a buxom woman of fifty, who earned her living as a housekeeper and +had two daughters, one in a good situation and the other a young woman +who had become stage-struck at eighteen, and would from time to time +fill the breasts of her mother and sister with silent indignation by +flouncing in upon them in expensive clothes and attempting to patronise +them. ‘I always told her that she’d get herself into trouble if she +went on as she did, and now she has. You just let me see her for five +minutes and talk to her.’ I asked whether she had ever heard that her +daughter was posing as a Russian. ‘No,’ she said, ‘but I remember that +one Christmas she got a part as a Russian princess in a pantomime and +had to talk broken English.’ + +In fact, the war had broken out just in time to give this young lady +an opportunity of continuing her part off the stage. She had had a +glorious time. I was not present at the interview between mother and +daughter, but at the end of it the mother informed me that she had +promised to be a good girl and make a clean breast of it all to her +patroness, and also to the man whom she was about to marry, and I heard +that he, good fellow that he was, married her all the same. + +Another young woman who appeared in 1915 aimed higher, and, being +better educated, played her part with more distinction. She was no +less, according to the accounts that first came to me, than a daughter +of Marie Vetsera, the heroine of the mysterious tragedy in which Prince +Rudolf of Austria met his death, and of course I need hardly say that +Prince Rudolf was her father. She arrived from America, and almost +immediately became engaged to a British officer. She was invited to +Scotland Yard for an interview. She did not talk broken English, but +her accent was neither American nor English, and, unlike the Russian +princess, she was possessed of some means. Her story was full of +mysteries and reticences. She could only tell me, she said, what she +had herself been told. Her earliest recollections were of the convent +in America in which she had been brought up. The Sisters would only +tell her that a foreign-looking stranger had brought her there as a +baby, and that her parentage was very distinguished indeed. She must +not ask too many questions. He had invested for her a large sum of +money which she was to enjoy when she came of age. It had been placed +in trust with a firm of lawyers who were under an obligation not to +tell her whence it came. As the years went on there were hints about +the Austrian Royal Family. Prince Rudolf had been mentioned, and then +one day the Mother Superior put her arm round her, and whispered that +her mother had been very unhappy, that the whole thing was very tragic +and, again, that she must not ask too many questions. From this she +inferred the rest--that she was the daughter of Marie Vetsera, born +some time before the tragedy. + +‘I am sorry to interrupt you,’ I said, ‘but Marie Vetsera never had a +daughter. The whole of her history is well known.’ + +Her eyes filled with tears, and she, replied that she could only tell +me what she had been told. When she left the convent the lawyer had +hinted at the same thing, and had paid over to her the money that had +been placed in trust. + +‘The lawyer’s name?’ + +‘Alas, sir, he is dead, and the firm no longer exists.’ + +She then asked for advice as to how she should manage about her boy, +then a child of about six. As far as I could gather, she had for some +time been living on her capital, which must in due course come to an +end. Asked what she would do when the inevitable happened, she shook +her head and hinted that she would put an end to herself. + +It transpired in the course of the interview that she could speak +French and Polish fairly fluently, and this may have accounted for the +peculiarity of her accent. She had been taught these languages, she +said, in the convent. She would not give the name of the convent, and +therefore all this part of the story may have been invented like the +rest, but it was clear from inquiries that were subsequently made that +by nationality she was American, and that she was certainly not engaged +in espionage. + +But the most amazing of all the claimants was a certain _soi-disant_ +princess of a royal house who had succeeded in convincing a very large +number of people that she was genuine. She was not in need of funds, +nor had she any object in view except to gain the prestige which +a royal parentage would confer upon her. It was therefore a quite +harmless amusement, and she must have got a great deal of fun out of +it. Unfortunately for her, when she had first laid claim to her rank +there was nothing to show that we were soon to be at war with the +sovereign whom she claimed for father, and when the spy mania was at +its height he came, not unnaturally, under suspicion. It was still more +unfortunate that her own brother was living in this country. + +She had worked out the details of her claim with remarkable skill. Her +mother was still living, as well as her two brothers and a sister. It +was impossible to ignore them altogether, and so she told a story of +how she had been confided to the care of her own mother by an Imperial +lady who, for some unexplained reason, wished to keep her birth a +secret. I commend this kind of story to any future claimant of royal +parentage, because when sceptics begin to throw details of your early +life in your face you can say, ‘Quite so, all that happened, only you +were never told the secret of my birth, which is known only to me and +to one or two other people, who are dead.’ All she had to do, in fact, +was to read up all the movements of the Court during the years of her +infancy and childhood, and retail them as a privileged eye-witness. + +There sailed into my room one morning the most Imperial-looking person +I have ever seen. Even when sitting in my low armchair there was a calm +and condescending dignity about her that would have impressed anybody. +She had a husband who was on the way to make a fortune, and who was in +attendance to confirm everything she said, and no one was ever more +ready than she to help me over any difficult points, only I must tell +her what they were. My first point was that her reputed mother did not +and could not have had a child at the particular date when she said she +was born. She smiled rather pityingly, and said that no doubt I was not +aware that her mother had spent some months alone at a watering-place +in France at that time, and that it was evident that I did not know how +eccentric she was. As a matter of fact I did, but I also knew a good +deal about the movements of the Imperial lady immediately after the +supposed birth, and they did not at all tally with my visitor’s story. +I took her through her various statements, and as I had no documentary +evidence on the other side to confront her with she left with the +honours of war, but she left me also quite unconvinced. + +A few days later I discovered her brother, a composer of considerable +ability and a very striking-looking man with a strong family likeness +to his sister. He was in a state of great indignation against her, +chiefly, I think, on account of the disparagement of his mother which +was entailed by her story. He came fully armed with most convincing +documents--family photographs from the time when they were all children +together, letters written by the lady herself to her family, and +letters from his mother in Switzerland. Among the letters was one +written when the claimant was a girl of seventeen. She and her sister +were at a watering-place, and she retails, with satisfaction, a remark +she overheard about them, that they were _Kaiserlich mädchen_. This +chance remark overheard in a hotel probably put the entire idea into +her head. In appearance she was _Kaiserlich_ to the finger-tips, and +it must have been balm to her soul to extend them to be kissed and to +see the world curtsy to her. She was the daughter of a Jewish bank +manager in a good position. She had been well-educated, and she knew a +number of people who could tell her the gossip of the Court. She could +not have imposed on any one in her own country, but once abroad she +began to expand, and the story had given four or five years of intense +pleasure. + +Having satisfied myself that, whatever else the lady might be, she +was not dangerous to the cause of the Allies, I dropped the case, +thinking that if any exposure became necessary the brother would +bring it about; but one day, to my great surprise, a friend who has a +profound knowledge of Austria, told me that he was satisfied that she +was genuine, and thought it a great pity that she had been subjected +to the indignity of interrogation. I made him a sporting offer. I said +that the lady was probably expecting another interview, that I had +documentary proofs in my possession, and that if he liked I would +invite her to see me again in his presence. He agreed, and asked only +that he might bring with him a personage who has since become very +prominent in Europe. + +The interview took place. The lady sailed in as imperially as before. +My companions were presented to her, and she acknowledged their bows +with the slightest nod. + +‘Sit down, madam. Since I saw you last some very interesting documents +have reached me, and I want to put them to you. The first are some +family photographs.’ + +I thought she flushed slightly. + +‘Oh, I can see what has happened. You have been in communication with +Mr. K----, who claims to be my brother. Poor man, it has become an +obsession with him.’ + +I do not think that she was prepared for the family photographs, for +at first she would not admit that the girl of fourteen in one of the +groups was herself. A little later she seemed to think that this was +a false move, for she said, ‘I suppose that is my photograph, but you +see at that time we should have been photographed together because I +had been consigned to the care of Madame K----.’ When she came to her +own letters she was for the first time embarrassed and inclined to be +angry, for she had at short notice to make up her mind whether she +would deny the authorship altogether, or admit it and readjust her +story. I was on pretty sure ground, because it happened that a relation +of mine had been staying in the same house as her Imperial ‘mother’ +on an occasion when she claimed to have been present, and that when +her photograph was shown to this lady, she declared that the girl she +saw there was quite a different-looking person. For the first time +her imperial calm broke down. She became very pale and very angry. It +was difficult to say whether fear or anger was the stronger of her +emotions. She admitted the authorship of the letters, and to all our +further questions she would only reply that she was suffering for the +malice of her brother. + +For a time I think she dropped her royal pretensions. At any rate, she +dropped the idea of writing a book, which was said to be nearly ready +for publication. + +Another case of impersonation was that of the man who called himself +Count de Borch. He was a Polish Jew, well-educated and well dressed, +and he seems to have had a curious fascination for persons with whom +he came in contact. Any mysterious Pole was at that time an object of +suspicion. This man had obtained employment carrying a small weekly +wage with a firm of furniture dealers in London, and yet he was able +to cut a dash at London tea-tables and expensive restaurants. He had a +large circle of hostesses from whom he would have been in a position +to acquire a good deal of information useful to the enemy if he had +tried to do so. He was brought down to Scotland Yard some weeks before +the tragedy which brought his name before the public. The title of ‘de +Borch’ was old and highly esteemed in Poland, and I had been assured +that whatever this man might be he was certainly not in any way +connected with the family. He made a very bad impression upon me. He +fell back upon the usual ruse of bogus claimants. He said that he knew +nothing about his ancestry except what he had been told, that there +had always been a mystery about his parentage because, owing to family +differences, his father was anxious that his existence should be kept +secret until the day when he could come into his own, and so he had +been supporting himself honourably with a firm in London until Poland +was free. It was like a great many other cases at that time. Until some +evidence was forthcoming that a man was engaged in espionage, he had to +be left at liberty under _surveillance_. He was believed to be drawing +sums of money from some of his hostesses to eke out his slender wages, +and it was his social side that was his undoing. + +The tragedy in which he met his death was very fully reported at the +time. Captain Malcolm had returned from the Front to find that this +over-dressed and scented person had been trying to break up his home. +He came to Scotland Yard to ascertain his address, but as it is not the +custom to give addresses to callers no information was given. He found +it out in another way, bought a horsewhip, with which to thrash the +man, and gained admittance to his room. In the scuffle that followed +the use of the horsewhip, de Borch was shot dead, but as a loaded +pistol was found in an opened drawer close to the bed it was held that +de Borch intended to use it upon his unwelcome visitor, and Captain +Malcolm was acquitted. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +FOOTNOTES TO THE PEACE CONFERENCE + + +Three days before the Armistice was signed I went to Paris with +representatives of the Office of Works and the Foreign Office to +secure premises for the British Delegation in the Peace Negotiations. +I believe that Brussels and Geneva were both considered as +meeting-places, but for reasons, chiefly of lack of accommodation, were +dismissed as unsuitable. The Majestic and the Astoria Hotels, the one +for housing the people and the other for office accommodation, both +near the Arc de Triomphe, seemed to be the only possible buildings +available, and in due course the British Ambassador called on Monsieur +Clemenceau to ask that they should be commandeered. He asked how +many people had to be housed, and was told that the number would be +approximately four hundred, on which followed the quick comment, ‘Ah, +then the demobilisation of the British Army has already begun!’ + +We spent Sunday afternoon, 10th November, driving about Paris with M. +Clemenceau’s A.D.C. to inspect premises for the accommodation of the +Foreign Office printing staff. I noticed late in the afternoon that +the Champs Elysée was full of a holiday crowd carrying flags rolled +tightly round the stick. All Paris was waiting for the news that the +Germans had signed the Armistice. I had not seen the terms, but knowing +that they were hard, I asked the French officer whether he thought +that the Germans would accept them. He replied, ‘Oui, les conditions +sont dures, mais ils signeront.’ I was in Boulogne by 11 A.M. on +Armistice morning, and I had the news of the Armistice when I reached +my daughter’s hospital at Wimereux. The news had not then reached the +French. At the entrance to the hospital I had to stand aside to let +a party of German prisoner orderlies pass. They were laughing and +singing, though the news had not actually reached the hospital by +telephone at that time. No doubt they were banking upon the rumours of +revolution in Germany. When our steamer sailed two hours later every +whistle and siren was in full blast; the quays were lined with waving +and cheering crowds; the sleepy old town was awake for once. + +When the delegation was installed at the Hôtel Majestic and the two +subsidiary hotels, if one could believe the newspapers, the members +spent their time in eating and drinking, in music, theatricals, and +dancing. But one could not believe the newspapers. No doubt in the +early days of those protracted negotiations the staff was too big for +the work, and in the later stages the work was too big for the staff, +but considering the enormous number of experts who had to be consulted +on the whole range of human endeavour, political, naval, military, +geographical, racial, and industrial, it cannot be said that the staff +was too numerous or that it did less than a day’s work. Its recreations +were certainly not excessive, seeing that for many dancing was the only +possible exercise. It may well be asked what a police officer had to +do with peace negotiations. He had nothing whatever to do with them. +As Chief Security Officer, my function was to prevent if possible the +leakages of information that took place during the Peace Conference +in Vienna, and for this purpose I took over with me a body of Special +Branch officers to control the doors, and see that no unauthorised +person obtained access to the buildings. If occasionally they wounded +susceptible feelings, they were of great use to visitors in the matter +of passports and travelling facilities. There were arduous moments in +their service. On one occasion I was asked to furnish the escort for a +furniture van which was to be packed with papers of so secret a nature +that the escort must remain with it night and day until it arrived in +Paris. The van was packed and sealed in London, and a very zealous +young police officer left with it for Havre _via_ Southampton. At Havre +the French railway officials positively refused to attach the truck on +which it was loaded to the express: it must proceed by the slow train. +The escort telephoned this news quite cheerfully, though the rain was +coming down in torrents. We made frequent inquiries at the Gare St. +Lazare, receiving conflicting accounts of the progress of the truck, +until at last late on a Saturday afternoon we heard that it had arrived +some hours before, and had been shunted into a goods shed, where it +would remain until the following Monday. Feeling sure that our zealous +policeman had not deserted it, we sent the senior inspector to the +station-master. He was adamant; the rules must be observed; even if an +English policeman starved, the van must stay where it was till Monday. +But the inspector was a man of resource: he was a Freemason and so, +as it now appeared, was the station-master. So potent was this appeal +that the shed was opened, and there was our man wet through, stiff and +faint for want of food. We took him and his van to the hotel, and under +restoratives and a hot bath he soon recovered. So far I can vouch for +the story. The sequel may be less authenticated. The seals were broken; +the van was opened, and lo! so the story ran, it contained nothing but +the ninth edition of the _Encyclopædia Britannica_. In London some one +had blundered. + +My principal duties being in London, I made flying visits of inspection +to Paris at intervals of about a fortnight--flying in the literal +sense occasionally--and it was curious to see how the amenities of +the Hôtel Majestic were modified as time went on. In the early days +there was a full staff of House of Commons waiters and waitresses, +who found so much to grumble at that they were soon sent home. Apart +from the inevitable epidemic of influenza, the sick ward was always +filled: at least two broken legs were being mended, besides minor +accidents. Gradually the scale of entertainment became more Spartan, +the edges began to wear off tempers, the spirit of criticism to rear +its head, and in my last visit the glory of the great Peace Conference +had departed. Curious folk of every colour came as deputations from +nearly every race under the sun to have their grievances redressed. +They vanished as unobtrusively as they came, elated or disappointed +according to their reception. + +The Americans had established an excellent system of intelligence +throughout Europe, and, as we had been closely associated before, +we agreed to pool our information. At that time there was not much +happening in the underworld of Europe and America that we did not know. +How admirably the Americans had profited by their experience probably +few know so well as I. + +It was very interesting to note the decline and fall of President +Wilson’s prestige among the French. At first he was expected to remedy +all the evils from which Paris was suffering: he was to lower prices +and raise the exchange; the maidservant thought that he would raise her +wages. Week followed week, and he did nothing sensational to justify +these great expectations. When he announced the establishment of the +League of Nations it was too late; his star was in eclipse, and nothing +he could say or do would ever bring him back to public favour. It is +the fate of all mortals from whom too much is expected. I confess that +his speech at the League of Nations plenary session disappointed me +both in substance and delivery. When I said so to two of my American +colleagues that evening one of them said: ‘There are only two men at +the Peace Conference who could have carried it off--Mr. Balfour and +Lord Reading.’ + +One of my friends, in whose cranium the bump of Veneration has been +atrophied, wrote the following witty lines:-- + + HÔTEL MAJESTIC! Gaze in reverent awe + Upon the Fane of Peace--above whose door + It’s clear to me the legend should appear + ‘Abandon Peace, all ye who enter here.’ + + Pass the gyrating door and, once within, + Detectives, hall-marked by their diamond pin, + Will put you through a strict interrogation-- + Your birthmarks, age, religion, and vocation: + Remembering that there’s nothing like the truth + To rouse suspicion in your super-sleuth, + Answer at random--and they’ll pass you through. + Proceed, and Paradise is yours to view. + + A stately hall, replete with every sign + Of true refinement (viz. Bosche-Argentine): + Luxurious straight-backed chairs: two spreading shrubs, + Two metres tall, in tasty Teuton tubs: + While the mere waving of some magic wand, + Either of Selfridge or, it may be, Mond, + Has given the final touch we else should lack, + That classic harmony, the UNION JACK. + + Here’s where the Foreign Office wage their war, + And though the hours are, strictly, ten to four, + Even at five amid the tea-cups’ clatter + Sit men who count discussing things that matter. + Birth, brains, and beauty throng the crowded tables: + The typists, clad in silver fox and sables; + Second Division clerks, too proud by far + To go to work except by motor-car + (And Balham’s happiness is incomplete + Without a bathroom and a first-floor suite): + + Colonial Premiers, Rajahs, Plenipotentiaries, + True Britons, who have not been Jews for centuries, + Generals (but since they helped to _win_ the War + No one can guess what _they_’ve been brought here for, + Unless some kindly soul leapt at the chance + Of letting soldiers sample life in France, + And for the Navy thought it only fair + To give them ninety minutes’ _mal de mer_): + + Immaculate æsthetes, clad in perfect taste-- + Unruffled voice and hair, and _such_ a waist + (The spelling’s optional: I don’t suggest + Any alternative--but you’ll judge best); + Taking from tortoise spectacles and speed + (Who’s seen them run--except, of course, to seed?); + Epitomising Foreign Office lore + In three short words--Ignore--Deplore--Encore. + +At last the Peace Treaty was signed at Versailles. We know what +contemporaries think of it; we can only guess at the verdict of +posterity. We see through a glass darkly that a rearrangement of +frontiers which includes a corridor, a reduction of Austria to such +proportions that she cannot feed herself, will not stand. The epigram +ascribed to Herr Rathenau that the Treaty of Versailles set out to +Europeanise the Balkans and has succeeded only in Balkanising Europe +will gather truth with every month we live. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE ROYAL UNEMPLOYED + + +A German subject once irreverently described the Kaiser Wilhelm II. as +being half journalist, half actor-manager. Another German, even more +irreverently, said he was a fool. Immediately after the Armistice we +described him as a criminal who ought to be tried for his life. And +thirty years ago the _Spectator_, when classifying the great men of +the day, put him in a class by himself as the only genius of the first +rank. Which out of all these is the real man? + +A good deal of daylight has been let in during the last few months. It +is now known that while the Kaiser most certainly did encourage the +Austrians to send the ultimatum to Serbia, and did approve of sending +an ultimatum to Russia, he had not thought it possible for England +to intervene in the War, and he was not in favour of infringing the +neutrality of Belgium. In fact, the Kaiser had not nearly so much +actual power as he was supposed to have. + +It is now known that it was the General Staff who decided upon invading +Belgium; that for two whole days the Kaiser refused his approval, and +that at last, when the advance had already begun, von Moltke insisted +upon an interview at two in the morning, and in the Kaiser’s bedroom +told him plainly that the destiny of the German Empire was at stake, +and that if he, the Kaiser, stood in the way, the General Staff must +take the responsibility. In other words, that he might either sign or +abdicate. From that moment, as I believe, the Kaiser was allowed to +play only a very secondary rôle. He was not consulted by the General +Staff except when, for political reasons, they thought it prudent to +be able to quote him. They kept him near them, and pretended to obtain +his sanction to important steps upon which they were already resolved, +and they found him useful as a sort of gramophone record that could +make speeches in the hearing of reporters to stiffen the waning German +morale. His life at Charleroi under these humiliating circumstances +must have been hard to bear. + +They tell a story of a painter who was commissioned to paint a portrait +of the Kaiser in all his best clothes, mounted on his favourite horse, +surrounded by hounds, and crowned with a sort of Viking silver-plated +casque mounted with gold. The Kaiser asked him to paint in the corner +of the picture two little angels carrying the Imperial Crown, after the +manner of a famous classic Spanish painter. + +‘But, Your Majesty, I have never seen the Imperial Crown. I do not know +what it looks like. May I see it?’ + +On this the Kaiser became nettled, and said, ‘You ought to know. The +Imperial Crown is in Vienna. It ought to have come to Berlin in 1866.’ + +To a man with this kind of mind the dream of world empire must have +come very easily. He had a sort of superficial interest in everything +on which the German sun shone. He would talk not unintelligently to +bankers about international finance, to motor-car manufacturers about +the relative merits of new fuels, to painters about art, to writers +about literature. All his opinions were strong, and many of them were +shallow or wrong-headed. + +Undoubtedly he had a cult for England; a longing to be treated as +an equal in the craft by English yachtsmen. English country life, +with its accompaniments of hunting and shooting, was his ideal; the +English tailor was superior to every tailor in the Fatherland. To him, +therefore, it was a tragedy when he broke with England. And then how +he hated us! He decorated Lissauer for writing the ‘Hymn of Hate,’ and +on this subject I remember a German telling me that the ‘Hymn of Hate’ +was all a matter of policy. It was because the Germans were found not +to be hating the British sufficiently that the Government decided to +mobilise its hate in order to strengthen the ‘will to war.’ But the +Kaiser’s hate was perfectly genuine because it was strongly mixed with +fear. Some prescience must have told him that the fortunes of the +Hohenzollerns hung in the balance, and that their scale might kick the +beam. + +Probably no man, however well balanced, could pass through the fire +of adulation, such as was the Kaiser’s daily fare, and come out +unscathed. When one year he was at Cowes he paid a visit with his staff +to a country house in the neighbourhood without notice. His hostess +invited him to sit down. He sat astride of a chair, and proceeded to +address her as if she was a public meeting, with his staff grouped in +a semicircle behind him. He said, apropos of the public health, that +whenever he drove through Germany he would stop at the school, have +all the scholars paraded before him, and make them blow their noses, +because he was convinced that the public health largely depended upon +the blowing of noses--and much more in the same strain, and at every +remark uttered with intense seriousness, however foolish, the staff +would gravely nod approval. If we all had to go through life with a +_claque_ to applaud every silly thing we said, the best of us would go +under. + +To such a mind as the Kaiser’s the idea that Germany was being hemmed +in came quite naturally. It was nothing to him that Germans were to be +found working side by side with Englishmen in every part of the world, +that her shipping and her international banking was gradually turning +the world into a German possession in a way that actual possession by +the hoisting of the German flag could never have achieved. What he +wanted was the outward semblance of Empire, and for this there were +no waste places left. Gradually all the most unlovely features of +the Teuton character began to blossom. Poisonous toadstools sprang +up everywhere. Germany, that had been a sane, sober, thrifty, and +domestic country, became loud, vulgar, self-assertive, intolerant, and +altogether hateful to the world, and even to its own citizens, and the +Kaiser made himself the embodiment of this spirit. + +As Traill said of James II., ‘Kings who fail in business undoubtedly +owe it to their historical reputation to perish on the scaffold or +the battlefield.’ History demanded that the Kaiser should have gone +forth at the head of his troops and been killed in battle. Then some +heroic niche would have been found for him. He would have been a +tragic embodiment of Frederick the Great, and his past would have been +forgotten. But he committed the one crime that can never be forgiven +by Germans: he abandoned his people in their extremity and fled the +country. But in sober fact this is what actually happened. During the +last few days before the Armistice von Ludendorff had practically +broken down, and the direction of affairs had passed into the hands +of von Grünow. There came a day when it was necessary to tell plain +truths to the Kaiser. Von Grünow entered the room alone, and told him +that the War was irrevocably lost. The news did not appear to touch +him very deeply. Probably he had realised it already. Then von Grünow +said, ‘I have other bad news. A rebellion has broken out in Berlin.’ +The Kaiser started to his feet and said, ‘Then I will lead the troops +to Berlin in person. Please to give the necessary orders,’ and on this +von Grünow said, ‘Sir, it is my duty to tell you that your life would +not be safe with your own soldiers.’ The Kaiser turned to the colour +of ashes and fell back into his chair. Suddenly he had become a very +old man without any power of decision or movement. The shock had been +too much for him. After a hasty consultation it was decided that, with +the growing spirit of rebellion that prevailed even among the troops +connected with the General Staff, the Kaiser must be got into a place +of safety at all hazards. A motor-car was brought to the door, and von +Grünow himself helped him out of his chair and conducted him to the +vehicle. The Kaiser was like a little child in his hands. The car then +drove off, and took him safely to Count Bentinck’s house in Holland. It +is a curious fact that the car was held up over three hours by a Dutch +sentry. Just before this date the Dutch had decided to clothe their +soldiers in the German field-grey, and the sentry on the frontier was +taken at first by the occupants of the car to be a German soldier in +revolt. Probably no more unwelcome visitor ever applied for admission +to Holland, but the asylum was granted, and it was maintained. To do +the Kaiser justice, he has never given the Dutch authorities any cause +for complaint. + +A still more unwelcome visitor was the Crown Prince, who followed +his father. This young man was a joke even among his fellow German +royalties as well as German commoners. One prince used to say to the +Crown Princess, ‘Why don’t you get your husband to dress properly?’ + +‘Why, what is wrong with his clothes?’ she asked rather tartly. + +‘Well, his hat’s wrong, his tunic’s wrong, and his boots are wrong.’ + +The Crown Prince was very vain about his clothes. He tried to lead the +fashion by adopting a military cap made with a ridiculously wide crown, +which he wore at the back of his head like a halo; a tunic absurdly +tight at the waist and full in the skirts, and boots tapered and +pointed beyond all reason. He had one quality in common with Frederick +the Great--an envy of French lightness and wit, and a desire to be +accepted by the French as a kindred spirit. In pretending to conduct +the siege of Verdun he was certainly dissembling his love, but he tried +to make up for it at Charleroi by clumsy civilities to the French +residents, and a real love-affair with a French girl, to the scandal +of Germans and Frenchmen alike. If the Kaiser’s life was not safe with +his own soldiers still less was the Crown Prince’s, and if the young +gentleman has not been credited with respect for the serious things in +life, no one has yet affirmed that he lacks respect for his own skin. +So he, too, fled for Holland, and thereby he forfeited any slender +chance he may have had to ascend the throne of the Hohenzollerns. He +has one redeeming virtue--his love of approbation and his craving +for affection, and so within the narrow limits of his island home in +Holland he goes about with pockets full of chocolates, and a troop of +village children at his heels. He knows the family history of every +villager, and loves nothing better than to take part in every village +fête, showering favours on all alike. His popularity in this narrow +circle has given him more pleasure than he ever had as Heir-Apparent to +the German Empire. Perhaps the bumptious qualities that were remarked +when he visited England are now a little toned down. + +Another exiled sovereign seems to have disappeared altogether from +the newspapers. Ferdinand of Bulgaria has an intellect. He is a fine +musician, a noted ornithologist, a considerable engineer. Politically, +he is cunning, unscrupulous, and incurably frivolous, but no doubt +he took care to make ample financial provision for himself outside +Bulgaria before the crash came. He crept out of obscurity to ascend the +throne, and now the darkness has swallowed him up again. He had no lust +for power, no illusions about the risks run by Balkan sovereigns, but +he had made a special study of the art of making oneself comfortable, +and at the moment a throne--even a Balkan one--seemed to be the best +thing that offered. + +But Providence had denied him one gift--personal courage--and his +life was poisoned by the fear of assassination. How he contrived to +escape it for so many years speaks volumes for the qualities that +earned him his nickname of ‘The Fox.’ For, as he used himself to say, +assassination is so easy, especially in the Balkans. The assassin +who means business has only to aim from a window or take a sporting +shot at you from the thickest of the crowd and the trick is done. And +it comes naturally from a Bulgarian. Just before Bulgaria entered +the War a Bulgarian diplomat came to take leave of a certain British +Under-Secretary. ‘Mind,’ he said, ‘I have nothing to say against this +plan of yours to assassinate King Ferdinand, but unless I’m much +mistaken you will find Ferdinand far more useful to you alive than he +can ever be when dead!’ + +When Ferdinand came to take leave of Sir Arthur Nicholson, our +ambassador in Russia, in reply to an earnest expression of hope that +he would use all his influence to prevent disturbances in the Balkans, +he waved a fat forefinger in the ambassador’s face and said, ‘Have +no fear at all. I will be like a leetle lamb.’ Within two months he +had the whole place by the ears. He had learned the wrong part in the +tragi-comedy: instead of the ‘leetle lamb’ he had cast himself for the +part of the ravening wolf. + +There is no form of unemployment so deadly as that of the continental +monarch who has ‘lost his job.’ It is the last post on earth that +any man of sense would care to take in these days, because there is +no privacy and no retiring age; moreover, it is hard and distasteful +work nearly all the time. But the daily life of a king in exile is +so ghastly that I blame none of them for trying to get back again. +As a rule they are poor, and they have to support a number of Court +functionaries as poor as themselves. And with the daily struggle to +make both ends meet goes the uneasy feeling that they are neither fish, +flesh, nor fowl. Some of their acquaintances treat them as royal, +others do not. There are continual difficulties with the authorities +of the country of their exile. If only they could begin life afresh on +a lower plane they could, like the rest of us, scratch up a living in +honest trade. As it is, they see stretching out interminably before +them a life devoted to attending concerts and opening charity bazaars, +to which only death will bring surcease, unless, indeed, some endless +chain of dreary functions is reserved for them in the place of torment. + +The ex-Emperor Karl was a gallant gentleman who refused to sit down +tamely under these conditions, but was ready to dare everything +to regain a throne. He was not endowed with brains, but the most +successful kings have often been those who have their thinking done +for them by other people. He had what is far more useful--a good +presence, amiability, and a very clever wife. She was a Bourbon, and +it has always been believed that her brother, Prince Sixte, who lives +in Paris, was cognisant of the two attempts at restoration to the +throne of Hungary which miscarried. Prince Sixte was said at the time +to have sent a message to his brother-in-law from Paris to the effect +that unless he did something to recover his throne his opportunity +might never come again; but that once let his reinstatement become an +accomplished fact, and he would have, perforce, to be recognised by the +Allies. How near the second attempt came to being successful few people +know. The majority of the Hungarians were ready to welcome him, and, +but for the fatal delay of twenty-four hours while conferences were +being held, and dinners were being cooked and eaten, he might have been +proclaimed in Buda-Pesth instead of being an exile in that land of bad +hotels, Madeira. It is said that when one of his followers produced a +priceless tapestry which he had cut down from the walls of one of the +Imperial palaces and suggested that it should be sold in order that +the ex-Emperor should live upon the proceeds, Karl sent it back to the +Republican Government. + +There can be little doubt that some of these dethroned monarchs will +return. The greater part of Bavaria is royalist at heart, and any day +within the next two years we may open our morning paper to find that +Prince Rupprecht is king. Baden may not impossibly follow suit. Europe +may even come round to the belief that a hereditary president, which is +the real position in a limited monarchy, is cheaper than the American +form of elected autocrat. Russia herself is awake to the fact that the +Red Czar, whom she did not even elect, is a worse form of autocracy +than any they knew under the White. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +UNREST AT HOME + + +In order to understand the revolutionary movement in England it is +necessary shortly to review the movements of the past ten years. + +Apart from the Independent Labour Party, which was formed in 1893 by +the late Mr. Keir Hardie to introduce Socialists into the Trade Unions +and to procure their nomination for the House of Commons, it may be +said that there were no formidable extremist bodies in Great Britain +before 1911; for the British section of the Industrial Workers of the +World, the Socialist Party of Great Britain, and the Socialist Labour +Party were insignificant in numbers and in influence. In the summer of +1911 there was a great wave of industrial unrest, involving strikes of +dockers and transport workers in Manchester, Liverpool, and London, +followed by a railway strike in August. In three days, with one or two +exceptions, most of the lines ceased working, and troops were called +upon to guard the railways and vital points. The men’s grievances were +submitted to a Royal Commission, and in the debate in the House of +Commons initiated by the Labour Members, for the first time political +action began to attract Trade Union leaders. The Trade Union Act passed +in 1913 gave the Unions power to add political action to the objects +covered by their rules. + +In 1912 the coal-miners came into the field with a strike for a minimum +wage, and the Government conceded some of their demands in the Coal +Mines Minimum Wage Act. In South Wales the coal strike was attended +with disorders that called for measures of protection by the military. + +In 1913 the Dublin Transport Workers went on strike, and the solidarity +achieved by this body during the strike made the rebellion of 1916 +possible. + +In April 1914 the Miners, Transport Workers and Railwaymen appointed a +committee to work out a scheme for a Triple Alliance which was to brood +over the community as a threat of paralysis whenever one section of the +Alliance formulated demands which the employers were not disposed to +concede. It was never more than a threat foredoomed to be ineffective, +because the component parts were so unwieldy, and their interests were +so diverse, that they could never be got to work as parts of a single +machine. But as a threat it was held _in terrorem_ over the nation +for seven years. It was believed that the new Alliance would try its +strength in support of the railwaymen, who were said to be meditating +another strike, but however that may have been, the War, that great +composer of petty disputes, intervened to prevent it. + +There were two cross-currents in this rapid development of the Labour +movement: on the one side a tendency towards the amalgamation of +unions, as in the case of the National Transport Workers’ Federation +and the Triple Alliance, and on the other, the tendency of the rank and +file in the unions to break away from their leaders. + +The declaration of war shattered all the hopes of the International at +a blow. Its promoters had forgotten human nature. In 1907 the Second +International had passed a resolution binding the workers of all +countries to compel their Governments to make peace even if war were +declared, and as late as 1st August 1914 Messrs. Arthur Henderson and +Keir Hardie issued a ‘Manifesto to the British people’ in the sense +of the resolution of 1907. On 2nd August there was a demonstration +in Trafalgar Square to support it. So little knew the leaders the +temper of the people they had been chosen to represent! On 6th August +the War Emergency Workers’ National Committee was formed, and within +three weeks the great mass of Labour was taking part in the recruiting +campaign. In September the Trade Union Congress endorsed their +patriotic attitude. + +There followed an industrial truce; strikes were abandoned, and the +railwaymen dropped their national programme; the Triple Alliance was +suspended. This situation might have lasted throughout the War but +for the rise in the cost of living and certain flagrant examples of +profiteering. Conscription gave a great impetus to the revolutionary +Pacifists, and the Workers’ Committees, under the name of the Shop +Stewards’ Movement, seized upon their opportunity. + +The International was, in fact, trampled to death by the rapid march +of events. On 31st July 1914 Jean Jaurès had been assassinated in +Paris, and the French Socialists had lost their most trusted leader. +This was rapidly followed by the invasion of Belgium and by the voting +of the war credits by German Socialists. What was now to become of +the doctrine, ‘Should War break out it is the duty of Socialists to +intervene to bring it promptly to an end ... to rouse the populace, and +hasten the fall of the Capitalist domination’? + +The conversion of British Labour leaders was very rapid. On 7th +August Messrs. W. C. Anderson and Arthur Henderson, for the Executive +Committee of the Labour Party, stated that while the party condemned +the diplomacy which had made war possible, it advised all its members +to relieve the destitution and suffering which must inevitably ensue, +but on that very day the Labour Party allowed the vote of credit to +pass, and Mr. Ramsay Macdonald resigned in consequence. The Left Wing, +which followed Mr. Macdonald, issued a manifesto on 13th August, in +which it sent ‘Sympathy and Greeting to German Socialists across +the roar of the guns.... They are no enemies of ours, but faithful +friends,’ but on 20th August the Labour Party definitely joined in +the campaign to strengthen the British Army, and even Mr. Keir Hardie +wrote, ‘Any War of oppression against the rights and liberties of my +country I will persist against to the last drop of my blood.’ + +We are inclined now to imagine that open violence began only at the +beginning of the War. We have forgotten the part played by foreign +anarchists three or four years before--the Houndsditch murders, the +siege of Sydney Street, the outrages of Tottenham. There has been +nothing like these since the Armistice. + +We date most of our social troubles from August 1914, as if politically +England was Utopia before the War. I was reminded by a friend the other +day that during the summer of 1913, in a conversation about Labour +unrest, I had said that unless there were a European War to divert the +current, we were heading for something very like revolution. That was +before the railway strike of 1913. I suppose that the dock strike, the +growth of bodies like the Anarchists and the Industrial Workers of the +World, and the unrest that had set in even among disciplined bodies +like the police and prison warders, in all civilised countries, had +induced this unwonted pessimism. Yet there was a section among our own +people who talked glibly about European war producing revolution, and +therefore one cannot blame the Germans for counting us out of the War. +Even during the War itself I can remember several periods when the +outlook among our own people was darker than it is now. + +With the Independent Labour Party stood the Union of Democratic +Control, and Pacifist Societies, such as the No-Conscription +Fellowship, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the National Council +for Civil Liberties, began to spring up like toadstools. Internal +dissensions increased to such an extent that at last the loyal Labour +and Socialist group formed themselves, in April 1915, into a body known +as the Socialist Nationalist Defence Committee, to defend themselves +from internal persecution. This committee contributed largely to the +patriotic reception of the Conscription Act. As the time went on the +committee became the British Workers’ League, and by July 1918, the +League had over two hundred and twenty branches. Patriotic Labour +leaders suffered acutely at this time. Through pressure exerted by his +Trade Union one after another was forced to resign from the League. + +There is a rapid evolution in political unrest. Subversive societies +are like the geysers in a volcanic field. After preliminary gurgling +they spout forth masses of boiling mud and then subside, while another +chasm forms at a distance and becomes suddenly active. I have described +how the Militant Suffragettes subsided on the day war was declared. +The country was so much preoccupied with the War during 1915 that no +new geyser had a chance of boiling up. It was not until 1916 that the +Pacifist became active. + +The Union of Democratic Control was founded in the early days of the +War by a small group, of which Mr. E. D. Morel, Mr. Charles Trevelyan, +Mr. J. Ramsay Macdonald, Mr. Arthur Ponsonby, and Mr. Ralph Norman +Angell Lane, generally known as Norman Angell, were the most prominent. +Its four cardinal points of policy were that no province should be +transferred without the consent of the population, that Parliament +should control all Treaties, that our foreign policy should be +directed towards the setting up of a League of Nations, then called an +International Council, and that England should propose a reduction of +armaments. The public mind was to be permeated with the idea that war +was a criminal absurdity, and of course the Union had strong things +to say about the Foreign Office. The Diplomatic Service was to be +completely reformed, Treaties were to be periodically submitted to a +Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Commons, and a ‘real European +partnership’ was to be substituted for ‘groupings and alliances and a +precarious equipoise.’ In 1916 the Union of Democratic Control added +to the articles of its programme, ‘to prevent the humiliation of the +defeated Nation,’ from which it may be inferred that the members of the +Executive already felt confident that the Allies would win the War. +It will be seen that the main points for which the Union stood are in +process of realisation. + +The Union of Democratic Control grew rapidly, and within less than a +year it had founded sixty-one branches. A branch was also in process +of being formed in Paris. Naturally, the Union became the rallying +point for most of the Pacifists in the country, and though the Union +itself disclaimed any desire to hinder the prosecution of the War, +it could not be said to have done anything to support it. One rather +prominent member set himself to palliate the German disregard for +treaties and international usages. But while the Union included people +whose attitude is always pro-anybody except pro-British, there were +others who would have deeply resented any imputation of a lack of +patriotism. Its speakers encountered a good deal of opposition by +bodies such as the No-Conscription Fellowship and the Fellowship of +Reconciliation. The Union of Democratic Control was an academic body: +the No-Conscription Fellowship speedily came within the reach of the +law. Compulsory service was bound to provoke resistance and, as all +those who have sat on tribunals are aware, the Conscientious Objectors +included men of very different character. Perhaps the smallest class +had real conscientious scruples. Many of the others mistook for +conscience a natural bent for resisting any kind of compulsion, and +there was, besides, the class of young man whose personal vanity +was hypertrophied, and who courted martyrdom for the sake of its +advertisement. One would have said he was peculiar to England if the +same type had not appeared in Holland and America. Looking back on +this period, I am very doubtful whether conscription could have been +safely introduced at an earlier date. The country had been drained of +its best men, and the pity of it was that the finest material for the +officers who were so badly needed later in the war was sacrificed in +the trenches. But it was this very sacrifice that prepared men’s minds +for conscription and neutralised the strong opposition to compulsion. +As seemed to be inevitable, the Germans were our best friends in this +matter. By the outrages in Belgium, by the callousness of submarine +commanders, by the sinking of the _Lusitania_ and hospital ships, the +Germans kept up our own war spirit and themselves neutralised the +danger of Pacifism. + +The Pacifist societies had marshalled quite a respectable little army +of conscientious objectors. These, while they gave great trouble to +government officials, from the tribunals down to the prison warders, +were really of very little importance while such tremendous events +were proceeding. Public opinion ran strongly against them, and even in +Princetown, Dartmoor, where the population had been accustomed to see +nothing but the worst class of felon, murmurs were heard that it was +time to send back the old convicts who knew how to behave themselves +instead of the dreadful people with long hair and curious clothing who +infested the single street. + +All through 1916 the Ministry of Munitions had a separate little branch +for keeping themselves informed about labour unrest that was likely to +interfere with the output of munitions. In December 1916 they came to +the conclusion that the work would be more efficiently and more cheaply +done by professionals, and I was called upon to take over the service +with my own trained men. Pacifism, anti-Conscription, and