Commons Gets Measure Curbing “fifth Column” Activities in Britain

The death penalty for “grave cases of espionage and sabotage” was provided in a series of measures presented to Commons today by Sir John Anderson, Home Secretary and Minister for Home Security. Sir John said the steps were urgently required to combat “fifth column” activities and subversive propaganda “calculated to foment opposition to prosecution of the war.”

(Part of the opposition has taken the form of blaming the Jews for having started the war and seeking to spread the impression that only the Jews have anything to gain by it.)

Sir John emphasized that “these regulations have been very carefully drawn so as to avoid penalizing mere expression of opinion, while at the same time giving full power to deal with mischievous activities directed toward impeding the war effort of the nation.” As explained by the Home Secretary, these amendments empower the Government to:

(1) “Intern non-enemy aliens who would ordinarily be deported, but cannot be deported to their own country by reason of circumstances arising from the war.”

(2) “Control the entry into this country of persons repatriated from enemy territory who, technically British subjects, have no close association with British interests…A person to whom the regulation applies may, as an alternative to internment, be required to reside within a specified area and not travel outside it without permission.”

(3) “Check the spread of propaganda calculated to undermine the resolution of the people to prosecute the war to a successful issue.”

(4) “Make it an offence to endeavor to incite men who are liable to military service to evade their duties, or to endeavor to incite persons to abstain from enrolling voluntarily in any defence service.”