AN ESPIONAGE TRIAL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 218, 23 December 1910, Page 5

AN ESPIONAGE TRIAL

GREAT INTEREST AT LEIPZIG. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright Berlin, December 21. The trial is proceeding at Leipsiz of Brandon and Trench, who are charged with espionage. Accused admitted visiting German naval stations and collecting information for a .person connected with the Intelligence Bureau of the Admiralty. The court was crowded. Trench refused to give the name of the person in the Admiralty whom he called Reggie. He admitted he toured the Elbe and observed the batteries at Newstein and Friedrichessorf. Brandon said he visited Heligoland on behalf of a naval guide book privately printed for English officers. The prosecution suggested that he made observations to facilitate the landing of troops. WHAT CONSTITUTES SECRECY. Received 22, 9.20 p.m. Berlin, December 22. In the espionage case the prosecution at present has not proved that the entries related to secret matters. The Court deals exclusively with what constitutes secrecy. The defence emphasises that what is visible to all men without offence cannot legally be secret. Against this the Supreme Court had ruled (and they cited the case of the Frenchman in 1893) that such things became secret only when it was the intention to describe them to a foreign Government. DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE. - EXTRAORDINARY ACCURACY OF INFORMATION. Received 23, 12.35 a.m. Berlin, December 22. The real evidence was documentary, consisting of papers found in Trench's room, his letters from "Reggie," a&dressed to Captain Trench, Poste Restante, Delfzyl, and delivered to the German authorities at the instance of Trench, who believed it best to make a clean breast of the matter. The most interesting revelation was the existence of what Trench described as a "Naval Baedeker," accessible to officers only. The prosecution suggested officers often come to Germany to secure answers to questions for addition to the Baedeker. Trench stated that he went to Sylt Island to enquire into economic conditions and elicit where meat could be bought. The information was intended for Baedeker, and was not sent to England. Captain Taegert, Admiralty expert, testified to the importance of the prisoners' information, and complimented them on their skill in determining the position of the Bremenhaven battery and other landmarks. Trench disputed this, declaring that an article in a German newspaper drew his attention to the subject. Captain Taegert rejected the contention of the defence that the sounding of Sylt and other islands was intended for Admiralty charts for use in peace time. Trench's note was read, disclosing details of the breakwater, and showing the Sylt railways, water supply, and villages. A document was submitted containing questions relative to landing stages and bridges at Nordenney. Some bad answers had been inserted. ,; Captain Taegert stated that maps and sketches from various points revealed the positions of the batteries and areas of fire distance with extraordinary accuracy. [Messrs. Brandon and Trench, who have since admitted that thev are British officers, were arrested at the end of August for alleged espionage in the island of Borkum. This island is one of a group near the mouth of the Ems, and its fortification is supposed to be proceeding with the idea of a possible invasion of lio'land. A correspondent of the Duly Mail says;—ln recent years Borkum has become a popular summer resort, and vast sums are being spent on protecting it from the encroachments of the s'.sa. The waters are shallow, but a great mole, partly natural and partly artificial, stretches out from the south-east to give anchorage for ships. The enterprise, so manifest to every visitor, h not restricted to holiday attractions. The day is approaching when Borkura will he known not as a holiday resort in the North Sea, but as a flving base for naval operations. Though there are at present no forts of the kind to attract a "camera fiend," v there are works in progress, with vigilant and suspicious sentinels over them, and a little barracks for artillerymen cautiously tucked away among the sand-dunes, over which is written on every side the word "Verboten" (Forbidden). Hitherto it has been accepted as an axiom that if Germany was at war the mouth of the Ems could be blockaded without violating Dutch neutrality, since access to Emden might be closed by operations outside the territorial'limits. But the arming of Borkum and the conversion of the island into a flying base for torpedo craft introduces a new factor. The three channels that afford access to the Ems unite on the west side of Borkum. Ships drawing 26ft. of water can enter the Ems, and thev cannot keep farther off shore than 2157 yards. We have here the reason for German activity in the island of Borkum. It is to become a second Heligoland, to guard the entrance to the Dollart and to prevent a blockade. Borkum is to be the sea ward of Emden.]