Montana labor news., 1936-01-23
O'Connell Claims
Corporation Frameup

Deer Lodge is full OF men without in
fluence who, in the dead OF the night,
have jimmied their way into private Of
fees, and l have asked my attorneys
whether VIII Campbell, editor Of the
copper-controlled yellow rage, the Hell
ena Independent, his son and reporter,
and their willing tool, Leonard Young,
are possessed OF any special immunity
or are in any different category when,
in their midnight madness, they broke
into my private office to which the peo-
pie of Montana have elected me.
Surely the Governor and the Attorney
General too have more ee3ing prob
lens that affect the v of all the
people OF Montana, to Il their time
and effort should be voted, than
merely, in the dead OF night, to crawl
through a window into a mans private
office and, at least 10 my mind, such
midnight escapades i'll become the dig
nifty Of the Governor and the Attorney
General. OF course Young was in his
usual role, flanked on all sides by the
henchmen of the corporate interests,
performing their every bedding as as
lowly, as contemptibly, as %degradingly,
and as ~sneakingly as only Young can
do.
There was no dictaphone in my office,
there never has been one, and even
the Helena Independent admits that
none was ever found. 1t is indeed pc
culiar that the alleged mike and the
wires which were found were found in
Young's office and not in mine. 1t is
peculiar also that Young and Campbell
and his son chose to perform their dirty
work in the dead of the night when
they thought nobody would discover
them. What they actually wanted in
my office was not the alleged dicta-
phone, but my files and my records in
an endeavor to hamper me in the hear
ings which are to be ordered today
against the Montana Power Company
and the Telephone Company on light,
gas and telephone rates all over the
State of Montana. The dirty work was
done when | was absent from my office,
and the alleged evidence Of a dicta-
phone was planted there by the cor
porate interests who have always
fought me and attempted to discredit
me in this manner
The Helena Independent, in its Sun
day edition, in banner headlines, says
Jerry O'Connell is caught wiring Capt.
toll offices with Telephones" Their
paper admits that | was not in the city
and was not present when the alleged
evidence was found, and it is my in
%tention to file, as soon as the complaint
can be prepared, a libel suit against the
Helena Independent in the amount Of
I$200,000.00 for both actual and punitive
damages. My answer to this dastardly
attempt on the part of the corporate in
%terests and their tools is the hearings
which we have ordered today demand
ing a reduction in light, gas, and tele-
phone rates.
l was amused at the pictures carried
in this mornings Independent showing
Leonard Young holding the alleged
mike in one hand, but | wonder what
was in the other. His record of CON
sistently voting in behalf Of the utility
interests should answer that.
My office has been kept locked be-
cause several OF my employees from time
10 time found Young proving about my
personal papers and sneaking out Of
my office, so that it became absolutely
necessary for me to lock the door at
all times, even though | was to be alb
sent but a few minutes. 1t was locked
for the further reason that Art Davis,
former stool pigeon for Attorney Cen
eral Maggie and now a convict in the
Deer Lodge ~penitentiary, showed me
several kilograms sent to him by Young
in regard to both myself and Chair
man Carey. This confession by Davis
was made to me in the presence OF one
other person, Davis informed me at
that time that | was the object OF a
frame-up by Young and various other
tools Of the corporate interests OF this
State, and cautioned me to lock my Of
flee and protect my private files and
records.
| have the utmost praise and COM
mendation for my loyal employees who
exposed this frame-up and prevented
it being carried to completion. Ny Of
flee will continue to be my private Of
flee, and as long as Leonard Young and
people Of his ilk are close by l will
continue to keep it locked, and my en-
%ployees will continue to defend it as
Loyalty as they did in the midnight
raid in the wee hours of Sunday morn
ing.