The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 29, 1927, Page 7

May Dav Raids, 1923, Inspired By Lewis A DOCUMENT has just come int» my hands which may be of in- terest to those who are following the miners’ convention at Indianapolis. If my good friend Powers Hapgood is butchered up by the brass-knuckled agents of Mr, John L, Lewis and Mr. Pat Fagan it is certainly no surprise to any of us. We know what that union machine can do against its enemies, This document gives an in- stance. As a background to our story it is necessary to remember Mr. David J. Berry, formerly of Pittsburg, Pa., and his National Labor Journal, pub- lished for many years and as late as the spring of 1924 in that city. It called itself “Organized Labor’s Of- ficial Newspaper” and declared that it was published “in the interest of the American Federation of Labor.” The office of the general manager and editor was in the Unien Labor Temple at Pittsburg. The list of or- ganizations holding stock in the pa- per and appearing on the masthead were the Pittsburg Central Labor Union, the United Mine Workers of America District 5, Street Railway Employees Div. 85, Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 27, Bartenders Lo- cal 188. The “advisory board” of the paper was made up of gentlemen from these organizations. The journal car- ried the press service of the A. F. of Li. Mr. Berry claimed to be an intimate of Samuel Gompers, indeed this was his premier asset, and stock in trade in making approaches to manufacturers. Flags and Real Estate. It is unnecesSary to. describe the National Labor Journal in detail, It was a gorgeous mixture of American flags and real estate ads, flattering sketches of republican politicians and stern attacks on the labor radicals. On one occasion the journal announ- ced that “as the official mouthpiece of organized labor in the Pittsburgh district, we can say without fear of successful contradiction that the la- ber organizations affiliated with the Pittsburg Central Labor Union are composed of men whe desire not the wealth of the world, but a fair wage and working conditions which enable them to live according to the Amer- ican standard.” (It may be observed in passing that one of these mem- bers, Mr. Robert Beattie of the Fire- men and Oilers Union certainly lived according to the workingclass stan- dards—several motor cars, diamond stick pins, $15 a day plus expenses from the Railroad Audit and Inspec- tion Co., industejal spy corporation, in addition to his union wages which were by no means meagre.) Enter, Brother Berry. It goes without saying that brother Berry did not love the radicals. He featured anything that hit them be- low the belt. As far back as the great steel strike he was engaged in the sort of red-baiting that has now be- come so popular even in so-called so- cialist unions, , During the strike, his paper, appeared in Pittsburgh, the heart of the struggle, with no word of encouragement for the strikers. Only colorless accounts marked by preju- dice against the strike leadership: At the same time he played up stories headlined “deportations should be speeded up,” “there is too much radi- calism in the labor unfions,” “labor awakened for battle with radicals.” The radiéals, it will be remembered, were chiefly William Z. Foster, John Fitzpatrick, yes, and Jim Maurer of the Penna. State Federation of La- bor, whom Berry bitterly hated. He tried to link up Jim with Ludwig Martens, the Soviet representative in America at the time. The Blackmail Tour. There is no space here to recount the various exploits of Berry except a few that lead up to the lawsuit from which our document derives, It is possible to summarize them—1. Ber- ry went to a number of employers in the Pittsburg district and promised them that if they would contribute money he would see that a certain person was elected president of the Iron City Central Trades Council. He picked up several thousand dol- lars, Then he made a compromise ' supporters of the other can- didate, Mr. Phillip Murray, now the vice-president of the United Mine Workers of America, by which Ber- ry’s candidate. was to withdraw and run instead for the presidency of the Penna. State Federation of Labor. Then Berry toured the state picking up funds from employexs to elect this man to the state office. This black- mailing tour netted Berry about $22,- 000. He and his followers pocketed the money and their candidate was not successful. The employers who had been shaken down were natur- ally pretty sore, And Papa Gompers. 2. Berry had also been the Penn sylvania representative of the notor- icus American Alliance for Labor and Democracy which was fathered by Samuel Gompers and other labor chauvenists in order to offSet the ac- tivities of the Peoples’ Council in th: war days. Berry attended the con- gress of this alliance held in Minnea- polis. and came back with a wad of money to spend on the enterprise in Pennsylvania. The money was spent for ether purposes connected with Berry’s cwn private business, Berry’s Private Business. | 8. Part of this private business was the “settlement” of labor dis- turbances, The employers of the Pittsburg district were given to un- derstand that the alliance above men- tioned, was a patriotic bedy to which a manufacturer could turn if he had any “trouble” with his foreign-born workers. Ong Chas. P. Matheson, shpurtetcaident’ of the Tyler Tube and Pipe Co., of Washington, Pa., thought there waS a strike brewifig in his plant. He called on Mr. Berry. Berry visited Mr. Matheson in his home and told the latter he must have $350 in cash before he could take any action in the matter. He got the cash, and assured Mr. Matheson that he would adjust the trouble and that he had with him an agent of the department of justice who was assisting him. Two Hundred Berries More. Matheson heard nothing more of Berry for a few days when he re- ceived a phone call. Berry was speak- ing: “Matters are still in a very bad state. I will have to do some. addi- tional work. I want $200 more.” Matheson drew a check made out to Berry's Journal and mailed it in to the Labor Temple. Meanwhile Matheson became sus- picious of brother Berry and dis- covered at the D. of J. effice in Pitts- burg that Berry had not had any agent with him when he ‘went to Washington to head off the strike. erry was subsequently backed into a corner and forced to confess his biackmail game. He signed a state- ment to this effect. ™ Saving Ilis Reputation. These were just a few of the tricks that Mr. Berry pulled and none: of them seemed to win him favor with the employers. “He simply could not deliver the