Evening star., 1933-02-10
SCHOOL WORKERS
OFFERED RETURN
OF INVESTMENTS
Corporation Counsel to Be
Given List and Sums
Paid for Realty.
DISTRICT WITHHOLDS
FUNDS IN DISPUTE
Officials Of Company Admit Large
Portion of Wage Went
Into Project.

agreed today to return all such fund;
to the workmen.
The offer to refund to any workman
who desired to cash in his real estate
investment certificates was made this
morning to Corporation Counsel Will
liam w. Bride, who had subjected Off
GERS of the company to an extended
examination at hearing at the Dis
trict Building, attended by more thar
100 mechanics, labor leaders and g
representative Of the Department Of
Labor.
Full Amount Offered.
The concern involved in the matter
is the Industrial Engineering & Con-
struction Co. James D. McQuade, at
torney for the firm, presented state
ment to Mr.. Bride today that the COM
pany was prepared to restore to the
workmen in cash the full amount OF
the portion of their wages which had
been placed in the realty project. The
firm also promised to submit complete
list of such workmen, together with the
amounts they had subscribed in the
venture.
Each Of the affected mechanics will
be given until 10 am. next Tuesday tc
file with the corporation counsel fol
return Of the funds, to be paid by certi-
fled check.
It is estimated the workmen have
paid a total of about $1,000 out OF Their
wages into the realty project, this sum
including some payments by workmer
when not engaged in the Kenilworth
Job.
Mechanics testified at the hearing
late yesterday they had to subscribe tc
the investment certificates In order tc
get employment on the project.
Payments Held Up.
Pending decision in the matter all
payments to the contracting flrm tor
work on the 5-room elementary public
school building were held up.
The corporation counsel had an
nounced previously he proposed to take
steps to protect mechanics who had
invested portions of their wages In the
firms realty venture should 1t be de-
termined the firm had not complied
with wage payment requirements under
the Bacon-Davis law.
L. E. Palmer, president of the con-
tracing firm. and j. P. Theofleld,
secretary-treasurer, admitted a large
portion of the weekly wages Of employees
WHO SuDoCIlUcQ W t1lC pau WCiC PokAa
back to the company as an investment
in the real estate project.
The hearing brought out that most
of the mechanics employed on the
school construction had subscribed to
investments Of $500 to $500 in the pro-
posed development located on Thirty
second place southeast between w
street and Alabama avenue.
~ In h.
division" the hearing disclosed, is a
deep ravine, said to be rs feet below
street level at lowest point. Palmer
said he had planned to build two $4,000
dwellings on the property and that with
an Italian Villa plan of development he
did not think the fact the houses might
be below street level would matter.
Palmer placed valuation Of about
So, 800 on the real estate as he proposed
to develop it and, during questioning,
cost Of the seven lots involved in his
development plan.
Site Paid for.
Officers Of the company stated the
site Of the proposed development had
been purchased last Fall and was paid
for in full.
Mai. Donald J. Donovan, District
auditor, who sat as an adviser to Mr..
Bride, revealed the contractor had car
ried the school building construction
to point warranting payments totaling
S28,548. OF this sum $16,397 has been
paid, leaving q sum of $12,151 now
earned but not yet paid. A check for
$8,592 of this latter amount has been
held up pending decision in the investi-
cation.
The total contract price for the con-
struction of the school building is
$54,698.
E. S. Dawson, inspector of claims, at
tached to the corporation counsel's
Office, outlined charges that bricklayers
employed by the firm were paid in cash
at the rate OF 10 cents an hour and the
remainder Of their SITS an hour rate.
or 81 05 in checks which were indorsed
over to the contracting firm in pay
ment for interests in the subdivision"
He called attention to a stipulation
in the contract with the construction
firm, as prescribed by an executive order
issued by President Hoover in January
of last year, which states that the con-
tractor expressly understands and agrees
that the wage scales were to be paid in
full in lawful money without any re-
duction or rebates whatever.
Howard T. Colvin, conciliation officer
of the Department of Labor, called as
a witness for the contracting company,
said payment of all or part of mechan-
les wages by check would be regarded
as lawful money, provided there were
no strings" attached to such payments.
Hush Money" Charged.
Mr. Bride and William H. Wahly, as
sistant corporation counsel, who exam
ined witnesses, brought out that numer-
GUS checks used in wage payments bore
an Endorsement stamp on the back that
the money was to be deposited only to
the credit of the construction company.
Workmen testified this Endorsement
was stamped on the checks, in many
cases, before they were paid over
to the mechanics. Theofeld, the COM
pany treasurer, denied this was the
practice, but could not produce can
celed checks not bearing such a stamped
Endorsement bearing dates earlier than
January 26, when the corporation coun-
sells Office started its Investigation.
Several mechanics charged the COM
pany had promised payments of 10
cents an hour additional, after compile
ton of the building, If the work was
done cheaper than the firm had esti-
mated. This was hush" money, one
workman charged, and was designed to
prevent the men from "squawking"
about the realty investment sort of
wage payments.
A number of the workmen declared
they did not expect to receive any ben
efit from the proposed real estate devel-
opment and went to work for cash pay
ments Of 70 cents IN hour because they
needed work.