TIIE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX. PORTLAXD, SEPTEMBER - 2,7 1917. 5T3 on 2a 2 ,-.vT-.x -;v" '-. 5 n. CilO t m ft a By v . e-!S8awiJjtiw'te5aa4s re- Mr .' jti S Big Task of the United Secret Service Facing a of German Inform ers OTkat Covers The Whole o America States Network ft III Vx- H.X"1 -"i-'if .?! tsSK m -.;.'-'nv.'"- BY RENE BACHE. WASHINGTON is a nest of German spies. Of this fact there cannot be the slightest doubt. It is fuily ccepted- by United States Government authorities. Uncle Sam, it is alleged, is paying regular salaries to many of them who are reported to bo working in the various executive departments some of them in the Navy and War Depart ments. Only the other day a United. States Senator received an anonymous letter conveying information which Secre tary Daniels declared could only have come from a spy who had access to private and confidential documents on file in his own office. Since the war began, three years ago, there has been a considerable bit of pro-German sentiment in the War and Navy departments. Nor is this at all eurprising, .inasmuch as many Ger mans are employed in both. A prin cipal clerk in one of the most impor tant bureaus, who was born in Ger many, is said to be so rabid, a pro German that since the outbreak of the war he has refused to read any news papers printed in the language.of the United States. X'ncle Snm' Disadvantage. In all matters that relate to military eecrecy Uncle Sam is at a great dis advantage in this war. He is an hon est man. whose status is like that of an intelligent but unsuspicious gentle man wno deals with an unscrupulous ecoundrel. He does not have half a chance. At length it dawns upon him that he is dealing with a professional crook. But even then he does not know how to act, because he cannot oppose crookedness with crookedness. For illustration, observe the present course of action toward the diplomatic representatives of the powers with which the United States is at war. The envoys of Germany and Austria-Hungary were dismissed, but until recently they were permitted to keep their sub ordinates "in temporary charge" of their embassies in Washington. Can it te for a moment doubted that these em bassies have continued to be spy cen ters, acquiring in every possible way secret information of important useful ness to the enemy? What silly fools our foes must think we are! A National Difference. We have never thought it worth while to maintain a system of political espionage in foreign countries. Indeed, from our point of view, what reason able, object was thereby to be gained? But it is a fact perfectly well known that the German spy system, even in time of peace, has covered the United States as with a network. No sooner had the war begun (al though as yet we were at peace with Germany) than the German and Aus trian Embassies at Washington organ ized plots against us, which, ta many of their developments, suggested, rather the operations of yeggmen than any thing less crudely crimioal. When such operations had progressed beyond the bearable point we dismissed the Am bassadors of those countries, permit ting, nevertheless, their subordinates to remain- and keep the business going. Naturally, the chief center of the spy system (hitherto directed from the German and Austrian Embassies) has been, and is today, the capital of the nation. Recent developments indicate that it is no longer a mere guess, but now a certainty, that many of the em ployes of the executive departments of the government are, and have been for a long time, in the pay of enemies. You see, Germany looks ahead. She has had for many years a covetous eye upon South America, the acquisi tion of which was to begin with Brazil. German maps, at least semi-official, have been published, in which all of South America was marked off as (to be) German. The problem was one easy of solution, from Germany's point of view, for the Monroe Doctrine is re garded as being no stronger than the United States Navy, and the latter could bo safely ignored as soon as Germany was strong enough to beat us on the sea. She is that today. America's Luck. This particular project was second in importance only to the conquest of Europe. It might have been alternative thereto, as a choice of conquests, ac cording as convenience served. Most luckily for us, the trouble started on the other side of the Atlantic. In view of what has been said, how ever, it will be understood why Ger many long ago extended her spy sys tem to this side of the ocean. She knew her business. A lot of money had to be spent, but she got the worth of it. By this means she was able to organize an information service that is today in perfect shape for the furnish ing of