Early in April, 1918, the National Directors conferred with Mr. Fosdick and other officials of the Department of Training Camp activities, and with the officials of the Department of Justice, with regard to developing a plan for the successful enforcement of Section 13 of the Selective Service Act and the regulations thereunder,—the section referred to having to do with the protection of the military and naval forces of the United States from the evil influences of vice and prostitution in the vicinity of the camps. In the one hundred divisions referred to, the number of investigations was 5,866, or in the country at large, 41,062.
In addition to the foregoing, the reports from local divisions indicate that they have made a large number of investigations of a general character for the War Department, including a variety of subjects. Mention should also be made of a considerable amount of service rendered to the Foreign Recruiting Missions in locating slackers and deserters and in making miscellaneous investigations of individuals.
On March 18, 1918, the Military Intelligence Branch of the War Department requested the American Protective League to procure for that Department, for immediate use for intelligence purposes, photographs, drawings and descriptions of bridges, buildings, towns and localities, then occupied by the German forces in France, Belgium and Luxemburg, and likewise in that portion of Germany lying west of a line running north and south through Hamburg. In compliance with that request, National Headquarters issued a bulletin to all Local Divisions, calling upon the entire organization of the League throughout the country to engage in the work, and prescribing a detailed method for carrying it on. The result of the work, and the appreciation of the Military Intelligence Branch, was expressed to the League in a letter from Lieutenant Colonel Coxe, under date of June 11, 1918, in which he quotes a letter from Colonel Nolan, chief of the Military Intelligence Force abroad, to the effect that the material contained much information of value and that “the citizens of the United States who donated the above articles and the League which collected them have done something which definitely helps toward the success of the operations of our army.”
Summing up the actual investigations made by the American Protective League in the one hundred local divisions referred to, the grand total of cases reported by these divisions is 448,950. As has been shown, the jurisdiction of these divisions embraces approximately one-seventh of the whole population of the country covered by all of the local divisions of the League, and while some of the work reported by the one hundred divisions is not duplicated elsewhere, yet the reverse is true, and it may fairly be said that the entire number of cases handled by the League for the War Department throughout the country is seven times the above figure, or more than three million.
In conclusion, we beg to state that it has been the policy to coöperate with all local, State and Federal departments in enforcing the war laws of the United States. Our Local Chiefs have been able to establish cordial relations with all local police, sheriffs, fish and game wardens, fire wardens, and other officials whose assistance has been invaluable in many cases, and have likewise gained the friendly interest and support of County and State officials generally as well as of the Judicial Departments.
We have not attempted to set forth in this communication the volume of work done for the Department of Justice.
A very prominent phase of work in which the A. P. L. was of use to the War Department is covered very well by the comment of the Department of Justice regarding the law under which the American Army was raised:
The most important of the war laws is the selective-service act. Cases under this act are of three general kinds—first, the violation of the act by the military eligibles themselves; that is, the failure to register in accordance with the registration system under the draft, the failure to file a questionnaire, the making of false exemption claims, the failure to report for examination, etc. As soon as a man becomes a deserter, he comes under the jurisdiction of the military authorities and is turned over to them. Up to that point, however, if he does not fully comply with the law and the Selective-Service Regulations, he is subject to prosecution by this department. As the main object of the law is the raising of an army and not the filling of a prison, the department seeks to deliver to the military authorities for military service all offenders subject to military service and physically fit therefor, except those who willfully and rebelliously refuse military service and can be subjected to substantial punishment.
The second class of cases concerns the acts of those who, not themselves subject to military service, induce violations of the act, such as making false exemption claims for others, inducing others to resist military service or evade the law. This classification also includes violations of duty on the part of members of the exemption boards.
The third class of cases relates to the violation of those sections which aim to protect training and mobilization camps from the evil influence of the liquor traffic or prostitution within the neighborhood of the camp. The first class of cases has thrown upon the representatives of this department throughout the country an immense amount of work. This work has consisted in part of prosecuting deliberate violations of the law. In far larger measure, however, it has consisted in locating, apprehending, and delivering to local boards or Army officials many thousands of men who for various reasons have failed to appear for physical examination, failed to file questionnaires, etc. Down to July 1, 1918, the department had thus investigated 220,747 cases of this character and caused induction into military service of 23,439 men.