United labor bulletin., 1911-05-25
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
MAKE POSITION CLEAR
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF EIGHT
ORGANIZATIONS CONFER IN
MCNAMARA CASE.

The executive officers of the eight in
ternatonaI unions with headquarters in
Indianapolis have conferred over the kid
naping of John J. McNamara, and have
drawn up to present to the public, set
Of particulars and a declaration Of views
Of the Iaboring people of the United
States. The document is concise and de-
serves the closest study of all unioaists
and the public. 1t follows:
To the Great American Public which in
Its Final Conclusion is Always Right:
Now that the dramatic and sensational
features and the humane interest phase
of the Mcnamara case has run its
course, public excitement has subsided.
and the time for calm and deliberate
consideration seems to be here. we. the
officers of the international unions with
headquarters in Indianapolis. desire to
make our position clear. We have two
propositions before US:
First: AS business institutions. do our
organizations differ from other business
institutions? AS union officials do we
differ in any way from other citizens?
Can our persons be ruthlessly violated.
our legal rights ignored. and our offices
officially burglarized?
Second: We believe that every fndi-
vidual accused of crime is entitled to a
fair and speedy trial before an unpreju-
diced Judge and jury. To this end money
is necessity. and we propose to see
that John ]. Mcnamara is supplied with
the money to make an adequate defense
and to be able to avail himself in every
way of the facilities that are open to
every man accused of crime to establish
| his innocence
In explanation of the foregoing.
On the evening of Saturday. April %,
while attending to his official duties.
John j. Mcnamara. secretary-treasurer
| of the International Association of
Bridge and Structural Iron Workers. was
arrested in his office without service of
warrant, hustled to the police court, and.
without regard to the provisions of the
law relative to extradition proceedings,
and while his associates were held pris-
oners in their own headquarters by local
and imported detectives, was given sum-
/ mary hearing in court having no juris-
diction, denied the right to be heard by
himself and counsel. guaranteed by the
J constitution. and was then Immediately
transported from this state to the con-
fines of a jail in another state. His of
fee was then feloniously entered. his
safe was drilled. the papers of the or
ganization were extracted from their re-
ceptacles. and the organization left with
out the service of its fduciary officer.
No opportunity was given Mr.. Mcnamara
to arrange his personal affairs, or for
the orderly transaction of his official
duties. II this method of procedure is
sanctioned. are we not all in the same
peril? May not the officers of the law,
or private detective agencies, enter our
Offices at any time, arrest us, ransack
our files. and place our organizations in
such condition that they cannot trans
act their official business? Is this the
new short cut that has been made for
the overthrow of trade unionism? Fail
ing in the usual assaults on the trade
unions as such. are their international
headquarters to be at the mercy of pri-
vate detective agencies in the employ OF
manufacturers associations? There are
in Indianapolis eight international head
quarters. All of the international unions
whose headquarters are located here
were invited by official representatives
of the city TO make this city their home.
Some of them have been here for years,
the International Typographical union
for % years down to the latest addition,
the International Brotherhood of Book
binders with an official residence of
few months. They all employ citizens
of Indianapolis as clerks. accountants.
] bookkeepers. stenographers. etc, and at
1.-THE highest wages paid for this class of
labor. They have on deposit in Indian
apolis banks at the present time, and
have had for years, hundreds or thou
sands yes. millions. of dollars. that in
turn flow through the avenues of trade,
money that has been an important fac
tor in making Indianapolis the great
commercial city that it is. Are we then
entitled to no consideration from the off,
GERS of the municipality, or the repre-
sentatiyes of the state? II the procedure
in the Mcnamara case Is TO. be officially
endorsed, then We can safely assume that
the answer TO our question is in the neg
ative.
Under our legal procedure. every per-
son arrested is presumed to be innocent
until proven guilty. We know John j.
McNamara- He Is an Industrious, relia-
BILE. painstaking and courteous gentle
man. He is a graduate OF an Indianap-
oils law school. thus making manifest
his ambition to tread the paths that lead
| to higher planes of activity In every
way. so far as we know. he is a model
citizen. Understanding the character of
the man as We do. we are slow to believe
him guilty Of the revolving and heinous
lcrime charged against him. So we pro-
I pose that he shall have a fair and i'm
partial trial. and to that end we shall
devote our energies to the raising OF a
sufficient fund to guarantee the accom-
plishment of the object we have in view.
Can there be any objection to this by
any citizen of this country? Notwith-
standing that Mr.. Mcnamara has been
tried in some Of the newspapers. and a
verdict of guilty rendered; notwithstand-
ing that the manufacturers aud mer-