New-York tribune., 1918-09-06
De Woody Defends
Drive on Sluckers:
l78 Arraigned Here

Oharles r. Dew oody, superintendent
of the New York bureau of the De-
partment of Justice, in charge of the
so-called slacker roundup. STRONGLY
defended the campaign yesterday when
questioned regarding the opposition
aroused against it in the Senate.
r re referred to the pamphlet of Of
lclal instructions issued by the De-
Partmcnt OF Justice. He defended the
sweeping roundup as conducted "at
the direction of the Attorney Generals
office, with the approval of the pro.
Host marshal's Office"
flgures from New York, New Jersey
and Brooklyn indicate that the drive
VIII prove to have been justified" he
sa'd. "turthermore, will say that it
!; justified, even if only two or three
slackers have been foundn
-, ne e pointed out that Section 81, of
the Selective Service Act, provides that
every registrant must carry card
showing his draft status. He added
that notices were printed last week
calling the attention OF draft regis
traants to this section.
Mr.. De Woody said that per cent
OF the men arrested will be proved to
be wilful slackers. These will number
about 1900, bringing the total of ar
rests to 10000. he said.
total of 17S men we're placed on
trial IN the Federal Court here last
night, charged with failure to register
These men are civil prisoners, liable
upon conviction to a maximum penaltv
OF one year in prison and fine of
81 goo, with immediate induction to
follow the expiration Of their sem
tences. Judges Manton and Hutchin-
son presided over sessions which lasted
to the early morning hours.
Marshal Mccarthy, who was at the
69th Regiment armory on the watch
Tor possible Federal prisoners, heartily
commended the roundup, characterize
ing it as. "of salutary effect which can
not be expressed in words"
The system is perfect" he said. ~
congratulate Mr.. Briggs and Mr. De
Woody for their splendid work"
Both Mr.. Dew cody and Marshal Nc
Carthy declared that very few out-of-
town men lad been arbitrarily detained
Tor more than q few hours.
The machinery of rapid induction
was perfected to such an extent that
dellnquents were inducted into service
a few hours after they were combed
from the streets. They were taken to
Board No. 100, Hudson and Grove
streets, and Immediately certified for
military service. The wilful slackers
were sent to Fort Jay, while others
were sent &c Camp Upton.
A squad of men made a raid on
restaurant on the East Side, having
heard that the employees of a certain
factory ate there. twenty-five Class
IA men were brought back to the
armory. Their draft boards had posted
them as delinquents.
At the Grand Central Station A. E.
Murray and a force of fftv men
o. Of =.
Forty men failed to produce cards and
were taken to the armory. Three of
these were from Boston, two from Chi
cago and the others from points fur
ther west.
One of those taken, James T. Tucker,
an employe of the United States Ship
ping Board, had in his possession
letter from Superintendent Lamb. of
Boston, stating that unless he returned
by September he would be report
ed as delinquent. Tucker was in
Quoted into the service later in the day.
Two enemy aliens were part of the
days grist at the station. Both had
failed to register. Russell Forgan,
son of James b. Forgan. a Cnicago
bank president, was taken at The Penn
sylvania Depot, according to the rec
ords of the West Thrtieth Street sta
ton. Forgan said he had just been
GERS and was on his way home to en-
list in some branch of the service. He
said he is not quite eighteen years of
age. He was finally permitted to de-
part.
Frank Mallon, of Company C, 3O4th
Field Artillery, formerly of Camp Up
ton, now in France, was sent to Fort
Jay. Mallon admitted he failed to re-
turn to camp after 4 short leave of
absence four months ago He said his
wife had been seriously i'll.
Walter j. Morgan, above the draft
age and employed as naval censor
working on cable dispatches. was ar
rested in front Of the Stock Exchange
despite the fact that he produced his
credentials and his state registration
card. He was taken to the Church
Street station, where he was released
after satisfactorily establishing his
identity.
About $500 men were taken into
custody in Brooklyn. Only $50 we're
held for the military authorities or
prosecution in the Federal courts for
failure to comply with the regulations.
In Brownsville and the Williamsburg
section yesterday hundreds appeared to
comply with the law, which requires
that they get final classification cards
from the boards