Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-07-10
TROUBLES OF
THE MODERN SPY
German Agents Made Many Err
rors of Judgment-Impor-
tance of Watching
Gables

C0THERE are 100000 German spies on
l. United States soil" said Mr.. overman,
on the floor Of the Senate, in urging the
passage of the espionage bill. He would
have proved his point just as we'll II he had
said there were half a dozen really clever
spies in the country. Spy fevers have swept
through England and France, and nine
tenths of the effort used to rout out the
hidden foes was wasted because 1t empha-
sized the mere number of the spies and
did not specialize on the two essential
"leaks"-the getting of information and the
transmitting of it to Berlin 1t may do US
no harm If there are 100000 spies in our
midst, but one wireless plant concealed in
the heart of the Catskllls or in that most
obscure place of ALL the roof of a city
building, would do harm enough.
There are two kinds of German spies,
who may be called military" and psyche
logical" The first have TO get information
of immediate value and transmit 1t as
swiftly as possible. The second can be
more leisurely in sending their reports and
judging from their past work. we can hope
that Germany has many thousands Of
psychological spies at work here. 1t Is
the business of these men and women to
Judge the temper of the communities they
investigate and predict what the people
would do in various eventualities. For ex-
ample, Germany had spies all over Ireland
before the war. They told Prince Lichnow-
sky, the German Ambassador at London,
that Ireland would rise in revolution the
moment England declared war. So the
Prince told the Kaiser that he could count
on England's being unable to take a large
part in a general war, torn as she would
be by internal dissenslon.
Spies Who "Fake" News
I.ichnowsky had waiter and a governess
working in County Cork. They reported
that southern Ireland was a network of
revolutionary plots But the Irish, after
the Identification of the spies, showed that
waiter and governess had 'loafed on the
job" They were paid for sending reports
| to the German embassy, and they had to
send something. II they had said there was
| no plot there would have been no more
work for them TO do. And their superior,
| the German agent who directly employed
| them, thought he would have lost his Job
! il he had nothing to tell the Ambassador.
| So that by the time the reports were as
! sembled in the Berlin intelligence office
they we're magnifed beyond recognition
| Thus psychology "double-crossed" the psy-
biologists, and when the Prince went back
TO Berlin he was disgraced for not having
| foresoen that the Irish problem would not
| tear the British empire asunder
Bernstorff was similarly accused on his
return to Berlin. He was told that his
| agents should have given him more correct
| reports upon opinion in America, but there
| was not much need of agents in his work
| of sizing up the United States The news
papers told him every day everything he
| would want to know about American senti-
ment,
Military Secrets Learned
But though the German psychology spies
| have failed, their military spies seem to
| have earned their wages. The rapid ad-
| vance Of the Prussians through Belgium
| and France was facilitated by phone and
signal sent by men and women who had
| never been suspected OF German origin. The
| eficiency with which the system with all
| its ramihcations worked was due to the
| excellence of the German consular Of
hcers throughout the world. The consus
| kent in close touch with the Germans with
! an their Jurisdiction. on being forced 70
| leave at the outbreak of war they delegated
10 unsuspeeted agents the business OF
| espionage.
| There is thus a German consulate" In
Philadelphia today, without doubt, in pos
session Of all the documents left by the ON.
| clal who departed In February. How would
| h send Information out OF the country
| Following the method adopted In other
| countries, the agency would communicate
| bv cable with German agents IN neutral
countries A man signing himself Peter
4 brown might send 4 nahlfRram 70 one
t'Infn NJ Hofcc|ol az Innoc1 nI