HUN METHODS IN AUSTRALIA.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 272, 4 May 1917, Page 4 (Supplement)

HUN METHODS IN AUSTRALIA.

The extent to which attempts were made before the war to increase German influence in Australia, and to obtain knowledge which might at a future date be used to advantage to promote German settlement, can scarcely lie realised in this Dominion. According to a Melbourne contemporary, information that htw come into the possession of tno Australian authorities throws light upon the methods adopted to place the German Government in possession of the most minute particulars about the adaptability of Western Australia for German settlement, and the information further indicates that ever since tho war broke out tho Germans have not relaxed their propaganda efforts. On the contrary, every opportunity has been seized to get into the closest touch with the Germans resident 11 Australia, and even with those interned in tho segregation camps. But, wily as were the methods employed by the German authorities to place themselves in communication with their interned compatriots, the vigilance of the Australian authorities has been such that their schemes were one after the other unmasked. Commencing with what happened just before tho war, a detailed report from one of the German missionaries on the northwest coast of Western Australia to a society in Germany called "The Society for the Protection of Germans Abroad,' was intercepted. Tho report consists of answers to interrogatories, and is headed "Strictly confidential." The "first question asked related to the country, town, provinces, etc., upon which tho missionary was able to give precise information. Joseph Bischofs, a missionary of the Pallotiner congregation, Limburg, Prussia, resident in the north-west of Australia at Broome, replied that ho had been nine years !n Australia. Asked if he was prepared to answer inquiries confidentially, the missionary stated that as far as he could find time he would be pleased to place himself at tho society's disposal. Then come minute replies to questions about stock, fruit, cultivation, and wages generally, and also about pearl fishing. An important question was if tho missionary could send any kind of photographs, and to this tho reply was, "Perhaps later." There was a I German club, the missionary stated, at Fremantle, and there were several German hotels in Perth and Fremantle, the tariff being indicated. "Are there correct maps of your town, your country province, etc. ?" The missionary's reply to this question was that the best charts of the coast could be obtained from the Harbour and Light Department, Fremantle, whilst maps of tho country generally were obtainable from the Department of Lands and Surveys in Perth. Tn all 50 questions were answered, all treating in the most intimate manner of the physical and commercial facts of the districts in which tho missionary resided. To each question full replies were given. This report was dated July 10th, 1914. It appears that in an incautious moment, long before the war, according to ininformation in possession of the Defence Department, a German representative in Australia remarked to an Australian officer that Australia was making very little use of the north-west coast of Western Australia, and that it would suit admirably as a German settlement. The report, of which extracts are now published, clearly indicates tho steps that were taken subsequent to this conversation by the German Government to supplement tho information already in its possession about the north-west coast. Otner information in possession of the Australian authorities indicates that the doings of Australian business men were followed in tho closest d:>t..ls. A young business man who, previous to the war, was about to visit the Uniicd Kingdom, received a note from the German representative offering him introductions to German firms. In spite of a reply that "lie did not expect to visit Germany, letters of introduction were sent to him. 11l due course, the business man reached England. He did not communicate with the firms to which he had letters, but they evidently knew his whereabouts, and wrote inviting him to call. He replied he was not vis'ting Germany. At tho last moment, however, lie changed his route, ai»d spent a night at a town cn the Tlhine near which were tho works of one of tho firms which had written to him. He had forgotten all about this firm, but within an hour of arrival a member of the firm called at his hotel, thus proving conclusively that his movements since landing in England bad been closely followed. It is known to the Australian authorities that the local offices of great companes such :.s those intere-t----od in metals, potash, etc., were agencies for collecting and sending to'Gerinany information of Australian resources. A great steamship company was for intelligence purposes nothing else than a branch of the German Admiralty. Some of the German schools in Australia were, it has boon ascertained bv t! Comn inwenltli Authorities, used in connection with the granting of exernpt'on from service in the German army. Tn the various centres an offic 'al re| res -ntat ive of the German Consul-Gens ral in S'.daey was appointed. Tn once case the representative was a p::stor. a member of a branch ;>f the Prussian National Church, who, with other pastors of lii.s Church, received part of his stipend frnn Germany. Tin's man. an Australian by birth, although of German parentage, was interned afier tV outbreak of tin war, and in his po-s'v-sion were found i»anv treasonable document'. Tho German press orcrani-at ion lias he mi found to be most accurate in snidimr ta ,nd person: of German d's-

cent in Australia news favourable to the enemy cause. From Holland,! Switzerland, and America leaflets andj publications continue to arrive, usually in English, in which, under cover of neutrality, pro-Germ.™ views arc expressed. Enemy agents abroad are making constant effor 1 .; to send news and messages surreptitiously to prisoners of war interned in Australia. A packet of cigarettes addressed to a prisoner, opened by chance, was found to contain nine cigarettes of tobacco and one of rolled newspaper cuttings. \ large packet of cigars from the Philippines contained boxes of excellent Manila cigars, but in one box the cigars were all of paper. A box of walnuts came from Java; when the censor opened it, one fell out and broke, disclosing that the inside had been take.i out and the shell stuffed with paper cuttings. Apart from all these devices letters and newspapers which appear to contain nothing but what is visible, are used for writing in an invisible medium, the secret of which is known to tho receiver. Probably the censors know as much of these devices a.s the prisoners. Tn one district a German agent, after the outbreak of war, endeavoured to organise the German population in readiness for military operations. He interviewed the Germans in their o"vn houses, and in some cases interviewed eongregitions as they were leaving church. He met with little success, but a few received him favourably. T'ne Defence Department was well informed of what was going on. rnd he and those who were ready to help him are all safe behind the wires. Yet another striking example of Him deplicitv is furnished in a circular issued by Hcrr von Putt Knmer. German Minister of the Interior, to secret service agents in January, 1914. of which the following is an exact translation "Our agents at fixcJ posts must not content themselves w.th holding salaried positions; they might lose such positions at any moment. Each ono must be obliged to keep some kind ■ f office. Whatever th-> nature of the establishment, whether it is a disputed cla'm office or land and property agency, grocery establishment or cafe, restaurant, hotel, insurance office, or the like, in all cases the business must !•-> ?ot"»dlv echihlkllo'l end possess a substantial goodwill. It must, in fact, be ever borne in mind that it is necessary for our agents to inspire confidence in circles where they have their centre of action, and to create that confidence by the outward signs of rn ordinary existence; indeed, bv a well-placed munificence, and by making themselves known in all kinds «.f societies. associations, and communities, they must acquire such a strong social positon that, as far as their locality is concerned, each may be well received everywhere and highly thought of in all quarters, and may be thus ahvavs in a position to give us useful inform ition on .all points.''