- trict was likewise patroled. This was the first organized
effort on a large scale to enforce the regulations. Subsequently similar action was taken in other cities.
In the early summer and fall of 1918 many slacker drives were conducted throughout the country. They were made under the direction of the officials of the Department of Justice with the active assistance of the Local Divisions of the American Protective League. Effective drives occurred in Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Davenport, Dayton and many cities of lesser size throughout the country.
As a result of a single drive in one city, according to the report of the Division Superintendent of the Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice, approximately five hundred men were sent to camp as deserters and four thousand delinquents were apprehended. These drives as a whole were carried on with the acquiescence and with the general satisfaction of the public at large, and with the minimum of embarrassment to the individuals concerned. The New York city drive presented an exception where certain difficulties arose.
As a result of these drives, several hundred thousand men were examined throughout the country; tens of thousands who had failed to comply with the requirements of the Selective Service Regulations were compelled to go to their District Boards to make good their delinquencies, and many thousand delinquents and deserters were inducted into the army who otherwise might have escaped service.
Members of the League have apprehended many camp deserters and soldiers absent without leave. They have investigated thousands of requests for furloughs where the soldier claimed illness at home or made other claims. Many fraudulent requests were uncovered by these investigations. These investigations, in the one hundred divisions referred to, number 3,478.
Early in April, 1918, the National Directors conferred with Mr. Fosdick and other officials of the Department of Training Camp activities, and with the officials of the Department of Justice, with regard to developing a plan for the successful enforcement of Section 13 of the Selective Service Act and the regulations thereunder,—the section referred to having to do with the protection of the military and naval forces of the United States from the evil influences of vice and prostitution in the vicinity of the camps. In the one hundred divisions referred to, the number of investigations was 5,866, or in the country at large, 41,062.
