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Show r 'I IT ITHT T"r T"TT A DFVPT A TTHXT "IE WEB S PUBLISHED BY AUTIIOraiY OP THE NATIONAL DI- :: By 1. I k A SI lSLu VLLn HUIM rectors op the American protective league, a vast, EMERSON Hm I U I r1 fF P 1 tt nArrnmrrTof silent volunteer army, organized with the approval: ilkouin HOUGH jL JL J L W W 11 U IN PATRIOTISM AND OPERATED UNDER THE DIRECTION OP THE UNITED STATES :: The SI't , -L wLw-O I V XX AW AkJlVl. DEPARTAIENT OP JUSTICE, BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION. Ch c.to c - discoveries have cmitt r.iTi " belief. Rec0,ulyq aU flr ' document was found to L aui,,nu3 other mat tors the names n,ain a-2 tlemen whom the German 8eVeri 3 trusted to carry on tt . , KmP 2 finally after the wiihdrn? hir representatives. Of thl d! of P rested on April 6 ,7 ! already left the count V Th 4 He German leaders had d,!U have been continually rofieo e.Cta jointed and sporadic outbreak. --MraL'ter of hy One of the most rerni most important of the - de , novl forts is the Uenaturuhzat1nnnn:t'I',M citizens of foreign orffi110?, of vj of Germany or A,lsl,1 ' i ;V,y ni summary internment bv tV Vercd ?rtt citizenship and clever L ? ac3 the commission of actual "Si ' 4 suited and injured this 11 ' 1,uv 5 every opportunity. Fortnnt V ni,,1"t i jrailzation law contains i tl,e tI"ff,thft, "lation of citizen obtained by fraud. Wttl inn? hlNj( further legislation, wh cn Uu'Un the way, the department hl?ren,,'t number of defendants bel made fraudulent mental 10 loa ty to their native ecu n ( "ai.( of theso cases have alrea K- !" ,SfV; torlously for tho eovernm?, one detendant has been into im Meanwhile the summary continued. From wee c to it . ' 1M7 their numbers steadilv thr' ' feinco about the beRinninS yof :N rate has been more nearly conL U' 11 Extremists have advocated , '1 sal internment of alien enin L. Unlv what after th EnKlish I"1 Great Britain interned pen, Z In N fewer than 70.00U alien e ml ,y ru,t United States would comn ' 71 tern at least SOO.000 VlermSni ' V0 h ' than twice as many A,StSSa ossa expense of maintaining 1 0 in Idleness-civilian prisoner, of . " ar more useless than convleS 17 they may not he forced l0 uSt . 11 obvious to need discussion h"ls ti More, temperate critics B.iy p,,, have been too few arrests , .th proportion of internments, un 1 tooSi-a tooSi-a proportion of pamW As 1 and second charges. !t IT 1 ' answer that conduhns hav Im,,1 stead of becoming w.-rrn A nl'i-record nl'i-record should not be Judged ., !.tn'a her of people he has put in ui J'l tho kind of order malnWd 1 th U r 5, 1918 subsequent to the stuV 0 armistice, the attorney rlmW -J that six thousand alien enemies hju arrested o presulenM.il warrants b,S on the old law of Of -h,l "considerable number" wciv riVrL' the internment camps in rliai-.. flt n army. The majority of theso wero ri man men and women, with i Wii number of Austro-H.incravi.ins ' He ra eludes: "I do not want to crme 'fl impression that there is no dan-er (ra German spies and Gsmm avni'a'thuS There are thousands of person in ih country who woulj inluro the rnS States in this war if thev could do with safety to themselves. However thl are no more anxious to he JninqeJ tin you are." v ' The foregoing will show, to anv dent of the stranee nnd complex FitJ tion which has oonfronted An;rna home- these laet four y.un, the ma facts as to the emergencies we met aa the means hy which we met them. Tho surprising thine: in that v;e Am leans have not known ourselves! thoughtful study of the AnieHcm Pri tective leag-ue Is not a mere y;inli over phrases of the law any rwire tha it is a mere dippin? into exciting ( mystlfyins" experiences. It .is more tin that. H is an excursion into a now un unexplored region in America into tlj very heart of Amorloa itself. hearts were still in Germany? Who could cope with 300,000 spies, in part trained and paid spies, many of whom were sent over to America lontf betore Germany declared the war which was "forced" on her? That was what the American "Protective "Protec-tive league already was dolus when war was declared; It is what it has done ever since, loyally, patiently, indefatiuabiy, to an enormous and unknown extent, In an unbelievable varietv of detail. If over vou have held its members irresponsible or deemed them actuated by any but fjood motives, cease to do so now. Heyond all men of this generation they have proved i that patriotism is not dead. The fiM'otvetiient of the president's proclamat ion roverniuir the conduct of eremy aliens in this country entailed a tremendous amount of P. J. wo'k, the larger part of which devolved upon the ayents of the league. Thousands of investigations in-vestigations of alien Germans were made une'er its provisions. Numerically speak-iiigTi speak-iiigTi however, the work in that imperatively impera-tively necessary line yielded to the more thankless labor of slacker and deserter hunting". The function of the league in all these matters is obvious. No case at law will "stick" unless supported by competent testimony. We have seen that the league was ore:aii!7ed for the collect ion oi' evidence, evi-dence, and for nothing: else. "Limited as its power was, it ready saved tho 3 ay lor our hard-pressed country. It increased i 6ur army by many thousands of evaders : whom It tound and turned over to the mil- I litary authorities. It put hundreds of aliens into internment. 