A GEAMAN PLOT.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 January 1916, Page 6

A GEAMAN PLOT.

TO ATTACK AND SEIZE AUSTRALIA. GERMANY'S ASPIRATION' AND DESIGN. HOW THE TEUTON SCIENTISTS STOLE DEFENCE SECRETS. OUR SPECIAL STAKE IN THE WAR. Tlie Melbourne Age last week published a four-column story containing circumstantial details of German's designs on, and plot to seize, when the opportunity offered, the Australian Commonwealth_ A summary of the machinations of Gorman's scientist spies was cabled a few days ago. It is clear that New Zealand is in the same boat as Australia so far as the German menace is concerned, and for this reason we reprint the salient portions of wnat will be generally recognised as an article of particular interest, especially at this ti,me when the Prime -Minister is appealing for men and more men. The Age set out to produce; evidence of German's aspirations to seize Australia, and of schemes begun several years ago. Australia, say 3 this journal, has a special interest in the war, and in victory, inasmuch as the defeat of England would bring the Commonwealth wnder the heel of the Teuton. To avoid, any such tragedy, every man capable of bearing arms is exhorted to enlist. Referring to the Agadir incident, the Age says:— Most Australians will remember the war scare brought about in 1912 by Germany's aggressive tactics at Agadir, when the action taken by the German cruiser Panther created an international crisis and set all Europe fty the ears. When this crisis was precipitated Australia was still dependent almost absolutely on Great Britain for the protection of her coasts and commerce, and H.M.S. IPowerlul was the largest warship on this station Another British ship of the same class was stationed in the Far Eastern waters, but at the moment there was not on either station a cruiser capable of .successfully engaging Germany's China squadron, which comprised at least one ship of a strength great enough to "blow several Powerful out of the sea. It became, therefore, Britain's duty to take prompt measures to watch the German fleet and to detail for service a battle-cruiser from another station of a superior class to any of the German vessels—this, leat war should be suddenly declared, in which case British interests might suffer. With all possible speed, therefore, a strong British squadron was despatched from the Indian station to Chinese waters, with instructions to watch the German fleet, which was reported to be lying at the German naval base at Kiao-chau. The journey was made under forced draught, but when the British squadron reached Kiao-chau they found that the German squadron had vanished, leaving never a trace.

The whole world was immediately swept with cables and wireless messages, but no living being was able to inform Britain what had become of the German -warships. They had disappeared as completely as though the eea had swallowed them up. Five powerful cruisers, at least one of which was of the first class, and one of which was the Seharnhorst, which not so long ago met its doom oft the Falkland Islands; and they had all melted into thin air and vanished from the kim of man_ The British squadron was torn with anxiety.

WHERE WAS THE ENEMY FLEET? At any moment, war might break out, and the German fleet do terrible damage to British interests. Yet, do his utmost, the British commander could not locate his quarry, and his feverish quest was all in vain. Fortunately fol all, the Agadir crisis did not result in war. At the last moment Germany backed down, and peace was for the nonce preserved. To this very hour, however, the British Admiralty remains officially unaware of what became of the German fleet that so miraculously disappeared from Kiao-ehau the moment the Panther cleared for action at Agadir —at the other side df ttie glo'be. What, then, did become of the German fleet? The secret has been- well kept, but It is known (unofficially) to both the British and the Australian Governments; and we are now authorised to make it known to all Australia. When the German warships left Kaip-ehau they steered a southerly course, far out of the traxk of trading steamers, but as directly as possible for German New Guinea, where they lay for several days awaiting wireleea instructions from Berlin to attack Australia. Had the expected wireless instructions been received, it is more than probable that they would have laid most of our greater seaport cities in asi.es before they could have been disturbed from their employment, •and either driven awa.v or brought to book 'by a superior Brititsii force. The secrdt was discovered in the following manner. An Australian trading steamer happened to pass New Guinea on her way to Sydney at the moment, and her| commander sighted five "smokes" on the horizon, at the entra.v e to Kabaul. A spectacle so unprecedented as that of live steamers grouped at one time in such an unfrequented spot made him very curious, and he reported the matter to the authorities'when he reached Sydney. Thus was the cat let out of the bag by the merest accident. The war scare having passed, the whole incident was diplomatically "hushed up"; but it was not by any means forgotten, and who shall estimate the influence it exerted in smoothing the way politically both here and in Britain for the realisation of our national ambition —a powerful Australian navy?

