Be careful who you talk to. Charles Plahn would be convicted of ‘criminal conspiracy’ and sentenced to ten years at Leavenworth.

‘Federal Secret Police Raid Detroit I.W.W. Hall’ by M. Patten from Solidarity. Vol. 8 No. 387. June 9, 1917.

Plahn and Lifman Arrested.

Memorial Day, June, 20, the hall is Detroit, located at 28 Broadway, was raided and our charters, day books. minute books, application blanks, the local union’s files and a copy of all the literature on hand were taken to the central police station. Fellow Workers Chas. Plahn, national organizer from Chicago, and J.P. Lifman, former financial secretory of all the branch unions in Detroit, were arrested. At the time of the arrest they gave us no information. You can allow for all this, when you realize that the raid was conducted under the supervision of J. Herbert Cole, U.S. secret service agent.

The trouble started brewing when Fellow Worker Plahn received a message telling him that the Cleve land wobblies were making an effort to tie up the lake front there in con junction with the strikes in Erie and Buffalo. Plahn got busy on the Detroit docks to help make a general tie-up of the longshoremen of the great lakes.

Throw-aways were gotten out advertising the strike and things began to get interesting, as some of the D. & C. docks were showing signs of discontent, much to the bosses dislike. It looked like every thing was going fine and in steps the stool pigeon.

A fellow that Plahn had seen along the docks in an overall suit, who looked a great deal like a longshoreman, talked to, him on Tuesday about the union and Wednesday noon he telephoned to Plahn that he would come up that night to line-up and he did come.

It was about ten minutes after seven. Most of the workers had been to supper and sitting smoking, reading and talking. Plahn, Lifman and a few of the members were near the office, talking about the way organization has picked up in Detroit of late and the possibilities of the future. Plahn told the fellows about this guy having phoned to him, so when his nibs comes up he had a friend with him and they went into the office with Plahn to line up, so everybody thought. They had just about gotten in the office when about a dozen plain clothes bulls came in. For about two minutes the air was blue with mystery, the bulls looking over the wobblies and the wobs returning the look.

They locked the doors, watched the windows back and front. About this time Cole himself came up and he went right into the office. He told the prospective member and his friend to go through the desk and make a thorough search of the place, which they did.

When the bulls first got into the hall there were about twenty members in the hall, They locked the door and one bull was placed near the door to guard, it. He wouldn’t let anybody in or out at first. Nobody wanted to get out, but to the ball’s surprise one fellow worker damn near tore down the door to get in. Others demanded to be let in, and finally they then all came in. The Brat fellow worker that was let into the hall asked if they had a search warrant and Cole said to him in asswer, “You believe in might is right,” and before anybody could answer he said, “We have the might at present.” Another said to one of the members, “When you people have the might we’ll take a back seat.” Just imagine, though, the wobbles, instead of being scared stiff, began right away to kid the law and also to give them the first logical argument they had, that they were parasites on society and the tools of big biz. Boine members asked such questions as, “How long will you keep us?” “Can we smoke in the can” etc. Others were telling the law how easy they were going to have it; no board to pay, and a nice rest. They decided they wouldn’t take the bunch, but would take Plahn and Lifman. They didn’t tell us the charges, but they gave it out to the. press that we were trying to pull a strike on the lakes, which if they hadn’t nipped in the bud might have become a general strike of all lake ports and would be very embarrassing to the government. We are sure the Great Lakes Shippers’ Association is the government that would be embarrassed in case of a strike and are not going to stop at anything to crush the I.W.W. in the lake ports or on the ships. Detroit is a place that capital can do and get away with most anything.

Up to the present we have not been able to get in communication with Plahn or Lifman, but we’ve got a lawyer busy working for us and they’ll have to put us all in the can before they stop organization here.

The most widely read of I.W.W. newspapers, Solidarity was published by the Industrial Workers of the World from 1909 until 1917. First produced in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and born during the McKees Rocks strike, Solidarity later moved to Cleveland, Ohio until 1917 then spent its last months in Chicago. With a circulation of around 12,000 and a readership many times that, Solidarity was instrumental in defining the Wobbly world-view at the height of their influence in the working class. It was edited over its life by A.M. Stirton, H.A. Goff, Ben H. Williams, Ralph Chaplin who also provided much of the paper’s color, and others. Like nearly all the left press it fell victim to federal repression in 1917.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/solidarity-iww/1917/v8-w387-jun-09-1917-solidarity.pdf