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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 1911)
TWO PICTURES Or RUIN WROUGHT BY M'NAMARAS, MONUMENT TO THEIR VICTIMS, AND FIRST 1 1 ASTOUNDED" EXCLAIMS GGMPERS I CONFESSOR AMONG, CONSPIRATORS. RTLAND'S NEW SHOE ST0R1 ; ' - ! - .; .w ;- . :?- "' ' ': ... -A . V'f '( s. 380 Washington St., rJIs "My Credulity Has Been Im posed Upon," His Com ment on News. WILL OPEN T At 9 o'CIoick "BOLT FROM CLEAR SKY" MORNING Prt-licTit of American Frdt-mtion of Ibor Say Outcome Will, Have "o Effort on Or ran tied Labor. ttVT YORK, 1. T am as tounded! I am astounded! My cre dulity has been Impound upon. It la a bolt out of a clear sky." The exclamations wr those of Famuel Gompers. president of tne American Federation of I.abor. when advlaed tonight of the pleaa of guilty In tha MrNamara canes. Mr. Gompera. on his way from Wash ington, was dosing In 'a Pullman car no tha Pennaylranla'a Congressional Limited, when he waa awakened at a New Jersey station by an Associated Press representative. lie retired to the rear nf the car. where there waa a convenient light, and read carefully tha accounta of the aenaatlonal devel- opmenta at Los Angeles. Laatr Leader Deevly ASeelea. The veteran labor leader waa visibly affected aa he read how the men In whose defense he had spoken and worked untiringly had admitted their guilt. Tears came into his eyes and the hand that held the typed pages shook. He said nothing-, however, un til he had finished the story, and he then broke forth with hla exclamations of astonishment and Indignation. "If this la all true, my credulity has been Imposed upon," he declared. I am aatonlshed at this news. We have had the greatest assurances given to us by everyone connected with the trial, either directly or Indirectly, that these men were Innocent." Mr. Gompnra said, with the greatest emphasis, that not the slightest Inti mation of such a change In the plans of the defense aa developed today had been communicated to him. Absolutely the firat news of th startling develop ments was given him on the train to night, ha said. Meaty If ay Ha Rfnaea. Asked If ha would have anything; to say about the prisoners personally, the labor leader replied: "No, I shall not add to tha misery by condemnation of them." "What effect do you beJleva. this will have on labor unions V waa Inquired. To this Mr. Gompera snapped hla fingers and ejaculated: "None." When the fund raleed by tha Amer ican Federation of Labor for the de fense of the McNamaras waa mentioned Mr. Go m para said that contributions to date amounted to about 10.000. which had been turned over to the chief at torney for the defense and the collec tion was still going on. He added that the money probably would be refunded. Mr. Gompers bristled up noticeably when the statement by William J. Burns at Chicago waa shown him. "I don't wish to mention Burns." ha said decisively. He denied, however, that he ever bad charged Burns with "planting the dynamite at Los An galea. "Wo have discouraged acts like these. We are patriotic and peace-loving men and wa have only a wish to call out th beat elements In human nature. Those two men must have been erasy. It la an act that I condemn with all the fnrre that la In me." Asked again If ha believed today's developments would Injur the cause of labor, tears came Into Mr. Gompers eyes ss he answered: "They are not going to do any good. But I want to repeat that the causa of the labor has been Imposed upon by both supposed friends and enemies. The members of organised labor were led to believe that the McNamars boys were Innocent and they noted on that belief. I read letters from them my self protesting their innocence. Only last September I visited them In the Los Angeles Jail, and they asked me to deliver to the labor Interests a mes sage that they were Innocent. Met hod a Caaaet Win. 'The cause of labor cannot win by such methods as these men pursued. Itomage to property and destruction of life we have denounced and done all In our power to prevent. Such methods as these have got to be stamped out. "If, after It Is known we have been Imposed upon, we are denounced and attacked for supporting the defense of these men. then let them denounce and attack. The American Federation of Labor la a law-abiding institution." Mr. Gompera aaid he had known John J. McXamara several years. "John J. waa a very self-contained man with a great fund of humor and he was a good fighter," he said. "I would never have suspected him of this. I always believed In his Inno cence, but I would condemn the act or these men even If they had been able to get away without being convicted. Thin unexpected yctr-convictlon la nothing mora than a failure of two Individuals to live up to the high prin ciples of organized