THE USE OF WIRELESS. Indirect but unmistakable evidence of Germany's design to seize the Commonwealth is supplied 'by the numerous wireless stations which she established round and about us prior, to the war. Ilany of these plants were of e.mall power and intended only for inter-island communication. Four of the stations, however, viz., those at Dar-es-Salaam (East Africa), at Herbertshobe, Yap and Nauru were ocean plants of enormous power. They were not qnly capable of communicating direct with 'Berlin, but they were strong enough to intercept and to smother all British messages passing to and fro across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. To suppose for one instant that Germany required these powerful installations for the domestic needs of her insignificant little colonic would be downright absurd. The stations were "war plants" in fvpryisenso of the expression,, and the >*...! we destroyed the;-.: they served (i well in the present war by direct-,,,. Cl ,«

depredations of the Emdeti and by warning the Gneisenau and the Scliarnhorst how to steer clear of our battle-cruisci Australia.

SPIES IN AUSTRALIA", Australians will be surprised to learn that for many years past the Commonwealth has been subjected to a most penetrating and systematic scheme of espionage. Just when the _ system was inaugurated we do not know, but it probably dated from the period when the German Government began to pay huge subsidies to German steamship companies to assist them in cutting into the Australian coastal and overseas trade. There is good reason to believe that these companies were never simple traders, but Were charged with a mission to inform Berlin regularly of our naval and military dispositions, the development of our defence activities, the exact whereabout and strengtli of our fortifications, and the ehartings of our ports and coasts and channels. They had every opportunity to do so, and no doubt they carried out their work very thoroughly. On Commonwealth soil tlie spy system was initiated by a series of missions despatched by Germany under the guise of harmless scientific investigators. In our innocence we received these German ■ savants with the greatest hospitality and afforded them every facility to transact their covert tasks. Not infrequently, indeed, we gave the scientists free railway passes so that they might ravel inexpensively over all parts 01 Australia. How many permanent spy agents they appointed during their travels we can only guess. German colonists are everywhere.

NEXT SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT. The next significant development was the arrival in Australia of a German Consul-General (the last) invested with special authority from the Kaiser to restore to full rights of German citizenship every German settled in Australia (and his dependents) who had become naturalised Australians. This high official was no sooner established in Sydney than he got into touch with her fellowcountrymen in all the-States and earnestly advised them to obey the Kaiser's will. All they ha(l to do to assure reinstatement as complete Germans, 'whether naturalised Britishers or not, was to register their names in a special book which the Consul-General had brought from Berlin for the purpose. Many ig' nored the request, preferring to remain loyal to the land of their adoption, but several hundreds complied, and journeyed from all parts of Australia to sign the book. Herein, if we had only known it, was a speaking hint that Germany had already resolved to make war on Britain, and that she was laying crafty preparations in advance to facilitate her conquest of the Commonwealth.

