GERMANS IN BRITAIN.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 257, 9 March 1917, Page 2 (Supplement)

GERMANS IN BRITAIN.

GOVERNMENT ACTION EXPLAINED. Tlioso members of the public who arc iearful that, owing to official laxity, there are Germans in our midst who ar e either making money out of us or are playing tlie spy on behalf of the Fatherland, .should, writes a correspondent of tljo London Daily Chronicle, have most of their doubts set at rest by the complete story of what the Government has (I °ne from thet outbreak of the war about the enemy aliens resident in. Britain. It may be said at once that tho aim of the authorities has been to find out every individual German or other enemy subject who lives in Britain, and to deal with that person In tho way that best meets the interests of the Brush people. The rake has been run very carefully over every parish, over every street through the length and breadth of tho land, and 1 the net result is that a vast number of havu been sent back to their native country, and 32,000 have been interned. 1 wenty-tvvo thousand alien enemy subjects remain at liberty, the majority of them being women, and the life history oi every one of both sexes is known to the authorities. It should lie added that there may still be a man or a woman hero and there who has escaped the merles of the netr-unavoid-able in a population of over 40,000,000 —that the work of scrutiny and investigation Is continued unremittingly and that the foreigner who lias managed to escape the rye of Scotland Yard is a very exceptional Tt may, indeed, bo doubted if such a person exists.

AX EMERGEXCY STEP. Hio story begins back at the commencement of the war, when at the suggestion of th« War Office there was nn attempt to round up Germans and Austrian* with a view to their internii 11- an ° mor K™ f y '•top, and tho A\ ar Office apparently 1, ; , d not measured the extent and complexity of "hat they proposed. The result was that the police, after handling over thousands of individuals tlav after day for some days were told by tho War nice that further atcommodation was larking, and that it was no good collecting any more of llie aliens Indeed a good many of tho,e who had been already detained were released. This lit-t-.e jut of War Office miscalculation was evidently straightened out inasmuch as •HI the Germans and Au-trians con-<<-rned w« re eventually broucht under renew and were dealt with as the necessities of ear], rase demanded. Tlie t'rst internment, were orsrani,e<l m an unprovided way. the detained persons t l ' o - 1 ' wbo,e unrctrictive liberty T"»ML r !lt ?>.> IV'/M'dod flif fl;innr orotK or |r ,[ < _ clnevoiiv The rule-o-thiimb method Prevail,-,I until after the o'nlcin<*- of the I »'-lf-111 l •w> r ol|oWe,l by fl v ,I >U n,| .'•lt 'cVs en al-'ens* rremiV Then the ° ' went Wt', f 1,-t all eu-mv si,lw.

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investigation was -sot up. An Advisory Commttee presided over by two juoges was established, and every enemy subject who was still at liberty had to produce evidence before this Committeo to show causa why lie or she should not btj interned, or sent back across the seas. The police scoured each district for those who had not come forward voluntarily. Each individual had to provide a past history, and this history was examined and commented on by the local police,. The Advisory Committee, guided by the evidence in each case, recommended one of three courses, namely, that the person should he repatriated, should bo interned, or should be allowed to remain at liberty in Great Britain under certain restrictions. Ttho general principles directing tho decisions were that those of military ago should 1)0 interned, and that those who were demonstrably friendly to our nation and either harmless or of national service at the present time should be alolwed to remain on here in a kind of regulated liberty.

Of the 22,000 persons who are still at liberty, 6,700 are of military age. Three thousand seven hundred oif the latfer are -what are officially known as "friends," that is to say, while technically of enemy nationality they are in reality on our side in this war. They include various Austrian subjects, such ai Czechs, Slavs and Polish Jews. Listed in the same category as "friends'' are Alsations, Italians from the Trentino, and Armenians. Tho other 3,000 of military age are mode up of various classes of persons, the case of each one of whom has l>een carefully examined. Some of them were born in this country of German parents, and tfiough never naturalised are to all intents and purposes, English people (in connection with this it has to be remembered tliat •j'J or 60 years ago there rvra.s a substantial migration from the southern German States to th s country of those who were dissatisfied with the Prussian domination). Another class consists of those whose feelings and interests are obviously on our side, and whose occupations are such as to render them of service to the nation at the present time. They include technical experts of various kinels—chemists, mechanics, and traders. It must not be thought that any o fthe 22,000 alien subjects left in this country are free agents, for thej are al Isubject to definite supervision and to various restrictions. THE GERMAN SPY SYSTEM.

There is a common belief, here 'n hngland, that Germany's .spy system was framed among this .scattered" German population in our midst, and tho delusion has been widely hold up to the present time. The supposition was very far Irom tne mark. ]t is to be imagined that an astute people like the Germans would havo their spies among those known to l>elong to their own nation.' Hundreds of communications have poured into the authorities from individuals who have suggested that their neighbours of German extraction ■wero spies. The Government departments concerned, acting on the principle of allowing no chance to be overlooked, have carefully investigated every suggestion of tho kind, but in no single ease has anything been found to justify the suspicions of tho patriotic letter-writers. Nevertheless, the authorities do not frown upon thotc communications, .for it may be that once in a thousand times some information of value may turn up. lhosa who are timorous about the trerman spy system in Great Britain will possibly be surprised to hoar that tho Government Departments concerned were aware of the real German network of spies here, knew that it was made up of persons who were ostensibly not Germans at all, and that within two hours of the declaration of tho war everyone of those persons was under lock and key. It is. of couree, possible, and indeed pro liable, that efforts have since been made to re-estab-lish sonio kind of spy system bv means o. enemies who pose ns neutrals. On t!!? a 1? , Jt 15 s ! lfßc icnt to that the Admiralty and War Office are in the closest conjunction with the Home Office, and that the latter, with Scot. its executive branch, is neither blind nor inactive. ..