100 years ago today in Spokane: Officials declare 1,500-plus draft delinquents will be rounded up

Eastern Washington had between 1,500 and 2,000 “draft delinquents,” according to authorities, and a “roundup” was about to start.

The U.S. attorney estimated that around one-third of those were “willful delinquents” and would be prosecuted under the Selective Service Act. The records were being kept secret for now, pending final draft records.

The European war had been over for four months, but the draft was still in effect.

From the daylight savings beat: Daylight savings time, originally intended as a war economy measure, would remain in effect after the U.S. Congress failed to bring a repeal bill to a vote.

For that reason, “Father Time will step back an hour” on March 30, 1919, said the Spokane Daily Chronicle.

“All Spokane will conform to the new regime of timekeeping,” said the paper.

From the democracy beat: Two organizations with similar names but different aims were recruiting members in Spokane.

The first was called the Spokane Sons of Democracy, and it was a patriotic organization for discharged soldiers and sailors. Its goal was to provide veterans with benefits and jobs.

The second was called the League for Democracy, and it was a more radical organization pledged to “prevent the reactionary profiteers in this country from nullifying the Bill of Rights contained in the Constitution.”

The Chronicle said it was a Portland-based organization related to the Wobblies.