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
W—— was the son of respectable Philadelphia parents and of good
connections. Without doubt, he and his brother were shielded by
their relatives and friends as long as possible. On November 8, the
Philadelphia Division of the A. P. L. wired Washington stating that W——
had been apprehended. On November 16, 1918, he was sent to Camp Dix.
The public has some notion of the great plant for ship construction
erected at Hog Island, near Philadelphia, by the United States Shipping
Board. All sorts of stories came out regarding affairs at this shipping
yard, and the charges were so direct and well-supported that Congress
finally investigated the matter. The Philadelphia Division of the
A. P. L. had some part in this investigation, which had to do with
charges of extravagance, graft and waste of public moneys. There was
one item, the employment of thousands of jitney drivers, which was
severely criticised. These cars were employed by the Emergency Fleet
Corporation to transport their workmen from their homes to the Island,
since it was thought the regular transportation lines could not handle
them. The charge was made that large amounts were collected by the
jitney men from the Shipping Yard without rendering any service; the
shipping yards, in turn, charged these amounts back to the Government.
There were thousands of reports turned in by the operatives to D. J. on
these “jitney cases.” It was found that a good many men in authority
were in the habit of ordering the drivers, after they had brought them
down to the Shipping Yard, to go back home and place themselves at the
disposal of the members of the families of the foremen or officers—the
Government thus supporting a large number of private automobiles for
salaried persons. The entire matter quieted down when the increased
cost of tires and gas deprived the jitney drivers of their profits, and
when competition came on through the installation of better service and
equipment by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company.
There was no branch of the A. P. L. activities in Philadelphia so
carefully handled as that having to do with the I. W. W. and other
radical organizations. There were five Locals found and fifty-one
revolutionary clubs with a total membership of 5,000, ninety per cent
of whom were of foreign birth, absolutely opposed to all government and
ever ready to overthrow law by revolutionary tactics.
The A. P. L. made a raid upon one club solely for the purpose of
seizing literature and files. As a result of this, fifty I. W. W.
agitators were dismissed from shipping yards and government plants.
Some of these were in the Government Bag Loading Plant at Woodbury, in
the shipping yard at Bristol, and in the Emergency Fleet Corporation at
Hog Island. All these Philadelphia radicals contributed heavily to the
defense fund of the I. W. W. members who were on trial in Chicago.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account