Moran, Wyoming, is hardly a place where you would look for a Russian countess. None the less, Moran contained one for a while, and A. P. L. found her there and made certain investigations. One I. W. W. leader was also discovered by alert operatives.
Sundance, Wyoming, is in the short grass country, and reports but little German activity. Most of the work of this division had to do with draft board matters. The ranch country of the west was in a very large measure strictly loyal, as the reports show.
IDAHO
Idaho Falls, Idaho, had one case which again shows the pronounced anti-Americanism of the German Lutheran church in America during the war. C. C. M——, a minister of this denomination located at Blackfoot, Idaho, applied for the position of chaplain in the United States Army. The local chief of the A. P. L. investigated him and found him to be violently pro-German. It was known that he had threatened to blow up the town of Blackfoot with dynamite, and had also made threats to poison the source of the water supply of the town. Did Rev. Mr. M—— get his chaplaincy? He did not. A local applicant for the position of Captain in the United States Army, as Inspector of Arms, was also investigated, and was turned down on account of his strong pro-German tendencies.
Almo, Idaho, reports: “Our locality is wholly a stock raising section and is sparsely settled, so there has been no disloyalty or trouble whatsoever. There is nothing to report except that the people of this section are absolutely O. K. in their loyalty to Uncle Sam.”
CALIFORNIA
Long Beach, California, sends in a two-page report which is entirely too modest, because it covers 8,590 investigations. Out of this number, ninety were held in the Federal courts. Twenty were convicted, and three were found not guilty. Forty slackers and deserters were arrested, and three alien enemies, who were taken in the shipyards, were interned. Some 3,000 persons who had made indiscreet remarks against the country were warned to good effect.
In the Long Beach district were four shipbuilding plants. It was learned that several I. W. W.’s were numbered among the employees. They were taken from the shipyards for cause. The Long Beach chief was reluctant to disband, and when the time came to do so, he made arrangements by which the division will be held as a sort of reserve. “If at any future time you need our assistance,” says the Chief, “you will find us waiting.”
Oakland, California, looked into the color of the hair and eyes of 387 persons under the heading of disloyalty and sedition. There were 356 investigations under the draft act. Oakland Division dealt out its punishments to the enemy drastically. Seventeen well-known local Germans, business and professional men, drank a toast to the Kaiser in the Faust Café, a German restaurant. The A. P. L. got the necessary evidence, and ten of these men were convicted of disloyalty. The court put the punishment at three months in the chain gang, and a fine of $250 each. They do not now know any such phrase as “Hoch der Kaiser.”
Crescent City, California, had at least one high light. The Chief reports that an enemy alien, a baker, learned in some way that his loyalty had been questioned, and immediately started to gather all the rifles and pistols that he could, declaring that with a dozen guns he could hold the whole town at bay. Officers searched his place of business during his absence, and found several of the guns loaded. The man claimed to be a naturalized citizen, but could not show his papers. His case was cared for.