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
In order to prevent sending these unfortunate women to jail with
criminals, the American Protective League at New Orleans engaged in the
enterprise earlier referred to—its “Amproleague Farm.” Here there were
ample dormitories, fully equipped, and a garden was maintained. There
was a matron in charge. The place was kindly and helpful in every way,
and every attempt was made to change the women spiritually as well as
physically during their stay. Thus the League went a step further than
acting simply as a merciless police force. It took care of young men
who ought to have taken better care of themselves, but it did more. It
took care not of one sex alone, but of both sexes, and in the truer and
more lofty sense of the word.
In this operation of the liquor and vice bureaus, local Army and
Navy camps detailed men to help the A. P. L. The local organization
of the Home Guard, to the number of about a hundred, were admitted
to membership in the League also. This organization, which was under
military discipline, could be quickly assembled for night service.
Transport of the League was cared for by the automobile division of
the Bureau of Information. The latter men rendered special service to
prevent the shipment of liquor into dry territory, whether in violation
of the Reed Amendment or in violation of Section 12 of the Conscription
Act. The New Orleans district had one neighboring cantonment which was
in dry territory.
In brief, New Orleans showed what all the divisions of A. P. L. did
throughout the country—good judgment and common sense. It did the thing
necessary to be done, the most obvious and most useful thing. That duty
was the caring for the personnel of the soldiers and sailors grouped in
such numbers in or close to New Orleans. Human nature was accepted as
human nature, and dealt with as such. These are the conditions which
perforce colored the work of A. P. L. in New Orleans. They do not
reflect the average community life of that city in any ordinary sense
of the word, although many of the cases most valued by the Division
itself have had to do with that manner of work.
For instance, the vice bureau apprehended two young women under Section
13 of the Conscription Act. Brought before the U. S. Commissioner, they
were released upon their personal recognizance, but failed to appear
on the next morning. Later they were located in Houston, Texas, and
brought back to New Orleans. They were not kicked down. They found
homes at the “Amproleague Farm.”
Matters did not go so gently in the vice operations so far as they had
to do with the older and more persistent offenders. There were raids on
some of the more notorious resorts, and several of them closed their
doors entirely. There was a general cleaning up in New Orleans which
was good for the city whether or not it remained a center of military
activities.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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