The chief organizer of the Chicago labor party, Mr. Powderly, has been trying hard, for several months, to place the labor movement on a strictly law abiding basis, by avoiding anything related to radical, socialistic or communistic elements. In spite of this fact, the New York police deemed it necessary to watch every one of his steps in New York, when he came for short visits: Powderly was invited to attend a meeting at Cooper Union, which just then gave up an unsuccessfully conducted strike. Powderly was supposed to examine the case and investigate particularly the behavior of the strike leaders.

The meeting had hardly started, when suddenly a squad of police enterd. Regardless of Powderly's repeated protest, the policemen refused to leave and told Powderly, they had strict order from Police Chief Murray to stay. Powderly finally adjourned the meeting and immediately filed a violent protest with the New York police department. The latter doubtless is illadvised, as otherwise it would not interfere with meetings of labor unions, which have severed every contact with anarchists and communists. As a fact, a secret meeting of Free Masons is just as much a law abiding affair as is a secret meeting of a labor union. The one - sided interference by a police force is just as brutal as acts of terrorism committed by anarchists. The American police has shown lately at several successive occasions an unreasonable persecution of harmless labor leaders, 2who are justified to call the overzealous, provoking actions of police officals the beginning of a deplorable, political reaction.