REPORT ON GRIERSON CASE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2745, 13 April 1916, Page 6

REPORT ON GRIERSON CASE

COMMISSIONER'S FINDINGS

rhe report of the. Boyal Commission which inquired, into the charges made against Lieutenant- Alexander Hugh Grierson, an officer in the Expeditionary Force, by certain .members of the Anti-German League and by Mr. John Payne, 'M.P., was made available yesterday for publication. 'The. solo Commissioner was Mr. A. D. Thomson, sometime a Stipendiary Magistrate, and now Assistant Public Service Commissioner. The; scope of the inquiry was defined - as follows: —. ; .1. Whether <ne Alexander Hugh Grierson is or at any time has been of German,' Austrian, or other enemy nationality. 2. Whether lie is of German, Austrian, or other enemy descent. ; 3.. Whether there is any reason to suspect him of. disloyalty to His Majesty, or of any enemy connections which render inadvisable his retention as .an.officer of the. Expeditionary Forces..' ' , " ' I olio wing is the text of the report (slightly abridged)■ British for Many Generations. , The evidence showed -that Mr". Grierscn's family on both the fathers' and mothers' sides havo been British for many generations, and there was no suggestion that Mr. Grierson ' himself had at any time acquired any other nationality. As to the .first two subjects or inquiry, therefore the answer in mv opinion should be "No." Formulation of the Charges. As tp the third subject of inquiry the allegations are founded, partly on various actions and.i conversations of Mr. , Grierson before and soon after the outbreak ■ of. war on August 4, 3914, and partly on a number of documents found in nis box and admittedly. in his handwriting. These allegations: may be specified as follows:—

(a) Entering the employment of the German Consul iji Wellington at the end of April, 1914, as secrc tary, and. remaining there until , discharged through the closing of the offico about August 10, 1914. (b) Applying for ail appointment ' with an export- firm in Germany about May. 1914, and obtaining from the German Consul in Wellington' a testimonial in both Eng- , lisli and Gorman to forward witli it. (c) Again on August 20, 1914, applying to and obtaining from the same consul a further, testimonial in English and'German'.to assist him in obtaining employment. in : Auckland. (d) Discussions and conversations with various people which led them to believe his sympathies were with ■ the German nation and oven in some cases, to believe that he was a German or partly of German descent. (e) Documents admittedly his which showed he had been in Germany on two occasions and had per- , sonal friends there,' and one document in particular which is alleged to be a "code." Also a packet of post-cards depicting memorable incidents in German history and tho wrapper of which contains pn application for membership in a German Defence League. •' It. is alleged that when all of these matters are considered together they show that it is inadvisable that Mr.. Grierson should be retained in our Forces . What Mr. Crierson Dla. Taking these matters m order, the particulars are as follow:— (a) It is admitted- that Mr. Grierson, while with his uncle in Auckland seeking work, called on the German Consul there, and through him obtained the position in the German Consul's office in Wellington. This position he held from April 30, 1914, until August 10, 1914, and then returned to Auckland, where, after a short time, he obtained work in the office of tho American Consul, who attended to nny German consulate work that wa9 required. ■ - (b) It is also admitted that Mr. Grierson, although he had come to New Zealand for the*benefit of his health only, and with the intention, as soon as it was sufficiently restored, of returning to England and resuming, work in the' cotton, industry, in which ho had been trained, and iii which many of hi 6 relatives we're interested, did, about -May, 1914, apply for a position in Barmen, Germany, with the export firm of Foster, Kella,' and Company. That wrEn tills application lie forwarded a testimonial from tho German Consul in Wellington, written ait Mr, Grierson's request in both German and English, although, the application itself was written in English, and ■ Mr. foster, a member of the firm,, is an-.Eng-lishman. Tho firm had branches in both Barmen and London, but the application was for a position in Barmen. Mr. Grierson's explanation is that lie desired to spend further time in Germany in. oi-der to complete his knowledge of the German language before returning to the cotton business in England. He states that oxhibit L—the writing beginning "Tc'i babe," etc.—is a draft he made, of what he would say to the .German Consul when asking for the testimonial. (c) It is,also admitted that on August 26, 1914, three weeks after: war was clared. Mr. Grierson wrote from Auckland to the German Consul in Wellington asking for a testimonial in both German and English to assist him in obtainin? air appointment in Auckland. The letter and tho tentimanial* sent in compliance. with it put in, and are marked inhibit T. _ " : On the Voyage and After. (d)' These discussions, • etc., extend over a period of nearly twelve months viz., from' November, 1913, to the middle of August, 1914. Tho witness as to the first of them, which was on the s.s. Tainui, on the voyage from England to New Zealand, was Mr. Dighton. , He is. an experienced business man, and held a Te- | sponsible position in New Zealand until ho enlisted recently.' He states, and Mr, Grierson admits, that there were frequent discussions during the voyage about Germany and German Army . affairs. His deliberate opinion formed then was that, although Mr. Grierson did not express any opinion disloyal to Britain, his attitudo was one of strong' sympathy with Germany. He also relates a conversation he had with Mr. Grierson .in Auckland shortly after war was declared, and 'says-Mr. Grierson then ridiculed the loyalty and enthusiasm of the Now Zealandcrs, and expressed doubts as to who was really responsible for tho war—Germany or tho Allies. So 'unsatisfactory did Mr.' Grierson's attitude appear to him that he'.reported the incident to the police in. Auckland. He says he has heard others speak of the orgain'.wtioii and ■ preparedness, of .the German Army, but the difference between them and Mr, Grierson' was that