exactly the kind of news she needs. The spy service of Germany is of enormous magnitude, its ramifications, even in time of peace., extending into all the countries of the world. It is the most wonderful system ever devised for the gathering of intelligence. The work it requires is usually easy and the pay is always liberal even munificent, when the information given is really worth while. Money is a temptation to the average person who toils for a livelihood. Therefore, would it not be rather surprising if every person" in Uncle Sam's employ were beyond the reach of corruption by Teuton gold? Believe it not. Is it to be imagined that the German and Austrian em bassies (which made a business of en gineering criminal plots against us long before we thought of entering the war) would neglect to employ spies, and many of them, in the departments at Washington and elsewhere? Germany's spy system is so thor oughly and efficiently organized that the chances, are that a verbatim transcript of no single important docu- - TV sain The "Spy Gate" of the Austria-Hungary Embassy. . ' S3"4 -S Off for the Front Under the Observation of How Many Well Distributed, German Spies? ment in the files of the War Depart- many civilian clerks, some of whom ment or Navy Department has failed I must have access daJlv to the official iu iinu us way 10 ine w uneimsirasse In Berlin. In all likelihood this sort of thing is going on right now, for all the official precautions against' it. How the Syatem Worki, It is easy enough. The chief of a certain military bureau, let us say, is a hard-workint; and patriotic officer, honorable and. incorruptible. But he must trust somebody. Under him are files. All of them are honest, perhaps save one man. Nobody thinks of sus pecting him. Fairly safe from detec tion, he copies documents of vital im portance and mails them .to the Ger man Embassy. It may be that he is a German sym pathiser. But quite possibly he be trays his country merely because he needs the money. There are such men and also such women. Among the trusted employes of the Government departments at Washington are many women. The Wilhelmstrasse finds women spies much more useful than men for many purposes, one of which is to cajole men to do dishonorable things. Suppose that you were a trusted civilian" empioye in the drafting divi sion of the naval bureau of construc tion. Your pay is $5.04 a day. The cost of living has gone up: you have sickness and other misfortunes and your creditors are pressing you for settlement of bills you are unable to meet. In these uncomfortable circum stances a whisper is somehow con veyed to you that a person unidenti fied, but having the money, is willing to pay you $1000 cash for a rough sketch of the plans of one of our con templated battle cruisers. Of course, you reject the suggestion with scorn. But it may be that the young man at the next drawing table (at work on the same plans) is more accessible to such temptation. He sells the sketch, pockets the money and no body suspects him. From that time on, of course, he is in the, pay of the enemy. How Is this sort of thing to be pre vented? The answer is that it cannot be. The best that can be done is to minimize the mischief. Experience has proved that there is no Government secret that can be kept with certainty. Always1 there is a possible leak some where the chance of such leak being in direct proportion to the money ob taained through the divulging of It. The spy or traitor is an ever-present possibility in any of our military or naval organizations, administrative or In the field. Now the Government secret service has taken up the busi ness of nailing the spy in real earn est. But, unfortunately, its education In catching counterfeiters (the busi ness ordinarily assigned to It) can hardly be said to equip It very well for this most difficult of employments. WOMEN REGISTERED, TOO Places of Men Called Away to War Arc Being Taken Rapidly. ST. UOUIS, Aug. 26. Following im mediately upon the women's service registration, the instruction depart ment of the women's commltte of the Council of National Defense placed six registered young women in line for po sitions that have been vacated by men who have volunteered for war service. None of the young women sent to re place the volunteeer soldiers had been previously employed and all were prompted to seek employment as the result of male members of their own families having been called to the serv ice. The women had all registered for clerical work and have been placed in six of the large mercantile houses -of the business district. A seventh reg istered woman, who asked for instruc tion to become a business woman, was placed with a local business college, where she will receive, without cost to herself, a course of instruction, in bookkeeping and stenography. .The registration pf St. Louis women at the. out-of-town Summer resorts promises to be much larger than was anticipated and will swell noticeably the total of St. Louis registrations. Many of the St. Louis women who pre sided at the registration booths at the Northern and Eastern resorts have tel egraphed tp the women's committee for extra blanks and Hoover pledge agree ments to accommodate St. Louis women desiring to register in the two enrollments. FALL FROM BED MAY KILL Woman Tumbles 15 Inches to Floor and Breuks Her Neck. HARTFORD, Conn., Aug. 25.