loyalty of applicants, and relieved the League of the responsibility of directly advising the organizations concerned of the outcome of the investigations. The Military Intelligence then called upon the League as its agent to make the larger part of the investigations. By this method the name of the investigator and of the individual responsible for the decision remains undisclosed, and the judgment is in that sense impersonal.
The League likewise made investigations of a large number of applicants for commissions in various Divisions of the War Department, including applicants for Chaplaincies.
Investigations as to character and loyalty reached a very large total. The number aggregates 30,166, including certain investigations made prior to the establishment of the League section in the Military Intelligence Division at Washington.
On January 12, 1918, the National Directors issued a bulletin calling upon all local divisions to make full report upon the rumors, current in their communities, which were harmful to the interest of the United States in the prosecution of the war. As a result of this inquiry, a large amount of information was gathered, complete copies of which were turned over to the Military Intelligence Division for its files.
In view of the fact that a large number of members of the American Protective League enlisted in the military service or were inducted into the draft, the League was requested by the Military Intelligence Division to procure the names of all such men, with their record, in order that the Military Intelligence might avail itself of their services within the military forces if it so desired.
In addition to the foregoing, miscellaneous investigations for the Military Intelligence were carried on in considerable volume. These included cases of impersonation of army officers, visé of passports, bribery, theft and embezzlement, and a variety of other cases. These miscellaneous investigations in the local divisions referred to aggregate 19,556, or 136,892 for the country at large.
On June 5, 1917, the date of the first registration, approximately eighty thousands of members of the League throughout the country assisted at the registration polls, giving advice and assistance to registrants under the law and aiding the officials in all possible ways. In the larger cities, particularly those with large foreign born populations, great congestion resulted because of the ignorance of the law and its provisions on the part of registrants, and because of the difficulty in ascertaining and transcribing correctly their names and other information regarding them. The number of places