labor, and cannot reflect Just condemnation upon the cause of labor as a whole." Asked what action the American Fed eration of Labor might take. Mr. Gompers said the news wss too recent for him to make any prediction. "The American Federation of Labor only closed Its annual meeting yester day." he added. "Aa to a possible special meeting, it la too early to aay." DKATII PENALTY DEMANDED I n Ion Men of St. Joseph, Mo., Voire Intense Indignation. ST. JOKPEH. Mo, Dec. 1. At a meet ing of the Central Labor Council of St. Joseph, resolutions were adopted unan- imouxly demanding the deah penalty for the McNamaras. Indignation la at a high pitch among the union men on account of the af fair. Poatofric SMe for Rent. The west half of block S, the alts for the new rostofflce. Is for rent by the month under reasonable tersia The Government Is not particular about )na1ng It. but the officials at Wash ington have notified Postmaster Mer rick that, while, no money Is available for advertising purposes, ha may rent the place. Tha property Is available tor Immediate possession after the de partment decides the rental offered is yatlnfactorv. A moos birds tha swan irvaa tit be the e'4at. la axtra cams rablaa soft rvara. Tba faJcoa baa baea kaaaa to liva 161 3 !-. i . V . t . .' y-a . i,w.-"r' ""'' "1 ''"yrf . Abwvei - Llewellyn Iran Werki After Dynamiting Which J. J. XcXamara Caafeaaed. Center, Leftt Maaa af Twtated I ma and Steel Prsrn Wrecked Tines Bulldtag, Which Jaaaea B. Mr'aaaara - Confesses Havlag Dyaamlted, sad Kljcht ortte h- MeMaaJgal. Belawi Mrsaartal Ereetea by Geaeral Otla la Warkers W aa Died In Times atxploaloa. WARFARE IS LONG Crime Outgrowth of Deep Seated Bitter Feeling. THREE CITIES INVOLVED Connection TliouKht FfHablKhod He twrrn Peoria and Los Angeles Explosknsw.'Arrests Made In East Last April. LOS ANGELKS. Dec- 1. (SpeelaL) If the McXamara case had gone to the Stage of taking evidence, the prosecu tion would have contended that the blowing up of the Los Angeles Times was only an -incident In the general la bor warfare In Los Angeles. The real organized movemont of labor unions aarainst the Times was begun In 1907, but there had been a general strike of LOS ANGELES DISTRICT ATTORNEY, WHO HAS HANDLED M'NAMARA CASE, AND HIS CORPS I r- . . I .7k lErTTO RIGHT DEPUTIES A- F TF.ITClf AD . ROT nORTOJii DISTRICT ATTORXBY FREDER ICKS AND DtPX-TIK W. J. fr'ORD A. D A. J. HILL. . ..., ... - Iron workers against the American Bridge Company, which had been be gun in August. 1905. The conflict was made more bitter by the action in 1906 of the National 'Erectors Association In beginning organised resistance to tba uniona' demands. - The conflict be came mora and mora Intense as years went on. Otla and Talons Fight Bitterly. General Harrison Gray Otis, owner of the Times, has conducted opposition for many yeara to the "closed shop." The Los Angeles .labor unions in 1907 took his conduct before the National convention of the American Federation of Labor at Norfolk and a resolution was passed declaring that the Times wss "the most unfair, unscrupulous and riWignant enemy of organized la bor In America." The explosion that ' wrecked the Times building and caused the deaths of 21 men came at 1 A. M. October 1, 1910. Each of the II was the head of a family. It haa been contended since then that there waa a coincidence in dates between this explosion and -the expiration of the agreement of the Ean Francisco machinists with their em ployers for a "closed ' shop." The San Francisco machinists had won their strike In 1907 and the Los Angeles ma chinists, who lost their strike the same year, credited their defeat to the oppo sition of the Times: The union's three year closed ' shop agreement In San Francisco expired August 1, 1910. It asked for 60 days' extension, which was granted. On the day of Its expira tion the dynamiting of the Times took place. Thla coincidence made fuel for the flame of hatred which, for months OF ASSISTANTS. 1 . CY .... V . ."S TV '.- 7..'. " - r ;.- .. , . . ... ... .v i. :S . , ,at JZ'V-; after-tha dlaaster. consumed ' tha Pa clflo Coast communities. Burns Called Into Case. Rewards aggregating upwards . of 1300,000 were offered for the apprehen sion of the men responsible for the dynamiting. William J. Burns, who had been working' for a month on dy namite explosions In- Peoria, 111., was called In by Mayor Alexander to take charge of the Investigation. In con nection with his work on the Peori case he had lust got trace of one pur chaser of nitro-glycerlne, who later was identified aa Ortle McManlgal, Burns' men were watching the Iron workers' International headquarters In Indianapolis when the Los Angeles dis aster occurred. Burns, satisfied that he was on the right track, continued to keep his men around John