1 1 apprehended : plotters and prevented consummation of conspiracies beyond number. It kept down the danger of that large disloyal element, and held Germany in America safe while we went on with the open business of wax in the field. It is by no means too much to say that much of the kaiser's disap- pointment oer his German-American revolt re-volt was due not so much to any loyalty to the American flag for of all of our racial representatives, the Germans are the most clannishly and tenaciously loyal to their own former flag- as it wa3 to fear of tho silent and stern hand searching search-ing out in the dark and taking first one and then another German or pro-German away from the scenes that erstwhile had known him. It was fear that held our enemy population down fe-ir and rothing" else- It was tho leacrue's silent and mysterious errand to pile up good reason tor that ft ar. At the crack of war, certain hundreds of dangerous aliens were interned at once. They simply vanished, that was all, behind be-hind the walls of camps or of prisons. It will be mistaken mercy if we shall not deport thousands more when we shall have the time deliberately to do that. Fear is the one thing such men understand. under-stand. Honor and loyaJtS. terms interdependent interde-pendent and inseparable, are unknown to them. Too many Germars loved America only because they made money easily here. Their real flag still was across the sea, except as they had raised it here in their churches and. their schools. It was sometimes rumored, that many spies were shot secretly in America. That would have been done in Germany as witness the deaths of Fdith Cavell and others. It was not done here. We did not kdl a single spy, a single traitor, more is the pity. By reason of the fact that we had outspied Germany's vaunted espionage, we nipped in the bud none knows hew many plots and conspi raeies which otherwise would have matured in ruin to life and property. We did not shoot known spies, but we parroted them in the dt.rk and hurried them to jail. That cgency of the law- is best after ail, which keeps crime from becoming crime. V e did not wait for overt acts we filled our prisons before the acts were done! That is why the public was obliged to romance as to German spies. They are in jail. The report of the department of justice Itself, of June, ISIS, on these war activities will in this connection prove I n t eres t i n g read i n g : During the period of American neutrality many persons were prosecuted for criminal crimi-nal acts connected with efforts to aid the belligerents. Some of these cases were still pending when the United States declared de-clared war on Germany. A very satisfactory satisfac-tory standard of success was attained in the ante-bellum prosecutions. Almost before be-fore the ink had dried on the proclamation proclama-tion of April 6, 1917, a select company of dangerous Germans were gathered in by the United States marshals. These prisoners pris-oners were believed to be potential, and in some cases actual leaders of pro-German plots and propaganda. Subsequent : rirAPTrcu iv. TIIK LEAGUE IN WASHINGTON. Summary of trie l.e:iyue's Results Throughout the 1'ni led St a tes Report Re-port of the Na U or in I 1 re. 'tors Facts, Figures and Totals fur All the Lnviiiiona. FACTS now may be made public property which until lately tnij?ht not have been d ivulged. We therefore ahall find profit now in studying the central organization by means- of which i he aroused A mer-ii-ans combined to tight the hidden fore-s of their unscrupulous enemy. The origin and growth, the general plans and nn-iu-oda of tho American Protective league, ha vo been ex plained ; and It will now be well, before we pasw on to the specific story of the league's activities, to irive some idea of the wide reaching consolidation consolida-tion of those acti vi ties which followed upon the. establishment of the national headquarters. The report of any official may seem dry and formal , hut the records should be made, to show how Afn'-rh a's amateur Scotland yard organized to fight the forces of Germany nil over America. This portion por-tion of tho lea gue's story is therefore of greu t value to a nyone desirous of knowing know-ing the logical sfeps by which the league developed into a truly national institution. institu-tion. The liaison officer of tho national directors, di-rectors, Captain Charles Daniel Frey, made his report and summary of November, Novem-ber, 10 IS. to Colonel K. C. Mas teller of trio genera 1 staff, chief of tho negative branch of the military intelligence division. This report was a general assembling of the national activities of tho lea gue up to thd time of the signing of the armistice. Certain extracts are made in consonance with the general outline abovo indicated. It should be noted that this report covers only a portion of the league's work in Washington. The department of Justice figures, as was to be expected, exceeded those of any other branch of the league's work. The war department totals were also very high evidence of service rendered ren-dered by the league which the war department depart-ment always has been very courteous and grateful in acknowledging. Captain Frey'a report reads: Sir: In compliance with your request, we beg to submit the following statement of service rendered the war department hy tho American