John Turner | |
|---|---|
_001.jpg) Turner ca. 1900 | |
| Born | (1864-08-24)24 August 1864 |
| Died | 9 August 1934(1934-08-09) (aged 68) |
| Movement | Anarchist movement,labour movement |
John Turner (24 August 1864 – 9 August 1934)[1] was an English-bornanarchistshop steward. He referred to himself as "of semi-Quaker descent."[2] Turner achieved the distinction of becoming the first person to be sentenced todeportation from theUnited States for violating the terms of its 1903Anarchist Exclusion Act.
Turner was a member of theSocialist League. However, he left it to become a member of theFreedom anarchist group. Then he founded theShop Assistants' Union and became its general secretary.[3] At one point the union tried to nominate Turner forParliament. However, he declined because he preferred not to "waste his time in parliamentary debates".[4]
In 1896 Turner visited the United States, where he spent seven months lecturing throughout the country, during which time he metVoltairine de Cleyre, the American anarchist,feministwriter andpublic speaker.[5] He returned in October 1903, seven months after the enactment of theAnarchist Exclusion Act, which barred anyone from entering the country who held anarchist views. Consequently Turner was arrested, on 23 October, after he gave a lecture at the Murray Hill Lyceum inManhattan, New York, and was charged with inciting and promoting anarchy. When he was searched, immigration officials found a copy ofJohann Most'sFree Society and Turner's speaking schedule, which included a memorial to theHaymarket Martyrs.[6]
Turner's belongings were sufficient to order his deportation. Consequently, he was held in detention atEllis Island for three months awaiting appeal of his case to theUS Supreme Court. Before the final ruling, Turner was released on US$5,000 bail. He then proceeded to give lectures around the country, wrongly speculating that the Supreme Court would declare the law unconstitutional[7] The Supreme Court declared the law constitutional, which resulted in Turner becoming the first person to be ordered to be deported from theUnited States for violation of the 1903Anarchist Exclusion Act. However, he returned to England before the judgment could be implemented.[7]
Upon Turner's return to England, he worked onFreedom and several otherpublications. He was a member of the collective that publishedCommonweal.[8] And he was the editor ofFreedom'ssyndicalist journalThe Voice of Labour, which denounced the 'blight of respectability' of mainstreamlabour unions. The paper began as a weekly in 1907 and advocateddirect action and thegeneral strike.[9]
In May 1920, after theRussian Revolution, Turner travelled toRussia as part of the British Labour Delegation.[10] While he was there he tried to helpAron Baron, theJewishUkrainiananarchistrevolutionary, obtain areprieve from adeath sentence. Baron was subsequently charged with having 'aroused public sentiment abroad against his imprisonment in theSolovietzki and having induced revolutionists visiting Russia to seek his release'. Baron was then sent to a prison inSiberia.[11]
Throughout the many changes in the history ofFreedom, Turner was its publisher from when it was renamedFreedom: A Journal of Libertarian Thought, Work and Literature in 1930 to his death in 1934.[12]
| Trade union offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | General Secretary of theNational Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks 1912 – 1924 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by New position | Food, Drink, etc. Group representative on theGeneral Council of the TUC 1921 – 1925 | Succeeded by |
| Media offices | ||
| Preceded by | Editor ofFreedom 1930–1934 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
