The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-23

naming 132 cases are awaiting Crlal
or In the process Of being tried.
Only two Of the cases Of actual
sabotage were committed by axis
sympathizers. All the others have
American citizen principals who
committed their acts Of sabotage
under strange influence Of revenge
or carelessness, or were the results
Of natural causes or industrial ac-
cidents.
These amazing figures from F'B1
Director j. Edgar Hoover in the first
roundup Of suspected sabotage &C
tivities Of the war, reveal In start
ling fashion the contrast between
conditions today and in the first
World War.
NO ORGANIZED EFFORT
The fact stands out that there has
been no organized, enemy directed
sabotage In the United States since
the war began.
Germany has made one major
attempt to land saboteurS in the
United States with sufficient funds
and equipment to organize q pro-
gram Of destruction In American
center Of war production. That
effort met with failure, but 1t Is OBJ
vious that the Nazis would not have
gone to all the trouble they did to
land trouble on U. 8. shores
from submarines II there had been
any active organized groups In the
country on whom they could de-
pend.
In none Of the sabotage cases thus
far reported and investigated has
there been major damage to any
war plant or to any munitions,
planes, ships, tanks, guns. In
most Of the cases, the sabotage has
been detected before damage has
been done. The whole story Of anti
sabotage work in this war, in fact,
has been q record Of sabotage pre-
vention. It makes much less spec
tacular reading this way, but count
less lives have thus been spared and
many thousands Of dollars have
been saved.
And so, while the United States
has escaped major damage from
sabotage In the first IA months
Of the war, It has done so only at
tho price Of eternal vigilance. The
record Is q vindication and o tribute
to the methods Of ]. Edgar Hoover
and his G-men. Long before 1889,
Hoover was one Of the first to
preach the doctrine that I'VE must
be constantly on the alert"
TONS OF PREVENTION
Prior to the war, the FBI con-
Quoted o survey Of some 1850 war
plants, checking up with factory
guards and local police to make sure
that ample security measures were
being taken-rthat fences were ade-
quate, pass systems tight enough to
keep out unwanted visitors, the
records Of employees above Suspic-
ion, the guards themselves Of the
right caliber, and that simple pre-
cautions against fires and explos-
ions were enforced. There are fires
and accidents even. In peacetime,
but in wartime the safety first
measures are all the more import
ant. Continuance Of the good anti
sabotage record for the rest Of the
war Is possible only by maintain
ing this vigilance.
The two acts Of sabotage involving
axis sympathizers were the Ethel
case In Baltimore In which Ger
man national did succeed In damag-
ing some 81 Martin bomberS before
he was caught, and an attempted
arson case at the Kaiser shipyards
in Richmond, Calf. The Ethel case
attracted considerable attention, but
the west coast case received little
publicity. 1t happened at LAS a. m
last July %, when an alert guard
saw man trying to set fire to pile
Of lumber with ignited oakum, or
ships caulking. Detected, the sabo-
teur pulled a gun, which the guard
knocked out Of his hand. The sabo-
teur picked up stick and the guard
ran for help When he got back, the
culprit had escaped. Identified by
photos, the saboteur proved to be
] one Heinrich Roedel, a German
alien who had entered the United
States illegally in 1896. He had been
employed at the shipyard for short
time, but was dismissed because Of
his alien status, and was a subject
for deportation. A taxi driver also
identified Roedel as the man he had
driven from the shipyards to Oak
land the night Of the fight.
Among RoedeIs effects were found
certificates which identified him NJ
having been Q nautical storm troop
or in 1888. he got 30 years.