INTERNATIONAL SPIES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 209, 28 May 1908, Page 11

INTERNATIONAL SPIES.

EUROPE'S SECRET SERVICE SYSTEM. FATE OF LIEUTENANT ULLMO. ; ; On February 22, Benjamin TJllmo, ensign ' of Navy- .was 'sentenced, by a inilitary tribunal made, up of his fellow officers J.tq'.transportation for lifo within fortified prccincts, and to previous degradation from' his; rank and place in tho. iiavy. Ills . offence v was. ...that for- which'.Captain - Alfred Dreyfus was'twico tried and'convicted, in : 1894: arid 1899] "by"^simil'ar-inilitary tribunalsi and tho sciitenci! is.-the same, as that of the first,Drovfus 1 trial. /Ullmo, like Dreyfus, is an Israelite, holonging to a faniily of means; and lie; too,^ studied;in' thci; bbst • Stato colleges' and-military schools; ..' Ho. has", also appealed to .the Court. ' of Cassation -with* the. hopo of a: new: trial giving-' him"' attenuating circumstances : and - lessenirig''his" sentence, and not, as was tha /'.case.,, with >Dreyfus, that, his innocence; may apppar."i"'lho' coifiparison.. of tho ,two eases "is . instructive;. ; a£ter. a- .universal . agitation, which■'rominds ..'pnejof Berkeley's , description of'JdiSputfel ail •phildspphy,: ~".We' .liave first , ' raised;',a'i:.dust, .tiiid''then' complain that we - cannot sao?'' . ; : : A GomWlscn With the Droyfus Ca:o. , Only? thobe - ''who■ have never beon in touch with : the French-people can" wonder now why , tho "Ullmo caso has produced not a ripple in French politics. ' The great . mass"6'f'Frpji'cimen, even; those who take .tho;.: .' trouble,to vote, . were hot: moro. stirred ..when • ' Dreyfusvwasv first.- convicted. .' If it had. not ' b'een' ; for :..the purely factitious, agitation of • ' tlie'.;maleficent' anti-Semitb 5 orgaii, " 1 La Libro •• ■ Parole,";;no''.'a , ttenti6n, >ypuld i hayp',bpen. paid ; , tb'pli6', ; ,casp.';';.'*yet; the: judicial error'• would ,j havo'ibeen .tiie. same. . The, trial was.;secret-r . a - firstj, wrong s under, present conditions of ; civilisation, .which has not. yet been . made ;legally impossible in Franco,. although it :has been avoided m practice m the Ullmo • ' case;i: Even :thc outrageous-excesses of anti- - Seih'itism ,did| not . excito . any effective suspi- . cion';of -the: fundamerital;'lack of _ justice ,pos- ■ siblo iii all trials. .' .Those politicians', who . , have'since-floated on .the Affair 'never troubled their spleens with the Case then. - Even now, although, there seem to have bden certain civilian additions; to the military' court in the case of Ullmo to insure technical legality, Parliament has not . yet-Voted 'the reform of tlib' military tribu-., ■ nals. . . .'.There sis an obvious distinction "between the".: two -cases. Ullmo ha - confessod_, his , guilt;' only lat thelast trying: moment;. in a ; .' pathetip i movement, he was V able . to : cry: " Low -as I have sunk, now that I am wear- - ing',;my,' uniform perhaps, for the last time, T'declarfi 4 ;thati : I-.never really - deliv.erod- any , documents; vitally ■ affecting,!' tho iiational de-. fefi&!,^-"?Whbii'the: proceedings_ of. the;first Dreyfus trial- finally began: coming ,-to light at'-flennes, Lord Chief Justice. Russell of ■ England •uttered tho ■ amazement of all. not completely.; blinded.. by . passion and prcju- . dice :3:-i':Wliy,tliere , : was. no case against the., ; inan iromi.the..beginning.'.' : - • : . . The, most, moderate, critic of that ill-famed - " inilitary. trial,- one . who cannot bo suspected .': ■ of partiality,-since he, too, is ,an.-Israelite, and->was defending Dreyfus as-his client-be-fore -.-the' Gourt;:of Cassation, M! Mornard, surmises that tho Dreyfus case began in: a- .:. hlunderi which obstinacy v later - developed.. . ' into .crimihal manoeuvres on . the part of: a . ; few—very. foV.', he! says—among thoso who kriWvwhat ~was : going :on. - Even so, it :can- ; nof.'bo.'too-often, repeated .that .neither to lawyers nor'politicians, ripr tp .any .reformers ■ of 'church or state or army, does, Drevfus .• owe. .his restoration to liberty and honour. , Bernard Lazare, tho obscure Jewish jouma-. of a • .' waited f fraim<i l ;i.n;Uerreti^g l ..out.;;.tho disclosures .which Scheurer-Kestner l - and 'Zola woro :to /father.,before the' world, ' hris.' no monu-' ment—oxcept perhaps in the. hearts of the Dreyfus ,family. ■ ' J '• -,r L'-. " : . Germany's Enduring System. '. The element common to both these trials'js; ■1 of enduring-importance. ! . One'. great. Power ; va'ni6ng' : the 'nations,' an aggrcssiyb, 'groTHng Power, has 'tho'' enduring spy system that' makes . them possible. The pa'rt ; played..in . underhand purchasqs .of soldiers' ihohour .and , . cohsciehce's along with documents' by Gennan . . ( iriilitaryVattaches:-camb--fully.,to. light ; in .the., Dreytus caioiv When the Ullmo- caso came up, "it: was' again .the Gorman naval attacho . ' at"; Paris '-who:hastened t-o /'resignand' no , : . officiar'dehials; will'. per3uado r tho public vthat/. , .i. tho', two / .event s'Tver o - not- connect-etl. v Morc- : oyer,"ftherp is; but, a ,refinement of distinction ;. vbetweenfari'^officialjspy.'centre.in.,Brussels,and- : , the;technicar,counsel of-.iitfaches,acting irre- : coyer - of their-.'.Embassy's privilege . ,-:Tt'/iS; not. 'enough to, sa'y_. that /-Franco- has. - ; .also ,heen : shWn.'up'as having herVov.'h spies. , ■ 'Thp-vDreyftis" case ■ provedt-ha't .-they "can,. at . most,;.do .BiitWFjfttle imitation': v pf" 'German : • thoroughness ;'' arid: the P? e y _ ''fus affair"has proved Cfar all' time that-, such mpthods of.;war','ar'p 'turn-;out like, a gun exploding backward, m a Republic. That: ■ Germany- has a right to-work out her own Barvation-as, ; :aniautocracy. is one- thing; but that her autocracy:'should enable her. to. use . . mearis- agaiHSt" republics: which these of their . vbry : riaturp"must"fail: riiiserahly in'.'attempt-' •' ing' to)use is another. :;It is-riot playing the international gaino. fair-;-,the chalices cannot:

