The Web

CHAPTER II
THE STORY OF NEW YORK

The great American metropolis was the storm-center of America in the war. The heart of the great and intricate system of German espionage, the controlling financial body of Germany’s spy army, was there; the treacherous diplomacy of Germany centered there. Moreover, our shipments of men, munitions and supplies largely centered there, and that was the general point of departure of our troops bound overseas. Naturally, therefore, our Government concentrated in and around this danger spot its strongest protective measures for our troops and their supplies. Literally, it was plot and counterplot in New York; war and counter war; espionage and counter espionage.

Such a story as that cannot be covered by the printed page. No volume can describe New York’s part in the war, for that man does not live who knows or ever will know all that went on in New York in war time. New York herself never will know how she was endangered and how she was protected.

Until war broke out, New York was much like London. Grown indifferent to her vast foreign element, she was disposed to let these people meet and march, preach and pray and then go home again, red flag and all. No great world city can have a homogeneous population, nor can any such population be governed as a whole. New York accepted the fact that she was one of the centers of the world’s transient life. Her entire business prosperity is built up on the transient trade. With an amused indifference, New York allowed her visitors to meet and march, preach and pray, amuse themselves so long as they liked, so long as they paid for their privilege of passing through. She had long since ceased to analyze her population, but has entertained it instead, regarding it with neither fear, shame, pride nor alarm. She was truly a metropolis.

But when war came, New York realized that she was not only a metropolis but a commercial center and a place where human beings lived. She had tall buildings. A brick shot off the top of the Woolworth Building would certainly jar a man below if it fell upon him; and the Woolworth or other buildings might easily be hit by naval guns of a hostile fleet lying comfortably off shore. The funk of New York and other eastern cities was never felt at all in the central portion of the country. When the submarines began to show what they could do, New York awoke to a sense of real danger. She faced the fact that, although she was foreign in population, she must become American if America was to endure. Then New York turned her face no longer toward Europe, but toward America and since that time has been more beloved by America than ever she was before.

It was imperative that the vast protective agencies of the national Government should focus here at the gateway to the Atlantic. Military Intelligence, Naval Intelligence, Cable Censorship, Mail Censorship, the Department of Justice, War Trade Intelligence—each of these and all the various war boards and branches of war activities must center in the metropolis inevitably. The machinery for protecting the invaluable shipping of men and munitions was as elaborate and perfect as the Government could make it. Every force was rushed to the danger line in New York.

In so complicated and overburdened a series of Government enterprises it early became obvious that there was need for an auxiliary such as the American Protective League. The organization was duly made and widely extended. It was natural none the less that it should be very much overshadowed by the greater volume and greater importance of the agencies of the Government’s judicial and war work, which were massed in the great city. But the A. P. L. was there, active as elsewhere, and perhaps more useful than in any other city in the country, because it had to do there with larger risks than offered in any other city.

In the period of its work in New York up to the time of the Armistice, the A. P. L. division was thought to have covered some 300,000 cases in all, which is far and away the record for America. Such figures as these mean, of course, that to single out any one case or a few cases would be only to repeat cases the like of which already have been described for other points; and besides, it would not in any sense give an idea of the extent of the data handed over to the United States departments on A. P. L. initiative or on government request. It seems wiser to let the great national or international cases, which have become publicly prominent through Government activity, stand for the minor story of New York.

These causes celébrès have in great part been made public in the newspapers,—and in a great many instances made yet more public by the testimony of the witnesses of the Federal Attorneys before the Overman Senate Committee in Washington. It certainly could be said of the great city that she produced more sensations in espionage than all the rest of the country combined. A. P. L. was not concerned in all these matters, although in some of them it played its part.

