A prolific source of trouble for the Baltimore Division lay in the city’s proximity to the national capital. The overcrowded condition of Washington during the war forced a huge overflow of population into Baltimore, and thus doubled the amount of work that otherwise would probably have been required. This work was tackled with energy and efficiency by the Baltimore Division, which was one of the very largest for a city of its size in the country. When the Armistice came, there were 2,500 operatives engaged in the multifold activities of the League. The following report does not begin to tell the full story of their achievement:
| Alien enemy cases | 110 |
| Sedition and disloyalty | 685 |
| Character and loyalty | 309 |
| Draft evasion | 546 |
| Deserters | 225 |
| Liquor and vice | 100 |
| Food Administration | 3 |
| Miscellaneous | 110 |
Baltimore Division organized and was on the job during the very first month of the war. Its first Chief was Mr. Edmund Leigh, who solved the many knotty problems of organization and finance which arose in the early stages of the League’s growth. Mr. Leigh was succeeded by Mr. William J. Neale in August, 1918, who acted as head of the division until November, 1918, when Mr. Tilghman G. Pitts became Chief.
VIRGINIA
Norfolk, Virginia, was fortunate in having as its chief a gentleman very prominent in all the war charities, and also of such generosity of nature that he paid all the expenses of the League out of his own pocket.
Conditions might have been much worse at this seaport locality, for only eight cases of alien enemy activity are listed, and five cases of disloyalty and sedition. This division, however, was able to do a great deal of work for the War Department, and among other matters found one illicit still and made four I. W. W. investigations. Another phase of the work was supplying the M. I. D. officer at the Army Supply Base—Quartermaster’s Terminal—near Norfolk, with many photographs of alien enemies and slackers. The Division had operatives in Army and Navy headquarters, among workmen, etc., and had such men included in its personnel as bookkeepers, timekeepers and others whose work was much appreciated by Military Intelligence. The chief had twenty-one assistants, all good men.
White Sulphur Springs, Virginia, had one typical pro-German case. Adolph S——, a baker of this town, held certain opinions which would not strictly classify as American. When asked to purchase War Savings Stamps, he expressed himself as follows: “To hell with your War Savings Stamps. If Uncle Sam didn’t have money enough to finance the war, why did he go into it? When the American soldiers get to France, you’ll find they won’t do anything but run like hell.”
He said a great deal more in similar vein, which “was hardly suitable,” says the Chief’s report, “for polite ears.” In the U. S. District Court, at Charleston, S—— confessed to a violation of the Espionage Act, was fined $100 and sentenced to two years in the penitentiary.
Lynchburg, Virginia, reports that it was rather quiet. One thing it did was to draw the fangs of an organization which was formed to punish such pro-Germans and war obstructionists as the law did not touch. The A. P. L. has always done its work hand in hand with the law, and throughout the war has resolutely set its face against anything savoring of lynch law.
Considerable local trouble arose from returned negro soldiers, discharged from service, who stated that they had saved the world from Hun oppression and were entitled to recognition. These statements had effect on the ignorant population, and it is firmly believed by the Chief that the “South has a problem on its hands in this connection which will require considerable time, effort and patience, if not bloodshed, to solve.” Any one acquainted in the least degree with the great problem of the South will realize the gravity and sincerity of this comment.