Evening star., 1939-02-05

Harry Bridges, villain or victim, is
product of the 1884 West Coast water
front strike, prolonged and bitter piece
of warfare. 1t was the strike that pushed
him into prominence and made him an
issue.
For the pros and cons of deporting
Harry Bridges today provide the back
ground of bitter division of opinion,
led on one side by the Dies Committee on
Un-American Activities and on the other
by the Department of Labor, numerous
other organizations and much Of the
public taking sides in positive fashion.
Currently efforts are being made to i'm
peach the Secretary of Labor and two
of her aides because of their position
in the controversy.
Although at its whitest heat right now,
the five-year record of pressure and
agitation in favor of deporting Bridges
has been unprecedented in the period
since this Nation began efforts to Gull
its alien population, either before or
after arrival To some the efforts to
drive Bridges from the United States
AldfC OCCl1 ollCC1 pCI IoCtuIlOll, W OlllC4
they have been part of a rightful cause
grounded in patriotism and devotion to
American institutions; to others the
question has been almost entirely an
academic one ansWerable only through
evidence and the law. Each side, Incl
dentally, believes the law Is on its side.
Restless as Youth.
Alfred Renton (Harry) Bridges was
born in Melbourne, Australia, not quite
40 years ago, of English and Irish
parents. Educated in Catholic school,
he displayed an early restlessness toward
the prosaic life OF trade and shipped be-
fore the mast when he was 18. In 1920
he made his first entry to the United
at San Francisco.
For two more years, Bridges shipped in
and out of San Francisco, mostly on
coastWise trips. His last job as sea-
man was short stretch with the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey, dur
ing which he was quartermaster on
the U. S. S. Lydonia. Following this he
married and became longshoreman in
stead of sailor.
From the beginning, Limo" was ac-
lively interested in the problems of labor
on the sea and on the docks and when
the 1884 strike broke unexpectedly 1t
was found that the militant spellbinder
from down under was holding the wheel.
From that day on Bridges has been the
dominant and most noted, or notorious,
of the hard men who speak for labor
around the water front.
In 1887 he became associated with
the G. I. o. as director of its West Coast
organizing efforts.
In personality Bridges is a somewhat
battling type. Fanatical in his beliefs,
he is cynical and distrustful toward all
outside the rank and file. Himself the
subject of a continuing drumfire Of
abuse from most of the press, including
virtually all of the West Coast news
papers, he looks upon the papers with
contempt and upon most reporters with
suspicion. Comparably, he mistrusts the
apparent assistance OF public officials
in certain instances and makes clear his
lack of faith even in labor leaders.
Clashes With Lewis.
This latter characteristic has been
evident in his own frequent recourse to
conferences and referenda among the
rank and file of his own followers. 1t
was nowhere more evident, however,
than during the constitutional conven-
ton of the c. I. o. at Pittsburgh last
November, when he led a revolt against
John L. Lewis on the issue Of giving
the Lewis leadership the authority to
call the next convention of the c. I. O.
rather than leaving it to the rank and
file to decide when and where they
should meet again.
The two men settled this difference
face to face on the convention platform
and Lewis won, but there Is no doubt
that the c. I. O. leader and his close
colleagues fully realize that Bridges is
potential and powerful dissenter on
any or all major issues. In fact, Bridges
served notice of this independence at
the first meeting Of c. I. o. leaders
which he attended in october, 1887.
when he told the meeting in so many
words that he and his Pacific Coast
followers would be part OF the c. I. 0.
just so long as the policies Of the ma
tional group coincided with their
opinions.
He makes no concessions either to
employers individually or as a whole,
giving free expression to the theology
that the workers and employers have
little or nothing in common and that
the whole labor struggle is q class one
For himself, he takes = weekly wage Of
SIS from his union, lives frugally