Before U.S. entry into the first world war, the IWW issued stickers, or "silent agitators", urging workers not to become soldiers. The moment it became apparent that the U.S. was committed, General Secretary-Treasurer Haywood terminated the propaganda campaign. The IWW had cautiously avoided defying the draft; members who were drafted were advised to follow legal procedures, marking their claims for exemption, "IWW, opposed to war." But it was too late; the wheels of government repression were already in motion. Government actions had their counterpart in the society at large: