In the course of time the operative became so popular with the men that toward the end of the Fall, 1903, he was appointed chairman of the Relief Committee.
Mr. McParland now instructed the operative to make the bills for relief as large as possible, so as to drain the treasury of the Federation. The operative followed instructions so faithfully that the relief bills soon amounted to a little over a thousand dollars a week. He not only supplied the men with necessities, but even with luxuries and cash to spend.
The operative's extreme liberality endeared him to the men, who rewarded him by electing him president of the union. We now see the unique spectacle of a Pinkerton spy, under the direct orders of Manager McParland, as president of a Western Federation of Miners' local union, and directing a bitter strike against the smelter trust.
On his elevation to the presidency the operative did not relinquish his position on the relief committee, nor would the men have permitted him to do so, as they were perfectly satisfied with the way the operative squandered the money of the Federation.
The Pinkerton Labor Spy. 55
In this way the strike dragged on for months, with no prospect of a settlement.
Along in May, 1904, some careless remarks of Mr. Dennis Sheedy, one of the directors of the smelting company, made the men believe that there was a spy in their midst, but the operative managed to lull these suspicions to sleep, and an investigation which was pending was dropped. The following report treats of this matter:
Dear Sir: —
OPERATIVE NO. 42 REPORTS: