Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 123, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 June 1918 — Page 2

Germany’s Business Spies at Work.

Unscrupulous Methods Adopted to Further Plans for Trade Expansion •• ••

a HE SYSTEMATIC way in which Germany uses her secret service department for trade purposes, or “economic penetration,” is at present arousing the serious interest of the allies. Investigations of the methods employed and of the extent to which the "system has proved profitable to Germany have been made In several countries, writes J. T. M. in Printers’ Ink. Some of the broad facts discovered by the state agents in certain continental European nations have been the subject of much discussion and public men In France and Italy are 'open in their denunciation of the evil, of the wide extent to which it is practiced and of the insidious danger which it represents. . In the years immediately preceding the war large American corporations, like similar firms in Europe, came in frequent contact with the so-called “spy system in business” and all those who handled any important business for those corporations, especially if the business was in Germany, and even if it involved the simplest and most open and above-board kind of transactions, were almost invariably confronted with incidents of secret service meddling. The present writer while attending to certain business for a number of American companies in combination had occasion to travel frequently from one country to another and had established headquarters in Germany on the eve of the outbreak of the war. He had been warned by friends to keep a close eye on his papers and effects and, as far as possible, to travel only with such baggage as could bq, taken in passenger compartments on the trains. This, however, was not always feasible and one morning when leaving Milan for Germany with a trunk he was struck by the eager insistence of a German-speaking emplpyee of the foreign-owned hotel, in which for special reasons he had stopped, in attending to the checking trunk on the train. The writer watched this employee’s actions while the trunk was being labeled and felt reassured until he reached Basel in Germany, where the train which had come through Switzerland was to be divided in two sections and routed north toward Berlin on both sides of the Rhine. The customs inspection is made for Germany at German Basel, but the trunk in this instance was not taken off the train and, although it was plainly visible in the open baggage car, the chief inspector refused to listen to remonstrances, on the alleged ground that the trunk was routed via the eastern bank of the river while the writer’s ticket was for the Strassburg way. This, however, was dot in accordance with the facts. A week later notice was received that the trunk was at the customs department of a central German city. An appointment was made for its inspection and, instead of customs officials, two special agents were present at the appointed time — the hotel porter who was to take the trunk away recognized them as such. The inspection was thorough. Every document and every scrap of paper was minutely examined. Endless questions were asked regarding the business documents and the method of doing business which they implied, the countries in which business was done and the names of the firms concerned, the pretext for the questions being the doubt that the printed part of the business documents might be dutiable as being printed and the manuscript and type-written part of them might constitute contracts and therefore be subject to duties under other heads. The contents of the trunk were weighed and separately classified and finally fees were levied under three separate heads for the molestation caused by having put the German authorities to the necessity of making this special investigation. A total of about three dollars was involved. Soon after this incident the writer became conscious that his desk in an ofiice in that same city was being tampered with and, after a watch had been set, a German in the service of, the same American corporation, and already suspected as being a government agent, was caught red-handed in the act of prying open the desk and making arecord of its contents. When confidences were exchanged with other representatives of American corporations it was learned that the experience was a common one, and the comparing of notes seemed to shpw an explanation for the surprising ability of German firms to learn the names of the “foreign customers of American corporations and the seeming coincidence of their soliciting those firms almost simultaneously with the American agents every time that the latter had something new to offer. Incidents can be vouched for where agents for American corporations in Italy and other countries, on receiving from America new machines or radically new models, found to their amazement that German agents had already visited their customers, had described the new machines or models and had denounced their alleged weak points and their undesirability for various reasons. The. German agents knew more about the American machines than the American agents. Of course, sweeping generalizations are to be avoided and all statements which are likely to upset the equanimity of those satisfied with the course of established routine and liable to be characterized as grotesque, and, if emphatically set forth, they are liable also to fall of effect on those who refuse to be disturbed In their fixed ideals. Lord Roberts, it should be remembered, was a nuisance to the majority of the British reading public when he kept up his warnings about the true meaning of Germany’s military preparations, and it should not be forgotten that Gen. Leonard Wood, when half a dozen years ago he began to urge preparedness in America, was denounced as a professional alarmist eager to obtain power and a chance for distinction. And so those who are raising the cry of alarm regarding the secret service methods of trade warfare being conducted by Germany declare that they are not get•ttog the proper hearing and that the danger is one

