The Web : $b The Authorized History of the American Protective LeagueHough, Emerson
History
The Web : $b The Authorized History of the American Protective League
Hough, Emerson
American Protective League; Propaganda, German; World War, 1914-1918 -- Secret service -- United States
Military Intelligence Division, of the General Staff, sent a
great many character and loyalty investigations of overseas cases,
officers’ investigation cases and a large variety of cases of special
investigation of both positive and negative nature, to A. P. L. in New
York. A separate department was established in New York headquarters
exclusively to handle the cases coming to New York Military
Intelligence in Washington. Within the seven months ending December
11, 1918, the New York office received 5,046 cases of the types above
mentioned. Perhaps a man going overseas would give from one to ten
references, say an average of four references to each case, which would
mean the interviewing of more than 20,000 individuals at the request
of the War Department in Washington. The men who did this work did not
get a cent for it. The territory covered by the Division extends from
Poughkeepsie, New York, to Montauk Point, Long Island, a distance of
about 200 miles. The cases would be scattered all over this territory,
and very often the same case would require two or more investigators.
Beside all of these rather heavy duties in connection with the big
government work, A. P. L. had daily requests from the Intelligence
Office at Governor’s Island, the Port of Embarkation at Hoboken, and
the various other Intelligence Offices in and around New York City.
Every possible assistance was rendered these various officers. It was
impossible to classify all of this work in the files, so that the
entire number is not available.
As the perfectly interlocking system of intelligence of the A. P. L. in
the great city became known, the agents of the Department of Justice
and the officers of the various Military Intelligence services got
in the habit of calling on headquarters at A. P. L. for all sorts of
information. Quite often they would call regarding some case which
needed looking into at a town a long distance away. The name of an A.
P. L. division at that point would be given, and the case turned over
to the latter by telegraph. Thus it is easy to see that the web of New
York, expanded into the web of A. P. L. all over America, was of almost
incalculable benefit to all of the U. S. Departments concerned in any
way with the war.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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