The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-31
LETTERS TO EDITOR
Renly hy Fl. 0. MClurg


 a campaign of union labor advocacy l thu ough the columns of your splendid paper because of the attacks of MT C. M Allen on our organization. but We deem It imr erative, not for personal reasons but in the cause of justice and in hirness to organized labor. to reply 10 some of the remarks of Mr Allen in your issue of l May 2S
 Mir. Allen does not even attempt to an swer our letter in your paper of May 23
 but simply jumps in with a letter and deals out more of his slimy generalities without proving anything or offering any proof of what he says He neither names persons nor dates except by insinuating gererallties in his remarks about me. He asks the question, Where was McClurg when a crowd of ladies visited the lady owner of tie building in question, and when this owner answered the door call and asked their mission their answer was that they were the wives and moth- CTS and daughters of union men, and wanted to prevail on this owner to give her work to union meh only, and that these union men needed the work for the l support of their families, and when the owner explained to them that she was just as much in sympathy with nonunion men and their families as she was with the union men and their families and that she had an architect and agent who would l handle her work, the crowd left, and I l suppose this secretary recorded this | trip also; and where do we find him next. In spirit If not in person." And an- swers it himself: Why. we find him in the nature of a committee in the office | of this owners architect on another mis- sion of instruction, and when informed by this architect that organized labor would 1 not stand any better show in his office than would the open shop men to get this work they quietly left, and are next 1 found in the office of the owners agent, who informed them that he had nothing to do with the giving out of this work, but if he had he would quite likely not | favor organized labor'
 | In answer to this 1 would say that am secretary~ of the Buildings Trades and that the Building Trades had nothing ! to do with appointing or nstructng this | committee, but the above committee was appointed by the Birmingham Trades Council. However l will say that the conduct of the committee. as stated by MT. Allen, is thoroughly in keeping with | the spirit of organized labor. and I am sure that no one can see anything wrong | in the wives of needy, laborng peoI le asking for work in this manner and in propagating union labor by such con duct.
 | Allen does not point out a single fact derogatory to my character; on the con | trary, uses such expressions as this Me l Clurg could not even shovel mud with a decont negro on any of my property | and T will not even allow his kind to | enter the premises where white men work and lit is my opinion that If tho l gang of thugs that dynamited J. l.. Car l rigan's home and sent Carrigan death dealing bomb through the mail and com- mitted many other assaults had been l caught at the time and prosecuted as | they should have been and would have | been only for political reasons, the prob abilities are that this mau McClurg would have been singing a different tune today" 1 These expressions are on all fours with his communication in this paper of May l l7. in which he says in speaking of ths falling of the Steele -eSmith wall, My opinion is that had the building been con- 1 tinuousiy guarded for the last two months or more, this building would have been standing today"
 If MT. Allen wants to accuse me of l crime. why does he not do SO? Why does he deal in hints and innuendos? The reason is plain The conclusions to which his differences lead are absolutely false and he knows it; and he does not dare to subject himself to the responsibility
 of saying directly fairly and honestly
 what he tries artfully and adroitly to
 lead the public to believe.
 There is nothing convincing to any
 sane person in his letters. He blames
 no one by naming the time or person
 but simply raises a great cloud of sian.
 derous smoke against organized la bor fol the one hXed purpose of divertng th5 attention from the responsibility that rest'
 on him in connection with the Steele
 smith wall disaster. MT. Allen would
 nave never resorted to his unfoundec lnslnuations against organized labor il
 connection with the falling of the Steele smith wall had it not been what h. l thought his only means of escaping pub , lc censure. Why he even goes out anG | drags in the dynamitng. as .e claims
 or J. l.. Carrigans home in order tt } divert the attention of the public for { lew moments, and insnuates that tn, perpetrators of this crime would hay, been caught and prosecuted had it no been Tor political reasons. I suppose, b, tnis statement his next step will be {, blame the sheriff and solicitor and tn
 grand juries and all of the police fore
 or the city of Birmingham for the fallinl
 of the Steele Smith wall He seems t,
 Eiht at this idea, and it would be al
 feasible as any other reason he has ad
 vancod.
 We notice in MT. Aliens letter that h, ala not mention whether he is willing tt stand part of the civil liability which il the owner of the Steele-Smith property , From his lnsinua tions he would have tn,
 people believe I am a very busy man il
 the capacity of secretary of the Buildin; } Trades Council he would have you be
 neVe that all we have to d6ls to call ou
 meetings to order for the purpose of viii ] lylhs and plotting against nonunion con tractors; he would have you believe tha
 we write and call on prospective builders Tor the purpose of threatening and in
 tlmdatng them into having their worl IF done by organized labor. In all of ou correspondence and deliberations witt these prospective builders, we try to i'm | press upon them, and not by threats, tn e importance of having their building erected by organized labor. First, be q cause We have by far the largest ma T Jority of the best skilled mechanics or f ganlzed, and secondly. because these mel
 are in a large majority good citizens 0 t thls municipality, and it is here the i. spend their money. and why should the ii not be considered in who shall erect tn n buildings, when the tenant and the mel
 chant must depend upon these same peo pie to patronze them in order that the | may be able to continue their business
 Tn preference to giving the work to i'm ported men, many who just come her
 for the purpose of working on these non
 union buildings and who send. weekly
 most of their earnings to other cities.
 We do this because we believe in trad Ing In Birmingham. and this is yer l important item in the building of a grea
 city, for It certainly is good business |
 Keep the money at home where 1t can b