The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-06-23
Organization Of "Citizen Groups"
 COmpicateS The Steel Strike Scene
BY WILLIS THORNTON NEA Service Stan COrrespOnden

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 NEA Service Stan Correspondent
 Warren, O., June g - Sung by picket line violence, irritated by business losses, and vaguely uneasy in. the face of abnormal strike con- :. ditions, thousands of people in 8 dozen cities have gravitated in a series Claw enforcement" "vigi- 1ante" and 'back to work" organ izations.
 Differing in each city, these move ments seem to. find common ground in any uneasy feeling on the part of people taking part in them that between the steel mill pickets and the steel mill magnates, they have been somehow caught 'in the mid- dle."
 Such organizations have taken three general courses of action:
 one has bee nactually to take gun and club in hand and go out to smash picket lines as outside in fiuences" that prevented men from working, interrupted the accustomed daily routine of life, and nullified the usual course of law and order.
 A second course has been closely allied to movements aimed at per- suading men to go back to work, and helping them more or less ac- lively to do it.
 And 8 third course has been to try to exert pressure on public ofh- cials demanding strict law enforce ment, and to influence public opin- ion in favor of return to normal.
 The three overlap, and any such movement may swing from one to another as events develop. Mon- roe, Mich,; Canton, O., and Johns town, Pa., are examples of the nlil- itant phase. Youngstown is an ex- ample of the "back to work" phase, and Warren, O., shows the pressure method. But behind them all lies disquiet, apprehension, almost panic on the part of people who feel that they are "in the middle"
 The Tracks Divide
 Here is how the movement de- veloped in one typical city:
 Warren is a small eastern Ohio town of 10000, on the Mahoning river. The Republic Steel mill is the big factor in the life of the people, many of them of recent foreign extraction, who live south of t he tracks" Business people, many of them of old New England descent, conservative, set in their ways, live north of the tracks.
 The strike at Republic soon re- suited in picket-line violence. The feeling that the CIO represents a minority and that it is an outside influence" is strong in the town though strike leaders deny both assertions.
 W. w. Weir, local attorney, twice a member of the Ohio legis- lature,, was one of the north of the tracks" people who grew con- cerned.
 ;"one night Burt McGill and I were talking over the strike" he saW. We decided this thing had gong far enough. We got few of our friends and we all prom ised to call up the sheriff and de- mand that he enforce the law
 Sheriff Hardman is a former Republic steel worker and was a union member at that time. Most north of the tracks" people in Warren believe he has given the strikers much more than an even break.
 Independence Claimed
 Weir and friends continued to put pressure on Sheriff Hardman. who offered to deputize them if they wanted to keep order. They refused, but gradually the inform al move spread into an organization. A meeting was called at Weir'S home.
 An Episcopal and a Methodist minister, two insurance men, three ! attorneys, a minor bank employe, three salaried men in small indus tries, land an independent mer- chant were the organizers. Only one was a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Weir insists he has never had any relations with the steel companies, never represented them or any bank in legal work. ! In the state legislature, he was friendly to labor, he points out, claiming considerable credit for passage of an anti-Yellow Dog law.
 Shirts" Show Up
 The name of John @. Public | League was adopted as the move ment grew. Members were asked to sign cards averring that strict enforcement of lav and order among | both strikers and company sympa- thizers is essential to public safety" An optional added clause indicates willingness "in the event of an emer- gency" to respond to call" to serve as deputy.
 It is easy to see that if the "emer- gency" should be an attempt to force the picket lines, the league mi ht easily find itself virtual 8 kebreaker.
 1t an early meeting of the league 4 man signing the name of Sidney | J.}Warwick appeared, and claimed