It is affirmed that German “trade by espionage is practically as great a menace to the world as is Germany’s military machine; that, indeed, er many’s military methods and her “economic penetration” methods are interdependent, and that any fjeace which seemed to leave German militarism powerless would be vain and futile if the German methods of trade were allowed to continue as at present. The question is asked whether trade after the war will be a secret service struggle on the part of all the nations and w’hether, as Germany forced all the powers to mobilize for militarism, she is going to force them also to mobilize for trade warfare. These questions may seem grotesque, but able men are raising them. They point out that the law of civil conscription in Germany lias made all the business representatives of the empire potential.secret service agents at the disposal of the military authorities. The French economist, M. Lucien Descaves, who has made special investigations in this matter, quotes from a secret document, of which he has seen a copy, containing instructions to German engineers, who are called upon to sink their professional pride and to devote themselves to finding trade secrets and to furthering German trade, , which will be readily possible for them under the guise of their professional mantle. M. Descaves has; described the results of a tour he made of neutral countries for the purpose of investigating German secret service methods or trade. Both men.and women, he says, are employed in this way by Germany, mostly young men and women. Secret service and business promotion are practically convertible terms. The German secret service man or woman is taught the art of trade development and the German commercial traveler is taught the art of espionage. Germany realizes that the role of commercial traveler is the best disguise for a secret service man and that secret service is the best of all adjuncts to trade. Germany, according to M. Descaves, is inundating the neutral countries with literature and with agents. The agents are recognized as by far the most productive. Printed documents are scattered and, even if they are followed by many others, they are soon forgotten. Where the agents follow one' another, working with mutual aid, their work is practical and profitable. They perform not merely a common task; they work out a propaganda. “The Germans,” he continues, “have been systematically giving furloughs from’the army to their mobilized men who had been commercial travelers in foreign countries. These men are authorized to visit their former customers, but they are especially engaged to work with zeal and adroitness and to produce practical results. Special rewards are reserved for those who are able to practice espionage for the benefit of Germany. The agent has a double, or rather a triple, part to play. He is openly placing his country’s products, he is celebrating his country’s glory and secretly he is gaining information regarding Germany’s neighbors and her enemies. Such work is regarded as worth a reward and the reward is paid. In one neutral country I was struck by the large number of these German commercial agents who are young, despite the fact that the country, being at war, needs young men. But the fact is that they can serve their country on this front just as well as on the battle fronts. They are industrious, Insinuating, tenacious. The promises they make, in the name of the great, commercial firms of Germany, are kept. They go and come as in time of peace. They have their own hotels, restaurants, cases, meeting places. They are serviceable and they push their eagerness to be agreeable to the point of servility. While they do not succeed in making themselves popular, they impose themselves on the business - men because they can quickly obtain from Germany what merchants have patiently but vainly sought elsewhere.” M. Descaves urges that the allies put more commercial travelers in the-fleld to offset the German trade campaign methods, but he declares that the French business agent, undoubtedly like the business agents of France’s allies, -“has an insurmountable repugnance for espionage, no matter wha( the reward might be.” M. Charles Humbert, proprietor of Le Journal of Paris, and other public men of France declare that in order for the world to be safe for democracy Germany must not merely be beaten in the field, but her whole system of militarist government, with the country’s trade development sub- . . - ■ -X. .’/

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN. RENSSELAER. IND.

