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icy in the country has for many years been vitiated by the fact that it is a weak and wobbling compromise which achieves nothing constructive. India can be ruled as a dependency, or she can be given autonomy, but it is impossible to follow a middle course that shall satisfy as many shades of opinion as possible. This has been the endeavor of the Government of late years, and hence the continual petty tinkering, the everlasting minor concessions to prevent an outbreak of popular feeling, though in point of fact this policy has had very little success in this direction as far as one can judge. The result is that while ten or even five years ago it might have been possible to give India a form of Dominion Home Rule which would have pacified and contented her, the present state of unrest indicates a grave danger of secession from the Empire altogether whenever her opportunity occurs. It is in reality the old Irish problem over again but on a larger scale, and the politicians show as little signs of comprehending its dangers as did the British Government at the inception of Sinn Fein.

It is no use being deceived by telegrams from the press agencies announcing religious riots in India, or by statements to the effect that the 'sober' elements demand a continuance of British sovereignty. Doubtless there is a certain class that does still support the 'Raj' in India, but on the other hand there are arrayed against it the student class, many of the merchants, and not a few of the politicians of the native States, who foresee in the abolition of British rule and the vanishing of law and order the opportunity for looting and territorial expansion of an unprecedented kind. Recognizing that Indian autonomy must come sooner or later, we may say that the practical side of the problem at present involves first, some fair scheme for the inter

nal and State autonomy of the country; secondly, the building up of an Indian army and navy that shall be strong enough to guard the frontiers from invasion; thirdly, the safeguarding of British trade interests and investments; fourthly, the welfare of the minority religions from intolerance or persecution; and fifthly, the security of the position and pay of those English officials in governmental employment who care to remain, and the safeguarding of the pensions of those who have retired from the Indian Service.

It is this latter point that one hears discussed everywhere in India at the present time, for what the English official in the country is primarily concerned with is the education and support of his family. Many have indicated to the writer their apprehension that when autonomy comes to India the Government to be will reduce salaries and refuse to continue pension remittances an act which would have one logical remedy, a declaration of war on the part of England. Such a solution would naturally be distasteful to the British public as a whole, which has but little understanding of conditions overseas, and it is for this reason that the District Commissioner, the Inspector of Police, the medical services, and all the thousands of officials who are doing their best for India to-day, hope to find security for their rights clearly defined by existing laws and regulations before any changes in the direction of autonomy are made. One cannot believe that any of these various problems in India are incapable of solution, but one must recognize with regret that they have not as yet been tackled. For the sake of peace in India - and this has a most important bearing on the welfare of the Far East as a whole-a full and comprehensive policy for the future should be worked out now, and without hesitation and delay.

PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT. VI1

BY CAPTAIN NICOLA POPOFF

EARLY in January 1914 a certain Lieutenant Mof the Japanese artillery, who had been sent to Siberia by the Tokyo War Office, arrived at Irkutsk, and, putting up at a hotel, immediately advertised for room and board in a good Russian family. It was not unusual for Japanese officers to be sent to Russia and for Russian officers to be sent to Japan under a friendly arrangement between the two Governments, in order to learn the languages of those countries. But Russian officers thus sent to Japan were always regarded as suspicious characters by the authorities there. They were kept under constant surveillance and their correspondence was regularly, and often clumsily, opened and read. Some protests had been registered with our War Department about this, but had been disregarded by our military authorities.

I surmised, however, that if the Japanese watched our officers in their country so sharply it meant that their own officers in our country were up to something. So I decided to keep Lieutenant M

under my eye and to watch his correspondence. Consequently, when his advertisement was brought to my office I seized the chance to lodge him in an apartment under my own supervision.

With this in view I summoned one of my agents who was just moving into a comfortable new home and ordered him

1 From a Confidential Journal. Copyright by

the Living Age Company. All publication rights reserved.

to call on Lieutenant M- immediately and offer him a room. This agent wore the uniform of one of our civilian services. Lieutenant M gladly accepted the lodgings my assistant offered him, and moved into them that day. He was given a large, pleasantly furnished apartment which could be easily watched. A connection was arranged with the adjoining room so that every word of a conversation, even a whisper, in the Lieutenant's room could be heard by the listener on the other side of the wall. Unknown to Lieutenant M, the house had several outside entrances, and a secret telephone. The postman who delivered letters in this street was in my employ, and the Lieutenant's correspondence was carefully examined before it was delivered. Another of my agents in the post office saw to it that all letters mailed by the Lieutenant were likewise scrutinized by us before being dispatched to their destinations. None of these letters ever showed the slightest trace of having been opened. In that respect at least we were more skillful than the Japanese.