The first chief of the New York Division was a lawyer, John H. Hendrick, who had charge of the small beginnings in April, 1917, but who in the following month, was succeeded by Richmond Levering, special agent of the Department of Justice. Mr. Bielaski, Chief of the U. S. Bureau of Investigation, approved this appointment, Mr. Levering later becoming Major in the U. S. Army. In early June, Mr. E. S. Underhill, an Agent of the Department of Justice, was detailed to take charge. The work now began to grow somewhat. In October, 1917, League affairs were placed in the hands of an operating committee. On January 3, 1918, the committee was abolished, and Mr. E. H. Rushmore was appointed Acting Chief. In May, 1918, Mr. Rushmore became Chief of the Division.

New York Division, like others, at first was organized along trade lines, which was found to be impracticable. Then the Southern and Eastern Federal Districts of New York were divided into zones. The Borough of Manhattan contained eight zones, each under an inspector. The Borough of the Bronx was placed in charge of a deputy chief, and was divided into nine sub-divisions. The Borough of Brooklyn and Long Island was also in charge of a deputy chief, and subdivided into eight districts, each in charge of an inspector. The outlying districts were formed into zones, using county lines as boundaries, and each of these zones also was under the charge of an inspector. All the inspectors appointed a sufficient number of captains, who had under them lieutenants in charge of squads.

It will be seen that this is rather a complicated organization, and indeed it could not be swung as a unit in the matter of its records, because of the diverse reporting system required.

The work of the Division Headquarters on Nassau Street was efficiently handled by twenty volunteer members who acted as Bureau Chiefs in the matter of assignment of work. Headquarters had about fifty file clerks and stenographers in its force, and in addition operated six zone offices, all of which were used exclusively for these zone workers, and all of them fully equipped with office facilities and help. The Division expended something over $75,000, all of which was raised by individual subscriptions of members of the League and their friends.

A. P. L. in New York had all sorts of cases. Chief Rushmore thinks about the most important was that concerned with A. L——, intimate friend of Jeremiah O’Leary, on trial for treason. This case was turned over to the League by Division Superintendent DeWoody of D. J., who asked the covering of all railroad stations, ferries and steamship lines or other possible means of entry into New York in order that L—— might be apprehended. A rather meagre description of the suspect was given. Information had reached the Department that L—— had left New York when O’Leary forfeited his trial bond and did not appear in court for trial on charge of treason. L—— was thought to be on his way back to New York. A. P. L. put out about one hundred operatives on this case, and stopped hundreds of passengers who might have resembled him and asked them to identify themselves. This came to nothing. Other operatives interviewed the man’s wife and were convinced L—— was in town. An operative of A. P. L., accompanied by a D. J. man, therefore shadowed one of L——’s intimate friends, with the result that L—— himself finally was located in Brooklyn and apprehended. He was taken to the New York office of the Department of Justice and there gave information as to O’Leary’s whereabouts. The latter man, who had jumped his bail bond, was immediately apprehended in the West and brought on to New York, where, at the last writing, he was waiting trial on the charge of treason.

The A. P. L. shadow work in the foregoing case was so good as to elicit a letter of praise from D. J. in Washington to Mr. DeWoody. The latter disclaimed the credit and gave it to the A. P. L. operative “who performed a remarkable feat in a continued and difficult shadow.”

The Division Chief himself writes something regarding a matter which has brought up considerable other writing at different times from many different sources.

Up till December 11, 1918, there were 45,150 filed cases of a general nature in the New York Division: 3,610 civil service case, 2,920 passport visés, 471 passport cases, 2,507 overseas investigations, 2,539 investigations of officers’ commissions, and 29,680 cases connected with selective service matters. This makes a total of 86,877 cases.

It is to be noted that the above numbers apply to folder numbers only, and many folders contain more than one case, some of them as high as 250 cases. For instance, the investigations of a jury panel would be carried all in one folder under the name of the trial on which that jury was to sit. The figures in selective service matters are the actual number of cases turned over to the League at the time they started work with the various local boards. Subsequent to this date the A. P. L. officers in charge of the work at the various boards were given thousands of cases which they reported directly to the board, there being no file in the office in such instances. The A. P. L. Chief of New York therefore thinks it a very conservative estimate to say that the number of individuals investigated by the New York Division would run between 300,000 and 400,000. All these cases in the New York office system were filed alphabetically under the name of the person or firm to be investigated; for that reason definite figures could not be given in any summary. As League operatives became better acquainted with the Chairmen of the Draft Boards, more and more cases would be turned in directly to the Local Boards, which left the files incomplete also in cases of this character.