' EVIDENCE AND DOCUMENTS ' DISSECTED "LOYAL BRITISH SUBJECT," BUT INDISCREET

they spoke of it with regret, while ho seemed to admire it and be proud of it. In the Boardinghouse. The next evidence, in this connection is that of his landlady (Miss Murphy) and of his fellow boarders. He boarded with Miss Murphy from April 30, 1914, until about August 12, 1914. It is admitted that very shortly after he came he was called "The: . German/' and that he was ■ frequently spoken of as such. A special incident deposed to by Miss Murphy is tliat on June 2, 1914, Mr. Grierson asked her why' we were having a holiday next day, and she replied, "For the King's Birthday." That he then asked why there should be a holiday for that, and she replied. "You have 110 King; you have only a Kaiser." That' he then said, "No, we have an Emperor," she replied, "I had forgotten that," and said no more, as he seemed annoyed, and she felt she had gone too far. Mr. Grierson admits that this'incident occurred, and that Miss Murphy's words assumed that he was a German, but explains that when he said "We have ail Emperor" he was referring' to the King of England as Emperor of India. His fellow boarders, Messrs. Rhind, Nelson, and Thompson, deposed to frequent discussions about Germany, in all of which Mr. Grierkon took the side of Germany in such a way as to satisfy them that his sympathies were with her. Mr. Thompson further deposed to one discussion when another boarder, Mr. Horton, aud Mr. Grierson were the principalspeakers. It began-" at the dinner table, and was continued afterwards in the smoking-room. It ended by Mr. Horton telling Mr. Grierson that if he (Grierson) insisted on holding the opinion he was expressing, ho (Horton) would knock him down, and Grierson then said,, "If that's the way you look at it I'll side with you," and they shook hands. " ,

Another 'witness in this connection wa6' Mr. Adamson. He came forward o{ his own motion as' soon as he knew 'that the Commission was sitting. His evidence is that lie met Mr. Grierson at a meeting of the French .Club very shortly after war was declared; had a short conversation with him, in which the war was referred to; and that the decided impression left on him by it was that Mr. Grierson's sympahties were "naturally" with' Germany. The Documents. - (e) The documents which it is.suggested are suspicious' are: Exhibit 1\ —A packet of illustrated postcards (10), issued by the German Defence League, with the object of strengthening the feeling for the Fatherland. They, depict incidents in German history of a hundred years ago, and are enclosed iu a wrapper, oii which is printed a form uf application' for membership in the league. Exhibit J—A page evidently torn from a notebook, on one side of which are certain German words, so arranged as to suggest it may be a "code." All the writing, except an address, is in pencil. ... Exhibit L.—A draft, of a letter in German, stating the writer has applied for. a position in Germany. Exhibit M. —Fly-leaves of books taken from Mr. Grierson's box, wliibli show that he was in Germany ou two occasions and has personal friends there..,. Exhibit R—A page of paper w : ith German sentences written on both sides in pencil. Exhibit T: Application by .Mr. Grierson on August 26, 1914, to the German Consul at Wellington for a testimonial in German and English. . "I do not consider that any of these documonts, either taken singly or as a whole, justify a charge of disloyalty: The Post-cards. "Exhibit F; When I first saw it it had evidently been-' very little handled —the wrapper was intact and the cards quite clean. Both have received a good deal of handling during the inquiry, and are in a very different condition now in consequence. There is uothing on .them to show when they wore received, but Mr. Grierson says lie' received them through the post from his friend, Mr. • Knauth,- shortly before war broke out. They are interesting as showing Gorman methods of propaganda. lam satisfied that no attempt was made to use the'm' in any ■way. ' ■ . . The Alleged Coda.

