10 SEPTEMBER 1910, Page 3

A young German officer arrested at Portsmouth whilst sketching the

fortifications has by order of the War Office been handed over to the civil authorities, and on Wednesday was brought before a Magistrate and remanded. The opera- tions of Secret Service agents are not confined to one nation, and whatever may prove to be the truth as to the intentions of the two Englishmen arrested at Borkum, it cannot be denied that the arrest at Portsmouth comes at a very convenient moment. It is stated that the German Press treats the incident very calmly, and we sincerely hope that a similar mood may prevail amongst our own newspapers. Nothing is more contemptible than that form of spy-mania which sees treachery in the acts of foreigners, while it defends them as laudable enterprise when done by a fellow-countryman.