The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-12-05
In Annual Report of AttOr.
ney General Gregory
Made Public Today
MAINTAINING ORDER
GREAT ACHIEVEMENT
5000 Enemy Aliens Arrested and Ex-
amined with View to Internment
During War-over $4,000 Would be
Draft Slackers Rounded Up.

how nemy agents have been caught, disloyal-
" suppressed, draft slackers apprehended,
dangerous Germans informed, explosions
and other sabotage prevented, and enemy
secrets ferreted out for use against their
armies abroad, was given to the public to-
day in Attorney General T. W. Gregory
annual report Through a great corps of
department of justice civil officers, secret
agents, and citizen volunteers, this big job
OF policing has been accomplished, said the
attorney general, with a minimum disturb
ance to the normal lie OF communities, and
with constant effort to avoid encroaching
on freedom of speech, action and political
criticism.
Referring to enforcement OF the espion-
age act, Mr. Gregory said
This department throughout the war
has proceeded upon the general principle
that the constitutional right of free speech,
free assembly, and petition exist in war,
time as IN peace time, and that the right
Of discussion OF governmental policy and
the right of political agitation are the
most fundamental rights in democracy
At the same time, the attorney general
explained, the department had tried to
deal severely with propaganda having for
deliberate purpose the disintegration OF
the country's war strength.
One OF the distinct achievements OF the
American people, he said, "has been the
maintenance Of order, the comparative fail
urc of enemy activities and, speaking
broadly, the general self-control and self
restraint exhibited throughout the country
in critical situations
The attorney general disclosed that only
! G,000 enemy aliens have been arrested on
presidential warrants and examined with
a view to internment and that "a consider
| able number of these have been placed in
nternment camps administered by the ar
! my. The balance were paroled. Most
enemies interned We're German men, anC
there were comparatively few German
women or Austro- Hungarians About $50
600 Germans have been registered in the
nationwide census 100000 men and 90,
| 600 women
! Up to last July I, department OF iustic,
Investigators had rounded UP %, 439 young
| men who sought to escape the draft, anC
| had caused their induction into the serv
| ice. More than 900 eases of men who
for some reason or other had failed to fl,
| questionnaires or to appear for physica
examination were investigated
Looking forward to peace conditions, th'
attorney general makes a number o
recommendations for reform of Judicial pro
cesses. Although he referred to the diff
Guilty Of pushing anti-trust prosecution,
during the war since the government it
self las been in the business Of suppress
sing competition. he made no suggestions
for new antitrust legislation which con
gress is expected to undertake soon.
| War activities claimed the principal por
tions of the report, and after referring t.
the growth of the department 5 secret serv
ice to six times its size in 1916, and the eli
iicient organization OF the American Pre-
tcctiyc league of 80, 900 citizen volunteers
Mr. Gregory said:
1T Is safe to say that never in its histo
~ has this country been SO thoroughly 20
Iced as at the present time.
when it becomes possible, through th
lapse OF time, to disclose fully the activitie
of these various secret service, their wor
Will stand out as one of the substantial
achievements of the war
Hints of an American espionage SISTER
were gwen in the statement that the 81
cret services have given protection no
only to the civilian population but to tn
armed forces, and some Of their activitie
have also resulted in direct damage to tn
enemy forces abroad
Great stress was laid on the sufficienc
of normal civil processes and the neeC
lessness of attempting to invoke the us
| nf ita, ttsIl, alS,
1T has been the view of this depar
ment, the attorney general said, ''tha
every act of arbitrary and unnecessary il
reference with the life, habits, and occ'
patton OF the citizen, would lessen efficiel
cy, disturb order, and weaken public col
Gdence in the American standards of ju
tice
He added that he had emphasized tn
view on other government departments, +
sulting con a number of occasions in pr
venting encroachments upon the jurisdi
tion of the civil tribunals of the country
Discussing the enforcement of anti-tru
laws. Attorney General Gregory said:
when natural laws -of trade bref
down, as they have done during the war
many branches of trade. direct governmel
action with respect to prices and metho
of distribution may become essential
order to prevent private control of ma
= kets, for when natural laws of trade G.
no longer be depended upon to regula
= markets, the only choice is between ar
L fetal control imposed by public agencit
II In these circumstances, therefore, such
rect governmental action, so far from III
ming counter to the purpose Of the Sh,
III man act is directly in line with IL"
III The attorney general said the hearing
III pending antitrust cases in the SUPPER
II court had been postponed ON motion of t
III government because ''the dissolution
these combinations would require fnanc
| operations on a large scale, which it wor
II not be in the public interest to underta
II IN the present conditions of the mon
II market, brought about by the war
II Mr.. Gregory's recommendations propt
II legislation to make federal warrant r