-Mrs. Lulu Thompson, BO, of Hebron, is slow ly dying at St. .Joseph's Hospital, the result of a broken neck sustained when she fell from her bed at 3 o'clock Tues day morning. It was not thought at the time that Mrs. Thompson's cjtid! ito nwas dangerous. Gradually she lost the use of her arms and legs and in the forenoon Xr. Cyrus E, Pendleton, . of y-wV.-.' f(i 'f f - v III. . a v 4r ' - . i tj if William J. Flynn, United States Secret Service Chief. Hebron, was called in and he was of the opinion that Mrs. Thompson had a broken neck and her body was para lyzed from the neck down. He ordered the woman taken to St. Joseph'3 Hospi tal, which was done, the ambulance conveying the woman to the hospital late Tuesday evening. The case is a peculiar one, according to the physicians, as the woman did not fall over 15 inches. The cause of Mrs. Thompson's fall is atttributed to the extreme hot weather, which caused her to move much in her sleep. LAD REC0GIN1ZES MARINE Power of Observation Identifies Soldier Without Hatband. NEW YORK. Aug. 10. A group of youngsters were playing on Riverside drive. A military man, dressed in khaki and accompanied by a young lady, approached the group. The boys stopped their playing, and, with nudges and gesticulation, were evidently try ing to Identify the man in khaki. As the young lady and her escort drew nearer, one youngster, with an air of superior knowledge, informed his companions: "He's a United States Ma rine." Overhearing the remark, the young lady ques'tioned the small boy: "How do you know he is a marine?" "Why, lady," exclaimed the young ster, "he wears an ornament on his hat showing an eagle, globe and anchor, but doesn't wear any hat cord." The colored hat cords, yellow, . blue and red, help many civilians to rec ognize at once a cavalryman, an in fantryman or artilleryman. However, the United States marine dressed In khaki is still an enigma to many per sons who lack.teh powers of observa tion displayed by the small boy on Riverside drive. ufacturers and inspectors of munitions from foreign governments. . He went to Alton six months ago and two months ago resigned as cook in a cafe and went to work in the hotel. He said a man who opposed his going to work at the hotel had reported to Fed eral authorities that he. an alien enemy, was within one-halt mile of the bar racks of soldiers. ARREST HELD SPITEWORK German Near Soldiers' Barracks In Hands of Federal Agents.' ST. LOUIS, Aug. 26. Max Berger, who is being held in Alton by' Federal authorities, attributed his arrest to "Bpitework." Berger was cook at the Mineral Springs Hotel. It vas possible for him there to be near munition man- KENTUCKY LOSES FORTUNE Florida Will Costs State $3,000,000 Inheritance Tax. LOUISVILLE, Kv, Aug. 23. The State of Kentucky, whose public offi cials had been anticipating the collec tion of $3,000,000 in inheritance tax from the estate of the late Mrs. Robert Worth Bingham, formerly Mrs. Henry M. Flagler, of New York, learned re-, cently that Mrs. Bingham's " will, dis posing of an estate valued at approxi mately $70,000,000. had been probated at West Talm Beach. Fla. It was expected it would bo probated in Kentucky, where it was estimated the state's share would have liquidat ed the entire state debt. OYSTERS RISE IN PRICE Increase in Cost of Labor and Equipment Is Alleged Cause. ! NEW YORK, Aug." 25. Oysters are going up.. They will advance 25 to 35 per cent as sold in bulk, it was said at the convention of the Oyster Growers" Association of North America, in the Park Avenue Hotel. More than 75 growers, representing, three-fourths of the Nation's oyster output, attended. - W. H. Killian, of Baltimore, the pres ident, blamed the price rise to the 100 per cent, extra cost of boats, ropes and other equipment and increased cost of labor. , Here It Is Again. . Tho Lamb. It - appears that once a Westerner, visiting New York, was held up by a footpad with the demand: - "Give me your money, or I'll blow out your brains!" "Blow away," said the man from tho West. "You can live in Now York without brains, but not without money." : A