Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-05-22
0NLAbOR
THUGS HAS RID
CHICAGO OF 400
Elk Convict Gunner
Have Seized Control
of Some of Unions.
Terrorized Workers
Also Victims of Rapac-
ity, as Bosses.
By JAMES w. KESTER

W. 0OOO0O
BY JAMES w. kESTER
Special Correspondent Of The Great Fails Tribune.
Copyright. 1929. By The Great Falls Tribune.
Chicago, May 21.-For years the gat,
the sawed-off shotgun, the blackjack,
the bomb. Now the torch. Gang ter
%rorists apparently stop at nothing to
hold Chicago in their grasp and they
operate now in the name of union
labor.
A siege Of robbery and %sluggings,
bombings and shootings as q protest
against the union wage award for the
building trades fixed by Judge Lands
reached it's climax a few nights ago IN
the wanton killing of two policemen
and the ~wounding of a third by a gang
of bo. beers out on a dynamiting ex-
pedit;on. Since then Chicago has wit
messed perhaps the most gigantic drive
against o%utlawry since the days of the
famous Haymarket riots of the SOS.
More than $50 union chieftains and
their Iieutenants were rounded up In
sensational daylight raids on union
strongholds and dozens of gunner and
thugs were seized in an effort to run
to earth the killers and end the reign
of law~lessness here. Among the eight
men subsequently indicted for killing
the two policemen were a trio OF the
city's most prominent labor leaders and
all Chicago gasped when Chief Fitz-
morris dared to arrest them.
Murphy Under 6-Year Sentence
One was Big Tim Murphy, long a
powerful and picturesque leader in the
| Iahnr Nor1d hQra nnU uYdpr sentence
to six years in prison for a daring
$3.50. 900 holdup at Dearborn street
station last year. The " 1crowned
king of the building trades, newspa-
pers call him. Another was tred Ma
der. president of the council. with a
term in Joliet penitentiary for labor
duces murder equally guilty with those
Cornelius c"Con") Shea, a union SIC
rotary, once sentenced to Sing N. e
for carving up his sweetheart while
drinking.
Strike Back With Threats
These. with the other five men in
dicted. lesser labor lights. are accused
of murder under ar Illinois statute
which makes anyone who incites or in
duces murder equally guilty with those
who act. II is admitted that nom of
the eight had a part in the actual
staying. The police also have arrested
John Miller. a police character, who
was the confessed driver of the death
car.
Following the arrest of the labor
men. spirited court battles were START !
ed to obtain their release. Most of
them were soon freed on habeas cor
pus writs but the principal ones were
held. 1t was hoped that this stroke
would. in turn. strike terror to the
! Lon.,~ Sc ,La tarrnr,afs Tbrantc &c
death then began to pour in OF the
chief of police. sheriff and other Of
ficials unless the labor chieftains were
released.
Big Fire Sample of Revenge
One message gave warning that IT
the leaders were not freed, fire would
break out in every section of the city.
This threat was not taken seriously
until a few days later. At about I
o'clock in the evening. fire started in
la half million dollar IMPAIRMENT hotel
nearing completion at fashionable Rog-
ers Park. The building was virtually
destroyed. 1t was being erected part
'lv by non-union men. working under the
Lands award. Officials are convinced
that the fire was the work of ter
r~orists.
Mayor Could End II. Says Judge
1t is not the law enforcement off
GERS alone who blame the unions for
the outlawry. Speaking before st:
Lnke's Mems club last Friday. Chief
Justice Kickham Seaman of the GRIM
inal court said:
There have been IS bombs thrown
in Chicago in the last 90 days. II
Mayor Thompson would call IN big
Tim" Murphy and Fred Nader and say:
One more bombing and one more
shooting and you men will hang most
of this trouble would be done away
with. Many union leaders are splitting
in the face Of justice. Leaders must
be bribed before a building is put up"
Charges of grating by union agents
ia Chicago became so general that the
legislature appointed a special 1nvestl-
eating committee last summer. Evil
dence was uncovered that thousands OF
dollars had been paid out by builders
to prevent strikes. Indictments were
many but convictions nil.
How BlackmaiI Is Worked
Among those tried were Simon
ODonnelI, former head of the build
ing trades council, and William +.
Quesse. chief of the flat janitors' un-
ion. Both are being retired after ac-
quittal. because jurors confessed being
bribed to vote mot guilty"
Meanwhile the grating goes merrily
on. Builders must either submit or
suspend work. Here is how it works:
A contractor is permitted to hire
non-union workers if the union cannot
supply enough. When he does he has
a visitor.
"AIy men are kicking against working
with non-union men," the business
agent tells the builder. They want to
strike and it will cost you money to
keep them at work"
How much?" the contractor asks.
Well" replies the agent. "say about
$500 now and a dollar a day for each
of the men at work until the building is
completed"
Union Directors WayIaid
The union men on the job have TO
pay with the others. submitting their
share or being thrown out of work.
Why don't the honest union men GUST
the dishonest leaders? They reply
that it is as much as a mans life is
worth to arise ut some union meetings
and demand the removal of certain Of
ficials. If he does he is waylaid and
LaaxNn m H. -- n.y. ~--