protective league As you know, local divisions of the league .re in operation in practically all towns niiil cities of substantial size throughout the United States, and the league has been extended, through a plan of county organization, generally throughout the rural communities. It Is not possible to submit to you an accurate classified statement of the aggregate of all of the work done throughout the country. We fire able, however, to present a general statement of the activities of the league for the war department of the United States, with a detailed report of the work of the local divisions in no communities 1 of tho country. The total population of those communities is approximately one-Beventh one-Beventh of the population of the entire country. The work of the American Protective league for the military intelligence division divi-sion of the war department, began soon after tho entry of the United States into the war. When the national headquarters headquar-ters of the league were established in Washington in November, 1917. the national na-tional directors conferred with Colonel Tt. H.' Van Deman regarding a plan for wider service throughout the entire coun-': coun-': try. One of the national directors was, commissioned in the army, assigned to . the military intelligence division and de- j tailed to the work of the league. In April, , 301S, a department of the league was in- i stalled in the military intelligence divi- ; slon. and since then the work has constantly con-stantly grown in volume. A captain in the military intelligence iH now in charge, and at the present time thirty-six em- . ployees are working in the section. I The Increase in the volume of work is i clearly shown hy the records. Investigations Investiga-tions directed by the section in May, 1P1S. numbered Sis:" in June, 1777; in Julv, rSSL1; in August, 3M7; in September. 736; and in October. fi604. These, investiga- - tlons were of applicants for overseas service ser-vice for the Y. M. C. A., Red Cross, i' Knights of Columbus. Jewish Welfare, . Salvation Army and other civilian organizations: organ-izations: of applicants for commissions and employment in various departments of the army, including the quartermaster department, surgeon general's office, department de-partment of aeronautics, ordnance department, de-partment, signal corps, army chapla.in , service.' chemical warfare service, etc. , They also included investigations on counter-espionage matters. German propaganda, prop-aganda, deserters, slackers and various vari-ous other miscellaneous cases, all of which were made at the direct request of the heads of the different sections of the military intelligence division at Washington. The character of this work differs in no way from that of the department of military intelligence having to do with negative intelligence. In tho one hundred hun-dred local divisions referred to, the number num-ber of cases investigated and reported upon were 62.SS8, and upon the percentage rasis the number handled throughout the country would be 440.216. The league has likewise exerted itself in enlisting the aid of the public in reporting re-porting enemy activities, disloyalties and evasions of the war statutes. In various cities bulletins have been posted in prominent places, including street cars, office buildings and places of public gathering, requesting citizens to report to the American Protective league all such cases coming to their knowledge. Much important information resulted from this practice. iJi-causf of the fact that the members of t he league continue to follow their daily vocations and maintain ' h.-ir normal nor-mal connections with th- t mnunity, 'hey are afforded unusual " ri unities for the invent i'af iun of radi - raniza-t raniza-t ions of all kind . The league has been able to introduce members into all of tho more important organizations, and to report re-port upon their policies and activities, as well as upon the activities of individual members. The number of investigations of this character carried on in the one hundred divisions referred to were 3tH5; or 25, .115 for the entire country. As most of i hese wf-re extended, and in many cases involved a complete report upon the local organization as u whok, the figures represent a very considerable amount of work. Under this heading are included investigations of the I. W. W., the W. I. I. U., pacifist organizations of many kinds, the People's council, tho Leaguo of Humanity, the Non-partisan league, the Russellites and certain Socialistic movements. Sabotage Investigations and conscientious objectors are also included. In connection with the development of the overseas service of the Red Cross, V. M. C. A., Knights of Columbus, Jewish Welfare, Salvation Army and other civilian civil-ian orga nlzations of like character, the necessity arose for the careful investigation investiga-tion of the character, history and connections con-nections of civilian applicants to such service. Fortunately, the military intelligence intelli-gence finally took over the entire work of passing upon the character and loyalty loyal-ty of applicants, and relieved the league of the responsibility of directly advising the organizations concerned of the outcome out-come of the investigations. The military intelligence then called upon the league as its agent to make the larger part of the investigations. By