Evening star., 1903-07-01
MODERN SPIES IN PEACE
HOW POWERS DISCOVER EACH
OTHERS MILITARY SECRETS.
Characteristics Of agents" Employed
by Western and Eastern
Governments.
From the London Express.

From the London Express.
There are many things about each other
which nations would like to know. In or
der to discover what they must know but
are not allowed to. civilized states employ
military spies. They may be military or
naval attaches, duly accredited to an en-
bassy, or secret agents, who are sent to re-
| side or travel in those district from which
| information Is required by the intelligence
| department. The work of the first class is
not unirlportant, but 1t Is not risky. The
officer may not overstep the bounds of
common honesty, and rarely. II ever, at
tempts to achieve anything secretely.
He is closely watched. and knows it. II
ne becomes strong center of attraction he
may divert the attention of watchers from
some secret agent who is possessing him
self of the particulars the attache is osten-
sfbly so anxious to acquire, but is success
fully prevented from securing. The at
tache Is useful as a clearing agent. Spies
become possessed of facts which are of no
real value to those who employ them, but
are assumed to be worth much by the
agents of other countries, and an exchange
OF pieces is effected. Sometimes appar-
emily useless information is sought simply
for Its exchange value. For instance, some
years ago two British officers created con-
siderable annoyance in Russia by their per-
sistence in hanging about the district in
which the autumn maneuvers were to take
place. They were invited to join the staff
the British attache was there-but this
honor they declined.
British Spies.
Then representations were made at the
British embassy, where the officers were
unknown, and subsequently they disappear
ed for a time, only to be discovered at the
end Of the maneuvers in one of the five
great fortresses which protect the west
oF l~.,
been the center of the military operations
Had these men been Prussian officers
their position would have been dangerous
| and an unpleasant international incident
might have occurred. The Russo-German
frontier is nothing to Great Britain. neither
Is the Franco-German. We exchange the
first piece" with Germany for the sec
ond, and the second with France for lit
tie bit of news about Russia in Asia which
India believes to be important. And thus
we get home.
Each country has it's own peculiar sphere
of interest to which 1t devotes its greatest
attention. Great Britain has many that
properly speaking it has none. But India
| is always alarmed to Russia, and agents
British and native-of the India depart
ment are ever busy seeking particulars
likely to be of service when we have to de-
fend an empire which already in the mill
tary sense extends from Alden to Hong
Kong. Most of the Indian agents in Rus
STA are officers of the Indian army, but.
needless to state, they do not travel
such. Some affect to be tourists of in
nocent but inquiring turn of mind: some
go as commercial travellers; some lean to
religious propaganda; while others collect
curiosities.
Commercial Travellers.
These agents have been so energetic and
SO prolific in their disguise that in the
south of Russia the bona-fide commercial
traveller excites suspicion. The Russians
now insist upon, all Commercials being
licensed and taxed; moreover the intclli
gence department has found the orders for
goods obtained by its travellers somewhat
embarra sSing.
AS buying agent the spy has also work
ed well. No Briton can now go across the
Caspian to purchase skins>any more than
to sell hardware or even Just to amuse
himself, without his letters being opened
and the company he keeps carefully noted.
Elsewhere than in central Asia the in
quisitive foreigner is likely to be detained
as a suspect If found near dock yard,
arsenal, fortress, masked battery or mil
itary undertaking of any kind The real
tourist may excite suspicion, and no doubt
many of the people arrested are innocent,
but occasionally spy is captured, and
usually, of course, is liberated after in
Quiries.
Foreign consuls are apt to be much more
energetic. emphatic and positive when
government agent is taken than they are
when the innocence of the parties held i.
50 apparent lndl II neeOS no proof. III
ordinary circumstances, when ''the spy is
known he thereby becomes innocuous, and
he knows 1T. If discovered, the impolite
Russian way Is to, forbid him, to enter the
country, or to declare he comes from
plague-infeSted port, or that he'is Roman
Catholic or Jew.---
Polite Methods.
The polite way is to offer him guard or
helpmate or companion. The spy is then
shown what he must see, and as soon as he
has seen and reported the various military
dispositions are changed so that the infor-
nation he obtains is worse than useless,
being actually misleading.
The polite British way is to take the rec
ognized spy round the golf links or give
him pegs of whisky and tell him soft stories
as he sits on a stool enjoying (D intermin-
able regimental cricket, then to send or
take him home happy talkative man,
with nothing to tell That is what hap
pens when Russian vessel calls at Perrin
''for water" or Russian officers show them
selves curious as to the forts at Alden.
Many are the lodges resorted to by Brit
ish agents in order to avoid being "spoofed''
by Their Russian hosts. Their common way
is to hunt in couples each independent of
the other, SO that if one is taken the other
may still succeed in getting through with
the work This plan has other adyantag ges
The eastern races make adept spies. Rus
sfas agents. when out of uniform, betray
their calling by being so we'll informed
which Is unusual in Russia but 1t takes a
clever, educated man to detect them and
there are few such among the class of peo-
pie the agents frequent in the east, for
they pretend to be merchants. veterinary
surgeons, peddlers and even vagrants
In the far east in the matter of es-
pionage Japan has the game almost en-
tirely to itself. Japanese can readily
become SO good an imitation of the China
man, Manchu or Mongol that the Russian
cannot identify him. and the China man
who does will certainly not denounce him.