Lieutenant spent the first day after he was settled in his new quarters making a round of official calls. That evening he put on a civilian suit and strolled up and down the principal thoroughfare of Irkutsk. After a time he turned a corner and made straight for Siraisi's laundry, which he entered through the back door, showing that he knew all about the place. Chao, who had been shadowing him, dropped into

the laundry a few minutes later. His visits to Siraisi were now so frequent that they aroused no suspicion. Chao had also come in through the yard, as the front door of the laundry was already locked. Lieutenant M― had left the gate ajar, so Chao was able to enter without making a noise, and to listen for a minute or two at Siraisi's door before knocking. He overheard Lieutenant M-describing to Siraisi, in the respectful tone of a man addressing his superior, the details of his journey and his first impressions of Irkutsk. In making this report he called Siraisi 'Major.'

Chao, fearing lest he might be detected eavesdropping, knocked at the door after catching these first words. Siraisi welcomed him cordially and introduced him to his caller, saying that the Lieutenant had just come to Irkutsk to study Russian and had been so courteous as to call on him in order to learn how his fellow countrymen in the city were faring. Siraisi affected an excessively respectful attitude toward Lieutenant M- -, thanking him profusely for the honor of his visit. The Lieutenant, however, was not an equally good actor. He alternated his manner several times during the conversation, now speaking familiarly to Siraisi as to a social inferior, and again addressing him with deep respect. This byplay amused Chao hugely.

After leaving Siraisi's place Lieutenant M returned to his lodgings and, as proved to be his invariable custom, wrote for an hour or so in what we later discovered was his diary. He spent the next day strolling around the city making purchases, or in his room reading Japanese books.

After this first favorable opportunity Chao profited by the officer's absence to run through his diary. As a piece of literature it was an utter failure, for it contained only a dry list of the places

he had been to, the things he had done every hour and minute of the day. But we knew that as well as he did already. The only interesting entry was under the date of his visit to Siraisi. It read:

"This afternoon I called on the Major. He gave me a rather cold reception. He showed great anger after reading the letter I brought him from the General Staff. He asked me about my journey. Just then a Chinaman came in, whereupon the Major instantly changed his manner and acted the part of a poor laundryman. He introduced me as a lieutenant. I understood at once what it meant, but, not being trained in my new part, made several blunders, and the Major got angry again. After the Chinaman left he gave me a callingdown and forbade me to visit him again until I had learned how to play my part. He ordered me not to associate with the other Japanese and to devote myself entirely to my studies. If he needed me he would let me know through the Head Post Office. I do not know where this office is, and was too much disturbed to ask the Major.'.

Lieutenant M-'s letters were as stupid and uninteresting as his diary. Things ran on in this way about a month, until late one night when my agent, the Lieutenant's landlord, called me up on his secret telephone and asked me to send an interpreter at once because Lieutenant M- had a visitor. I immediately sent Chao, who came back three hours later with the following report:

At 11 P.M., after Lieutenant Mhad retired, a Japanese who spoke fluent Russian called upon him. The landlord awakened Lieutenant Mto announce the visitor, but he did not give him the latter's card, saying that he had dropped it in the dark hallway. Lieutenant M— asked him M

to show the visitor to his room immediately. The two greeted each other heartily and engaged in animated conversation. That was when the agent telephoned for an interpreter. Until the latter came he watched the friends through a tiny aperture in the door, his wife replacing him when he went to the restaurant to buy some drinks ordered by Lieutenant M- Chao then came in and replaced the agent's wife.

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Chao had never seen the newcomer before, and he had no idea who he was, but gathered from his appearance that he must be an army officer, older than Lieutenant M and his senior in rank. The conversation confirmed this. The men talked for a long time but without saying anything important. The newcomer tossed off several glasses of vodka, but the Lieutenant drank only wine, and that very moderately. At two o'clock the visitor left and, shadowed by my agents, went directly to a Japanese brothel, where he disappeared through the doors of the keeper's private apartment, and did not come out again.

The only word on the visiting card that Chao handed me was ‘Miamura.' I at once took every precaution to keep an eye on all the movements of this famous Japanese spy. It was thanks to his visit that we discovered most of the secrets of his country's espionage service in Siberia, for we listened in to practically all of his long conversations with Lieutenant M— at the latter's lodging.

