German Spies in England: An Exposure

by William Le Queux

The whole Act is therefore belated and incomplete. It does not, so far as one can understand it, provide for the one thing really necessary—that the individual seeking naturalisation in this country should divest himself altogether of any allegiance to the Sovereignty under which he was born. Whether he can do so, or not, is his affair. Germany, by her new Citizenship Law, as the journal quoted has pointed out, has devised methods obviously designed to disguise the real nature of the act of a German on seeking naturalisation in a foreign country. Against such attempts to deceive the nation of which a German, for his own ends, seeks to become a member, it may be difficult to continue effective measures, but at any rate we should make the attempt. Naturalisation is primarily a favour granted to the alien, and is only in very rare and exceptional cases an advantage to the State which grants it. Therefore it ought to be hedged about with such restrictions as will make it as certain as any laws can do, that the individual seeking it divests himself of all his former allegiance.

It is perfectly certain, as the journal before mentioned has remarked, that there are in this country to-day many naturalised Germans who, if they had not taken out letters of naturalisation (which are in effect letters of mark), would now be interned in some concentration camp. They are chartered enemies, who can be compared to none so justly as those German spies at the front who penetrate the Allies' lines by wearing British uniforms. The French Government have, unlike our own, been quick to see the danger that exists, and to cope with it. A Bill has been introduced into the French Parliament empowering the Government to withdraw naturalisation from persons who preserve their original nationality, or who, by reason of their attitude to the enemies of France, are judged unworthy of French nationality. The Stock Exchange has taken similar action. British citizenship is a privilege which in no case ought to be lightly conferred, and assuredly it should never be relieved from the obligations which properly accompany its great advantages. No man can serve two masters, at any rate when they are at war with one another; and, to be just to the Germans, they have not even tried.

We know that the German espionage organisation in England was set up some time about the year 1905, so that there has been plenty of time for the German General Staff to get together quite a number of agents who, under our present system, fulfil all the demands of our naturalisation laws. We must make this more difficult in the future, remembering that the naturalised German is at least as much an object of suspicion as his non-naturalised brother.

Residence of aliens, whether naturalised or not, in the immediate vicinity of our dockyards, naval bases, and important strategical positions should be stopped, once and for all. We know how in many recent cases the activities of the German agent have been concentrated upon these points, where the most valuable information is often to be picked up, and if we are indeed to make an end of spies, this closing of certain areas to aliens is one of the first and most important steps to take.[3]

I have just heard of a case in one of our most important garrison towns, where, for years past, a shop overlooking the barracks has been in German occupation without apparently any business whatever being done; the stock was practically allowed to rot in the windows, and certainly the volume of trade was not enough to pay the rent. We can form our own conclusions as to the real object of such establishments.

Not very long ago Captain Persius, the well-known German naval expert, described, with his tongue in his cheek, the ease with which he was able to get information at certain British dockyards, and we know that many foreign visitors have been allowed practically free access to many of our battleships and to the naval ports. The case of the undergraduates who posed as foreign princes and were shown over one of our Dreadnoughts will be well remembered. All this kind of thing must certainly be put an end to in the future.

The question of wireless is also another matter to which we shall have to give considerable attention. It is very much a question whether we should not, in future, adopt some stricter system of compulsory registration of all wireless plant sold and worked in this country. We all hope, of course, that after the present war we shall see a long period of undisturbed peace, but not even that assurance ought to be allowed to blind us to future danger, any more than the belief that a German invasion of Great Britain is an impossibility should cause us to relax, for an instant, our preparations to meet it should it come. Wireless is likely to play a growing part in our world communications, and the tremendous possibilities which attend its unauthorised use have to be reckoned with.

I confess that I should have hesitated to introduce even into a novel such an incident as a German officer attempting to escape from this country packed up in a large box. Yet such a case has just been reported; the man was detected and arrested by no more than a lucky accident just as the case was about to be placed on board the liner which was to convey it to Rotterdam. Examination of the case showed how carefully the plans for the escape had been made, and certainly there is a very strong suggestion that the affair could not have been undertaken without active assistance from persons outside the prison from which the officer had escaped. And those persons were spies.

It was stated, I see, that the man is believed to have been trying to get over to Germany with important information, and in all probability this is true; it is not at all likely that anyone would have adopted such a desperate expedient merely to escape from custody. The incident, in its practical bearings, is not of great importance, since it is not a plan likely to be adopted except by someone who was absolutely desperate, and obviously we cannot examine every packing case shipped abroad, even in war time. For us the importance of the incident lies in the light it throws upon the skill and resource of the German secret agents, and the need for straining every nerve to cope with their activity. One cannot but admire the courage and resource of a man who was ready to take the risks involved in this particularly daring adventure.