THE STORY OF CLEVELAND
Astonishing Figures of A. P. L. Activities in a Great
Manufacturing City—Sabotage, Bolshevism and Treason—I. W. W. and
Kindred Radical Propaganda—The Saving of a City.
Once more we find occasion to revise the popular estimate of a
supposedly well-known American community. No one would think of staid,
steady, even-going Cleveland as anything but a place of prosperity and
peace. At a rough estimate, before the Cleveland report came in, one
would have said that possibly that city might report a total of ten or
fifteen thousand cases of A. P. L. investigations. As a matter of fact,
the Cleveland total is over sixty thousand! And yet, the Cleveland
Chief in his report calls attention to the large amount of war supplies
manufactured in his district, and says: “We were a hot-bed of Socialism
and pro-Germanism, but not one dollar’s worth of material was lost.”
Cleveland Division was organized in May, 1917, with a personnel
of 1,008—Mr. Arch C. Klunph, Chief, six Assistant Chiefs, seven
Departmental Inspectors, an office staff and eighteen companies.
There were also one women’s company and about five hundred unattached
operatives; a total personnel of 1,551.
As the type of A. P. L. service varied in different cities, it may be
interesting to other cities to note the character of work the Cleveland
division was called upon to do. The list of investigations covers many
heads: Failure to register, failure to entrain, and deserters from
service, 5,356; failure to submit questionnaire, 2,100; failure to
report for physical examination, 3,100; claims for exemption, 2,500;
seditious literature, 50; seditious and treasonable utterances or
pro-German cases, 7,113; loyalty investigations for Army, Navy, Red
Cross, Y. M. C. A., etc., 1,746; wireless outfits, 40; enemy agents or
spies, 363; I. W. W., Socialist, W. I. I. U. and Bolsheviki, 1,529;
industrial sabotage, 318; Liberty Bond slackers, 500. Total number
of men apprehended and examined on slacker raids, estimated, 36,000.
Total—60,715.
In addition to the foregoing, the Cleveland division has rendered a
large amount of service in investigating cases of violations of food,
fuel, electric light and gasless Sunday regulations; cases for the
National Council of Defense; registration of male and female enemy
aliens (approximately 5,000); work of U. S. Marshal’s office; work
of Naturalization Bureau by secret investigations of applicants for
citizenship; Red Cross overseas work; Socialist cases; details for
War Work plants. There also were regular weekly details of volunteer
workers with automobiles to assist the Police Department.
As to definite preventive measures, the Chief points out several
instances: the stopping of manufacture of a fountain pen which would
explode on being opened; the choking off of the establishment of a
high-power wireless plant on the shore of Lake Erie; the discharge of
countless German workmen in factories producing food for the Army;
the confiscation of models and plans of American battleships and
submarines, and literature found in the hands of German propagandists.
In May, 1918, an express company notified Cleveland A. P. L. that
they were called upon to issue money orders to an unusual number of
Germans, who claimed that they were returning to their homes in Russia.
The League captured twenty-three men, all claiming to live in Russia,
although plainly German in appearance, and speaking that language
in talking with one another. Three men left for Chicago, but were
apprehended by wire at the railroad terminal in Chicago. This was a
concerted movement to get as many Germans as possible back into Russia.
Cleveland, being one of the largest cities of the United States, and
having also one of the largest percentages of foreign population,
naturally indeed was a hot-bed for Socialism, I. W. W. work and
Bolshevism, although such had not been the general reputation of the
city. These organizations held regular meetings, often with speeches of
the most dangerous character. At most of them, there was an A. P. L.
operative noting all that was done and said.
Cleveland Division covered a population of over a million, and that
in one of the four largest war working centers in the nation. It is a
very proud claim to say that not one dollar was lost to the nation.