Revolution +were now inseparably mixed. The same individuals took part in all three +movements. The real object of most of these people, though it may have +been sub-conscious, appeared to be the ruin of their own country. This +is no new thing in English history. There were pro-Bonapartists in the +Waterloo time, and pro-Boers eighty-five years later, and though this +modern brand were not perhaps strictly pro-enemy in sentiment, they +acted as if they were. Does not Maitland record how, when Napoleon +Bonaparte was leaving Plymouth on his last voyage to St. Helena, an +attempt was made by his friends in London to serve a subpœna on him in +the hope of delaying his departure? + +The Unofficial Reform movement was first heard of in South Wales +in 1911, where it opposed the policy of conciliation of the South +Wales Miners’ Federation. Probably it resulted from Mr. Tom Mann’s +Syndicalist campaign in 1910. _The Miners’ Next Step_, published in +1912, set forth its programme, which was the first attempt on the +part of declared revolutionaries to attack Trade Unionism. This book +demanded one union to cover all mines and quarries in order to be in a +position to call a simultaneous strike throughout the country. + +Out of this grew the Rank and File Movement, which covered that extreme +body, the Clyde Workers’ Committee, and, in common with the British +Socialist Party and the Socialist Labour Party, it had sympathetic +relations with the Industrial Workers of the World. It had a definite +policy of the Russian Bolshevik type, arrived at quite independently, +which was, through the Workers’ Committee, to overthrow Trade Unions +and reorganise all workers in a single union with a committee vested +with full power to seize all workshops and factories, and thus bring +about the Social Revolution. There were special reasons in 1916 why +the Rank and File Movement should become popular. The industrial truce +of the Trade Unions, arrived at for the successful prosecution of +the War, had weakened the influence of the Executives. Most of the +agitators were strong Pacifists, and it was easy for them to represent +the Trade Union leaders as having betrayed the cause of the workers by +abandoning their hard-won rights in order to support a Capitalist war. +Any improvement in working conditions which tended to allay discontent +was opposed by the Workers’ Committees because it set back the day when +any ill-feeling between Capital and Labour would make it impossible for +employers to carry on their business. A better understanding between +employers and employed was to them a propping up of the Capitalist +system of society. While the Rank and File Movement was not identical +with the Shop Stewards’ Movement, the revolutionary element secured so +many posts as Shop Stewards that the two became confused. Gradually +the Shop Stewards developed into a useful institution. As the elected +representatives of labour in our factories they could make the views of +the workmen clear to the foreman and the employer, and so save a great +deal of friction. Unfortunately, at first, the movement had fallen into +the hands of persons with revolutionary views, who decided to use the +Shop Stewards as a means of ousting the regular Trade Union leaders. It +was to be a ‘Rank and File’ Movement, and the power to call a strike, +vested nominally in the rank and file, was really to be exercised by +an Association of Shop Stewards, all of revolutionary views. What +they wanted was an excuse for sudden action, and the excuse came with +dilution and with conscription. + +On 5th May 1917 began the most serious strike of the War. It broke +out at Rochdale on a pottery dispute in which the employer was in the +wrong. He had applied the dilution scheme to civilian work that had +nothing to do with the War. The Shop Stewards among the engineers at +once held a secret meeting at Manchester, and determined to call a +national strike. Two days later the Rochdale men went back to work, +but by that time the engineers were out at Manchester, Coventry, and +Sheffield, and within a week a ’bus strike was preventing munition +workers from getting to Woolwich. The excuse given was the proposal to +‘comb out’ the young unskilled men, and it was curious to find South +Wales, the Clyde, and Leeds standing firm at a moment when a national +strike was in the air. On 16th May the strike spread to Southampton, +Ipswich, and Chelmsford. Important work on large howitzer shells +and range-finders, all urgently needed, was held up, and the country +was faced with the gravest danger that it had had to meet since the +beginning of the War. We knew all the men who had brought about the +strike, and the only question was whether they should be prosecuted. +There was, of course, the risk that their arrest might precipitate a +general strike, but as that seemed likely to come in any case, the risk +seemed worth while taking. I felt pretty sure that as soon as a few +arrests were made the strike would collapse. + +The Government had always said that it was ready to meet the strikers +with their official executive, but the official leaders hitherto +had declined to deal with men who had flouted their authority. They +consented only after several arrests had been made, and on 19th May +the strike was called off on condition that there should be no more +arrests but that the prosecution of the men already arrested should +be proceeded with. The ’bus strike had collapsed on the previous day. +Nine men appeared at Bow Street and gave an undertaking that they would +not again do anything to obstruct the output of munitions, and as the +strike was at an end they were released. + +It must not be judged from the extent of the Labour disturbances of +1916 that the Workers’ Committees of Shop Stewards had really captured +the body of Labour. It must be remembered that the people at home, as +well as the soldiers in the trenches, were suffering from war-strain. +Probably at no time have men ever so much needed a holiday. This +was shown by the behaviour of those who went on strike. So far from +collecting at street corners and listening to Pacifist harangues, the +Lancashire men took advantage of the fine weather at Blackpool, or +were found quietly working in their allotments. + +All the cherished Trade Union principles had been surrendered one by +one. The men had submitted to dilution, and even to dilution with +women, to an increase in hours of labour and in output, and to the +exposure of their pet fallacy that engineering is so highly skilled a +trade that an apprenticeship of several years is necessary before even +a moderate efficiency is acquired. + +The damage caused by industrial disturbances to our national prosperity +was enormous. In 1918 there were 1252 strikes, involving a loss of +6,237,000 working days. In 1919 there were 1413 strikes, involving a +loss of 34,483,000 working days, and the persons involved in these +disputes numbered 2,581,000. + +I suppose that England has always been divided between the unreasoning +optimists and the unreasoning pessimists, and that public opinion +oscillates between the two. In 1919 the word ‘revolution’ was on every +lip, as it was in 1793, 1830, and 1848: in 1922 you will hear that +the British working man is too staid and sensible a person ever to +think of revolution except through the ballot-box. And in a few months +the pendulum will have swung the other way and people will again be +in a flutter. The optimists of 1922 are right, but they forget what +determined minorities can do with an irresolute mass. A single fox +will clear out a hen-roost while it is cackling its indignation to the +skies. If Louis XVI. had mounted his horse and charged the mob there +might have been no Thermidor: if Louis Philippe had spoken two words +to his soldiers there would have been no 1830. In Paris a street riot +became a revolution, and street riots unchecked were formidable affairs +in those days. Who now remembers what happened in London in 1780? Yet +William Beckford writes from Antwerp on Midsummer Day, 1780: + + ‘This characteristic stillness was the more pleasing when I looked + back upon those scenes of outcry and horror which filled London but + a week or two ago when danger haunted our streets at midday. Here I + could wander--without beholding a sky red and portentous with the + light of houses on fire, or hearing the confusion of shouts and + groans mingled with the reports of artillery.’ + +Until six months after the Armistice there were several independent +organisations for furnishing information. Every new Ministry created +during the War almost inevitably formed an ‘Intelligence Section.’ It +is true that nearly all these co-operated closely with one another, +but there was overlapping and waste of energy, to say nothing of the +inevitable waste of money. Moreover, it was nobody’s business to act +upon the information with reasonable despatch. By the time it reached +a particular Minister it was generally too late for action. This +applied particularly to Civil Intelligence at a time when the Russian +Government was financing subversive organisations in this country. It +was decided, therefore, to co-ordinate all this kind of information +under a single head who would be responsible to a Minister for any +action that ought to be taken. + +On 1st May 1919 this new arrangement came into force. A most admirable +and efficient little staff was organised at a very low cost to the +country. The revolutionary press tried to spread the belief among its +readers that enormous sums were being lavished, that I went about with +bulging pockets corrupting honest working men; whereas, in fact, all +the most useful and trustworthy information was furnished gratuitously +and the corruption was all on the other side. Many of the Communist +leaders and organisers were receiving salaries from Russia, and, as a +Communist said feelingly a few months ago, ‘These men are all out for +money, and they would sell their own grandmothers.’ I have a shocking +confession to make: I numbered among my friends Communists who, while +quite honestly entertaining Communist views, disapproved very strongly +of the manner in which the movement was being exploited. + +There are a number of virtuous people who think it highly improper for +a Government to keep itself quietly informed of what is going on in its +own and other countries. They forget that they themselves, in the lobby +of the House of Commons, in their clubs, and at their dinner-tables +are collecting and dispensing intelligence all the time. That is how +public opinion is formed. The duties of an Intelligence officer are +very like those of a journalist, the difference being that in the case +of the Intelligence officer he tries to sift out the truth, and to give +it all to his superiors, whereas the journalist has first to consider +what it is good for the public to know, and what will contribute to the +popularity of his newspaper. I have tried hard to put myself into the +mental attitude of the good people who think intelligence ‘immoral,’ +and I cannot help feeling that their real objection is that it is +inconvenient. + +However this may be, it was certainly the case in 1920 and 1921 that +while our expenditure had decreased there was not much of subversive +activity in any part of the world that was unknown to us, and whether +we liked it or not, we were forced into the position of becoming a sort +of clearing-house for foreign countries. The great art of acquiring +information is to have friends in every grade of society in as many +countries as possible. + +During the first three months of 1919 unrest touched its high-water +mark. I do not think that at any time in history since the Bristol +Riots we have been so near revolution. The Workers’ Committees had +acquired the chief power in London, Sheffield, Coventry, Wales, and on +the Clyde, and the cry for shorter hours was seized upon eagerly by +the revolutionaries. On 27th January there were extensive strikes on +the Clyde of a revolutionary rather than an economic character. There +was great restlessness also among the electrical engineers, and a +general strike at the power stations had been fixed for 5th February. +This was stopped by a new regulation which made strikes at power +stations and similar vital undertakings illegal. The authorities had +made arrangements for taking over the service if the strike occurred, +and no doubt some rumours about the arrangements had leaked out among +the electricians. I remember waiting at the telephone at 11 P.M. one +night. If the strike had taken place the leaders would probably have +been brought to trial. I counted on a certain number of men coming +out without the strike becoming general, and in this event we should +not have taken any action. The messages began to come in. No one had +answered the call to strike except in one power station, where twelve +men walked out into the street. Consequently, no action was taken. + +Late in January the ‘Hands off Russia’ Movement had been started, +and at a meeting at the Albert Hall on 8th February every section +of the revolutionary movement was represented on the platform. The +speeches were probably the most startling that had ever been made in +that somnolent and respectable edifice. The workers were urged to arm +themselves, and people who had not been following the movement were +in a flutter. To one whose business it is to know individuals and to +watch the formation of subversive bodies this inflammatory oratory +does not quicken the pulse by a single beat. It is all as hollow as +the declamation of a tragedian in a stage rehearsal. One knows so well +that if the drum did beat these fiery orators would take good care not +to be among the first casualties. A retrospect is very instructive, +for one sees how a movement which creates public consternation for a +few weeks boils up, cools, and evaporates. It was so with the People’s +Russian Information Bureau, to which no fewer than a hundred societies +affiliated themselves; it was so with the Sailors’, Soldiers’, and +Airmen’s Union and, later, with the Councils of Action, and it will be +so with the ‘Hands Off Russia’ Movement, with the Union of Democratic +Control, and with many other more sinister movements that will +shake the nerve of future generations. All, all will pass into the +lumber-room, where the dust is already accumulating over the Union of +Democratic Control, and its sisters, the Pacifist Societies. + +In April 1919 we learned that a conspiracy was on foot to induce +serving soldiers who enlisted under the Derby Scheme and under +Conscription to ‘demobilise themselves’ on 11th May on the ground +that they enlisted for the period of the War and six months after. +They were to strip off their badges and march out of barracks, not +only in Kempton Park, Winchester, Salisbury, and Oswestry, but in +Rouen, Havre, Boulogne, and Calais. In a speech delivered on May +Day a member of this league who, during 1917, was employed in the +Adjutant-General’s Department, War Office, urged a general strike to +enforce demobilisation on 11th May, and about the same time a leaflet +headed ‘To British Sailors’ incited naval ratings to seize the ports +and invite soldiers and policemen to join them. The _Daily Herald_ +of 7th and 8th May published paragraphs supporting the view that the +men were entitled to leave the colours on 11th May. The unrest among +serving soldiers, especially the technical services, such as mechanics, +motor-drivers, and other trades, many of whom were members of Trade +Unions, and had or thought they had jobs waiting for them which might +be snapped up by others, was such that very serious disturbances might +have resulted from this insidious form of incitement. But the Army +Council issued a statement explaining the conditions of enlistment, +which appealed to the good sense of the men, and 11th May passed off +without disturbance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +OUR COMMUNISTS + + +Kerensky’s Revolution did not take the official world by surprise: it +was, in fact, inevitable. The Revolution was hailed by uninstructed +public opinion in England as a fulfilment of long-deferred hope, and +some statesmen who ought to have had more prescience joined in the +acclamation. The worst of revolutions is that they never know where to +stop, and when in the middle of a war they befall one of the Allies +upon whom the rest are counting, they are a disaster of the first +magnitude. Kerensky was not fashioned by nature to ride the whirlwind: +a mountain-top, whence he could indulge his gift of impassioned +oratory, would have been a safer steed for him. His nerveless fingers +never gripped the reins: he could not even bring himself to execute +mutineers and deserters in the field. It was inevitable that a stronger +hand should thrust him aside. Strange that we should ever have talked +of Russia as the ‘Steam Roller!’ All that is left of it now is the red +flag. + +Of all the stupidities committed by the Germans during the War I think +that the locked train was the most inexcusable because, as Ludendorff +has since admitted, it was fraught with grave danger primarily for +Germany herself. There had congregated in Switzerland a little band of +revolutionaries who had fled after the disturbances of 1905. There, +year in and year out, they frequented cafés, and smoked and talked as +only Russians can talk until the whole world became unreal and danced +before them through a haze of cigarette smoke. For them revolution +meant no half measures. They had drunk in the fatuities of Karl Marx +until there was no room left in their minds for sober reasoning, and +here in their own country was their opportunity. In Russia a torch was +to be put to dry thatch, and presently the Red conflagration should +spread until it consumed the world. The workers with sickle and hammer +should unite over the whole world to wipe out the _bourgeoisie_. That +was the measure of their intelligence. + +All this the Germans knew. They would not have such inflammatory +material loose in their own country, but as a means of paralysing the +army of their ancient Muscovite enemy it should be used at once, for +Kerensky was reported to be preparing a new offensive. It is not quite +clear from whom the proposal first came; whether the Bolsheviks asked +for a ‘safe-conduct’ across Germany, or whether some German diplomatic +agent invited the request; but it is known that the exiles packed +themselves into a train which was sealed at the German frontier, and +kept so until it crossed into Russia. Had Kerensky and his advisers +been wise and strong they would have hitched a locomotive to the +other end of the train and sent it back, but they were neither wise +nor strong. It is said that when Ulianov, otherwise Lenin, was making +inflammatory speeches Kerensky was implored to take action against him, +and that he said, ‘Let him talk: he will talk himself out.’ + +I remember speaking about this time to a diplomatist with a knowledge +of Russia, and asking him whether he thought that the Czar, who was +then a prisoner in his own palace under Kerensky, was in any personal +danger. He shook his head, and said that he doubted whether the Czar +would come out of the welter alive. + +With the second Revolution in November 1917, the Bolsheviks came +into power. They included Nihilists, Anarchists, and extreme Social +Revolutionaries, who were all soon to be enrolled in a single body as +Communists and followers of Karl Marx. Lenin has never swerved from +his plan of making Russia merely the seed-bed for a general revolution +in Europe on a class basis. He hoped for it in Germany, Austria, and +Italy; he was certain of it in the Ukraine and Poland, but he admitted +that his chances of success in England and America were small because +in England he held the working-class to be too ignorant, and in America +there had been no preparation. For the moment the Bolsheviks showed +a frenzied energy in striking terror into their political opponents. +There were mass executions, and the horrors attending some of them, +especially at Kronstadt, were not exaggerated. Even Tchitcherin, +usually the mildest of men, wrote on 11th September 1918 to the head of +the American Red Cross: + + ‘Our adversaries are not executed, as you affirm, for holding other + political views than ours, but for taking part in the most terrible + battles, in which no weapon is left untouched, against us, no crime + is left aside and no atrocities are considered too great when the + power belongs to them.... 300 have been selected already (for + execution) as belonging to the vanguard of the counter-revolutionary + movement. In the passionate struggle tearing our whole people do you + not see the sufferings, untold during generations, of all the unknown + millions who were dumb during centuries, whose concentrated despair + and rage have at last burst into the passionate longing for a new + life, for the sake of which they have the whole existing fabric to + remove? + + ‘In the great battles of mankind, hatred and fury are unavoidable as + in every battle and in every struggle.’ + +If he had said simply that they were executing their opponents in order +to save their own skins he would have been nearer the truth, for fear +is always more fertile in violent outrage than the spirit of revenge. + +There was something providential in the sequence of events. The +Bolshevik Revolution came at a time when the entire people in England +except a few Defeatists and Pacifists had gritted its teeth, and was +determined to see the War through. If it had come eighteen months +later, when demobilisation was in the air and people were looking for a +new world, it might have gone hardly with us. As it was, the ordinary +Englishman felt that he had been ‘let down’ by the Russian Bolsheviks, +and he resented the treachery. + +The second Russian Revolution turned the heads of the Pacifists and +Defeatists in England. They had failed in every enterprise: the country +had declined to endorse their scheme for obtaining peace by negotiation +with the Germans, and here at last was a great people ready to put +the doctrines of Karl Marx into practice. They had a great deal to +explain away: it was impossible altogether to deny the atrocities of +the Bolsheviks, but they could attack their own Government on the score +of the Allied intervention, which they represented as an attempt on +the part of the Capitalists to strangle an infant Socialist State at +birth and to excuse the excesses of the torch-bearers of revolutionary +Socialism. This, they thought, would be a more popular cry than ‘Peace +by Negotiation.’ + +On 3rd June 1917 they called a National Conference at Leeds, which was +attended by over 1900 people. It was said at the time to have cost +£5000, and to have been held at the expense of the Union of Democratic +Control. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald described this conference as the most +active gathering he had ever attended; Mr. Sexton as ‘the most bogus, +the most dishonest, and the most corrupt conference ever created by +the mind of man.’ It was resolved to divide Great Britain into Soviets +to the ominous number of thirteen, with headquarters in Duke Street, +Adelphi. These Soviets existed for a few weeks, and then expired. +At Tunbridge Wells some attempt was made among soldiers awaiting +demobilisation to organise support for a local Soviet among the troops, +but there was little response. The Provisional Council, nominated +presumably with their own consent, were also to be thirteen--a number +which seemed to exercise a fascination on the Conference. They included +Messrs. Robert Smillie, Philip Snowden, Ramsay Macdonald, Robert +Williams, George Lansbury, and Joseph Fineberg, the Russian-Jewish +secretary to Litvinoff. It is believed that this council never met, +though manifestoes were issued by Mr. Albert Inkpin in its name. + +The Russian Revolution dug Karl Marx out of the grave in which he had +been lying uneasily since 1883. Karl Marx was a Prussian Jew born in +1818. He was driven successively from Prussia and from France, and he +found an asylum in London. He was not a working man, nor had he any +business experience, and his theories about Capital and Labour were +purely academic. His philosophy was really an attempt to reconcile the +doctrine of the Brotherhood of Man, expounded by Rousseau, to modern +economic conditions. In his time Rousseau’s theories were a little +fly-blown. Marx attempted to rehabilitate them by pointing out that +the industrial revolution had lowered the status of the workmen while +immensely increasing their economic value; that it had deprived them +of all real interest in their expanding industry, and had converted +them into ‘wage-slaves.’ He called upon them to take arms in the +Class war throughout the industrial world. His manifesto, used by the +Russian Bolsheviks and the British extreme Socialists, was, ‘Workers +of all lands, Unite! You have a world to win; you have nothing to lose +but your chains,’ and in another passage, ‘We make war against all the +prevailing ideals of the State, of country, of patriotism.’ As Burke +once said of the Jacobins: + + ‘This sort of people are so taken up by their theories of the rights + of man that they have totally forgotten his nature.’ + +Between 1848 and 1860 the idea of international solidarity of +classes was popular, but after 1860 the lines of cleavage tended to +become vertical rather than horizontal, for from that date Europe +became increasingly Nationalist. Moreover, Marx himself, owing to +his long residence in England, had begun to waver in his opinion. +The mid-Victorian Trade Unionist believed in constitutional action. +Marx, who had formed a Communist League in London in 1847, had seen +it collapse in 1852. It had been reformed in 1862 as a result of the +cosmopolitan feeling created by the Great Exhibition, but after a few +meetings, generally held in Switzerland, it languished and died. The +only power that seemed to be growing was that of the constitutional +Trade Unionist, and before his death Marx was himself inclining in that +direction. + +Some months before the Bolsheviks came into power a curious document +which has since received much attention in England was brought to the +notice of the State Department in Washington. _The Protocols of the +Wise Men of Zion_, first published in Russian in 1897 by a Russian +named Nilus, purported to set forth the details of a secret Jewish +conspiracy for the domination of the world. A committee of Americans +were preparing a report upon the document, and I was asked unofficially +to give my opinion upon its authenticity. Besides the internal evidence +there was very little to go upon, but I reported that the ‘protocols’ +were almost certainly fabricated by some anti-Semitic organisation, and +I heard afterwards that the American Committee had reported in the same +sense. + +It was quite natural that when the Bolsheviks came into power and +it was seen that nearly all the people’s commissaries were Jews, so +obvious a fulfilment of the _Protocols_ should not pass unnoticed. It +was useless to point out that, ‘protocols or no protocols,’ it was +inevitable in a country like Russia, when the dregs of the population +had boiled up to the top, a preponderance of Jews would be found among +the scum: people would have it that the first part of this sinister +programme had been realised, and that worse was still to come. No +doubt, the famous _Protocols_ did faithfully reflect the kind of +talk that has been current among fanatically Nationalist Jews among +themselves for more than a century. + +How the Russians themselves regard their Jewish masters is shown by a +popular story now current in Russia. At a Soviet meeting the list of +elected delegates was read over. The secretary came to the name ‘Ivan +Ivanowitch Petroff.’ + +‘But what’s his real name?’ asked a delegate. + +‘Ivan Ivanowitch Petroff. He has no other name.’ + +‘Bah!’ said the Jewish delegate; ‘these Russians will push in +everywhere.’ + +In Bela Kun’s régime in Hungary, as well as in Russia, nearly all the +commissaries, and especially those who were guilty of atrocious acts of +cruelty, were Jews. + +There is one and one only virtue in the Russian Bolshevik--that he +knows what he wants and allows no weak scruples or respect for public +opinion to prevent him from getting it. Fancy a Government of this +country that knew its own mind and had no scruples and cared nothing +for public opinion! It is conceivable that it might really bring about +‘a country fit for heroes to live in’ instead of a country in which +only heroes can live. + +At this time even the professional moulders of our opinions failed +us. I remember saying to a great newspaper owner in 1917 that he +might devote his papers to a denunciation of Bolshevism, and he +replied, ‘Who’s afraid of Bolshevism? I tell you there will be so much +employment in England after the War, and the people will be earning +such high wages, that they will have no time to think of Bolshevism.’ + +Well, the truth, as usual, lies midway. We had the fever mildly, and +now our temperature is a little below normal, and so the world will go +on in impulse and reaction to the end, always making a little progress +in the long run unless the great catastrophe that has overtaken +civilisation in Russia should overtake the civilisation of the globe. +There have been Nineveh, Babylon, Egypt, Carthage, and Rome, and the +fate that overtook those great empires may overtake empires again, on +so slender a thread hangs all human stability. + +The Soviet ideal never got beyond its paper stage in England. Perhaps +the nearest approach to it was the Rank and File Movement, which Lenin +afterwards declared to be the nucleus of an organisation which embodies +his ideas; but by the time the Russians were ready to subsidise the +Rank and File Movement, workmen had realised the advantage of electing +moderate men and women to represent them, and the Rank and File +Movement was dead. + +One revolutionary paper, _The Call_, printed an article, ‘Learn to +speak Russian!’ and said that the working-class must ‘assert its will +in Russian accents.... It would be anti-Parliament, as the great +Chartist Conventions were. Then we shall soon see how easily Russian +can be spoken even in these islands without the knowledge of grammar +or vocabulary’; but _The Call_ had few readers at that time, and there +was a general distrust of any one who held up Russian institutions for +imitation. + +For some months we were concerned with the antics of Maxim Litvinoff, +whom the Bolsheviks had appointed their representative in England. On +18th February 1918 he addressed a meeting in Westminster at which the +late Mr. Anderson, M.P., presided; two thousand tickets were issued. +Litvinoff’s reception on this occasion seems to have turned his head. +He had taken an office in Victoria Street, at which he received visits +from Russians serving in the British army, from the crews of Russian +ships-of-war lying in British harbours, and from a vast number of +persons of Bolshevik sympathy. Indeed, the number and the quality of +the visitors became so embarrassing to the other tenants that the +landlord evicted him. He had already appointed Mr. John M’Lean, of the +British Socialist Party, to be Bolshevik Consul in Glasgow, and he +himself called at the Russian Embassy and demanded that it should be +handed over to him. + +Litvinoff is said to be a native of Baisk, a town in the Baltic +Provinces. Both his parents were Jewish, and his father’s name was +Mordecai Finkelstein, a shopkeeper who used to give private lessons in +Russian and Hebrew. Having associated himself with the revolutionary +movement he left Russia, and after some vicissitudes he came to +London and obtained work at a stationer’s shop under the name of +David Finkelstein. Later he changed his name to Harrison, and became +secretary to a Russian group of political refugees. He married a lady +of Jewish descent, a British subject, though of foreign extraction. +When the Russian Government Committee was formed for the purchase +of war supplies he obtained work in the Agricultural Department, +and he kept his post for some months after the second Revolution, +and left it only in July 1917. He took this post under the name of +Maxim Maximovitch Litvinoff. While Kerensky was in power he showed no +Bolshevik leanings, but these appeared very soon after the subsidy +from the Russian Provisional Government was stopped. He then left the +committee and joined the Russian Delegates Committee with Tchitcherin +at Finsbury House. + +Soon after his appointment as Bolshevik representative he began to +associate with English Pacifists. He wrote and circulated a manifesto +which appeared in the _Woolwich Pioneer_, and he was accused of urging +the soldiers who visited his offices to engage in propaganda in their +regiments. As soon as the deputation from the Russian patrol vessel +_Poryv_ returned from seeing him a mutiny broke out on that vessel and +on her sister ship, the _Razsvet_, both lying in Liverpool, and voices +were heard crying, ‘Shoot the Officers!’ A British naval officer came +on board and saved their lives. The crews were taken on shore to the +police cells, and some of them made statements affecting Litvinoff. +Deportation orders were made against them, and they were sent back to +Russia. + +Litvinoff’s cup was full. It was decided, none too soon, that he should +leave the country and not return to it. For a man of so humble a +position and so lofty an ambition it was a severe blow. No doubt he had +lain awake at nights dreaming of himself in uniform and decorations +among the Corps Diplomatique at St. James’s, and it was not surprising +that his disappointment should vent itself in bitter antagonism to this +country. We had not quite done with him. The Russians had taken many +British prisoners of war, and they nominated Litvinoff to represent +them in the negotiations for their release. + +The high cost of living had provoked an outcry against profiteering, +and was causing very serious unrest. The London docks were choked with +frozen meat that nobody wanted, but flour and other food-stuffs were +deficient. A number of ill-informed people believed that there were +large stores of corn in the granaries of South Russia, and that if the +cost of living was to be reduced in England this corn ought to be got +out even at the cost of entering into quasi-diplomatic relations with +the oligarchy in power in Moscow. An officer of the Ministry of Food +made himself a laughing-stock by writing a grave essay to that effect, +but it was no laughing matter, for there ensued from it the phrase, +‘The bulging corn-bins,’ though it was well known at the time that +if the corn-bins bulged it was because there was nothing in them to +support the walls. + +At the beginning of 1920 the Soviet Government was holding a number +of British officers and soldiers as prisoners of war, although we +were not at war with Russia, nor at the time were there any military +preparations against her. + +The pressing need was to rescue these prisoners, and Mr. O’Grady, M.P., +was sent to Reval to confer with Litvinoff, as representative of the +Soviet Government. Now Litvinoff had never concealed his strong desire +to return to England in any capacity which might result eventually in +his recognition as Russian Ambassador. These negotiations were dilatory +and ambiguous, being designed to bring the maximum of pressure to bear +on the British Government through the unfortunate prisoners. + +Out of this conference, which did at last result in the release of +the prisoners, grew the Russian Trade Agreement with England. The +trade that has resulted is negligible. We have sold the Russians very +little, we have got from them practically nothing that we wanted, but +a great deal that we did not want at all. In May 1920 MM. Kameneff and +Krassin arrived in London to arrange the Agreement. A Jewish journalist +of ability and experience named Theodore Rothstein at once attached +himself to their delegation. During the War he had been employed in +the Press section of one of the Government Departments, where his +known Communist sympathies were thought unlikely to be dangerous to +the country. He had never lost his Russian nationality, though his +son, who shared his father’s views, having been born in England, was +a British subject. Mr. Rothstein immediately threw all his energies +into a campaign in favour of Communism in this country. He was the +intermediary for subsidies to revolutionary organisations, and his +secret activities were far-reaching. Fortunately, in August 1920, +he was selected to accompany Monsieur Miliutin to Russia, and from +that country he was not allowed to return. A year later he became the +Bolshevik representative in Teheran. + +This was not Kameneff’s first visit to England. Not very long after +the Armistice he arrived in this country with another Communist on his +way to Paris and Berne, where they were respectively to become the +permanent Bolshevik representatives. They brought with them a cheque +for a large sum of money and a mass of propaganda literature in leather +trunks, rove with steel chains, which they said had been used by the +Imperial Russian couriers for conveying documents of a specially secret +nature: they chuckled over the manifest impossibility of the British +police examining the contents without leaving their mark behind them. +It was tempting Providence! As it was clear that the French Government +would not admit them and that they could not stay in this country they +were both sent back to Russia with all their luggage, and the cheque +was handed to them on embarkation. There was a good deal of difficulty +in inducing them to go, for one of them declined to get out of bed, +and a gigantic Cossack in physical charge of the party could speak no +language but his own. But a display of tactful firmness by the Special +Branch inspectors got them to King’s Cross just in time to catch the +boat-train. + +Under these circumstances it was scarcely to be expected that Kameneff +would be friendly to this country, and he soon began to show his hand. +There were several counts against him. He had deliberately falsified a +despatch on the question of the Polish War at a time when the Councils +of Action were ready to swallow any false information if it came from a +Russian source, and he had been foremost in arranging a Russian subsidy +for the Revolutionary Press in England. He was plainly informed that +the British Government was aware what he had done, and that they did +not regard him as a proper representative of the Russian Government. He +departed to Moscow on the understanding that he would not return. + +He was succeeded by Krassin as the head of the present Russian Trade +Delegation. Every member of it gave an undertaking in writing not to +interfere in the internal affairs of this country, or to be interviewed +by representatives of the press: Monsieur Krassin gave a verbal +undertaking to the same effect. While he tried loyally to carry out +this undertaking and to confine himself to the non-political business +for which he was admitted to this country, it was not so with many +members of his staff, and, as propaganda is considered to be the first +duty of every Communist, it was scarcely to be expected that they would +keep any such promise. They had private conferences with members of the +Council of Action, and they supplied the _Daily Herald_ regularly with +‘news’ from Russia. + +Bolshevism has been described as an infectious disease rather than +a political creed--a disease which spreads like a cancer, eating +away the tissue of society until the whole mass disintegrates and +falls into corruption. It has other attributes of disease. Captain +McCullough has given an excellent description of its first febrile +stage, when a young Russian bluejacket named Mekarov, who was certified +to be Bolshevik-proof, returned from a Bolshevik meeting mad drunk on +Bolshevik oratory and bad alcohol, and went roaring up and down the +corridor with a revolver threatening to murder the British officers.[4] +It is not recorded whether the same symptoms were observed in Paris +during the Terror, but a German who had been through the recent +revolution in Germany told me that he had noticed the eyes lighted by +dull fire from within. I noticed the same symptoms in a young policeman +who was shouting, ‘Let’s have a revolution!’ during the police strike. +The Russians, the most amiable and the most docile of people, took the +malady in its severest form; but while there were outbursts unknown to +Western Europe all over the country, the propagandist was displaying +almost superhuman industry in Petrograd and Moscow. Leaflets were +poured out from the press by the ton, and the Russian revolutionaries +living in foreign countries were at once mobilised to preach the Red +doctrine. + +[4] _A Prisoner of the Reds_, by Francis McCullough, p. 25. + +In July 1918 Miss Sylvia Pankhurst, who had long been working on +revolutionary lines in opposition to the rest of her family, joined +with Mr. W. F. Watson, of the Rank and File Movement, to found the +People’s Russian Information Bureau on funds provided by the Russians +for the dissemination of Bolshevik literature and the preaching of +revolution. + +On 30th August the Police Strike filled the extremists with renewed +hope. For the Londoner the bottom seemed to have fallen out of the +world. That a body so trusted and so patriotic should refuse duty +in the last stages of a war in which so many of their comrades were +fighting, implied that there was none of our settled institutions in +which one could trust any more. There was no real cause for anxiety: +the strike was economic, not revolutionary. For many months an +agitation fostered by an ex-inspector who had left the Metropolitan +Police with a grievance had been carried on, and a Police and Prison +Officers’ Union had secretly been formed. It had gained few adherents +until the rise in the cost of living without a corresponding rise in +pay swelled the membership to several hundreds. The Commissioner, Sir +Edward Henry, was fully alive to this just grievance, and had put +forward proposals which had been approved. If the approval had been +made public perhaps there would have been no strike, but unfortunately +part of the scheme was an endowment for the widows of policemen, +and the actuarial calculations that were involved were holding up +the whole scheme. For some days before the strike there had been a +vigorous campaign of recruiting for the Union, and word had secretly +been passed round that all members were to be ready. The great mass +of the older men knew nothing of these plans. When they came on duty +on the morning of 30th August a strong picket ordered them back, and +as they encountered the picket singly most of them obeyed. A number, +however, refused to be intimidated, and some of these were made +afterwards to pay for their loyalty. Sir Edward Henry was on leave; +Scotland Yard was filled with excited demonstrators in plain clothes. +There were marches to Tower Hill, where the extremist members of the +London Trades Council addressed the men. Special Constables were +hustled and abused, but as might have been expected of the London +driver, the traffic managed itself with surprisingly few accidents. + +As soon as their grievances were remedied the great body of the men +returned to duty. Sir Edward Henry retired, receiving a baronetcy +for his services, and Sir Nevil Macready, the Adjutant-General, was +appointed in his place. The Police Union, with the support of many +Labour leaders, was now pressing for recognition, and as a Union +in a disciplined force would have been unworkable, representative +boards forming a direct channel from the men to the Commissioner were +instituted and accepted by the Force. All this was skilfully managed by +Sir Nevil Macready. + +The officials of the Police Union, encouraged by revolutionary Labour, +now began to organise a second Police Strike for the ‘full and frank +recognition’ of the Police Union. The authorities were aware of +their plans, and were also aware that the higher pay granted on the +recommendation of Lord Desborough’s Committee had satisfied the +great majority of the men. In August 1919 when the strike was called, +barely one thousand men responded in London. At Liverpool the number +was much larger, and many of the warders at Wormwood Scrubs Prison +also came out. All were dismissed. Among them, no doubt, were many +thoughtless men who had done good service in the War, but had lacked +the backbone to stand out against the revolutionary agitator. Their +places were filled by demobilised soldiers, among whom were a few +demobilised officers. Many of the police-strikers joined the extremists +in a campaign for reinstatement, but on this point the Government has +remained firm. + +At this time the great body of Englishmen had only one +preoccupation--the last phases of the War. There were distractions +abroad as well as at home. In Finland the Red Terror had broken out, +and the Finnish Right, for self-defence as they said, called in German +troops for their protection. Many of the outrages during the Red +Terror were committed not by Finns but by the Russian Bolsheviks who +had poured into the country. There followed a reaction, which Finnish +Socialists describe as a White Terror, though in fact it seems to have +been greatly exaggerated. + +While the whole world was watching Marshal Foch’s counter-strokes with +bated breath it had no time to think of revolution, and even now it +is not generally known that revolutions on the Russian plan actually +broke out on Armistice Day, 1918, in Switzerland and Holland. They +failed because the Swiss and the Dutch are not Russians. Immediately, +the stable populations of these countries determined to take no further +risk. In Switzerland military motor-lorries drove up to the door of +the Soviet representatives, and the whole gang, men and women, with +their belongings were packed into the vehicles and conducted to the +frontier under a military escort. In Holland the orderly people formed +a Burgerwacht, a sort of volunteer special constabulary recruited +from all classes down to the humblest workman, and for the moment the +revolutionary movement was stifled. In Hungary Bela Kun, acting under +the orders of Lenin, produced a revolution on the Russian model, and +that unspeakable ruffian, Szamueli, who ‘committed suicide’ and so +escaped the penalty for his crimes, ravaged the country for five months +and brought it to ruin. + +Our first troubles in England arose out of demobilisation. As long +as hostilities continued no soldier minded going back to France, but +men did not at all see the necessity of going back when there was no +more fighting to do. On 10th January 1919 there were military riots at +Folkestone, and shortly afterwards at Calais, and there was a feeling +throughout the army that the system of demobilisation in liberating +first the key industry men, irrespective of their length of service, +was an injustice. + +During the first month of 1919 there were minor disturbances at several +of the camps, chiefly among the technical services, in which a large +proportion of the men belonged to Trade Unions. + +In the months following the Armistice some of the societies of +ex-servicemen began to give anxiety. The most dangerous at the moment +seemed to be the Sailors’, Soldiers’, and Airmen’s Union, which had +whole-heartedly accepted the Soviet idea and was in touch with the +police-strikers who had been dismissed, with the more revolutionary +members of the London Trades Councils, and with the Herald League. The +‘Comrades of the Great War’ never gave any cause for anxiety, nor, on +the whole, did the National Federation of Ex-Servicemen, though some +of its branches were swayed by a few of the more extreme members. + +During February 1919 a young Russian Bolshevik violinist was touring +the country and drawing large audiences of working men and women not +so much to listen to his playing as to the revolutionary speeches with +which he interspersed his performances. His was a typical case of the +epidemic in its febrile stage, a stage from which the British appear +to be immune. In the disturbed state of the public mind it was decided +that Soermus would be better in his own country, and his triumphant +tour was interrupted in order that he might be put on board a boat +which was about to sail for Norway. This happened to be fixed for the +day before the ‘Hands off Russia’ meeting at the Albert Hall, at which +every section of the revolutionary movement was represented on the +platform. Soermus was to have been on the platform at this meeting. +There was a large strike on the Clyde at the moment, and many of the +speakers really believed that it was the beginning of the General +Strike which was to merge into Revolution. At that moment we were +probably nearer to very serious disturbances than we have been at any +time since the Bristol Riots of 1831. A few days later the reaction +began. On 12th February the Clyde strikers resumed work, and on the +27th the National Industrial Conference met. + +In March the storm centre moved from the engineering industries to +the Triple Alliance, and there were signs of co-operation between +ex-servicemen and the extreme Labour organisations. The Sailors’, +Soldiers’, and Airmen’s Union exacted a pledge from its members that +they would take no part against strikers, and certain branches of the +National Federation of Ex-Servicemen were for supporting the miners on +strike in South Wales. This attitude was perfectly natural. The men +had been led by public speeches to imagine that they were coming home +to find things much easier for them than they had been before the War: +they found a shortage not only of houses but of many other comforts, +such as beer. But there were hopeful signs: the Workers’ Committees +were losing power; the propaganda in favour of shorter hours had +failed; the ballot of the Electrical Trade Union on the question of +striking to secure a forty-four-hour week had left the extremists in +the minority, and the report of the Joint Committee on the Industrial +Conference was a step towards a better understanding between Capital +and Labour. All this illustrated a fact too little realised in +England--namely, that the great body of Labour opinion is not and never +has been in favour of violence. Unfortunately, the older men prefer +the quiet of their homes in the evening to attending stormy branch +meetings at which a number of hot-headed youths make speeches about the +class-war without knowing about the interests of their trade, and howl +down any moderate speaker who talks common sense. Consequently, the +extremists have things entirely their own way. They pass resolutions +which are sent to headquarters as representing the real views of the +branch, and it is not until the time comes for a ballot that the real +weakness of their position is made evident. + +During April there was a wide extension of craft Unionism. +Agricultural labourers, shop assistants, policemen, and actors became +Trade Unionists. Ex-servicemen had become persuaded that employers +were attempting to re-engage men on pre-war rates, and there were +frequent demonstrations. As long as the international movement was +concerned only with the general interests of Labour it was a more or +less academic matter, but now for the first time we had in Europe +a revolutionary Government amply supplied with funds, which was +prepared to finance and instruct the revolutionary agitators in every +civilised country in the hope of producing a World Revolution, without +which its own tenure of office was recognised to be precarious. +For the first time in history, the revolutionary agitator need not +be a fanatic, for his profession had now become lucrative, and a +loud voice and a glib tongue became worth anything from £6 to £10 +a week. The Soviet Government, or rather, the Council of the Third +International, under which it chose to screen its activities, had been +told by its representative in England that a revolution was certain +within six months. In France and Italy it was to come even sooner, +and in Germany the pressure of the extreme Left would soon force the +majority Socialists out of power. Then the effigy of Karl Marx would be +worshipped in every capital, and the world would have entered into the +Millennium. + +One result of all this was to augment the little band of intellectual +revolutionaries who have always bloomed among us modest and unseen. +Most of these are men who see in a future Labour Government a short cut +to power. They think that it is easy to be a Triton among minnows. Not +a few of them are ex-officers in the navy and army; and even among the +undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge, and in one or two of the public +schools, there are little cliques of ‘Parlour Bolsheviks.’ + +At the Municipal Elections in November 1919 the Labour candidates had +a sweeping victory. Many had declared themselves revolutionary, and +were determined to convert the municipal organisations into municipal +Soviets, but responsibility soon began to dim these fiery spirits, and +it was maliciously reported that many of them were more concerned with +the social status of their wives and with the question of payment for +their municipal work than they were with revolution. + +Then began the great propaganda campaign for nationalisation of the +mines. More than a million leaflets were printed, countless speeches +were delivered, and for a moment it seemed as if a passion for +nationalisation was to sweep the country. Soon, however, it became +evident that nobody quite knew what nationalisation meant. Many miners +thought they were to own the mines themselves and work the number +of hours that happened to suit them at a scale of pay laid down by +themselves. When these were told that the Government was to own the +mines and that they were to have civil servants as their bosses they +became grave. The moulders’ strike was gradually paralysing many +industries and swelling the ranks of the unemployed. In December there +were rumours of lightning strikes among the dockers, as well as the +railwaymen, and the abolition of the unemployment donation was causing +widespread discontent. Ex-soldiers began to claim that the National +Relief and the Canteen Funds should be used for their benefit. The +year 1919 closed with the uneasy feeling that, though we might be +readjusting ourselves more smoothly than any other nation, we must be +prepared for serious disturbances. + +Forecasts in political matters are proverbially wrong. By the end +of the year the great question of nationalisation was in a state of +suspended animation, scarcely to be distinguished from dissolution. +The Councils of Action which in August had almost threatened to become +Soviets were now derisively termed in Labour circles ‘Councils of +Inaction,’ and little more was to be heard of them. Of the really great +menace to civilisation that was so soon to fall upon the world nobody +seemed to be thinking at all. + +About this time I remember having a long conversation with the late Dr. +Rathenau before he accepted office in Germany. He said: ‘Hitherto we +have always considered the consumer as a constant factor, and concerned +ourselves with over and under-production. Before the War we never +thought that the consumer could cease to consume. That is the real +cause of the trade depression and unemployment.’ + +The trade depression, dark as it is, has had a sobering effect on the +wilder spirits in revolutionary labour. Trade Unions had blundered +into the political field, and had tried to coerce the Government on +matters of foreign policy which they did not understand. Many working +men were under the delusion that the Councils of Action had prevented +the Government from going to war with Russia, and they were considering +what they should do about the Irish, the Japanese, and the Indian +questions. The effect of all this had been temporarily to impair the +influence of Parliament, but the British working man never really takes +much interest in foreign affairs, and this insular tendency has been +the great stumbling-block of revolutionary agitation. + +It was possible about this time to make an estimate of the number of +class-conscious Communists who would be prepared to lay down their +lives for their ideals. The membership of the Communist parties was +then put at 20,000, but after a close study of individuals, extended +over many months, I was inclined to put the number of would be martyrs +at well under twenty. The Communists were quite aware that, though +minorities could make revolutions, when one embarks upon revolution +by bloodshed it is well to have the support of numbers. Otherwise, +martyrdom may loom a little too near. It was all very well for Mr. Tom +Mann to boast that in Russia 60,000 Communists were in control of more +than 80,000,000 Russians, but where would 20,000 British Communists, +largely diluted with aliens and Jews, be when they tried to hold down +45,000,000 in this country? The Russians had devised a recruiting +system of their own. In every Union a ‘cell’ was to be established +which would grow unseen, as in the incipient stage of cancer, until the +heart of the Union was eaten out. They counted upon the behaviour of +some of the leaders of British Trade Unionism, who seemed to favour the +dictatorship of the Proletariat, not knowing that the more sober had +been driven into the Councils of Action by the fear of being left out +in the cold. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE RETURN TO SANITY + + +As I have said, publicity has been the best weapon of defence against +the forces of disorder. The fact is that there is little love lost +between revolutionary leaders, and an atmosphere of cold suspicion +broods over their conspiracies. At one period German Communism was rent +in twain by excessive subsidies from Moscow, because those who did not +get what they held to be their fair share turned upon their leaders. + +I suppose that few men in England have had to read so many +revolutionary speeches and revolutionary pamphlets and leaflets as +I have. All display the same ignorance of elementary economics--an +ignorance so childish that it cannot be assumed. They seemed to think +that capital was gold kept in a box, perhaps under the capitalist’s +bed, perhaps in the vaults of a bank, and that when the ‘proletariat’ +became dictators they had only to dip into the box to get all the +capital they needed for running a Communist State. If the capital ran +short they could always raise money by taxation. It had never dawned +upon them that there is comparatively very little gold; that under +the Communist State there will be nobody to tax, and that as soon as +private credit is destroyed capital goes up in smoke, as the Marxists +in Russia have found out for themselves. + +Another of their fallacies is the belief, quite honestly entertained, +that the proletariat is 90 per cent. of the population, whereas, in +fact, the people who work with their hands, and their families, form, +in a country with a large middle class such as England, actually +little more than half the population, and that the other half would not +sit down tamely under the forcible rule of the least educated moiety of +the community. Under the stress of unemployment they are beginning to +understand that these islands cannot support a population of 45,000,000 +except by foreign trade, but they do not even now know how much capital +the people of this country have invested in undertakings abroad.[5] + +[5] The _Statist_ gives the value of our foreign investments as +follows:-- + +£ India and Colonies 481,529,927 Argentine 118,339,585 Brazil +88,227,036 Chile 27,563,340 Cuba 14,563,385 Mexico 33,822,322 Peru +6,988,691 United States 164,201,850 Rest of America 11,128,188 Austria +6,247,896 Bulgaria 3,819,499 Denmark 6,844,600 Egypt 6,427,577 Finland +3,441,450 Greece 3,301,644 Hungary 2,077,240 Norway 4,833,250 Roumania +4,429,875 Russia 46,214,906 Siberia 994,993 Sweden 4,556,000 Turkey +4,745,869 Other European countries 9,280,176 China 27,805,737 Dutch +Colonies 12,236,971 Japan 22,447,240 Persia 2,706,250 Philippines +2,238,283 Siam 1,102,500 Rest of Asia 175,000 Africa 2,702,603 Others +2,436,146 -------------- Total £1,127,431,129 -------------- + + +It has never been explained why the political phenomena in one country +appear simultaneously in practically all civilised countries. The +general wave of unrest among Labour in 1912 was not a local phenomenon; +it was like the wave that ran through Europe in 1848, though of course +it was less marked. From Norway to Italy, from Siberia to Portugal, the +same phenomenon was to be noticed. + +As I said in an earlier chapter, on Armistice Day there were +simultaneous attempts at revolution in Switzerland and Holland, +countries which had suffered severely from the War though they took no +part in it. Italy and Spain were unstable, and in the United States and +Canada the spread of Bolshevik ideas had begun to cause serious alarm. +The Americans and the Canadians had passed legislation making it a +penal offence to advocate a change in the form of government by force +or violence, or even to carry the Red Flag in processions. In America +they proceeded to apply the new law so drastically that there was some +reaction. As long as the much abused ‘Dora,’ by which the Defence of +the Realm Act had come popularly to be known, was in force, there was +no need for fresh legislation in England, but when the Act lapsed on +1st September 1921, the defects in the English laws against sedition +began acutely to be felt. There was, it is true, an Act which gave +power to the Government to declare a state of emergency, when certain +powers made under the Emergency Powers Act would come into force, but +until a state of emergency is declared the authorities have to rely +upon the old Sedition Laws, which entail indictment for seditious +libel or seditious conspiracy, or for incitement to injure persons or +property. + +Now procedure by indictment is a slow process, and generally out +of proportion to the offence: the offender is given what he most +desires--an exaggerated importance and advertisement. If there happens +to be on the jury one person who sympathises with his views or is +terrorised by an Anarchist society, he will escape altogether, and even +if he is convicted and sentenced he must be treated as a first-class +misdemeanant with privileges which, to persons of his stamp, reduces +imprisonment to the level of a rather amusing experience. Moreover, +the delay between the offence and the conviction deprives the sentence +of its value as a deterrent. In the provinces a seditious speaker +may have to wait four or five months for his trial. By that time the +emergency which made it necessary for the Government to proceed against +him has gone, and the prosecution is then accused of vindictiveness in +continuing the proceedings when the need for a warning has lapsed. + +What is wanted is summary procedure, where the offender can receive a +short deterrent sentence. It is true that he may now be summoned to be +bound over to be of good behaviour, but this penalty is ludicrously +inadequate. As it stands, the law punishes a subordinate who does some +violent act at the instigation of another, and leaves practically +untouched the organiser of a campaign of violence and outrage. After +the lapse of D.O.R.A. there was a very marked recrudescence of +incitement to violence. It is quite true that most of the inflammatory +speeches and writings of irresponsible agitators may be treated with +contempt, but from time to time cases do occur in which such incitement +cannot safely be left unchecked. It has always been noticed that a +timely prosecution and conviction of one or two persons has a very +sobering effect on the rest, and that when an agitator is sent to +prison for two or three months he never regains his old ascendency. + +At present it is not an offence to introduce money or valuables from +abroad for the purpose of inciting people to violent revolution in this +country. Any Bill prepared for the House of Commons should make it an +offence to import any document of which the publication would be an +offence in the United Kingdom, except for purposes of study, and any +money or valuables brought in with the above-mentioned object. + +It is curious now to look back upon our purblind extravagance during +the two years following the war. We were far more alive in the early +part of 1918 to the need for rigid economy after the War than we were +in those boisterous days of rejoicing. The banks were full of money. +There were strikes, but every one felt that as soon as the moulders’ +strike was liquidated there would be a boom in all industries. We +continued feasting and dancing for many months. As far as unemployment +is concerned, if people had been as careful about expenditure as they +are now, they would have money free for purchasing what they need. + +Disastrous as it was economically, the coal strike which began on 18th +August 1920 let light into many dark corners. It was the last chance of +the Triple Alliance. It must be confessed that the coal-owners might +have smoothed away many difficulties if they had issued at an earlier +stage a statement of their case in simple terms and plain figures. As +it was, not only the miners but the public failed to understand what +their offer really was. Many of the steadier miners abstained from +voting in the ballot, and the extremists had things all their own way. +There was an overwhelming majority for rejecting the owners’ terms. + +This brought matters to a head, and there were few people who did +not think that we were in for what amounted to a general strike. +Knowing that if the other Unions called out their men a minority +only would respond, I felt certain that some pretext would be found +at the eleventh hour for withdrawing from the false position. At the +historic meeting in one of the committee rooms at the House of Commons, +when certain members sought enlightenment, it cannot be said that +the spokesman for the owners made matters much clearer, whereas Mr. +Frank Hodges conducted his case with the greatest ability. It was by +accident that he happened to be in the lobby at all, but many crises +are resolved by accident. He spoke the absolute truth when he said that +the miners were less concerned about the National Pool than they were +about their wages. Comparatively few miners understood what a National +Pool really was; they did understand what a cut in wages meant, and +there were many wild stories about cuts of 9s. a week. The surrender +of the National Pool was the turning-point. The strike had been called +for midnight on 15th April, and still I felt sure that the hard facts, +which must be known to the railway and transport leaders, would prevail. + +The Government was right in taking no chances. The organisation for +feeding the large cities was even better than it was in the railway +strike of 1919, and as a means of coercing the public the strike must +have failed in any case. Everything turned upon the meeting of the +other two Unions. It was a stormy meeting, and the leaders were glad to +have the excuse of the surrender of the National Pool for calling the +strike off. + +When the dust and the shouting had died down, and the great captains +were denouncing one another in private, it was possible to see what +15th April, ‘Black Friday,’ which the _Daily Herald_ hoped to be +able to refer to as ‘Red Friday,’ really meant. ‘Yesterday,’ said +its Editorial, ‘was the heaviest defeat that has befallen the Labour +movement within the memory of man.’ If for ‘Labour movement’ the writer +had said ‘Communist movement,’ the statement would have been accurate. + +Men were becoming weary of the incessant patter about class +consciousness, and were beginning to understand that in the economic +crisis which has involved the entire world only the nations who can +pull together can hope to weather the storm. + +The coal strike was economic and not revolutionary until the Communists +tried to exploit it as a ‘Jumping-Off Place’ for ‘The Day.’ + +But the _Herald_ should have worn a black border for the Triple +Alliance. Like other Alliances known to history, it was all right +as long as it was never asked to function. In fact, it lay in the +sky like a cloud no bigger than a man’s hand. Every now and then it +blew itself out portentously and obscured the sun. The clouds were +big with thunder, and men trembled, and then, as sometimes happens +in the firmament, they dispersed without a storm. It had been so +in the railway strike. We went about with bowed heads for quite a +week. The day was fixed when we were to wear out our shoe-leather by +tramping about our business, because the streets were to be silent +and grass-grown, and the rails of the Underground were to rust +in their chairs, but at the ninth or tenth hour there appeared a +Conciliation Committee, consisting of the two component bodies of the +Triple Alliance who had not come out and wanted to hold back by the +coat-tails those who had. It was not, let it be understood, out of pure +philanthropy, but for that very cogent reason that if they did call a +strike among their own men the strike would be abortive because a very +large percentage of them would stay at work. + +This time it was not the tenth but the eleventh hour. It was not the +Government preparations, the trains of lorries, the gathering Reserves, +the stirring recruiting of the Defence Force, but the fact, which was +borne in upon the delegates at their secret meeting late on Friday +afternoon, that they might call a strike at 10 P.M. but that nobody +would be a penny the worse, that all the essential services would be +maintained, not by volunteers but by the professionals themselves, +and--and this was the most important point--that the leaders would be +left out in the cold and might very well lose their jobs. + +It would not be right to say that the Triple Alliance is dead and lies +upon its bier unwept, but rather that it never existed, except as a +figment of the brain, and that it never can exist where so many diverse +interests are concerned and as long as human nature, the one immutable +thing in this world of ours, remains unchanged. + +Towards the middle of 1921 it became known that the supply of +gold in Moscow was running short. This was borne out by a growing +disinclination on the part of the Third International to subsidise +revolutionary movements abroad; but at the same time the Third +International awoke to the possibilities of turning the great masses +of unemployed in all countries to account. A document that had been +circulated in Norway showed how this was to be done. The unemployed +were to organise themselves into bodies with a Central Executive +Committee. They were to go down to the relieving officer and demand +a rate of relief equal to the Trade Union rate of wages. The local +authority would then be compelled to draw upon the National Exchequer, +and in a short time the country would be involved in bankruptcy. As +the Third International put it, ‘By uniting the unemployed with the +proletarian vanguards in the struggle for the social revolution, +the Communist Party will restrain the most rebellious and impatient +elements among the unemployed from individual desperate acts, +and enable the entire mass actively to support under favourable +circumstances the struggle of the proletariat.... In a word, this +entire mass, from a reserve army of industry will be transferred +into an active army of the Revolution’; and in another place, ‘As +Municipalities are more likely to yield to demands, the first attacks +of this kind should be made upon Municipalities, and made in such a way +as to exclude any possibility of tracing them back to a general scheme. +The demands should appear to be local, having no apparent connection +with similar attempts in the same country.’ + +These instructions were acted upon in London and other places. Most of +the agitators among the unemployed were Communists with headquarters +at the International Socialist Club, which had received a subsidy of +£1000. It is unnecessary to add that they were drawing salaries. + +The Unemployed leaders did not find the Guardians as pliable as they +had hoped. Even when they engaged in a system of bullying individuals, +as in the case of a certain chairman of a London Board who was a +beneficed clergyman, and whose church was visited with the express +intention of disturbing the service, they could not extort grants +approaching what they demanded, and the Boards which were controlled by +Labour members had no balance in their banks, and could not obtain an +over-draft without the consent of the Ministry of Health, which, of +course, laid down a reasonable scale beyond which they could not go. +I do not know that the fear of being surcharged personally would have +deterred them, for most of these gentlemen, having few possessions, +would welcome the advertisement of an attempt at distraint upon their +goods, but the impossibility of getting money from the bank was a +difficulty not to be got over. The real unemployed took no part in +these demonstrations. They were orderly and reasonable folk who had +begun to realise that unemployment was a condition far beyond the +control of the Government of a single country, but a world-phenomenon +which had to be lived through as patiently as possible, and +consequently the revolutionary agitators failed again. + +The famine in Russia brought a new factor into the situation. Russia +is so huge a country that there have been always periodical famines in +one part of it or another. As long as there was an efficient Central +Government it was possible to relieve the want in one province by the +superfluities in another, but under the Communists the entire railway +system had broken down, and it was no longer possible to carry supplies +to the Volga. So the Communists began to appeal to foreign countries. +They represented the famine as having been caused by the intervention +of Capitalist States, and when this argument was found unconvincing +they accused first Denikin and Kolchak, and then the weather. The +Central Government did not seem to care how many of the wretched +peasants perished, but they did want to convince the distant provinces +that it was only to the Communists that they could look for relief. +Their great dread was that some one else would take the credit from +them. + +Strange stories reached us from time to time. In some provinces the +Bolsheviks had made a clean sweep of the priests and churches, and in +many of the villages there had been no religious teaching for four +years. In a few of these it was alleged that people had reverted to +paganism, and had hoisted the head of a bull into a tree and made +offerings to it. These stories were never confirmed, but they are +consistent with the religious aspect of the Russian peasant character. + +About the middle of 1921 the Communists realised that it was impossible +longer to maintain the pretence that Communism was an economic success. +They had spent their gold reserve lavishly, and they had got very +little in return for it, and now they saw the day approaching when +there would be nothing left. Faced with these prospects, there was +nothing for it but to agree with their enemies, the Capitalists, +quickly. True, they could continue to hold the reins of power because +they had been careful to disarm all the Red Army except a few trusted +battalions, but inevitably a Government which cannot pay its way, is +bankrupt as a concern, and has made it impossible for its subjects to +pay any taxes, must fall, and so the Lenin Party announced publicly +that it intended to veer to the Right. This announcement was hailed by +all the people who wanted to begin trading with Russia as a genuine +conversion. It was bitterly opposed in Russia by the ‘die-hard’ +Communists, who argued quite reasonably that the admission of the +foreign capitalist or, indeed, of any foreigner at all, would sound the +death-knell of the Soviet. And then M. Krassin took upon himself to +explain what the Moderates really meant by reversion to capitalistic +principles. They would die sooner than surrender the railways or big +industries, or land or mines, to private ownership: all they intended +was to grant leases to concessionaires, who would be permitted to +work their concessions under Soviet control, giving a share of their +profits to the Soviet Government, who would provide them with the +necessary labour. The Communists would not listen to a suggestion that +they should recognise their debts to foreigners until the foreign +Governments had agreed fully to recognise them as a Sovereign State. +He seemed to have a child-like belief that political recognition would +immediately result in financial advances to the Russian Government. +He, too, appeared to believe that the British Government keeps vast +hoards of gold in its vaults, and that all it has to do when it makes +an advance is to scoop up so many millions and hand them over to M. +Krassin himself. After all, his own Government, as long as it had +gold to play with, financed people in just this way. But credits are +provided ultimately by the man in the street, who has outlets for his +savings in nearly every part of the world among honest men who pay +their debts, and why should he, therefore, adventure his money among +people who make a boast of their contempt for monetary obligations, and +who have proved that even when they had money they lacked the ordinary +business ability for turning it to account? + +All those who have had to do with Russia realise that it is useless +to talk of reconstructing the country until the Communist power has +become as it did in Hungary--a nightmare of the past. All this talk of +conferences extending from Prinkipo to Genoa is merely putting off that +inevitable day. + +The fixed idea that without exports from Russia prices cannot fall in +England is a very curious obsession not only of Labour but of some of +those who have access to the Trade Returns. In 1900 Russia exported +very little to foreign countries at all, and the world got on. In the +next decade the exports gradually increased until in the record year, +1913, they amounted to £28,000,000, but this was a small proportion +of the £600,000,000 of our foreign imports. In that year we exported +£17,000,000 to Russia. The bulk of the Russian exports was cereals, +of which nearly all was produced by the large landowners, who have +ceased to exist. The peasants, who then had manure from their beasts, +exported very little: their surplus went to the large towns. But now +the beasts, like the landowners, are gone. On the Soviet figures, the +horses have been reduced from 28,000,000 to 3,000,000, of which only +half are fit for agricultural work. Think what this means in a country +like Russia, where every pood of produce has to be taken an average +of thirty miles to the nearest railway, and where ploughing is the +first essential! What the Soviet Government thinks of it is shown by a +curious little incident. Early in the year M. Krassin sent to a firm +of agricultural machine-makers the working drawings of a human tractor +which had been prepared in Moscow by a Russian engineer. It was to +be made on the principle of the trolleys used by platelayers on the +railway. It was to have two levers, each operated by three men--forced +labour, of course--and the seventh man was to steer. A plough was to +be attached to it. The firm refused the order for the twofold reason +that the machine would scarcely be powerful enough to carry the seven +men without the plough, and that it was inhuman to employ men to do the +work of animals under such conditions. + +If trade with Russia is essential to a low cost of living in this +country, why have prices continued to fall? The reason is given in +the Board of Trade returns. The world, having done without Russian +exports for eight years, has readjusted itself. The cereals, butter, +eggs, timber, and flax, which we formerly had from Russia, are now +being produced in Canada, the Argentine, and other countries. Half the +flax-producing provinces of Russia now lie outside her frontiers. The +world can do without Russia until such time as she recovers her sanity. +As long as she continues to tolerate the form of government that has +brought her to economic ruin she is beyond help. + +Trade with Russia has been opened for the past eighteen months, and +there has been no trade. This has not been for lack of enterprise +on the part of traders. It is due to the fact that Russia now has +practically nothing to give in exchange, but there is the further +factor that one cannot trade with people of bad faith. Two or three +vessels carried goods to Odessa last winter. They were not allowed to +sell them except at prices fixed by the Moscow Soviet, and these prices +were below cost. + +A Belgian firm undertook to repair and run the Odessa tramways. They +had to pay a large deposit for the concession. As soon as the tramways +were running the local Soviet stepped in and sequestrated the tramway +as Soviet property, and when the Syndicate protested it was threatened +with arrest by the Tche-ka. It then demanded the return of the deposit, +which at first was refused: in the end half only of the deposit was +repaid. + +It is difficult for those who do not know the Communists to understand +this policy of suicide. The fact is that only 10 per cent. of the +Communists in Russia are men of education; the remaining 90 per cent. +are illiterate workmen, peasants and gaol-birds, who have achieved by +the Revolution a position of power and comparative affluence which they +never dreamed of under the old régime. They have just sense enough to +know that, if foreign capital is admitted into the country and the +Russians are freed from the Terror, their day will be done. Lenin and +his colleagues may propose; they, the majority, dispose; and while +Lenin may quite honestly mean what he says about a change of heart he +is powerless to carry out his promises. + +One of the most curious of the obsessions is the fear of anarchy if the +Reds fall. There is anarchy already. Russia is the last country in the +world to fall into the sort of anarchy feared by our statesmen. For +centuries she has been accustomed to village councils, with which the +Czarist Government interfered very little. She has them now, and all +that will happen when the Communists fall, as fall they must, is that +the country will break up into these little entities, each stretching +out hands to its neighbours. In such conditions the last state of +Russia will be better than the first. + +Meanwhile, the real Government, so far as there is a Central Government +at all, is the Tche-ka, the Extraordinary Commission, which has changed +its name but not its nature. It is now called a political committee +under the Commissary of the Interior, and in due course, when its +new name becomes as much hated as its old name, it will change it +again. Even Lenin himself would not be exempt from its attentions, +and he knows it. This terror that walks by day and night is the real +Government of Russia. + +The conviction, honestly held by all classes of Germans, that the War +was forced upon them by an inexorable ring of steel that hemmed them +in, is not to be dismissed lightly as the figment of their military +party. It was a sub-conscious impulse like that of a hive of bees +before they swarm, and, like the bees, they were armed with stings. It +is even now idle to point out to them that their surplus population was +as free as air; the sparsely-populated regions of the earth lay open +to it; it could do as so many thousands of Germans had done, and form +German-speaking communities, not in German tropical colonies, which +have never been successful, but in temperate zones where men can reap +the fruits of their own labour; that was not their vision of a place +in the sun. Nor is their conviction shaken by the argument that by +their industry and their commercial enterprise abroad they were already +beginning to inherit the earth. Perhaps the Great War was the first +premonition of what is to be the destiny of poor humanity. Far back in +the ages the millions of Asia, driven out of their own lands by drought +and famine, swarmed westward and swept away the Roman Empire, but then +there was land enough for all, and as a torrent pouring down a mountain +cañon comes to rest in the broad waters of the lake, so the irruptions +from the East spent themselves and subsided. But when there is no +longer any lake, what then? In the time of Elizabeth the population of +England and Wales was 5,000,000, as late as 1750 it was only 6,500,000, +and in 1801, the year of the first census, under 9,000,000. Up to that +date these islands were self-supporting. During the last century it +has increased at a rate of more than 2,000,000 every ten years, in +spite of emigration, and if we were cut off from supplies from abroad +we should be starving in a few weeks. The population of the earth is +now estimated at something over 1,500,000,000: at the present rate of +increase it may be 3,000,000,000 in less than a century. The empty +spaces of the world are rapidly filling, and when all those in which +men can support themselves are filled up, posterity will have to look +to itself. Nature’s old remedy, plague, and the early death of the +weakly and the ailing, have been subdued, and unless the birth-rate +is artificially regulated the sub-conscious swarming instinct, having +no outlet, must behave as it does in the hive, and whole nations and +classes will fall upon one another for the right to live. Beside such a +vital struggle the Great War will seem as insignificant as the Crimea. +The generation upon which this catastrophe falls will find plenty of +reasons to justify the breach of Peace, and it will remain ignorant of +the root cause to the end. + +Therefore it is idle to think that the world has seen the last of War: +conferences on disarmament and the revival of world trade are mere +temporary palliatives which can do nothing for any generation but our +own, for the one unchanging thing in the world is human nature, and the +strongest instinct in human nature is self-preservation. This terror +will not come in our time nor in that of our children, but come it will. + +Sub-conscious impulse is manifested in little things as well as in +great. The dress of women is passing through a period of decolletage as +it did immediately after the Napoleonic campaigns, and after all the +great wars of modern times. There was always a marked deterioration +of public morals in every country after visitations of plague, as if +the race were unconsciously obeying an instinct to quicken up the +process of replacement. Fashion is supposed to be controlled by the +dressmakers: is it not more likely that the dressmakers are merely +quick to interpret the inclinations of those whom their clothes are to +adorn? A whole generation of young women have lost the mates of their +own ages; another generation who were in the schoolroom during those +tremendous years are treading hard upon their heels. Are they to lose +their birthright of wifehood and motherhood, and tamely be laid upon +the shelf? Their sub-conscious instinct impels them to attract; their +dressmaker divines the impulse, and obeys it. The dress shrinks to its +narrowest dimensions. + +We have lived through War: we have yet to live through Peace with the +economic fabric of civilisation shaken if not shattered. Let those who +feel it difficult to face the lean years read the intimate records of +the ten years after Waterloo, and take heart again. + + + + + Transcriber note + + + Table of contents has been completed with the addition of Page xi. + Spelling and punctuation errors have been corrected. + Italics have been enclosed in underscores. + Smallcaps have been capitalised. +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77709 *** |