The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-31
sGRAF1" UNIVERSAL,
 DECLARES JEROME
SAYS THAT SPIRIT PERvADEs PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE.
Labor's Demand is Legal-Unions Justified in Collecting from Elm ployers "Waiting Time"
 of Strikers.
New York Herald.

New fork Herald.
 Declaring that the spirit of graft per vades nearly every phase of life in Amer lea, influencing private corporations and public bodies, District Attorney Jerome said yesterday that the demand of labor unions upon employers for waiting time" for men on strike was legal, and not ex- tortion
 With the conviction of Lawrence Mur- phy for having stolen $l2.0O0 from the Journeyman Stonecutterst Union. the way is left open for Mir. Jerome to make a thorough examination of the circum- stances surrounding the payment of the s10.0O0 check by the Brooklyn employers and to determine whether the collection of this money from them constituted the crime of extortion. MT. Jerome said last night that he would investigate carefully, and if he found a crime had been commit ted he would call the attention of Dis trict Attorney Clarke, of Kings county, to it.
 T have received no complaint against any one" MT. Clarke said, "and the Grand Jury does not meet until Sept. 15.s More over, do not believe in shouting from the housetops what I am going to do. l { believe in doing it first"
 Mir. Jerome was asked yesterday if he intended to begin John Doe inquiry into the methods of the men who have been in the habit of wringing money from employers in the name of labor organi- zations.
 'T have been looking up the law on the subject" he said, land I find that the most recent Court of Appeals decision. which was written by Judge Alton B. Parker. in the Cumming case, declares it legal for labor unions to force employers to pay waiting time when the men are on strike, or to impose fines on employers, or to refuse to work with non-union men. The last previous decision, in the case of Curran against Galen, made these things acriminal conspiracy. In view of the Cumming decision. there is no use in get ting evidence along these lines.\
 Tn the Barondess and Parks cases. the act of collecting the money was done by individuals. I had many complaints in cases which were represented to be like these, but when I sent for the witnesses and examined them I found that the cases fell to pieces. If the money is collected in the right way, the collection is legal. The difficulty lies in the danger of im- pairing a mans freedom of contract. The law must be. broad enough to cover legit- innate cases and a man has a perfect right to work or not to work as he sees fit.
 Compare the labor situation with our civil government. It is supposed to be q democracy but how many times is the nominee at a political convention thk choice of the people? The ,organlzatior gets into the hands of men who use it for their own purposes. -& s Labor unions are using economic forces to get more wages and shorter hours. They are entitled to get all they can, because their employers are trying to give them as little as they can Broth erly love never fixed the rate of. wages. Violence and criminal methods ought to be suppressed with absolute severity, but there should be no interference when only proper forces are being used.
 Everybody who has studied public life has been appalled, at it's corruption. There is a general belief that every State Leg fslature and the National Legislature are given to grating. It is felt that they are actuated by other than pure motives Why should public life be so debauched? have come to the conclusion that 1t is only a reflection of private life. There Is grating everywhere. I know a man who said that he would furnish all the lubricating oil used on the railroad sys- tems of the country, and warrant that il should be up to the standard. and pay a lump sum of $5O.O00 for the contract charging only 75 per cent. of what the roads now pay. This sort of thing runs through everything. high and low.
 John F. Mcintyre, who defended Mur. phy, is preparing the papers in his mo tion for a new trial. which he will make when Murphy is called up for sentence on Friday.
 Judge Newberger has received mauS letters from working men all over the country commenting him for his refusa to admit evidence in the Murphy tria tending to show that the money taker from the Brooklyn employers was ex torted