The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-28
ALLEN VIGOROUS
 IN MAKING REPLY
 ID M 'CLURG LETTER
Contractor Tells How Union Men Have Threatened to Put Him Out of
 Business
Q the Editor of The Age-Herald.


 to publish a few lines in your paper in response to the letter in your paper of May 2S. signed by one H. o. Mcclurg secretary of the Building Trades Council and also a paperhanger of this city at present.
 1 l have endeavored faithfully for more than two years now to impress the pub lie with whom I deal, with the fact that such men as this McClurg could not even shovel mud with decent negro on any of my work. and the fact that he comes out and openly admits that I am not only opposing any and all of their tactics. but will not even allow his kind to enter the premises where white men work, certainly makes me proud of the real free adver- Using that this mans letter gave me, and 1 feel that I could not have paid for card that would have done me more good than his letter did.
 l Tn venting his union spleen on an open shop man who is really proud to be op- posed by such men as McClurg, he shows the earmarks of a man whose conscience hurts him. and I am reminded of the old saying that the hit dog always howls. And he even deplores the great, malici- GUS tragedy. as he calls it. when 2l men were killed. and all just such men as this same McClurg Is fighting, both day and night, right here in this city: and they afterward admitted that they blew the building up with dynamite, their favorite weapon. in cases where all other modes of intimidation have failed and when they have been so completely whipped as they have been here.
 McClurg is terribly worried -bout the way the insurance companies have been treated and about the graft which he says no one will ever know just who received. but for McClurg's information l would I suggest that he examine the criminal court records and he will know how many secretaries and organizers have been guilty of grating, and where it went and | where it is still going
 And while he deplores these tragedies committed abroad so much, does he de- plore the tragedies and assaults and at tacks made on open shop men and prop erty in this city while he acts as secre- tary?
 Where was this McClurg when three of his henchmen entered my office on three different occasions and informed me that unless l complied with some of their special requirements that they would have to work on me And on receiving a mega tive answer each time they. as a parting shot, stated that they would have to put me out of business and when further refused to be intmidated I was told that would be made an example of for the benefit of others like me, and from the tone of his letter I don't think they are very fond of this job
 | Where was this peace-loving Secretary McClurg when the organization, of which he is secretary, held meeting with the wall paper dealers when the paperhang- CTS and decorators notified the paper dealers that no matter how their differ | ence was settled. and even if they should win their fight, that c. M. Allen was one of six contractors in this city that they would not work for. and as secretary, of course he was at his desk making these | records.
 l Where was McClurg when J. L. Carri- l gems home blown up with dynamite and where was he when Carrigen received a bomb through the mail? Of course could not say that he was on the job, l but I believe the law holds that man who aids and abets and pays his money in case like this is, if anything, meaner and just as guilty as the man that is on the job Then again I am told that men of some intelligence are generally selected to do these ioos, and. of course, that would let McCurg out again. These attacks were made on Carrigen $ life and home after all other efforts at intimidation had failed, and there was | nothing else to do but ring in our old friend dynamite.
 Where was McClurg when a crowd of ladies visited the lady owner of this l.atl ft,f .l | answered the door call and asked theil misslonf their answer was that they were | the wives and mothers and daughters of union men, and wanted to prevail on this owner to give her work to union men only and that these union men needed the work for the support of their families and when this owner explained to them that she was just as much in sympathy | with the nonunion men and their families as she was with the union men and their families, and that she had an architec; and agent who would handle her work the crowd left. and l suppose this secre- tary recorded this trip also and where do find him next. in spirit if not ir person?
 Why, we find him in the nature of q committee in the office of this owiier's architect on another mission of in. Extraction and when informed by this architect that organized labor would not stand any Detter snow Tn his office than would the open shop men to ge,
 this work they quietly left and are next found in the office of this owner's < agent, who informed them that he hao
 nothing to do with the giving out oI this work, but if he had he would quite
 likely not favor organized labor. Where was McClurg when more thar 20 letters. all of which were more or less of threatening nature, were writ ten to a prospective tenant of this l building? Some of these letters con. tained the name of H. o. McClurg, while others contained the name of c. M Allen as the man in the way Of course he was secretary and recorded these love letters, as this secretary would call them And, summing up the mat ter, find that after two years of un- successful attempts to intimidate me iby assaultng my men and property | end many other acts of cowardice ana the many unsuccessful attempts to in fiuence this owner and architect and agent and also all prospective tenants Of this house. the matter narrows do WI to the point of simply getting this Il work, and consequently some other kind of missionary work has to be in I augurated and we find these men on l the witness stand and on committees to make reports and on the coroner's jury and finally we find this man Mo | Clurg with his name in The Age-HeraI Id | Of last Sunday.
 And 1t is my opinion that if the gang | of thugs that dynamited J. L. Carri- 1 gems home and sent Carrigen a deatt | dealing bomb through the mail and committed many other assaults had been caught at the time and prose