Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-07-20
STEALING NEWS.

membered that shortly before Lord
BeacOnsfeld started for Berlin to
take part in the conference now sit
ting in that city, copy was pub
lished of a memorandum of agree
ment between the English and |
Russian Governments as to various |
points for discussion to be presented
at the conference. Two different
statements were published by the
Globe newspaper, the first of which
was the subject of question put to
Sir Stafford Northcote in the House
of Commons. Much wonder was
expressed and conjecture INDUCED
in concerning the premature publi
cation of this document, and it was
at one time rumored that it had
been made public by Count Gort-
chakoff. 1t appears that the secret
was divulged by a young man
named Charles Marvin, who was a
copying clerk in the Treaty De-
partment of the Foreign Office.
This is a criminal offence by English
law, and the offenders preliminary
trial is the matter we have now to
discuss. The matter cannot be
more succinctly told than it is in
the speech of the prosecuting attor-
ney, Mr.. Poland, which we extract:
1t would be enough to state that
the defendant occupied a subOrdi-
nate position as writer in the For
eign Office, and that during the
negotiations which had been going
on between Her MajeSty's Govern
ment and Count SchOuvalOff it be-
came necessary that copies should
be made of a document known as
the "Projet de Memorandum"
which had been prepared on the 18th
of May, and was of a strictly CONT
Dental nature. No signatures had
been attached to it, and it had to be
printed for the private use of the
members of the Cabinet. 1t had to
be copied for this purpose, together
with a shorter document, which was
to some extent an epitome of the
longer one. Mr.. March, the Super
intendent Of the Treaty Department,
had received instructions from Mr..
Currie, the private secretary of Lord
Salisbury, to prepare these copies,
and he was engaged with Mr.. IrV-
ing, another gentleman in the de-
partment, to get them in readiness :;
but some pressure was put upon
them, and one of the papers being a
long one, the prisoner was employed
to assist i'm the work. Up to this
time every confidence had been re-
posed in him, and he was as much
trusted as any servant in the higher
departments of the office. He was
asked to copy the smaller paper, but
he, of cOnrse, had access to the
longer one at the same time. He
was engaged on this duty up to 7
O'Clock in the evening on the 30th
of May, and he left the Office about
7:1j, and at 9 o'clock the same night
there was published an extra special
edition of the Globe newspaper,
containing what purpOrted to be
the chief heads of the AnglO-R Russian
agreement, preceded by the follow
ing announcement
The Congress decided upon.
Terms of the agreement between
England and Russia: We have good
of the assembling of the Congress is
definitely settled, and that the fol-
lowing are the points on which the
Governments of England and Rus
STA have, subject to the decisions of
Congress, arrived at an understand
ing.
Then followed ten paragraphs, in
which was embodied information
not only contained in the "Proiet
de Memorandum" but also in the
second and shorter document, which
had been that day entrusted to the
defendant to copy. The publica-
ton of this private matter, of course,
excited good deal of attention and
inquiry up to the time of the de-
parture of the Earl of Beaconsfield,
on the Sth of June, and that of Lord
Salisbury on the 10th, and on this
latter day the defendant addressed
this letter to the editor of the Morn
ing Advertiser:
Dear Sir-I have Just been able,
while engaged upon temporary
translation work at the Foreign Of
flee, to secure for perusal for a few
minutes the agreement, or rather
protected agreement between
England and Russia. / was aware,
even before its appearance in the
Globe, of the existence of the dOCU-
ment in question, but the terms di-
Vulged were so extraordinary that
| thought | would endeaVOr to test
their correctness before informing
you of the fact. On reading hurried
ly the two memoranda forming the
agreement Il was unable to take
notes. | find that the Globe version
was quite correct, but the articles
were differently arranged, and there
were few minor points which,
with some other information from
the Foreign Office, | have embodied
i'm the enclosed letter from Russia.
| thought it better to arrange it in
this form, as it would not attract
suspicion thereby to its authorship,
and would carry more weight than
u mere paragraph confirming what
the Globe had said. The Russian
part of the letter | received only
this morning from st. Petersburg.
| will inform you if anything fresh
transpires at the Foreign Office. AS
/ run considerable risk i'm writing
this might suggest that it should
. be destroyed after being read.
Yours faithfully,
CHARLES MARVIN,
Your st. Petersburg Correspondent.
81, Burrage-road, Plumstead.
This letter was marked strictly
private and confidential, and he
would direct particular attention to
it. The editor of the Morning Adj
Vertiser, greatly to his credit, de
clined to avail himself of the prof
fered information, but on the next
day, June Is, the Globe newspaper
published the two documents in
question at full length, with the
heading, Full Text of the Anglo
Russian Treaty." the principal
items of the supposed agreement
having already appeared on the Both
of May.
1t Will he noticed that he writes
ostensibly as correspondent of the
paper ut st. Petersburg, and in his
possession was found a private letter