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 CHAPTER VIII

THE STORY OF CINCINNATI

Data from a Supposed Citadel of Pro-Germanism—Gratifying Reports from the City Which Boasts a Rhine of its Own—Alien Enemies and How They Were Handled—Americanization of America.

That Cincinnati had a vast population of German descent and of pro-German sympathies was known throughout the United States. It would be folly to say otherwise. Had open riots or armed resistance to the draft, or to the war itself, arisen in Cincinnati, there were many who would not have been surprised. Those, however, did not really know the inherently solid quality of the city on the Ohio River. They may find that from the study of the able report of the Cincinnati Division.

Perhaps a very considerable amount of the quiet on the Rhine at Cincinnati was due to the fact that there was such an organization within its gates as the American Protective League. The members of the League were on the watch all the time for anything dangerous in the way of pro-enemy activity. That the division had a certain amount of work to do may be seen from the summaries.

There were 2,972 investigations for disloyalty and sedition; 4,232 selective service investigations; 3,004 suspects taken in slacker raids. Of propaganda by word of mouth, there were 7,000 examinations. Three hundred and seventy civilian applicants for overseas service were examined. There were eighty-one examinations made into the character of persons identified with the I. W. W., the People's Council, and other pacifist or radical bodies. The Secret Service had fifty examinations made for it and the Post Office three. There were fourteen thousand visits made at homes and places of business of alien enemies, and twenty-eight alien enemies were required to report to the supervisor every week.