Evening star., 1923-02-13
DENY DETECTIVES
.EGGED RADICALS ON
Burns and ThieI Agencies
Attack Charges of "Fram-
ing" i. w. WIS and Others.
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associa ted Press.
CHICAGO. February IA story
Of methods employed by private de-
tective agencies investigating radical
movements. strikes and labor
troubles, contained in a deposition
made here by Albert Bailin, alias Ba-
lanow, former agent Of the Depart
ment of Justice. last night and to-
day brought forth specific and gen.
eral denials from agencies and per-
sons involved in the alleged ex-
posure.
Frank z. Walsh, who is defending
the twenty-five alleged communists
facing trial at st. Joseph. Mich. Feb
ruary 26 and who is here taking the
deposition, said the document would
be used in connection with the defence
Of the men.
Son Of Russian Radical.
Balanow, son of a Russian radical
deported during the last czar's reign,
charged that he and other agents
for private detective agencies. plant
ed in the ranks of Of radical bodies
made possible the famous radical
raids in 1920 and called their follow
ers together SO that the raiders would
find them.
Ba!anow admitted he had worked
ror three employers at the same time.
ana soid them out to one another.
he said he was formerly in the mill
tary Intelligence service an Operatives
or the Burns International Detectiye
Agency, Thiel, Daniel and other urf-
rate agencies, and was a member of
Iaoorite, Young Peoples Socialist
tional Industrial Union
Agencies Deny Charges.
T. J. Cooney. mentioned several
times by Balanow was quoted in Asso-
ciated Press dispatches from St Paul
last night as having said Balanow
had made similar charges before and
that they had been disproved.
Officials OF the Burns and THE
agencies here made general and spe-
clfc denial Of Balanow's charges.
G. j. John, Chicago manager for the
Burns agency, said: His charges are
a tissue of falsehoods. To the best
OF my knowledge no man named
by the Burns agency"
The statement from the ThieI
agency was similar in tone.
Among other charges made by
BalanOw were:
Makes Many Charges.
That private detective agencies agi-
tated radicalism, formed radical la
hor organizations and fomented labor
troubles through paid representatives
in order to make big fees in exposing
the movements.
That prominent radicals were al
lowed to slip through the hands of
the Investigators that the search
might be continued. That when ar
rested the agitators were released
that the search might be prolonged
and more money obtained for track
ing them down again.
That agents of Burns and Thiel
"dicated that the policy of the j. w. w.
propaganda committee which issued
the radical r11anifestos and literature"
and the entire committee during 1920
and 1921 was composed OF Thiel
agents.
Double-Cfossed Burns Agency.
That Cooney, directing the radical
department for the Thie1 agency at
that time, using a stamp Of the sig
ma aLuT6 Oh <AllToo w hHo" II
as a radical, stolen from the mail
by a fellow operator, stamped fifty
threatening letters. which he (Bala-
now) mailed.
The deposition told how Balanow
double-crossed the Burns Agency.
selling It's secret reports to rival
agencies; how he In turn sold the
Thiel reports; of his activities ex-
tending from Chicago to New York,
Paterson, N. J., and other cities and
his speeches before various labor or
ganizations designed to provoke sa-
botage, and of his experiences here
in 1920, when a number of alleged
communists were arrested.
Attorney Walsh was to continue
taking the deposition for two or three
days and then o. l.. Smith, assistant
attorney general of Michigan, and W.
L. Gore. prosecuting attorney for Ber-
rien county, Michigan, will cross-sxam-
ins Ralanow.