"Exhibit J is the alleged code. Mr. Grierson's evidence is that it is an unfinished grammatical exercise, and at the inquiry he supplied its completion. It is on a loose scrap of paper—written in pencil—and was left in a box of clothes at Miss Murphy's more than twelve months before it was .found there by Madame Boeufve. Miss Murphy , had the key of it, but the box was not locked. It is suggested that the words in ink are connected with the code;' although they havo been written with the paper turned the other way up. Mr. Grierson's evidence is that they are an address, and have nothing whatever to do with the rest of the writing. The sentences on the rcver.se side of the page—also in pencil— are, I am satisfied, mere phrases and sentences written down for practice, or as an assistance to memory. Other exhibits, especially Exhibit R, ■ show that it was Mr. Grierson's practice to jot down words and phrases as a help in learning tho language. No doubt these particular words, and, in fact, any sot of words could by arrangement form' a code, but this pajier itself .and the placo and circumstances under which it was found satisfy me that it has no significance whatever. • Testimonials in Cerman. "Exhibits L and T: Mr. Grierson did on two occasions obtain from the German Consul in Wellington testimonials in both German and English. Tho first occasion was before tho war, viz., in May; 1914, and Exhibit L is a draft of Mr. Grierson's verbal application to tho Consul for such a testimonial. The second, Exhibit -T, was at the end of August, 1914, after the war began. The first was admittedly to. assist Mr. Grierson in obtaining an appointment in Germany; the second was to assist him in obtaining employment in Auckland. He was unable to givo me any reason for .obtaining this second testimonial, in German as-well as in English. His doing so suggests, that' a . German employer in Auckland was contemplated, and this, though not necessarily involving disloyalty, was, I consider, under tho circumstances, extremely unwise." Other papers. "Exhibit M: These arc five fly-leaves of books taken from books in Mr. Griorson's . box by Madame Boeufve, and admittedly lits. Their only significance is that thfiy show ho has been • iti Gorman,v, and linn friends there, but this has neycr been denied-

"Exhibit R is a page of paper with writing on both sides in pencil. Ono side contains a number of German sentences, and on the other is a list of prepositions, with a rhyme by which to remember the cases used with them: Commissioner's Comments. "It will be observed that all the incidents relied on as affording grounds for suspicion occurred before the end of August, 1914, and that they, are all admitted by Mr. Grierson with explanations. He admits that he was called 'The German' by his fellow-lodgers; that they believed his sympathies were with the Germans;- and that some of them, as well as, his landlady, believed him to be, at any rate, partly German in blood; but he asserts that this was a wrong impression, to which they were not warranted in coming. "I am satisfied that they came to a wrong conclusion, but I do not agree with Mr. Grierson that his conduct ana attitude did not give them grounds for forming it. I cannot, for example, accept his explanation of his reply to Miss Murphy 'We have an.Emperor,' nor can I conceive that experienced business men like Messrs. Dighton, Horton, and others could have so misunderstood him if he were merely endeavouring to make British people sensible of. the danger threatening them from Germany. Several of these men are now on their way to the front, or in camp waiting to go. About the conversations. "It will be noted, too, that the conversation with Mr. Horton, • and. the later one with Mr. Dighton, were after the war between Britain and Germany had been declared. Mr. Dighton said he had frequently, heard others refer to the organisation and readiness for -war of Germany, but it was easy to see that they spoke of it as a matter of alarm' and regret, while Mr. Grierson's tone was quite different —viz., one of. admiration and pride. On the other hand, two officer's who had Mr. Grierson under special observation in camp for some time are quite satisfied as to his loyalty, l and gave evidence strongly in his favour. "Airing of Superior Knowledge." "Mr. Grierson is a young man who lias seen more of Germany and knows more about her than most young men in New Zealand. He had clearly been greatly impressed by, her strength and readiness for war, and believed that if war ■ did break out she would be the victor. He was employed by the German Consul, and, it seisms to me, was proud of such association with German affairs as lie had had, and rather pleased than otherwise at being taken for a. German. It is . hot alleged that in the various dis-cussions-which have been referred to he said anything against the British, but it seems nuite clear that he said all he could for Ger- ■ many in such a waj as to artmse hostility to himself. . I believe his . doing so was only a foolish boastful airing of'Ms superior knowledge in certain matters, and that lie is .nevertheless a loyal Britisli subject. No "Enemy Connections." "Thore remains the question whether the facts as found by- me and detailed abovp constitute 'enomy' connections' within- the terms of the Order of Reference. I think they do not, and I therefore make 110 further comment 011 them. "In my opinion, the answer to the third question submitted to me should also be 'No.'"-