HC Deb 26 June 1913 vol 54 cc1227-8
35. Mr. KING

asked the Home Secretary whether it is intended to release Heinrich Grosse; if so, when; and, if not, will he explain why this is not to be done?

Mr. McKENNA

His Majesty's Government appreciate the clemency shown by the Imperial German Government in the case of three British officers, and if any German officer were now under sentence in this country for espionage, it would give His Majesty's Government much pleasure to be able to reciprocate. Grosse is not an officer in the German Army, and his criminal record, including a sentence of penal servitude in Singapore, for uttering forged notes, is such that no parallel can be drawn between his case and that of the British officers.

Mr. KING

Are we to conclude, then, that there is one law for gentlemen with high influences and another law for ordinary working men who have no influence?

Mr. McKENNA

I fail altogether to see the relevance of my hon. Friend's question.