The Chief points out that this statement is the more astonishing
because there were made in Cleveland a long list of military supplies:
Air-planes, wings and parts; ammunitions, clothing, trucks, and the
hundred other materials for use in the Army and Navy. There were
three hundred and eighty-six plants in Cuyahoga County engaged in
ordnance work, and there were employed in these plants 1,218 workmen.
These ordnance plants had contracts amounting to $175,000,000. Motor
transportation plants, making trucks, trailers, axles, forms, etc., had
a series of contracts totaling $88,000,000. There were fifty plants
engaged in air-craft production, and twenty making clothing, not to
mention three large shipyards, all busy practically day and night. That
means work! Figures like this are serious. It is no cheap flattery
to say to the men who are responsible for the safety of these vast
industrial concerns that their record is a more than marvelous one.
It is no wonder that there is the best of feeling between Cleveland
Division and the Department of Justice, Police Department and all the
allied administrations of the law. It is not necessary to print the
letters of appreciation from any of these.
The Chief says that the most of the active work covered a period of
about fifteen months. The cases handled monthly approximated four
thousand. Obviously it is impossible to report sixty thousand, or four
thousand, or one thousand cases, but some of the Cleveland specials are
too interesting to leave aside. It is regrettable that they must be
abbreviated.
On December 1, 1917, Dorothy A——, a nice Cleveland girl, was selling
Liberty Bonds for the Y. W. C. A. on a partial payment basis, which
did not seem quite right. Dorothy was hard to find, but she admitted,
when found, that she was selling these bonds because she needed the
money herself. The mortgage on the old home was about to be foreclosed,
and she had taken this method of getting what money she could. It was
in truth the case of a young girl driven desperate by circumstances.
The A. P. L. first got her a good position; second, advanced the money
to pay off the mortgage on the home, she to pay them back in monthly
installments; and third, found the people to whom she had sold the
bonds, and returned the money of which she had fraudulently deprived
them. This girl remained clean and straight, and as a culmination of
the case she married a young soldier, whom she met through the A. P.
L., who later did his bit in France. We do not know of a prettier bit
in the history of the A. P. L. than this.
On March 2, 1918, A. P. L. ran down another one of those cruel rumors
against the Red Cross which have been started by pro-German women
for the most part. This rumor was first circulated by a young woman,
and is of a nature which can not be put into print. The girl, when
found, confessed that she was guilty. She also confessed that she was
hitting the high spots in the city, having left a country home to get
acquainted with the bright lights. The A. P. L. did not kick this woman
down and out, either, but gave her a hand-up. Two weeks later she came
to the Division Office with tears in her eyes, apologized for the false
rumors which she had set going, and implored that she might be allowed
to do something for the office of the division.
A war plant making aeroplane parts kept turning out defective work.
The A. P. L. put a woman operative in the factory. She chanced to
be a young woman of a wealthy family, accustomed to the luxury of a
beautiful home, but she took to the overalls and dirty work as a duck
does to water. She was in the factory three weeks, located the trouble,
and it was adjusted.
A telephone call reported that a house was being burglarized. An A. P.
L. man at the phone remembered that a deserter had been sought for at
that number. In thirty minutes the house was surrounded. They did not
catch the deserter, but they did get the burglar.
A dangerous type of service was the raiding of I. W. W. headquarters.
Sometimes these were boarding houses where thirty or forty of these
people would be gathered together. When such a place was surrounded,
the suspects would pour out of the windows into the arms of the
operatives. This meant occasional fights, and there was danger in the
work, but there was no case where loss of life was experienced.
An interesting fact of Cleveland war work was that developed by
examination of the draughting rooms in the large plants. In some of
these plants the entire draughting force was not only German by descent
but pro-German in sentiment. It has often been said that part of German
propaganda was to get men in factories where they could get blue-prints
of all of our machinery. In November, 1917, the League was advised that
a draughtsman of a ship-building company was very pro-German, and it
was said that the foreman in charge would hire only Germans. Constant
surveillance was ordered, but it was as late as June, 1918, before this
man was found making derogatory remarks about our Army. He was found
to have been an officer in the German Reserves. He was jailed. Many
letters were found on him sufficient to warrant his internment.
