The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-04-11
Green Replies To
Colunnnist Pegler
BY WILLIAM GREEN
President, American Federation of
Labor
ARTICLE ii

1nere IS just as much truth 10 the
charge that the American Federation
of Labor is racketeering organiza
tion preying upon the workers Of the
country as there is to Adolph Hitler's
charge that democracy is a device by
which racketeering politicians prey
upon the people.
Would it be fair TO condemn Ameri-
can democracy because Of Teapot
Dome scandal and the disclosure that |
even a Cabinet officer has been cor
rupt?
Would you lose faith in the courts
and American justice because the |
Senior Judge of the United States Cir
cult Court Of Appeals is now serving |
a jail term for betraying his trust?
Would you lose confidence in the
Federal Reserve System and start
boarding your savings under mat
tress because number of prominent
bankers have been sentenced to prison
for crookedness?
Would you condem the police system
of an entire city because an individual
member Of the force is exposed as a
bribe taker?
Would you reject the capitalistic
system and join the Communist Party
because certain corporation officials
have run off with the stockholders
money?
Well, then, there is just as much
sense in Westbrook Pegler's attacks
upon the American Federation of La
Dor because he has found two union
officials with criminal records.
The two men named by Mr. Pegler
are Willie Bioff and George Scalise.
| have never met Mr.. Bioff nor
spoken to him. He is an appointed
representative Of his union The facts
in his case are that he has been asso-
ciated with the union movement only
FIVE or six years. The crime for which
he was convicted in Chicago took place
many years before that and had moth
ing to do with his subsequent union
activities. He is now charged with
having evaded his sentence and the
case is before the courts. 1t is up to
the officers and members Of the union
by which Mr. Bioff is employed to de
eide whether they wish to be repre-
, sented by man Of his character. Ny
personal views in the matter are well
known to the officers of this particular
union. However, MIR. Bioff is not re-
sponsible to me but to them. And the
elected officers Of the union are re-
sponsble to the members of the union
If the officers and members of the
, union are dissatisfied with Mr. Bioff,
; the unions constitution provides the
means of getting rid of him. If the
t officers and members of the union
feel that Mr.. Biof's record is a good
one and that he should be retained,
: they have the right to stick by him.
! The American Federation of Labor it
self cannot intervene in such cases and
: | will explain why in the next article.
Now as to Mr. Scalise. l have
5 known Mr. Scalise during the two
7 years he has been President of the
/ Building Service Employees Union. 1t
/ appears that Mr.. Scalise at the age
of seventeen was convicted of a crime.
2 He served his sentence in Atlanta
I penitentiary. When this fact was pub
{ lished by Mr.. Pegler after a lapse of
4 twenty-five years, Mr.. Scalise came to
e me and voluntarily told me his story.
He said that ever since he got out
n of jail he had gone straight. He sub
= mitted detailed record of his life to
\ prove that assertion. 1t showed he
: had worked steadily at various jobs,
in an automobile plant, for an insur-
i ance company and as a chauffeur. He
hoo - .+o,,-
e union in Brooklyn and later accepted
d a job as organizer for the Building
Service Employees Union, which pro-
noted him to higher positions until
: he became President in 1887.
= Mr.. Scalse said he had married and
had a daughter and that the first
t knowledge his wife and daughter re-
e ceived of his criminal record was when
: they read it in cold print in Mr.. Peg
e ler's column. He said he lives with
n his wife and daughter and his parents
+ in a cottage in Brooklyn.
a Furthermore, Mr. Scalise charged
that certain local officials of his union
whom he had exposed for alleged mis-
appropriation of funds were RESPONSE
bic for reviving and spreading by an
onymous circulars the unfortunate
= early chapter Of his life. Mr. Scalse
: made the point that if he were him
o self a racketeer he certainly would
4 not be active in eXtirpating racketeer-
: ing in his union.
If Mr.. Scalise's story is true-and
= have no reason to doubt it-surely
y Mr.. Pegler rendered no public service
in exposing the sordid story of his
past. AS | understand the theory of
j penology and the principles of decen-
= cy, the object of punishment is to
y make the culprt see the error of crime
and mend his ways. If man COM
4 mits crime, pays the penalty and
= then goes straight, is he to be pen
), allied for his past for the rest of his
- life?
:. The American Federation of Labor's
: membership is made up of human be-
- ings. They are subject to human
- Ill |,