The card read something like this: 'The undersigned is a duly
accredited delegate to the Inter-Allied Socialist Conference to
be held at London,' etc., and giving the dates.
"I refused to sign my name, or permit my name to be put upon any
card of that character. My associates were as indignant as I was
and refused to sign any such credential. We went to the hall
where the conference was to be held. There was a young lady at
the door. When we made an effort to enter she asked for our
cards. We said we had no cards to present. 'Well,' the answer
came, 'you cannot be admitted.' We replied, 'That may be true--we
cannot be admitted--but we will not sign any such card. We have
our credentials written out, signed, and sealed and will present
them to any committee of the conference for scrutiny and
recommendation, but we are not going to sign such a card.'
"Mr. Charles Bowerman, Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee
of the British Trade Union Congress, at that moment emerged from
the door. He asked why we had not entered. I told him the
situation, and he persuaded the young lady to permit us to pass
in. We entered the hall and presented our credentials. Mr. James
Sexton, officer and representative of the Docker's Union of
Liverpool, arose and called the attention of the Conference to
this situation, and declared that the American Federation of
Labor delegates refused to sign any such document. He said it was
not an Inter-Allied Socialist Conference, but an Inter-Allied
Socialist and Labor Conference.
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