Evening star., 1940-07-28

III lHIcS Ol udIlSlllOll, Ills HlIcIcSI SilllIS "
propaganda to build up favor for his principal. i.
And when armed conflict comes, no holds are
barred in his methods of operation.
Sokeb-G -Gonn Case
"A CASE handled by Naval Intelligence and
the FBI about year ago throws further light
on the manner in which spies operate. Hafis
Salich was born in Moscow, hssia in 1905.
In 1920, he emigrated to the United States.
He had attended St. Rseph's College in
Yokohama, Japan, and spoke Japanese
tluently After he arrived here. he completed
a course at business college in Seattle,
Washington. lie worked for steamship COM
panies off and on until 1926, when he became
a member of the BeSkeley. California, Police
Department. He worked there until 1886,
when he was gwen leave of absence to
work on a special assignment for the Navy
Department. :. In tho meantime, he became
acquainted with Mikhail Nicholas CORN,
who arrived in the United States on January
10, 1896, to take over the management of
the Pacific Coast Division of 1ntourist, 1ncor-
porated a travel bureau designed to promote
travel in Soviet Russia.
1t is alleged that CORN absent nt-mindedly
left a document in a coat pocket that was
sent to the cleaners. A patriotic citizen found
it. 1t Immediately reached the hands of our
efficient Naval Intelligence. An alert officer
recognized the document as having come from
Navv files. The FBl was notified. A joint
investigation disclosed that Salich apparently
had received 81, 700 from CORN for reports
that Salich was accused of having secured
from Navy Department files. Salich and CORN
we're sentenced to serve prison terms for
violation of the Espionage Statute. As this is
being written the case is pending appeal in
the United States Supreme Court.
Espionage agents have but one code: The
end iustifies the means" The means can be
murder. robbery, burglary, barter of loyalty
or blackmai.
Identifying spies is one thing - proving
their mission is much more difficult. OF even
greater importance to the protection of our
internal defense is keeping check upon their
plans These plans, as rule, are carried out
by the underlings of spydom. The directors
of espionage invariably remain behind the
scene, we'll protected by many imposing
fronts"
In some respects the organization of wide
spread espionage activities is little different
from the imposing organizations of predatory
crime and racket empires. The smashing of
an organized gang of kidnapers, bank rob-
bers or confidence men is not particularly
easy task, yet the past few years have demon
strated that it can be DONE The same holds
true in espionage. The only difference lies in
the final method of vanquishing the foe.
Kidnapers, bank robbers and confidence
men can be apprehended and prosecuted to
the limit of the law. Tase effectiveness of law
enforcement in dealing with predatory crime
is gauged by the number of criminals brought
to justice.
In the case of spies, the measure of success
is different. The effectiveness of the FB1 in
co-ordinating espionage and counterespionage
work cannot be gauged by arrests made and
prosecutions secured. The American citizen
should bear this in mind when un-American
forces lay down smoke screen OF vltupera-
(Confinvsd on pogs 13)