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
An interesting fact of Cleveland war work was that developed by
examination of the draughting rooms in the large plants. In some of
these plants the entire draughting force was not only German by descent
but pro-German in sentiment. It has often been said that part of German
propaganda was to get men in factories where they could get blue-prints
of all of our machinery. In November, 1917, the League was advised that
a draughtsman of a ship-building company was very pro-German, and it
was said that the foreman in charge would hire only Germans. Constant
surveillance was ordered, but it was as late as June, 1918, before this
man was found making derogatory remarks about our Army. He was found
to have been an officer in the German Reserves. He was jailed. Many
letters were found on him sufficient to warrant his internment.
As though I. W. W.’s were not sufficiently dangerous, operatives were
once asked to arrest a colored slacker who worked for a lion-tamer.
The latter, a woman, gave the operatives a tip that her assistant
ought to be looked into. He was finally caught at the time when he was
transferring the lions from the performing ring to their traveling
cages, but that did not stop the operatives. After he got the doors
locked he was taken to the Federal Building and inducted into the
Service, where his courage will be put to good service.
Here are some familiar pro-German statements, this time uttered by one
A. C——, who was running an advertising agency. At one time he said
that “the war would be ended by January 1, because German training was
better than ours—that we should not believe the lies about Germans
killing babies—everyone knows that America is going to lose the
war—that this is no war for Democracy—that there is no Democracy in
America.” Indicted. Guilty. Interned. A. P. L.
Cleveland had its own troubles with evaders and slackers, and it
took many cleverly laid plans to catch some of them. These are some
of the methods. After locating where a suspect lived who was hard to
find, a man would appear next day as one of the solicitors of the City
Directory whose business it was to get the name of every man in each
house. The solicitor was usually a very old looking man. This usually
worked. If it did not, a messenger boy would show up with a message
saying that it must be delivered at once. If this failed, there would
come a letter from some prominent institution, sent in an unsealed
envelope, addressed to the man offering him a job at an unusually high
wage. One or the other of these devices would usually establish touch
with the man wanted. It was like changing baits in a trap.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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