Report Made By: Dorsey E. Phillips
Place Where Made: Wilmington, N.C.
Date When Made: October 1, 1917
Period for Which Made: Sept. 28
Title of Case and Offense Charged or Nature of Matter Under Investigation: False Exemption by Pitt County Exemption Board
Statement of Operations, Evidence Collected, Names and Addresses of Persons Interviewed, Places Visited, Etc.:
At Goldsboro.
Conferred, at their request, with the Eastern District Board on the work of the Pitt County Exemption Board. With over the entire situation with them, and by reference to my report of August 25th, the District Board reversed the decision on the cases of the following who had been exempted by the Local County Board:
Norman O. Warren, married, no children, Cashier of Greenville Bank & Trust Co., wife’s father amply able to care for her during his absense. The Chairman of the local board is a director and heavy stockholder in this bank.
Milton Lee Tucker: Single, father is 47 years of age, reputed to be worth fifty thousand dollars. Exempted by local board for dependent parents.
Ned Laughinghouse: Son of the Chairman of the Local Board. Lives with father; married; father wealthy.
Thomas F. McGuire, Jr.: married, no children. His father is in the wholesale feed business. Amply able to care for son’s wife.
W. F. Langley: Single.
Frank Savage: Exempted by local board as dependent father. He works for his father who owns and operates a livery stable.
I also went to Raleigh and conferred with J. J. Mackay Director of Military Enrollment, and he informed me that the Governor had appointed two men to work with the varoius local boards so as to try and strike a working plan whereby exemptions would be uniform, and requested that I come to Raleigh October 3 to confer with them so as to give them an idea of what would interest the Department of Justice as the Governor had instructed him to have these men cooperate with me in making investigation of false claims for exemptions. I am calling the United States Attorney’s attention to cases that I have investigated and he has written to the Chairman of the District Board to send him their files in the cases so that he can see the original affidavits.
