New Britain herald., 1923-02-13
CLAIMS DETECTIVES
FAXED RED PLOTS
Spy Says Burns and Thiel Aeen.
Giles Used Prame-Up

story or intrigue ana deception VA
unfolded here when Frank y. Walsh
attorney for twenty-five Communist
facing trial in 81. Joseph. Mich. fol
advocating criminal syndicalism be
gan taking the deposition of Albert
liaiilin. elias Balanow. self-eonfessed
spy agent provaeatenr,
by Baianow's testimony Mr.. Walsh
Is seeking TO show that radical or,
CARNATIONS and red" aoares Were
invented at viii by private detective
agencies 10 assist them In collecting
, large sums from banking and other
interests for the purpose of invest.
eating an imaginary radical menace
Balanow. In story that ranged
from sordid details of double-cross.
Ing and the double double-cross OF
high comedy. swore he had worked
for the w. J. Burns and the Thiel
Detective Agencies at the same time
as an expert ON radical questions:
that he had sold the secret reports OF
the Thiel Agency to the Burns poo-
pie; that an official OF the Burns
Agency had picked his pocket and
appropriated other Thiel reports,
and that Allan o. Meyers, head OF
the Radical Bureau OF the Burns
Agency, had proposed that he make
bombs and get well-known radicals
to throw them SO Burns men could
arrest the radicals.
Instructed To Incitc Violence.
Balanow swore that as an opera
tive Of the Thiel Agency in 1917 he
had been assigned to join the cigar
makers union. as an agent proyaca-
teur during a strike. and was in
structed to urge the strikers to
break windows and commit other
violence. His instructions, he said,
came from Michael Flanagan, gen.
eral manager of the agency, who, she
said, told him to always. show your
radical side; be so extreme that
they'll have confidence in YOU"
Flanagan. he said. told him that
Sol Lazor, President OF the La Kurba
Cigar Company, was furnishing $780,
600 to break the Cigar Workers
Union.
Shortly after he suggested window
breaking to Charles Winfield, BUSH
ness agent of the union, Balanow
testified, 200 or 300 windows were
broken and later he discovered that
Winfield was Thiel operative also.
Later. under direction of Flanagan,
he said, he Joined the I. w. W.,
Socialist Party, Socialist Labor Party.
Communist Party, Communist Labor
Party. Young Peoples Socialist
League. Workers Industrial Union
and other organizations and sought
to stir up violence among their men,
bers. Flannigan, he said, furnished
him typewriter speeches to read at
meetings of the organizations, seeking
to cause dissension and trouble.
While working for the Burns agen-
cy, he swore, he was sent to meetings
of several organizations to preach
violence.
Was to Learn Bomb Making
In October. 1920. he swore, he met
Raymond and Sherman Burns. sons
Of w. j. Burns, and Allan Meyers.
IND Meyers told him he would supply
explosives and show him how to
make bombs. Meyers, he said, sug-
,ested he cultivate such men as
Charles Z. Ruthenberg, Levine of the
amalgamated Clothing Workers Ed
ward Nocklls OF the Chicago Fedora
ion of Labor, Carlo Tresca and |
'thers, and try to get them to throw |
combs, SO Burns operatives could ar
est them.
T. J. Coney. head of the radical
'ureau of the Thiel Agency, wrote
lin letter about that time, charg-
ne Burns men with various crimes,
nd he showed it to Meyers. Later,
e said, Meyers stole the letter out of
is pocket and refused to give it back
lie produced an envelope in which he
aid Cooney had mailed the letter to
i'm. Another Burns official, he said,
t one time gave him 200 copies of
he Communist manifesto to distribute
mong radicals.
Cooney of the Thial agency, he said,
vented the knights of the Red
tar" and gave him a copy of its
LEGGED manifesto, which described
he organization 'as the most danger
us revolutionary organization in the
nited States
Cooney admitted, he said, no such
roup existed but explained it was
ecessary to have evidence of 1t to
how to Alfred Austrian, attorney for
Ogden Armour and other Chicago
ackers, SO the packers would put
p money to keep the radical hunt
Ding.
Cooney, he swore in his deposition,
ompiled list of alleged members of
lis non-existant organization from
ames and addresses found among
lie effects of supposed radicals
iught in the Jan. /, 1920 roundup
ere. He produced a list of some
900 names, which, he said, was the
ne Cooney furnished to Austrian
I'D attorneys representing other
lsiness interests.