The Connecticut labor press., 1920-01-31
SPIES WITHIN
THE RANKS OF
LABOR UNIONS
Connecticut Organizations, Par
ticularly the Machinists Lodges,
Have Had Experiences.
REPORT TO BOSSES
What Happened to One Discov-
cred BY a Lodge in Dayton,
Ohio, Is Interesting.

Ohio, Is Interesting.
Connecticut labor organizations have
been bothered more or less at various
times by spies within their ranks and
this is perhaps particularly true of the
Machinists' organizations, they being
more directly fought by their employ
ers' associations than most other crafts.
Spies who reported regularly to their
employers were numerous during the
great war time activities in this state
and there is reason to believe that there
are still some left.
Out in Dayton, Ohio, the local lodge
of Machinists recently got the goods
on one of these good union men" and
The Labor Review of that city thus de-
scribes what happened to him:
Supported by two brawny members
of the Machinists' union, forced to face
an audience of hundreds OF men whom
he had attempted to betray, spy under
went an experience at the last meeting
of ,odpe No. US that will be indelibly
stamped upon his memory as long as
life lasts. But the nature OF the man
has not been changed, and when last
heard from was waiting for Instructions
from the head Office of the detective
agency.
"Some months ago, a neatly appear
ing man presented clearance caro- 10
the local Machinists' Union. As is usual,
a quiet investigation was made with the
result the man was determined to be
sDy. a conviction which soon became
certainty. Learning the name OF the
concern. or at least the name of the
employment agent of the local concern
to whom the spy was to report, the OF
f1cers of the Machinists' Union deter
mined to string the detective a little.
"Of course, the man was not allowed
+o obtain any information OF value, Dut
a good deal of amusement was derived
from watching his attempts to secure
list of the members. Seeming oppor-
tunities for accomplishing this were
placed in his way, and then tney Wouiu
be withdrawn. This continued tor
while, the man making reports TO tne
ennloyn1ent agent every TUESDAY,
Thursday and Saturday, besides innum-
cradle telephone conversations. How
ever. he was showing no results.
Grooming desperate, he decided to
r,,i1 little stunt that might insure his
continuance on. the job. The local plant
had a factory paper which was edlteo
nv a rather clean-cut young fellow VINO
did not belong to the union, and VINO
wished to curry favor with his boss.
The spy decided he could boost his
game by sacrificing the editor.
"This was done by placing IN the
editors desk typewriter article IN
support of Boishevism, then calling up
the employment agent, telling hum where
the article could be found, together with
the information that the editor was
member of the Machinists' Union. The
editor was fired, and the spy was looked
upon as wonder.
sThe Machinists then determined to
make a fitting example out of this par
ticular spy. They not only learned his
every action and word, but they. ex-
tracted his innermost thoughts. Alter
getting every thing he had, the Doys
decided upon the grand finale. HOW
ever, they wanted his picture, SO they
put him on committee and suggested
that a group photograph should be
taken. This was done and the amusing
part of it was that the spy insisted upon
paving the photographer bill. Then
the headliner was staged.
Last Friday night, George Richard
son. the business agent, made a tax IN
which he outlined the manner in which
spies worked, giving an outline OF the
activities of the particular fellow from
the time he had affiliated with the or
qanization, and finally naming the man,
who was brought forward by two men
who had received their Instructions and
were sitting beside the Judas.
"After holding him up so that all the
members would be able to recognize him
in the future, number of papers were
taken from the man, several OF them
being carried in secret pockets. A COM
mittee then took him to his room where
another packet of papers was taken,
these being in cleverly arranged double
drawer in his dresser, the presence OF
which, and the contents of which were
known to the business agent and several
others. =.
"The papers contained information of
unusual value from a local viewpoint
and have been placed in a safe place
until such time as it is deemed best to
divulge their contents.
Instead of booting spies out OF the
organization, it is probable the Machin-
lists will follow the scheme adopted last
week. The denouement is both dra-
matte and interesting; the information
collected is valuable, and the lesson
taught the spy may be salutary--but we
doubt it, as the morals of such people
are so thoroughly decayed it is prac.
tically impossible to stop the inroads OF
them