servient to it, must be overthrown and the world a commerce freed from serious dangers. If this is to be effected the whole German idea of trading must be modified. “Economic penetration” has long been recognized in Germany as one of the most important functions of the state. The highest in the empire, kings, princes, nobles and hereditary land magnates, have vied in showing their interest in all industrial and commercial enterprises of magnitude and jn promoting in every way possible to them the expansion' of German trade, while chancellors, cabinet officers and members of parliament have practically been at the beck and call of corporations and individuals embarking on new undertakings on a large scale. The state in many lines has become the partner of leading promoters and in cases where capital is risked in enterprises, which if successful must redound to the benefit of the em fc pire, that capital is practically guaranteed against loss. Should the enterprise Itself be revealed as practicable, but be jeopardized by incompetency or dishonesty, the state will find a way to step in, to protect the outside investor and to turn the enterprise to success. Differently from what occurs in certain more democratic countries, the German state does not stand aloof from trade and industry, does not eye “big business” with cold suspicion, or permit the legislative bodies to molest it with'a multitude of pin-pricking laws. The kaiser poses as the friend and associate of great munitions manufacturers, visits with Westphalian coal barons, presides at the launching of steamships owned by private corporations and lends the encouragement of his presence to the cutting of canals, or the making of automobiles, or shoes, or carpets, by private enterprise. The whole attitude of the statq toward trade is different in Germany. By instinct, it is possible that the kaiser, the princes, the counts and the barons of Germany have as little desire to come in contact with the ordinary mortals who are “in trade” as certain titled Britons have, but in Germany duty to the state overcomes the repugnance. The one supreme duty of all is to promote the military might of the state, for in this way alone can Germany’s greatness be assured. . But military power in these times is dependent on economic power. The nation with the most money can win wars, is the crude commercial way in which the idea has been phrased in other countries. Germany has different notions, but admits the hard fact that trade and militarism are interrelated. And as the warfare of today has called for new methods on the battlefield, so it also demands new formsof aid from commerce. Through trade and commerce the armed forces of the nation can deliver some of their most telling blows. Since, in the present hour, whether one likes it or not, the fact is established that the army is more than ever dependent on commerce, the army must now work for trade and trade must work for the army. This reasoning was furnished as the fundamental justifying motive for the law on civil conscription in Germany, and the . German government, if it endures, is expected to push the principle as vigorously after the war as it does now. Even if Germany lost the war, it is affirmed, she can count on triumphing ultimately through her trade methods. How vigorously Germany is working on this principle is best realized from the fact that since the beginning of the war, and to a greatly Increased extent in the past year, the Genpan government has effected new combinations between leading manufacturing and commercial concerns in Germany engaged in foreign business and is using the government resources in the combinations. The facts in this regard, known from other sources, are confirmed/ by the complaints of the smaller German concerns left” out of the combination and deprived not merely ,of all financial and commercial participation, but also of all knowledge Of the business operations in which the government and big business are engaged. It is this apparently established fact of the union of the government with the most important of the German firms transacting business abroad which is the basis for much of the concern manifested in the countries of the allies regarding the German method of handling trade and commerce and the future evils which it forecasts. '

SLEEVES WE WEAR

STRAW TURBAN, MESH VEIL

This black chip straw turban trimmed with an upstanding wing Is charmingly set off by a'square mesh veil carrying a running design in velvet.

GRAY IS GOOD THIS SEASON

Previous Objections Have Been Removed and the Color Is a Prime Favorite. The world has gone on for a century or two feeling that gray is the tone of sadness and that its Quakerish ugliness must be avoided. It has been a difficult color for decades. Women have adopted it only when the silver sheen on its surface made it. possible. This season, however, all doubts are dispersed by the superior tones which the dyers have imparted to the various fabrics grouped under the elastic names of gray. • There is moonlight gray, which may spell peace, but it is In close proximity to artillery gray, which stands for death. There is the gray of granite and the gray of London smoke. There is the gray of a New England sea mist and there is the tone that one gets from the glitter of cut steel. These grays are not used alone this season. They are combined with horizon and Chinese blue, with jade and Egyptian green, with incendie red, mandarin yellow and amethyst purple.

WEARING OF SUMMER FURS

Style Is In Favor With Many of the Smartest Women Until First of June. The wearing of furs during the warmer months has become an accepted fashion. Until the first of June one sees furs worn by the smartest women all up and down Fifth avenue, says a New York fashion writer. Of course, “summer furs” are more or less a fad and are adopted by the less conservative, but the woman of discretion need not choose furs of this type. Fisher, pointed fox in black or taupe, mink, Hudson bay sable and American ermine in white, are well adapted to this time of year. The prices are usually good, because the great rush of fur buying is over at this time,-and the furriers have skins which they can afford to sell at reduced figures. These models offer a good opportunity to buy a small piece which is sure to be in fashion next season. A smart scarf of fisher or Hudson sable looks very well with a simple tailored costume.