As though I. W. W.’s were not sufficiently dangerous, operatives were
once asked to arrest a colored slacker who worked for a lion-tamer.
The latter, a woman, gave the operatives a tip that her assistant
ought to be looked into. He was finally caught at the time when he was
transferring the lions from the performing ring to their traveling
cages, but that did not stop the operatives. After he got the doors
locked he was taken to the Federal Building and inducted into the
Service, where his courage will be put to good service.
Here are some familiar pro-German statements, this time uttered by one
A. C——, who was running an advertising agency. At one time he said
that “the war would be ended by January 1, because German training was
better than ours—that we should not believe the lies about Germans
killing babies—everyone knows that America is going to lose the
war—that this is no war for Democracy—that there is no Democracy in
America.” Indicted. Guilty. Interned. A. P. L.
Cleveland had its own troubles with evaders and slackers, and it
took many cleverly laid plans to catch some of them. These are some
of the methods. After locating where a suspect lived who was hard to
find, a man would appear next day as one of the solicitors of the City
Directory whose business it was to get the name of every man in each
house. The solicitor was usually a very old looking man. This usually
worked. If it did not, a messenger boy would show up with a message
saying that it must be delivered at once. If this failed, there would
come a letter from some prominent institution, sent in an unsealed
envelope, addressed to the man offering him a job at an unusually high
wage. One or the other of these devices would usually establish touch
with the man wanted. It was like changing baits in a trap.
An interesting case was that of Harry W——, who was brother of another
Mr. W—— sentenced to the workhouse for violation of the Espionage Act.
Harry did not register, but was picked up in the City Council Chamber.
He desperately tried to convince the A. P. L. men that he was too
old, but the operatives got his birth record and proved that he had
wilfully evaded registration. Indicted and sentenced to one year in the
workhouse.
A deserter from Camp Sherman, in December, 1917, was located wearing
civilian clothes as late as September, 1918. He was hidden by a certain
woman, who had secreted his uniform and who had supplied him with
liquor repeatedly. We learned that this was an illicit relation. The
woman had furnished the man with money from time to time. The A. P.
L. took her case up with the District Attorney. The woman is awaiting
indictment of a charge of furnishing liquor to a soldier and harboring
a deserter. Her lover is back in camp.
The division had a good case on certain German sympathizers believed to
be sending certain information to the enemy. A dictaphone was installed
in a hotel room which they occupied, and the place was watched day and
night for a week. Just at the time when it seemed that some information
was going to be reported, a parrot which the people had in the room
started to chatter and beat them into the dictaphone. Nothing was
discovered at that time and the Chief reports, “I regret we cannot
print what came over the dictaphone by the parrot.”
Adolph R——, a German of the Germans, was within the draft, but
resisted in every possible way, and said he would kill any members of
the League who came after him. He even called up individual members and
told them he was going to shoot them. When an order came he told the A.
P. L. man that he would pay no attention. A detail was sent after him
and he was escorted like a little lamb to the barracks. He has been a
good German ever since.
The League found that it had in its ranks as an operative a resident of
the city of Cleveland, who had been there all his life but was a German
alien and not registered. This fellow was arrested and interned for a
short period, though soon paroled.
The Cleveland division of A. P. L. took a very prominent part in the
Debs case, and furnished abundant men and machines on the Sunday that
Debs was arrested in Cleveland. It also helped to assemble the evidence
on which Debs was indicted.
Washington was on the hunt for a dangerous enemy alien by the name of
Henry H——. Information came that he was working for a photographic
concern in Cleveland, but he could not be located. Four months later
a complaint of pro-Germanism came in against a man of the same name
working for a city directory company. He had changed his occupation but
not his nature, and hence was arrested.
