OREGON
The far Northwest bordering on the sea caught flotsam and jetsam, caught problems, as seaboard regions always have and always will. The city of Portland, Oregon, shares in these matters, though it is old, settled, and much disposed to quiet. Portland’s main concern in life is the growing of roses; but early in the war Portland had already thrown away her rose-growers’ club and set her hand to the ax rather than to the garden trowel. As a city, it is a good place for roses, but a poor place for alien enemies.
A certain man of many aliases, whom we may indicate as D——, was arrested for being found within half a mile of the Armory without an enemy permit. He was found to be the owner of a great deal of I. W. W. literature. Investigation proved him to be a man of vitriolic temper, and one possessed of considerable means. He was very well investigated and jolly well interned.
A man by the name of F—— was arrested as a German alien, traveling without a pass. Very naturally, he claimed to be a Swiss, as do all German waiters. Investigation of his case proved he was in the habit of signing as a seaman, on ships about to sail, and then refusing to go on board at sailing time. His peculiar conduct got him in wrong with the Sailors’ Union. A close examination developed that he was a former German naval officer, and pictures of him were found in the German uniform. He was interned as a dangerous alien.
If Portland’s A. P. L. could not get a man one way, there were always other ways available. One J. B——, placed under suspicion by the angry accusation of a woman whom he claimed to be his wife, was discovered to be a draft evader from Chicago. It was found also that he had a real wife living in Oklahoma. The pretending wife forged the wife’s name to the man’s questionnaire, thus securing for him a deferred classification. He was indicted for violation of the Mann Act and Conscription Act, and got eleven months in jail.
The first slacker convicted and sentenced for violation of the Conscription Act in the State of Oregon was C. B—— of Portland, who was discovered to have failed to register. He was arrested the 10th of July, 1917, tried and convicted and served thereafter as an example.
The hundreds of cases in Portland were of much the same sort as those arising in other cities. The law of averages held good. Once in a while a man was reformed, and once in a while a flivver was found. E. B——, of California, registered at Fairfield, California, June 5, 1918, was posted as a deserter and arrested by an operative of the A. P. L. at Portland, Oregon. He was of Swedish descent, and the hearing of his case developed that many of his friends had told him that he could get out of the Army by claiming exemption as an alien subject to deportation. It was explained to him that if he went back to Sweden under deportation, he could never again return to the U. S. as a citizen. This cleared up his mind distinctly, and he resolved to go into the Army and will probably make a good citizen.
Canyon City, Oregon, says: “We had one man who was constantly spilling over in favor of Germany. Our members took him over the jumps and made him subside. He could have been convicted, but neighbors promised to be responsible for him, and they kept their word. Our people as a whole were very loyal, and we had only a small number of cases to handle.”
WASHINGTON
Yakima, Washington, tabulates its activities as 93 cases of disloyalty and sedition, ten cases of word-of-mouth propaganda and sixteen I. W. W. cases, besides the usual routine work.