this method the name of the investigator and of the individual in-dividual responsible for the decision remains re-mains undisclosed, and the judgment is in that sense impersonal. The league likewise made investigations investiga-tions of a large number of applicants for commissions in various divisions of the war department, Including applicants for chaplaincies. Investigations as to character "and loyalty loy-alty reached a very large total. The number aggregates .'10.1(36, including cer- j tain investigations made prior to the es- ! taollshment of the league section in the military intelligence division at Washington. Washing-ton. On January 12, 101$, the national directors di-rectors issued a bulletin calling upon all local divisions to make full report upon the rumors, current in their communities, communi-ties, which were, harmful to the interest of the United States in the prosecution of the war. As a result of this inquiry, a large amount of information was gathered, gath-ered, complete copies of which were turned over to the military intelligence division for its liies. In. view of the fact that a large number of members of the American Protective league enlisted in the military service or were Inducted into the draft, the league was requested by the military intelligence division to procure the names of all such men, with their record, in order that the military intelligence might avail itself of their services within the military forces if it so desired. In addition to the foregoing, miscellaneous miscel-laneous investigations for the military intelligence were, carried on in considerable considera-ble volume. These included cases of impersonation im-personation of army officers, vise of passports, bribery, theft and embezzlement embezzle-ment and a variety of other cases. These miscellaneous investigations in the local divisions referred to aggregate 19,556, or 136.892 for the country at large. On June 5, 1917, the date of the first registration,, approximately SO, 000 members mem-bers of the league throughout the country coun-try assisted at the registration polls, giving giv-ing advice and assistance to registrants under the law and aiding the officials in all possible ways. ' In the larger cities, particularly those with large foreign-born populations, great congestion resulted because be-cause of the ignorance of the law and Its provisions on the part of registrants, and because of the difficulty in ascertaining ascertain-ing and transcribing correctly their names and other information regarding them. The number of places for registration registra-tion proved insufficient because of the shortness of the hours, and in many places great confusion resulted. Acting under proper instructions, members of the league in large numbers served as volunteer registrants under the direction of the officials. On February n, 1 PIS, the provost marshal general and the attorney general of tho United States united in a request to tho American Protective lasrue to cooperate with ell local and district exemption bor rds throughout the United States in locating and causing to present themselves them-selves to the proper authorities delinquents delin-quents under the selective service regulations, regu-lations, including those classed as deserters. de-serters. Thereupon each local division j assigned certain members to the local t and district boards within its jurisllc-j jurisllc-j tion. These activities are of many varieties vari-eties and include the investigation of : board memters, conspiracies and bribery, : conspiracies to obstruct the draft, draft i evasion in all forms, fraudulent attempts i at dt f erred classification false claims , for exemption, failures to report for examination, ex-amination, failures to report for mobili -nation, failures to file questionnaires , failures to register, failures to secure final . classification, failures to notify local boards of changes in address, failures to ascertain present status from the local board, failures to entrain, and all other alleged infractions of the regulations. These investigate ns made by the one hundred local divisions total 323,S4'J. Upon a percentage basis, the cas-s handled throughout tho country would total 2,-2tJ,44;j, 2,-2tJ,44;j, and incl tiding the slacker raids, an erorrnous figure which cannot well be estimated. Many investitration-; under the local boards were made with extreme difficulty because of the confusion in the spelling of names, inaccura te records and constantly con-stantly shifting addresses due to the roaming character of the individual. We believe that the provost marshal general's gen-eral's oft ice will con'irm tne statement that the number of delinquents and deserters de-serters of this character is very great, possibly exceeding two hundred thousand, thou-sand, a group recruited mostly from laborers, harvesters and other ranks of ho.meler s unskilled labor. Members of the league have giver, a great amount of time a nd energy to these citses. During; the I wo or three months following fol-lowing the day of first regis t ration, a general effort was made by local divisions di-visions of the league :n the principal cities to run down those individuals within the draft age who had failed to register on June a, PJ17. In Chicago, a r ity-wido drive was made during which all stations of the railroads entering Chicago were covered by league