Proletarec. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1906-19??, 1944-07-12
The Real Reason For
The Bridges SeIIout

The attempted scabbing and strikebreaking on the part of
one Harry Bridges, and the offer to the employers by this animal
of a postwar no-strike pledge is causing people to wonder WHY
the sudden change in his character"
Actually there is no cause for wonder when a few facts are
kept in mind. First OF which is the threat of deportation still
hanging over him.
When coppers arrest a group of individuals whom thew
believe to have broken the law in common, the usual procedure
is for the strong arm men and soft-soapers to pick out the
weak sister, in the group and go to work on him.
Going to work means threats, violence, strong lights and
long hours of listening to the goldfish. But it also means the
suave, Shiny, sneaky action of the good guy; the copper who
"disapproves" of the "wickednesS' of his fellow copperS, and
who wants the suspect to be a good guy" and get the kind Of
treatment a good guy deserves.
Between them, the strong arm gent and the softsoaper
generally manage to break down the weak sister and to get
from him the kind of evidence and aid they can get in no other
1t isn't a process of which to be proud. 1t means a complete
surrender OF human decency and dignity on the part of all
involved. And, because the Dignity of Man is the sum total of
the dignity of all individuals, all mankind loses in selfrespect
because such procedure is SO common.
Justice" in these United States has always been a class
matter. The worker who steals a dollar goes to jail; the banker
who steals a million breaks no laws, but is much more likely
to be the man who writes laws. Men go to Jail, not because of
crimes committed or because of moral turpitude but because
they hire bum lawyers, and do not know the right guy to fix.
But of late years, Justice" in this country is becoming what
the kellogg Pact said that war should not be-"an instrument
of national policy" Political prosecutions in this country are
becoming a reflex of foreign relations. This is as true of the
Minneapolis Trials as of the current Washington Circus.
When Stain beat up gallant little Finland" Browder and
Bridges were in a jam. Browder, the Kansan, Know Nothing be-
cause he left the country, Bridges because he came into it.
When Hitler jumped on the men who had trained his armies
and who had initiated the techniques of national socialism.
lBrowder and Bridges became the white-haired, blue-eyed pets
of Washington. The doors of the calaboose opened and the Earl
stepped forth into the graces of his "Colnmanderin-Chief, while
Bridges began making his speeches to the Chambers of Com
merce and showing the San Francisco employers some new
wrinkles in speed-up.
Mr.. Roosevelt is facing an election. A guy named Dewey
wants to put him in the ranks of the "unfrozen." The Demo
cratic gauleters Of the cotton and goobernut areas are working
a squeeze play on their-and PROVIDERS and Bridges-"beloved
leader" A sacrifcal goat must be found to appease the angers
of the Gods of Democracy south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and
to prove to the Republicans that a Roosevelt can get tough
even with the Mortimer Snerds of the Stain machine,
On June 2th the Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco
denied Bridges plea that the deportation order be cancelled.
Vho Jocicior wac a fOrQOOnQ nCIuSIO
= So-like any weak sister, Bridges is coughing up his guts"
PLEASE. Mr.. Coppers, don't throw me out OF your nice, clean
Jail. I'll turn states evidence, I'll turn stool-pigeon, I'll fink,
I'll rat, I'll act like a comrat-even though | deny that | have
ever had the decency to carry a cardiff only you'll go easy
with me-"
When Roosevelt wanted a labor slave law, Bridges was
the first to okeh the idea in a telegram to his beloved Leader.
When the Monkey Ward strike broke out, Bridges was the only
one of the CLIO panjandra who dared to come out openly and
ty to bust the strike. Now Bridges, the beH-wether 81 the com
ratty clique of the CLIO, is trying to curry favor with the en-
blowers by offering a postwar class peace, a Pax Romano, a
peace of death.
The price he wants for his reachery-permlsslon u stay III
this country and not be returned to Australia where real union
men know how to handle vermin-The Industrial Worker