Hough wrote the official account of the activities of the American Protective League (APL), a voluntary organization that attempted to enforce patriotism and stifle dissent during World War I. Called "The Web: A Revelation of Patriotism", it told the history of that controversial organization in glowing terms and called for a program of "selective immigration, deportation of un-Americans, and denaturalization of 'disloyal' citizens and anarchists." It said: "We must purify the source of America's population and keep it pure." When the APL organized teams of vigilantes to enforce the military draft, Hough described the places the organization was most needed: "We find that the great states of each coast are practically foreignNew York most of all." During the war he wrote a pamphlet for a similar organization, the American Defense Society, called "The Indefinite American Attitude Toward the War and When Shall It End".