Spies and Secret Service: The story of espionage, its main systems and chief exponentsGrant, Hamil
History
Spies and Secret Service: The story of espionage, its main systems and chief exponents
Grant, Hamil
Secret service; Spies
"At the present moment one case is pending in which a person charged
with attempting to convey information to the enemy is now awaiting
his trial by court martial, but in no other case has any clear trace
been discovered of any attempt to convey information to the enemy, and
there is good reason to believe that the spy organisation crushed at
the outbreak of the war has not been re-established.
"How completely that system had been suppressed in the early days of
the war is clear from the fact—disclosed in a German Army Order—that
on August 21 the German Military Commanders were still ignorant
of the despatch and movements of the British Expeditionary Force,
although these had been known for many days to a large number of
people in this country.
"The fact, however, of this initial success does not prevent the
possibility of fresh attempts at espionage being made, and there is no
relaxation in the efforts of the Intelligence Department and of the
Police to watch and detect any attempts in this direction. In carrying
out their duties, the military and police authorities would expect
that persons having information of cases of suspected espionage would
communicate the grounds of the suspicion to local military authority
or to the local police, who are in direct communication with the
Special Intelligence Department, instead of causing unnecessary public
alarm, and possibly giving warning to the spies by public speeches
and letters to the Press. In cases in which the Director of Public
Prosecutions has appealed to the authors of such letters and speeches
to supply him with the evidence upon which their statements were
founded in order that he might consider the question of prosecuting
the offender, no evidence of any value has as yet been forthcoming.
"Among other measures which have been taken has been the registration,
by Order of the Secretary of State, made under the Defence of the
Realm Act, of all persons keeping carrier or homing pigeons. The
importation and the conveyance by rail of these birds have been
prohibited; and, with the valuable assistance of the National Homing
Union, a system of registration has been extended to the whole of the
United Kingdom, and measures have been taken which it is believed will
be effective to prevent the possibility of any birds being kept in
this country which would fly to the Continent.
"Another matter which has engaged the closest attention of the police
has been the possibility of conspiracies to commit outrage. 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.
Nevertheless, it has been necessary to bear in mind the possibility
that such a secret conspiracy might exist or might be formed among
alien enemies resident in this country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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