The German Spy System from Within

by Anonymous

“That no native of Alsace-Lorraine, even though performing his military service in Germany, should be either recruited or admitted in any capacity whatever for employment on the said railways.”

As to general offensive action, the first sign thereof lies in the vote, in February of 1893, of a credit of 80,000 thalers “to defray the expense of foreign publications useful to the policy of the Empire,” combined with the appearance, in France, of the famous “Mesnard pamphlet” five months later. The pamphlet in question was a deliberate incitement to the men employed on French railways to take matters into their own hands and carry Republicanism on to sheer anarchy. “If you want your employees to be attentive and polite to the public,” says the author, “try to give those employees a somewhat better idea of whom it is they toil and sweat to benefit. At present all that we know is that our work is not done precisely for the love of the thing, nor does it result in any improvement for ourselves. This being so, our sole object is to keep our situations and get through with our tasks. As far as the public are concerned, we take no notice of them, while they for their part behave in the most abusive manner toward us...

“The employees should elect their chiefs themselves in accordance with the principle of universal suffrage... It would be merely logical if the employees had the right to choose who should give them orders, and to turn out those who proved unjust or incapable...

“The last resource of railway workers in search of justice is a strike. A strike is a legitimate weapon, and the fact cannot be contested. If it is suppressed, its suppression constitutes an abuse of the rights of the stronger party. With the organisation which the syndicate cannot fail to have in a short time, we shall have arrived at a position at which we can contemplate the possibility of a general strike of all the railways and of similar institutions if necessary. It is highly important that everybody should think over this problem. No partial strikes, but patience and then a general strike...”

Then, fearing lest mobilisation of the Army of France should defeat the ends to which this pamphlet was designed, its authors went on to say that railwaymen would not be forced to mobilise to prevent a strike. “We know our duty as patriots, and we know when we must be soldiers; but if you gentlemen, you officers, do not know it, then leave us alone to manage our own affairs, or we shall call in the Prussians.”

These extracts from the pamphlet itself show its general tenor, but though one may search through all its pages there will be found no definite and legitimate ground for the proclamation of the general strike which “Mesnard” advocates so stirringly. The whole publication, which must certainly rank among the “foreign publications useful to the policy of the (German) Empire,” is an attempt to stir up class hatred, to get the men to mobilise against military service at a given word of command, and to paralyse the railway services of France when German aggression should consider such a step necessary. For the evidence has become too strong for us to take this as mere coincidence, nor did the French Government regard it as such. Even the railwaymen’s unions of France repudiated the document, and one of the heads of a trade union in France stated openly as his opinion that it was the work of Germany and an attempt at the establishment of German influence. The pamphlet itself, which was widely circulated among railwaymen until government action stopped its distribution, came from Geneva, one of the headquarter stations of the German secret service, and the residence of one of the most highly placed officials in the espionage system.

The direct effect of the Mesnard pamphlet was small, but evidently the policy that it outlined was found worth following. The first great demand of the Syndicalists on behalf of the railwaymen of France was made at the time that the Dreyfus trial was causing definite friction between France and Germany in official circles. On this occasion a general strike was actually declared, but it was a fiasco. Yet again, railway troubles in France grew ever greater as relations grew strained between the two countries toward the dawn of the second decade of this century. The Agadir incident was coincident not only with labour troubles in England, for if the railways of France could have been paralysed at the time of a declaration of war by Germany, the result would have been equivalent to a decisive German victory over French troops in the field.

Inquiry into Syndicalist work in France and England alike will show that the funds of the Syndicalists have benefited, if they have not been mainly supported, by German contributions. Then, again, if one examines the career of the average fiery, anarchistic orator, who declaims against law and order, and does his best to stir up men irrespective of national rights, it will be found in many cases that the orator in question is in some way connected with Germany. He may not be a German, but he is in such a position that German influence is at least possible—and Stieber himself was apparently heart and soul with revolutionary German workmen, while in reality he was busy betraying his associates to the secret police whom he subsequently governed. The working man himself is disinterested, and believes that he is acting for the best in his own behalf, and in that of all oppressed humanity. But his leaders cannot always be regarded in an equally charitable light.

German efforts do not stop here. Almost simultaneously with the outbreak of hostilities a placard was distributed broadcast in Ireland, with a view to ensuring the desired action on the part of the “revolting province.” The placard in question has been attributed to the few Fenians still remaining in Ireland; but such an aspersion on the character of these men is the rankest injustice, for even the most rabid of the anti-English in Ireland have realised that a world-war transcends domestic affairs, and Irishmen of all shades of opinion have shown themselves ready to fight the battles of freedom against Prussian militarism. The placard in question is decidedly a “foreign publication useful to the policy of the (German) Empire,” and it reads as follows:

Irishmen—FOOLS!