The Washington times., 1922-09-06

BY HAYDEN TALBOT.
Copyright. 1879, New York American.
..a CHAPTER Q.
Section !.
For the first time, to my knowl'
edge, Michael Collins. In his graphic
story to me, has let the world know
the methods he employed In wreck
ing the British spy system In Ire.
land. Here Is the story as ne told
II: ....
"The English secret service in Ire
land and other countries has broken
every movement ever attempted by
Irishmen to make Ireland an inde-
pendent nation. The espionage by
the staff of the British forces OF
occupation in Ireland operating from
headquarters, Dublin Castle, was
model to which England had every
right to point with pride.
"It was a costly organization 10
maintain. The annual total In nre.
war days was approximately zoo'ooo
pounds, when there was little or nc
talk Of an Irish revolutionary move
ment.
Costly Spy Work.
Following the outbreak OF the
| world war, even before the Easter
Week rising, the cost Of admintstsr.
ing the spy system, II has been .'eck
oned, has totaled Q million POUNDS
year. From 1915, countless riil-
lions were spent. The secret serv'
Ice money was to be had almost foi
raising an eyebrow. -.
ct always find comfort In the
| thought that much OF this reckless
buying of information brought cold
comfort to Dublin Castle-when II
was discovered that the information
was nothing more than the Pigment
OF a patriotic Irishman's imagina'
ton.
But with the coming of the Black
and Tans in 1919, this profitable
form Of romancing was quickly rob.
bed Of it's appeal. The Black bnd
Tans, evidencing dislike Of being
victimized, by torture eventually
would murder their victimizers.
THE coming Of the Black and Tans
was England's immediate and direct
answer to our establishing our own
intelligence staff. whereof had been
appointed chief. Before we could
turn the attention Of the Black and
Tans, however, we had to create Cur
own organization, then use 1t to
clean out England's spies from Ire
land.
Herculean Job He Finds.
This alone was no easy task. but
before II was finished there were left
in Ireland only men who whole
heartedly were prepared to give theh
| lives for Ireland. The determination
was made to drive against wether-
cock politicians, irresponsibles ana
others Of a similar kind whose pres
ence in ireland, while perhaps not
dangerous. was distinctly detrimen
tai to morale. At all stages during
the process of cleaning our own fore
es, / constantly had to fight the an
tagonism Of Cathal Brugha.
II never was antagonistic toward
Bpugha- However. to do justice to
De Valera, II is a fact that more than
once he prevented Brugha's disap
proval of me and my methods from
leading his minister of defense to
any attempt at deeds of rashness.
FINALLY this part of the job was
finished. Every man on my staff
had been tested-tested thoroughly.
That l did II myself thus satisfied
me regarding the trustworthiness Of
my chief aides, Then gradually the
finding OF the true measure Of each
new man became automatic and, In
turn, the clearing out from the ranks
OF Ireland of undesirables became
easier and faster.
Hard Blow At British.
Now the time had come to turn
our attention to th. main part OF the
job--smashing the English Secret
Service.
MY final goal was not to be
reached by putting 1t out OF exist
.ience-I meant to replace 1t by a bet
ter and Irish Secret Service. The
way to do this was obvious. 1t fell,
naturally, into two main parts-mak-
ing It unhealthy for Irishmen to be.
tray their countrymen and making
1t deadly for Englishmen to exploit
them.
1T took six months to accomplish
the first part-which was actually
the important part-and only a
the English Secret Service to a point
whereat its efficiency ceased to be
the proud thing It had always been.
ITO Englishmen who knew the
meaning OF the appellation of the
political section Of the G Divis.
ion of the Secret Service, It stood
for everything that was finest and
most admirable in the whole range
of the British Empires organiza-
tions. To gain admission TO g
Division was the dream Of all
Secret Service operatives.
Stupid Heroes Not Cowar,ls."
For the most part, the per-
sonnel OF this unquestionably
rave outfit commanded my ad.
niration. But, rs shall have
occasion to. point out more than
once before I finish this tale, their
bravery frequently outdistanced
their Judgment. Our experience
leads me to suggest II Is wiser for
those who have the placing Of men
in positions in which bravery and
judgment are equal requirements 10
choose clever towards rather than
stupid heroes.
within a short time after We
had convinced Irish traitors that
II was best they sever connection
with Dublin Castle. our own oper.
atives identified six Of the highest
placed, most efficient English
spies. It was my policy TO &C.
quaint this sextette with the fact