operators, and tho town town or loop district was likewise patrolled. This was die first organized effort on a largo scale to enforce en-force the regulations. Subsequently similar sim-ilar action was taken ir. other cities. In the early summer and fall of 1918 many slacker drives were conducted throughot-t the country- They were made under the direction of the officials oi the department of justice with the active assistance of the local divisions of the American Protective league. Effective Ef-fective drives occurred in Cleveland, Detroit, De-troit, St Douis, Philadelphia. New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Davenport, Daven-port, Dayton and many cities of leaser size throughout the country. As a result of a single drive in one city, according to the report of the division divi-sion superintendent of the bureau of investigation in-vestigation of the department of justice, approximately 500 men were sent to camp as deserters and 4000 delinquents were apprehended. These drives as a whole were carried on with the acquiescence and with the general satisfaction of the public at large, and with the minimum of embarrassment to the individuals concerned. con-cerned. The New York City drive presented pre-sented an exception where certain difficulties diffi-culties arose. As a result of these drives, several thousand men were examined throughout the country; tens of thousands who had failed to comply with the requirements of the selective service regulations were i compelled to go to their district boards I to make good their delinquencies, and many thousand delinquents and deserters were inducted into the army who other- , wise might have escaped service. i Members of the league have appre- , hended many camp deserters and soldiers sol-diers absent without leave. Thev have investigated thousands of requests for furloughs where the soldier claimed ill- ; ness at home or made other claims. Many ' fraudulent requests were uncov$-ed by 1 these investigations. These investiga- tions, in the one hundred divisions re- ferred to. numbered 3478. Early in April, 1918. the national di- I rectors conferred with Mr. Fosdlck and ! other officials of the department of train- I ing camp activities, and with the offi- I cials of the department of justice, with regard to developing a plan for the successful suc-cessful enforcement of section 13 of the selective service act and the regulations I thereunder the section referred to having hav-ing to do with the protection of the military mili-tary and naval forces of the United States from the evil influences of vice and prostitution in the vicinity of the camps. In the one hundred divisions referred re-ferred to, the number of investigations was 5866, or in the country at large, 41,062. In addition to the foregoing, the reports re-ports from local divisions indicate that they havo made a large number of investigations in-vestigations of a general character for the war department, including a variety I of subjects. Mention should also be made of a considerable amount of service rendered ren-dered to foreign recruiting missions in locating slackers and deserters and in making miscellaneous investigations of individuals. On March 18, 191S, the military intelligence intelli-gence branch of the war department requested re-quested the American Protective league to procure for that department, for immediate im-mediate use for intelligence purposes, photographs, drawings and descriptions of bridges, buildings, towns and localities then occupied by the German forces in France, Belgium and Luxemburg, and likewise in that portion of Germany lying ly-ing west of a line running north and south through Hamburg. In compliance with that request, national headquarters Issued a bulletin to all local divisions, j calling upon the entire organization of the league throughout the country to engage en-gage in the work, and prescribing a detailed de-tailed method for carrying it on. The result of the work, and the appreciation of the military intelligence branch, was expressed to the league in a letter from Lieutenant Colonel Coxe, under date of June 11, 3918, in which he quotes a letter let-ter from Colonel Nolan, chief of the military mili-tary intelligence force abroad, to the effect ef-fect that the material contained much information of value and that "the citizens citi-zens of the United States who donated the above articles and the league which collected them have done something which definitely helps toward the success of the operations of our army," Summing up the actual investigations made by the American Protective league in the 100 local divisions referred to. the gra nd total of cases reported by these divisions is 4 IS, 950. As has been shown, the jurisdiction of these divisions embraces em-braces approximately one-seventh of the whole population of the country covered by all of the local divisions of the league, and while some of the work reported by the loO divisions Is not duplicated elsewhere, else-where, yet the reverse is true, and it may fairly be said that the entire number oi cases handled by the league for the war department throughout the country is seven times the above figure, or more than three million. in conclusion, we beg to state that it has been the policy to co-operate with , all local, stale and federal departments I in enforcing the war laws of the United .States. Our