The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/London, Meyer

LONDON, Meyer, American lawyer and Socialist: b. Russia, 29 Dec. 1871. His early years were spent in southern Russia but in his 20th year desiring to obtain a higher education, then impossible in Russia for a man of Jewish race, and being under the surveillance of the secret police because of his known sympathy with the radical elements in Russia, he emigrated to the United States. He earned a precarious livelihood in New York as printer and cigarmaker for several years. At length he was engaged by the Educational Alliance and there was afforded his long-sought opportunity of educational advancement. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1898. Establishing his practice in New York's great East Side Mr. London soon became prominent as counsel for labor unions, many of which he organized and helped to build up. In 1910 he helped in the settlement of the cloakmakers' strike in New York by means of the industrial protocol. Two years later he was equally successful in bringing about a settlement between the garment workers and their employers. Meanwhile, Mr. London was very active on the East Side as a community worker and had become a prominent member of the Socialist party. He attended several of the national conventions of that party and in 1914 was appointed delegate to the International Socialist Congress at Vienna, which, however, was not held because of the outbreak of war that year. In November 1914, Mr. London was elected member of the 64th Congress from the 12th New York District, being the first member of his party in the East and the second in the country to be so honored. He was re-elected to the 65th Congress in 1916. Considerable criticism was directed toward his attitude to the many measures introduced in the House after the entry of the United States into the Great War. He voted against the declaration of war and against the selective-service act and many other measures for the active participation of the country in the war. In November 1918 Mr. London was for the third time the Socialist candidate for Congress from the 12th District, but his defeat was brought about by a coalition of the Democrats and Republicans, who placed a fusion candidate in the field against him, and by a united vote were enabled to overcome the strong Socialist vote in the district.