In no other capital in the world, save London, would such a disgraceful
scandal be for one moment tolerated, as that which any reader may
investigate for himself, providing he is careful not to obtrude his
British nationality, namely, the toasting of the "Day" of Britain's
downfall by these self-same enemy aliens, who, recently released from
the internment-camps, now nightly meet and plot in the various little
foreign restaurants in the neighbourhood of the Tottenham Court Road.
Here, round the small tables in the underworld of London, sit enemy men
and women, openly expressing the most intense hatred of us, gloating
over their own piratical deeds and barbarities, and declaring that in
England, ere long, there is to be repeated the same savagery and
unbridled lust with which poor Belgium was swept from end to end. This
is no idle statement. I have been present, posing as an Italian and a
neutral, and I have seen and heard. Indeed, in those places, news from
Germany is known hours before it is known to our military or naval
authorities, and I have heard it declared openly that the vanguard of
spies among us are ready to act at a given signal--which is to be the
appearance of Zeppelins over London--to blow up bridges, water-mains,
and railways, destroy telephones and telegraphs, and commit the most
widespread havoc, incendiary and otherwise, for the purpose of creating
a panic, and preventing the movements of troops.
Naturally, one asks, where are the police? On discovering this
scandalous state of affairs I went to New Scotland Yard to ask that same
question. I had interviews with various officials, and after over an
hour's prevarication and elusive replies to my rather disconcerting
questions, I succeeded in eliciting the very illuminating fact that they
were unable to act without the consent of the Home Office! Why, one may
ask, is it withheld? Why should we risk our well-being by allowing
these hot-beds of conspiracy and crime to be officially protected, while
a man may be hauled before the magistrate for the heinous offence of not
having a rear-lamp to his cycle? What a comedy!
Mr Justice Ridley has rightly said: "We must make an end of spies."
Yet the fact that spies are being officially winked at can no longer be
doubted. Before me, I have fully two hundred cases reported by
responsible citizens in various parts of the country in which the
"authorities"--who seem, by the way, to have no authority at all--have
refused even to make the most superficial inquiry, or else a constable
in full uniform has been sent to interview the person under suspicion!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account