Evening star., 1941-06-30
Espionage Roundup

spies, said by J. Edgar Hoover,
director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, to be members of a
foreign espionage ring which has
been under constant surveillance by
F, B. I. agents for two years, is a
reaSsuring sign that Americas
counterespionage system is function
ing efficiently, albeit quietly, in this
critical period of national defense
activity. Although the official an
nouncement did not specify the
foreign power" to which the priS-
oners are accused of transmitting
confidential defense data, it is sig
nificant that twenty-five of those
arrested are natives of Germany.
Two were native-born Americans
and one each came from Austria,
Russia, France, Moravia and South
Africa. All but two of the foreign
born suspects had become natural
lied American citizens, while the
other two had applied for their first
papers. 1t is also significant that
the warrants charged the group with
sending out of the country secret
information which would be of great
advantage to Germany and Italy,
including data on cargoes bound for
Great Britain under the lease-lend
law, and-of special concern to the
United StateS-deScriptions and &C
tual samples of newly developed
military devices.
Singled out for particular mention
was one Frederick Joubert Duquesne
of New York City, whose dosSier at
the F. B. I. is said to be replete with
interesting allegations regarding his
long career as writer and lecturer"
The F. B. I. statement declared
DuqueSne has been a professional
spy" for various governments for
some tWoscore years, and that he
served German interests" in the
first World War. One of the women,
listed at the same address as Du-
queSne, is an artist, sculptreSS and
playwright. Another woman is an
artists model. The third is a Stenog-
rapher and notary public. In addi-
ton to the inevitable women in the
case, there were such detective
Storylike angles as the alleged use of
cnorpt irEc Sr,a1Inn1oI
and the discovery in the room of
one suspect Of powerful Short
wave radio transmitting set.
When it is remembered that for
more than year F. B. 1. agents have
been seriously handicapped in their
counterespionage work by prohi-
bition on Wire-tapping, their achieve
ment in keeping so many suspects
unoer constant surveillance is re-
markable, indeed. At the time that
the Supreme Court ruled that wire
tapping in any form or for any pur-
pose is a violation of the Federal
Communications Act, it was reported
that the F. B. 1. was listening in on
telephone wires of several suspected
spies. These taps were disconnected
by order of the Attorney General,
who promptly urged Congress to pass
legislation specifically authorizing
the tapping of wires in espionage,
sabotage and kidnapping cases. Bills
for this purpose have been pending
before congressional committees for
many months.
1t is to be hoped that the new
spy case will serve to focus attention
again on the need for giving G-men
the benefit of every possible investi-
gative weapon in their vital and
dangerous war on spies and sabo-
teurs. That they should be forced
by technicality of the law to forgo
the use of a device which foreign
agents are known to be using freely
to spy upon and sabotage our re-
armament program is state of
affairs as incredible to many Ameri-
cans as it must be to the forces
of espionage operating here.