The printed page was another form of propaganda in Cleveland. An alien
enemy editor of a German paper was allowed at large with restrictions.
He abused his privilege and was interned at Fort Oglethorpe.
Indictments and convictions were found against members of the staff of
a German daily. Yet another editor refused to print articles on food
conservation, and he also was indicted and convicted. Sabotage was
threatened and planned in many cases. In one instance a tip got out
that a big war plant was to be blown up on one of two given nights. The
League got on the job and found the plant to be insufficiently guarded.
The guard was increased and no damage was done.
Gottlieb K——, an alien enemy, was caught out of his zone without his
permit. Operatives went to his home and found two Mauser rifles, a
peck of shells, a dagger, a blackjack and several maps of Canada, the
United States and Mexico. Gottlieb was thought to be more fit for Fort
Oglethorpe than Cleveland.
Mr. A. L. H——, a member of the Cleveland Board of Education, had his
own idea about education. In the home of a socialist he remarked that
the Liberty Bonds would never be paid, and that the working class
for generations would have to work to support these bonds. He stated
that the Russian Committee, headed by Elihu Root, who went to Russia
to investigate the conditions there, had their report written and
signed before they left America. He frequently said that the bonds
of the United States were not worth the paper they were written on.
Affidavits resulted in the indictment of Mr. H——, and he was sentenced
to ten years in the Atlanta Penitentiary, the conviction automatically
removing him from the Board of Education.
A mail carrier in Cleveland fell heir to $60,000, but being a
socialist, would not subscribe to Liberty Bonds. He was called to the
headquarters of the A. P. L. and reasoned with. The next day his son
came into headquarters literally running over with Liberty Bonds. He
had $10,000 worth, all in $100 denominations! They sent him home with a
guard.
The A. P. L. was responsible for obtaining the evidence that secured
the conviction of the State Secretary of the Socialist Party and two
others. All of these men publicly made speeches against the draft, and
were actually instrumental in preventing certain men from complying
with the Selective Service Act. All sentenced to one year of peace in
the Canton workhouse by the Federal Court.
A gentleman by the name of Joseph Freiheit—Freiheit means “freedom” in
German—said that if sent to the army he would not shoot at the Germans.
He advised his friends to do the same. He was brought to headquarters
and reprimanded. The next day he committed suicide. Case closed.
A man who owned a garage was reported hostile to Liberty Bonds and
Thrift Stamps. A certain operative went to talk over with him the
question of Thrift Stamps. The question was asked, “How many do you
want me to buy?” The solicitor said he thought about a thousand dollars
worth. He bought a thousand dollars worth in cash, then and there.
Almost persuaded.
A very elusive draft dodger was Geo. F——, who was chased from pillar
to post, but not come up with. He was discovered to have an intrigue
with a waitress, Jennie M——, who also would change her name once in
a while, leave her place of employment and be gone a day or two. The
question was, where did she go? The operatives on the case took Jennie
down to the Federal Building, where she told so many conflicting
stories that she was locked up. Meantime, the Post Office Department
advised that certain letters were sent back from Elyria, Ohio,
addressed to “F. J. P——.” The return card brought the trail around to
one of the original dwelling-places of the suspect. The operative now
went to this address and found the owner of the home and threatened to
arrest him for abetting a deserter from the United States Army. These
letters were opened and it was discovered that the man desired was
getting mail at the post office at Monroe, Michigan. So the operative
went to Jennie in jail and said, “Well, we have got George over in
Michigan.” “Is that so?” said the girl; “how did you get him?” The
operative declined to tell, and said the only thing he wondered about
was what name George was going under in Monroe. The girl finally
admitted that his name there was “F. J. P——.” It took patience and
shrewdness to follow the trail in Monroe. However, a name was found
written in two places in a register of a workingmen’s hotel there. The
initials were the same as for F. J. P——, one of the many alias names.
The landlady was found, and a picture of Jennie was shown her. She said
it was the same picture that “F. J. P——” had in the back of his watch.