J. lie Namara's office until connections were made with McManlgal and James B. McNamara. The brother of the union's Interna tional secretary-treasurer proved to be the "J. B. Bryce," or "Bryson. who had bought the dynamite In California to manufacture the Los Angeles bomb. Burns was convinced of this on find ing outside the house of F. J. Zeehande laar, secretary of the Los Angeles Mer chants' and Manufacturers' Association, an unexploded bomb of exactly the same pattern as one that failed to go off on the Feorla Jon. This similarity In mechanism was the link that satis fied Bums that the outrages, East and West, were perpetrated by the same men. or by men working under the asms direction. . Two Arrested In Detroit. James B. McNamara and Ortle Mc Manlgal were arrested In Detroit on April 12. last, after Burns' detectives had followed them for months. On April 11 the two met In Toledo, loaded their suitcases with clockwork dyna mite bombs, fuses and other war ma terial, and rode with this equipment to Detroit In a passenger coach. Just as they checked their suitcase arsenals In a Detroit hotel they were arrested and taken to Chicago. McManlgal confessed. Implicating es pecially John J. McNamara as .the brains of the alleged conspiracy. After requisition papers were procured from California the union's offices in Indian apolis were raided and John J. Mc Namara was arrested. In a storage vault kept by the secretary-treasurer in the basement of the office building, ostensibly for storage of old records, the detectives found in a safe 43 pounds of dynamite, 14 clocks of the exact type used in manufacturing the Peoria and Los Angeles bombs, batteries, fuse, wire and other component parts of the Infernal machines. In a barn rented by John J. McNamara, In the outskirts of Indianapolis, ostensibly for storage of old records. Burns found more dyna mite and nitro-glycerlne under lock opened by a key which had been found on James B. McNamara. " - .- ii ai 'niai 9 11 '!' i II 1 J lil' ffrVl?!!.l To introduce our new. store, every tenth customer will be given ah additional pair of shoes. We Have Been Fortunate in Securing a The World's Newest and A. E. Nettleton Wochos Special Slater. Morrill For Men AN INVITATION To all who read this to those' at present our friends and to the many thousands who, we trust, will become so by reason of our goods, our prices and our methods to all whom this message reaches, we extend a most cordial and personal invitation to be present at our opening, Saturday, December Second. A. J. WOCHOS SHOE CO., LABOR HOSTS HURT Duplicity of McNamaras Is Hotly Denounced. SOCIALISTS ARE CRUSHED Street-Orator Declares Denouement Wu Timed to Beat Party Can didate at Los Angeles. Jurt Sentence Asked. "The causa of trades unionism has suffered a set-hack of at least 25 years." was the frequent comment heard among groups of laboring men arouna labor headquarters yesterday follow ing receipt of the news of the confes sion of the McNamaras. Leaders of or ganised labor were so astounded at the news from Los Angeles that they could scarcely express themselves. They showed more or less recrentment for the McNamaras for their duplicity In first gaining the confidence of trades unionists throughout the oountry who promptly came to the moral and finan cial riefanse of the accused men, only later to confess their guilt. It is the consensus of opinion among prominent labor men in Portland that the Mc Namaras by their action have done In finitely greater harm to the cause of organised labor thai could the most bitter enemy o the labor movement. The Socialists were downhearted and nonplussed. Incredible," Says Daly. "In the circumstances surrounding the Los Angeles dynamiting case and the attitude of General Otis toward organised labor. It was only natural that members of organized labor should hv hann charired with the crime," said William H. Daly, president of the Oregon State Federation of Labor and president of the Central Labor Council, of this city. "It seems to me Incredible that any man in his right sense could have committed such a heinous crime and It seems equally irreconcilable that having: done so the McNamaras at mis time should confess In view of the fact that the only evidence against them. so far as it has been disclosed, is largely circumstantial, with every prob ability following a trial oi escaping with their lives and particularly so when they had nothing to hope for from the prosecution. "The strain under which tne two McNamaras have been for the last sev eral weeks may have unbalanced them mentally. It is difficult for me to be lieve otherwise. However, if their con fession is genuine, organized labor asks for them only what we demanded at the time they were first arrested Just and fair treatment. If they are