The Connecticut labor press., 1919-09-06
DAWSON OF THE MACHINISTS
 TELLS OF WORK IN BRIDGEPORT
Secretary International Association Talks About strong-Armed Men Employed by T. W. W-Government
 Agent Advised Him to Garry a Gun.

l City. I went to the chief of police in Bridgeport and furnished him with a
 list of strong-arm artists they had ir. ] Bridgeport. I knew many of them. l They operate in this section. They don't go where they really have to do
 business. They play this arate'1r game
 through this way. furnished him with
 list of those people. He sent for sev- 1 era1 of them. Two of them l have seen
 in this audience today; and before leave Rochester 1 am going to notify 1 the police of Rochester who they are. "I am going to advise you people in | Rochester and know you don't like to 1 take advice from westerner or south l erner, but I am going to give you one little piece of advice 1 believe is to your l interest, and that is to back up your l American ideals with your energy, with ! your money, with your attendance at 1 these meetings and with your fists if it l becomes necessary.
 Men are never prosecuted in this
 country for obeying the law. The law l is something you men make. The police 1 department doesn't make laws. They l execute them. You are the people who make the laws You may not believe
 that many times when law doesn't suit
 you. If it doesn't suit you elect some l body else to make one that does suit l you. If you haven't got the ballot that [ is your fault Don't blame anybody for the non-exercise of your right at the I ballot box but yourself.
 But the methods that have been en- p1oyed I want to bring to your atten- 1 ton in this way. I heard a statement
 made by member of the Connecticut l Manufacturers Association two weeks | ago. He gave voice to this-not know i ing who l was, and 1 suppose he didn't l care very much e1ther-he said the thing for us manufacturers to do-and this
 happened i'll the smoking compartment of a Pullman car in conjunction with
 others-is to develop the l. w. w. to
 the point where they would crush the
 A. F. of L., and then use the army to
 crush the I. w. w.
 50 the American Federation of La
 bor is placed in this position We are
 fighting the l. w. w. on one hand to
 prevent them running the workers pros-
 poets, and we are going to give the
 right hand to the employers association
 before we get through with them.
 T want you people to go back
 little bit. 1 have seen in this audience today faces W ho came here for critical purposes, who came with a desire to criticise, with desire to find fault, to pull to pieces. l see other faces who are here, no doubt, with an object of learning something ill reference to this American labor movement. There may be others here for the purpose of carry ing information to those who have left the hall under the leadership of the people who led them.z There is a de- sire, however in the minds of the ma Jority of the people at the present time to ind some solution of the industrial unrest prevailing at the present time. One man will say the American Fedora ton of Labor does not present the solu- ton of that problem. But you will in the American Federation of Labor along that line is not part of the American Federation of Labor What right has he to determine then the policies of the A. F. of L. if he has no connection with it? Men have said to me regarding my organization, the In- ternationa1 Association of Machinists, that i'll some instances we were too radical. 1 feel proud of the fact that 1 am radical. I am radical enough to want to treat these profteers just as I want to treat the 1. w. w.; put them all in one bunch. I am radical enough to IT 10 discourage, II possible, every idea of disloyalty within this government, I am not reactionary enough to want to put on my shoulders propaganda from a foreign country. I am radical enough to want to see these institutions that have been built in America be carried through to their final conclusion in order that the people may determine these questions for themselves. But I am not conservative enough to allow
 man to come to our shores from some other place to get rid of the oppression of that place, and then undertake to dictate the policies of our government.
 l believe the time has come in America
 when we must stand up and be counted
 We are either with America or against
 her, either one way or the other There
 is no middle ground. And I am counted
 on the side of being with America"