Evening star., 1940-05-26

fronting, with the additional handi-
cap of almost no modern statutes to
permit the department to deal legally
with arms smuggling, recruiting of men
for foreign armies of both combatants
abroad, as well as in Mexico; detention
OF lnterned groups, mostly German sea-
men. and other new complications.
Many Plotters Punished.
That was colorful period, and the
American people found themselves deal
Ing with fantastic situations, more suited
to synthetic detective stories, it seemed
to them, than to reality. Nevertheless,
as today, the juries of that era and
the prosecuting authorities viewed actual
cases with a lamentable lack of ap-
probation for romance and drama.
BY the time some modernization of
laws had taken place in 1915, the
harassed American officials had on their
hands such still notorious cases as that
OF Hans Wedell, Carl Ruroede and
others, convicted or indicted for fraudu-
lently obtaining good American pass
ports for the use of German and Aus
trlan reservists seeking to get through
the allied blockade to their respective
armed forces, or for officers and other
special secret agents of Germany Or
Austria to get into this country for
espionage, dynamiting, plots and other
infringements of this countrys neutral
ity.
The German consul general of that
period was given very uncolorful sem
tence in the pen. A certain hare
Drained Hans Schiller, who conceived a
single-handed attempt to capture an
allied vessel within American jurisdic-
ton, was hauled before matter-o fact
American jury and charged with piracy.
He could have been hanged, but received
a life-sentence. Another culprit escaped
American courts, but was reliably re-
ported drowned when the submarine he
escaped on was sunk.
AS in the case of the more cold
blooded and deliberate attempts on this
country's safety in recent times, the duly
accredited American authorities took
such offenders to court and got sem
lcllCcS 1oI dG 1edSG SOIIle Ol tlle more
serious of these criminals.
Such experience today guides the
American authorities in dealing once
more with an unwanted and obnoxious
situation. The scope of the subversive
activities today, however, has been
shown to be much broader than on the
earlier occasion. Nevertheless, records
show. the common tendency is to tolerate,
where they are not entirely ignored,
such subversive elements that have
been revealed either through overt acts
or haphazard enforcement. This atti-
tude appears to mark both public and
the authorities.
Violations Repeated.
The cases which have been pushed in
court have almost entirely involved un-
nlistakable, deliberate and often re-
peated violations of established Ameri-
can laws. In this category are passport
frauds, organized attempts on the ma
tional defense and public safety With
almost the single exception of the De-
troit group recently arrested for re-
cruiting men for the Loyalist brigades in
Spain, in whose behalf Senator Norris
intervened with the Department of JUS
tice, this particular activity of foreign
recruitment has been lightly handled.
These men went to Spain in shoals.
An entire brigade inferentially at least,
was recruited in this country. Certainly
number of these men Travelled on
American passports as complaints later
were made that the holders had been
compelled to surrender them to foreign
government representatives, for what
other use can only be guessed The
State Department was said at one time,
to be endeavoring to trace or recover
these precious American credentials.
However, this Government appears
not to have interposed any serious OBJ
stacle to their return to this country, or
to have raised the question of whether
any Of them compromised their Ameri-
can rights by any oath to foreign gov
ernment. The best proof of this is that
the ones who survived came home, in
cluding some who had held commissions
in these units serving in the Spanish
government forces, and that this Gov
ernment used it's good Offices in their be-
half repeatedly.
The same public, and to a large extent
official, indifference, has seemed to ex-
tend to various front" movements,
bunds, or incipient fifth columns ex-
cept where specific overt acts have been
committed The line of departllre from
this general position is in the field of