The record-union., 1897-07-19
UNCLE SANS CIPHER.
SECRET WRITINGS USED BY
NEARLY ALL DEPARTMENTS.
One of the Most Inscrutib1e Cryp-
tOgram Ever Devised Is
Now in Use.

effect that the Spaniards have found
the key to the cipher used by the State
Department and are reading the tele-
grams which pass between Washington
and Havana The secret code employed
in this service is one of the most in
scrutable cryptogramS ever devised.
the key word changing automatically
from time to time. The translation of
message framed in it, without key,
is practically an impossibility. OF
course, a key might be stolen, copy
of it being in the possession of every
Consul-General and Minister of the
United States in foreign countries, but
it could hardly be utilized with sue
cess by an outsider, owing to the shift
ing of the key word by prearrangemem
between the parties corresponding.
In fact, the State Departments ci-
pher is so complicated as to interfere
seriously with it's usfulness. When
telegram is received it is likely to be
a twenty hour job to make it out. The
code employs groups of figures 10 rep
resent words and phrases, and sys-
tenn of this sort always affords cp-
portunity for mistakes in transmls-
sion. At the same time, it is better
in this respect than a system that uses
crytographfc words, inasmuch as the
latter are likely to so wrong over the
wires. Suppose, for example, that
"Domicile'' stands for the President OF
the United States. A foreign telegraph
operator, unacquainted with English,
may get the word crooked and make
lot of trouble. Governments have often
been frightened out Of their wits by
mistakes in ciphers.
Figures, you see, are the same in all
the languages of civilized nations. The
cipher now employed by the State De-
partment has been in use for about
twenty years. However, the Govern
ment has always utilized cryptograms
in it's correspondence since Revolution
ary times. In those days nearly every
public man had his own private cl-
pher. such a precaution being made
necessary by the prevalence of inter
cepting or tampering with letters. the
President of the United States uses
the State Departments code When ne
sends a secret dispatch, but this rarely
happens, and a cipher telegram has not
gone out from the White House IN the
last half dozen years. OF course, the
Department of State is the president 5
office. as it We're, and through it ne
corresponds with diplomatic and con-
sular officials.
ITS ECONOMY.
So many mistakes occur in the trans
mission of cryptographic messages tha-
the cipher is used only when necessary
for secrecy or economy 1t cuts down
the cost Of kilograms very greatly, thus
making an important saving IN cases
where as in the difficulty with Chile,
continued correspondence has TO pc
kept UP at an expense of " or more
a word. Nowadays not nearly so mucn
attention as formerly is paid to the
keeping of diplomatic secrets, the deal
ings of the nations with one another
being much more open and frank III
nlomacy used to be q mere game OF
tricks, and the ablest Embassador was
he who could lie most skillfuliy- Inc
rifIine. of letters was considered legltl-
mate part of the business, the art De-
ing brought to such perfection that
DISPATCHES were opened without appaf-
emf injury to their seals. One of the
most famous experts in this line was
Walsingham. Secretary of State 10
Queen Elizabeth.
Nearly every one of the executive de-
nartnoents uses a cipher more or less
in its correspondence. The Treasury IN
1888 adopted a code that is stlll III use
though it has undergone many im-
provements since then. one purpose ol
If ie to save telegra phic tolls, the wires
being worked very freely between tue
treasury and the various sub-treasufles
and mints in different cities. But Ire
ouently it would be very undeslfapie
that the public should have knowledge
Of the contents of the dispatches. IL
might not be well to warn tram foo-
bers that a big shipment of gold was
TO be made at a certain time anu ny
a stated train from Carson to san
Francisco. Furthermore, information
gathered by the department might De
utilized for stock jobbing purposes
MANY of the dispatches have reference
TO financial conditions and prospects
The most notable feature of the
Treasury cipher is its extreme slmpilc-
ity. This simplicity, the officials OF the
department say, is it's best safeSuafd'
there is nothing for an outside trans
lator to start with. It consists OF a lot
of words with arbitrary meaning; also
of peculiar association and sequences
of words with meanings attached. The
words are names of people, animals,
plants. gems. etc Dispatches in this
cryptogram can be read off-hand by
those who understand it, and usually
without reference to the key. 1t is not
necessary to lock the door and go TO
work on a telegram as if it We're an in
scription in cuneiform hieroglyphics
from a Babylonian tomb. Keys of this
cipher are kept at all the suo-treaS-
uries, mints and assay offices. When
the code is changed, as has happened
twice since 1893, new keys are for
warded to those establishments by
registered mall and the old ones are
carefully destroyed by burning.
There is another cipher in use in the
Treasury Department by the Bureau
of the Secret Service. A key to it is in
the hands of every field agent. The
title of field agent in a euphemism for
detective. Of course the detectives of
the Secret Service are engaged almost
exclusively in the business of catching
counterfeiters. and their work has TO
be done with the utmost secrecy.
Hence it is very important that they
shall be able to hold private communf-
cation with their chief in Washington.
1t is worth mentioning in this connec-
tion that the first cryptographic code
devised for the War Department was
made by Arson Stager. in October,
1861, and the first key of it was in
trusted to the famous detective, Allen
c. Pinkerton, while employed by the
overnment on a dangerous mission in
Kentucky. The War Department to-