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Hokitika Guardian, 10 December 1925, Page 2

Tin: Page Tellers are revealing many of inner se rets of the war period. The Into Mr Page was the Ainerhun \m- ! i;l-.-;ir lor in l.ondoii at tin- iiilte of the war. ttinl he was a very intimate writer to the President ol llie l nitCil States. In the coiir-e of one letter, he reveals how Britain s secret service worked. When Germany tried to work up Mexico to invade the States to create a diversion in the main theatre of operations. Mr Page was informed of the plot and in turn revealed if to America hv a cable message. 'I lie manner in which the British had acquired this message is disclosed in Page’s telegram. It was "bought in Mexico.” Thai is. the British secret service had obtained it. evidently irom some approachable person in the Mexican capital a practice which, it appears from Page's communication, lias been going on for .some time. An interesting additional taut is that this is not the only way in which the British obtained this priceless treasure. Ihe German Government iva- so determined to make this Mexican Alliance that it did not depend in <'n a 'ingle route for transmitting I lie Ziniinorniann message to \ oil Kckhnrdl. ft despatched it in several other ways. Tor one it used the wireless route from XaiKUi, Germany, to Snyvillo, Long Island. 11l ally days of the war die \ merman Government prohibited the use of this Say villi l line except under American supervision: how little this prohibition interfered with the Germans is shown by the use they made lII' the l.ong Island Station fo this the most Intel ill me-sage scut 1 America during the war. As Page discloses t i the President, the British had Po a i oasidernhie period been reading the most se ret German message.-. Inti.l inutiuii entrusted to the air was ensile obtained hv the licit i -1 1 and aeasily deciphered. Ore of die most eiirioii- discoveries, and one that east' an illuminating light upon Germar simplicity. K the confident lelief ol tlie German Govcriinieiil that its.score'

service was in fact st’clri. Not cnee did the •esphaoii apparently rise that its proceedings were almost as well known to the British as though they had publish'd in the newspapers. The ciphers and codes ol other nations might he read, hut net the German : its secret methods of eoiniinmieat ion. like anything else German, were regarded as perfection. Not until tinwar was concluded did the Germans learn the truth that the British, lor nearly four ve.urs had had i-old inual access to their most confident ini information. This German confidence in their intelligence methods cost thorn dear. Helving upon the secrecy of their codes, they developed an amazing telegraphic loquacity in the fours' of the war. They were constantly Idling the atmosphere with the most intimate news nl ihoir navy. army, and their diplomatic service, and all this information the British were quietly taking out of (In' ether and promptly deciphering. The resiiH was that the British Government had as aertirale information about, everything German as tiie Germans themselves. The movement. of every German submarine war as well known to the British as it was to the German Admiralty : every lime one left a. German port the British had an accurate record of that fact: thev followed its voyage day by day. and even plotted it on the map. Similarly, a.s soon as any message, involving anv department of I lie German Government, was entrusted to wireless, the British promptly seized it and reduced it to understandable English.