The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-11-24
jim FARLEY is
VICTIM OF JOB
RACKET GANGS
Postmaster General Finds
Path Blocked Daily by
Hundreds.
BY WALKER STONE
Times Special Writer


A. Farley, postmaster-general, prob
ably has been sold" more times,
for more things and by more people
than any other man in the present
administration.
The good natured, Misunderstanding
Democratic national chairman
makes an ideal target for the fixers.
the job racketeerS and others who
peddle their influence" No man
in America can call more persons by
their first names but just the same
he can't place in his memory one
man out of ten who halls him with,
Hello, jim"
Wherever he goes, men swarm
about him Some want jobs others
want favorS. and still others merely
in with Farley" Once the latter
have created this impression. they
can play on the credulity of others
who want something from the gov
ernment-jobs, contracts. depart
mental favors.
A man who is believed to have the
ear of the administrations political
manager finds it easy to convince
suckers that the pathway to govern
ment favor can be paved for a con-
sideration.
Just Speak to Jim"
"Sure, I'll speak to Jim about it"
says the man who is lin with Far
ley" That is, he will speak to
JIM" providing the sucker pays
him for the service. Having OBJ
tanned the retainer, the racketeer
sometimes operates as follows: He
watches for an opportunity to catch
Farley in a crowd, plants friend
Sucker on the sidelines, walks
across the room, grabs Jim by the
hand and exchanges a few casual
remarks perhaps about the weather.
Then he ambles back to the side
lines to report to friend Sucker, Il
spoke to Jim about you and he
promised to fix it up" And jim
smiling blandly and handshaking
all corners, doesn't know what has
taken place.
Mr.. Farley never can be sure
when an impostor is moving in on
him, but twenty-five years in pol
itics have taught him to be Sus-
picious. For that reason, when in
Washington, he seldom eats in pub
lie.
He ooparo II1, 1,1ooboe ~ +bo ,ooe+
office department cafeteria and has
his dinners served in his room at
the Mayflower hotel. When he
does go to public restaurant, it
is his practice to take along some
trusted friend and pick table with
only two chairs, so there will be no
empty chair for some one to slide
into and start a conversation.
Accosted at Every Turn
But try as he does to avoid them,
Mr.. Farley can not steer entirely
clear of the racketeers. He knows,
for example, every time he steps
out Of his automobile in front of
the Mayf1ower that he will be &C
costed with Hello, jim a half
dozen times while walking across
the lobby from the revolving door
to the elevator. And if suckers are
planted on sofas behind the palms,
Jim just can't help it.
A story is told here of Wash
ington police court lawyer who used
to thrive defending bootleggers, but
whose practice has declined since
the police have stopped bothering
prohibition violators. This lawyer
actually has no more influence than
a race track tout. But he was able
to sell himself to a deserving Demo-
crat who came to Washington seek
ing appointment to a $5,O0O-a-year
position. For $500 the lawyer
agreed to fix things-S1OO down
and $500 when the appointment was
made.
To appear to be earning his fee,
the Shyster took the jObSeeker to
the postmaster generals office,
planted him in the reception room
with score of other jobseekers.
and slipped mysteriously out side
door.
Applicant May Get Job
Fifteen minutes later, the lawyer
came back into the reception room
smiling, took friend Democrat in
tow and departed, explaining that
he had gone into Mr.. Farley's in
ner office through private en-
trance and had secured Jim's prom
Use to make the appointment
Actually, the door through which
the lawyer had disappeared and
re-appeared does not lead into Mr..
Farleys inner office.
The applicant in this case may
get that $4,000 job He apparently
is qualified and. is Endorsed by the
Democratic senators, congressman
and party leaders of his state. He
may get the job, that is, unless Mr.
Farley finds out about the shyster
lawyer.
The postmaster general knows
the Influence racket is wide
spread.
You can quote me to this extent
he said when asked about it. you
can say that, if I ever find out that
any one in a government position
l paid money to anybody to get his
job, then III do everything in my
power to get that person fired. No
man who will try to buy a govern
ment job is qualified to serve"
Racketeer Fails
Mr.. Farley tells with relish the
story Of one racketeer who was
thwarted. He met this man at
public gathering about year ago
Gorroro1 tirnnoc 10 tor he amount rad