The sun., 1903-08-16
THOUSANDS FOR sam PARKS.
,r COSTS THE IRON WORKERS
" yr.cH MONEY TO DEFEND HIM.
,.,, Now They're Paying SS Apiece to
''' "keep Up the Fight" which Means to
Hire Lawyers In His Extortfon Case
some darumble. but None Dares Kick.

,.,s, Now They're Paying Bb Ap1eco 10
'o'' ",,eep I'D the Fight" which Means TO
rr,re LAWYERS In His Extortion Case
same d;rumble, but None Dares Kick.
,r.o second of five assessments which are
y, ~ levied on the 4,O00-odd members Of
W ". uousesmiths and Bridgemen's Union to
u 1..o a fund presumably to pay the legal
.o,aes of Sam Parks and some OF his
Ip,o;ates who are under indictment or
@ohle TO be before long. was collected in
~, presence of Parks himself on Friday
a;sbt at the meeting OF the union In Man
"apcbor Hail, Fifty-sixth street and Third
avenue,
,.,,i,ation of Parks in this large and power
w., union could be afforded than the meek
.av in which the members have submitted
=. those assessments. In the resolution
rb;cb authorized them and was passed at
,he meeting of the union held week before
Ios, the fund they are to make is vaguely
descrbed as one to keep up the fight. =
The fight is supposed to be the strikes in
which the iron workers are involved.
The resolution provides that each man in
tho unjon shall give to the fund IS, payable
in weekly installments OF 81. To refuse to
nav the assessment, or to fail to pay it, no
natter wha, the reason, means suspension
from the union. At the end of three weeks
more this fund will amount to $4,000 or
,osoOo Its disposition will be In the hands
n Parks, and he will have to account to no
one for it.
Although this large sum Of money is
raised ostensibly to keep up the fight,
i, Is in reality to be used in large part to
nav the legal expenses OF Parks and other
walking delegates who are under indict-
men,. 1t was said on Friday night that as
soon as his trial gets we'll under way Parks
will have several lawyers in court who have
not appes red in his case as yet. These
LAWYERS, it was said, will be men who charge
large fees. Perks has no intention Of pay
ng these fees out Of his own pocket, end
80 the ironworkers will have TO pay them.
|, WIS Parks who fathered the resolution
levvne the assessment. He sat on the
pIatform while a vote was taken on it and,
with his fatherly eye on the proceedings,
the resolution was unanimously carried,
To have voted against il might have had
unpleasant CONSEQUENCES for an ironworker.
Therefore the ironworkers, who pay big
dues to their union and are Consistently being
asse ssed for ell sorts OF purposes which
they understand only vaguely, voted s5
apiece out of their pockets, although many
of Them had been on strike for weeks and
had no money 10 spare.
The first dollar was collected on the spot
week ego last Friday night. Members
not present were notified to pay before the
next meeting. A large number of them
paid s. last night and some paid the entire
Is down, rec slizin9 that they would have to
pay it anyway sooner or later. Tho fund
il already said To be in the neighborhood OF
Sl2 900
Not voice was raised in objection to
the assessment, but that does not mean
that there is not lot Of discontent. As a
matter of fact THE Sun has learned thata
large number OF the ironworkers regard
this g. assessment as more or less OF shake
down, but are afraid to oppose it openly
Parks is so powerful in the union Just now
that to oppose him would mean ruin to q
plain member.
The entire financial scheme of the House,
smiths and Bridgemens Union is remark
Nble one 1t is said to be the invention Of
he ingenious Mr.. Parks. Large sums OF
money are raised every year by means OF
he assessment system Parks never fails
f good reasons for levying an assessment
" 1t isn't for sick benefits. for strikers or
Tor injured ironworkers. 1t is for widows
ami orphans, and Parks always sees that it
IL responded TO promptly.
II s the vanishing properties Of this
money that have caused just ripple OF
Grunbling during the past few weeks
The dues. which are in the neighbOThood OF
~ cents a week, aggregate an enormous
sum in union so large. and with const ant
assessments added there is a big fund
annually to dispose OF, IL is disposed OF all
right, but Just how the rank and file never
knows Treasurer s reports are submitted
ut meetings, are read aloud during noise
and confusion and then adopted by accla-
nation There isn't case on record of a
member asking that trea surer report be
examined.
What the handful Of grumblers, who may
or may not make themselves felt later on
want TO know is why, with this big fund
gong in every wear, extra assessments are
demanded every time an ironworker is
injured at his trade. No man with the
nerve to stand up and ask Parks this ques-
tion has appeared yet. As matter Of fact
hardly meeting goes by but some assess
ment is levied on the men.
The ronworlSers are willing to pa Y Parks G
legal expenses, but il seems to few OF them
That they are being assessed pretty high
The vast majority. however. have a blind
fai'h N Parks, and II he doubled the as
sassmen' at the next meeting would pay
the money nncomplainingy