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Show LIKE STATE OF WAR. Despite the fact that this country is not at war it has become necessary to take precautions considered requisite in a state of war. Manifestly, Governor Gov-ernor Whitman called out the naval and regular militia none too soon. The guarding of the giant bridges across the Fast river and the North river is but a small part of the task which the police and guardsmen will be called upon to perforin. It would not be at all surprising if mines should be strewn in Xew York harbor following a declaration of war. Unless elaborate preparations are made by the government to deal with all possible aits of secret warfare the wires are apt to bear to us frequent messages of disaster. Many subjects of Germany and Austria Aus-tria who were in the naval or military service of their respective countries were unable to get away from the United States at the outbreak of the war. Some of them have already employed em-ployed their time and ingenuity in devising de-vising ways and means to cripple shipping. ship-ping. One coterie of officers was discovered dis-covered making bombs which could be attached to outgoing ships. The action of the water was sufficient to explode these bombs in a few hours. Fortunately for tho country, the secret se-cret service has become fairly well acquainted with those who were perniciously per-niciously active in violating American neutrality. These men, no doubt, are being watched. A not inconsiderable number of them already occupy prison cells. As a non-military nation the United States is poorly equipped under ordinary circumstances to cope with the emissaries of secret warfare. Our preparedness pre-paredness at this time is due to unpleasant unpleas-ant experiences since August, 191-i. We have been compelled to organize a system sys-tem of espionage the sole purpose of which is to frustrate violations of neutrality. neu-trality. At best, the system is inadequate inade-quate when compared with the secret service of a nation like Germany. Canada was forced to meet the problem prob-lem as soon as the war began. This she did not so much by means of secret service ser-vice as by interning Germans and Aus-trians. Aus-trians. The conspirators will not have everything every-thing their own way, for their own people peo-ple will betray them. They will not know whom to trust. Of this they are well aware, for there have been instances in-stances already in which their plots were revealed to the federal authorities by those in whom they had reposed faith. |