Major Lawrence Milner was a retired major in the Oregon National Guard, who served for four years as an undercover G-2 agent in the Portland Communist Party, lied under oath while testifying, and "brought the state of Oregon into the plot" against Australian-born longshoremen union leader Harry Bridges in what TIME magazine called "the most important deportation hearing of the decade."
Background
During the 1934 West Coast waterfront strike, Bridges had been leader of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA). By 1937, he would become president of the breakaway, CIO-affiliated International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). Just the process alone of Bridges' moving closer to the CIO and forming the ILWU was enough to land Bridges on the cover of 19 July 1937 issue of TIME magazine.
In its cover story, "CIO to Sea", TIME noted that, with the failure of the Little Steel Strike, John L. Lewis, head of both the United Mine Workers and the Congress of Industrial Organizations had turned to maritime unions to help build up the nascent CIO. The CIO's initial leadership included: Philip Murray of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC); Sidney Hillman of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers; Harvey Fremming of the Oil Field, Gas Well & Refinery Workers; and Charles P. Howard of the Typographical Union. Lewis had already assembled several maritime union leaders: Joseph Curran of the insurgent East Coast seamen (National Maritime Union; Captain E.T. Pinchin of the Masters, Mates & Pilots of America; Vincent Malone of the Marine Firemen, Oilers, Watertenders & Wipers Association; and President Mervyn Rathborne of the American Radio Telegraphists. According to TIME, Lewish wanted Bridges, then still president of the Pacific Coast District of ILA, to lead the CIO's maritime arm. TIME described Bridges as "the bogey man of the Pacific." However, TIME also noted "That is the fact that though Harry Bridges is no revolutionist, millions of people think he is" and cited that fact as a potential problem for Lewis and his penchant for attracting communist-led unions. Among Bridges' enemies (thus Lewis' problems), TIME noted publisher William Randolph Hearst as chief. By July 1939, Bridges was serving as "West Coast director" of the CIO.
Events
In April 1939, deportation procedure for Bridges started. In mid-July 1939, hearings were taking place in a US Immigration office on Angel Island, California, for the deportation of Bridges. Immigration Commissioner James Houghteling oversaw; Dean James M. ("Chink") Landis of Harvard Law School and Secretary of Labor Francis Perkins served as examiners. The Bridges defense team included Carol Weiss King and Nathan Greene of the International Juridical Association (IJA).
Lawrence A. Milner was a retired major in the Oregon National Guard who found his skills in "military intelligence used in labor espionage." At least one source lists him as a member of the Oregon State Police.) When the hearing opened, some sources said that Milner impressed listeners with his "military bearing and appearance." while others described him as "middle-aged, hawk nosed, bland."
On July 12, 1939, "Under cross-examination Major Lawrence Milner of the Oregon national guard, who testified Monday [July 10, 1939] that Bridges attended Communist party meetings in Seattle in 1936 and 1937, denied that he had worked with local police or had discussed the case of Bridges with Seattle or Portland immigration authorities. Maj. Milner said the Communist ideal was 'to make this country a Soviet America'."
On July 13, 1939, the San Francisco Examiner reported as a highlight that Bridges had taken the CPUSA name of "Rossi", as in Angelo Joseph Rossi, mayor of San Francisco. John Lewis Leech, formerly "one of the highest leaders of the party" in Los Angeles, testified for the government that Bridges, working with the Communist Party, had helped formulate and plan the party's "red tactics" in the waterfront strike of 1936-37.
Newspapers covered the story (with Milner mentioned) from all over the United States: Honolulu, Hawaii; Paterson, New Jersey; Eugene, Oregon Marshall, Michigan; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Phoenix, Arizona; Hackensack, New Jersey; and Santa Cruz, California.
On July 14, 1939, the San Francisco Examiner reported that the day's highlight came when Bridges' defense team called for perjury charges against Milner, after Milner admitted to perjury, i.e., that he had lied under oath.