The Dominion TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1917. CRIME AND RETRIBUTION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3199, 25 September 1917, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1917. CRIME AND RETRIBUTION

Germany's inveterate belief in the .gullibility of other nations is not the least of the marvels which the war has brought to light. Her inlaniy has long been apparent to all observers. Any shadow' of uncertainty has been made impossible by ner long oourse of lawless barbarity, intermingled with shameless duplicity and the basest kind of underground intrigue 1 . Yet sho. never misses an opportunity of posing before- the world wearing a. mask of hypocrisy and mouthing virtuous professions. The reply to the Papal JNoto'-is a very striking case in point. Coming from a nation with Germany's record, the reply is a truly amazing, document, and only Germany would have ventured to concoct and dispatoh- it at a, moment when the world is ringing, with the exposure of her treacherous machinations in North and South Auya;ica. As French commentators justly observe, >this latest production of the- Wilhelmstrasse is devoid of sense. It-is even more remarkable that it assumes an litter lack of sense in the nations it is intended to impress. Fortunately for. humanity, the evidence, of Germany's criminality is so; abundant and overwhelming that it is impossible to regard her , pious professions otherwise than jvith impatient contempt, and as some now criminal intention. -'It is particularly noteworthy at the present stage that German plotting and intrigue in the United _ States have had the effect of stirring and unifying the American nation in a way that could not have been accomplished in the same time by' any other agency. Two factors until a comparatively recent period threatened to. prevent the United States taking an effective part in the war. One ■■ was. the danger that the nation might bo fatally weakened and divided ■ by the underground activities of the German section of the population. . Another, and probably a greater danger, was that tho mass of loyal Americans might'fail tb ; realise that this war is as much their war as. that of any European nation,- and that the United States can no more afford than-any other member of tho Allied group to see it end inconclusively or in _a German victory. It is not straining the. facts to say that it is more due to German plotting than to any. other influence that these dangers are rapidly tending to' disappear. In Germany no secret has Been made of hopes that the presence of a big Gorman' population 'in its territory would fatally handicap the war efforts of the United States. Some time ago the Cologne, Gazette, a German semi-official newspaper, delivered itself on the subject in the following terms: ; " ' The English correspondents at .Washington admit that tho. greatest drnger ' for a decisive conduct of -the war in America lies in the German propaganda. Our be9t allies will continue to be, as hitherto,. German-Americans.- Their ser.vices to the Germancause can only be underestimated by people grossly ignorant of conditions—by no means rare in the case of Germany. As good Americans our patriots have hitherto not pursued a policy of political separation. They therefore do not constitute any national group of their own in the political life of the Union, which is a constellation, of nationalities.. Their direct influence, on the^other hand, is all the greater, inasmuch as all classes, professions, political circles, and other sections of American i eoeiety are permeated to the highest degree with Gernian-A nigricans: ■ They inject into Americnn public opinion'an element of restraint j>nd circumspection which already has often been the cause of embarrassment to Hen , Wilson and 'his English friends.

But for tho blundering incompetence which in German practice goes hand-in-hand with unscrupu-lous-criminality, tho hopes expressed in these sinister.' observations might have been realised in a fashion disastrous to America and ber Allies. Of the reality of the Ger-man-American menace thoro is ljo question. It took shape not .only in the international plots which arc the subject of further revelations today, but in a widespread and insidious press campaign, in an organised campaign of outrage intended to cripple American war industries, and in other ways which as yet have been imperfectly _ exposed. Recent disclosures indicate that the ramifications of'enemy conspiracy extended even into Congress, and tliat the American judiciary is not immune. Allegations under these heads await investigation, but ample evidence is available that Germany attempted to intimidate and demoralise the American' nation, and that her campaign to this end was in full swing long before the United States assumed the status of a belligerent. The New York dutlnoß, in a recent issue, points mil; that there is every reason tt> believe that tho "Industrial Workers of tho World," who have been guilty of a long series of enm-

mal outrages directed against American industries, are the paid agents of Germany. It was stated last month that as' a result of the operations of this criminal organisation more than a quarter of the copper mines of the United States weit closed.

According to nimlenied reports (the "Outlook" added)'lndustrial.Workers of tho World agents liavo thrown acraps of iron into harvesting machinery, diiven nails into fruit trees, poisoned live stock, burned canneries, caused mine strikes on fancied grievances, and tried to ruin tho lumber industry—just now particularly important because, of the necessity of building ships. This work of blocking the production of supplies for tho war, and thus tho prosecution of the war, has been participated in, it is said, by ecnie' two hundred and fifty thousand men, 'acting under leaders believed to bo affiliated with German agents; at all events the amount of money spent by the r.gitators is so considerable as to e.tcito suspicion on that' ground alone.

All that has just been mentioned is supplementary to the destruction of a number of munition factories and various other outrages of which Germany and her agents have made the Unitcd_ States the victim. At tho same time, tho German-American Press, though it "declared for America" at the outb'reak of war, 'has since lost no opportunity of insulting and abusing the Allies and pleading Germany's cause. Its activities , are sumnicd up by an American, writer in the statement:

The German-American Press is trying to divide us. Eagerly abetted by Socialist publications and such anti-English papers ns _ the ' "Irish Wqrld," the Ger-man-American Press is emleavourin'g to take the heart out of us w.ith erieers and innuendoes and make us use up our strength in futile squabbling amongst ourselves. '

Taking account of the reasonable certainty that some ramifications of the- enemy conspiracy in tho United , States have yet to bo traced and '.laid bare, it is evident that in its total scope it is of gigantic dimensions. But tho_ evil is working its own cure, and in this great field, as in so many others, Germany's schemes are recoiling on her own head. Tho New York Wo;id is quoted to-day as saying that tho United States has already answered tho German reply to the Pope by publishing details of the German plots. ( America's answer to all that Germany now has to advance is seen in an military programme and an increasing determination throughout the nation to prosecute «ie war until Germany is made incapaMo of further harm. That tho American Government has a sound appreciation of the situation is made evident also in the success with which it is tracking down German conspiracy and giving the fullest possible publicity to its discoveries. Formidably as it was organised, German-American conspiracy "would have become really dangerous only if the mass of Americans had remained apathetic or indifferent in their outlook on tho war. Such a state of mind is now manifestly impossible, and for this Germany has her own treachery and villainy to thank. ,