Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-09-22
ENGLAND AND FER SPIES.
HOW INFORMATION IS SECURED
BY THE FOREIGN OFFICE.

AL LIE great nations require 1hlOI-
nation about other countries which is
not obtainable openly. For this rea-
son, says the London Express. the in
telligence departments of the great
military Powers on the Continent are
organized on a scale of cost and eff
cheney undreamed of in this constitu-
tional country. II Russia the secret
police employ considerable number
of agents, both male and female, who
are resident in England Some OF
these paid agents, or spies, are people
well known in society. Their duties
vary from diplomatic work of the high
est delicaA to the collection of news
paper cuttings.
One of the points attended to by
the Russian secret service is the rec
ord of every English policeman who
speaks or writes about Russia. On
one occasion the present writer had
followed by the Russian police. Every
speech and every writing of Mr.. Shaw
Lefevre-an innocent and not very
formidable personage-with particu-
lars of his birth, parentage, means,
residence, habits, tastes and position,
were all entered in great portfolio.
Considerable sums are spent by Rus
STA on secret service agents in Cen
trail Asia, Beloochistan, Persia and i'll
India itself. The object of these
aoante 80 m hoI;IFIo NrooF pritoip a,,d
belaud Holy Russia Constant diplo-
matte duels take place between Brit
ish consular agents and the avowed
representatives OF Russia. This sub
terranean war of secret agents is go
ing on all over the world.
The German system OF secret ser
vice is conducted on much more scien-
tific lines. German knowledge of the
United Kingdom is more complete
than that of most Englishmen. | was
lately informed by British diplomat
ist of the highest rank that the Ger
man general staff possesses a schedule
of the contents of all the chief resi-
dences in the kingdom. Every picture
anu WOIh Vi d1I VI any NOASlOSACAD
value is known to the German general
staff, while the study of British topo-
graphy, the mastery of our ordnance
maps, the knowledge of the forts,
smithies, obstacles, population and
high roads form the subject of exam
ination from German officers who are
told off to the duty Of acquiring full
knowledge of the counties of the
United Kingdom. The German agents
in England, Who are occupied in sur
veying our country, with a view to
contingencies, are generally to be
found in couples in the guise of tour
lists. They know to a head how many
horses the Irish farmers can supply
within given time. They have made
a. careful study of the idiosyncrasies
of our leading men. Their tastes,
habits, health, friends and means are
carefully noted by the astute Teutons.
who distill the honey of information
from English fields for the German
hive. The principal feature in which
German secret service differs from
that of England is that the Germans
coordinate the whole of their knowl-
edge and have it ready to hand in
concentrated form whenever it is re-
CURED
The English system is different.
There is a secret service fund, con-
trolled by the Foreign Office. So many
Foreign Office agents are hostile to
England and are unpaid that the For
eign Office service is often found to be
useless for naval or military purposes.
During the last two years the Admir-
atty has succeeded in wrestling from
the Foreign Office the control of the
secret service, so far as it affects the
navy. During the trouble with France
over Fashoda agents of the Admiralty
were busily watching French opinion
in the great centers. The English
military intelligence department is
again a separate service.
What is required is to concentrate
in one spot the whole of the knowl-
edge obtainable. The Foreign Office
should be the brain, the eyes and the
antennae of the nation. The German
and Russian Foreign Office fulfill
these functions. The British Foreign
Office not, only does not know what is
going to happen, it does not want to
know, while the military and Foreign
Office intelligence departments are
separate administrations.
What does the Admiralty know
about the German fleet? Very little.
How many times has the naval at
tache in Berlin visited Emden, or even
Kiel? For what purpose are the
miles of quays erected at Emden,
little village with tenthrate mu-
scum in it? If the Boer war taught
us anything it was to enforce the les
son that knowledge is power. There
is nothing so conducive to peace as a
full knowledge of the intentions and
tendencies of other nations. An enor-
nous outlay may be saved by the re-
organization and establishment of an
efficient and up-to-date system of
service.
Ice Weighs More Than Water.