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Show MM SPIES SENT INTO MM! Shown, However, That They Are Paid by a London Newspaper. Special Cable to The Tribune. ' BERNE, April 29. Since the war began the British press has shown an amazing interest for Switzerland. The little republic re-public has been flooded with a small army of supposed English journalists, who i established themselves in all the larger cities and even in the small villages along ' the German frontier. For many months it was an open secret that these alleged correspondents were not newspaper men, but spies. The Swiss government, however, found it very difficult diffi-cult to obtain proofs against them, although al-though they operated quite openly and employed large staffs of assistants, mostly most-ly young Swiss women, whom they sent to Germany regularly to obtain information informa-tion about movements of troops and i other military matters. After a long investigation the Swiss authorities finally arrested five of the alleged al-leged journalists and they have been tried here on charges of espionage. In their hotels and offices much incriminating material ma-terial was found by the police and their trial brought disclosures which have created cre-ated great excitement throughout Switzerland. Switzer-land. The Englishmen frankly confessed that they were not newspaper men. but clerks, commercial travelers, etc., and had been sent to Switzerland by Txird ""Northcllffe to get as much military information as possible from Germany. An Italian brtck-inyer, brtck-inyer, who had also established himself as a correspondent, was tried with them. In the possession of one of the English- . men a circular of the British war office was found. This circular requests the publishers of the British papers to use their correspondents in neutral countries to get all military information that might be of interest to the allies. Acting on this suggestion, L,ord Northcliffe, arcord-' arcord-' ing to statements made at the trial of his five arrested agents, sent thirty spies to Switzerland. To mask their activities the alleged Journalists telegraphed what were apparently appar-ently news fitories to Lortdon, but on the stand thev confessed that they were Instructed In-structed to send only very sensational reports and to picture the conditions In Germany In the darkest light. The court found the charges against the five arrested men fullv sustained, but had to acquit them, hecause they were not. directly in the service of the British government, and received their nay and instructions from a newspaper proprietor. The Swiss press is indignant over the i disclosures and demands the expulsion of I t;ie "press bums," as It calls them. This I step will in all probability be taken by t the government. |