"Prince Lichnowsky, for instance, foresaw that in the event of war, the Unionists in Ulster would support the Government. Herr Kühlmann had sent over spies who masqueraded as journalists, and they came back from Belfast believing that civil war was inevitable. Herr Kühlmann accepted their view, and thus deceived the Kaiser and the German Chancellor. The same gentleman was much interested in the Indian movement, and I remember discussing with him the causes that led to the murder of a great Anglo-Indian official at the Imperial Institute. He was convinced that India was ripe for revolt. Again he deceived the Emperor on the subject. The German spy system was wide, and it was thorough, but its chief lacked imagination, and took niggling and petty views. In a word it is efficient in signalling, prying into arrangements, spreading false news, and securing minor successes, and that it can still do here, but had it realised how the whole world would be opposed to it, there would have been no war." The gross licence extended to our alien enemies in peace-time has, surely, been little short of criminal. Fancy there having been a "German Officers' Club" in London, close to Piccadilly Circus! Could anyone imagine an "English Officers' Club" in Berlin--or in any other Continental capital, for the matter of that? In the first place, there would not have been a sufficient number of English officers to run a club, even if it had been allowed by the German authorities, which would have been most unlikely. But, on the other hand, there were enough German officers in London, not only to support a club, but to give a large and expensive ball not very long ago at a well-known West End hotel! Germany has a large army, and a considerable navy, but is leave lavished with such prodigality on her officers as to make it worth their while to have a special club of their own in the metropolis? One can hardly imagine this to be the case. Why, then, were there so many German officers in London? We may be sure that they were not here for the benefit of _our_ country. The German Officers' Club was no secret society, and was, therefore, winked at by the sleepy British authorities. The War Office may have argued that it enabled them to keep an eye on them, and there may be something in that plea. But what possible justification could have been found for allowing a considerable number of German officers to assemble near Southborough--between Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells--not so very long ago, and to carry out what practically amounted to a "Staff Ride" in the "Garden of England" over a very important strategic position? Fancy such a piece of espionage being attempted in Germany! It is even known that the German Ambassador dined with the officers in question.