Liberty Loan, and doing everything else they ought not to do and leaving undone the things they ought to do. Mr. Garrigan found that the Government had not appropriated money enough for his office rent, much less enough to employ men to keep in touch with the Akron conditions. He needed men. Then overnight the Akron division of the A. P. L., beginning with two hundred men, sprang into existence, as it did so magically and mysteriously all over America. Mr. Elihu Harpham, manager of a local manufacturing concern, took the position of Chief. He had able assistants, and always these men worked in close touch with the Department of Justice, even in its most delicate and dangerous enterprises.
Akron, according to all reports, had an exceptionally large number of draft slackers—men who had registered here and disappeared before the numbers were drawn. It was estimated at one time that 3,000 men had registered in Akron and never been heard of again. It was indeed a Port of Missing Men. Akron Division took this matter up, and in its first year's work rounded up 6,856 men. The word passed among all the employees of Akron's great factories that it was not a good thing for a man to be around without his draft card in his pocket. Many hundreds of men who were delinquent came in voluntarily to their draft boards. Perhaps the figures will tell the tale as well as words:
Slackers 6,856
Alleged false questionnaires . 255
Interned alien enemies 17
Pro-Germanism 245
Socialistic propaganda 98
Sedition 124
Food regulations 94
Liberty Bonds and Stamps 86
Soldiers absent without leave 51
Alien enemy investigations 159
Character investigations: War Department, Red Cross,
Y. M. C. A., etc. 34
Miscellaneous 4,847
Total cases handled first year 11,866
Delinquents and deserters sent to Camp Sherman, Chillicothe,
Ohio, by this office 870
