The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-24
Says Prosecutions Wit nesses in McNamara Case
 Have Been Intimidated
BITTERLY ATTACKS
 SAMUEL GOMPERS
Was no Formal Meeting of the As sociation Yesterday But Vari- ous Sections Met and
 Elected Officers

| New Orleans, November 23.-Witnesses l for the prosecution in the Los Angeles Times dynamiting case have been threat ehed with death after having withstood re- peated efforts of agents of the defense to bribe them, declared William J. Burns. detective, in an address today before
 the State Secretaries association of the American Bankers association. | He declared that Eugene V. Debs, in recent signed article in a periodical which Burns suggested should be known
 as "The Appeal to Reason,' wrote in a vein calculated to incite men to the worst possible violence, he said. T interrupted
 the article to mean that J. Pierpont Nor
 gan, Guggenheim, General Otis and my
 self should be removed"
 If they get me- he declared with
 feeling, there will be somebody else to
 take up the work for the protection of so-
 ciety I have a consciousness of having performed my full duty, with absolute
 regard at all times for the rights of every
 individual affected and prompted only by
 a desire to see that justice is done.' MT. Burns arraigned bitterly Samuel Gompers, president of the American Fed eration of Labor; Eugene V. Debs. social ist, and other would be- leaders of or ganized labor. He declared nine-tenths of organized labor is opposed to violence and not in sympathy with the efforts of the small socialistic element to destroy the laws of the country.
 Burns discussion of the McNamara case was at the request of the state sec retaries organization, and followed his address before that body on the subject,
 Modern Methods of Protecting Banks" Vote of Confidene A rising vote of confidence in MT. Burns integrity was extended him by the meeting.
 MT. Burns only briefly discussed the Los Angeles case, and said if it had not
 been for the unfounded attacks upon him made by Samuel Gompers and others he
 would refrain from saying anything about it until he was called upon to testify.
 While declining to go into details of the prosecutions evidence he said ne was sat isfied that John J. McNamara and James B. McNamara would be convicted "Gentemep," he said. it is signifi- cant fact that no dynamiting has occurred since the arrest of the McNammaras." MT. Burns reiterated his assertion Of several weeks ago that fund of over a million had been collected or pledged for the defense of the McNamaras. "When made that statement" he continued .'Gompers said I was a liar. But he did
 not give any figures nor did he inform the public as to the source of some of this
 large aggregation of money. He content ed himself with saying that l was lying
 and this testifies to the character of the
 man attacking me.
 Attcmps to Bribe
 "They have the money and have at- tempted to buy our witnesses. They have offered some of the prosecution's wit nesses brbes, but they have refused them
 and then they were menaced Many found | it necessary to hide. But. gentlemen, 90
 per cent of organized labor do not stand l for violence"
 The speaker asked the bankers to be careful in selecting proper guards for the insecure institutions. A citizen should see | that honest men are elected to office he l said. Anarchists paradng under a cloak | of socialism are found in thls country and ] they will go to any extreme in forcing | their demands, he said. The only remedy | was an awakening of the honest citizen- | ship to an active interest in the problems. i he declared.
 The programme of the 37th annual con- vention of the American Bankers asso- -~~-------~>-~>>-~~~ CONTINUED ON PAGE 14l