Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1917-09-29

The United States Secret Service.
(From The Christian Science Monitor. J
Intrigue and espionage are revolving
to the sentiment of the United States.
In the entire history of the nation
diplomacy, from the time wher
Thomas jefferson was Secretary OF
State TO the time time OF Robert Lans-
ing, the aim of the Government has
been to deal straightforwardly with ali
other governments. From Benjamin
Franklin down to James w. Gerard,
through times of war as well as peace,
the policy of Washington, in it's rela-
tions with all the other Powers, has
been stamped by frankness rather
than finesse, by sincerity rather than
subtlety. 1t would be impossible to
imagine any one of the long line of
ministers extraordinary and ENJOYS
plenipotentiary or any of the ambas-
sadors who have succeeded them in
Great Britain, France, Germany, Aus.
tria, Russia, or Italy descending to
the methods that have been pursued
for the last fifty years by diplomatic
representatives of Gremany. 1t is in
conceivable that Charles Francis
Adams, james Russell Lowell, a
John Hay, an Andrew d. White, a
Brand Whitlock, William G. Sharp,
or David r. Francis, should stoop to
the cheap trickery that has recently
oeen fastened upon the Luxburgs, the
von Eckhardts, and the Won Bern
storffs.
This leads up to the fact that the
United Stat IS Government has never
made speciality Of detective work of
any kind. Whatever has been Done
along that line has been simply incl
dlental. So little use had the United
States found for a secret service, DUR
ing the first seventy-five years of its
history, that when it became neces-
sary to throw protection about Abra-
nam lincoln, on his journey from
Springfield, H., to Washington, by
way of Baltimore, in the spring Of
1861, Allan Pinkerton, private de-
tective, had TO be assigned to the
task. With the beginning OF the
Civil War, however, Edwin M. Stan
ton the Secretary of War, organized
A federal detective force that was
rendering satisfactory service to the
Government. After the Civil War,
the so called secret service became q
postoffice inspection department, to
be extended, as circumstances might
require, into bureau of the Treasury
Department, for the hunting down Of
smugglers, counterfeiters. or moon
sinners.
Nevertheless, from the beginning
of the great war in 1914, the United
States Secret Service has been alert
to every move of international import
ance, especially to every move OF con-
sequence to its own Government.
Nothing was more carefully or more
persistently cultivated, in the early
months of the war as proof of Ger
many's marvellous efficiency, than the
operations of her spy system. 1t was
known that, for years prior to the war
with Austria, Prussia had been build
ing up a system of espionage that was
to find its first large expression in the
huneycombing of the France of Ma
poleon III with intrigue. 1t was
known that, with the triumph OF 1870,
Germany had entered with still great
er energy into the development of her
spy system, until she had represen-
tatises in every section of England
and Fsnce. until restaurant and hotel
walters, school teachers, college pro-
fessors, commercial representatives,
shopkeepers, BARRIERS, chamber maids,
people bearing German names ins ale
most every calling were, first OF all,
agents of the Berlin secret system.
Germany mad planted her spies along
the prospective routes of her armies
for years before the time seemed op-
FORTUNE for striking the blow. There
was. appal emily, no place where the
German spy was not in 1914.l5, aud
the world was asked, by the admirers
of German efficiency, to stand at fe-
spectful attention and be properly
amazed
But. on the whole, German espion
age has been characterized by clumsi-
ness and stupidity. Its operations
have been detected, exposed, and rem
dered ridiculous by the secret service
of a country that has never had any
particular respect for espionage, and
that has less respect than ever for it
today. There is not single instance,
in which the protective secret SER
vice of the United States has been
called on to contend with the sggres-
sive German espionage system where
the latter, with all its pretensions to
efficiency, has not, if we may borrow
a phrase from Colonel Roosevelt, been
beaten to q fragile.