At the
same time the Post Office, acting under the powers given them by the
Wireless Telegraphy acts, dismantled all private wireless stations; and
they established a special system of wireless detection by which any
station actually used for the transmission of messages from this country
could be discovered. The police have co-operated successfully in this
matter with the Post Office.
New and still more stringent powers for dealing with espionage were
given by the Defense of the Realm act, which was passed by the Home
Secretary through the House of Commons and received the Royal Assent on
Aug. 8. Orders in council have been made under this act which prohibit,
in the widest possible terms, any attempt on the part either of aliens
or of British subjects to communicate any information which "is
calculated to be or might be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy";
and any person offending against this prohibition is liable to be tried
by court-martial and sentenced to penal servitude for life. The effect
of these orders is to make espionage a military offense. Power is given
both to the police and to the military authorities to arrest without a
warrant any person whose behavior is such as to give rise to suspicion,
and any person so arrested by the police would be handed over to the
military authorities for trial by court-martial.
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