local chiefs have been able to establish cordial relations with all local lo-cal police, sheriffs, fish and game wardens, fire wardens and other officials whose assistance -has been invaluable in many cases, and have likewise gained the friendly interest and support of the county coun-ty and state officials generally, as well as of the judicial departments. We have not attempted to set forth in this communication the volume of work done for the department of justice. jus-tice. A very prominent phnr of the work in which the A. P. L. w; ;& f use to the war department is cover-... very well by the comment of the department of justice jus-tice regarding the law under which the American army was raised: The most Important of the war laws is the selective service act. Cases under this act are of three general kinds first, the violation of the act by the military ellgibles themselves; that is, the failure to register in accordance with the registration regis-tration system under the draft, the failure fail-ure to file a questionnaire, the making of false exemption claims, the failure to report for examination, etc. As soon as a man becomes a deserter, he comes under the jurisdiction of the military au-; au-; thoritics and is turned over to them, j Up to that point, however, if he does not 1 fully comply with the law and the selec-t selec-t tive service regulations, he Is subject to : prosecution by this department. As the main object of the lawr is the raising of j an army and not the filling of a prison, i the department seeks to deliver to the ! military authorities, for military service, j all offenders subject to military service i and physically fit therefor, except those who wilfully and rebelliously refuse military mili-tary service and can be subjected to substantial sub-stantial punishment. The second class of cases concerns the acts of those who, not themselves subject to military service, Induce viola-i viola-i tions of the act, such as making false i exemption claims for others, inducing ! others to resist military service or evade j the law. This claslflcation also includes ' violations of duty on the part of members mem-bers of the exemption boards. The third class of cases relates to the violation of those sections which aim to protect training and mobilization camps from the evil influence of the liquor traffic or prostitution within the neighborhood neigh-borhood of the camp. The first class of cases has thrown upon the representatives represen-tatives of this department throughout the country an immense amount of work. This work has consisted in part of prosecuting prose-cuting deliberate violations of the law. In far larger measure, however, it has consisted in locating, apprehending and delivering to local boards or army officials of-ficials many thousands of men who for various reasons have failed to appear for physical examination, failed to file questionnaires, ques-tionnaires, etc. Down to July 1, 1918. the department had thus investigated 220,747 cases of this character and caused Induction into military service of 23,439 men. A curious personal quality attaches to the study of the work of the American Protective league, which is perhaps attributable at-tributable to the fact that all the members mem-bers were amateurs only and altogether unpaid. No doubt, did space and formal limitations permit, a very widespread comment on the personal relations of the members of the league to the league itself would be acceptable to many read-I read-I ers, Withm the limits available, how-t how-t ever, a certain martial severity and im-I im-I personality must be employed. None the i less, there ought to be some brief men-! men-! tion made of the work of the national directors after the establishment of the i Washington office. In this connection it is fitting that the names of those men should be mentioned who labored so ! earnestly and so well to make the work t of A. P. L. of vital importance in the ! winnhig of the war. ! NATIONAL DIRECTORS AND OF-I OF-I FICERS OF ADMINISTRATION OF ! THE AMERICAN PROTEC TIVE LEAGUE. A. M. Erlggs, chairman; Charles Daniel Frey, Victor Ellin g. national directors, November, 1917. S. S. Doty, In charge Bureau of Organization. Organ-ization. February, 1918. Captain George P. Braun, Jr., in charge Bureau of Investigation, June, 1918. Charles F. Lorenzen. in charge Bureau of Investigation, September, 1918. James D. Stover, in charge Bureau of Administration, September, 1918. Daniel V. Casey, editor of -The Spy Glass, May. 1918. Lieutenant Urban A. Lavery, in charge A. P. L. branch of military intelligence, , April, 191S. Captain John T. Evans, in charge A. P. L. branch of military intelligence, September, Sep-tember, 191S. The enormous growth of the American Protective league in so short a time is sufficient evidence in itself that a vast, pressing need existed for the service it rendered. Indeed, the great local activity ac-tivity of the league became a national activity in record time. Reports piled in from all over the country; the detail of correspondence became enormous; the filing fil-ing of records an endless task. All at once the national directors of the American Ameri-can Protective league found they had taken over a business one of the largest businesses with which any one of them had ever been identified. It would not be too much to say that they worked day and night for a long