On Long Island, near New York, there were several large military camps, including Camp Mills and Camp Upton, and several aviation fields. The A. P. L. zone inspectors in charge of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, together with the Deputy Chief, in charge of Long Island, coöperated closely with the Intelligence officers of these camps. A. P. L. quite often was of assistance in locating deserters from these camps, it being the usual thing for an officer to telegraph A. P. L. to pick up the pursuit.

A. P. L. also investigated a great many cases for the camp authorities at Camp Wadsworth, Spartanburg, South Carolina, because this camp was occupied for some time by the New York National Guard. Sometimes the League would be asked to investigate the statement of a man who wanted a furlough because his family in New York was sick. A great many fraudulent requests of this kind were discovered. The War Department detailed a special officer to handle cases of deception of this character, and A. P. L. turned over to him a great deal of information of this nature as well as many reports which had come in to A. P. L. of the sale of liquor to men in uniform. Captain Peiffer, the officer in charge of this work, at one time investigated some thirty hotels in New York City. For more than two weeks these hotels were covered by A. P. L. operators. This officer had a lieutenant detailed to watch liquor and vice matters on Long Island, who made his headquarters at Hempstead. A. P. L. officers coöperated with this lieutenant in every way and gave him much assistance in closing up saloons and hotels that came within the five mile limit of the various camps.

Military Intelligence Division, of the General Staff, sent a great many character and loyalty investigations of overseas cases, officers’ investigation cases and a large variety of cases of special investigation of both positive and negative nature, to A. P. L. in New York. A separate department was established in New York headquarters exclusively to handle the cases coming to New York Military Intelligence in Washington. Within the seven months ending December 11, 1918, the New York office received 5,046 cases of the types above mentioned. Perhaps a man going overseas would give from one to ten references, say an average of four references to each case, which would mean the interviewing of more than 20,000 individuals at the request of the War Department in Washington. The men who did this work did not get a cent for it. The territory covered by the Division extends from Poughkeepsie, New York, to Montauk Point, Long Island, a distance of about 200 miles. The cases would be scattered all over this territory, and very often the same case would require two or more investigators.

Beside all of these rather heavy duties in connection with the big government work, A. P. L. had daily requests from the Intelligence Office at Governor’s Island, the Port of Embarkation at Hoboken, and the various other Intelligence Offices in and around New York City. Every possible assistance was rendered these various officers. It was impossible to classify all of this work in the files, so that the entire number is not available.

As the perfectly interlocking system of intelligence of the A. P. L. in the great city became known, the agents of the Department of Justice and the officers of the various Military Intelligence services got in the habit of calling on headquarters at A. P. L. for all sorts of information. Quite often they would call regarding some case which needed looking into at a town a long distance away. The name of an A. P. L. division at that point would be given, and the case turned over to the latter by telegraph. Thus it is easy to see that the web of New York, expanded into the web of A. P. L. all over America, was of almost incalculable benefit to all of the U. S. Departments concerned in any way with the war.

The New York office has conducted some part of the investigation of almost every alien enemy that has been interned in that part of the country. Just how much value the work of the League has had in these various internment cases, it is difficult to tell. Department of Justice has sometimes been rather haughty and lofty in regard to its humbler auxiliary. When New York A. P. L. has inquired of D. J. as to the outcome of a certain case, sometimes the answer would be that “proper action will be taken in due time,” the inference being that D. J. did not want to be bothered by questions. A like vagueness quite often enshrouded cases turned over to Military Intelligence. A. P. L. might investigate fifty men for commissions and never know even whether any of them got a commission.