Youthful Etons.

As to the suits, any woman with a trace of youthfulness will be wise to idopt one of the short ones which have file Eton line, but older women and fiiose who Incline to that bugbear of ige, a little excess of weight, will do well to avoid them. For just the right type of girl or woman they are extremely jaunty, and tor the woman who is not of the right type come models with longer and less trying lines. The longer models have not been shown to any great extent as yet, for novelties In line and treatment are always the first of the season’s showing and models which are more adaptable we usually shown later.

New Bandeaux.

Bandeaux are now produced to cover every possible requirement for the miss or for the womaij. New samples show many silk styles in flesh-color or pink, Including crepe de chine, wash satins, silk jerseys, tub silk or broche. The dainty laces in all-over patterns ar in lace-trimmed embroideries are also seen, but whatever the material the texture must be sufficiently firm to perform the real function of the bandeaux —confine the flesh at bust and shoulders.

Small Rugs on Big.

On the large rugs in your rooms place small ones of contrasting colors, and see how pretty they look. For instance: On a plain black rug lay an antique with a design in dull Mues, gold and cream; or'on a gray one put a rug In mulberry and black. On a large blue rug, beside the chaise longue, place a little fellow in lovely •Id gold; browns and yellow.

Mandarin Style Is Preferred by American Women. , X Ends Between Wrist and ElbowMany Exaggerations and Attractive Color Combinations. The short sleeves are not taken up in America as much as in France, but the wide mandarin sleeve which ends between wrist and elbow is shown in many exaggerations and attractive color combinations. The clever woman sees to it that there is a tight cuff attached to this mandarin sleeve, to keep it down and hanging in a good line. The tight cuff, which extends over the hand, also obviates the necessity of long gloves. A French dressmaker designed a new trick to keep the loose short sleeve in place, and one may say that it 'is cordially received with “bare” arms. This sleeve, ripping away from the shoulder and not reaching the elbow, has an armlet of contrasting silk or satin attached to it by two rows of French knots in colored silk. The prmlet is attached on the under side of the sleeve, and either clasps the arm as tightly as a bracelet above the elbow, or, better still; drops loosely over the elbow. Whenever the arm is lifted this band keeps the short loose sleeve in its proper place. Since short sleeves became the fashion for afternoon gowns, women have struggled with their exasperating method of slipping up land over the shoulder whenever the arm is lifted on a level with the shoulder. This trick can be taken into the heart of the sewing room and used for various kinds of sleeves that have a trick of not remaining downward. Doucet has a new sleeve which is very interesting. It is suggested by the opening up of those Mesopotamian region Ijy the British army. It is only for gowns worn in the evening, formal.; or Informal. The sleeve Is short, like a six-inch cap that fits the arm, and is finished with a band of some glittering ornamentation. At the back of this band start two strips of this same ornamentation, which extend in a loose curve to the wrist, where they are caught by a tight bracelet of the same material. For instance, on short sleeves of black tulle, in a black and jet gown, there are two loosely flowing bands of jet from the back of the short sleeve, and these are caught into a jet'bracelet. A woman whef is in search of novelty will find this a clever <trick to Intro-, duce in a gown she is rearranging to meet the modern demands.

FROCK OF SILK GINGHAM

A chic frock for a summer morning Is this one of blue and white checked silk gingham with its bodice and sleeves of white georgette.

Suits of Silk Poplin.

The revival of silk poplin is a bit of news that appeals to the majority of women. This fabric makes admirable coat suits, and with the modern activity of nearly every woman In this country, there will not be such a wide demand as usual for frocks that need constant cleaning and laundering. The late spring and summer will probably usher in a vast array bf women dressed In silk poplin, shantung, the thinnest gaberdine, satin and dark foulard. The tailored suit which is adopted by such numbers of women doing active relief work has already set its impress upon the fashions, and it is quite probable, despite the talk of the < dressmakers, that coat suits of silk poplin in black, beige, brown and blue win rise to unusual heights of laxity. x.