AT WORK IN FRANCE

Evening Star, Issue 23383, 28 September 1939, Page 13

AT WORK IN FRANCE

GERMAN PROPAGANDA ARRESTS OF JOURNALISTS The arrest by the military police of two French journalists', M. Aubin, chief of the information service of ‘Le Temps.’ and M. Poirier, of the commercial service of another well-known conservative newspaper, ‘ Figaro,’ apparently on the suspicion of improper dealings with German agents, has focused l public attention on German intrigues in France and on the suspected venality of some organs of the French Press, wrote the Paris correspondent of the ‘ Christian Science Monitor ’ early in August. The arrest of M. Anbin and M. Poirier, accompanied ns it has been by searches in the apartments of suspected persons and possibly by other arrests (although definite information on this point.is not available), has let loose a hornets’ nest of speculation and controversy. The newspapers in Paris which are strongly anti-German, especially the Communist ‘ L’Humanite,’ have given maximum publicity to the case, and have, to some extent, used it as a partisan weapon against the circles of the Right which are less bellicose. Typical of tho controversial method's ot ' L’Humanito ’ was the linking up of the name of Marcel Deat, dissident Socialist who has been very lukewarm in his attitude towards French commitments in Eastern Europe, with that of Otto Abetz, an unofficial German agent who was requested to quit France about the end l of June. The names of Fernand de Brinon, secretary of the Committee Franco-Germany, which was working for Franco-German rapprochement, and which has naturally been rather inactive since last March, of a Radical Socialist. named l Edouard Pfeiffer, and of other less-known individuals have also been bandied about. PREMIER ORDERS INQUIRY. M. Daladier. in his double capacity of Premier and War Minister, is in full charge of the investigation. That he is convinced that France is confronted' with a serious problem of foreign propaganda is evident from the following passage in his speech before the Chamber of Deputies;— “ Wo see a strangely active propaganda, the connection of which with foreign influences cannot be denied. This propaganda aims at undermining French unity. ... It works through religious quarrels or racial prejudices or through exploiting former grounds of rivalry between Great Britain and France. We have been able to open up an inquiry and to make investigations, and we are convinced that an effort is being madte to ensnare France in a network of ruse, espionage, and still worse.” On the other hand, M. Daladier, shortly after the arrest of M. Auhin and M. Poirier, both of whom are popularly suspected of having received large sums of German money, issued a warning against any publication of unauthorised news which would tend to hamper- the progress of the investigation. And ‘ L’Humanite ’ became indignant when one of its collaborators, M. Sampler, who had been publishing strong insinuations against various suspects, was summoned to give an account of himself to the police. Two names which crop up repeatedly in the discussions of the affair are those of Otto Abetz and of Otto Brautigam, a former German Consul in Paris, who was recalled to Germany some time ago. It is alleged that Herr Brautigam had drawn up a special brochure entitled “ the points on which one can attack the internal points of resistance in France ” CONTACTS IN SOCIETY. Both Herr Abetz and Herr Brautigam were supposed to have established various contacts in French society and to have_ furbished Reichfubrer Hitler and Foreign Minister Joachim von Rihbentrop with exhaustive information, which helped to shape German conviction that France would not fight on account of Czecho-Slovakia last autumn. There is undoubtedly some fire behind the dense clouds of smoke. Germany has been spending money freely on its foreign information and propagada services, and a part of the French Press is undoubtedly venal. Before the war the Russian Ambassador, Izvolsky, as was proved later, had paid money to some influential French newspapers. German activity has apparently assumed several forms. There has been a mass distribution of pamphlets of German origin in some of the towns of north-eastern Franco. The autonomist movement in Alsace has been exploited to some extent for pro-German ends, and a certain M. Roes, director of the Alsatian newspaper ‘ Elz,’ has been arrested on charges of espionage. The ‘ Elz ’ lias also attacked the construction of the Maginot Line and suggested that there- is only a difference of degree between the Alsatians and the Sudeten Germans. The German radio station in Saarbruckcn semis out appeals to Alsatians who fought in the German army during the World War to write to their old comrades. OTHER METHODS USED. Along with these open forms of propaganda there are subtler methods of influencing writers by offering them favourable contracts, of establishing contacts with influential men of affairs and journalists. Only the future will show how far and how wide the investigations of tho military intelligence will strike. Action is being taken under the law of January 26, 1934, and under the decree law of June 17, 1938. Those laws provide penalties of imprisonment from one to five years, with a fine of 600 to 1,000 francs, for the communica'tion of military material, plans, writings, documents, and information to persons who are not authorised to receive such material. If the communication is. made “ for purposes of espionage ” the capital penalty is possible. The accused must prove their innocence, under French law. Penalties of imprisonment from six months to three years and of fines of from 300 to 1,000 francs (there is a curious discrepancy between the severity of the prison sentence and the lightness of the fine) are provided in the event of “ indiscretions of the Press ” about espionage matters which are under investigation.