The rest was rather simple. The operator hired a taxicab and started
out in search of his man, who then was engaged as night watchman on
some road work. A steam roller was found in the middle of the road,
displaying a red lantern, with a man fast asleep on top. The operative
awakened him, and identified him as the much wanted Geo. F——, alias
Ed. D——, alias Geo. W——, alias F. J. P——, alias F. J. P——. The man was
handcuffed and the party started back for Monroe. In due time, the
suspect was taken to the Department of Justice, and on December 14 the
long trail ended for him. The details of this pursuit are among the
most interesting of those which have been turned in for any case on the
Cleveland records.
One operative had what he took to be a regular Conan Doyle novel, all
spread out before him. It involved what was known as “The House of
Mystery,” where all kinds of mysterious goings and comings and every
sort of dark, secret midnight interview took place. After a long, long
time the house of mystery was closed. The inspector was able from
other information to tell the operatives what was the matter with his
case—which is not reported in full. The inspector said: “Your elderly
woman there is the mother of the younger woman, who is married to
a worthless scamp, from whom she is seeking a divorce. They have a
beautiful home in the mountains of the West, and that is where they go
on the mysterious trips you have been noticing so long. Their trunks
are filled with valuable papers, and when they finished discussing
these, they put them back in the trunks. The little child is the son of
the young woman. The reason they rented this isolated house and made
a prisoner out of the child was because the father has been trying
to kidnap the child. The mysterious chauffeur is the secretary of
the ladies. When he enlisted for the war they found cause to weep on
that account.” The operative had been working on an ordinary society
detective story instead of a plot against the United States.
Perhaps these very few random cases may serve to show the variety of
the sixty thousand handled in Cleveland. What did it all mean for the
safety and security of the United States? Who can measure it? That is a
thing impossible. But that the good citizens of Cleveland appreciated
what the A. P. L. has done may be seen from abundant local evidence.
Under date of December 24 the Cleveland newspapers came out in open
condemnation of the wave of crime then threatening the city. The _Plain
Dealer_ said very plainly:
The amazing boldness of bandits, burglars and miscellaneous
plug-uglies in Cleveland has finally stirred the city to an
insistent demand that something approaching war methods be adopted
in dealing with them. It is peculiarly irritating to know that
most, if not all, of the criminals are young men of military age.
While better men have been giving their lives to free the world of
the terror of Germanism, these stealthy enemies have been staging
a reign of terror of their own in a modern American community.
The American Protective League has wisely placed its services at
the disposal of the police. All public spirited citizens should
coöperate in every possible way. The police are shooting to kill,
and the more frequently their aim proves true the better it will
be for Cleveland. It is not time for leniency or compromise.
The thug of to-day, who has so serious a misapprehension of the
privilege of being an American, deserves nothing beyond a snug
grave. There have been other epidemics of outlawry in Cleveland,
and perhaps the present “crime wave” is no more menacing than some
that have gone before. But coming just at this time, when so great
a price has been paid to make America and all the world safe and
decent, the impudence of the gunman is peculiarly infuriating.
The Cleveland _Press_ headed one of its editorials: “Chief, call out
the A. P. L.!” In answer, the Chief of the Cleveland Police did call on
the A. P. L. once more, although this was six weeks after hostilities
had ceased. All of the following Saturday night and Sunday there were
A. P. L. men patrolling the streets of Cleveland in motor cars in
company with the police.
The disbanding of the A. P. L. was openly deplored in Cleveland. What
is going to be the future condition of the United States in these days
following the war? One thing is sure, the thinking men of the country
are uneasy. There is reason to feel concern, in a city like Cleveland,
over bolshevism and labor troubles. There do not lack those who predict
for all America the wave of disregard for property and life which quite
often ensues at the close of a great war—and this war was the greatest
upheaval of human institutions and human values the world has ever
seen. But matters in Cleveland might have been worse—much worse.