German Spies in England: An Exposure

by William Le Queux

It is often represented by well-meaning people that it would be unjust, and not in accordance with British fair-play, to take steps against aliens who have become naturalised. We are told that these people have been promised the full liberty accorded to British-born subjects, and that to treat them in a manner different from other Englishmen would be to go back upon our solemn undertaking.

I confess this argument leaves me unmoved. We have no use for the unpatriotic get-rich-at-the-expense-of-your-neighbour arguments. We are Britons, and Britons we will remain in spite of the puny leading articles in unimportant papers. Naturalisation, in the great majority of cases, means absolutely nothing; it is, indeed, usually adopted purely for business reasons. Seldom does a German become so imbued with profound veneration for our institutions and customs that nothing short of citizenship of our Empire will satisfy his sacred feelings of patriotism. Moreover, naturalisation is one of the spy's favourite devices, and surely one of his best methods of disarming any possible suspicion.

But these are not ordinary times, and the requirements of the situation as we see it cannot surely be met by ordinary methods. Nothing is more jealously guarded in this country than the right to be protected from arbitrary imprisonment. No one in England can be arrested and kept in custody for more than a few hours without being fully informed of the nature of the charge against him, and brought before a magistrate, whose duty it is to decide whether there is a prima facie case against him, upon which he should be sent for trial. That, in ordinary times, is the British practice. Yet, only a few days before I write, the High Court refused an order, under the Habeas Corpus Act, that an Englishman, who had been imprisoned for over a week without any charge having been made against him, should be brought up for trial.

The case was a remarkable one. A collision had occurred between a submarine and a British steamer, and the captain of the steamer was arrested. No charge being preferred against him, application was made to the High Court. It was stated in Court that a charge might be made, but that it was against the interests of the nation that it should be stated. The application was therefore refused.

Looking at the absolute stringency of English law on this subject at ordinary times, that was a very remarkable decision, but I venture to think it was absolutely correct, since the interests of the State must at all times over-ride the rights of the individual. The question of the guilt or innocence of the captain, it should be remembered, was not before the Court, and was not even discussed.

The same rule, I contend, should be applied to the naturalised alien. It was Burke who said that it was not possible to frame an indictment against a nation, but we can say with tolerable certainty that no German loses his German sympathies simply because he takes out naturalisation papers at the British Home Office.

Undoubtedly, if it were determined to intern or deport all of alien birth, whether naturalised or not, there would be many cases of hardship, and many people who are good citizens and perfectly loyal to the country of their adoption would suffer. Many such are suffering to-day. I am not going to suggest for a moment that every one of the thousands of aliens we have interned in the concentration camps is dangerous, either as a spy or as a combatant. I do insist, however, that many of them are, and to catch all the guilty we must necessarily, though with regret, inflict hardship on some who are innocent. Exactly the same conditions apply to the naturalised alien; in many cases they apply with even greater force.

In his published statement from which I have already quoted, Mr. McKenna parades with intense satisfaction the absence, since the war began, of any outrages traceable to aliens. He says:—

Another matter which has engaged the closest attention of the police has been the possibility of conspiracies to commit outrages. No trace whatever has been discovered of any such conspiracy, and no outrage of any sort has yet been committed by any alien—not even telegraph wires having been maliciously cut since the beginning of the war.