The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1941-11-20
Facing The Foc+s
With PHILIP PEARL

A jury of IL American citizens, sit
ting in the Federal District Court il
New York, listened for almost q
month to the evidence submitted ii
the case against George E. Browne
and Willie Bioff and found them guilty
of extortion.
No other verdict was possible. The
evidence introduced by the Govern.
ment was shocking; the defense pitt.
fully weak.
In thanking the jury for the yer.
dict, Federal Judge Knox declared
that it should serve as warning tt
anyone who seeks to exploit the labor
movement for personal gain. We
agree with him fully.
We feel impelled to speak plainly
about this case because Browne was
the president of an AFL union and
Bioff was his appointed personal rep
resentative.
The law enforcement authorities of
our country have done the labor
movement a great service by ridding
it of these men and placing them
where law-breakers belong, in Jail
The defendants were not labor lead
ers, they were the betrayers of labor
They sold out the very workers whose
interests they were sworn to protect
They deserve the severest punishment
permissible under the law.
A Healthy Effect
There may be some, among those
who sympathize with the cause OF
labor, who will regard the outcome of
this case as blow to labor. We think
this attitude is short-sighted. We re-
gard the conviction Of these two men
as an encouraging and constructive
development in the growth of the
labor movement in America.
1t has long been our contention that
the basic reason for maladministra-
tion of labor unions, where it does
exist, is the apathy of union members
Where the membership of trade
union is alert, the leadership of that
union is clean. But when the member
ship is lackadaisical and uninterested
the affairs of union are bound to &C
to pot. That is true not only Of unions
but of Government or any other dem
ocratic organization.
In this respect, the conviction OF
Browne and Bioff certainly must have
healthy influence. The workers OF
this country, reading about this case
are going to watch how their own
unions are run much more carefully
than ever before. They are going tc
attend meetings in greater numbers
and ask more questions. That is as it
should be. Union members must keep
on their toes if they want their unions
run right.
Certainly, the verdict will be bene-
fetal to the members of the Interna-
tional Association of Theatrical Stage
Employees who will now have the op.
portunity Of cleaning out the Browne
Bioff type of racketeer rule anc
h hoosing honest and responsible
leaders.
Enforce the Laws
We are sure that everyone vii
agree with the foregoing, but some OF
our friends will say: "How about the
public? Won't they be more inclined
now to agree with anti-labor propa
gandists that just because a few
crooks have wormed their way into
unions, the entire labor movement
should be suppressed or crippled with
| legislative restrictions ?"
Again we say-on the contrary
! The Browne-Bioff case proves what
the American Federation of Labor has
all along contended-that the laws or
our statute books today are all that
| is needed to wipe out racketeering
The American Federation of Labor it.
self is no police force, no grand jury
no prosecutor. 1t cannot move against
wrongdoers in any autonomous ma
tional or international union because
it has no legal authority to do so. But
it does call upon the prosecuting au
| thorities of our nation, states ant
cities to proceed against the betray
ers of labor under Federal, State anc
local statutes just as fearlessly ane
effectively as the Government did IL
the Browne-Bioff case. That is tht
duty of our law enforcement agencies
We ask them to do their duty for the
benefit of labor as well as the public
as whole.