SPIES AND THE LAW.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1007, 23 December 1910, Page 5

SPIES AND THE LAW.

BRITISH AND GERMAN METHODS. ■ r ,' J -' 1 ? 0 precautions token in' Germany and England to prevent espionage were interestingly contrasted by a writer in the London 'Daily -Mail" recently, I, , , BvitisK subjcct who visits Germany, is stated, must givo Iris iiainc, addressj profession, plaea from' -which ho come: and plac« to which he goes at each point a where he makes any stay. If lie , give! untruthful particulars'he commits an ofls fence, and will promptly attract the at « tontion of the police. A British officei , lit the Army, Navy, or Territorials must not visit Germany without notifying the German authorities. A stranger in an\ js of tho important German fortresses i : Is at oncc marked, and if tho slightest suss, picion is entertained lie is followed !y watched, and required to leave the counts try. Citizens are required by law tc n notify the police of any suspicious stran--5' gers, and are liable to punishment if they ?s do not. Espionage is dealt with by the n court at Leipzig, which may not award 10 a less severe sentence than two years' d ponal servitude. If any German procures ■o knowledge of military secrets for trea'•r sonable purposes, ho is liable to a sen't tenco rfot exceeding ten years, and tlu '• law is applied with the utmost severity, e-_ Now contrast England. Foreign officer--10 may come and go as they like. There i' u no system of papers or notices for aliens is even when these take up their residence in fortresses or naval bases. The dooi is opened wide to spies, and there is little difficulty in obtaining any information that may he desired. The Official Secrets Act, which is the one measure we possess for dealing with spies, continued the writer, requires te be extended. It imposes severe penalties, rising as high as penal servitude for life when military or naval secrets arc improperly obtained for a foreign State, os t. when defence works are sketched and photographed. But it contains no provision, such as is in force in Germany requiring foreign officers, before visiting "> this country, to notify the British Govm ernmeut. A further. Act is sorely neeefec! >o forbidding the residence of foreign sub jects in British fortresses and naval base; ■ except where the consent of the militars w and naval authorities has been obtaineei