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Internal Feuds and factions--"Catholics" versus
"Masons"
While Conlon was fighting for the eight hour day in New
England and Cincinnati, two factions were struggling for control of
the IAM. One drew its strength chiefly from the old-line
Southerners, the traditional railroad machinists and grass-roots
Populists in small town lodges. This faction, which supported
Johnston, was called "the Masons" by their adversaries.
The second faction included followers of Carl Person who were still
blaming Johnston for the defeat on the Harriman Lines, but was made
up mainly of big city lodges, job shops, construction and erection
machinists and remaining packets of radicalism left over from the
International Machinists Union. They were referred to as "the
Catholics." At that time prejudices based on religion were far
stronger and more prevalent than they are today. The revival of the
Ku Klux Klan, following the filming of The Birth Of A Nation
in 1915, indicates the depth of racial and religious animosities in
the early decades of this century. Though never in the open, as far
as the Journal and other IAM records are concerned, sectarian
rivalries certainly contributed to the divisions that wrenched the
IAM during this period. At the same time it should be recognized
that factions within the union were not formed strictly around
religion. The leader of the so-called "Catholic" group, J.
F. Anderson, was a Mormon, while Conlon, firmly allied with the
"Mason" faction that supported Johnston, was a devout
Catholic.
The schism between these contending factions was sharpened
after members voted by referendum to put the five member General
Executive Board on full time status and reduce the number of GVP's
from seven to two--one from Canada and one from the United
States. Though Conlon received the most nominations in the
race for the American vice presidency he lost the election, 14,841
to 14,209. The victor, J. F. Anderson, had been a GVP since 1914.
A number of factors contributed to this razor-thin but
nonetheless shocking result. During the nine months in which Conlon
was tied down in Cincinnati, Anderson was politicking in lodges from
Virginia to new England. His reports for the months running from
September, 1915 to May, 1916 show that he spoke to and visited with
lodges in Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
On the eve of the election Conlon seemed to realize that he
would suffer from his failure to travel around and rebuild his own
political fences. In his report to the May, 1916 Journal he
expressed regret that the situation in Cincinnati prevented him from
accepting many invitations to visit local lodges. Normally lack of
time to go out and press the flesh would not have hurt Conlon. His
reputation as one of the original boomers and the IAM's top
organizer for so many years would have been enough to insure his
reelection. But this was a period in which new members were surging
into the union in unprecedented numbers. Between September, 1915 and
June, 1916 the IAM grew from 71,000 to 113,000. One out of every
three members was new to the union. While Anderson was traveling
around from lodge to lodge, meeting and shaking hands, most of these
new members had never heard of Conlon.
Conlon was also caught in the backlash of the resentment Carl
Person had generated against Johnston. Conlon's loyalty to Johnston
undoubtedly eroded support from members who were still smarting over
Johnston's decision to abandon the strike on the Harriman Lines.
Following his defeat Conlon went back to his home in Virginia
to shed the months of exhaustion accumulated in hotel rooms in New
England and Cincinnati. Johnston gave him little time to lick his
wounds. Within a few weeks Conlon was back in harness as a General
Organizer, appointed by Johnston to negotiate a new contract for
machinists employed by the American Locomotive Works in Dunkirk, New
York. He continued to serve without interruption for the rest of his
life, first as an organizer, and after 1921, once more as a GVP.
The Removal of George Preston
Conlon was not the only long-time veteran to be swept up by
internal dissension. Soon after George Preston was reelected General
Secretary-Treasurer by the membership in the 1916 election, he was
suspended from office by the General Executive Board.
Preston had many good qualities. As the IAM's chief financial
officer his integrity was unquestioned. Following the fiasco of the
disappearing treasurer, J. J. Lamb, in 1893, the IAM needed a GST
who could establish a tradition of scrupulous honesty and competent
accounting in the handling of IAM funds. In George Preston that is
what they got. But in Preston these assets were offset by a prickly,
disagreeable, thin-skinned personality. He was quick to take offense
and impossible to work with. Even Conlon, who defended Preston's
competency at the 1916 Convention, admitted he was
"crabby" in his dealings with others.
Soon after being reelected in the 1916 election Preston seemed
to go out of his way to alienated Johnston and various members of
the General Executive Board. For example, he left the Canadian
member of the GEB, James Somerville, stranded without funds in a
remote town in Alberta because Somerville addressed his voucher to
the Assistant General Secretary-Treasurer instead of Preston. Out of
what seemed to be Preston's pure cussedness Somerville had to wire
Johnston for enough train fare to get out of town. Moreover, after
the members voted to hold a Grand Lodge Convention in 1916--the
first since 1911--Preston dawdled and procrastinated until it was
too late to make arrangements for a convention city more centrally
located than the site finally selected, Baltimore. When he should
have been making convention arrangements, Preston perversely left
town on a junket of his own without informing Johnston. This gave
the GEB an excuse they were looking for. Citing a constitutional
provision prohibiting the GST from leaving Grand Lodge without the
IP's authorization the GEB exercised its power to suspend Grand
Lodge officers.
Preston appealed to the 1916 Grand Lodge Convention in
Baltimore. The delegates went into executive session, selecting a
general organizer named Emmet Davison as chairman. For three days
they thrashed over the facts and issues in Preston's case. The
suspended GST's own vinegary personality undoubtedly turned off some
who might have supported him in recognition of his many years of
honest and competent service. In the end the delegates passed the
buck by referring the matter back to the membership. They ordered a
special election.
The delegates also acted to reinstate regularly scheduled
Grand Lodge Conventions after Johnston told them that the 1911
Convention's experiment in government by referendum alone was not
working. He pointed out that
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