The offices of the United States Attorneys in both the Southern and Eastern districts of New York were greatly overworked, and had a very inadequate staff of assistants. It was necessary, in many instances, for A. P. L. to take cases that should have gone to a Federal Court, before some local magistrate on a disorderly conduct charge.

In brief, the story of A. P. L. in New York City is very satisfying indeed. How fortunate for Military Intelligence, the Draft Boards, the Department of Justice and other war branches that they had an A. P. L. to help them out, and to do that for nothing! Had this not been the case, it is not too much to say that these branches of our war activities would also have broken down as so lamentably did other portions of our war work—ordnance, equipment, airplane work, etc., all of which suffered from not having a quarter million of men at hand to do the work for nothing and do it right. The truth about this war never has been known and never will be printed. A lot of it lies in the files of the A. P. L.

In the course of the last ten months, according to the Military Intelligence Bureau, New York Division probably had more investigations entrusted to it than would in peace times be made throughout the entire country. Since the A. P. L. men were of the highest type, with all the advantage of education and wide experience, their ready adaptability can be taken for granted. But even with the high average of ability of the League officers and operatives, the notably fine record of the New York Division would not have been possible had there not been a most thorough and up-to-date business system. And such was actually the case.

A full series of blanks, the use of special cover sheets, of different colors, and the employment of case covers corresponding to the cover sheets, so simplified the filing system and the record of the case itself as to save a great deal of time and eliminate a great many mistakes. For instance, the case card would be buff in a case of a “commission” investigation, green in an “overseas” investigation and pink for special cases. The card is kept clipped to its cover sheet until a case is assigned. When it has been assigned, notation is made on the card and cover sheet, and the individual record card of the man to whom assigned. The case is then sent to the operative, and the case card filed alphabetically under his name in the “out” box. A separate record card is maintained for each investigator or district officer. It is thus possible to locate a case at once, by looking up a name of the subject in the “out” box of case cards, and to locate what cases are in the hands of any investigator by looking up his record card. An equally thorough system was employed in the handling of reports as they came in.

Without a most efficient system for transacting the business of the League, the most hopeless confusion must have obtained among that seething mass of conflicting human activities. Mere bulk of paper is an incomprehensible thing, and no one who has not seen the masses of reports coming in, even to the minor offices of the League, can understand what the handling of the three million A. P. L. investigations really meant in office work alone.

The Army is divided into the Staff and the Line; otherwise, the Office and the Field. A similar division may be made in the American Protective League. The men handling the records in the central office are more or less unhonored and unsung. Upon the other hand, the operative who puts on false eyebrows and a beard and goes out to stalk a suspect is apt to seem far more the heroic figure, although what he really is doing is no more than getting something for the office to file. Neither branch of the activity ought to be overlooked.

The New York A. P. L. conducted investigations for the Department of Justice under three heads; the State Department under two heads; the War Department under five heads; and also the Navy Department, the Alien Property Custodian, the Civil Service Commission, the War Trade Board and the U. S. Shipping Board, as well as the Treasury Department under three different heads.

When one pauses to reflect on these different classifications of the work and the different ramifications of the League’s operative forces, one is pretty nearly ready to admit that without a perfect office system the whole thing would have been jolly well messed up inside of a week. This amateur organization sprang into being almost over night, a smooth-working, modern business machine, which rendered invaluable services at no cost at all. When you stop to think of it, this is one of the most wonderful phenomena of American business life.

The total membership of officers and operatives in the New York Division numbered over four thousand five hundred substantial business and professional men, chosen from every field of activity. They were classified and reclassified to such an extent that, from speaking any required language on earth to expert knowledge in any profession on earth, aid could be furnished on demand. Two significant facts stand out in comparing New York with other cities. The first, the rather smaller number of men; the second, the rather small amount of money spent in the work. It is due to the excellent business system of that division that the cost per case was kept so low, for New York runs more cases to the operative, and more to the member, than any other city in the country.