The record., 1918-02-01
ENEMIES AT HOME

In a recent issue Of the New |
York Times William J. Flynn, |
former chief Of the federal secret |
service, said there are 25O,OOO !
men and women in this country |
who are working for Germany. !
The Times also shows that in the |
nine months since this nation
entered the war more than S5O,-
100000 worth Of property vital
to the war efficiency of the nation
has been destroyed in fires, some
OF them known to be incendiary
and others of suspicious origin.
OF this total S43,OOO,OOO repre-
sents fires in which the loss was
100000 or more in each in
stance. There have been fl fires
i'll which the damage in each case
was Sl,00O,OOO or more. Among
the properties destroyed were
tanneries, flour mills, leather fac
tories, coal pockets, car and
machine shops, iron mills, navy
yard structures, chemical works,
automobile plants, gasoline tanks,
food warehouses, wOOlen mills,
stockyards, sugar mills, guncOt-
ton plants, railroad equipment,
arsenals, munition plants, tObac-
co warehouses, cotton gins and
warehouses, drydOcks, ocean-go-
ing shipping, steel mills, army
storage warehouses, stables, coke
oven and mine properties.
Piers and war supplies in Bal
timOre valued at $3,5OO,OOO were
destroyed last October. Six mil
lion dollars worth of grain, and
another $6,OOO,OOO of oil and oil
products have been burned up
since we went into the war. The
total fire losses in 1917 were the
largest the country has known,
except those for 1906, which in
cluded the S45O,OOO,OOO of prop
erty destroyed in San Francisco.
Apparently the 25O,OOO workers
for Germany were showing the
usual Teutonic efficiency. Not all
OF them were engaged in the
pleasing task of kindling fires,
but undoubtedly some Of them
were. We are Witnessing a sort
OF submarine campaign on land,
the purpose in both cases being
to weaken the lighting effective
ness Of the nation against which
the villainous campaign is di-
rected.
These fires did not all of them
lust happen" There would have
been many others except for the
close watch kept on plants en-
gagged in government war work.
Attempts to destroy property
have been detected and thwarted,
and men guilty of them have been
convicted and punished. Not all
OF these 25O,OOO tools of Ger
many are in her pay. But some
OF. them are.
There is a German spy organi-
zation, with headquarters in Ber-
lin, with secret branches in every
important city in the world-in-
cluding America. The detestable
work is not all done by German
subjects. There are American
citizens engaged in it-sOme OF
German extraction and some not
and these, of course, cannot be
dealt with as enemy aliens.
That makes the task Of fighting
them all the more difficult.
Whether property is sunk OF
the high seas or destroyed in this
country does not matter. Tn,
government must show a grea
deal more sternness than it has
yet shown in dealing with thi.
situation.
Mr.. Flynn thinks that the si1
departments of the secret servic,
should be consolidated anC
brought under the control of ;
supreme head, and he is right
But we should also, as he says
in every case, give to the Unite,
States the benefit of the doubt
and should "be able to take car,
Of the woman spy or agent jus
as we do of the man spy when W,
catch him, and if it is necessaF.
TO restrain a single unidentifiet
agent to intern 400 Germans, w
should have the power to lock VI
all Of them"