BREAKING A STRIKE CONSPIRACY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2632, 30 November 1915, Page 4

BREAKING A STRIKE CONSPIRACY

KAISER FOILED BY LABOUR tEADEIf'

WHAT AN IRISHMAN DID

llie 1' reeman's Journal" lias a long and. interesting account; 0 f the way id winch an Irish Labour Leader. Mr. T, 1 V. U Connor, president ol' tho Loneshoremen s Union, an organisation of American dock' workers, defeated tin*' amazing plot to foment transport strikes m the United States',' llie object l pf tho projected strike wask oi course, to prevent the shipment'.of munitions from America to the AlliesGorman gold.was to; be outpoured, and a million more or less "did not mj ter. In this discreditable enterprise the moving spirit was Mr. Matthew J' ClTn^?' 8 ' member of tbg k. k fa ,. ct ! on - Ho had previous,* ly. been connected with a political ill trigue, m Ireland, "to-harmonise the Ancient Order 0 f Hibernians in Ire* ' a - d ' " .P° ssibl °. S unite all the Hibernians : m Ireland' England, and Scotland in one oS hilrn-n' , 1 '•t offart mcfc "itli prompt! f'tim ' ■ "' as realised that Jl/ le - SUO itk ■ element! true NMinnnl > wcre ' opposed to the leaders ' movement and if*.

A Tempting Bait. . consniraov «-7 S ° f th ° i ntenc,ei3 Labou/ >nil a ii oUr lcatl er in Boston. DriS ' liim W P - had becn outlined to n^L 5 ( ?S"? mm Ss. ' The strikers werl to be paid at the rate of 10 dollar!) per week while on strike, and it wa* considered that a-six weeks' Kbfc? o \t hat rma , ny - re^S a oniu to tho men's leaders tW doTn'c ? ! ) OWGd i to givo tho dockers five might S p£ k *f raFf ""us? ? dwl to glean all they possibly 3 as the "Non-York World"-phrases V' after some discussion the two men dei oided'to play the game." President 0 Connor met Cwnnmigs' and encour-' Xted Ibi?' afterwards stated, his . hair stood on end" as nlnf Um n?P Wo,,t lnto the details of t« 0 Connor was,^.of course, to I* f t! over by substantial remuneration for his influence m bringing the strik® Ivnidrl' f i ?•" 0116 P° mt Cummingt I not bo drawii. He refused to saj who his prmcipal was, who could guarani tee such a large amount for a; sis ,4k°! strike, estimated at £327,000. He cenv orally spoko of him, as "the big man,') but a casual reference made by Cum* nungs- left no doubt in the mind of the • longshoremen's president that the prini .?&? ■ the Kaisor'a ■_! less agent in America. I?or the ptiiC pose of greater secrecy, Cumpiiiigs the name Mike Foley"-in signing com* ■' minimations to the Labour leader?. . v « n tually a conference took place b&, tween Cummiiigs • and O'Connor in tbe Marlborough Hotel, New York, an| Cummiugs .talked with considerable freedom, endently, re&arding O'Connoii as-sympathetic toward? the pro-GermaA conspiracy... He had a letter of introduci tion to Ins 'people" in New York front Dr. Edmund von Macli, of Harvard Unii ' \ersity, a contributor to the ! periodical; l BS S George Sylvester Viereck and finaricel ; b.v thO ; Gennan Government. MeanwhUoT Wl +?"' 10 , 1 ' i old Secretary of Laboua '' SOll t,IG w bole story of tho - plot to promote, a strike among th<S ' longshoremen, and also of other activil p e s of German agents on the Pacific along the safne lines. The United States President and the Treasury offi, cials were at once apprised, and everfl possible step taken to counteract the conspiracy that had been set on foot)

The Coup. ' • O'Connor .was called to tliS racihc coast to deal with the plots ofl German agents, wliicli h e did by effecting agreements between the, steamship conif panies and: the Longshoremen's Dnoini thus- rendering a strike impossible. Oil his return to New York he found that repeated attempts had been made by the German agents >to bring about a strikqi ot the longshoremen, particularly aS Hoboken; but the local labour loaders had successfully countered all these ef4 forts. Eventually all danger of a strika was surmounted. 1 , President O'Connor] who set himself to ( foil the plot hatched b t v Cummings, negotiated m agreemcnti with practically all of tho steamship companies. So successful,-indeed, wad ho that his own labour division presented him with "a bran new motor-car, to thd purchase of which, every longshoreman had contributed." .) "Oummings," said Dempsey, in an in< terview iu tho "New York World,'? ' fairly jumped, at tlio opportunity td meet O'Connor, knowing him to be tha biggest man in an organisation—tlif man whose word , would mean law. A$ the-meeting between O'Connor and Cuinmings the latter admitted that} through Tiis scheme to tie up all shipping along tlie- Atlantic coast the Allies would bp crippled, and tlio success o5 Germany made certain within a ehorS period.",. J t is a matter of gratification and pride to all true Irishmen, comments the '•'Freeman's Journal;" to know that) the forces that smashed Cummings'd intrigue-wero Irish labour leaders, loyal to the ftffg that shelters them, and true to the cause of the workers, which theyrefused to prostitute in the interests' of Prussian junkerdom. The. honesi dock labourers of New York hare above the sordid ideas of Mr. Cummings' and his follow conspirators.