Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1911-09-08
The MILITARY SPY
He is an Important Factor IN
the Modern Game Of War.
WATCHES FOREIGN NATIONS

AND REPoRTs THEM TO HIS
OWN couNTRY-IF CAUGHT He
,s REPUDiATED nv HIS GOV.
EMINENT AND SUFFERS in o..
LENcE.
Once In while an army or navy Of.
Scer Is arrested for spying OF attempt.
ins to obtain military secrets from =
foreign government. Practically every
government, including the United
states, has q law which makes this .
crime. Usually there is more or less
secrecy about the of1cer's arrest and
trial. His government repudiates his
activity, and II he is sentenced to .
term Of imprisonment he receives no
support or aid from his government.
Although they Will not ofiicially adj
NIT It, practically every government
has secret service of army and navy
oficers whose only duty Is to travel
IN foreign countries to gather Informs
ton which might be useful In time OF
war. Because OF the shortage OF Of
6cers the United States has only en-
gaged In this practice In time Of 40
tual hostilities.
Military espionage IL, OF course. .
delicate subject, and It would be =
gross violation OF international pro-
priety for any government to admit
that It had secret agents spying on ito
neighbors. However, 1t Is q well known
fact that this system exists.
In 1907 an American ambassador at
foreign capital reported to.the state
departments that an army officer Of the
country to which he was accredited
had been detailed to visit the American
countries secretly to ascertain the
strength OF their forces. His mission
was thwarted. however, by the infor.
nation furnished by the ambassador.
The military authorities Of every
arst class power are constantly pre-
pairing for war. Naturally they are
anxious to know what their neighbors
are accomplishing in military science.
Here develops the function OF the
modern military spy Fiction writer's
i clothe the spy with q veil Of mystery
and supernatural cleverness which
enables him to get out Of all danger
Gus pitfalls into which he falls. But
the real flesh and blood spy is a differ-
ent person. In these days Of modern
and scientific warfare the spy has be-
come a technical expert who must be
thoroughly versed In every branch OF
his art. He must be tactful and above
ill close mouthed.
The procedure In sending out spy
y something like this: II the German
government wishes information which
It cannot get In the regular channels
Of information some officer is sent for.
He Is summoned to the war Office to
receive his instructions. In the case OF
confidential work abroad he receives
oral orders, SO that he will not have
any documentary evidence on his per
son to disclose his identity In case he
gets into trouble. Having received his
Instructions he starts out, sometimes
20 secretly that even his family do
not know where he Is going Usually
be speaks the language Of the country
to which he Is bound. His real identi-
ty for the time being Is forgotten, and
hetravels under an assumed name. II
necessary he uses disguise to cover
his movements. II he Is q good spy he
returns with the desired information.
and no questions In regard to the
methods he employed are asked. II he
d captured while engaged in his work
be is punished for attempting to OBJ
tain the military secrets of q foreign
government, and his own country lets
him severely alone
The cipher code books by means of
which diplomatic correspondence Is
carried on are often sought after BY
these secret agents Several years ago
the code book Of the American lega-
ton at Bucharest disappeared" IT'S
loss was reported to Secretary Of State
Elihu Root by telegraph. Mr.. Root
sent for the chief clerk Of the depart
ment. "a NJ
~ u
Mr.. Smith," said the secretary, "the
code book at Bucharest has been lost.
! believe It b about time for us to-
nave a new code for our diplomatic
3ccorrespo ndence.'
Some months later the missing book
vas offered for sale to the Japanese
ambassador ct st. Petersburg, who
purchased II for 1 small sum and as
"a act Of comfy turned It over to the
American ambassador there.
a young man several years ago ap-
peared at the American embassy In
Berlin and offered to sell to the am
Dassador q copy Of the state depart
ment's code book which he said he
nad IN his possession. He left several
specimen pages to prove that his book
vas genuine. a comparison with the
!smbassys code book proved that he
nad the real code, but where he had
obtained It was mystery The am
,Daassador knew that q new code was
20 course Of preparation and would
'nlortiy be distributed by the depart
nent. The offer was politely declined
~ the ground that the embassy had
sode book Of its own and did not need
1nlother.-New York Sun.
RUS IN uRsE. NJ
a Springfield (Mo.) man, describing
nls experience IN New York, says:
I've got on street cars two or three
5lMes and told the cnndnrtnr 4ha