be even.. .> , , , ' An'.Amerfoan Victim. , \ . ;Tlio : .flrst'.pxiblie' victim-i>f''this' sccret' service . was'ia military' attiiehe;- who had' all tho- in- ;' : nooonce of : his : country:' /'This was "Captain Boropj". of the -United States Legation, as -it. thenvwas, in Paris. 'the'', slimmer, of 1892 his ;recall was imperatively, demanded by . the l<'ronoh'Government. i M;. Loubet was Primo Ministers at ;t'ne'time, M. Itibot was Minister •' for; foreign Affairs, andM. de Freycinet Minister'for. War..' ThefacVwas, known: and -received; comment; biit' no publicity • was. 1 given to its' details ."-by .' either . Govern- ' .... merit.,;• It;■■has always been understood that Captain Borup in'curredthe displeasuro of tho French Government by sharing with-the German attacho the military information which he, liko tho others,- busied himself' with getting underground. His defence is supposed - to,'have been that' of tho new boy at school, whor,has;;boen:eM older boys to'|d6ibefbre-tho. teacher's face that which ■ are.careful, to do behind his back. -Ail" attempt was made a year later by the Government': at Washington to givo Captain Borup a public placo in receiving foreign officers at tho ! Chicago Exposition; but this, too, was met liy. tho.Frerich Government With the declaration that, 'in such!an, event,'.its'.officers ; w6uld ; nofc be represented. • Again the United States yielded. ■ Wlien'■ the year following Captain 1 Dreyfus was arrested,-' tried, and : oonvicted,-and still.more.when certain details camo' oiit at the time of the second , trial in 1899,' Parisians -familiar with tho little world:of attaches'looked bark'to the Borup affair as the: initial ;disclosure of an intolerable 'international evil. Whether, as many still think, Captain Borup could have thrown light on tho Dreyfus casft 'itself,, if. his loyalty to military discipline'had ;'not'stood'; in the way, is another question. But all thoso who believo that Governments, liko individuals, should deal with each other above-board,/ and ceaso to strive .after underhdnd advantflges, can havo but,one ,opinion..about the military spy system."." It is at best-a justification of anti-. militarism'and anti-government— of anarchy. —Paris correspondent • erf tho "Now York . Evening/Post'.', ' .