- tion hired a lawyer to represent them, and a very warm
session was held, out of which, of course, nothing was derivable except hard feeling. In the mutual recriminations, one member of the Merchants' Association was alleged to have remarked at a certain time: "After this war is over, the Germans will be the aristocrats of the world"—a belief which seems to have lacked confirmation. All these matters, however, did not succeed in destroying the usefulness of the A. P. L. in Mattoon, where it did a great deal of hard and conscientious work.
Probably the most interesting Mattoon investigation is that of one O'H, son of a wealthy farmer, who claimed exemption on account of agricultural occupation. He was alleged to be living in town and engaged in keeping books. The League went into the history of the family and produced proof that certain other paternal ancestors of O'H had been engaged in the so-called Charleston Riots during the civil war, when a band of men known as "Copperheads," among whom was an ancestor of O'H, had fired upon several Union soldiers with fatal results in several instances. The Mattoon Chief of A. P. L. submitted to the Adjutant General at Springfield, Illinois, a full brief of the investigation of the case of young O'H, also transcripts from Government records covering the Charleston riots. Young O'H was sent to Camp Zachariah for training.
Pastor Russell had certain followers in Mattoon, religious fanatics of the sect known as Truth-Believers. They did not believe in anything but the Truth, certainly not in Liberty Loans, War Savings Stamps, or any war funds or activities. Two members of the sect were arraigned, but the Federal grand jury did not indict them because one was a woman and the other concluded to go into the employment of the Government at Washington.
Near Mattoon is a settlement of the peculiar sect known as Ammish, whose religion tells them not to bear arms. They opposed the selective draft, and although it was determined to exempt their young men from actual drill, the community preaching became so bad that a stiff investigation was made, after which there was no more trouble.
The secret of the Mattoon fashion of investigation is not
