For reasons above outlined, the division did little in food and fuel, and there was not much to do for the Navy. There were seventy-seven cases of character and loyalty investigations, 331 passport cases, and 262 cases that had to do with war insurance and like matters.
A. P. L. was, as usual, of great use to the War Department. The division conducted 514 investigations for local boards, examined 4,000 slacker raid cases, as well as fifteen gentlemen who did not know whether to work or fight. There were 1,908 applicants for overseas service who were investigated, as well as 510 applicants for commissions. The division deserves compliments for its steady and intelligent administration of the whole range of the complicated problems that rose out of the war situation.
There were all sorts of curious cases which came up in Boston as in other cities, which show alien artlessness or slacker subterfuges much as they appear elsewhere, as well as a certain occasional informality in regard to the observance of the ordinary civil laws. For instance, one does not recall the name of Edward Burkhart as one of the occupants of the Mayflower on its arrival; neither does Mr. Burkhart seem to have been fully possessed of Puritan principles, for it was alleged that he had been dishonorably discharged from the U. S. Navy, was dishonorably living with a woman who was not his wife, and had dishonorably failed to register for the draft. As Mr. Burkhart was hiding out somewhere, an A. P. L. operative was put on his trail. He went to the house where Burkhart was living and told the woman in the case that she was doing wrong in covering up the whereabouts of Burkhart. He added that he believed the man was in the house or would come back to the house, in spite of all she had said. That was at three o’clock in the afternoon, and the operative concluded to sit in the house and wait to see what would happen, all exits being guarded by other operatives. Nothing did happen until 9:15 that night, although the house was searched. At last, up in the attic, a small blind space was found where the electric light wires went up to the roof. A flash light here illuminated the dark interior—and disclosed Mr. Burkhart resting rather uncomfortably on the cross beams, where he had been since early that afternoon—something of a Spartan, if not much of a Puritan. It was found that he was twenty-five years of age and not thirty-seven. It was also found that he had the classification card belonging to another man, whereupon he was accused of failure to file his questionnaire. On December 30, he was brought before the Grand Jury, found guilty and sentenced to East Cambridge jail.
Another gentleman, Mr. Ralph E——, when he filled out his questionnaire, swore that he was a married man and had a wife and child dependent upon him. It was discovered that the woman was not his wife. The man consulted the partner of the A. P. L. inspector—the two being members of the same law firm—in professional capacity. Here, therefore, was a question of ethics involving the privilege of a confession made to an attorney and also the oath taken to the A. P. L. The two law partners called in Mr. E—— and gave him good advice about the crime of perjury. As the man did what he could to square up matters, it was decided to let that part of his case drop. He was not sent to prison.
Mr. Herbert C—— had an ambition to go across as a member of the American Red Cross and had good recommendations. A. P. L., however, discovered that he was an alleged dope fiend. He did not go with the Red Cross.
Peter R——, of a town near Boston, while arguing with two men about the war, made a few such casual statements as “To hell with Liberty Bonds,” “To hell with Thrift Stamps,” “The Government is no good,” “I will not fight for this country,” “I will not register,” “I am going back to my own country, Russia,” and “The whole United States Government be damned.” This man was brought before the Assistant United States District Attorney from the police court, but the attorney declined to prosecute and said that Peter was only playful. He did not think that a private trial could be used in a Federal prosecution. Most excellent! Obviously, it is the spirit that killeth, and the letter that giveth life!
A Mr. C—— swore he had a wife and child dependent on him, and so he ought not to be asked to fight. A. P. L. found out that he had spent ten thousand dollars the year before, that his father gave him all he wished, that he was a Boston clubman, that he was not engaged in any productive industry. Held to the grand jury in five thousand dollars bail.
A man by the name of J—— was reported on November 14 to have made disloyal and pro-German remarks. Two days later, three affidavits were before the Assistant District Attorney. In this case the attorney ruled that although the men had a clean cut case against him, there was no need to prosecute him if he had been warned. Indeed, why annoy an alien?
Boston is well known in the matter of tea parties. An A. P. L. officer was taking tea with a navy officer on board ship in Boston harbor, and the latter complained that his men were getting too much cold tea on their shore leave. A. P. L. took it up with the Naval Intelligence, and within a week a man was taken in custody for selling such beverages to men in uniform.
Mr. Charles D. Milkowicz, or some such name, was alleged to dance in happiness at the report of any German victory. It was his custom to fire any employe in the factory where he was foreman, if the employe showed any pro-American tendencies. Once he said regarding the U. S. flag, “Get that damned flag out of the way.” He used to wear an iron cross stick pin up to April 6, 1917. He was a member of the German Club, and used to buy silver nails for the Hindenburg statue which they maintained at that club, such nails retailing for a dollar a throw, all for the good of the Kaiser. A. P. L. started an investigation which showed that this man seemed to be uncertain whether he came from Russia or Germany and was equally indefinite as to his age. He was not registered as an alien enemy, and was charged with falsifying his questionnaire as well as violating Section 3 of the Espionage Act. The Assistant U. S. Attorney handling alien enemy matters in Massachusetts refused to act in this case. So far as known, the attorney is still in office, and Mr. Milkowicz is still in Boston.