period. Their task was a very heavy one, but they brought to it a knowledge of large business busi-ness affairs and a quality of perseverance persever-ance which saw them through. The original headquarters ftf the league were at 1537 Eye street. Northwest, an old Washington residence, a quaint and none too convenient business home. All the directors lived in the upper part of this building, and such was the crowded and impractical form of Washington life at the time that they were giad to sleep and sometimes cook their meals in the same building where they did their work. Such a thing as rest or leisure were unknown un-known for two years' time. No one who has not been in part acquainted with Washington in wartime knows the handicap handi-cap under which ail such work needed to be done. Transportation, living accommodations, ac-commodations, clerical help everything, in that period of the war, became a problem prob-lem or an obstacle of a very considerable sort. It wras faith and enthusiasm which carried these men through, as was the case with their associates all over America. Amer-ica. So, gradually, from this central office the web of the American Protective league was extended until it reached into every state and territory of the union, and until each line of communication was one of interchange of intelligence from and to the central headquarters. It is only by reference to the portion of this history marked as "The Four Winds" showing briefs of reports from all over the union that any just knowledge can be gained of the tremendous volume of work done by the central headquarters. Nor docs the assemblage offered give more than a mere indication of that volume, vol-ume, because thousands of reports have, for reasons of space, received no notice whatever, unfair as that must always seem to everyone identified with the compilation com-pilation of this history. in the fall of li'18 headquarters were moved from 1 537 Eye street to 171 9 H street. Northwest, another old-time Washington residence of stately ert, which remained the home of the national headquarters until the signing of the armistice ar-mistice and the dissolution of the league itself. Here Mr. Briggs. Captain Frey and Mr. Elting remained until the end of the game in charge of a loyal band of w irkers. For all of theso men, and thos-associated with them, there remain the recollection of a hectic two years of high-speed work, in connection with financial fi-nancial loss to everyone engaged in it. CHAPTER V. THE LAW AND ITS NEW TEETH. Insufficiency of the Espionage Laws at the Outbreak of the War Getting Get-ting Results The Amended lpion-age lpion-age Act The Law of 179S Revived Statement of the Attorney General of the United States. If predisposed to alien enemy sympathy, sym-pathy, a critic might declare that the league was made up of individual bucca-neere, bucca-neere, who did high-handed things an I escaped punishment therei'or only because be-cause of the general confusion due to a state of war. Nothing could be more unjust un-just or farther from the truth than such a belief. On the contrary, the league and the department of justice as well felt continually held back and hampered by respect for laws admittedly inadequate. inade-quate. We had matured a great system of jurisprudence. sufficient for ordinary needs. Moreover, when war began, wc had passed more laws adjusted to the new needs; but it is a curious fact that, threatened as we were by Germany's perfected per-fected system of espionage and propaganda, propa-ganda, we had no actual statute by which we adequately could cope with it until May 1918 more than a year after we went to war, and less than six months before the end of the war. In the spring of 191S, the national directors di-rectors began, under tho editorship of Daniel V. Casey, the issue of a leaguo organ or confidential bulletin, called "The Spy Glass." Tho first number of the publication, in June of that year, took up the amended espionage act, which was the base of practically all of the A. P. L. and D. J. work during the war. This amendment rebuilt and stiffened tne original espionage act of June 15, 1917, which had been found insufficient, and "put teeth in the law," as the attorney general's office phrased it. "The Spy-Glass" Spy-Glass" printed a digest of the new enactment, en-actment, which is of essential interest at this point of the league's story, as it determined the whole character of the leaguo's later activities. This summarization sum-marization of the espionage act is printed as appendix C In the present volume. Up to the close of 1917 we had iiad, duly amended, many national statutes covering treason and sedition, foreign and hostile connections, pretending to be an officer, enticing to desertion or strikes, trespassing at ' military places, falsely claiming citizenship, aiding or counseling offense, w-earing uniform unlawfully, conspiracy, con-spiracy, neutrality, counterfeiting seals, use of mails, trading with the enemy, censorship, foreign language news items, sabotage, etc., as well as many specific enactments controlling persons liable for military service, and covering the increase in-crease of the army, the questions of evasion, desertion, etc. These powers, broad as they were already, were extended ex-tended under the blanket power of the articles of war to cover fraud, desertion, mutiny, insubordination, misbehavior