During his stay in Irkutsk, which lasted nearly a month, Miamura called at least once, and sometimes twice, a day upon the Lieutenant. We learned from their talks together that Miamura was a Japanese officer in active service, serving on the Staff of the Kwangtung military district. He was an experienced spy, and he had worked in

Russia from the very beginning of his military career, before the RussoJapanese War. He had resided in Vladivostok and Harbin, and had often traveled across Siberia and studied its geography and social and economic conditions. During the war of 1904 Miamura had penetrated to the rear of the Russian army disguised as a Chinaman and had secured there valuable information for the Japanese Staff. He had later lived in Port Arthur, which was the headquarters of his service, and had made many trips to Russia on special missions. He was not permitted to stay in Siberia very long, however, because of his fondness for vodka, which was well known to his superiors. But the latter always employed him on special missions requiring quick action, a ready wit, and great boldness. His purpose in coming to Irkutsk this time was to discover how Katzan's relation with the Japanese spy service had been detected, and how much had come out during the trial, which was not allowed to be reported in the Russian newspapers.

We also learned from this source that Katzan had entered the Japanese service through an accident. In 1913 Hiroto Minori, who proved to be a Foreign Office employee who had worked in several of Japan's Far Eastern consulates and even at her Embassy at Petrograd, had stopped at Irkutsk for three days on business. When he called on the Commanding General, the orderly who assisted him with his overcoat attracted his notice as being an exceptionally fine-looking, obliging soldier, with a striking red beard. He also observed that this fellow took the gold piece which he gave him as a tip with unusual eagerness, as if he were in urgent need of money. Late that night, while strolling idly through the streets, Hiroto met the soldier again and, recognizing him at

once by his beard, spoke to him, whereupon the man, who was already partly intoxicated, explained that he was having a good time with the money the Japanese had given him that morning.

Thereupon Hiroto Minori invited the fellow to come somewhere and have a drink. Katzan suggested Srul's place, and it was there that Hiroto got him drunk and persuaded him to sign the contract agreeing to serve the Japanese, which the soldier himself wrote out from Hiroto Minori's dictation. As soon as he had signed this paper, Katzan received his first hundred rubles-a month's pay in advance. On the very next day Katzan, in accordance with Hiroto's instructions, brought the General's letters to Siraisi's laundry before he took them to the Chief of Staff. There they were opened and the more important ones photographed. The second day he did the same. Having thus assured himself that Katzan was keeping his end of the bargain, Hiroto went on to Petrograd, leaving matters in Siraisi's charge.

About this time the military attaché at the Japanese Embassy in Petrograd was instructed by his Government to procure from the Russian Ministry of Communications the latest maps of the Siberian and Transbaikal railroads, which had been rebuilt after the RussoJapanese War, double-tracked, and provided with a great number of new buildings and sidings. These improvements were practically finished in 1913, but the Japanese had no exact information regarding them.

After the Embassy found itself unable to procure these maps and plans at Petrograd, it decided to try the railway's division offices at Omsk and Irkutsk. When Hiroto first visited the latter city in 1913 the Japanese had already tampered with an employee in the Omsk office, who had promised to get them the maps of the western

section of the road; but they had made no progress at Irkutsk, although the chief engineer of the Transbaikal section, who had his office there, was known to be a drunken, dissipated fellow. Siraisi was ordered to do the job, but he failed, and Hiroto had to come out to follow up the matter.

That was his errand on the occasion when he eluded us by leaving the train at Innokentievskaia station, driving to Irkutsk, and then dropping mysteriously out of sight. After dismissing his cab that day, he had gone directly to the Japanese brothel I have mentioned, whose keeper, as we learned later, handled all the mail and the money of the Japanese spies employed in that part of Siberia. While staying at this place he communicated with Siraisi and ascertained how Katzan was doing. Finding that the orderly's service was satisfactory, the fellow was offered an extra inducement to secure the name and address of the chief construction engineer. Katzan agreed to do so. It chanced to be precisely when the latter was delivering this information to Hiroto that my agent saw the two together and lost the latter's trail at the National Restaurant.

That very evening, as we afterward discovered, Hiroto had hired a conveyance to take him to the next station on the railway line east of Irkutsk, where he boarded a train for Manchuria Station on the Russian frontier. He secured the exclusive use of a compartment on the train by giving a liberal tip to the conductor. When the train reached Manchuria Station Hiroto left it, carrying a small traveling bag, and, jumping on a Chinese cart that was waiting for him, rode over to Manchuria Village. From that point he easily crossed the Russian border into China.

Subsequently, after Katzan had been sent back to his regiment by the General and was no longer able to supply

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