Moreover, official etiquette prevents an ambassador or consul
from acting in such a capacity.
In this age of rapid developments the need of quick and accurate
information is even more pressing. Europe to-day is a sort of armed
camp, composed of a number of nations of fairly equal strength, in
which the units are more or less afraid of each other. Mutual
distrust and conflicting interests compel Germany, England, France and
Russia to spend billions of money each year on armaments. Germany
builds one battleship; England lays down two; France adds ten
battalions to her army; Germany adds twenty. So the relative strength
keeps on a fair level. But with rapid constructions, new inventions
of weapons, armor, aerial craft, this apparent equality is constantly
disturbed. Here also enters the personal policy and ambitions and pet
schemes of the individual heads of nations and their cabinets.
Because there is a constant fear of being outdistanced, every
government in Europe is trying its utmost to get ahead of the other.
They, hence, keep a stringent watch on each other's movements. This
is possible only by an efficient system of espionage, by trained men
and women, willing to run the risks attached to this sort of work.
For risks there are. I have been imprisoned twice, once in the
Balkans at Belgrade, once in England. I have been attacked five times
and bear the marks of the wounds to this day.
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