before the enemy, tiaUors and spies, murder, , rape and other crimes, and the general conduct and discipline of those In military service. Not even all these laws, however, were found to stand the extreme demands put on the country by thousands of new and wholly unforeseen exigencies. As a matter mat-ter of fact, one of the most useful of all our laws against enemy aliens and spies was one not up-to-date at all, but dating back to revol u tionary times ; that is to say, July 6, 1798! See appendix D for text of this law. This old law was unearthed by the agents of the department of justice. It gave almost blanket powers to the president presi-dent of the United States, and it was under the president's proclamations, based on that old law, that most of the early internment arrests were made. The old law, long disused, was found to work perfectly still! It was extended in force by the regulations controlling enemy aliens. f ' tSee appendix E for text of the president's presi-dent's proclamation for the regulation of alien enemies. It became the duty of the newly organized or-ganized league to take on the accumulation accumula-tion of testimony under all these new laws; and what that was to mean may be forecast from the comment of the attorney attor-ney general of the United States in his annual report for 1918: "The so-called espionage act contains a variety of provisions on different subjects, sub-jects, such as neutrality, protection of ships in harbor, spy activities, unlawful military expeditions, etc. Most of the cases which have arisen, however, presenting pre-senting the most complex problems, have been under the third section of title I of this act, which is aimed at disloyal and dangerous propaganda. "This section 3 was amended by a law which became effective May 18, 1918, commonly com-monly called the sedition act, which greatly broadened the scope of the original origi-nal act and brought under its prohibitions prohibi-tions many new types of disloyal utterance. utter-ance. The use which our enemies have made of propaganda as a method of warfare war-fare is especially dangerous in any country coun-try governed by public opinion. During the first three years of the war, the period pe-riod of our neutrality, the German government gov-ernment and its sympathizers expended here a vast amount of money in carrying on different types of propaganda, and these activities are a matter of public knowledge. During our participation in the war, section 3 and its later amendment amend-ment have been the only weapons available avail-able to this government for the suppression suppres-sion of insidious propaganda, and it is obvious that no more difficult task has been placed upon our system of law than tho endeavor to distinguish between the legitimate expression of opinion and those types of expression necessarily or deliberately delib-erately in aid of the enemy. The number of complaints under this law presented to the department of justice has been incredibly large." Such, then, was the ultimate machinery of our national laws when, late, but with such speed as a willing congress could give after the gauntlet was flung and the issue joined, we began to face in dead earnest the peril of the times. We now had at last a fnll sets of laws with teeth in them. But it was a tremendous burden bur-den that the older institutions of our administrative ad-ministrative machinery had to carry. In sooth, the load was too much. The machinery ma-chinery buckled under it. We could not do the work we had to get done. That work was more than ever had been asked of any nation of the world. We had a mixed population of wholly unknown un-known disposition. Some said we delayed going to war for so long because we were not sure our people would back the government. That, surely, could be the only reason for the -delay. All the races of the world were seething in rage and jealousy. We had racial war within our borders. We could not count on our own friends. We could not predict as to what per cent of men would be loyal to our flag. We had two million men of German blood inside our borders, guaranteed by their kaiser to be loyal to Germany. And long before we had gone to war, we had had bundant proof of their disloyalty to us, of their hatred for Britain "and France, and their discontent with their own neutrality. We had openly been warned by the German kaiser that he counted on the loya lty to Germany of many or most of these men. Fear alone held "the average pro-German back. But It did not hold back their seasoned spis and the agents who worked under cover. The sudden cessation of pro-German talk which fell when we declared war deceived de-ceived none but the pacifists.. The boasts of German-Americans as to their holdings hold-ings in Liberty bonds deceived not at all the men who had sat and listened on the inside; for even at this time the records-were records-were piling up records of private act" and words of treason to America which had been noted by the A. P. L. The full record of German craft and duplicity, of treachery anil treason to America, will never be made public. It was alike a loathsome and a dangerous thing. Obyiously, the hands of our government govern-ment sorelv needed upholding. Who was to do that? Who would apply oil thf-s laws now that we had them ? "hji should watch two million tlcht-moutiiei men whose homes were here but whose |