ATTACK FROM WITHIN AND WITHOUT. Australia, to tie (brief, was to be attacked simultaneously from within and from without; to toe assailed on her seaboard by German warships and military forces, and to be betrayed internally by a legion of recently-suborned German Bettlers, whom, because they had been naturalised, we should not suspect. Meanwhile the business of spying out the land proceeded steadily. A concrete illustration will indicate the thoroughness of the system. Prior to the outbreak of war, a German missionary was stationed in a remote district of North-west Australia. He was a spy. The discovery was made owing to one of his reports to Berlin falling into the hands of the Defence Department. This report is a most interesting document, [t consists of a series of detailed answers to an exhaustive category of searching enquiry. As, for example: How many Germans are resident in your district? What is the population? Wiiab are the food resources of your district? How many persons could your district supply with food, and for how long? How are the Australians in your district disposed to Germans? What are the facilities of transport? How many persons could -be transported from point to point in a given time? And so on On the surface, some of these questions appear innocent enough, but Gen-j eral Legge, after an elaborate study of the document, reported to the Minister of Defence that the questions had a purely military significance, and solicited exactly the sort of information which lie, as a professional soldier, would most desire to acquire were lie commanding an expedition destined to invade a foreign country, It is a relief to know that this German missionary will make no more reports to Berlin. The man. however, was merely one of a host of epies who operated freely before the war; and there can be no sort of doubt that the German Government to-day knows as much about Australia as we of ourselves, and lias every district in the Commonwealth mapped out accuratelv ready for invasion.

TREACHERY IK EXCELSIS. We come now to Germany's supreme act of treachery in our regard. It will be recollected that just prior to the »var Australia was visited by the British Association for the Advancement of Science, for the purpose of holding here its annual international conference. Our visitor and guests comprised the most eminent men of science from all countries in the world. Germany sent four of her most distinguished professors, viz., Dr Albert Pcnck, Dr. E. Goldstein, Dr. Gr.'ieliii-T and Dr. iPringsheim. These learned gentlemen still lingered in the Common wealth when war was declared. They immediately approached the Federal Government for permission to return to Germany, representing that they were international scientist?, and therefore neutrals, and that, although by accident of birth German citizens, they belonged to the whole world, and ought not to be detained. The Com-

monwealth Government assented to this | proposition, and merely required the j savants to take the oath. The former 'Went off to Java; the latter took ship | for England. Dr. Graebner and Dr_ Pringeheim were more dilatory than 1 their confreres, and tlicy raised certain objections. At length, however, they took the oath. But suspicion fell on them, and their correspondence was intercepted and examined, luckily for us, before they sailed. Their correspondence proved that they were spies, and i they w—s immediately arrested and inI terned.

OFFICIAL TEUTON AGENTS. Dr. Eugen Goldstein got clear away. But not so Dr. Albert Penck. The lastnamed ..'professor's oaggage was overhauled during his journey to Europe, under cabled instructions from the war authorities. It contained even more complete information concerning Australia's military preparations and intentions than the correspondence of Graebner and Pringsheim, and it contained, in addition, most excellent military contour maps of the country surrounding some of our largest capital cities—maps which could have no vestige of use for any purpose than to serve the ends of a German array of invasion. The maps and other information collected by these eminent German scientists were not the work of a day or of a month. They were of a character, to prove that Germany had sent the professors to Australia to steal our dearest defence secrets from us, and to repay our hospitality by paving the way for our destruction. The professors, #n short, were official German spies. When Dr. Penck arrived a prisoner in England, he was recognised, moreover, as a German scientist who had in past years led several scientific expeditions to the Isle of Wight, overtly to, examine the peculiar geology of the island, but really to *py on Portsmouth, Britain's most important naval base in the English Channel. It is unlikely that Dr. Professor Albert Penck will ever see Germany again. When the above facts are considered, what Australian is there who can continue to cherish any doubt as to Germany's designs upon the Commonwealth?

OUR SPECIAL STAKE IN THE WAR It is easy to demonstrate that we have a special stake in the war not shared by any other part of the British Empire. This special stake may be named in a single word—Australia. And here is the proof: If Germany were to win the war she could not occupy Britain permanently, even though she smashed our Navy and crushed England into the very dust. For England is already an overcrowded country, and al! history proves that it is impossible for one great nation to bind another great nation in more tlian a temporary subjection. For the sake reason India has little fear froifl Germany, and India, moreover, is Under the "protection of Japan. Canada is securely defended by the Monroe doctrine. South Africa is not a temperate country, and it is thickly populated with negroes. 'But Australia is in a very different ca9e, and were Germany to 'beat the Allies decisively in this war nothing could prevent her seizing Australia and holding the Commonwealth, probably for ever, for we could not long resist her of our own meagre strength.