goods. The candidates he 7 Wel XOBERT DUNN supported were not elected; the strikes he attempted to prevent broke cut. The employers decided to expose him, Lead bythe Employers Associa- tion of Pittsburgh and its secretary- manager, E. B. Moreland, they charged Berry with much dirty work, and issued a long statement against him on May 10, 1923. Berry, to save his “reputation,” filed a suit , for $200,000 damages against the employ- ers..The suit was filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Alleghenny county in 1924. The plaintiff’s statement in this suit is the document which has just reached my hands. It contains the eenfidential statement of the em- ployers issued in’ 1928 and dealing with the activities of brother Berry. And it tells us something about the officials of the United Mine Workers of America. Cops Celebrate May Day. Workers may recall the raids made on the headquarters of the Workers Party of Pittsburg just before May Day; 1928. They were conducted by federal and local agents, professedly to forestall a May Day celebration. Twenty-three persons were arrested and held in bail of $5,000 to $25,000 under the state anti-sedition act. The brutalities of these raids and arrests were investigated by the American Civil Liberties Union, whose officials including its chairman; Dr. Harry’ F. Ward, pronounced it one of the mos unwarranted and illegal attacks made on workingclass liberties since the war, U. M..W. of A. and The Raid. It will also be remembered how Tom Meyerscough, one of the leaders of the Progressive Miners Committec which had beén formed in Pittsburg, was arrested a few days later as he was going to take bail to some of the arrested workers. The police seized all of Meyerscough’s books and busi- ness papers. Later when Ellis Searles, editor of the United Mine Workers’ Journal issued his ponderous news- paper exposé of the militants’ work in the mine workers’ union we noticed that much of the material used was that which was supposed to be under seal at the office of the department of justice in Pittsburg. It was clear that there had been some collusion between the United Mine Workers’ officials and the raiders and prosecu- tors of Meyerscough and others. The attempt to frame-up Alex Howat while he was stopping at a Pittsburg hotel will also be recalled, The May 10, 1923 statement of the Employers’ Association of Pittsburg which is appended as Exhibit “A” to this damage suit of Berry’s clears up some of the mystery. surrounding these raids, and makes it plain as daylight what forces were behind them. The document tells us bluntly: “The recent red raids in Pittsburg which have received considerable pul- licity in the local press were inspired by the United Mine Workers of Amer- ” What He Gives With the Right He Takes Away With the Left. mh Na Why. did the United Mine Worker inspire those raids? The document gees on to tell us how the Workers’ Party, at that time lead in the Pitts- burg district by Fred Merrick, “had met with considerable success in the newly organized mine fields, particu- larly those controlled by the H. C Frick Coal and Coke Co, Their in fluence within the ranks of certain elements of the miners from this field has to the leaders of Dis 5, of the United Mine Work been very embarrassing so-called reactionary trict No. Strikebreaker Lewis. The story reviews the calling off of theestrike in this field by the In ternational and the formation of the Miners’ Relief Committee through which food was distributed to those workers who remained out and who refused to be trapped back to work by the Lewis order. It tells about the conference of militant miners te protest against the action of the nta- chine. Howat on the Job. “These various conferences,” the document continues, “resulted in form- ing the Miners’ Progressive Commit- tee and the calling into the field of Alex Howat of Kansas strike fame Howat is an expelled officer of the United Mine Workers, as a result of his defiance of the Kansas Industrial Court and incarceration in jail for defiance of this court. The Miners’ Progressive Committee immediately started to coordinate the work of all the disgruntled factions of the United Mine Workers of America, centering their activities in the Frick field.” It then tells how several conferences of the militants “were broken up by the officers and followers of the regu- lar officers of District No. 5.” How- ever, it admits that Howat and oth- ers had developed quite a following and had arranged for a national con- ference which was to convene in Pitts- burg June 2, This made the official- dom of the miners’ union desperate. This is how the employers’ document puts it: Enter “Justice” “Naturally, all this has resulted in considerable embarrassment to the regular officers of the United Mine Workers with the result that a few weeks ago, they called upon the Pitts- burg office of the United States de- partment of justice with a complaint against Merrick, Howat, et al. with a request that these men be prosecu- ted because of their activities in the Workers” Party. It was explained to these leaders that there was no fed- eral violation by citizens in partici- pating in the Workers’ Party activi- ties, but that there was a state viola- tion under the anti-sedition act. It was suggested to these leaders that they use their influences with the county and city officials and the state police and if they could get these of- ficials to act the government agents would lend all of'the expert assistance possible.” The statement of the association continues: “Mr. Mitchell Palmer” Lewis, “The Mine Workers’ officers fo!- lowed these suggestions—some of the International officers coming to Pitts- burg to push this prosecution. (italics ours). As usual, in cases of this kind, where politics is the ruling force, the aid of the county, city and state of- ficials was easily secured, particularly when the possible votes of the United Mine Workers in elections were dangled before their eyes. When these officials agreed to act, the head of the department of justice was of- ficially enlisted with the result that arrangements for the raids were made by the department of justice men who instructed the city, county, and state police as to whom to raid, the man- ner of making the raid, ete.” This, it will be recalled, is just what happened. A department of jus- tice. dick named Lennon, was the technician in charge of the raids. But the prosecutions were brought by county attorneys under the state anti- sedition act. All of these gentlemen inspired by the lofty ideal of saving the United Mine Workers of America Cont. On Page 8 employers’