The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-01-29

bSIeot " bHOSe WHO are IOllOWlHk Jnc
miners convention at Indianapolis.
If my good friend Powers Hapgood
is butchered up by the brass-knuclxled
agents of Mr.. John l.. Lewis and Mr..
Pat Pagan it is certainly no surprise
to any Of us. We know what that
union machine can do against its
enemies. This document gives an in
stance.
As background to our story it is
necessary to remember Mr.. David j.
Berry, formerly of Pittsburg, Pa,
and his National Labor Journal, pub
lished for many years and as late as
the spring of 1924 in that city. Tt
called itself "Organized Labor's Of
ficial Newspaper" and declared that
it was published "in the interest Of
the American Federation of Labor"
The office of the general manager
and editor was in the Union Labor
Temple at Pittsburg. The list Of or
CARNATIONS holding stock in the pa
per and appearing on tho masthead
were the Pittsburg Central Labor
Union, the United Mine Workers of
America District 5, Street Railway
Employees Div. So, Plumbers and
Steamfitters Local 27, Bartenders Lo-
cal 1888. The advisory board" of the
paper was made up of gentlemen from
these organizations. The journal car
ried the press service of the A. r.
of Il. Mr.. Berry claimed to be an
intimate of Samuel Gompers, indeed
this was his premier asset, and stock
in trade in making approaches to
manufacturers.
Flags and Real Estate.
It is unnecessary to describe the
National Labor Journal in detail. 1t
was a gorgeous mixture of American
flags and real estate ads, flattering
sketches of republican politicians and
stern attacks on the labor radicals.
On one occasion the journal announ-
ced that "as the official mouthpiece
OF organized labor in the Pittsburgh
district, we can say without fear of
successful contradiction that the la
bor organizations affiliated with the
Pittsburg Central Labor Union are
composed of men who desire not the
wealth of the world, but fair wage
and working conditions which enable
them to live according TO the Amer
lean standard" ut may be. observed
in passing that one of these MEM
bers, Mr.. Robert Beattie of the Fire
men and Oilers Union certainly lived
according to the workingclass stan
dards-several motor cars, diamond
stick pins, SIS day plus expenses
from the Railroad Audit and Inspec-
tion Co., industrial spy corporation,
in addition to his union wages which
were by no means meagre.)
Enter, Brother Berry.
1t goes without saying that brother
Berry did not love the radicals. He
featured anything that hit them be-
low the belt As far back as the great
steel strike he was engaged in the
sort of red-baiting that has now be-
come so popular even in so-called so
cialist unions. During the strike, his
paper, appeared in Pittsburgh, the
heart of the struggle, with no word Of
encouragement for the strikers. Only
colorless accounts marked by preju-
dice against the strike leadership. At
the same time he played up stories
headlined "deportations should be
speeded up" "there is too much radi-
calism in the labor unions," "labor
awakened for battle with radicals"
The radicals, it will be remembered,
were chiefly William 2. Foster, John
Fitzpatrick. yes. and Jim Maurer of
the Penna. State Federation of La
Dor, whom Berry bitterly hated. He
tried to link UP Jim with Ludwig
Martens, the Soviet representative in
America at the time
The BlaclSmail Tour.
There is no space here to recount
the various exploits of Berry except
few that lead up to the lawsuit from
which our dopunnanf dar-ivac II 10