guilty, they should be pumsnea. Jofkt Pnnlshinent Demanded. "If the McNamaras were In their right senses at the time they made their confessions, then we, as trades unionists, expect the same Justice for them as criminals as we demanded for them when we considered them Inno cent victims of what we believed waa a conspiracy.' ' W. A. Marshall, editor of the Port land Labor Press, official organ of trades-unionists here, was especially resentful of the fact that the members of organized labor had been deceived Into believing the McNamaras innocent and bad thrown the support of their or- I ganlzatlon to the defense of the accused I Catalogues Mailed Free. Mail Orders men. He made the .following state ment: "Assuming that the report from Los Angeles Is true and aside from the crime Itself, the McNamara brothers by their action have .dealt organized labor a severe blow. On the strength of their denial of guilt trades unionists over all the country took up the cause of the McNamaras and demanded for them a fair trial, taking them at their word and believing them the victims of a conspiracy. No enemy of organized la bor could have done the labor move ment greater harm." Sociallnta Are Crashed. Excited groups of men thronged So cialist headquarters and discussed the news that to them was entirely unex pected. Other than the secretary, the onlpers of the organization were not in the building, but the secretary referred the reporter to C. B. Ellis, one of the Socialist street orators, who was au thorized to speak. "We have suffered a crushing blow," said Mr. Ellis, "but It win not serve to retard the class war which Is now In progress and will continue. We have telegraphed to Los Angeles for official confirmation of the report as It has been published in the press. If the con fession of the McNamaras proves to be genuine, there is nothing further to be said and certainly no further defense to be offered in their behalf. "As Socialists we have never believed that the McNamara boys were guilty of the crime with which they were charged. For that reason It was the duty of the laboring men of the coun try to rally to their defense, which they did. But If the accused men have con fessed, there is nothing more for us to do. "I am entirely convinced that the f NowIstheTimetoBuy j We have said it before, and say it again, that if you are in the market for a piano you cannot afford to buy till you have investigated our pianos and prices. You know why we are cutting prices; if not, call and we will explain. We say, get the best price obtainable on first-class pianos at any other store, and if we don't save you from $100 to $150 on your piano we will make you a present of one. This is business and should appeal to you. A nice line of high-grade pianos and player pianos to select from. At these prices we have no free gifts to offer as an inducement to buy. The price will not admit of it. Easy payments if de sired $10 puts a nice piano in your home and $6 a month keeps it there. Pianos for rent. Piano tuning. HovendenPianoCo. 106 FIFTH STREET, NEXT TO PERKINS HOTEL the Agency for Best Shoes Laird Schober & Co. John Foster & Co. Queen Quality For Women 380 Washington St. Corn:r West Park and Washington Filled. confessions, if they really have been made, were purposely withheld until now for the effect they would have on the municipal election in Los Angeles next Monday, when Job Harriman, So cialist nominee, has more than an even chance for election as Mayor over the Incumbent, Mayor Alexander." Rose of Darrow Suspected. Every delegate to the Central Coun cil was shocked and depressed by the news from Los Angeles. The body last night took no official cognizance of the latest phase on the McNamara trial. Only bare mention was made. The committee appointed to arrange for tha showing of moving pictures of the brothers with a film which purports to tell in photoplay of an alleged con spiracy against them reported. The. committee was continued until the next meeting of the council, when It will be discharged. Individually the members expressed varying sentiments. Many asserted the cause of labor unionism had been set back 20 years by the official sanction given by labor unions to the defense In the belief that the men were in nocent. Others asserted that the end was not yet and that the pica of guilty waa only a ruse of Clarence Darrow, that the detectives might be withdrawn so that those .working on the defense might be able to make their own in vestigations. "Many times members of the miners" federatl n wanted to shoot Darrow be cause they could not understand his acts In the Ooeur d'Alenes," declared one member. "It Is more than prob able Darrow has not yet fired his last shot." Ivers & Pond Pianos Nothin? Finer K Nothing Better Li ( I r . I m r Jf -i I